possessions; but there 'his wagons and the greater part of his effects were confiscated for the public service by the American forces.  At last, after many trials, he reached Greenwich, Conn., and just in time, for his slender store, in the paper money that was even then rapidly depreciating, was almost exhausted.  His family found a refuge with kind friends, while he made himself useful as captain of the “alarm list” on the debatable ground.  After the war he returned to New York, and finally settled down to the business of an auctioneer.
Young Alexander at a very early age showed a fondness for that art to which he was destined to devote his life.  During the long winter evenings he would draw his stool close to the crackling logs upon the wide hearth, and gaze with mingled feelings of curiosity and disgust upon the roughly executed Dutch tiles that surrounded the fireplace.  He felt instinctively that they were badly drawn, and as he studied the uncouth forms half revealed by the flickering light, the correct principles of design began slowly to dawn upon him.
Sometimes his mother, to help while away the time, would draw faces and flowers, using indigo dissolved in water in lieu of ink.  A few type-metal ornaments saved from the printing office helped