You are part of a spy ring, the Culper Spy Ring of Long Island, New York. Other members of the ring rely on you to connect them. They needed to pass off their information to each other in secret. Whenever a spy would arrive in town, you would learn where they would hide. The spies would use coves (a small sheltered bay) along the coast. You “innocently” hung up your laundry. Hanging your black petticoat meant that there was new information. The number of handkerchiefs hanging on the clothesline told which cove the spy was hiding in, for example, the first, second, third, etc.
Your husband is arrested for not being a Loyalist. Do you take your children and run?