SOMETHING GL

A facet of the American Revolution, of which few know, is the story of the ""Jackson Whites"", dregs of London brothels, restive and trouble-making in besieged New York. Particularly is it the story of one girl, gently born, shanghaiied when she rushed off impulsively to bid farewell to Hal Nevins, brutally dismissed by her ambitious, arrogant, lovely elder sister, Chloe. Dorcas, failing to reach Nevins, is seized, thrust into the hold with these wretched women- and weeks later, on landing, imprisoned in a stockade to be used by the men who frequented the place. A Hessian officer intercedes for her- and is then himself captured and held by the rebels. Nevins proves a broken reed. Klein, who had shanghaiied her, was a recurrent peril. There's lots of color and action in the phases of war that swept back and forth over the beleagueredcity -- changing loyalties- adventure and romance- almost to the point of surfeit. But, in retrospect, it emerges as an unusual segment of historical as well as romantic interest.