There could be no question, after this cry from Amos Nelson, but that he and his Tory friends had in some way come to learn of what we lads would do toward aiding the Cause.
It was natural that I, suspecting Seth Jepson, should set down to his door the crime of having betrayed us to our enemies; but when I put that thought into words Archie would have none of it. He declared that however much Seth might be inclined toward Toryism, he was not such a knave as to join us with traitorous intentions in his heart.
We had made no reply to Amos Nelson, and it appeared much as if his only desire was to let us understand that he was in possession of our secret, for immediately after having taunted us he went off in the direction of Corn hill, taking his friend with him, therefore Archie and I had nothing to do except discuss the possibility of our having been betrayed, with not a little warmth but no result.
Silas was still engaged in the work of enrolling recruits, and failed to come to the rendezvous, most like believing he could be doing better service in seeking out those who would become Minute Boys, than by wagging his tongue at the city dock with us.
Because of knowing that that which we would keep private was a secret no longer, I grew disheartened,and instead of agreeing to Archie's proposition that the remainder of the day be spent in gaining yet more recruits, I turned my face homeward once more, agreeing crustily to meet those who had promised to become Minute Boys at the old ship-yard that evening.
A blind man might have seen that Archie was not well pleased with my sudden lukewarmness in the matter of raising a company. He believed he knew there had been no betrayal by Seth, and therefore set down my behavior to ill nature, rather than disappointment because the plan had gone awry even before it was well begun.
During the remainder of the day I kept closely housed, doing whatsoever came to hand in the way of helping my mother, therefore it was, perhaps, that I failed of hearing much which might have startled, and even frightened me.
When the night was come I went according to agreement to the ship-yard, and there found assembled those whom Archie and Silas had enrolled. A goodly company it was, for all told we numbered sixteen, and surely if that many lads, eager to do whatsoever they might in aid of the Cause, could be found in Boston town within twelve hours, the time must be near at hand when we could boast of sufficient recruits to make a showing before our elders.
Seth Jepson was among the number, and I must confess at being surprised. So firmly did I believe him to be the one who had betrayed us, that I fancied the fellow would not dare show his head, yet there he was with no token of guilt, so far as I could see, but appearing to be on most friendly terms with every one.
He was so outspoken in behalf of the Minute Boys; so confident they might in time to come make for themselves an enviable name, that my belief in his treachery was almost shaken for the moment.
Then came that which I least expected. It had been decided that we would have two officers, one a captain, and the other a lieutenant. Archie Hemming spoke up boldly, declaring that I was his choice as leader; but before it was possible for me to make any protest, the others had backed him up with so many noisy words that the matter was settled without my permission, and decidedly against my inclination. It was Archie who should have been the commander of the Minute Boys, because his head was clearer than mine. He was more ready of wit; but when I would have said as much to my comrades, Silas shut me off with a sharp turn, declaring laughingly that Archie should be the lieutenant, and thus hold a position where he could counter-balance all my shortcomings.
This also was decided in a twinkling, and thus was our company of Minute Boys officered despite the better judgment of him who had been selected as captain.
There was much to discuss on this first night of meeting if we were to become, as we claimed, a company of soldiers. Plans should be laid concerning how we best might set about making ourselves recognized by the Sons of Liberty, or by the officers of the militia. Then we had to decide upon some regular rendezvous, where at the first summons we might all assemble, and this last we agreed should be where we then were, at the old ship-yard, on the tumble-down dock beneath which my skiff was hidden.
Every fellow had some plan to suggest which would work to the benefit of our company, and while nothing was actually decided upon save the place where we should meet at the first summons, the time passed so rapidly that it was midnight before the last of us had freed his mind. Then, as a matter of course, we scurried home, going singly or in couples that we might the better evade the red-coated watch, which patrolled every street, and fearful lest we be chided by our parents, even though we called ourselves by the high sounding name of "Minute Boys," for having remained out so late.
Thus it was that we lads, who prided ourselves on being keenly on the alert for any movement of the lobster backs, and much the same as imprisoned in our own city where it all happened, failed of knowing that shortly before the meeting of the Minute Boys was broken up, eight hundred of the king's men were embarked in boats at the Common, bound, as we afterward knew, and as many of our elders were then aware, for Lexington and Concord.
Before nightfall of the next day the Minute Boys of Boston assembled at the rendezvous without having been summoned, for word had been brought into town of the bloody work at Lexington and Concord, and we lads, who counted on taking such active part in the struggle against the king, had lost the first opportunity of showing what it might be possible for us to do.
Sixty-five of the king's soldiers had been killed, one hundred and eighty wounded, and twenty-eight taken prisoners; while of our people fifty-nine were killed, thirty-nine wounded, and five failed to answerto the roll call, having, most like, crawled away, as do the lower animals, to die alone.
All this had been done within and around that town we had so lately visited, and yet Archie, Silas and I, who counted ourselves as being keen-witted, had failed to have the slightest inkling of what was so near at hand.
While we had been making simple plans for the future, loitering in Boston when we might have been of service elsewhere, our people were being shot down by the lobster backs, and as these thoughts came into my mind I felt as if I had committed some grievous sin in laying up against Samuel Hadley the charge of being inhospitable, for he was among the first to yield his life in behalf of the Cause.
Doctor Warren was there, and also my father, while most like the old woman's son, Hiram Griffin, helped to do that which proclaimed to the king our readiness to give our lives rather than submit to injustice. As I counted over those whom I knew and guessed had taken part in that battle, it seemed to me as if of all who would serve the Cause, our Minute Boys were the only ones absent.
It is needless for me to set down all the unavailing words of regret which were spoken among us that night after having heard the news, for it can readily be fancied how we reproached ourselves, and how bitter was our disappointment. In our shortsightedness and inability to realize that the work at Lexington and Concord was but the beginning of the struggle against the king, we failed to understand that we would again and again have ample opportunity of showing what it might be possible for us lads of Boston to do.
What at this day seems to me strangest, was that in our grief and vexation we failed to make any plans for future work. It was as if we had come to believe that the butchery at Lexington ended it all, and we Minute Boys would no longer be needed.
Perhaps our dullness may be accounted for by the fact that there was so much of excitement on this night and the next day, that we hardly had time to think of ourselves. Those yet remaining in Boston, who were devoted to the Cause, gathered here and there to talk over what at the same time brought us sorrow and rejoicing—sorrow that so many of our people had been slaughtered, and rejoicing that the struggle against British misrule had finally begun.
The Tories made a big show of themselves, taking good care to appear in public and boast that this first lesson was but the beginning of a series which the king would teach us. They talked so loudly and gave themselves so wholly over to rejoicing that one would have believed a great victory had been won, whereas, as a matter of fact, our people, all unused to the art of war and but poorly armed, had, as it were, sent the king's trained men home like whipped curs.
If the battle of Lexington was a victory for the lobster backs, then of a verity when the king's men had won a dozen of a similar kind, we of the colony were come off conquerors.
Archie's father was at home during the battle, but on the evening of that day he was summoned to Cambridge, where, so it was stated, our people were gathering in great numbers. His last command to my comrade, and also advice to others of the company who called themselves Minute Boys, was thathe and we remain under cover as much as possible during the next three or four days, for it was reasonable to suppose the Britishers would be more severe in their rule than they had been; that only the slightest provocation would be needed to lodge in jail those who favored the Cause.
It was not in my mind that we lads would be allowed to go to Cambridge where an army was gathering under the command of the Committee of Safety, until we had in some way proven ourselves, and therefore, much to my disappointment, I had made up my mind that by not having been in Lexington at the time of the battle we had lost all opportunity for taking part in active work.
Luckily, however, I had sufficient sense to give warning that all those who had been enrolled as Minute Boys should stay near to their own homes until it might be possible to know what our people intended to do, and at the same time hold themselves in readiness for any summons which might come.
It was on the second night after the Lexington butchery that Archie came to my home, having the permission of his mother to sleep with me. We had been earnestly trying to hit upon some way of showing what could be done by lads such as us, and this visit of his to my home was planned that we might have more time in which to discuss matters.
From noon until perhaps three hours after we had gone to bed, we lads talked, suggesting one scheme after another only to discard each as being impossible of execution, when there came a summons at the outer door which brought both of us to our feet trembling with apprehension, although we could not have said why.
Visitors did not often come at such a time, and there were so few among our neighbors friendly to the Cause, who yet remained in Boston town, that it did not seem probable any of them would be abroad so late while the Tories were given over to rejoicing because of what had been done at Lexington.
I could hear my mother as she went to the barred door and asked as to who might be there, after which came the answer, so distinct that I could catch every word:
"I would see Luke Wright, having a message from his father."
"And who may you be?" mother asked.
"Hiram Griffin," came the reply.
"It is the son of the old woman who fed us when we were hungry," I cried joyfully to Archie as I ran down the stairs, taking three or four steps at a bound, for I knew this Hiram Griffin had been loitering in Cambridge until he might be of service to the Cause, and his coming could not betoken ill for me or mine.
As soon as might be I unbarred the door, while my mother was striving with trembling fingers to get a flame to the candle, and then there entered a young fellow who could hardly have been one and twenty, stout of frame, with a face betokening rarest good nature, but yet at the same time giving one to believe that he might be dull and heavy in his movements.
"Where did you come from?" I asked, forgetting that it was my duty, in the absence of my father, to welcome this visitor.
"I am from Cambridge where our people are gathering as flies gather around molasses, so that intime we may have men enough to meet all the forces General Gage can send against us."
"How did you get here?"
"Partly by walking, partly by pulling in a skiff, and partly by swimming, for one of his majesty's guard-boats ran me down half a mile or more from the shore, and had I not played the muskrat, being able to stay under water as long as that animal, I had been in the city jail by this time."
Now it was I saw his clothes were sodden; the water which dripped from every fold of his garments made a puddle upon the floor, whereat I quickened the embers on the hearth into a blaze that he might dry himself, and, understanding what I would do, this Hiram Griffin said with a laugh:
"A little more or less of water won't do me any harm, and I can well afford to take the wetting because of shutting the eyes of the lobster backs so finely. They counted that I must have drowned, since one of the lubbers aimed a blow at my head and shattered the gunwale of the boat. Most like he thought my skull was stove in, and consequently they did not spend much time looking for a dead man that was believed to be at the bottom of the harbor."
"But you came with a message," Archie interrupted as he descended the stairs, looking curiously at the stranger.
"Ay, and won't be long in the giving of it, seeing as it's no written word. Your father, if so be your name is Luke Wright," he added turning to me, "would have you and a lad named Archie Hemming come to Cambridge as soon as may be."
"But what for?" Archie asked sharply, andGriffin, looking at him in surprise because he thus interrupted the conversation, said curtly:
"It was not for me to ask why Luke was wanted. My part was to bring the message, if so be I could get into this town, and I allow General Gage would need more lobster backs than he has now to keep me out if once I was set on entering."
"When are we to start?" Archie asked again, and Griffin cried:
"And who may you be, young sir?"
"I am Archie Hemming."
"Oho! so it seems I have killed my two birds with one stone, eh? Well, that may turn out luckily, for I am little acquainted with the streets of Boston, and was counting on having somewhat of trouble to find your home."
"How did you know where we lived?" I asked.
"Your father put it in words so plainly that I could not have missed my aim after once coming upon the ship-yard. Now if you have done with questioning, suppose we set off?"
"Do you mean that the lads are to go to Cambridge at once?" my mother asked in mingled surprise and anxiety, whereupon Hiram Griffin said with a clumsy bow:
"Those were the orders. Master Wright claimed that it would not be safe for us to make any try at leaving Boston save at night, and unless we set off at once four and twenty hours will be wasted just when time is most precious."
It can well be imagined that I was in the highest state of excitement at thus being summoned to where the friends of the Cause were gathering to continue the rebellion against the king which hadbeen begun at Lexington. It seemed that although our Minute Boys had failed to take advantage of their first opportunity, it might yet be possible to do something which would bring them among those who were devoting themselves to the colony.
"You are to understand that the lobster backs wrecked my boat, therefore another will be needed, unless you count on leaving town by way of the Neck," Hiram said while Archie and I were hurriedly dressing, and then, if never before, did I bless the inclination to buy, a short twelve months since, out of my slender purse, the skiff which was hidden under the dock at the ship-yard.
"We have all we may need in that line," Archie said cheerily, and I could well understand how glad was his heart because this summons had come to us. "But for that which was done at Lexington, Luke Wright and I would have sought you in Cambridge long ere this."
"Sought me?" Griffin repeated in perplexity.
"Ay, so we promised your mother," Archie replied, and then he went on to tell of our halt on the road from Master Hadley's, and when he was done Hiram said fervently:
"God bless her, her heart was ever as large as that of an ox, and she could no more see man or boy pass by hungry without trying to make amends for it, than she could fly. Some day, please God, the three of us will go to the home which isn't much to look at; but no lad ever had a better one so far as a mother's love and care counts."
It seemed as if the visitor was recalled by this outburst of devotion, to his immediate duty, for on the instant he changed his tune by crying gruffly:
"Are we to stand here until the sun is so near to rising that we will find it a ticklish job to slip by the guard-boats?"
"Archie and I have never had any trouble in leaving Boston, or of coming into it when we were so minded, and we will set you on the road to Cambridge without turning a hair."
"I am told that the lobster backs are keeping sharper watch since Lexington, than ever before, and for a certainty around this end of the town the guard-boats are as thick as fleas on a dog, therefore I'm thinking it is best we set off before the night gets old."
By this time both Archie and I were ready; that is, we were fully clothed, and since the journey, in case it was not interrupted, would be short, there were no further preparations to be made, except that we first go to warn my comrade's mother of his intended departure.
I proposed that Hiram Griffin should remain at my home until we were done with this part of the business; but he, having found us so readily, was not willing we should give him the slip even for a moment, and therefore it was we doubled the danger of being brought to an accounting by the patrol, in taking him across to Hull street.
All might have gone well if we had contented ourselves with this much, leaving to my mother and Archie's the task of notifying the other Minute Boys of our whereabouts; but I must needs attend to more than was necessary, thinking my position as captain demanded it, and after leaving Hull street, instead of embarking without delay as we should have done, I insisted that we pay a visit to Silas Browrigg'sfor the purpose of explaining to him what ought to be done with the company during our absence.
Now up to this time we had been so fortunate as not to have come in contact with the patrol or any straggling lobster back, and it would have been possible, had we gone directly there, for us to have gained the ship-yard unobserved.
Hiram Griffin grumbled not a little because I deemed it necessary to pay so many visits, but, unfortunately, I gave no heed to his words, being speedily brought to repent of my heedlessness, for no sooner did we turn the corner into Salem street than we came upon two of the watch, and with them a squad of six lobster backs.
Now, as of course you know, we had no lawful right to be abroad in the streets at that hour without a pass; but it would have been useless for us who called ourselves rebels to have applied for any such permission to wander about for, as a rule, none save Tories were so favored. Since General Gage had begun to hold us the same as prisoners, I and all my friends had taken the chances of venturing out even after nine of the clock, and because thus far we had not gotten ourselves into trouble, I was grown bolder than a prudent lad should have been.
When we came upon the watch, reinforced by the lobster backs, however, I realized on the instant how dangerous was the situation. Without passes, and known to be sons of those who favored the Cause, there was no question but what we would be committed to prison, and at some time, meaning when Governor Gage or his understrappers saw fit, brought up for examination.
"I LEAPED THE FENCE.""I LEAPED THE FENCE."
Therefore it was that my thoughts turned to flight, and stepping back a pace to check Hiram Griffin's advance, I whispered hurriedly:
"Get over to the ship-yard and hide under the old wharf!"
However dull and heavy Hiram may have appeared, he surely was quick-witted, needing not a kick to emphasize a hint, for the words were no sooner out of my mouth than he was off like a deer, taking the precaution to run in a zig-zag course lest the lobster backs should send a shower of bullets after him.
I followed his example, so far as taking refuge in flight was concerned; but instead of continuing on by the street, I leaped the fence of Parson Reed's yard, making my way across his garden with but little heed to the damage that might be done the young plants.
On the instant came shouts from the watch and from the soldiers for us to halt, and a few seconds later the crackle of musketry telling that they had opened fire, most like on Hiram Griffin, for by this time I was well hidden from view.
I listened with painful intentness for a cry from Hiram which would betoken that one of the British bullets had found its billet, because he would be like to cry out in case of being wounded.
Happily no such dismal warning came to my ears, and believing I was safe from pursuit because of knowing my way through the gardens hereabout, and having close at hand many a safe hiding place, I asked myself for the first time what might have been Archie's fate.
I had not seen the lad escaping; he was two or three paces in advance of me when we turned the corner, and the chances were that the poor fellowhad been made prisoner before having had time to realize the danger which we had come upon so suddenly. While one might have counted ten I stood irresolute, wondering whether it was not my duty to learn his fate even at the expense of being captured, in order that I might do something toward aiding him; but then I come to understand that such a course would be sheer folly. I could do nothing toward effecting his release, and it seemed necessary, at whatever hazard, that I make my way to Cambridge according to orders.
Yet even when I would have continued the flight came the thought that it was cowardly to thus desert a comrade; that as captain of the Minute Boys duty demanded that I stand by every member of the company, however great their peril, yet of what avail would it be?
Even while these thoughts were in my mind I was running as does the hare when the dogs are close on his scent, and at the same time that I reproached myself I strained every effort to gain the goal, which was the ship-yard, where I believed Hiram Griffin would sooner or later make his way.
Behind me I could still hear the cries of the watch and the crackle of musketry as the lobster backs fired at random, for it was not possible that Hiram yet remained in view, and with this noise were mingled the shouts of citizens who had been wakened from their slumbers, until there was a perfect bedlam at that corner of Hull and Salem streets.
To my relief I came to understand that the noise grew fainter and fainter as I advanced, and, therefore, was it certain that the Britishers were not on my trail; but with such pleasing knowledge came the thought that Hiram might have been shot down, or,failing to continue a true course, was doubling here and there with the pursuers close upon his heels.
I ran as never before, straining every nerve and muscle in the race as one will when he knows that a prison awaits him if he be overtaken, and it was well the road was no longer, for when finally I dashed in under the broken timbers of the old wharf my breath was coming so short and thick that I question if I had been able to advance twenty paces further. I was hidden from view, but had any come in search of me they must have heard my heavy breathing, or the beating of my heart, which was thumping like a trip-hammer.
Lying upon the wet mud and seaweed, for the tide was luckily at about half-ebb, I strove desperately to regain my breath and my strength so that I might have both at command if by some chance the lobster backs got an inkling of my whereabouts.
How long I remained there it is impossible to say, for at such times a minute seems a whole hour. I only know that I had recovered in a great measure from the fatigue of the race when there came to my ears the sound of footsteps approaching the hiding place, and in a twinkling I was on my knees ready to spring out in either direction if the red-coated pursuer showed himself, for at that time I had no doubt but what he who thus advanced was in search of me. You see I had for the instant almost the same as forgotten that Hiram Griffin, if not a prisoner, or Archie, if by some lucky chance he had escaped, would strive to meet me at that place.
During the merest fraction of time I gave myself up to fear, and then, my mind clearing and commonsense returning, I crept softly out, still keeping within the shadow of the timbers, until I could see against the sky the form of him who was coming toward the hiding place.
One glance was sufficient to show that it was Hiram Griffin, and even then when my mind was in such a whirl, I said to myself that he must be a keen lad who could find his way thus deftly across a strange town.
Standing up that he might see me and know in what direction to advance, I held out both hands, welcoming him when he was come near, as we welcome those who have literally escaped from the jaws of death.
"I'm thinking that we best not do much in the way of tongue wagging while standing here in the open," he said, speaking with difficulty because of his heavy breathing, and straightway I led him under the timbers where I had been hiding, asking meanwhile how he had succeeded in getting away from the red coats.
"It was only a case of using my legs," he cried grimly. "When a fellow knows that he is being chased by bullets he is able to move right fast. If you had skipped that last visit, thinking more of duty to those who sent me than to your comrades in the company of Minute Boys, we had gotten off without turning a hair."
"Ay, it is my fault and mine only that Archie has been made prisoner," I cried bitterly, and Hiram asked in surprise, for until this moment he believed the lad to be with me:
"Has he been taken?"
"It must be so, since he has not come up. Hemost like ran into the very arms of the watch before realizing the danger," I replied.
"Well, here's a pretty kettle of fish," and Hiram spoke much as if the capture of Archie would be fatal to all the plans of those who had sent him.
"Think you we should go back and try to find the lad?" I asked helplessly, and he cried as if in anger:
"To what end? Have you an idea that two might take him by force from such a gang as made him prisoner?"
"We could at least go to prison with him, and not have it said we deserted a comrade."
"Lad," Hiram began, laying his hand impressively on my arm, "before this 'ere squabble with the king has come to an end there will be many a good lad clapped into prison, and many another sent into the next world by means of British bullets. If we of the colonies count on gaining our freedom we must not let the life or liberty of one person stand in our way, however dear to our hearts that one may be."
"Then you believe we should leave the poor lad to his fate?" I asked.
"Ay, what else can be done? I came for two lads, and if so be it is possible I will carry back at least one with me. In case that can't be accomplished, I'll do my best to save my own skin in order to make report. Where's your skiff?"
"Just yonder," and I pointed to a dark mass twenty feet or more away.
"'Tis time we were setting off, for no one can say how much more of danger we may strike before crossing the water."
Hiram was making of what seemed to me a most exciting adventure, nothing more than business, and his matter-of-fact way of looking at the situation did more toward bringing me to my senses than any line of argument he could have used.
I ran to the skiff, and when we had dragged her down the shore until she was waterborne, both of us stopped as with one accord to listen lest an enemy might have been creeping up on us.
Nothing came to our ears save the splash of oars in the distance nearby where the king's ships were at anchor, and a distant hum as of people moving about in the town a long way off.
"I reckon this is as good a time as we'll find for making the start," Hiram said as he clambered into the skiff. "I don't count myself as much of a sailor, and therefore you will have to take a hand in this until we have landed somewhere near to Willis creek, which is our best course on the road to Cambridge."
"Why not go by Cambridge river?" I asked, eager to save myself a long tramp on land.
"If you are willing to take the risk, I'm agreed; but it strikes me that if the guard-boats are very thick hereabouts we'll have a better show of getting off scot free by going up the creek, than if we sailed entirely around the town, as we must in order to gain the river."
There was some good sense in what he said, which I understood even before he ceased speaking, and I made reply while pushing the skiff out from amid the rotten timbers:
"It would seem as if you were sailor enough to understand what dangers lie in our course, and perhaps I had best give over the command to you, forverily I showed myself a simple by thinking it possible to go by the river."
"I have been around Cambridge a few days, an' seein's how there was a chance my mother's son might get himself into a scrape while these 'ere Britishers are so careless with their guns, I made it my business to pick up a pretty good idee of the situation," Hiram said with a chuckle of mirth at his own precautions. "I figured quite a spell ago that if a man wanted to get across to the other shore, he'd best make the water part of the journey as short as might be."
By this time we were well out from beneath the wharf. I had taken up the oars, since there was not wind enough to fill the sail, and was counting on stretching across from Hudson's point to Charlestown, when Hiram whispered softly:
"Turn about lad; head exactly opposite to where you count on going, for yonder, coming this way if I'm not mistaken, is a craft of some kind."
Fortunately I acted on his suggestion without delaying to ask the reason for such a move, and it was well that I did, since we were no sooner headed toward Noddle island than I could make out, even in the gloom, a boat filled with men which seemingly had come from the direction of the water mill.
It is needless to say that I put every ounce of strength on the oars; but in the other craft there were no less than four men pulling vigorously, and our chances of escaping unobserved would have been slight indeed had not Hiram lent his aid.
Seizing the second pair of oars he swung himself around on the after thwart, and although he made no claim to being a sailor, I never saw onewho worked to better advantage. It seemed as if he had the strength of a dozen men in his arms, and the skiff shot forward into the gloom as if hardly touching the water, until we were come so near the shore of Noddle island as to be in the denser shadows, where we could afford to wait until learning what course our pursuers might be taking.
I was not able to distinguish objects clearly because of the gloom, yet I fancied it was possible to make out that a certain number of the eight or ten men occupying the oncoming boat were armed—they surely had the bearing of soldiers, and I said to myself, that suspecting Hiram and I might take to the water, they were come in search of us.
The same thought was evidently in my companion's mind, for he turned his head to whisper ever so softly:
"I'm thinking we had best make a landing near here, where we can haul the skiff out of the water, for yonder crew will make a close search if I am not mistaken."
There was a chance that by circling the shore of Noddle island until we were come off Morton's point, it might be possible to give these fellows the slip; but then we would be a long distance from our destination, in addition to running the risk of being captured, and it seemed to me I was warranted in acting upon Hiram's suggestion.
We worked the oars softly, as can well be imagined, and having come to the land went waist-deep into the water lest the grounding of the skiff's bow upon the sand might be heard.
It was no great task to lift the small craft so that she could be carried without scraping against the rocks, and we lugged her into a clump ofbushes which grew near the water's edge, where so well was she hidden that she could not have been seen even in the daylight, after which we set ourselves to listen in order to gain some idea of what those in the other boat might be doing.
Before half an hour had passed there was no longer any doubt in my mind but that they were in search of us, having a pretty good idea, from the direction of our flight, that we were bent on gaining the water-front, and also, most like, that we could not pass Hudson's point without being seen by them.
The boat was pulled to and fro between the island and the ship-yard as if they were standing guard, and when she had set across, mayhap, three or four times, Hiram asked of me in a whisper:
"Think you your comrade might have told them what we would try to do?"
"Of course not!" I replied with somewhat of anger in my tone that he should suspect Archie of any such vileness. "The lad is true to his friends, and would never betray them no matter how much silence might cost him."
"Then it looks as if some one had got an amazingly good idee of what we would do, and from what part of the town we'd set off," Hiram said thoughtfully. "Those fellows couldn't have set about their work better if we'd told them in advance that we'd leave the ship-yard and try to go to Cambridge."
Like a flash came into my mind the thought that Seth Jepson might have succeeded in doing us this mischief, if mischief had really been done; but I dismissed it on the instant, saying to myself that surely the lad could not have known what we were likelyto do, even were it probable he had had opportunity of speaking to those we had stumbled against.
"It is neither more nor less than blind chance," I said in reply to my companion's words. "Because we headed for the ship-yard they supposed we had a boat nearby, and because our people were gathering at Cambridge they would naturally say it was our purpose to go there."
"Whichever way you put it, it's going to be mighty tough on us, for unless those fellows get tired of pulling that heavy boat 'twixt now and sunrise, we are like to be held here until to-morrow night."
Whether it was that those who were the same as holding us prisoners on the island had an inkling we were somewhere in the vicinity, or if it was by pure chance that they happened to patrol that particular part of the harbor just then, I am unable to say; but certain it was that they remained continually on the move throughout the entire night, never going so far away that we had half an opportunity of slipping out unobserved, and now and then coming so near that it was possible for us to hear their conversation.
As the moments passed and it became almost certain we must remain in hiding during the coming day, I fell into a perfect fever of impatience. Now blaming myself most bitterly for having attempted to warn Silas of what we were to do, and again saying that I was showing myself a coward by thus leaving Archie to his fate, although what I might have done just then in his behalf I could not have said.
As a matter of course we had brought with us neither food nor water, thinking the voyage to Cambridge would be accomplished in a few hours at the most, and therefore it was that Hiram and I faced hunger and thirst, knowing that both must be endured by us before the sun had set again.
"It's a case of bearing whatever comes, andlooking pleasant," my companion said when the grey light of a new day appeared in the eastern sky. "I allow that the hours will seem precious long before we dare poke our noses out of this clump of bushes again, but what can't be cured must be endured, and seein's how we haven't had any sleep, I'm proposing to bottle up as much as I may while those blooming lobster backs hold us here like rats in a trap."
Having said this Hiram looked about for a level place in which to stretch out at full length; but failing to find it he curled himself up as if trying to hug the twigs, and almost immediately appeared to fall into profound slumber.
I was so uncomfortable in mind that it would not be possible for me to settle down to sleep however much I might need repose. We were not so well hidden from view but what in the broad glare of day any who chanced to pass near at hand might see us, and although unarmed and therefore unable to make any defence, it seemed absolutely necessary one of us should remain on watch.
When the day had fully dawned it was possible for me to see the guard-boats which had been on duty all night, pulling here and there like spiders which have been disappointed in their prey; but until about an hour after sunrise there were no small boats 'twixt Noddle island and the town. However, a dozen or more could be seen going from one to another of the king's ships, for theLively, theSomersetand theFalconwere anchored off the shore, stretching from the South to the North battery.
At one time I was on the point of awakening Hiramand proposing that he and I make the venture of rowing up the coast of the island till opposite Morton's point, and from there to the Penny ferry; but I stayed my hand even while it was outstretched to seize his arm, realizing that I was not warranted in taking the chance for two very good and sufficient reasons. The first, that it was necessary I obey the summons to present myself at Cambridge, and again, that I must preserve my liberty if I would do anything toward aiding the dear lad whom I doubted not was lodged in the prison on Queen street.
How it might be possible for me to succor him had not come to my mind, yet I believed that with all our company of Minute Boys to aid, something might be done even while he was held by the king's men, who would rather shoot him down than allow a rebel to escape from their clutches.
Then it was I began to cast about for some plan which would promise at least a shadow of success, and I had ample time before me for such effort, unless, perchance, some inquisitive lobster back or marine came upon our hiding place.
It was not possible for me to make much headway in laying plans. I worked out one in my mind only to abandon it; then another to find it was impossible of execution, and again a third which proved yet wilder than the others, until the heat of the sun, which beat down upon me in full fervor, and the low murmur of the water on the shingly beach, lulled me to drowsiness. Even while saying to myself that I must remain awake and on guard, I fell asleep, being conscious of nothing more until, without apparent cause, I opened my eyes to findthat the sun was in the western sky and Hiram sitting with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands, regarding me fixedly.
"What's the matter?" I cried incautiously loud as I rose to a sitting posture.
"The matter is that we are tied here all these hours instead of being in Cambridge where, mayhap, there is plenty for us to do."
"How long have you been awake?"
"Nigh about three days, as it seems to me, though I reckon it can't be more than a couple of hours."
"Have you seen or heard anything of the Britishers?"
"As much as you may see now by looking out from among the bushes. No one has come our way, and if they had I believe I'd eaten them, for since yesterday morning no bite of food has passed my lips."
It would have been better for me if he had refrained from speaking of food, because the mere words made me hungry, and on the instant I realized, or fancied I did, that my mouth was parched with thirst. The knowledge that I could minister to neither one desire nor the other, until we were come to Cambridge, only served to make them all the more intense.
It would be worse than childish to complain when no good could come from uttering peevish words, and I strove to put from my mind all that I desired, by speaking of Archie, idly wondering where he might be.
"Unless he is snug at home, I'm allowing the Britishers have got him penned up in such shape that neither you nor I can do much toward aidinghim," Hiram said emphatically, and then to my distress of mind he set about telling of an acquaintance of his who had had the ill fortune to displease some of General Gage's following, thereby bringing himself to a sojourn in Boston prison.
After that we talked of this thing and of another, it makes little difference what, I meanwhile watching the sun until my eyes ran water, coming to believe now and then it was standing still in the heavens, so slowly did it move.
Finally, however, the night came, as all nights will while we remain in this world, whether they be for our good or for our evil. The shadows had hardly more than begun to gather when Hiram, shaking himself as does a dog, said in a business-like tone:
"I'm allowing, lad, that we can't start any too soon. The guard-boats will be out as thick as flies around a molasses jug within the next half hour, and even though there's a chance of being seen, by skirting along the shore of this island we have reason to believe it'll be possible to keep out of sight. According to my way of thinking the risk will be less now, than if we waited for the lobster backs to begin their night's work."
As Hiram suggested so we did, working rapidly in launching the skiff, and when she was waterborne we pulled as fellows will who believe death is pursuing them, meanwhile realizing keenly that once chase should be made we could not hope to escape.
Fortune favored us this time, however scurvy a trick she had played the night before, and we gained Morton's point on the Charlestown shore without apparently having been seen by friend or foe.
Night had so nearly shut in now that we werehidden by the gloom, and had every reason to believe we were come out from amid our enemies without other harm than suffering with hunger and thirst.
If Archie had been with me, I could have cried aloud with joy as we aimed a straight course for the Penny ferry.
There is no need that I go into details of that tramp from the Medford river to Cambridge, nor for me to set down all which was said between us. It is enough if I write that we were come in the early morning to where were gathered those brave hearts who counted on making a great army which was to be raised against the king, and in defence of the colonies.
Already had the place begun to look like a military encampment, except that instead of glistening white canvas tents such as the king's men had, our people were housed as best they might be in shelters of brush, tents formed of blankets, and even many with nothing 'twixt their illy-clad bodies and God's sky.
Hiram, who appeared to be thoroughly familiar with this poor imitation of an encampment, passed rapidly along until we were come to a building in front of which stood a man without a uniform, but with a musket over his shoulder, who was acting as sentinel.
There were no military salutes exchanged between my companion and this man on duty; but they greeted each other as old friends, the sentinel saying in a querulous tone as if he was well acquainted with the mission on which Hiram had been sent:
"I had come to think you counted on staying withthe blooming Britishers, instead of coming back here to do your share of playing at soldiering."
"I hope I may never run the same risk among the lobster backs again. It was too tight a squeeze to suit me," Hiram replied grimly, and added, "Are the gentlemen in?"
"They were when I came on duty, and I reckon none of 'em have slipped away since."
"Then we'll go in," and without further ceremony Hiram entered the building as if it was his own home, I following close at his heels as a matter of course, never dreaming that we were to meet an officer, owing to the lack of military show. I began to believe I had simply been brought there to speak with one of the citizens.
I came speedily to know, however, that we were at the headquarters of the Committee of Safety, that body of men which stood at the head of what you might call the "rebellion", and they all unguarded except for that farmer-sentinel at the door, who was seemingly ready to admit any that might desire to enter.
Telling me to await his return in a room which looked not unlike one that might have been fitted up for a merchant's use, Hiram disappeared, his heavy footsteps betokening that he had ascended to the floor above, and ten minutes later a cry of joy burst from my lips when none other than Doctor Warren himself entered the room.
"So it was you who sent for me, sir?" I asked, and he replied:
"Remembering what you said about raising a company of Minute Boys, and believing you would do so, I fancied it might pleasure you to know that there was come so soon an opportunity to aid theCause. I counted on seeing two, however," he added as if in disappointment.
In the fewest possible words I told him of our misadventure the night previous, and asked if he believed it might be possible for us boys to do aught toward effecting the poor lad's release.
"I question if an equal number of men could do anything," the doctor replied, speaking as if he was sorrowful because of not being able to hold out hope. "His father is known as a Son of Liberty, and it will most like be charged against him that he was attempting to carry information to us rebels here in Cambridge, therefore he will be guarded more closely than if he had been guilty of some grievous crime."
I strove unsuccessfully to choke back the sob which finally escaped my lips, and then, thinking that if I was to have any opportunity to serve the Cause it ill became me to play the part of a baby, asked with as much firmness as I could muster:
"What work have you for us Minute Boys to do, sir?"
"The Committee of Safety believes that you lads can be of great service in bringing to us news from the town, and it was to discuss with you how best one of your company might make his way to us here, when you had learned that which it would advantage us to know."
"I do not believe it would be possible to lay out any one route by which we would be able come at all times." I made bold to reply. "On certain nights we might perchance set off from Fox hill, and come across without difficulty. Again we could, perhaps, make Barton's point our place of departure. In fact it would depend upon where thered-coats had been stationed, and what they were about."
"Yes, yes, lad, I understand that full well. What we had in mind was to settle how you might hide skiffs at these various places in order to take sudden advantage of any favorable opportunity. Your father is in camp; have speech with him, and come back to me here an hour later."
If Hiram Griffin had been standing near the door listening to our conversation he could not have entered the room at a better moment, for the doctor had but just spoken those words which were the same as token of my dismissal, when he came in, and I asked if he could tell me where my father might be found.
It seems no more than right I should set down here the fact that Hiram Griffin, during all the time I knew him, seemed ever to be in possession of such information as a curiously inclined person might pick up. I believe of a verity he spent all his spare moments gathering that which seemed at the time useless knowledge, for, leave him four and twenty hours in town or camp, and he had become acquainted with all the minor personages and details of the place.
In answer to my question he motioned for me to follow, and so I did with such good avail that within a quarter-hour I was in my father's arms, he pressing me to his heart as if I had just come out from some terrible danger.
It goes without saying that I soon made him acquainted with all which had taken place from the time Hiram Griffin entered our home, and when I spoke of the possibility that we Minute Boys might succeed in releasing Archie from his imprisonment,he said emphatically, as if the matter admitted of no argument:
"You must not for a moment think of any such desperate venture. Even if the lad was not guarded as he surely is, what could any number of you boys do toward releasing him? It would be opposing yourselves to all the king's forces that are at present in Boston, and that is the same as if I had said you would come to certain death."
Then, as if to dismiss the matter without question, he began to speak with me of what the Committee of Safety believed our Minute Boys might be able to do in aid of the Cause, and explained where we could lay our hands on at least three skiffs which he knew had been secreted by those who loved the colonies.
"You will be told, before leaving here, how to get possession of the boats; but as to disposing of them in such places as may best suit your conveniences and opportunity in leaving the town, I can offer no advice. That is a matter which you lads must settle among yourselves later."
"Do you believe we will be aiding the Cause?" I asked, still doubtful as to whether these true men here in Cambridge were minded to lean upon us Minute Boys to any great degree.
"If you are prudent, close-mouthed, and energetic, there is no question but that you may serve the army which is to be raised, by bringing information of what goes on in Boston, better than could an equal number of men."
Then my father gave me much advice regarding the future, urging, which was unnecessary, that I should ever hold the good of the Cause above discomfort, above suffering, above even my own life.It mattered little, he declared, if we who had begun the struggle should go down into the Valley of Death, so that we left behind, for those who were to come, a land free from misrule and the oppression of tyrants.
Now, strange as it may seem, having once arrived in Cambridge I forgot how bitterly hunger and thirst had assailed me during the four and twenty hours just past, until my father was come to an end of his loving converse, when suddenly my desire for food and water returned like a flood, and I cried as if in pain.
One would have thought the dear man had done me some grievous wrong by not remembering that I might stand in need of refreshment, so many were the words of reproach which he addressed to himself while leading me to where I speedily found all that could be desired.
In going through this encampment it seemed that already had we of the colonies gathered a vast army, yet my father told me there were less than five thousand men then in Cambridge; but promised that they would be speedily increased in numbers as the days went by.
"It is but the beginning," he said, "already are those who favor the Cause marching toward this place as rapidly as may be, though as yet we have no real military head. The Provincial Congress has voted to raise an army of thirteen thousand six hundred men. Word has been sent out both by the Congress and Committee of Safety to other colonies, asking them to send all the troops they can spare, and Doctor Warren has written a stirring appeal, as you shall read, for I have made of it a copy."
Having said this he took from his pocket a folded paper which he gave to me, and I can set down exactly what was written upon it, for I have the document before me even to this day. It is as follows: