The Minute Boys of Boston

"Surely not, lad; but I am allowing we can so far trust him as to take for granted what he tells us as to the time. Now if I am guessing rightly, he will come back in the evening, and there is no good reason why he should not say what is o'clock when we put the question. It ought to be possible for us to learn whether he goes to bed, or ventures out again, and if it so chances that he turns in, I will try the secret passage."

"When you made the holes in the floor for the purpose of hearing what might be going on in the room above, did you realize that they would serve to let him know what we are doing?" Harvey asked, and Hiram's reply was a cheery one:

"Aye, that I did, lad; but I'm not minded he shall get any advantage because of them, since it won't be a great exertion to plug the holes with rags."

It was evident that Hiram had given more thought to the situation, and to the possibility of turning it to our advantage, than had any of us. From that moment I was well content to do as he suggested, save in one particular, and that was as to which of us should make the first venture, therefore I demanded to know why he claimed the right.

"Because in the first place, so far as the lobster backs know, I haven't been mixed up in the doings of the Minute Boys as have the rest of you."

"How do you make that out?" Archie cried sharply. "Seth Jepson has told the Britishers all he knows, and your name has been put down with the others."

"Seeing's how I am the least known in this town of Boston, it strikes me there is nobody who can go out with less danger than myself," Hiram declared, and straightway I put an end to his pretensions by saying:

"You would not be able to effect one half as much as any of us three, because of being unacquainted with the town and the people. Besides, you would be missed more quickly by Master Lord; the chances are if he should come, and you were asleep, he would insist upon awakening you, for you have acted as spokesman all the way through this business. Now I am the one who has the right to go, and I can be of more service than any other."

As a matter of course all hands insisted on knowing upon what I based my claims, and I put the matter plainly, perhaps with some show of arrogance:

"In the first place because I was chosen captain of the Minute Boys, which gives me the right to say what shall or shall not be done; then again I am as well acquainted with the people in this town as any other, knowing who may be trusted and whom we need fear."

"What would you do in case we agreed you should be the first to venture out?" Hiram asked, and I could well understand that he was inclined to believe me in the right.

"First I would go to my own home, and it would be safe to do so because no one save Master Lord has any idea that I am in town. My mother must know somewhat of the doings hereabouts since we left, and may be able to give valuable information."

"Is that all?" Archie asked as if he considered my plan to be of little importance so far as the work of releasing Silas was concerned.

"I would take advice from her as to who among the men known to love the Cause, it would be safe for me to visit, and to such person give full information of how we are situated, and what we strive to accomplish. That I fancy is as much as any one of us can do in a single night."

Archie would have had more to say regarding the matter, as I could understand from the expression on his face; but just at that moment the outer door was heard to open noisily and close with a bang, after which it seemed as if we could hear whoever had entered barring it behind him, and Hiram whispered softly to me:

"Get you on the further side of the bed, and let Harvey lie down beside you. Keep your face turned to the wall, as if you were the dummy of which we have spoken."

I understood that now he would make an experiment of the plan which he had suggested, and as softly as might be I followed his instructions, repeating them to Harvey.

In a twinkling we two lads were disposed of, I smothering my face in the blanket while my companion lay facing the table, and in a very short time after these preparations had been made the trap-door was opened.

Master Lord came down the ladder with a noisy welcome, as if it pleased him to see us thus apparently contented, and before he had an opportunity to make any remark, Hiram asked in a tone of curiosity:

"May it be night or day, Master Lord? We have been shut in here so long without seeing a ray of light that it has come to be a matter of no little importance to us."

"It is nigh to nine of the clock, when all found loitering on the street without a pass will be taken into custody, else I would have remained abroad later, for I am hoping most earnestly to seek out some way by which you can aid your comrade."

"Was it last night that we came here?" Hiram continued, as if prompted solely by curiosity.

"Not so; nearly eight and forty hours have passed since you arrived."

"Hiram guessed rightly, as he nearly always contrives to do," I said to myself, and then Master Lord asked:

"Why are you so interested in the time of day? Since you must perforce remain here idle while I am cutting out the work for you, it is of no especial importance whether the sun or the moon is shining."

"Aye, that may be," Hiram replied reflectively; "but you see yonder sleepy heads declared they would turn in because another night had surely come, and I was trying to persuade them they would be spending the day in slumber, which as I look at the matter is wrong, even though we may not venture out."

Master Lord appeared to be content with this explanation, and at once began telling of what he had heard on the street regarding General Gage's probable plans, giving no very important news save the fact that our people were sending troops to this post and that in the work of besieging the town, and it was understood by the Britishers that they were much the same as held fast, without means of leaving Boston, save they chose to beat a retreat by water.

"It stands to reason General Gage could not do anything of that kind, however much he might desire it," our double-faced host explained. "It is true he is not advancing the king's work by staying here, yet to evacuate the town would be to admit that the Americans had beaten him by that victory which he claims at Breed's hill."

Then he went on with a lot of words intended, as I fancied, rather to keep us quiet in mind than for any other purpose, and, giving but little heed to his talk, I tried in vain to guess why he wished to hold us in this place rather than turn all four over to the Britishers immediately, as I doubted not but that he intended to do finally.

He remained mayhap half an hour talking with Hiram, for neither Harvey nor Archie ventured to take part in the conversation, and giving no heed to me. If the dummy we proposed to make had been in my place, and I on the outside, he would have remained in ignorance of the fact.

"If he could thus be deceived once, why not twice or thrice?" and I said to myself that Hiram Griffin had worked out a plan as nearly perfect as anything of the kind could be reckoned.

When Master Lord had ascended to the upper floor, and closed and bolted the door to make certain we could not give him the slip, Hiram crept like a cat upon the table, pressing his ear against one of the apertures. He stood there as it seemed to me a full hour before he came down as cautiously as before, and leaned over the bed where I lay, to whisper softly in my ear:

"After I have plugged up the holes, lad, it is time for you to get to work, if so be you are minded to make the venture as was agreed upon."

Minded? I was burning with the desire to set out, foolishly believing that once I was free in the streets of Boston town, it would not only be possible for me to avoid the patrol, but I could do very much toward that release of Silas Brownrigg's on which we had set our hearts.

Not until Hiram had filled the two small apertures with pieces of cloth torn from his shirt, did I make any move, and then it can well be fancied that I strove to rise from the bed without noise.

Hiram was already wrapping his coat around a large rock taken from one of the casks, which as I understood was intended to represent my head, and when this had been placed upon the bed, he made a roll of blankets to form the body. Over this he threw a second blanket, and if so be the light was dim, I believed, as I stood near the table where Master Lord would naturally come if he should pay us a visit during the night, that it was a fair resemblance to myself as he had just seen me.

"I'm allowing that you can make your way out after five minutes of digging," Hiram whispered to me, and then came to my mind the one important question which we had failed to settle.

"How shall I cover the hole?"

"That is for you to decide after getting out. My idea is that the turf may be thrown up in such a way that it can be replaced, and yet I question much whether it is of any very great importance to conceal the mouth of the tunnel during such time as you may be absent, for why should any person, much less Job Lord, be prowling around the rear of this building in the night?"

With this Hiram dismissed the matter as if believing it was not a vital one, and instructed me as to how the first portion of the work should be performed. He was to stand on the table, having pulled out the plug of cloth from one of the apertures, where it might be possible to hear what was going on overhead. Archie would take station a few feet distant, toward the casks, while Harvey remained close by the rubbish hole. Then if Hiram heard any suspicious sounds he would motion to the one nearest, who could in turn let the next sentinel know, and this last might warn me to keep quiet in the tunnel. If perchance Master Lord did come down into the room, because of being suspicious, or in order to hold any further converse, I must stay in the passage, and the dummy play my part the same as if I had gained the outside.

When all this had been decided upon and understood, the lads stationed themselves, and I crept into the tunnel, finding the passage so very much narrower than I had counted upon that already was I beginning to fear I might, through clumsiness, so wedge myself in that it would be impossible to advance or retreat.

That, however, was one of the chances which must be taken, if we would get about the work in the only manner that promised success, and I wriggled my way upward until having come to where the earth was seemingly solid above my head, on the alert meanwhile for a signal from Harvey which should tell of danger in the rear.

Without delay, and yet not hastily lest by too much speed a blunder be made, I scraped away the dirt from above my head, allowing it to fall wheresoever it would, until I could feel the roots of the grass, and knew I was come to the turf.

Then, feeling carefully around at the very edge, so that I might force it upward in such a manner as to form a lid that would drop back into place again, I pressed with all my strength.

The roots of the grass tore asunder; a draft of fresh air struck upon my face, and, looking upward, I could see stars twinkling in the sky in a most friendly fashion, as it seemed to me.

Within sixty seconds I was standing erect in the rear of the building which Master Lord counted to be our prison, free to go whithersoever I would, so that I kept myself clear from the patrol and did not blunder upon too many Tories.

I had in the belt by my side the knife of which I have already spoken, and it was the only weapon which I could carry while making a way through the narrow tunnel; but this I was determined to use with deadly intent if peradventure I should come upon only one, or mayhap two enemies who recognized me, and I believe of a verity that, excited and desperate as I was become, it would have been possible for me to have fought for liberty with the energy of half a dozen lads.

It can well be fancied that I did not stand many seconds in the open talking with myself as to what I would do in case of a pinch. It seemed to me the most dangerous portion of my undertaking was to slip past the building without being overheard by Master Lord, and I flattered myself that no Indian on the war path ever moved more noiselessly than I, until having gained Long lane.

Even while making my way through the tunnel I had mapped out the course to be pursued, which was that I would cross the vacant land from Long lane to the corner of Bishop's alley and Milk street, after which it would be necessary to take my chances of coming upon the patrol. I counted even on going as near the governor's house as Old South Church, and from thence boldly down Corn hill, passing dangerously near the prison until coming to Dock square. As to the rest of the journey, I said to myself it should be determined by chance.

Once at a safe distance from Master Lord's house I walked rapidly, keeping my ears wide open, as you can well suppose, for any sound of the patrol, until I was come to Milk street, and from thence on my heart was literally in my mouth, for then I was in that part of the town where I must reasonably expect to come upon enemies.

Twice I was within a hair's-breadth of being discovered by the patrol, but it seemed as if fortune favored me on this venture, for each time when the sound of their footfalls came to my ears I was nigh a convenient hiding-place, either in a garden or at the rear of some building, and although it may seem impossible that the trick could have been turned so readily, I passed through Dock square and gained Union street without having come face to face with a single person.

Then it was that I steered a course for the water mill, and thence kept on along the shore of the mill pond, where was less danger of coming in contact with a lobster back, and after that the way was, as you might say, plain sailing.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the venture thus far, was when I strove to awaken my mother without attracting the attention of the neighbors. She, dear soul, had secured every door and window lest thieves might break in and steal what little of property the Britishers had left us, and more than once did I half turn as if to depart, believing I was courting too much of danger in thus striving to have speech with her.

Fortunately, however, I continued my efforts sufficiently long to arouse the dear woman, and heard in a low, frightened tone from inside, the question as to who was demanding entrance.

It goes without saying that the door was opened very suddenly when I whispered my name, and on feeling her arms around me I was so heartened that it seemed as if I could successfully encounter any ordinary number of Tories or red-coats who might seek to make me prisoner.

She would have cried out against it when I told her for what purpose we had come to Boston town, and I knew full well that if I had explained the dangers to which we were exposed, even while under the supposed care of Job Lord, she would have begged and insisted so strenuously for us to give over that which had in it so much of hazard, that I might not have prevailed against her.

I contented myself with telling her how we had chanced to come upon this Master Lord, and repeated what had been said concerning his loyalty to the Cause, thereby giving her to believe we were in perfect security while remaining at his dwelling, all of which went far toward calming her fears. It was what you might call deceiving one's mother, and yet I believed that under the circumstances was I fully warranted in so doing, otherwise had I left her as I must, she would have eaten her heart out with anxiety and forebodings.

To her mind it was not possible we could do anything whatsoever in aid of Silas. She had heard from our friends that the prisoners taken at Breed's hill were closely guarded; that none save those who were known to be of the king's side could even so much as have a glimpse of them, and knowing I could not remain in town very long without being taken into custody, instead of pleading that I remain with her, she begged me to go with all speed to Cambridge.

Explaining that I would have speech with some man who was devoted to the Cause and yet remained in Boston, she proposed that I go to Master William Mansfield, who lived in Mackrell lane, for he was one who had proven himself a true son of the colony, having staid in town because of lameness in the leg which prevented him from serving as a soldier.

I remained with my mother not more than half an hour, although it would have pleased me right well could I have staid there until break of day; but time was exceedingly precious if I would save my own skin as well as that of my comrades, and I hastened away, counting to do no more than have a plain talk with Master Mansfield before going back to the hiding-place which was a prison, knowing full well that the lads there must be filled with apprehension and fear as the moments went by, lest I might have been taken into custody, thus bringing about discovery of the secret passage.

Now, because of having succeeded so well thus far in my mission it may be I grew careless, although even to this day it seems as if I exercised every caution while on the way from my home to Mackrell lane.

Certain it was, however, that on going up Ann street to the town dock I failed to hear the sound of footsteps behind me, until a hand was laid on my shoulder, and a disagreeably familiar voice cried in a tone as of triumph:

"After what was done at Hog island, and then at Breed's hill, have you the courage to come into this town, Luke Wright?"

I wheeled suddenly as you may fancy, and it was as if the very blood grew chill in my veins when I saw that he who had spoken was none other than the traitorous cur, Seth Jepson.

CHAPTER XV

AN AWKWARD CAPTURE

I was thoroughly dazed at having let myself be come upon by the one lad in town who could do me the most mischief. It was literally impossible to speak for a full minute, and during such time as I remained staring stupidly into the lad's face there ran through my mind like a flash of lightning all it was possible for him to do, not only against myself, but those I had left behind in the cellar of Job Lord's house.

It is true that the Tory cur had then no means of knowing whether others had come into the town with me; but should he give an alarm and I be taken into custody, as must surely follow, then would that host of ours who claimed to be such a devoted friend to the Cause, make known the contents of his cellar in order to have a share in the credit of capturing "rebels."

I realized almost as soon as the scoundrel had spoken, that we two must not part; that the safety of all our little company depended upon my silencing him in some way; but how might it be done save at the expense of killing? Even though his death would have been of benefit to the Cause, I could not find it in my heart to do that which seemed much the same as murder.

"I little expected to find you at large in the streets of this town," Seth said in what he meant to be a jeering tone, but, with all my senses on the alert because of the imminence of the danger, I noticed that he looked uneasily out of the tail of his eye as if having it in mind to give me the slip, and this, as you may suppose, heartened me, although even while I stood gazing at him did I realize that he was simply casting about in his mind for some means whereby he might take advantage of thus meeting with me.

I answered boldly enough, however, and was well pleased to continue the conversation sufficiently long to have an opportunity of deciding upon my course of action, therefore said:

"Will you tell me how long since I have not had the privilege of walking the streets of Boston town, Seth Jepson?"

"That's a question easily answered. You lost the right when you attacked the king's men off Hog island."

"Well, and what did you lose when you showed yourself not only a traitor to the Cause, but a cur, gaining the confidence of your comrades only that you might betray them to a British prison? Can such as you walk the streets freely while I, who have made no pretense of being other than what your governor calls a rebel, must remain in hiding?"

"It is the duty of every true man, as well as lad, to serve the king, and there can be no such thing as treachery when one works in behalf of his lawful sovereign," Seth replied, wincing and raising his arm before his face as if thinking I counted on striking him.

"The lawful sovereign of these colonies is whosoever the people shall choose to be their ruler, and the time is speedily coming, Seth Jepson, when the lobster backs will be driven out of Boston. After that has been done you will be called upon to settle with the Minute Boys, and I assure you the debt won't be easily paid."

I was deliberately striving to work myself up into a fury that I might strike the cur senseless with a blow, taking the chance of killing him, for as the seconds sped I realized how great was our danger unless his tongue could be silenced.

He must have seen something of this in my face, for he wheeled about suddenly, crying at the full strength of his lungs as he attempted to flee:

"Murder! murder!"

He had no time to make further outcry, for as soon as the word was repeated I clutched him by the throat from behind, dragging him backward, and burying my fingers so deeply in his neck that he was like to be strangled.

It was only when his eyes bulged out and his tongue protruded, as after the hangman has finished his work, that I realized I was within an ace of taking a human life. Then I released my hold; kneeling on his breast, I pinned both his arms down to the ground so that he had no opportunity of escaping, or making an attack upon me.

No sooner had I done this, and he began to breathe more freely, than I realized that by my assault I had increased the danger, for surely, even at that time of night, those living near about must have heard that shrill, frantic cry.

To leave him now in condition to follow me, would be the greatest folly of all, and acting upon the impulse of the moment I clutched him by the collar, dragging the cur to his feet as if he had been of no more weight than a baby. Then I forced him on before me down Union street toward the mill pond as I said sharply, yet in a cautious tone, while I withdrew my knife from its sheath that he might see I had a weapon:

"I'm not minded you shall send me to a British prison, Seth Jepson, and I swear solemnly that if you raise your voice above a whisper, or fail to run at your best pace, I'll thrust this knife into your heart with the certainty of killing you."

"Would you do murder?" he asked in a hoarse whisper, and I knew from the tremor of his voice that he was in an agony of fear.

"It will not be murder to kill such as you, and I shall have no hesitation in doing so unless you obey every command promptly."

During such time as we had been speaking the pace was not slackened, and that the cowardly cur had lost all heart, I understood when he forged ahead at his best speed, as if believing implicitly in the threat I had made.

Running swiftly we were soon on the shore of the mill pond, having arrived without seeing or hearing anything to betoken pursuit, and believing it safe to slacken the pace that I might reserve my strength in case we were come to that pass where I must release the prisoner in order to save my own skin, I allowed the Tory cur to walk, but took good care to keep a firm grip on his collar as I mentally asked myself how it would be possible to rid myself of the prisoner with due regard to safety.

I began to realize that I had made an awkward capture; that I had under my hand one whom I dared not set free, and could not take with me. It was a most perplexing situation, and during a few seconds I well nigh lost heart because of having thus plunged my comrades into yet greater difficulties.

Yet what other could I have done? If, when he accosted me, I had turned to flee, he would have followed, and within two or three minutes a score of lobster backs must have been on my trail, when there could be no chance of escape. My only safety lay in holding fast to him, and yet by so doing was I increasing the peril.

He must have fancied I had grown faint-hearted to a certain degree, for as we walked on by the shore of the mill pond, he obeying every motion of mine as does a dog that has been whipped, the scoundrel began to whimper, being fool enough to think that by the use of soft words he could make his standing good once more.