James Otis

“ Archie said, and Hiram cried much as though the words irritated him:
"Since we are come, and since we have given our secret to another, there is no good sense in harking back to what might have been done. We have set our faces toward Silas, and so long as we remain alive and free they are not to be turned from the goal. Instead of sitting here conjuring up old women's fancies which can do nothing save make the heart faint, suppose we follow Master Lord's advice and get a night's rest, for no one may say when we shall have another such opportunity?" ”

“ I suggested, striving to speak in a mirthful tone as if in my mind there was no possibility of such treachery on his part, and Harvey clutched me by the hand nervously, as he whispered:
"Don't! Don't give words to what seems so very like the truth!"
"Have done with talk like that!" Hiram cried angrily. "To judge Master Lord an enemy is the same as calling the lieutenant, who treated us in such friendly fashion, a traitor." ”

“ It seemed to me as I looked at Archie, that his eyes were sunken, and I know full well his lips were drawn apart as are those of one who has been suddenly killed.
Save for the excitement of the battle we would have been in most painful distress; but the mind is so much stronger than the body that even when we had time to think of our condition, little heed was given to anything save the desire to do once more what we had twice done before, and make an end by the final repulse of the lobster backs. ”

“ Every Moment is infinitely precious; an Hour lost may deluge your Country in Blood, and entail perpetual Slavery upon the few of your Posterity who may survive the Carnage. We beg and entreat you, as you will answer it to your Country, to your own Conscience, and, above all, as you will answer to God himself, that you will hasten and encourage, by all possible Means, the Enlistment of Men to form the Army, and send them forward to Headquarters at Cambridge, with that expedition which the vast Importance and instant Urgency of the affair demands. ”

“ The first craft which came ashore brought Archie Hemming, and no sooner did her bow grate upon the shingle than he leaped over, clasping me in his arms as if I had only recently escaped from the grave, but to my mind there was no time to indulge in any show of affection, and almost thrusting him from me, I whispered:
"It is plain Seth Jepson has played the traitor, by going after the lobster backs to take us into custody while we remain here. There is no time to be lost; we must embark on the instant." ”

“ 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." ”

“ The lantern was burning sufficiently bright to illumine the room. I saw Hiram holding Seth Jepson by both shoulders as he stared into his face in wonder and perplexity, while Archie and Harvey, each with their hands on their knees, stooped that they might look up at what must have seemed a ghastly visitor, for probably the idea of that Tory cur coming into their hiding-place was the last thought that would have entered their minds. ”

“ My cry of triumph was speedily swallowed up by the shouts of the lobster backs as they leaped into the redoubt from all sides, coming at us fearlessly with their bayonets, knowing full well we could not make reply save with the butts of our muskets, and these we used, so desperate had our people become, until a score of the king's men had fallen before such crude weapons. ”

“ 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." ”

“ Job Lord was so certain the pass would not avail you, that it was almost the same as if I had seen you in the clutches of the lobster backs. You were cruel to leave us at such a time, simply to show that you could roam about the city at will, when the slightest mistake would have caused our chances for escaping with Silas to fall to the ground."
"Is it in your mind, lad, that I went out simply on a whim? That I am so light-headed as to take chances in this Tory town for the purpose of showing that it could be done?" he asked in a tone that was really one of reproof. ”

“ That Archie was nearly as disturbed in mind as I, and had quite as many fears regarding the future, I knew when he said angrily, leaning over the bed as if to strike the Tory lad:
"It is not well for you to crow yet a while, Seth Jepson. Up to this moment you have been so cowardly as hardly to know what was going on, and therefore it is we will have no words from you."
"It can do you no more harm to hear me speak, than when Master Lord talks," he muttered, and Archie replied with no slight show of temper:
"Job Lord has not shown himself to be the white-livered cur you have. ”

“ We were in desperate straits, and all of us knew full well that the danger would not be so great when Master Lord had discovered that we had a means of escape, providing we could hold him prisoner, than if he remained in ignorance of our purpose and at liberty to set the lobster backs on us whenever he chose.
"The only thing against your plan, Hiram, is that which you yourself have confessed," Archie said thoughtfully. "The difficulty of concealing the mouth of the tunnel after one of us has made his way through it." ”

“ 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. ”

“ I repeated stupidly. "We have whipped them, Hiram! Look yonder, not a man remains on the hill who can run or crawl about."
"Don't flatter yourself as to that. These men who have been hired to take the chances of death will be forced back upon us. Look yonder," and he pointed toward Boston town. "One, two, three, four, five barges, and filled with marines, if so be I can make out the color they wear after all the glare of red that has been before my eyes. ”

“ Once they were well off, and our consort so far away in the distance that there was no possibility of her being overtaken, even though the lobster backs had sufficient pluck remaining to make the attempt, we lads, wounded as well as sound, sent after them a ringing cheer of triumph. I can well fancy that those soldiers who had counted on grinding us of the colonies into the dust with but little effort, must have felt like hiding their faces for very shame at having been thus soundly whipped by a company of boys who had never until that moment even so much as played at being warriors. ”

“ Had General Gage, or whosoever gave the orders for the vessels of war to open fire, known how weary, how thirsty and nearly exhausted we were, their powder and balls might well have been saved, for I question if even Colonel Prescott, warrior though he was, or Doctor Warren, whom I had not seen until just before noon, would have given the word for us to charge in the hope of checking that advance of well-trained soldiers, or to prevent them from stepping foot on shore.
"How many men think you are in yonder barges?" ”

“ Then it was that Archie spoke for the first time since Hiram hauled him neck and crop out through the shattered window:
"If ever the time comes when I can repay you fellows for what you have done this night, I'll strive hard to make the reckoning even."
"You'll not do anything of the kind, lad, for we have done only our duty. I'm hoping every one of us would have worked just as eagerly had the prisoner been a stranger, for we who count on aiding the Cause must reckon everyone who loves it, as a friend." ”

“ Archie cried derisively. "If he picks his intimates from such spawn as you there's good reason why he has allowed these colonies of his to come to open rebellion against injustice."
"You've said it! You've said it!" the Tory cur cried as if in delight. "You've admitted that you are rebels, and the king's officers shall hear of what you say, for the time has come when they are marking such as you for future punishment." ”

“ I said gleefully, taking my seat in the boat after having bidden my father good by. "It seems to me you are like to meet with more of adventure in our company, than loitering behind here at Cambridge where all are much like a flock of sheep without a leader."
"Faith, and I begin to believe that myself," Hiram replied as he took up the oars, and a moment later we were gliding down the river in the twilight which would be deepened to darkness before we were come within sight of Boston. ”

“ At the same instant I realized how it was that Seth had so suddenly shot forward when I was striving to push him through the tunnel. Hiram, hearing the slight noise, and thinking I was stuck fast in the narrow passage, seized him by the shoulders, dragging him through and out past the screen of casks until smitten with fear and amazement. ”

“ How we succeeded in getting out of the redoubt I cannot well say. In a street brawl where forty or fifty men are engaged, those in the thickest of the fight have no idea of what may be going on around them, and so it was with me. We Minute Boys remained in a solid body so far as was possible, aiding each other whenever the opportunity came to ward off a blow from a comrade's head, or striking down with musket or stone a Britisher who was about to thrust his bayonet into a companion's heart. ”

“ Archie would have lingered to make Seth a bit more comfortable by loosening the gag ever so little; but Hiram literally drove him toward the door as he cried in an angry tone, which I dare say was assumed to cover his nervousness:
"Look after yourself, lad, and give over being soft-hearted about such curs. We've got no easy job before us, and are needing every moment of time." ”

“ I have seen many a man who could put on a bold front when he knew mortal danger menaced, but never one who was able to stand up with a smile on his lips and a quip on his tongue when he knew he had been much the same as been driven into a corner, as did Hiram Griffin that day. ”

“ 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." ”

“ Master Lord asked, now beginning to understand that soft words would be of but little avail with one like Hiram.
"Those are questions which I cannot answer just now; but after we have put you in such plight that it will be no longer possible to make an outcry, I'm counting on doing what I may at finding out. It will go hard if there isn't something in the room above that will disprove your words." ”

“ By no means, lads, for that is what you count on being, and I venture to predict that in the days to come, when you are men grown old, such a title will bring to your hearts more of pride than any which could be bestowed by a king. The time is not far distant when this colony shall be freed from British rule, and all those who have had a part in the work may well give thanks because God allowed them such abundant opportunity of serving their country. ”

“ At the beginning of the year 1775 no less than an hundred and fifty soldiers were on duty at the Neck night and day, and yet our people were able to send past them secretly such of weapons and ammunition as were to provide us, at a later date, with what might be needed to uphold our rights. Even the youngest among us understood that the day was not far distant when we must stand face to face with the lobster backs in battle array, if we would preserve our own rights, and every article which might be used in the coming struggle was smuggled under the noses of the guards. ”

“ Even while speaking Hiram was descending the ladder, at the foot of which Harvey stood white-faced, with staring eyes, for he had no means of knowing how the battle was going, and I could understand full well in what a turmoil must have been his mind.
"It's all right, lad," Hiram said reassuringly as he laid his hand on Harvey's shoulder. "Pull yourself together, for we must make a quick flitting. ”

“ 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." ”

“ I believe of a verity that we on Breed's hill might have driven back the Britishers once more, even though our store of ammunition was so small, had it not been for the enemy's artillery which, as I have already said, swept the interior of the breastwork from end to end, forcing us into the redoubt.
Grimly we awaited the oncoming of those lines of red coats. I believe our people fired with truer aim than at any other time during the action, for each knew only too well how necessary it was that every bullet should count. ”