THE PRISONER
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, and looking 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 the _Lively_, the _Somerset_ and the
_Falcon_ were anchored off the shore, stretching from the South to the
North battery.
At one time I was on the point of awakening Hiram and 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 find that 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
aiding him," 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 were hidden 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 with the 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 the Cause. 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 the red-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:
"In Congress at Watertown, April 30th, 1775.
"_Gentlemen_,--The barbarous Murders of our innocent
Brethren on Wednesday the 19th Instant, has made it
absolutely necessary that we immediately raise an army to
defend our Wives and our Children from the butchering Hands
of an inhuman Soldiery, who, incensed at the obstacles they
meet with in their bloody progress, and enraged at being
repulsed from the Field of Slaughter, will, without the
least doubt take the first Opportunity in their Power to
ravage this devoted Country with Fire and Sword. We conjure
you, therefore, that you give all Assistance possible in
raising an Army. Our all is at Stake. Death and Devastation
are the certain Consequences of Delay. 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.
"JOSEPH WARREN, President."
[Illustration: THE ENCAMPMENT AT CAMBRIDGE.]
I would I might set down all I heard and saw during that day in
Cambridge; but it cannot be if I am to tell the story of what we Minute
Boys succeeded in doing during a certain portion of the year of Grace
1775.
It is enough to say that before nightfall I had received all the
instructions and advice that could be given, and was ready to make an
attempt at getting into town once more, mourning meanwhile because of
having left the skiff so far away that a long tramp would be necessary
in order to come at her.
Even amid his duties, and they were many, Doctor Warren had time to
think of me and my well-being, for when, near to sunset, I was standing
with my father in front of the building occupied by the Committee of
Safety, already taking leave of him, the doctor came up smiling as if
seeing in me an old and valued friend, and said:
"I am not minded, lad, that you should tramp from here to the ferry in
order to regain your skiff. Leave her where she is, and she may serve
you a good turn at another time. Hiram Griffin has made ready a boat on
the river, and you can embark in her, if so be it is prudent to land on
either shore of the town."
"I will take the chance, sir, at one place or another," I said, feeling
wondrously relieved at thus being spared the many miles of travel, and
for a moment thinking it might be the doctor's purpose to send Hiram
with me.
After I found the boat which had been made ready, I could not repress an
exclamation of disappointment at seeing that she was a large craft, far
too heavy to be handled by a single person.
"I have the long tramp before me even now," I said in a tone of dismay
to my father, who had accompanied me to the river. "With a craft like
that I would have no hope of escape if peradventure the lobster backs
gave chase."
"I reckon the two of us can manage to make a decent show of speed,"
Hiram said with a laugh, and then it was I learned that he counted on
going with me into the town, taking his chances of getting back later,
rather than allow me to go alone.
"You had better join us Minute Boys and have done with it, Hiram," 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.
No sooner were we well under way than there came to me again the same
hope I had had during a portion of the time we lay hidden on Noddle
island, regarding the possibility of being able to free Archie from
prison, and I asked in what I intended should be a careless tone:
"Hiram, if it so chanced while you were in Boston town that there was
the shadow of a hope of getting Archie out of prison, would you lend a
hand?"
"Give me half a show to do aught toward thwarting the lobster backs, and
I'll stay with you till the crack of doom, if so be I live that long and
the job is not finished before."
"Then we'll find the way," I said as if believing the words were true,
even though at the same moment I deemed it little less than the fancy of
a madman to think anything could be done to aid the dear lad while he
was held so closely by the enemy.
After we were arrived at the mouth of the river, came the question as to
what part of Boston we would aim to strike. There was much of danger
that we might be overhauled by the guard-boats if so be we attempted to
pull around Hudson's point, and yet perchance greater peril in striving
to land anywhere between West and Fox hill.
"I favor the shortest voyage by water," Hiram said when I had laid
before him that which was in my mind. "If so be you can hide the boat as
well on this side as at your ship-yard, then let's make the venture, for
I'm thinking we'll meet no more lobster backs ashore than afloat."
And so it was we headed for the nearest point, taking all the chances,
and that night's work caused me to believe that he who goes boldly about
a matter, is in no more danger than the timorous one who strives to make
certain the way be clear before he sets out.
We came straight across from the river, landing well to the south of the
Powder House, where were scrub oaks enough to afford a partial hiding
place for the boat, although I doubted not that she would be come upon
by the Britishers before another day had passed.
"It will be better she is taken by the lobster backs empty, than with us
in her," Hiram said grimly when we drew her up on land, and it can well
be fancied that I was of the same opinion.
Now was come the most hazardous portion of the journey, for if we ran
against the watch, or a red-coated squad, we were come to grief and like
to join Archie instead of aiding him.
There was little sense in standing on the shore discussing the danger,
therefore we set off at once across the Common as if headed for the
Bridewell, until we were come to within an hundred yards of it, when we
left the Alms house on our right, going over Beacon hill and thence
across to the mill pond. It was a roundabout way to gain Salem street,
where Silas Brownrigg lived; but it seemed to me the safest, although
even by such a course we twice narrowly escaped the patrol, saving
ourselves by taking refuge first in a garden, and then by sneaking
behind Master Mountford's house.
So that we escaped the danger I did not count fatigue, and felt very
well satisfied with fortune when we finally stood at the door of Silas
Brownrigg's home, knocking cautiously lest we arouse other than him whom
we desired to see.
It was not such a difficult matter to waken the lad, even though it was
past midnight, for in those troublous times the people in Boston who
favored the Cause slept lightly, young or old, never knowing how soon a
red-coated squad of men might demand admission in the name of the king,
having come through some whim of General Gage's, or of his
understrappers.
Silas was not greatly surprised at seeing us. During the day while Hiram
and I lay in hiding on Noddle island, he had gone to my home in search
of me, and there learned from my mother that I had set out for
Cambridge.
Before nightfall Seth Jepson gave him information that Archie was lodged
in prison on the charge of attempting to carry news to the "rebels,"
and he would have been dull indeed could he not have guessed the whole
story from that on.
While Hiram and I gave him an account of our doings from the time of
that unfortunate stumbling upon the watch, he fed us royally, his mother
even dressing herself that she might be certain we had food in plenty,
and before we were done with eating and talking we had discussed a dozen
impractical plans for freeing our comrade.
It was decided that we would call the Minute Boys together at the
ship-yard, and there lay before them what had been asked of us by our
people at Cambridge, after which we might, if possible, find some means
of aiding Archie.
Not until it was broad day did I venture to go home, for only in the
light might a "rebel" walk the streets of his own town without fear of
being molested by the Britishers, and once there it can well be fancied
how warm was my welcome. My mother had heard from Silas of Archie's
imprisonment, and it was only natural she should feel even more anxious
for me than otherwise would have been the case, knowing that already was
one of our number come to grief through striving to aid the Cause.
But for the fact that my father was in full accord with all I strove to
do as a Minute Boy, and had even mapped out the work for our company, I
believe of a verity the good woman would have insisted then and there
that I give over any attempt to play the soldier.
However, she did no more than urge me to be cautious, never running my
head in danger when there was no real need for it, and seemed to have
the idea that such information as we lads could pick up concerning the
movements of the Britishers in Boston, would be of but little value to
those brave men at Cambridge.
I had left Hiram behind me at Silas's home, for there was no reason why
he should show himself, a stranger in the town, more than might be
necessary; but at about nine of the clock he came to tell me that the
Minute Boys were assembling at the rendezvous, and I set off to meet my
future comrades.