in it!"
"My brother is in bed, and a friend is spending the night with him;
but I will go and tell him."
Several minutes passed before Tom could strike a light with the
tinder-box, put on his clothes, and get to the door. Before descending
the stairs he looked in the glass to see that the stains had been
wholly removed from his face, and examined the floor to ascertain that
no tea-leaves had been dropped from their clothing. He then descended
the stairs and opened the door.
"Good-evening. What is it you wish?" he said.
"You are Tom Brandon, are you not?" asked one of the officers.
"That is my name."
"It is believed, Mr. Brandon, that you were one of the party who
poured the tea into the harbor this evening, and we have come to
search for evidence."
"Come right in, gentlemen."
The officers stepped into the hall.
"This is the parlor, here is the sitting-room, and beyond it is the
pantry. I don't think you will find much tea, for we quit drinking it
three years ago, and haven't had any since," said Tom.
"Shall we see your chamber, Mr. Brandon?"
"Certainly; you will find my old schoolmate, Roger Stanley of Concord,
in bed, but he won't mind."
They climbed the stairs, entered the chamber, asked Mr. Stanley's
pardon for intruding, took a look at the washbowl, opened a
clothespress, got down on their knees and looked at the floor, to see
if they could find any tea.
"Here is another chamber, my sister's; she spoke to you from the
window. You will hardly think of entering the room till she has had
time to put on her dress."
"Oh, no; we would not be so rude as to enter her chamber. We do not
suppose she had anything to do with it," said the officers.
"Will you not take a look at the garret?" Tom asked.
"No. You have covered your tracks so well, I do not suppose we should
find anything."
"Thank you. If, as you say, I had a hand in it, I regard it quite a
compliment that I have covered my tracks so well," Tom replied, as the
officers took their departure. He went upstairs and opened the door to
Berinthia's chamber a little.
"'Rinth, you are the best girl that ever lived," he said.
"Oh, Tom, you did that splendidly," she replied.
There was merry laughter from her lips as he closed the door and
returned to his chamber.
XIV.
BENEVOLENCE AND BROTHERHOOD.
The summer of 1774 was waning. Once more Robert Walden was on his way
to Boston. The wagon which Jenny and Paul were dragging was loaded
with bags filled with corn and rye, not to be sold in the market, but
a gift from Joshua Walden and his fellow-citizens of Rumford to the
people of Boston. Parliament, in retaliation for the destruction of
the tea, had passed an act closing the port to commerce.[50] After the
first day of June, no vessels other than those of the navy could enter
or depart from the harbor. Fishermen could no longer catch cod or
mackerel for the market. Farmers on the banks of the Mystic could not
dig potatoes from their fields and transport them down the river on
the ebbing tide to the town dock. The people of Charlestown could not
gather cabbages from their gardens, take them across the ferry, and
peddle them in Boston. Only by the road leading to Roxbury could the
suffering people be supplied with food. Besides closing the port,
Parliament had abolished the charter of Massachusetts. The people no
longer could elect thirty-six councilors; they were to be appointed by
the king, instead. No more could they lawfully assemble in town
meeting to elect representatives to the legislature. All rights and
privileges were swept away.
[Footnote 50: It is known in history as the Boston Port Bill. It was
passed as a retaliatory measure. No possible advantage could accrue to
government by its passage and enforcement. It was designed not only to
awe the people into submission, but to overturn the government of the
people and establish kingly prerogative. Parliament could not have
committed a greater blunder. Instead of humbling the people of Boston,
it aroused the sympathies of the entire country, and became a potent
influence in bringing about the union of the Colonies. Contributions
of food, wheat, corn, rye, peas, beans, flocks of sheep, and herds of
cattle came from all of the Colonies.]
It was near sunset when Robert turned into the highway leading from
Roxbury to Boston. He was surprised to find fortifications--a ditch
and embankment and cannon mounted upon it--at the narrowest part of
the Neck. The sentinels glared at him, but did not offer any
insult.[51] He knew several regiments of troops had already arrived,
and it was reported that others would soon be sent from England to
enforce the laws. He drove slowly along the street, past the Liberty
Tree. A half dozen citizens were sitting on the benches beneath it
smoking their pipes. There were few people but many soldiers in the
streets. He watered the horses at the pump, then drove to the Green
Dragon.
[Footnote 51: Several regiments of troops had already arrived in
Boston, and fortifications were being constructed on Roxbury Neck,
making it a garrisoned town.]
It was a hearty welcome which he received in the Brandon home.
"You find us under the harrow," said Mr. Brandon. "The king and
ministry are determined to crush the life out of us. All business has
stopped. Grass is growing in the streets. Ship-carpenters, joiners,
blacksmiths, ropemakers, are idle; no one has any work for them.
Thousands have already left town, and others are going. Nobody can
earn a penny, and we are all growing poorer. We should starve in a
short time were it not for the kindness and benevolence of the people.
We are receiving contributions of food from everywhere. Doctor Warren,
John Hancock, and a large number of our public-spirited citizens are
distributing the gifts."
Tom said he was aiding the committee, looking after the poor. Not only
were kind-hearted people sending grain, but flocks and herds.
"Only yesterday," he said, "Colonel Israel Putnam, who served in the
French and Indian war, arrived with a flock of sheep from Connecticut.
Day before yesterday a sloop dropped anchor in Salem harbor, loaded
with corn contributed by the people of North Carolina. It will be
teamed into Boston. The Marblehead fishermen have just sent between
two and three hundred quintals of codfish. The committee has received
a letter from Mr. Gadsden of South Carolina, expressing the hope that
we never will pay a cent for the blasted tea. As evidence that South
Carolina is with us, he sent one hundred casks of rice, contributed by
his fellow-citizens, shipping it to Providence, to be hauled the rest
of the way by teams. The people of Baltimore loaded a vessel with
three thousand bushels of corn, twenty barrels of rye flour, and as
many of shipbread. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are driven in
every day. The town of Lebanon, Connecticut, sent three hundred and
seventy sheep; Norwich, two hundred and ninety; Groton, one hundred
sheep and twenty-six fat cattle. Two schooners have arrived at Salem,
bringing three thousand bushels of corn from Maryland. Another vessel
brought one thousand bushels from Virginia."
"These contributions," said Mr. Brandon, "show that the people of the
Colonies, or at least a large portion of them, sympathize with us in
our resistance to tyranny."
"You have not told me about Rachel; is she well?" Berinthia asked.
Robert informed her she was quite well, and hard at work as usual.
"I suppose she is spinning for herself, these days?" said Berinthia,
smiling.
"Yes, I dare say; she has been making sheets and pillow-cases since
Roger Stanley was in Rumford."
"She has written me about him, and thinks there is nobody else in the
world so good as he. I'm glad they are engaged. She is just the one
for him and he for her."
There was one person whom Robert wished to know about, who had been in
his thoughts through every step of his journey. How should he ask
about Miss Newville without revealing his interest in her? How
ascertain if she were well: if her heart was still her own?
"I suppose the arbitrary acts of Parliament may have brought about
estrangements between old-time friends," he said.
"Yes, former friendships are being broken. Many of my old
acquaintances do not speak to me."
"Is it so bad as that?"
"Yes, families are being divided. Fathers and mothers taking sides
with the king, sons and daughters standing resolutely for the rights
of the people. You remember that sweet girl, Lucy Flucker, whom you
met at Miss Newville's garden party?"
"Yes, a lovely lady."
"Her father is secretary of the Colony, and of course sides with the
king, but she is soon to be married to the bookseller, Mr. Knox,
greatly against the wishes of the family; not because he is not worthy
of her, but because he opposes the king and his ministers," said
Berinthia.
"Are you and Miss Newville still friends?"
"Yes, just as good friends as ever. Her father, of course, is a Tory,
and her mother is a red-hot one, but Ruth keeps her own counsel. You
can have no idea what a noble girl she is, gracious to everybody, but
true to herself. She had an offer of marriage from Lord Upperton, a
little while ago, and refused him, to the astonishment of all her
friends, and especially her mother. Just why she rejected his suit no
one knows. Intimate as we are, she never has let me into the secret."
"From what little I have seen of Miss Newville, she seems to be a lady
of sterling character," Robert replied.
"She has many admirers, especially among his majesty's officers. She
receives them with charming courtesy, listens to their flattering
words, but is very chary of her favors. I do not wonder that half a
dozen colonels, majors, and captains are dead in love with her. I hope
you will see her while here. She often inquires about you and Rachel,
and wishes she could have another ride in a pung. I'll tell you what
I'll do,--invite her to take supper with us, and then you'll see what
a glorious girl she is."
"I can believe all you say of her."
Once more, the following morning, Robert had the pleasure of shaking
hands with Doctor Warren and Samuel Adams, and receiving the thanks of
the committee of supply for the contribution from Rumford.
Mr. Adams said the Colonies must prepare to enter upon a struggle to
maintain their liberties. Governor Gage was carrying things with a
high hand. A few nights before, a body of troops had seized the powder
in the magazines out towards Medford, and taken it to the Castle.[52]
General Gage was seizing muskets. He had purchased cannon and cohorn
mortars, and chain-shot of Mr. Scott, and had paid him five hundred
pounds for them. He hoped the people of Rumford would put themselves
in a condition to be ready at a minute's warning to resist any
aggressions on the part of the troops. It was evident that the king
was determined to carry out his plans by force of arms.
[Footnote 52: The powder belonging to the Province was stored in a
magazine on Quarry Hill, in Charlestown. During the month of August,
1774, several of the towns removed their proportion of the ammunition.
At half past four o'clock, on the morning of September 1,
Lieutenant-Colonel Madison, with 260 men, embarked in thirteen large
boats at Long Wharf, rowed up Mystic River, and landed at Mr. Temple's
farm, seized 250 half barrels of powder and landed it in the Castle,
also two cannon from the gun-houses in Cambridge. The news spread, and
before evening nearly 5,000 people had assembled in Cambridge with
their muskets. They compelled Mr. Danforth, member of the governor's
council, to resign. The high-sheriff promised to serve no warrant
under the new act of parliament. Lieutenant-Governor Oliver hastened
to Boston, and informed General Gage that if he were to send a body of
troops into the country the people would rise in their anger. Upon his
return to Cambridge the people surrounded his house and compelled him
to resign his commission. General Gage wrote to London that he must
have more troops to enable him to strike a decisive blow. He expected
the people would march into Boston. In order to prevent surprise, the
guards were doubled, and the troops ordered to lay on their arms
through the night.]
Having delivered the donation to the committee, Robert strolled
through the town, finding many houses, shops, and stores tenantless.
There was a strange silence,--no hurrying of feet, no rumbling of
teams, no piles of merchandise. The stores were closed, the shutters
fastened. Grass was growing in the streets and tufts of oats were
springing up where the horses, a few weeks before, had munched their
provender. Here and there he met men and boys, wandering listlessly,
with sadness in their faces, but yet behind the sorrow there was a
determination to endure to the bitter end.
Robert visited his old acquaintance, Henry Knox, no longer in the
bookstore at the corner of King Street, opposite the Town House, but
in a store of his own on Cornhill. He passed a tailor's shop and a
harness-maker's before he came to Mr. Knox's bookstore, where he was
heartily welcomed.
"I remember the book which you purchased the first time we met; I hope
you liked it."
"It is very entertaining, and has been read by nearly everybody in
Rumford, and is pretty much worn out," Robert replied.
While talking with Mr. Knox, he saw a white-haired gentleman pass the
store. The next moment he heard a bell jingling in the shop of the
harness-maker, then in the shoemaker's, and lastly in the tailor's.
Mr. Knox laughed as the gentleman quickened his pace.
"Possibly, Mr. Walden, you do not understand the ringing of the bells
in succession. The gentleman is one of the Tory councilors recently
appointed by Governor Gage. He has accepted the appointment and the
citizens are worrying the life out of him. Each shopman has a bell
which he jingles the moment he spies a councilor, giving notice to the
other shopmen." Mr. Knox looked up at the clock. "It is about time for
the council to assemble in the Town House; quite likely you will hear
the bells tinkle again. More than half of those appointed by General
Gage have already resigned, and I do not doubt others will ere long
throw up their commissions. Not much honor is to be gained by holding
an office against public opinion."
"It is not a pleasing sight--the presence of so many troops," Robert
remarked.
"Nominally, we are under civil law; but in reality our civil rights
are gone, and we are under military government," Mr. Knox replied.
Two officers entered the store and were courteously received by the
bookseller, who showed them the latest books received from London. He
informed Robert, in a whisper, that they were Major John Small and
Ensign De Berniere. Another gentleman entered, a citizen, whose coat
was covered with dust, as if he had been long on the road. He was
heartily welcomed by Mr. Knox, who introduced him to Robert as Colonel
Israel Putnam of Connecticut.
"I think I have heard my father speak of you; he was a lieutenant
under Captain Stark at Ticonderoga. Perhaps you remember him," Robert
said.
"Indeed I do remember Joshua Walden, and a braver man never wore a
uniform in the Rifle Rangers than he."
The major of the king's troops laid down his book and approached with
outstretched hand.
"Well, I declare! If here isn't my old friend Putnam," he said.
There was mutual hand-shaking between Major Small and Colonel Putnam,
who had fought side by side under the walls of Ticonderoga and at Fort
Edward.
"And so you are here to enforce the Regulation Act," said Putnam.
"It is because you are rebellious," Small replied.
"You are attempting to subvert our liberties by enforcing unrighteous
laws. The Colonies exhibited their loyalty to the king when we stood
side by side to drive out the French. We taxed ourselves to the
utmost. England has repaid but a very small proportion of the cost. We
were loyal then, and we are loyal now; but we never will submit to
tyranny," continued Putnam.
"The people of this town threw the tea into the dock, and now they
must pay for it. Those that dance must settle with the fiddler," Small
replied.
"Not one penny will we ever pay. Parliament and the king have closed
the port, bringing distress upon the community; but it has awakened
the sympathies of the country from Passamaquoddy to Savannah. Now,
Small, you are an old soldier, and so am I; we have smelled gunpowder,
and can afford to talk plainly. You are here, five thousand or more,
with several thousand additional troops just ready to sail from
England. You have come to overawe us by force of arms. You have
changed the charter of this Province; if this, why not all the others?
Why do you do it? I say you, for you represent the king; you do it
because you are determined to make the Colonies subservient to the
crown. You cannot bear to have us manufacture anything this side of
the sea, and are determined to make us your milch cow. Let me tell you
that you won't succeed. You do not know the spirit of the people. Let
one drop of blood be shed by the troops, and a mighty host of armed
men will close around you. I know you can fight, and so can we; if you
don't think so, try it."
"Ha, ha! Put, you are the same old flint, ever ready to strike fire.
We won't quarrel now. Come, let us step down to the Bunch of Grapes,
have a glass of wine, and talk over old times."
Arm in arm they walked down King Street to the tavern.
Early the following afternoon Miss Newville was welcomed to the
Brandon home.
"It is a long time since we have met," she said, reaching out her hand
to Robert. "I am pleased to see you once more. I hope you are well.
And how is Rachel?"
Many times he had thought of her as he last beheld her, standing
beneath the portico of her home in the radiant light of the moon. Her
parting words had been an abiding memory--"Good-by, till we meet
again." Once more her hand was resting in his. She was no longer a
girl, but entering upon womanhood. He told the reason of his being
there, to bring the gift of Rumford to the suffering poor. She had
many questions to ask about Rachel. Was she still making cheese? Had
she many flowers?
"I suppose Rachel's brother prepares the flowerbeds as in former
years," she said, laughing.
"Yes, I spaded them for her."
"Berinthia informs me that she has found her true love."
"So it appears."
"I doubt not she is very happy."
"She seems to be; she is singing from morning till night."
"I am so glad. I only saw Mr. Stanley at the time of the launching of
the ship, you remember, but thought him worthy of any woman's love. Do
you still have delightful times at quiltings and huskings?"
"In the country, customs rarely change. The young ladies still have
their quilting parties. Rachel will soon be getting her fixings, and
we doubtless shall have jolly times."
"I should like to be able to help her. With so many things to care
for, I do not suppose she finds much time for reading?"
"Very little. Besides, we do not have many books to read. 'The New
Hampshire Gazette' comes once a week, giving us a little glimpse of
what is going on in the world."
"I forgot you have no bookstore with all the new volumes printed in
London,--history, travel, poetry, and novels, as we have here."
She said that Mr. Knox, the bookseller, had been very kind to her,
supplying her with the new books arriving from London, and had just
handed her the poems of Oliver Goldsmith.
The afternoon waned.
"Shall we go up on the housetop and see the sun set?" Berinthia asked.
The harbor, the fleet of warships at anchor, the distant ocean, the
distant woodlands, made a beautiful panorama.
"When I see such beauty," said Miss Newville, "I want to be an artist
or a poet to give expression to my feelings. See the purple and gold
on the Milton Hills, the light on the water, the russet and crimson of
the forests! How beautiful!" she cried, with a rich bloom upon her
cheek as she gazed upon the landscape. The tap of a drum and the
tramping of a regiment along the street attracted her attention. "I am
weary of seeing scarlet uniforms," she said.
"Will you not make an exception of those who call upon Miss Newville?"
Berinthia asked.
"No. I do not even care to see General Gage or Earl Percy in their
gold-laced coats. They are delightful gentlemen, and frequent visitors
in our home. I find much pleasure in listening to Earl Percy's
description of things in London; but I should be better pleased were
he to visit us as a citizen, laying aside his military trappings, the
emblems of arbitrary power."
[Illustration: LORD PERCY]
The sun was sinking behind the western hills. As the last beams
faded from the gilded vane of Christ Church, they heard the beating of
drums and the shrill piping of boatswain's whistles on the decks of
the warships. A cannon flashed on the bastion of the Castle, and the
boom of the gun rolled far away as the Cross of St. George descended
from flagstaff and topmast to be furled for the night.
"It is the sunset gun; the signal for taking down the flags," said
Berinthia.
"I often watch from my chamber window for the flashing of the cannon,"
Miss Newville remarked.
"It is a beautiful sight; but would be more exhilarating if the flag
was what it ought to be," said Robert.
The twilight had not faded from the sky when Robert accompanied Miss
Newville to her home. Officers of the king's regiments lifted their
hats to her upon the way; their attentions were recognized with
dignified grace. Robert saw scowls on their faces as they glared at
him, as if to challenge his right to be her escort.
"The night is hot and the air sultry, and if you please, Mr. Walden,
we will sit in the garden rather than in the house," she said.
They strolled beneath the trees bending with the weight of ripening
fruit, and seated themselves in a rustic arbor. The early grapes were
purpling above them.
"I do not know, Mr. Walden, that I quite comprehended your meaning
when you said the flag would be more beautiful if it were what it
ought to be. I think it very beautiful as it is."
"I did not have reference, Miss Newville, to the texture or quality of
the cloth, or the arrangement of colors, neither to the devices,--the
crosses of St. George and St. Andrew,--but thought of it as a symbol
of power. My father fought under it, and it has waved in triumph on
many battlefields; but just now it is being used to deprive us of our
rights."
"Have you ever read the legend of St. George?" she asked.
"I have not, and I hardly know what the Cross of St. George stands
for."
"It is a beautiful story. I read it not long ago in a book which I
found in Mr. Knox's store. Would you like to hear it?"
"Please tell me about it."