Little Ned, who was not very well, began fretting and reaching out his
arms to be taken by his father. The captain lifted him tenderly, saying
something in a soothing tone, and carried him away to another part of
the deck.
Then the young people, gathering about Grandma Elsie, who had been an
almost silent listener to Captain Raymond's account of the attacks upon
the forts, and the gallant conduct of their defenders, begged her to
tell them something more of the stirring events of those revolutionary
days.
"You have visited the places near here where there was fighting in those
days, haven't you, mamma?" asked Walter.
"Yes, some years ago," she replied. "Ah, how many years ago it was!" she
added musingly; then continued, "When I was quite a little girl, my
father took me to Philadelphia, and a number of other places, where
occurred notable events in the war of the Revolution."
"And you will tell us about them, won't you, mamma?" Walter asked, in
coaxing tones.
"Certainly, if you and the rest all wish it," she returned, smiling
lovingly into the eager young face, while the others joined in the
request.
"Please tell about Philadelphia first, mamma," Walter went on. "You went
to Independence Hall, of course, and we've all been there, I believe;
but there must be some other points of interest in and about the city,
I should think, that will be rather new to us."
"Yes, there are others," she replied, "though I suppose that to every
American Independence Hall is the most interesting of all, since it was
there the Continental Congress held its meetings, and its bell that
proclaimed the glad tidings that that grand Declaration of Independence
had been signed and the colonies of Great Britain had become free and
independent States--though there was long and desperate fighting to go
through before England would acknowledge it."
"Mamma, don't you hate old England for it?" cried Walter impulsively,
his eyes flashing.
"No, indeed!" she replied, laughing softly, and patting his rosy cheek
with her still pretty white hand. "It was not the England of to-day, you
must remember, my son, nor indeed the England of that day, but her half
crazy king and his ministers, who thought to raise money for him by
unjust taxation of the people of this land. 'Taxation without
representation is tyranny.' So they felt and said, and as such resisted
it."
"And I'm proud of them for doing so!" he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.
"Now, what other revolutionary places are to be seen in Philadelphia,
mamma?"
"There is Christ Church, where Washington, Franklin, members of
Congress, and officers of the Continental army used to worship, with its
graveyard where Franklin and his wife Deborah lie buried. Major-General
Lee too was laid there; also General Mercer, killed at the battle of
Princeton, but his body was afterward removed to Laurel Hill Cemetery."
"We will visit Christ Church, I hope," said Rosie. "Carpenter's Hall
too, where the first Continental Congress met, and Loxley House, where
Lydia Darrah lived in Revolutionary times. You saw that, I suppose,
mamma?"
"Yes," replied her mother, "but I do not know whether it is, or is not,
still standing."
"That's a nice story about Lydia Darrah," remarked Walter, with
satisfaction. "I think she showed herself a grand woman; don't you,
mamma?"
"I do, indeed," replied his mother. "She was a true patriot."
"There were many grand men and women in our country in those times,"
remarked Evelyn Leland. "The members of that first Congress that met in
Carpenter's Hall on Monday, the 5th of September, 1774, were such. Do
you not think so, Grandma Elsie?"
"Yes, I quite agree with you," replied Mrs. Travilla; "and it was John
Adams--himself by no means one of the least--who said, 'There is in the
Congress a collection of the greatest men upon the continent in point of
abilities, virtues, and fortunes.'"
"Washington was one of them, wasn't he, Grandma Elsie?" asked Lulu.
"Yes, one of the members from Virginia. The others from that State were
Richard Henry Lee, Peyton Randolph, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison,
Edmund Pendleton, and Patrick Henry. Peyton Randolph was chosen
president, and Charles Thomson, of Pennsylvania, secretary."
"And then, I suppose, they set to work on their preparations for
fighting their oppressor, George the Third," remarked Lulu, half
inquiringly.
"Lossing tells us," replied Mrs. Travilla, "that the delegates from the
different colonies then presented their credentials, and after that
there was silence, while deep anxiety was depicted on every countenance.
It seemed difficult to know how to begin upon the work for which they
had been called together. But at length a grave-looking member, in a
plain suit of gray, and wearing an unpowdered wig, arose. So plain was
his appearance that Bishop White, who was present, afterward telling of
the circumstances, said he 'felt a regret that a seeming country parson
should so far have mistaken his talents and the theatre for their
display.' However, he soon changed his mind as the plain-looking man
began to speak; his words were so eloquent, his sentiments so logical,
his voice was so musical, that the whole House was electrified, while
from lip to lip ran the question, 'Who is he? who is he?' and the few
who knew the stranger, answered, 'It is Patrick Henry of Virginia.'"
"O mamma, was it before that that he had said, 'Give me liberty or give
me death'?" queried Walter, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm.
"No, he said that a few months afterward; but about nine years before,
he had startled his hearers in the Virginia House of Burgesses by his
cry, 'Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George
the Third may profit by their example'!"
"And now he was starting the Congress at its work!"
"You are right; there was no more hesitation; they arranged their
business, adopted rules for the regulation of their sessions, and
then--at the beginning of the third day, and when about to enter upon
the business that had called them together--Mr. Cushing moved that the
sessions should be opened with prayer for Divine guidance and aid.
"Mr. John Adams, in a letter to his wife, written the next day, said
that Mr. Cushing's motion was opposed by a member from New York, and one
from South Carolina, because the assembly was composed of men of so many
different denominations--Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Quakers,
Anabaptists, and Episcopalians,--that they could not join in the same
act of worship.
"Then Mr. Samuel Adams arose, and said that he was no bigot and could
hear a prayer from any gentleman of piety and virtue who was at the same
time a friend to his country. He was a stranger in Philadelphia, but had
heard that Mr. Duché deserved that character; so he moved that he--Mr.
Duché, an Episcopal clergyman--be desired to read prayers before
Congress the next morning.
"Mr. Duché consented, and the next morning read the prayers and the
Psalter for the 7th of September; a part of it was the thirty-fifth
psalm, which seemed wonderfully appropriate. Do you remember how it
begins? 'Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight
against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and
stand up for mine help.'"
"It does seem wonderfully appropriate," said Evelyn. "Oh, I'm sure that
God was on the side of the patriots, and helped them greatly in their
hard struggle with their powerful foe!"
"Yes, only by His all-powerful aid could our liberties have been won,
and to Him be all the glory and the praise," said Grandma Elsie,
gratitude and joy shining in her beautiful eyes.
"But that wasn't the Congress that signed the Declaration?" Walter
remarked, half inquiringly, half in assertion.
"No; this was in 1774, and the Declaration was not signed until July,
1776," replied his mother.
"It seems to me," remarked Lulu, "that the Americans were very slow in
getting ready to say they would be free from England--free from British
tyranny."
"But you know you're always in a great hurry to do things, Lu," put in
Grace softly, with an affectionate, admiring smile up into her sister's
face.
"Yes, I believe you're right, Gracie," returned Lulu, with a pleased
laugh and giving Grace's hand a loving squeeze.
"Yes," assented Grandma Elsie, "our people were slow to break with the
mother country--as they used to call old England, the land of their
ancestors; they bore long and patiently with her, but at last were
convinced that in that case patience had ceased to be a virtue, and
liberty for themselves and their children must be secured at all costs."
"How soon were they convinced of it, mamma?" asked Walter.
"The conviction came slowly to all, and to some more slowly than to
others," she replied. "Dr. Franklin, Samuel Adams, and Patrick Henry
were among the first to see the necessity of becoming, politically,
entirely free and independent.
"It is stated on good authority that Patrick Henry in speaking of Great
Britain, as early as 1773, said, 'She _will_ drive us to extremities; no
accommodation _will_ take place; hostilities _will soon_ commence, and a
desperate and bloody touch it will be.'
"Some one, present when the remark was made, asked Mr. Henry if he
thought the colonies strong enough to resist successfully the fleets and
armies of Great Britain, and he answered that he doubted whether they
would be able to do so alone, 'but that France, Spain, and Holland were
the natural enemies of Great Britain.'
"'Where will they be all this while?' he asked. 'Do you suppose they
will stand by, idle and indifferent spectators to the contest? Will
Louis XVI. be asleep all this time? Believe me, no! When Louis XVI.
shall be satisfied, by our serious opposition and our _Declaration_ of
_Independence_, that all prospect of a reconciliation is gone, then, and
not till then, will he furnish us with arms, ammunition, and clothing:
and not with them only, but he will send his fleets and armies to fight
our battles for us; he will form a treaty with us, offensive and
defensive, against our unnatural mother. Spain and Holland will join the
confederation! Our independence will be established! and we shall take
our stand among the nations of the earth!'"
"And it all happened so; didn't it, mamma?" exclaimed Rosie exultantly;
"just as Patrick Henry predicted."
"Yes," replied her mother, with a proud and happy smile, "and we have
certainly taken our place--by God's blessing upon the efforts of those
brave and gallant heroes of the revolution--as one of the greatest
nations of the earth.
"Yet not all the credit should be awarded them, but some of it given to
their successors in the nation's counsels and on the fields of battle.
The foundations were well and strongly laid by our revolutionary
fathers, and the work well carried on by their successors."
"Grandma Elsie, what was the story about Lydia Darrah?" asked Gracie. "I
don't remember to have heard it."
"She lived in Philadelphia when the British were in possession there
during the winter after the battle of the Brandywine," replied Mrs.
Travilla. "She belonged to the Society of Friends, most of whom, as you
doubtless remember, took no active part in the war; at least, did none
of the fighting, though many helped in other ways; but some were Tories,
who gave aid and comfort to the enemy in other ways than by the use of
arms."
"What a shame!" cried Walter. "You will tell us about the doings of some
of those when you are done with the story of Lydia Darrah, won't you,
mamma?"
"If you all wish it," she answered; then went on with her narrative:
"Judging from her conduct at that time, Lydia must have been an ardent
patriot; but patriots and Tories alike had British officers quartered
upon them. The adjutant-general took up his quarters in Loxley House,
the home of the Darrahs, and, as it was a secluded place, the superior
officers frequently held meetings there for private conference on
matters connected with the movements of the British troops."
"One day the adjutant-general told Mrs. Darrah that such a meeting was
to be held that evening, and that he wanted the upper back room made
ready for himself and the friends who would be present. He added that
they would be likely to stay late and she must be sure to see that all
her family were early in their beds.
"His tone and manner led Mrs. Darrah to think something of importance
was going forward, and though she did not dare disobey his order, she
resolved to try to find out what was their object in holding this
private night meeting, probably hoping to be able to do something to
prevent the carrying out of their plans against the liberties of her
country.
"She sent her family to bed, according to directions, before the
officers came, and after admitting them retired to her own couch, but
not to sleep, for her thoughts were busy with conjectures in regard to
the mischief they--the unwelcome intruders into her house--might be
plotting against her country.
"She had lain down without undressing and after a little she rose and
stole softly, in her stocking feet, to the door of the room where they
were assembled.
"All was quiet at the moment when she reached it. She put her ear to the
keyhole and--doubtless, with a fast beating heart--waited there,
listening intently for the sound of the officers' voices.
"For a few moments all was silence; then it was broken by a single voice
reading aloud an order from Sir William Howe for the troops to march out
of the city the next night and make an attack upon Washington's camp at
Whitemarsh.
"Lydia waited to hear no more, for that was sufficient, and it would
have been dangerous indeed for her to be caught there.
"She hastened back to her own room and again threw herself on the bed;
but not to sleep, as you may well imagine.
"Presently the opening and shutting of doors told her that the visitors
of the adjutant-general were taking their departure; then there was a
rap on her door. But she did not answer it. It was repeated, but still
she did not move or speak; but at the third knock she rose, went to the
door, and found the adjutant-general there.
"He informed her that his friends had gone and she might now close her
house for the night.
"She did so, then lay down again, but not to sleep. She lay thinking of
the momentous secret she had just learned, considering how she might
help to avert the threatened danger to the patriot army, and asking help
and guidance from her heavenly Father.
"Her prayer was heard; she laid her plans, then at early dawn arose.
Waking her husband she told him flour was wanted for the family and she
must go immediately to the mill at Frankford for it. Then taking a bag
to carry it in, she started at once on foot.
"At General Howe's headquarters she obtained a passport to leave the
city.
"She had a five miles' walk to Frankford, where she left her bag at the
mill, and hurried on toward the American camp to deliver her tidings.
"It was still quite early, but before reaching the camp she met an
American officer, Lieutenant Craig, whom Washington had sent out to seek
information in regard to the doings of the enemy.
"Lydia quickly told him her story, then hastened back to the mill for
her bag of flour and hurried home with it."
"Mamma," exclaimed Walter, "how could she carry anything so big and
heavy?"
"Perhaps it was but a small bag," returned his mother, with a smile. "I
never saw or read any statement as to its size, and perhaps the joy and
thankfulness she felt in having been permitted and enabled to do such
service to the cause of her country may have helped to strengthen her to
bear the burden."
"What a day it must have been to her!" exclaimed Evelyn, "hope and
fear alternating in her breast; and how her heart must have gone up
constantly in prayer to God for his blessing upon her bleeding country."
"And how it must have throbbed with alternating hope and fear as she
stood at the window that cold, starry night and watched the departure
of the British troops to make the intended attack upon Washington and
his little army," said Rosie. "And again when the distant roll of a drum
told that they were returning."
"Yes," said Lulu; "and when the adjutant-general came back to the house,
summoned Lydia to his room, and when he got her in there shut and locked
the door."
"Oh," cried Grace, "did he know it was she that had told of his plans?"
"No," said Mrs. Travilla; "from the accounts I have read he does not
seem to have even suspected her. He invited her to be seated, then
asked, 'Were any of your family up, Lydia, on the night when I received
company in this house?' 'No,' she replied; 'they all retired at eight
o'clock.' 'It is very strange,' he returned. 'You I know were asleep,
for I knocked at your door three times before you heard me, yet it is
certain we were betrayed. I am altogether at a loss to conceive who
could have given information to Washington of our intended attack. On
arriving near his camp, we found his cannon mounted, his troops under
arms, and so prepared at every point to receive us, that we have been
compelled to march back like a parcel of fools, without injuring our
enemy!'"
"I hope the British did not find out, before they left Philadelphia, who
had given the information to the Americans, and take vengeance on her?"
said Walter.
"No," replied his mother, "fearing that, she had begged Lieutenant Craig
to keep her secret; which he did; and so it has happened that her good
deed finds no mention in the histories of that time and is recorded only
by well authenticated tradition."
"So all the Quakers were not Tories?" remarked Walter in a satisfied yet
half inquiring tone.
"Oh, no indeed!" replied his mother, "there were ardent patriots among
them, as among people of other denominations. Nathaniel Green--after
Washington one of our best and greatest generals--was of Quaker family,
and I have heard that when his mother found he was not to be persuaded
to refrain from taking an active part in the struggle for freedom, she
said to him, 'Well, Nathaniel, if thee must fight, let me never hear of
thee having a wound in thy back!'"
"Ah, she must have been brave and patriotic," laughed Walter. "I doubt
if she was so very sorry that her son was determined to fight for the
freedom of his country."
"No," said Rosie, "I don't believe she was, and I don't see how she
could help feeling proud of him--so bright, brave, talented, and
patriotic as he showed himself to be all through the war."
"Yes," said Lulu, "and I don't think he has had half the honors he
deserved, though at West Point we saw a cannon with an inscription on it
saying it had been taken from the British army and presented by Congress
to Major-General Green as a monument of their high sense of his services
in the revolutionary war."
"Weren't the Tories very bad men, Grandma Elsie?" asked Grace.
"Not all of them, my dear," replied Mrs. Travilla, smiling lovingly into
the sweet, though grave and earnest, little face; "some were really
conscientiously opposed to war, even when waged for freedom from
unbearable tyranny and oppression, but were disposed to be merely
inactive witnesses of the struggle, some of them desiring the success of
the patriots, others that of the king's troops; then there was another
set who, while professing neutrality, secretly aided the British,
betraying the patriots into their hands.
"Such were Carlisle and Roberts, Quakers of that time, living in
Philadelphia. While the British were in possession of the city those two
men were employed as secret agents in detecting foes to the government,
and by their secret information caused many patriots to be arrested and
thrown into prison. Lossing tells us that Carlisle, wearing the meek
garb and deportment of a Quaker, was at heart a Torquemada."
"And who was Torquemada, mamma?" queried Walter.
"A Dominican monk of Spain, who lived in the times of Ferdinand and
Isabella, and was by them appointed inquisitor-general. He organized the
Inquisition throughout Spain, drew up the code of procedure, and during
sixteen years caused between nine and ten thousand persons to be burned
at the stake."
"Mamma! what a cruel, _cruel_ wretch!" cried Walter. "Oh, but I'm glad
nobody can do such cruel things in these days! I hope Roberts and
Carlisle weren't quite so wicked as he."
"No, I should not like to think they would have been willing to go to
quite such lengths, though they seem to have shown enough malignity
toward their patriotic fellow-countrymen to make it evident that they
had something of the spirit of the cruel and bloodthirsty Torquemada.
"Though they would not bear arms for the wealth of the Indies, they were
ever ready to act as guides to those whose object was to massacre their
fellow-countrymen; and that only because they were determined to be
free."
"Were not some of those in New Jersey known as 'Pine Robbers,' Grandma
Elsie?" asked Evelyn.
"Yes; they infested the lower part of Monmouth County, whence they went
on predatory excursions into other parts of the State, coming upon the
people at night to burn, murder, plunder, and destroy. They burrowed
caves in the sandhills on the borders of the swamps, where they
concealed themselves and their booty."
"Did they leave their hiding-places only in the night time, mamma?"
asked Walter.
"No," she replied, "they would sometimes sally forth during the day and
attack the farmers in their fields. So that the men were compelled to
carry muskets and be ready to fight for their lives, while women and
children were kept in a constant state of terror."
"I think I have read that one of the worst of them was a blacksmith,
living in Freehold?" remarked Evelyn, half inquiringly.
"Yes, his name was Fenton; he was a very wicked man, who, like many
others calling themselves Tories, took advantage of the disturbance of
the times to rob and murder his fellow-countrymen; he began his career
of robbery and murder very early in the war.
"One of his first acts, as such, was the plundering of a tailor's shop
in the township. A committee of vigilance had been already organized,
and its members sent Fenton word that if he did not return what he had
stolen he should be hunted out and shot.
"He was a coward, as such villains almost always are, and did return the
clothing, sending with it a written message, 'I have returned your ----
rags. In a short time I am coming to burn your barns and houses, and
roast you all like a pack of kittens.'
"One summer night, shortly afterward, he led a gang of desperadoes like
himself against the dwelling of an old man named Farr. There were but
three persons in the house--the old man, his wife, and daughter. They
barricaded their door and defended themselves for a while, but Fenton
broke in a part of the door, fired through the hole at the old man and
broke his leg. The women could not keep them out much longer; they soon
forced an entrance, murdered the old man and woman, and badly wounded
the daughter. She, however, made her escape, and the cowardly ruffians
fled without waiting to secure any plunder; no doubt fearing she would
bring a band of patriots to avenge the slain."
"I hope that wretch, Fenton, was soon caught and well punished for his
robberies and murders!" exclaimed Lulu.
"He was," replied Grandma Elsie. "The Bible tells us that 'bloody and
deceitful men shall not live out half their days,' and Fenton's fate was
one amongst many to prove the truth of it.
"He had met a young man on his way to mill, plundered and beaten him;
the victim carried his complaint to Lee, and a sergeant and two
soldiers were detailed to capture or kill Fenton.
"They used strategy and with success. The two soldiers were secreted
under some straw in the bottom of a wagon, the sergeant disguised
himself as a countryman, and the young man took a seat in the vehicle.
Then they drove on toward the mill, expecting to meet Fenton on the
road. They were passing a low groggery among the pines, when he came out
of it, pistol in hand, and impudently ordered them to stop.
"They drew rein, and he came nearer, asking if they had brandy with
them. They replied that they had, and handed him a bottle. Then, as he
lifted it to his lips, the sergeant silently signaled to one of his
hidden soldiers, who at once rose from his hiding place in the straw and
shot Fenton through the head. His body was then thrown into the wagon
and carried in triumph to Freehold."
"The people of that part of the country must have felt a good deal
relieved," remarked Rosie. "Still there were Fenton's desperado
companions left."
"Two of them--Fagan and West--shared Fenton's fate, being shot by the
exasperated people," said her mother; "and West's body was hung in
chains, with hoop iron bands around it, on a chestnut tree hard by the
roadside, about a mile from Freehold."
"O Grandma Elsie, is it there yet?" asked Gracie, shuddering with
horror.
"No, dear child, that could hardly be possible after so many years--more
than a hundred you will remember when you think of it," returned Mrs.
Travilla, with a kindly reassuring smile.
"I hope papa will take us to Freehold," said Lulu. "I want to see the
battleground."
"I feel quite sure he will, should nothing happen to prevent," said
Grandma Elsie.
"Wasn't it at Freehold, or in its neighborhood, that a Captain Huddy was
murdered by those pine robbers?" asked Evelyn.
"Yes," replied Grandma Elsie. "It was only the other day that I was
refreshing my memory in regard to it by glancing over Lossing's account
given in his Field Book of the Revolution."
"Then please tell us about it, mamma," pleaded Walter.
"Very willingly, since you wish to hear it," she said, noting the look
of eager interest on the young faces about her.
"Captain Huddy was an ardent patriot and consequently hated by his Tory
neighbors. He lived at a place called Colt's Neck, about five miles from
Freehold.
"One evening, in the summer of 1780, a party of some sixty refugees,
headed by a mulatto named Titus, attacked Huddy's house. There was no
one in it at the time but Huddy himself, and a servant girl, some twenty
years old, named Lucretia Emmons."
"She wouldn't be of much use for fighting men," remarked Walter, with a
slight sniff of contempt.
"Perhaps Captain Huddy may have thought differently," replied his
mother, with a slightly amused smile. "There were several guns in the
house which she loaded for Huddy while he passed from one window to
another firing through them at his foes. Titus and several others were
wounded; then they set fire to the house and Huddy surrendered.
"He was taken on board of a boat from which he jumped into the water and
escaped, assisted in so doing by the fire of some militia who were in
pursuit of the Tories.
"About two years later Huddy was in command of a block house near the
village of Tom's River, when it was attacked by some refugees from New
York, and, his ammunition giving out, he was obliged to surrender. He
and his companions were taken to New York, then back to Sandy Hook,
where they were placed on board a guard-ship and heavily ironed.
"Shortly afterward he was taken to Gravelly Point, by sixteen refugees
under Captain Lippincott, and hung on a gallows made of three rails.
"He met his fate like the brave man that he was, first calmly writing
his will on the head of the barrel upon which he was presently to stand
for execution.
"A desperate Tory, named Philip White, had been killed while Huddy was a
prisoner in New York, and these men falsely accused Huddy of having had
a share in his death. After hanging him that cruel, wicked Lippincott
fastened to his breast a notice to the effect that they had killed
Captain Huddy in revenge for the death of Philip White, and that they
were determined to hang man for man while a refugee lived."
"Oh, what dreadful, dreadful things people did in those days!" sighed
Grace. "Did anybody venture to take the body down and bury it, Grandma
Elsie?"
"Yes, Captain Huddy's body was carried to Freehold and buried with the
honors of war."
"And did people care much about it?"
"Yes, indeed! his death caused great excitement and indignation, and Dr.
Woodhull, the Freehold minister, who preached the funeral sermon from
the piazza of the hotel, earnestly entreated Washington to retaliate in
order to prevent a repetition of such deeds.
"Washington consented, but, ever merciful, first wrote to Sir Henry
Clinton that unless the murderers of Captain Huddy were given up he
should retaliate.
"Clinton refused, and a young British officer, Captain Asgill, a
prisoner in the hands of the Americans, was selected by lot for
execution. Washington, however, mercifully postponed the carrying out of
the sentence, feeling much pity and sympathy for the young
man--doubtless for his relatives also; letters came from Europe
earnestly entreating that Asgill's life might be spared; among them a
pathetic one from his mother, and an intercessory one from the French
minister, Count de Vergennes.
"These letters Washington sent to Congress and that body passed a
resolution, 'That the commander-in-chief be, and hereby is, directed to
set Captain Asgill at liberty.'"
"It seems to me that our people were far more merciful than the
English," remarked Lulu, with a look of patriotic pride.
"I think that is true," assented Grandma Elsie, "not meaning to deny
that there are many kindhearted men among the British of to-day, or that
there were such among them even then, but most of those then in power
showed themselves to be avaricious, hardhearted, and cruel."
"Yes, they wanted to make slaves of the people here," exclaimed Lulu
hotly. "But they found that Americans wouldn't be slaves; that rather
than resign their liberty they would die fighting for it."