THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
 MABEL R. GILLIS

 
 DERBY AT MR. WOOD'S. 
 
 "My father is a Tory, and a soldier in the British army,' said Deborah." 
 
 See page 325.
 
 A LITTLE MAID 
 of CONCORD TOWN 
 
 A ROMANCE of the AMERICAN 
 
 REVOLUTION .-. .-. .-. .-. 1775 
 
 By 
 
 MARGARET SIDNEY ^ 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE JUDGES' 
 CAVE," V "FIVE LITTLE 
 PEPPER S," ETC. 
 
 Illustrated by 
 
 FRANK T. MERRILL 
 
 BOSTON $, 
 
 LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1898, 1900, 
 LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 
 * * 
 
 ALL RIGHTS. RESERVED 
 
 Typography by C. J. Peters & Son, Boston 
 Press-work by Berwick 6 Smith
 
 Citizens of Ifc Concort) 
 
 THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 7 
 5W/
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 SOME dozen years or so ago, the author of this 
 volume planned to write an historic story of Old 
 Concord, dealing with the months and the years prior 
 to 1775, to show the natural sequence of events 
 that gave to the old town her opportunity " to fire 
 the shot heard round the world," and made her so 
 large a factor in shaping the destiny of the Ameri- 
 can Republic. 
 
 It was no mere chance that set apart the Old 
 North Bridge at Concord as the arena where was 
 enacted the opening scene of that struggle for inde- 
 pendence that made the Colonies a free nation. Old 
 Concord had long been preparing for what God in 
 his providence was preparing for her; and the bril- 
 liant episode on the igth of April, 1775, was but 
 the natural result of that long and faithful prelimi- 
 nary work. Marvellous indeed in the eyes turned 
 backward to that April morning, is the outcome ! 
 In the words of the late President Dwight, " In 
 3
 
 4 PREFACE. 
 
 other circumstances, the expedition to Concord, and 
 the interest which ensued, would have been merely 
 little tales of wonder and of woe, chiefly recited 
 by the parents of the neighborhood to their circles 
 at the fireside, commanding a momentary attention 
 of childhood, and calling forth the tear of sorrow 
 from the eyes of these who were intimately con- 
 nected with the sufferers. Now the same events 
 preface the history of a nation and the beginning 
 of an empire, and are themes of disquisition and as- 
 tonishment to the civilized world. From the plains 
 of Concord will henceforth be dated a change in 
 human affairs, an alteration in the balance of human 
 power, and a new direction to the course of human 
 improvement. Man, from the events which have 
 occurred here, will, in some respects, assume a new 
 character, and experience, in some respects, a new 
 destiny." 
 
 The fact and fiction of the story contained in these 
 pages can be easily separated in the mind of the 
 reader, and yet preserve a harmony of action. Deb- 
 orah Parlin, the Little Maid of Concord Town, is 
 purely a work of imagination, together with the set- 
 ting of the picture of the Parlin family in the little 
 cottage on the Lexington Road, whose last tenant was 
 Ephriam W. Bull, the originator of the Concord grape.
 
 PREFACE. 5 
 
 Hawthorne's weird tale, the last that was traced by 
 his pen, located Septimius Felton and Aunt Keziah in 
 " the two-story house, gabled before, crowded upon by 
 the hill beyond," now known as Wayside ; and, in 
 deference to that exquisitely fanciful creation, they 
 still wander in and out the pages of this story. Ab- 
 ner Butterfield and good Mother Butterfield are sum- 
 moned from the realm of fancy to serve the will of 
 the author ; and it is unnecessary to add that Jim 
 Haskins is a figment evolved for like purpose. 
 
 Bernard Thornton, the young British officer, belongs 
 to the like shadowy realm, summoned hence at the 
 same behest, to bear his part and lot in the events 
 narrated in these pages. 
 
 The picturesque and dramatic episode in the life of 
 beautiful Meliscent Barrett so attracted the author 
 these dozen years ago, that she was impelled to use 
 it as a central force around which to adjust her story. 
 Tradition and fireside tales are, after all, much of the 
 warp and woof of our Colonial and Revolutionary 
 history; such annals inspire and lead, perchance, 
 swifter to the true spirit of those epochs, than the 
 labored art of the historian. 
 
 The slow building of this volume, from year to year, 
 often laid aside for less congenial pen-tasks, yet never 
 out of mind, has weighted the author with a debt of
 
 6 PREFACE. 
 
 gratitude impossible to individually acknowledge or 
 repay. For numberless courtesies that greatly as- 
 sisted the development of this book, for valuable in- 
 formation not to be obtained in the ordinary channels, 
 or that proved and strengthened that already found, 
 the author would here tender her most grateful and 
 appreciative acknowledgment to the citizens of the 
 old town, who have thus aided her in her arduous but 
 most congenial task. A list of books on another page 
 is cited as partial authority for the historic basis of 
 this volume, which has aimed in every line to be true 
 to the letter and the spirit of the period of which it 
 treats. 
 
 WAYSIDE, 
 
 Concord, Massachusetts, May, 1898.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. THE LITTLE MAID 9 
 
 II. TORY LEE 26 
 
 III. WITHIN THE LEE MANSION 41 
 
 IV. ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE 55 
 
 V. THE OLD TOWN is GETTING READY FAST ... 77 
 
 VI. A CRISIS 94 
 
 VII. "I SHALL GO OVER TO THE SlDE OF THE KlNG " 109 
 
 VIII. WHERE is DEBBY ? 121 
 
 IX. AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM 135 
 
 X. AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE 148 
 
 XL "WE ARE WELL MATCHED" l62 
 
 XII. ABNER ACCOMPLISHES HIS MISSION 179 
 
 XIII. LEADING EVENTS 191 
 
 XIV. IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE 202 
 
 XV. PREPARING AN ARENA 217 
 
 XVI. "THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED Now" . . .231 
 
 XVII. RAPID PREPARATIONS 242 
 
 XVIII. " CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED" . . . 263 
 7
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XIX. USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY . . . .276 
 
 XX. A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN 291 
 
 XXI. HOME TO CONCORD TOWN 308 
 
 XXII. " I AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER !" 323 
 
 XXIII. "THE REG'LARS ARE COMING! " 336 
 
 XXIV. SEARCHING FOR THE STORES 355 
 
 XXV. THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD" . . .371 
 
 XXVI. WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY IN THE COLONIES? 386 
 APPENDIX 403
 
 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. 
 
 DEBBY ran up the Ridge as fast as her clumsy 
 shoes, and the pail of milk with the loaf of 
 brown bread in a clean towel which she was carrying, 
 would allow. At last she brought up panting, as she 
 stumbled to the summit, and paused to take breath. 
 
 It was a goodly scene, and one well calculated to 
 soothe the troubled breast. Below her, some fifty or 
 more feet, lay the Old B.iy Road. Across this winding 
 thoroughfare was the Town Meadow, through which 
 ran Mill Brook, purling noisily under Fox Bridge before 
 it lost itself in its rush across the big open meadow. 
 Off in the distance, with its guardian slope of hill- 
 crowned forest, shimmered Walden, whose shining sur- 
 face had reflected the dusky faces of the first dwellers 
 ip this happy valley before the white men came. 
 
 But Debby was far from being at rest in any portion 
 9
 
 10 
 
 A LITTLE MAW OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 of her healthy young body. All her soul was filled 
 with bitterness. She set down her milk-pail, and de- 
 posited the loaf of bread upon its cover, and stretched 
 her arms restfully. " I wish the Reg'lars would come 
 this blessed minute ! " she exclaimed with sudden im- 
 pulse, blind to the beauty of the scene before her, 
 " and have done with all this watching and waiting 
 for them. Let King George do his worst ; he will see 
 what we are made of." 
 
 She sent a swift glance on every hand, as if the 
 landscape were distorted with redcoats flashing be- 
 hind every bush, and torturing the morning glow with 
 their detested brilliancy of coloring. " Oh, I hate old 
 King George ! " and she stamped her foot on the pine- 
 needles. 
 
 A crackling in the bushes struck upon her ear. 
 Debby turned with the swiftness of a young fawn, and 
 peered in its direction, to meet a sharp pair of eyes 
 fastened upon her round face, the person to whom 
 they belonged halting leisurely for that purpose just 
 within the nearest thicket. It was an old woman of 
 most unpleasant aspect, of a dark yellow face ; and as 
 her head was tied up in a handkerchief, and her body 
 bent as if with many grips and twitchings of rheu 
 matism, she gave more the appearance of an ancierrt 
 witch, than a good New England resident of the old
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. II 
 
 town. And Debby would have given preference to a 
 meeting with the witch. 
 
 "O Miss Keziah!" she exclaimed, as she backed 
 off, and began to pick up her pail and bread, " how do 
 you do to-day, and how is Mr. Felton ? " for she thought 
 it incumbent on her to say something pleasant to this 
 old personage whom, notwithstanding she was her 
 nearest neighbor, she would never choose to meet in 
 a wood alone. 
 
 Miss Keziah cackled and showed her toothless gums. 
 
 "Septimus is well enough," she said, her voice not 
 lacking a tone of contempt. "As long as he can sit 
 with his nose in a book, he will do from day's in to 
 day's out. But well, well, as he is to be a minister, 
 we must let him be, and thank the Lord it's no worse. 
 But hark ye, my pretty, don't deceive me with your 
 fine speeches and neighboring ways. T heard what 
 you said about our good king. Don't think an old 
 woman's ears are heavy. Besides, the birds will tell 
 it; the birds will tell it." She waved her long, skinny 
 hands, much soiled with digging in the ground after 
 her favorite roots and herbs. "And every leaf will 
 whisper it." Here her voice sank to a sepulchral 
 whisper that sent "the creeps" down Debby's back. 
 "Keep your tongue safe locked in your head, child, 
 where every woman's should be, for the times are
 
 12 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCOKD TOWN. 
 
 troublous, an' may the Lord bless us all!" She 
 advanced with a long step and a hitch out of her 
 thicket, and laid her skinny hand on Debby's young 
 arm. 
 
 The young girl trembled under the piercing gaze 
 from the black eyes. She strove to shake herself 
 free; but instead she stood still, partly from her fear 
 of rousing the anger which she felt always smouldered 
 near the surface of her neighbor's face, and partly 
 because a certain fascination, like that holding the 
 ancient mariner, overcame her against her will. 
 
 But if her feet tarried, it was no time to be halting 
 with her principles; so she burst out, "But I do hate 
 old King George, Miss Keziah, and I should be a sin- 
 ful girl not to say the truth. Oh ! he's a bad, wicked 
 man, I can't help it if he is a king, torturing us poor 
 people and starving us, and sending soldiers to fight 
 us. You know he's bad; and you ought to hate him 
 too!" she brought up, her blue eyes blazing. 
 
 "Tush, tush, child!" commanded the old woman, 
 not relinquishing her hold, but gazing warily around 
 the wood. "Never let a word escape you like that 
 again. Why, the Reg'lars would burn your house 
 about your ears, an' kill you. Oh, lack-a-day!" 
 Here her old arm dropped powerless to her side. 
 "An' that's to be our fate all of us, mayhap."
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. 13 
 
 "No, it isn't, Miss Keziah," cried Debby stoutly, 
 her heart panting under her blue kerchief; "I tell 
 you we'll fight 'em to skin and bone." She clinched 
 her small brown hands tightly, and her breath came 
 hard, "And we'll make those redcoats run. Every 
 single one in Old Concord will fight, and we'll show 
 them we're not afraid of 'em a bit." 
 
 The old woman hitched back against a tree, and 
 cackled contemptuously. 
 
 ''Pretty child," she exclaimed, in a gust between 
 her fits of laughter. "Oh, what a paltry thing for 
 safety we have! You'll see, when the Reg'lars really 
 come ! Ah, like an infant in the mother's arms you 
 babble and coo of safety, when the skies are red with 
 blood that is to drop on this path before us like dew 
 from the wings of the morning;" and she pointed to 
 the road beneath. 
 
 Debby shivered under her homespun gown like an 
 aspen leaf; but she spoke up stoutly, 
 
 "And there will be two kinds of blood to run, Miss 
 Keziah ; and the old Britishers will get the worst of 
 it." And here the fire within made her cry out, as 
 she hastily seized her pail and bread-loaf, "And I de- 
 spise people who talk as you do; you're most as bad 
 as Tory Lee ! " 
 
 With this parting shot she skimmed along the pla-
 
 14 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 teau, across the top of the Ridge, until she struck the 
 eater-cornered trail that straggled down its western 
 slope. 
 
 Clear across the Great Field she plunged, regardless 
 of distance and of her burden, until she was over on 
 the old Bedford Road. Running down a good piece, 
 she came upon a little red farmhouse, with its lean-to 
 and its barn all under one roof. Into the kitchen in 
 the ell she ran on indignant young feet, and set down 
 the pail and bread-loaf on the pine table. 
 
 " Mother sent these," she said breathlessly. 
 
 "Why, Debby!" exclaimed her aunt Sophia, "what's 
 the matter, child? Dear, dear, you are clean tired out ! 
 And how is Sister Ruhama? " all in one breath. 
 
 "I'm not tired," said Debby shortly, and pushing 
 back her sunbonnet from her hot face; "but I've had 
 things said to me that are hard to bear;" withholding 
 through habit all unpleasant explanations from Aunt 
 Sophia, whose feeble frame was slowly but surely 
 succumbing to the dread New England disease, con- 
 sumption. "Where are the boys? " she asked hastily. 
 
 " Had things hard to bear said to you ? And what 
 are they, Debby, child?" cried Aunt Sophia, her thin 
 lips twitching at the prospect of hearing news, even 
 if unpleasant. 
 
 "Oh, dreadful things!" exclaimed Debby. Then
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. 15 
 
 she stopped abruptly. " Where are the boys, aunt ? " 
 she asked again, quickly. 
 
 "I don't know. Simon went out after bringing in 
 the wood, and I doubt not that Jabez is with him busy 
 about something. Sit down an' rest yourself, Debby, 
 an' tell me how things are at home." 
 
 But Debby had rushed from the kitchen, and was 
 now skirting the old barn and woodshed. There, be- 
 hind the woodpile, she heard a noise that suggested 
 "boy;" and she speedily stood before Simon, whose 
 sheepish face proclaimed immediately that he had 
 hidden something behind his back. 
 
 "Oh! it's you, Debby," he cried in great relief, 
 bringing it out before him. He was engaged in clean- 
 ing an old musket, when her footsteps startled him. 
 "I thought it was mother, an' I don't want to scare 
 her." 
 
 "You're getting ready to fight, Simon," cried Debby, 
 with sparkling eyes, all her evil time with Miss Keziah 
 flown to the winds. She seated herself on a projec- 
 tion of the woodpile, and cast her sunbonnet away 
 from her, while she gave all her attention to the im- 
 plement of warfare in his hand. " Oh, how perfectly 
 splendid!" she cried. 
 
 "Yes, I am," said Simon with energy, and bobbing 
 his tow head. "An' I don't care how soon it comes,
 
 1 6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 either, after I get this old gun ready. And Jabez is 
 up in the barn-loft cleaning his." 
 
 "Has Jabez got a musket too?" cried Debby. 
 "Where did you get 'em, Simon?" her mouth water- 
 ing, so to speak, at the sight. "O Simon, if I were 
 only a boy! Do let me take it in my hand just a 
 minute," she pleaded. 
 
 "Well, you ain't a boy," replied Simon, holding 
 fast to the musket ; " an' you never will be," he added, 
 with that matter-of-fact acceptance of the honor with 
 which men at that period carried their leadership. 
 Then, scrubbing away for dear life on the gun-stock 
 with a bit of old flannel, and oblivious to her ques- 
 tion, "There's goin' to be an awful time, Debby; 
 i'ts a-comin', sure," he declared, setting his teeth to- 
 gether hard. 
 
 " I know it," said Debby, folding her hands in her 
 lap, " and that's what I want to help for. O Simon ! 
 don't you suppose they'll let us girls do something ? " 
 she gazed at him imploringly. 
 
 " Not to fight," said Simon, straightening up. " Old 
 Concord won't be pushed so hard that she'll let the 
 women and girls fight. We'll take care of you all, 
 Debby." 
 
 "I don't want to be taken care of," said Debby 
 petulantly. "I want to fight the Britishers and old
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. I f 
 
 King George myself. Oh! it's mean I'm nothing but 
 a girl." She fell back on her old plaint. 
 
 " There's to be a town meetin' to-day, I s'pose you 
 know, Debby," said Simon, with the air of imparting 
 fresh news. 
 
 " Don't I know it," cried Debby with scorn. To 
 tell the truth, very little escaped her, a fact which her 
 cousin well understood. 
 
 "Uncle John is goin' to town meetin', of course ? " 
 
 "Of course," assented Debby; "he was up to Mr. 
 Wood's last night talking it all over." 
 
 " It's time for us to strike if we're ever goin' to stand 
 up for ourselves," exclaimed Simon with great energy, 
 bringing the butt of the musket down on the ground 
 with a crack. Then he brought it up to his shoulder, 
 and sighted along its barrel, in a way to make Debby's 
 eyes sparkle with envy. 
 
 " I should think our country would want the girls 
 to do something for her," she exploded, with very red 
 cheeks. 
 
 "Well, she doesn't," said Simon coolly; "for we 
 men can take care of you." 
 
 "You are always talking of our being taken care of, 
 Simon," cried Debby, getting off from the woodpile in 
 irritation; "that isn't in the least what I want. I just 
 long to do something myself for my own country, and
 
 1 8 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 to fight for her. It isn't fair to give it all to the boys. 
 Our country belongs to everybody, the women and 
 girls, the same as to the men." 
 
 Simon, not being able to controvert this, wisely kept 
 silence, and took satisfaction in flourishing the musket, 
 and putting her through her paces, so to speak, as if 
 she had been a thoroughbred. 
 
 "And the time will come when it'll be nice and 
 respectable for us to help," cried Debby excitedly, 
 "just the same's if we were boys ; so there! I'm 
 going to fight for my country the very first chance I 
 get" 
 
 "Well, you'd be drummed out of service," said Simon 
 derisively, "as soon as you got in. We don't have 
 petticoats in Old Concord Town for soldiers, I can tell 
 you, Debby Parlin." 
 
 Debby looked down at her homespun gown, and 
 kicked it in disdain. "Well, I'm going up to Perces 
 Wood's," she said at length, thinking it wise to change 
 the subject ; " I've got to spin with her. So I shall hear 
 all about town meeting and everything else before you 
 do, Mr. Simon." 
 
 The color came into Simon's cheek like a girl's. 
 "Say, Debby," he said, as she turned to go, "if you 
 see Joe Burrell up there, you just see how the land 
 lays, about Perces, you know. He'll most likely be
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. 19 
 
 nosin' round there to-day, pretendin' he wants to 
 know about- town meetin'." 
 
 "I don't know as I will," she called back with a 
 tantalizing laugh. Her sunbonnet had slipped to her 
 shoulder, disclosing a round face with a pink flush 
 overspreading either cheek, where the dimples played 
 with the light and shade of her face. " I get no sat- 
 isfaction out of you at all this morning, Simon. 
 You won't even tell me where you got your guns. 
 You're a very poor cousin to have; and yet you want 
 me to do all sorts of things for you," she added, 
 laughing at the sight of his face. 
 
 " Oh ! didn't I tell you ? " exclaimed Simon. " Well, 
 that's because I was so full of business getting the 
 old thing ready. I'd just as lieves you knew, Debby. 
 Abner Butterfield got 'em for us." 
 
 "Abner Butterfield!" exclaimed Debby, unable to 
 control her start of surprise. " Goodness me, Simon, 
 what are you talking of ? The idea of Abner Butter- 
 field having anything to do with guns and fighting. 
 Why, he wouldn't know nor care if there were to be 
 ten thousand wars; he'd stand stock still and not 
 know till it was all over," she ended with a short 
 laugh. 
 
 "That's where you wrong Abner," declared Simon 
 stoutly, and pausing a minute to regard her with
 
 20 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 disfavor; "because he's quiet like, an" doesn't talk 
 about how he feels, folks don't see him as he is. 
 But you ought to know better, Debby Parlin." 
 
 " And why ought I to know, pray tell, Mr. Simon 
 Brown ? " cried Debby airily, and hopping lightly from 
 one foot to the other as if she quite disdained the 
 whole subject. " I'm sure I don't Anow nor care how 
 Abner Butterfield feels." 
 
 "Because Abner lets you see how he feels, an' 
 you know just what stuff he's made of," answered 
 Simon, ignoring her airs. 
 
 " I don't know as I know much more about Abner 
 Butterfield's feelings than you do," retorted Debby 
 with a fling to her checked apron. " I'm sure I don't 
 see why I should ; for I'm tired to death hearing you 
 talk of him, and I never listen if I can help it." 
 
 Simon brought his thin lips together firmly, and 
 turned back to his gun-cleaning with redoubled vigor. 
 " And I haven't any patience with you tor everlastingly 
 bringing him up," said Debby, shaking the light waves 
 of hair away from her brow, " none at all, Simon." 
 
 Simon kept a cold shoulder for her, and even began 
 to whistle the last bar of " The White Cockade. 1 ' 
 
 " You always make me run, Simon,'' said Debby, 
 showing not the smallest disposition to stir from her 
 tracks, "whenever you begin to talk of him."
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. 21 
 
 Simon, an imaginary fifer, tooted merrily on, with- 
 out the smallest heed to his cousin. 
 
 "And 'tisn't because I take the slightest interest 
 in what Abner Butterfield does," went on Debby, 
 drawing near in order to get her words in between 
 the martial strains "oh, dear me, no ! He does vex 
 me so, Simon; he's so big and slow. But I'm so 
 astonished that he'd do anything like the rest of us 
 Concord folks, to show that we can't be ground down 
 to the dust at the bidding of a foolish and wicked 
 old king." 
 
 "When the time comes, Debby Parlin," said Simon, 
 unpuckering his mouth to utter the words forcibly, 
 " Abner Butterfield'll fight as well an' as long as any- 
 body else. You'll find that out. He won't give up 
 till he's dead." 
 
 Debby shivered dreadfully under her blue home- 
 spun; but she gave a toss to her pretty head, and 
 said lightly, " Fiddle-strings, Simon. Oh, dear me ! 
 well, I mustn't stay any longer. I ought to be up 
 at Mrs. Wood's this blessed minute. The idea of 
 wasting my time over Abner Butterfield I " 
 
 "I don't see why you don't start," observed Simon* 
 looking at her. " Well, remember what I said about 
 Perces an' Joe Burrell, Debby." 
 
 "And you remember all I've said about Abner But-
 
 22 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 terfield," said Debby, making a great show of haste as 
 she turned off. "The idea of your keeping me here 
 talking of nothing but Abner Butterfield." 
 
 Suddenly she turned and came back with one of 
 those swift characteristic movements that to one who 
 knew Debby, were never surprising. 
 
 "Simon," she said, and the color died out of her 
 cheek, "you're right. There's an awful time a- 
 coming." 
 
 Simon nodded, his lips drawn tightly over his teeth. 
 
 " And I 'm glad of it ; for it's best to get it over with, " 
 went on Debby in a low voice. "At any rate, Simon, 
 if we girls can't fight, we can talk and pray." 
 
 "Yes," said Simon, "there's an awful lot o' prayin' 
 been goin' on in this town." He glanced up invol- 
 untarily, as if he expected to see the supplications on 
 the way over his head. "An' they all ain't for nothin', 
 now, I tell you." 
 
 " Simon," said Debby, and her face grew suddenly 
 very grave, " I b'lieve we can V be beaten. You see, 
 God couldn't allow it very well, after getting us over 
 here and promising to take care of us, and keeping us 
 along till this time. So I know we shall be free and 
 independent. Just think of it, free and independent ! " 
 She clasped her hands. " O Simon! after all we have 
 suffered in this town, and in all the other towns, to
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. 2$ 
 
 think of relief coming." Her blue eyes glowed with 
 fire, and her bosom heaved. 
 
 Simon could find no words, so he silently redoubled 
 his work on the old musket. 
 
 " It has been so long now," went on Debby. "Our 
 one thought from morning till night has been, what 
 shall we do what can we do to bring things right? " 
 We cannot give up like slaves; we can only die. 
 Simon, why don't you say something? " she broke off 
 impatiently. 
 
 "Because I can't," replied Simon. "It gets too 
 full up here, when I try to speak about it." He 
 touched his throat with his brawny hand. "Seems 
 if I sh'd choke." 
 
 "It's been so many years now," went on Debby 
 mournfully, shaking the soft waves across her brow, 
 "since I've heard nothing else. Why, I was such a 
 little girl, Simon, that I don't remember when I didn't 
 hear it all day long, most." 
 
 "I guess we all can say the same thing," said Simon 
 grimly. 
 
 "I know it," said Debby, delighted to get him to 
 talking. "Of course we've all grown up on it. And 
 do you suppose that the talking and praying of all 
 these years is going to be wasted, Simon?" She 
 brought her clear eyes full to bear upon him.
 
 24 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "No, I don't, said Simon shortly. He had a habit 
 when much moved, of bringing his thin lips togethei 
 with a snap, as if to shut out superfluous words. So 
 now he barely allowed his answer to shoot from his 
 mouth ere he was silent once more. 
 
 "No, no, no," said Debby, with sweet cadence, yet 
 decisively. "All the prayers are not to be wasted. 
 Poverty and suffering," her voice sank mournfully 
 "O Simon! what haven't we suffered holding on to 
 our principles ? " 
 
 Simon thrust the musket from him with a sudden 
 gesture, and faced her. Then he picked it up again, 
 clinching it fast. 
 
 "If you talk like that, I'll forget my principles, an' 
 go an' fight those infernal redcoats before it's time. 
 Do I forget her, Debby Parlin?" He pointed his 
 other fist in the direction of the kitchen. "An' her 
 dyin' by inches because she can't get good food to 
 sustain her? An' how the worry to keep out o' debt 
 killed father, an' left Jabez an' me with a load on 
 our shoulders of interest on th' mortgage that we can't 
 pay, an' that is eatin' us up? Remember? O God! 
 can I ever forget ? " 
 
 He was dreadful to look at. Even his shock of 
 tow hair seemed to erect itself in defiance as he 
 blazed away. Debby was almost frightened to death
 
 THE LITTLE MAID. 2$ 
 
 at the storm she had raised, and she hastened to 
 say, 
 
 "Well, so long as we have got such good men to 
 take care of matters as there are in this town, I think 
 everything will be right. We are law-abiding people, 
 you know, Simon," she added, repeating one of the 
 many phrases she had grown up on. 
 
 Simon's face still worked fearfully. But he returned 
 to his work, as, knowing himself well, he could be held 
 in check only in that way. 
 
 "And we can't be beaten if we don't run," said 
 Debby at last, and the light returned to her eyes. 
 "And it's something to be proud of that we've never 
 been afraid yet, but we've said what we thought we 
 ought to. So Concord has been heard from." 
 
 "She's always been heard from," cried Simon, with 
 sudden fury; "and she'll be listened to, I tell you, 
 when she speaks finally," as Debby went slowly down 
 the road.
 
 26 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN 
 
 II. 
 
 TORY LEE. 
 
 AS Debby went slowly on her way, her head drooped 
 XjL till her soft chin nestled in the blue kerchief, 
 giving her so little the appearance of the usually 
 blithe maiden, that the townspeople meeting her 
 would have turned to watch the sad little figure, had 
 it not been that all the citizens, young as well as old, 
 bore about them the same depressed atmosphere. The 
 whole air seemed charged with the gloom of the pres- 
 ent suffering and distress, and the foreboding, that yet 
 was unlike fear, of the deeper gloom of coming events. 
 It was as if a great crisis were approaching; and 
 while each countenance and movement expressed this, 
 it was dominated by a determination and high resolve, 
 that gave to the provincial face a striking beauty of 
 expression. 
 
 The men were gathered on the Milldam in little 
 knots, engaged in conversation of a serious and weighty 
 character that breathed an over-ruling excitement to 
 thrill each new-comer. Evidently some fresh cause
 
 TORY LEE. 2/ 
 
 for alarm had seized the village in the early morning, 
 to judge from the scraps of talk that fell upon the ear 
 of the chance passer-by. It was noticeable that sev- 
 eral farmers carried muskets, and that the impulse to 
 get the instant opinions of their fellow-townsmen was 
 a general incitant that possessed all classes of citi- 
 zens. There was the revered parson who was daily 
 stopped in his walk through the town's centre by the 
 earnest seeker after the latest news from Boston, or 
 for the clerical opinion, now with a large group sur- 
 rounding him. It was easy to understand by his 
 kindling eye, the nature of the words flowing from his 
 burning lips, and that something unusual had inspired 
 them. 
 
 Debby raised her head from her deep dejection as 
 she passed the group, longing to stop and listen. But 
 for a woman or a girl to gather patriotism in this way 
 was considered unseemly; so she went by with added 
 bitterness in her breast at the fate that had denied 
 her a lusty boyhood. 
 
 Occasionally a face would gleam upon her as she 
 went along, that held something more than the deter- 
 mination and high resolution kept in check. Fierce 
 and bitter would be the flash of the eye, and a sug- 
 gestive handling of the musket, or the brandishing 
 of the stout stick, while muttered words of immediate
 
 28 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 military action caught her ear. But it was noticeable 
 that some citizen would quietly approach such a man, 
 and, laying a hand upon his shoulder, would, in low 
 tones, talk until he was calmed down, not so much 
 perhaps by the words uttered, as by the weight of the 
 name and influence of the man who was speaking. 
 
 One going through Old Concord Town on that hot 
 July morning needed no words to be told that its 
 citizens were banded together as one family, and 
 that the desire for Liberty was the band that united 
 them. Each man seemed a veritable "Son of Lib- 
 erty," a mighty host himself, dependent, as the Israel- 
 ite of old, upon the God of his fathers. To an 
 onlooker it would have been impossible to misunder- 
 stand the signs of the times; and every participant 
 in the life of the village on that day, man, woman, or 
 child, felt in his and her very soul that an impor- 
 tant step had been taken in the sequence of events 
 urging forward the crisis. 
 
 Debby could endure it no longer; but rushing past 
 a knot of farmers whose stern faces and set jaws filled 
 her with the fire of an unspeakable hope that now 
 really the war was about to begin, she ran up the road 
 a good piece, to a matron, standing, as befitted a wo- 
 man, at a long remove from the crowd on the Milldam. 
 'Oh! tell me, what is it? " cried Debby, clasping her
 
 TORY LEK. 29 
 
 hands, her sunbonnet slipping back to her shoulder, 
 allowing the soft waves of hair to escape. 
 
 " The Lord help us, Debby 1 " ejaculated the woman, 
 turning a solemn face to the girl ; yet the thin nostrils 
 quivered, and there was a light in the black eyes; 
 "it's coming; I've known it long, and now it's here." 
 
 " Is the war actually to begin ? " cried Debby with 
 sparkling eyes; "tell me, Mrs. Hosmer; oh, do tell 
 me!" 
 
 "We shall not bear much longer such stress and 
 strain," said Mrs. Hosmer, her black eyes flashing; 
 "it is not in human nature. Listen, Debby; some 
 news reached us this morning, only an hour since, 
 and look at the number of men gathered to discuss 
 it." She pointed to the rapidly augmenting groups 
 below on the Milldam. 
 
 Debby quivered in every limb. "But tell me," 
 she implored, "what is the news?" 
 
 "I only know it is fresh oppression. The king 
 thinks we need more discipline ; and the news comes 
 that he has sent over to Boston such a command. I 
 fear that the excitement will break down our determi- 
 nation not to strike unless attacked." 
 
 " And what do you call an attack ? " cried Debby, 
 pale with anger. She clinched her young right fist till 
 the nails struck into the palm. "Shall we be ground
 
 30 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 down so that we cannot possibly be able to defend 
 ourselves before we fight ? Oh, oh ! " 
 
 " Nay, child," said Mrs. Hosmer, controlling herseli 
 by a violent effort ; "but we shall injure our cause if 
 we give way to excitement. When we strike, we must 
 do it in the right way. Never fear, Debby, the day is 
 coming in the Lord's own time when we shall fight." 
 
 She turned off; and Debby, wild with distress, in 
 which anger and hope for the immediate battle waged 
 equally in her breast, sped off up the road to Mr. 
 Ephraim Wood's, her destination, where she should 
 have been at the spinning-wheel an hour ago. He 
 would know, for Mr. Wood knew everything, she said 
 to herself as she hurried along ; and Mrs. Wood would 
 tell her what all this dreadful news was, and just how 
 King George was to persecute them afresh. She res- 
 olutely sped on, turning her face neither to the right 
 nor to the left, and presently she ran up to the comfor- 
 table Wood mansion, fronting the shining and peace- 
 ful river. 
 
 "Perces," she called, hurrying over the big stone 
 steps that guarded the entrance to the dooryard, and 
 running around the side of the house to the kitchen 
 door, " where's Mrs. Wood ? " 
 
 " In here," called Perces from the kitchen. " My 
 senses, Debby Parlin ! " at sight of her scarlet face,
 
 TOR Y LEE. 3 I 
 
 " you've run every step of the way, I'll be bound," as 
 she met her at the door. She was much younger than 
 Debby, but big and strong for her age. 
 
 Perces's mother looked pale ; but there was a strange 
 light in her eyes, although her hands were busy as 
 usual over menial tasks. " What is it oh, do tell 
 me, Mrs. Wood ? " gasped Debby, holding her with in- 
 sistent blue eyes. 
 
 " News has come but a short time since," said Mrs. 
 Wood, "that an 'Act for the better regulation of the 
 government of Massachusetts Bay ' has been received 
 in Boston, and a Mandamus Council and many other 
 officers are being appointed over us to make us obey 
 the king and Parliament. Now you know it all, 
 Deborah, just as much as we know ourselves." 
 
 " Oh, the wicked, wicked king! " cried Debby, feeling 
 some of the glow depart. Clearly the war had not actu- 
 ally begun ; it was only the old story of more oppression. 
 
 " Hush, hush, child ! Calm yourself," said Mrs. 
 Wood. " Now I have been hindered this morning 
 with all this excitement, and I am not ready to set 
 you to work. Go out and sit down in the air, and 
 cool off. I will call you when I need you." 
 
 " Isn't Mr. Wood going to do anything ? " asked 
 Debby anxiously. 
 
 "Yes; all he or anv one can," answered his wife.
 
 32 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "He is in the keeping-room with Mr. Flint and Mr. 
 Merriam. Don't worry, child," Mrs. Wood's voice fell 
 to a gentle cadence ; " God will take care of us." 
 
 Debby went out to the old flat door-stone, thank- 
 ful, since God would take care of them all, that he 
 had appointed Mr. Ephraim Wood to see to things, 
 and heaving a sigh of relief as she thought of such a 
 strong hand at the helm. She sank down and, twitch- 
 ing off her sunbonnet, began to fan her hot face. 
 
 " My, but ain't you hot 1 " exclaimed Perces, look- 
 ing at the drops of perspiration that ran away from 
 the damp rings of hair on Debby's brow ; and she 
 stepped into the kitchen and brought out a great 
 turkey wing. " You set still, an' I'll fan you," she 
 said, waving it back and forth. 
 
 Debby caught it out of her hand. "You go back 
 to your work, Perces. Mrs. Wood's all tired out. 
 Oh, dear me, how I do wish the fight would begin 
 this very day!" She let the fan slip to the ground 
 while she clasped her hands together, nursing her 
 knee with them. 
 
 Perces made big eyes at her. "Well, I'm sure I 
 don't wish so," she said. " There'll be a terrible time, 
 Debby Parlin, when the fight really does come." 
 
 Debby lifted a hot, distressed face up to the younger 
 one above her.
 
 TORY LEE. 33 
 
 "It is 'only putting off the dreadful time," she 
 said brokenly. " O Perces 1 what shall we shall we 
 do?" 
 
 Perces gazed steadily with large and quiet eyes, 
 like a ruminating animal, over the landscape before 
 her; then she brought her regard back to Debby's 
 face. " I don't know," she said. " No one knows. 
 But God is going to take care of us, I guess. My 
 father says that our rights have got to be respected, 
 and that it behooves the town to take a firm stand. 
 Those are just his very words, Debby. I heard him 
 tell Mr. Flint so before he shut the door." 
 
 "Are they?" cried Debby, leaning against the door- 
 jamb to look up at her and drink in every word. 
 Somehow that "behooves," uttered as she knew Mr. 
 Ephraim Wood had brought it out, gave her solid 
 comfort, being like a granite rock for support. She 
 heaved a long and restful sigh. 
 
 "Perces, I verily believe your father will fix it up," 
 she said out of the depths of a heart devoted to the big 
 stanch patriot who held so much of the town affairs in 
 his grasp. 
 
 "Yes," said Perces stolidly; "he and the other men. 
 Well, you better go round to the other side of the house, 
 Debby, you'll get cool quicker." Somehow Perces 
 always struck one as being a woman grown, with her
 
 34 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWA r . 
 
 large ways to match. And repeating this injunction, 
 she went back into the kitchen. 
 
 Debby crept off her step ; and forgetting the turkey 
 wing, she passed around to the front of the house, where 
 the shadows under the " laylock " bushes looked tempt- 
 ing. Here within their cool recess she cuddled up, 
 intending to stay but a few moments, and then, not 
 waiting for Mrs. Wood's summons, to present herself 
 ready to achieve some household work, even if the 
 spinning-work was "off the carpet." Whether the 
 droning of the insects soothed her, or the soft breeze 
 that now sprung up and played around the damp rings 
 on her forehead fanned her into repose, no one can 
 tell. Certain it is that poor tired little Debby was 
 soon in the land of dreams, her head drooped on her 
 bosom as she leaned against the house-side under the 
 lilac-bushes. 
 
 In her dreams she was seeing innumerable com- 
 panies of redcoats marching down through Concord 
 Town, to be always met and chased by the Provin- 
 cials, who drove and beat them stanchly back. To 
 Debby, revelling in these victories, it seemed as if the 
 Reg'lars melted into thin air, so completely did they 
 vanish, only to reappear, when the same performance 
 was repeated, always to end with victory for Concord. 
 
 It was naturally to be expected, therefore, that with
 
 TORY LEE. 35 
 
 such delightful visions her sleep should be restful. 
 It was so much so, that she was smiling, dewy-eyed, 
 rosy from slumber-land, when she at last stretched her 
 young limbs, now no longer tired, and unclosed her 
 eyes. She was conscious of voices in the room whose 
 windows were above her head. But before she could 
 rouse herself out of her dreamy state enough to take 
 in the sense of the words, she was made aware of some 
 one looking steadily at her around the corner of the 
 house ; and quick as lightning she saw the face of Tory 
 Lee, the neighbor of Mr. Wood, as he vainly endeav- 
 ored to draw back before he was discovered. In a 
 flash it swept over Uebby's brain. "You've been 
 listening," she cried, springing to her feet, "Old Tory 
 Lee! " pointing her finger at him, "to what Mr. Wood 
 and the others are saying;" for now she heard the deep 
 tones of the master of the house engaged in earnest 
 conversation with those citizens who, she felt sure, 
 were to be the leaders of the town in this fresh trouble 
 and oppression. Without a minute's reflection, as 
 Tory Lee stole off across the field in the direction of 
 his mansion, she ran after him. "Old Tory Lee!" 
 she cried in scorn and anger. 
 
 "Girl!" he turned on her, tall and stalwart he was; 
 "how dare you call me that ! " he blazed at her. 
 
 "Because you are!" cried Debby, standing her
 
 36 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 ground, very pale and determined. " Oh ! we are suf 
 fering and poor and distressed, God knows. You can 
 have your fine mansion and fine clothes; but I'd 
 rather suffer everything than to carry around your 
 black heart. And now you've been listening, I feel 
 sure, Tory Lee." 
 
 She was not conscious how much she had raised her 
 voice. Had not the men with Mr. Wood in the room 
 a short distance off been deep in an agony of thought 
 and consultation, they must have heard the fine, shrill 
 call. Some passers-by on the main road caught it, 
 especially two young farmers coming along with swift 
 footsteps. Their muskets were in their hands, and 
 they were stepping off as if actually marching to 
 battle. 
 
 "Tory Lee ! Tory Lee! " No sooner did they hear 
 the words than their march changed to a quick run. 
 "Tory Lee! Tory Lee! " They took up the cry, and 
 passed it along; and presently, there being an unusual 
 amount of travel produced by the exciting news of the 
 morning that was bringing many farmers to the centre 
 of the town, there were about half a score assembling 
 from different points, and all closing around Debby 
 and the unfortunate man. 
 
 In a flash she saw the mischief she had made; and 
 though indignant at sight of the man, the stories of
 
 TOA'Y LEE 37 
 
 whose connivance with the foe against his own towns- 
 men had made him revolting to her, yet she trembled 
 in pity for him; she was in dread, too, lest the young, 
 excited farmers might do something to plunge the town 
 into shame and sorrow. She held up her hand to them 
 imperatively, and they instantly paused. All of them 
 knew her. Who in the town did not? Farmer Parlin's 
 winsome maid, sitting so demure between father and 
 mother in the square pew in the old meeting-house 
 every Sabbath day, her face like a wild rose peeping 
 out from her big bonnet; and in the breast of more 
 than one who thus knew her dwelt a marvellously clear 
 reflection of her cheeks and eyes and hair, to last six 
 other days of the week, till the next Lord's day should 
 arrive, when the reflection could be renewed. So now 
 they one and all obeyed. 
 
 "Run for your life," commanded Debby in a low 
 voice, while all the color fled from her face to ''Tory 
 Lee," who needed no second bidding. And, although 
 a fine and somewhat stately man, he was not above a 
 nimble run, with more thought for speed than for 
 grace; so that his long limbs soon carried him within 
 his own confines, and to the safe retreat of his big 
 mansion. 
 
 "The times do not warrant anything like this," 
 exclaimed one young farmer, who, as Debby had re-
 
 38 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 ceived his advances with cold disapproval, had not 
 so much to lose by her present displeasure. 
 
 "And why am I not warranted, Mr. Haskins ? " 
 replied Debby in a high, cool key, " pray tell. When 
 by my cry you were summoned, clearly I have the 
 right to settle the matter." 
 
 The young fellow looked chagrined ; but another, 
 swallowing his wrath at sight of "Tory Lee," and 
 his disappointment at failing to mete out some sort 
 of punishment to him, broke in, " Debby speaks well, 
 and of course we'll let the villain go." 
 
 " Yes, of course," assented still another, though with 
 difficulty ; " but after this he must look out, or we'll 
 invite him to a ride with a tar-and-feather coat." 
 
 And they were about to pass on, when Abner But- 
 terfield came down the road, his first intimation of 
 the news from Boston being late, as his farm was in 
 one of the out-lying districts. When Haskins, the 
 first speaker, caught sight of his big, sturdy figure, it 
 seemed to arouse all his animosity, that, fired by the 
 excitement of the morning, was burning fiercely. 
 
 " I d'no about that," he declared obstinately. " I 
 believe that we owe Tory Lee more'n we can ever pay 
 him up ef he lived a hundred years. Who knows but 
 what his finger has been in the trouble stirred up fresh 
 for us to bear now ? Boys, what d'ye say to 'hat coaf
 
 TORY LEE. 39 
 
 o' tar-an'-feathers now, an' after that a dp in the 
 river. Come on, I'm for it ! " 
 
 He sprang off in the direction of the Lee mansion ; 
 and a half-dozen young fellows with hot blood, fired 
 by the news of the fresh persecution brought that 
 morning, dashed after him. Debby uttered a low cry, 
 and clasped her hands in terror. Every drop of blood 
 seemed to desert her body as she stood there a frozen 
 little thing. 
 
 Abner Butterfield strode to her side between the 
 group of young men still obeying her. ' What is't, 
 Debby ? " he demanded, reaching her side. 
 
 " O Abner ! " she sprang out into life and action 
 again. " Make them stop," she entreated, the color 
 now spreading over her face ; " they are going to harm 
 Tory Lee. It is all my fault ; I was upbraiding him, 
 and they heard me. Abner, stop them ! " 
 
 At this juncture Haskins gave a jeering laugh. It 
 was madness to him to see Abner Butterfield appealed 
 to by Debby ; and now he determined that Tory Lee 
 should suffer for it, if the skies fell. He nourished 
 his musket high above his head, and called upon all 
 good patriots to fall in to this righteous work, "unless 
 you want to be reckoned along with the old traitor. " 
 
 That was enough after the news of the morning; 
 and every soul of them except Abner ran, with all the
 
 40 A LITTLE MAID OF C01VCOXD TOWN. 
 
 ardor of youth on fire with love of country, across the 
 road, and swarmed over the broad Lee acres. Debby 
 could see a long, pale face at one of the large win- 
 dows, and then it was withdrawn. She wrung her 
 hands in anguish. "They will kill him!" she cried, 
 "and his blood will be on my head." 
 
 "Debby," said Abner, laying his big hand on her 
 arm, "don't feel badly. They won't darst do any- 
 thing but give him a scare." 
 
 "I've killed him!" cried Debby, with wild eyes. 
 "0 Abner!" She crept up closer to his big side, 
 and shivered like a hurt little thing. 
 
 "They will not darst," he began again; and his 
 hand smoothed her bright hair as softly as her mother 
 could have done. Just then a shout, discordant and 
 angry, smote the air. It came from the house-place 
 of the Lee mansion. 
 
 Debby broke away from Abner's hand. "I shall 
 tell Mr. Wood!" she screamed. And speeding down 
 the road to the house, while Abner strode off to do his 
 best to quell the incipient riot, she burst on unsteady 
 feet into the august presence of the three councillors. 
 "Oh, sir!" she cried through white lips, "and Mr 
 Flint and Mr. Merriam, save Tory Lee! "
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 4! 
 
 III. 
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 
 
 "TT7HAT does the child mean?" exclaimed Mr. 
 
 V V Wood, pushing the papers on the big ma- 
 hogany table around which they were seated away 
 from him. He got out of his chair, and took hold of 
 Debby's trembling arm. He was a large, powerful 
 man, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds or there- 
 about, and very tall and straight; and he towered so 
 high above the little maid that she breathed grate- 
 fully, "O Mr. Wood I you can stop them," she cried. 
 
 "What does the child mean?" exclaimed the good 
 man again in perplexity; then he started to the door, 
 still holding Debby's arm. " Mother," he called, " the 
 little Parlin maid seems to be ill; you had better 
 come and care for her." 
 
 "Oh, I'm not ill!" protested Debby, wringing her 
 hands at all this delay; "I'm afraid for Tory Lee; 
 don't you hear them, sir? And you, Mr. Flint and 
 Mr. Merriam ? They're going to do dreadful things to 
 him, if you don't stop it."
 
 42 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 'The girl seems to have something on her mind," 
 said Mr. Merriam, jumping from his chair, "connected 
 with Tory Lee." He hastened to the window and 
 looked out. " Ah, Brother Wood, see there ! " he 
 pointed to the crowd around the Lee mansion. 
 
 "In that case our conference must wait a bit," ob- 
 served Mr. Flint, getting out of his chair "until we 
 subdue this tumult, whatever it is." He glanced out 
 the window, then reached for his hat where he had 
 hung it behind the door. " It is about time to put a 
 stop to all Tory sentiments, in my opinion," he said, 
 a heavy frown settling over his face. 
 
 Brother Wood was already out of the door. "We 
 have need of great judgment to proceed aright. This 
 day of all days it would be disastrous for a riot to be- 
 gin." He strode off with long steps, his two col- 
 leagues coming after as best they might, and only 
 overtaking him as he entered the Lee grounds. 
 
 The clamor seemed to proceed from the space sur- 
 rounding the back door of the mansion, and to this 
 spot Mr. Ephraim Wood and his two associates now 
 betook themselves. No sooner had they turned the 
 corner of the large house than the scene that pre- 
 sented itself awakened all their ire. The leader, who 
 towered so above his fellows, thundered out, his usu- 
 ally calm face working fearfully, "Fellow citizens,
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 43 
 
 I command you in the name of God Almighty to 
 disperse.'' 
 
 The riotous element, at this juncture attempting 
 to force the heavy oaken door, was composed ot 
 young men; and seeing the fathers of law and order 
 in the town, headed by such a formidable specimen 
 as Mr. Wood, advancing toward them in a way 
 that meant business, each one began to fall back 
 on the other, and to wish himself well out of the 
 affair. 
 
 "God knows we have enough to bear," went on 
 Mr. Wood sternly, ''without disgracing the fair name 
 of our town. Riot and disorderly conduct doth not 
 belong to Concord." 
 
 "We've suffered through this man," spoke up one 
 of the young farmers, more clever with his tongue 
 since he'd once ventured to air an opinion in one 
 of the town meetings which were being constantly 
 held. "No one knows what evil he will do if not 
 restrained." 
 
 "Leave that to those who can perform the work 
 better than you," commanded Mr. Wood more 
 sternly. 
 
 "Rioting and personal abuse are not allowable in 
 this town," said Mr. Merriam. "We will take care 
 of Dr. Lee at the proper time."
 
 44 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Another instant's work and you would have 
 made yourselves liable to be clapped into jail," 
 cried Mr. Flint with anger. "Away with you!" 
 he swung his knobby stick, which he had taken the 
 precaution to bring, around his head, "and never 
 get into such work again. You'll have fighting soon 
 enough,. God knows, when we Can all band together 
 as good citizens of a town that has never been dis- 
 graced. ' ' 
 
 "Softly there, my good friend Flint," said Mr. 
 Wood, cooling down as he saw the other firing up, 
 " let us take the names of these disturbers of our 
 peace, so that we may know who they are who 
 would threaten the good name of Concord." He 
 swept the whole circle of young men with his eye, 
 some of whom on the outskirts were endeavoring 
 to duck and steal off unobserved. "No, you needn't 
 hurry away, Jedediah Platt," he remarked grimly 
 to such an one, "since I know you perfectly well, 
 and your name must go down along with the rest." 
 From the breast pocket of his coat he took out a big 
 red leather wallet much worn, as it had belonged to 
 his father before him. Its strap ran around to the 
 opposite side, holding the papers close and safe 
 within. It was lined with faded blue paper, and 
 contained three pockets. Out of one of these Mr.
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 45 
 
 Wood secured the necessary bit of paper, using the 
 end of a letter for that purpose; and taking out his 
 pencil, he proceeded, in the leisurely judicial way 
 peculiar to him, to note down all individuals before 
 him, to their great disgust and shame. 
 
 When he came to Abner Butterfield he looked up 
 in surprise. Mr. Flint gave an uneasy ejaculation, 
 while Mr. Merriam showed his disdain by a con- 
 temptuous silence. 
 
 " Indeed, sir," protested Abner hurriedly, while 
 the scarlet flew into his brown cheek, " I had nothing 
 to do with this unhappy business. I came to try 
 to stop them." 
 
 "Poor influence you've had, Abner," observed 
 Mr. Wood with irony. " I should have supposed 
 your words would have carried more weight." 
 
 Haskins sneered, and ground the heel of his boot 
 into the grass. At least Abner would be disgraced 
 in the eyes of these good and influential citizens. 
 That was something to be rejoiced at anyway. 
 
 "Your name must go down," said Mr. Wood 
 calmly, "with the others, as long as you are found 
 here with them." And Abner set his teeth together 
 hard at the first record of what to him meant ever- 
 lasting disgrace. 
 
 "And now away with you all!" roared Mr. Wood
 
 46 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 at them, the taking of names being finished. And 
 what with this command, and the swinging again of 
 Mr. Flint's knobby stick that somehow in the style 
 of his performance seemed a terror, the crowd dis- 
 persed, and hurried off to town all but two mem- 
 bers of it. 
 
 Those were Abner Butterfield and Jim Haskins. 
 The latter, not content with the sight of the gloomy, 
 set face overtopping the stalwart figure of the first- 
 named young man, chose to wait for him, as he 
 walked slowly, evidently with a desire to avoid a 
 meeting. 
 
 "Seems to me you're awful glum over it," remarked 
 Haskins with an unpleasant grin, stepping to Abner's 
 side. "I d'no's it's any worse for you than for the 
 rest o' us. But what do I care? Confusion take 
 'em ! " He snapped his fingers off toward the three 
 dignitaries who had just read them the law. 
 
 No answer. Abner strode gloomily on, never look- 
 ing at his companion. This nettled Haskins, who at 
 least wanted the consideration of hail fellowship with 
 Abner, which thus far in his life he had never been 
 able to obtain ; but now, dragged together in the com- 
 mon bond of misery, he looked to the fulfilment of 
 his desires in that quarter. "And I'm monstrous 
 glad you've caught it ! " he went on, at sight of the
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 4? 
 
 cold face turned away from him, while his compan- 
 ion's head was carried high. 
 
 "Will you have the goodness, Raskins, to go your 
 side of the road," said Abner, "or in front, I don't 
 care which. I want no words with you of any sort. 
 All I desire is to be let alone." Still he didn't look 
 at him. 
 
 "And that's just what you won't have," cried Has- 
 kins, irritated beyond measure at the scorn of Abner's 
 words and manner. Then, impelled by the working- 
 power of the double draughts of hard cider with which 
 he had fortified himself since early morning, and 
 without a bit of warning, he yelled out, " You'll never 
 get Debby Parlin if you try all your life; she'll play 
 with you as she plays with all; a curse on her and 
 on you." 
 
 Abner Butterfield turned like lightning, his face a 
 stormy sea over which tossed the waves of white 
 wrath. He seized the coat collar of the man before 
 him, and shook it till he could shake no more; the 
 figure within being lifted from the ground, its legs 
 and arms flying out like those of a puppet. The end 
 of the performance saw Haskins in the ditch in a 
 heap, and Abner striding down the road after saying, 
 "Another word about her from your dastard's throat, 
 and you'll never speak more."
 
 48 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Haskins gathered himself from the ditch, looked 
 carefully around to see if there were any witnesses, 
 then shook his fist at the departing figure, his face 
 swollen with passion. There were no words to come 
 from his mouth. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Wood gave a vigorous clang of the 
 knocker on the oaken front door of the mansion. 
 "It is I," he said, at the same time, reassuringly, "Mr. 
 Ephraim Wood. Do you, Brother Flint, step to the 
 window and speak within, and you to another win- 
 dow," nodding to Mr. Merriam; " verily ; they are all 
 so frightened that they will not admit us, thinking we 
 are come to molest them." 
 
 "The curtains are all drawn tight," reported Mr. 
 Flint, after a careful reconnoitring of the mansion, 
 in which statement Mr. Merriam concurred. 
 
 "Then we must resort to sterner measures," said 
 Mr. Wood, " to announce who we are ; for get into this 
 house, where we can deliver our message, we must and 
 will." He stepped off to the greensward in front of 
 the door. "Approach the window, Dr. Lee," he 
 called in stentorian tones, "for I have somewhat to 
 say to you. You know me ; I am your neighbor, and 
 these are your fellow-townsmen. Surely we have not 
 come to harm you, but to a peaceable conference." 
 All this he delivered as if to a large assembly.
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 49 
 
 It had the effect, before it was half through, to bring 
 a long, nervous hand to the curtain-edge, which was 
 pulled aside hesitatingly. And then, by the time the 
 address was over, the window was open, and Dr. Lee's 
 head appeared. 
 
 "We have come to speak to you, Dr. Lee," said Mr. 
 Wood, his neighbor, dropping his voice to its accus- 
 tomed note of calm consideration, "and we beg that 
 you will open the door and give us admittance." 
 
 It was impossible to refuse this ; and the big oaken 
 door was soon ajar, and the self-invited guests were 
 passing down the wide wainscoted hall lined with 
 family portraits. 
 
 Dr. Lee nervously threw open the door to the spa- 
 cious room on the right. "Walk in, gentlemen," he 
 said, motioning them within. He was very pale ; and 
 his upper lip, well pulled down over the lower, con- 
 cealed where that had been bitten in the ordeal of 
 suspense and fear he had just endured. Me waited 
 silently for them to speak, and followed them into the 
 apartment, seating himself in its shadow as much as 
 was consistent with his ideas of hospitality, that was 
 in duty bound to present a show of pleasure at t? e 
 visit. 
 
 "Our errand is on a most unhappy subject," began 
 Mr. Wood, as the two gentlemen looked to him to
 
 50 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 begin the conversation. " It is useless to ignore the 
 fact that a disturbance has been made in your house- 
 place this morning, even to threats to force your 
 door." Mr. Wood was not one to mince matters, 
 but usually he went to the heart of the truth at one 
 bound. 
 
 " You say well there has been a disturbance," be- 
 gan Dr. Lee harshly; and rolling back his upper lip, 
 the little stream of blood released, trickled down by 
 a slender thread to his waistcoat. 
 
 "You are ill, Brother Lee," exclaimed Mr. Flint, 
 starting forward. "Pray do not try to talk," said Mr. 
 Wood in commiseration. 
 
 "A paltry thing," exclaimed Dr. Lee hastily, to 
 shut off the sympathy he saw coming to the mouth of 
 Mr. Meriam, "only a lip-cut. Yes, the outrage com- 
 mitted on my house and grounds s a dastardly thing. 
 Let me tell you, gentlemen," he clinched his shapely 
 hand, and brought it down heavily on the table laden 
 with rare china, and what was rarer still in that day, 
 fine books, and thrust his pale face over toward 
 them, "such an outrage is subject to the extremest 
 penalty of the law. Concord shall pay for this." 
 
 ''Softly, softly, Brother Lee," said Mr. Wood in 
 a large, calm way. The other two men hitched 
 their chairs nervously forward, while their thin lips
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 5 1 
 
 trembled with their eagerness to speak. " Extremes! 
 penalty of the law are hard words to use, and threats 
 toward your town harder yet. Let us look at this 
 matter." He crossed his long legs, and folded his 
 large hands together judicially. " A number of young 
 and hot-headed youths have committed a disturbance 
 on your place, a disturbance, Dr. Lee, urged on by 
 certain fixed and growing opinions held to by many 
 good, reliable residents of this town, that you are 
 not loyal to her interests, nor to the interests of the 
 Province and the Colonies." 
 
 " I am loyal to her, and to the Province and to the 
 Colonies," broke in Dr. Lee excitedly. His pale face 
 trembled with his eagerness, and again he clinched 
 his hand fiercely. " I am, as we all should be, a good 
 subject of our king. And no man can point to any- 
 thing I have done, who dares to say otherwise." 
 
 " Common report has aired many dubious things on 
 this point about you, Dr. Lee," said Mr. Wood so- 
 berly. "God grant they may not be true." 
 
 "They are not true," declared Dr. Lee in a shrill 
 voice. "Enemies have followed me, and perverted 
 many things from their rightful meaning. I can ex- 
 plain them all satisfactorily." 
 
 His visitors regarded him gravely. He ran on with 
 the air of a man desiring complete re-establishment
 
 52 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 in good favor, and cried passionately, " And if I have 
 let slip at any time an unguarded opinion, surely 
 every man can hold his own opinions, and I am 
 supposed to be among friends." 
 
 "Too many opinions on the subject dear to our 
 hearts, American liberty, cannot be allowed, Dr. Lee," 
 said Mr. Wood quietly ; " there can be but one opin- 
 ion. Whoever does not hold to the right one, with 
 the rest of his fellows, must be content to be ranked an 
 outsider. He puts himself there by his own hand." 
 
 Dr. Lee cringed an instant, but immediately rallied. 
 " And again I say," he boldly asserted, straightening 
 himself up in the tall, carved chair, "that every man 
 is entitled to his opinions. Liberty ! what does the 
 word mean but that? And, Brother Wood, pardon 
 me if I express to you my belief that you may come 
 to see the matter as I do. It is a poor time, let me 
 tell you, for this outrage to have taken place this 
 morning, when our king has sent us fresh warning 
 of his power to quell our aspirations for American 
 Independence, an unpropitious moment truly for a 
 good and loyal subject of his to be maltreated." 
 He laughed triumphantly. Mr. Flint and Mr. Meriam 
 sat with flashing eyes, erect on their chairs ; but they 
 held their peace, knowing that their turn to speak 
 would soon arrive.
 
 WITHIN THE LEE MANSION. 53 
 
 "And hark ye, Dr. Lee," Mr. Wood unclasped his 
 large hands, and leaned his immense height forward 
 while he sought the depths of the other's eyes, "it 
 is mayhap in the sight of God the best time, if the 
 disturbance must come, that you should be brought 
 to see on this very day what a temper we are pos- 
 sessed of. Hardly any other morning could it have 
 occurred. It is just because the news has aroused 
 every soul in this town that the excitement has proved 
 unbearable. It must vent itself on anything that 
 points to even the slightest suspicion of disloyalty to 
 our hope and our belief in ultimate freedom." 
 
 "We are waging a fearful struggle," cried Dr. Lee 
 to gain time, and to feel his way, while he controlled 
 his passion at the leaping forth of that of the other. 
 
 "We can but die and, hark ye!" Mr. Wood 
 thundered out the words, while he brought his large 
 hand on the table with a noise, which, compared to 
 that produced by a similar cause on the part of his 
 host, was a Niagara roar beside a purling brook. 
 Every article on the table danced and quivered. Dr. 
 Lee involuntarily moved back his chair. " But we 
 will die free men hark ye that ! " He brought his 
 large face forward with a thrust at his neighbor a 
 face in which an innumerable host seemed to speak 
 and protest their willingness to fight for what was
 
 54 A LITTLE MAW OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 dearer to them than life. And for a minute, while 
 the ponderous old corner clock ticked off the sec- 
 onds, the two looked at each other, and no one spoke 
 or stirred. 
 
 "And instead of the extremest penalty of the law," 
 
 it was Mr. Meriam who broke the silence, "let 
 
 me tell you, Dr. Lee, it is you who have cause to fear. 
 There are laws that once broken cannot be forgiven. 
 Arraigned before the bar of an insulted and outraged 
 town, one who broke such a law would stand but a poor 
 chance. I advise you to meditate well on this point." 
 
 "And it is in your power to protect yourself," ob- 
 served Mr. Flint incisively, "but not much longer in 
 our power to protect you. We have done our best this 
 morning, as you very well know; but the times are get- 
 ting more troublous, and we cannot answer for your 
 safety if increasing suspicion points to you." 
 
 "Brother Lee," said Mr. Wood, getting out of his 
 chair, and drawing himself up to his great height, " I 
 pray you to ponder well our words. We have much 
 business before us in the coming hours, and we will 
 wish you good-day." He signed to his associates, who 
 went through the same form of leave-taking, to be dis- 
 missed at the big green door with punctilious polite- 
 ness by the pale-faced man, the little blood-stream 
 still trickling over his waistcoat.
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 55 
 
 IV. 
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 
 
 IT was a stormy night, wild and forbidding. The 
 rain poured down pitilessly upon the scattered 
 farmhouses, and beat about the windows, against 
 whose panes the sodden branches were tossed by 
 the wind that arose at nightfall. In about an hour 
 it blew a gale. 
 
 Three men were wending their solitary way to the 
 farmhouse where their deliberations were to take 
 place. The countenances of all were animated by a 
 stern resolve, as if, by slow accretions of strength, 
 their owners had arrived at a determination, that, once 
 fixed, became unalterable. The firmly set mouth, the 
 eye glowing with the fire of resolution each and 
 all bore the same expression; yet in build and gen- 
 eral make-up the pedestrians were widely different. 
 
 At last the paths of two of them converged in the 
 road leading to Captain James Barrett's house, the 
 place of meeting. And they fell into conversation, 
 and spoke out of full hearts.
 
 56 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " The times are troublous to that degree that nothing 
 worse can come to us than death," said one. "We are 
 slaves in reality, though bearing all the semblance of 
 free men," he added bitterly. 
 
 "That is so," assented the other gloomily, letting 
 his head drop on his breast. 
 
 "Yet we must not despond," the first man made 
 haste to reply, as he saw the effect of his words, "or 
 all is lost. It is only by keeping our heads cool, and 
 preserving our resolution, that we can strike the blow 
 when the time arrives. And that time will soon be 
 here." 
 
 "Thank God! " exclaimed the other, rousing out of 
 his temporary depression ; " to strike would be heaven 
 indeed. It is this delay that is killing us all, when 
 we see each day is but the season for fresh indignity 
 and privation. My very soul burns within me for the 
 fight to begin." 
 
 "You would not have us strike the first blow, 
 Brother Whitney? " ventured the first man, more for 
 the opportunity of a remark, than because he doubted 
 the answer. " Surely that would be certain death and 
 disaster, besides being wicked. We are a righteous 
 people and law-abiding. Let the tyrant strike first, 
 and begin the war; then we will show him we are 
 ready for it."
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 57 
 
 In his excitement he bared his head to the pitiless 
 storm, while silently invoking the aid of that God in 
 whom he believed. 
 
 "I agree with you wholly, Brother Hosmer," said 
 Mr. Whitney, "only I am for such plain and square 
 statements now from the people of Concord that there 
 can be no doubt as to our way of looking at the 
 matter." 
 
 " I did not think there ever had been much occasion 
 for doubt in our former words, when opportunity hath 
 given us power to speak," remarked Mr. Hosmer 
 dryly. 
 
 "True, true," cried Mr. Whitney. "And now," 
 clinching his good right hand, "they shall hear it 
 more than ever from our town. Concord shall speak 
 as never before, although I grant you we have been 
 plain and square of speech. We care not for the 
 British foe on land or sea. We are free, despite 
 King George himself ! " 
 
 The other repressed the sigh that was on his lips, 
 and gazed in sympathy at his fellow-citizen, as the 
 third man, whose approach in the rain and darkness 
 had not been observed, now drew near. 
 
 "I could hear your words," he said, " and I am with 
 you, Brother Whitney." He carried the same daunt- 
 less front, although his words were quiet
 
 58 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCOKD TOWN. 
 
 " So are we all, I believe," declared Mr. Hosmer. 
 "And we shall soon have a chance to prove our speech, 
 Brother Heywood. Well, here we are," as a candle 
 gleaming in the Barrett homestead beckoned them on 
 to light and warmth. 
 
 "We have a task to do to-night that, please God, 
 will help forward the work," he added, as they passed 
 over the greensward before the door; "anything is 
 better than this wretched suspense. Our words, as we 
 write them to-night, must be strong, to arouse every 
 soul who shall hear them to his duty." 
 
 The big door was thrown wide, and the good man 
 of the house stood before them. 
 
 He was over sixty years of age, yet his counte- 
 nance glowed with the enthusiasm of youth. He 
 held the door wide, as if awaiting them impatiently. 
 "Come in, friends," he cried, drawing them from the 
 storm and the wind ; " lay off your wet garments in 
 here." He led the way through to the big kitchen, 
 where the large logs were crackling in the fireplace, 
 and the kettle steamed suggestively. 
 
 Mrs. Barrett, a goodly matron of stately mien, rose 
 to greet them; and by her side was Miliscent, the 
 eldest granddaughter, a tall, slender girl with beautiful 
 dark hair and eyes. With kind intent, they soon 
 assisted the new-comers to dispose of the dripping
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 59 
 
 cloaks and hats, that presently sent out in the warmth, 
 induced by the hot fire, a steam that proclaimed the 
 drying process well advanced. 
 
 " It is a sorry night," observed Mrs. Barrett to open 
 conversation. 
 
 " To say the truth, madam, I have not been troubled 
 by it," said Mr. Hosmer; "nor, I venture to say has 
 either of my companions. We carry about with us 
 continually such a storm in our hearts, that the ele- 
 ments might war about us, and we should call it 
 child's play in comparison." 
 
 Mrs. Barrett sighed; and Miliscent, who stood near, 
 felt her young cheek glow, while she said, and her 
 eyes blazed, " I hope you will do something to-night," 
 including them all in her glance, "that will make the 
 wicked king see he cannot grind us any more beneath 
 his tyranny." 
 
 " Miliscent! Miliscent! " reproved her grandmother. 
 
 "I do! " asserted Miliscent stoutly, though usually 
 she was most submissive to those in authority. " O 
 grandmother ! do let me say it ; I should die if I 
 didn't." 
 
 Captain Barrett looked as if about to answer her, 
 but said instead, " You must take your hot toddy, 
 friends, and drive the cold out. Wife, bring the de- 
 canter and the boiling water."
 
 60 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 The making of the toddy was religiously believed 
 in through all the Colonies as a neighborly and family 
 rite of universal distinction; and the old silver tank- 
 ard and the decanter must necessarily take the post 
 of honor in the setting out on the buffet. To-night 
 the manner observed in partaking of the steaming 
 tankard seemed like that of a sacrament. Each man 
 sipped his portion silently with that abstracted and 
 fixed gaze that showed him lost in thought. All the 
 joy and neighborly gayety were lacking; more like to 
 the pledging of vows it was, as the cup was passed 
 around. And at last the silence became so painful 
 that Miliscent stirred uneasily in her chair, and 
 looked as if the tears were about to fall over cheeks 
 blanched with efforts to keep them back. 
 
 "Well, friends," said the host, breaking the pause, 
 " if you will not take any more toddy, we will adjourn 
 to the muster-room. Wife, see that there is no 
 noise, for we shall need all our thoughts in unin- 
 terrupted quiet." 
 
 The men rose and filed out silently. Miliscent 
 gave a low cry as the last one disappeared. "O 
 grandmother! how can you sit so still. I can't bear 
 it;" and she sank down on the floor, and buried her 
 head in Mrs. Barrett's lap. 
 
 ''Dear child," said Mrs. Barrett with a low groan,
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 6l 
 
 while her fingers smoothed the soft dark hair, "my 
 heart is sore and affrighted, but it will not do to 
 give way. Your father and Mr. Hosmer, Mr. Whit- 
 ney and Mr. Heywood, need to be encouraged, and 
 it is all we women can do to stay their minds and 
 hearts. If they saw us fretting and repining, it 
 would only burden them with useless sorrow. We 
 must prove ourselves worthy of them and our town, 
 and we must do our part to save it." 
 
 Her eyes glowed as much as the young girl's; and 
 her heart beat fast, although her fingers, moving in 
 and out the soft hair, were steady and cool. 
 
 " But think what we have suffered see what we 
 are enduring now! " cried Miliscent, raising her head 
 in a flame of anger. " Can we ought we to bear 
 it longer before we openly rebel? Say, grand- 
 mother. Oh! why doesn't God help us?" She 
 brought the last words out in a wail, and her head 
 sank again to Mrs. Barrett's lap. 
 
 "Listen, Miliscent;" the woman's face was very 
 pale, and her inward prayer for wisdom to speak, 
 unloosened her lips. "The Lord is mighty and will 
 prevail." 
 
 " Oh ! that is what Parson Emerson preaches, " broke 
 in Miliscent impatiently; "but why doesn't God help 
 us now, grandmother? We've borne all we can."
 
 62 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " No ! " Mrs. Barrett's voice rang out clear and 
 true. She raised her eyes to heaven. " Thank God, 
 we can bear everything for him. ' If he slay me, 
 yet will I trust him.' Miliscent, stop at once " and 
 her tone was of authority that the girl knew allowed 
 of no disobedience " all this foolish repining. The 
 Lord's hand is not so heavy that it cannot save. He 
 will come, and that right early, in his own good time, 
 to our relief. Do not be afraid." 
 
 The girl stole a glance at her grandmother's face, 
 and was awe-struck to see how it shone, as if Heaven's 
 own light were really on it. 
 
 " And now sit down to your spinning at once," said 
 Mrs. Barrett, rousing herself to speak in her usual 
 brisk manner ; " nothing drives out the desire for use- 
 less repining, quicker than work. Sit down and do 
 a stent." And the whirring of the wheel proclaiming 
 her command obeyed, she went to her bedroom, 
 buttoned fast the door, to fall on her knees by the 
 old four-poster, and pour out her soul in prayer for 
 the deliberations going on in the muster-room. 
 
 The next morning dawned bright and clear, with 
 no trace of the late storm, save that here and there 
 branches strewed the ground where they had fallen 
 twisted from the parent trees. Miliscent had re- 
 mained over night. In truth, she was as often at the
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 63 
 
 old homestead as at her father's house next door ; for 
 she was a favorite grandchild, and she fitted well into 
 the ways of the older household. She threw wide the 
 shutter of the little room, that was always hers when 
 she stayed at grandfather's, and looked without. The 
 svm was coming up bright and golden, a rosy flush 
 pervading the sky to mark his advances. The fresh, 
 sweet air poured into the chamber laden with that 
 peculiar resinous quality that follows a heavy rain, 
 and all the shining landscape lay fair and wholesome 
 as a maiden's dream could depict it. Miliscent leaned 
 her elbows upon the sill, and rested her head upon 
 her hands, to drink it all in. 
 
 " War and bloodshed ! Oppression and distress ! " 
 the smiling scene seemed to belie the very existence 
 of such facts in God's universe. And Miliscent for 
 the moment felt as gladsome as a child, simply in the 
 delight of living. As far as her eyes could reach, 
 were the broad acres belonging to her grandfather. 
 No evidence was there of aught but peace and plenty; 
 all was repose. The cattle off in the barnyard were 
 lowing at the gate, preparatory to their departure 
 for the luscious pasture across the road, and the 
 fowls stepping about and picking up the early worms 
 beneath her window had the same soothing air of 
 content and security that broods over farm-life.
 
 64 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 The girl looking on at the window caught this rest- 
 ful spirit, and it seemed as if an uneasy dream had 
 been the occasion of all former disquietude. Here 
 was reality. 
 
 But presently she started back as if struck by 
 some unseen hand. " O God ! " she cried, " how can 
 I forget, even for an instant? Our homes what do 
 they mean to us? Only that we can keep them on 
 sufferance, and in obedience to wicked mandates. 
 Any instant they are likely to be taken from us, 
 and we to become the slaves that we really are. Oh! 
 if I could do something to help my poor, suffering 
 country. ' ' 
 
 She suddenly left the window, and threw herself 
 down by the bed, burying her young face in the dimity 
 counterpane. "Dear God," she breathed brokenly, 
 "give me something that my hands can do, to help 
 forward our righteous struggle. Hear me, O God ! " 
 Then she hurried over to the old-fashioned wash- 
 stand in the corner, and from the basin dashed up 
 the clear water on her flushed and tear-stained face. 
 
 "Grandmother," Miliscent went up to Mrs. Bar- 
 rett's side as she bent over the morning meal of 
 ham and eggs frying in the spider; "I am going 
 to get the rest of the breakfast. Sit down in the 
 keeping-room, do, you look so hot and tired."
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 65 
 
 " Miliscent, it is good for me to have my hands 
 occupied," said Mrs. Barrett. Yet she turned and 
 looked long and lovingly into the face beside her. 
 In truth, it was a comely sight. 
 
 Miliscent's dark hair was braided away neatly 
 from either side of her shapely head; there was the 
 glow of health upon her cheek, and a dewy light in 
 the dark eyes, that had a deep and tender look in 
 their depths as they rested gravely on her grand- 
 mother's face. It was as if she had, while losing 
 none of her youth, grown suddenly alive to the re- 
 sponsibilities of the hour, and glad to feel the 
 weight of them upon her strong young shoulders. 
 There was altogether such a new expression on her 
 face, that Mrs. Barrett hastened to add, "Don't worry, 
 Miliscent, nor take all this trouble too much to heart. 
 You are young; it is for us who are old and experi- 
 enced, who should bear the burden and the distress." 
 
 "I do not worry," said Miliscent, throwing back 
 her head as she spoke. "And I am glad to cast 
 in my lot, and endure suffering with all the others, 
 who perchance are old and experienced. Grand- 
 mother, I hope God is going to give something into 
 my hand to help forward this struggle for freedom." 
 Her delicate nostril quivered and her bosom heaved; 
 but there was a light in her eye, and her grand-
 
 66 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 mother gazed at her, the fork with which she had 
 been turning the ham poised in the air. 
 
 "Child, child, what has come to you?" she ex- 
 claimed, not without admiration. 
 
 " I cannot tell, grandmother. I only know that God 
 will hear my prayer to be allowed to help onward this 
 mighty struggle against wrong and oppression." 
 
 "You do help you are a tower of strength every 
 day!" cried Mrs. Barrett. "In these two houses you 
 are light and sunshine and hope. And your grand- 
 father was saying but the other day, that to hear your 
 step and to see your face were rest and comfort to 
 him. It is no small thing, Miliscent, to be the stay of 
 such a good man as he is." 
 
 Miliscent's cheeks glowed, and the tears ran down 
 her young face. She put both arms around her grand- 
 mother and embraced her, a proceeding that aston- 
 ished them both equally, for New England reticence 
 forbade many endearing expressions of the affection 
 that lay deeply hidden in the heart. Then she said, 
 and this time she took the fork not ungently from her 
 grandmother's hand, "Do you go and rest. At least 
 this burden I can take from you;" and she pleaded 
 with her dark eyes till Mrs. Barrett yielded, and left 
 her with the task. 
 
 Miliscent had run over home to help her mother
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 67 
 
 with the morning work, and having finished the last 
 duty required, that of inducting Patty into a clean 
 checked apron, and seating her at a stent on a sam- 
 pler, she was hurrying back to Grandfather Barrett's, 
 skimming over the greensward that lay between the 
 two houses, her thoughts busy with the ever-present 
 topic, and her heart beating with her new and high- 
 born hope, unconscious that she had reached the little 
 path that led up to the old door, till she heard a light 
 and musical laugh, and looking up, she espied a young 
 and decidedly handsome British officer gazing at her 
 with ill-concealed admiration. 
 
 He was just before her in the path, and advancing 
 to the door. He stepped back; his hand went to 
 his cap, while he made her a deep bow, and then stood 
 with uncovered head for her to pass. 
 
 "You desire to see my grandfather, I presume. He 
 is not at home, but will probably be in soon," said 
 Miliscent, preserving her self-possession, and looking 
 more like a wild-flower than ever, her head erect on its 
 graceful neck. "Pray walk in;" for it was the custom 
 for Captain Barrett and his son James to furnish oat- 
 meal and other provisions through the Commissary 
 Department of Boston, young staff-officers being sent 
 out to Concord in connection with the transaction of 
 the business.
 
 68 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "I do; but pardon me a moment, time is not so 
 pressing, I am sure," said the young officer hastily. 
 "I pray you to give me a few words." 
 
 "Time is pressing with me," said Miliscent, paus- 
 ing with one foot on the flat door-stone. " We are 
 poor people, sir, and need to work with our hands 
 for our subsistence." She spoke with a sweet seren- 
 ity, and a dignity that made him again bow invol- 
 untarily. 
 
 "Ah," he said with a smile, and the color leaped 
 to his cheek as he spoke, " you would refuse me the 
 right of conversation, and treat me as if I were an 
 outcast, merely, forsooth, I presume, because I am a 
 good subject of my king and yours." 
 
 "Not so," said Miliscent gravely; "you do wrong 
 to say I refuse to talk with you. . Indeed, I am 
 glad to speak my mind, and to say what is on my 
 heart. You will but take offence at it, though, I am 
 sure." 
 
 " Nay, nay, fair Rebel," said the young officer with 
 a laugh, while his color heightened and his blue eye 
 was clear and sunny; "you shall say what you will, 
 and I promise you on my good sword here," he 
 tapped the hilt as he spoke, and he looked at her 
 long and earnestly, "that I will recognize no affront 
 in your words."
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 69 
 
 "A rebel I may seem to you," Miliscent tossed her 
 shapely head. " I am proud to rebel against the unjust 
 mandates of such a king as you seem glad to serve. 
 I would live on bread and water all my days rather 
 than to submit tamely." 
 
 " I believe you," said the young Briton, all the 
 laugh dropping out of his face, while his eyes grew 
 grave. He rested his right foot on the step above 
 him, upon which Miliscent stood, and laid his palm 
 on his knee. "And yet, Miss Barrett, do you know,'' 
 his voice dropped to a low tone as he said earnestly, 
 " there is not the smallest chance that you can ever 
 be victorious. Better be warned, and give up the 
 struggle." 
 
 "We shall be victorious!" cried Miliscent defiantly, 
 while her eyes flashed. "Do not say such dreadful 
 things to me. We shall we must conquer in the 
 end ! " 
 
 The young soldier shook his head sadly, like one 
 who hates to say unwelcome truths. Yet he repeated, 
 "You do not know whereof you speak you are 
 like a child if you entertain a thought of victory. 
 And your fathers and brothers are mad to attempt 
 it." 
 
 His pitying look changed to one of scorn at the 
 thought of those men who, instead of being the
 
 70 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN, 
 
 guard and protector of just such defenceless maidens 
 as she, were exposing them to dangers untold by the 
 defiant insurrections to which they were goading them- 
 selves. 
 
 " I do not for an instant believe, neither do any of 
 us believe," said Miliscent, warming as she proceeded, 
 " that we can ever be conquered. God will not allow 
 it. He brought us over here to this country be- 
 cause we could not worship him in England, and do 
 you think can you believe, that he would desert 
 us?" 
 
 Her face glowed, and her bosom heaved. She stood 
 erect before him, and as she waited for a reply, some 
 sort of an answer was necessary. He brought his 
 foot to the ground, and turned away abruptly to ex- 
 amine the distant landscape. As he did not believe 
 in the God of whom she spoke, he was at a loss for 
 words, yet unwilling to dampen such a faith as shone 
 in her eyes and glowed on her cheek. And for the 
 first time, strange to say, he felt a shadow of impend- 
 ing evil, too intangible and vague to be put into 
 words, settle over him, while the slender young daugh- 
 ter of the house of Barrett seemed a representative of 
 a mighty power, indefinable, but terrible, whose oppo- 
 sition was deadly. The doughty old farmer-soldier, 
 her grandfather, and others like him, who were putting
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 71 
 
 themselves to the front with their insubordination, 
 loomed up now with a hitherto unknown quality that 
 was to be respected if not feared. 
 
 Finding himself in such a predicament as to experi- 
 ence this uncomfortable sensation, he dashed out the 
 first thing that came in his head, and glad to find a 
 reaction in his mind as he proceeded, he said abruptly, 
 " Well, then, if you persist in your rebellion, you bring 
 its consequences on your own head. The king is not 
 to be blamed in that event." 
 
 " The king ! " retorted Miliscent scornfully ; " talk 
 not to me of kings. We want no king but God. He 
 is merciful, and does not grind his creatures to the 
 dust. If we die, why we must. Better so than to be 
 slaves." She turned away, her bosom panting with 
 suppressed feeling, and her eyes flashing with scorn, 
 yet her lip trembled as if her woman's heart had borne 
 all it could. 
 
 " Stay, Mistress Barrett," cried the young officer, 
 stepping to the flat door-stone beside her, " my words 
 seem cold and hard, I know. I was only endeavoring 
 to warn you. You have, I know, much influence in 
 this home and this village, and you might even now 
 turn the tide of bitter feeling into something more 
 reasonable and befitting your condition." 
 
 "And I would not turn my little finger to influence
 
 72 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 one of our brave townsmen to aught but deadly com- 
 bat and resistance to our foe, King George, and all 
 you whom he sends over here to oppress us," she flung 
 at him over her shoulder. Then she turned swiftly, 
 and a beautiful and grave expression settled over lip 
 and cheek and brow, " Listen, sir ; you do not seem to 
 know the stuff the men of Concord are made of. It is 
 because you wilfully determine not to know. I tell 
 you this is no child's play at war, nor any sudden 
 determination to fight you, and tyrants like you, to the 
 death. We have grown for many long months and 
 years into preparation for it; we have prayed to God, 
 and we have held counsel together; we have studied 
 it all better than you, who are only occupied in don- 
 ning your gaudy coats and trappings." She glanced 
 in derision along the brilliant surface of his uniform, 
 although, truth to tell, poor Miliscent had sore trial 
 with her feminine leanings toward the trickery and 
 splendor of fine apparel, not to admire it strongly, 
 and the bright face above it. Yet now she rose 
 superior to all such weakness, and her tone gathered 
 scorn, whereat the young Briton wilted perceptibly. 
 "You have no thought beyond your gay clothes and 
 gewgaws," she said bitterly; "to you it is doubt- 
 less a pretty pastime to come over the sea to sub- 
 jugate poor farmers; but we ah! you will find that
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. 73 
 
 Concord Town, and all our other towns, are full of 
 men, ay, and women too, who are fully prepared to 
 meet you. Sir," she drew her tall and slen4er figure 
 to its full height, " I give you to understand that we 
 will fight till we die, but we will never give up to 
 you ! " 
 
 "I believe you," exclaimed the young man invol- 
 untarily, and with an admiration that he could not 
 conceal. "Well now, my pretty maid," he took 
 refuge in a bantering tone to hide his real feeling, 
 "there is such a thing as a brave spirit, but no ma- 
 terial to work with. What will you do when your 
 ammunition gives out, as give out it surely will? 
 Our ships think nothing of crossing the sea; our arms 
 and accoutrements can never be exhausted. Why, 
 your men do not know how to make even a cartridge. 
 What will serve you then ? I give you a tough ques- 
 tion to answer." 
 
 "We will make good use of our powder-horns and 
 our bullets," said Miliscent calmly; "and we will 
 shoot any invading enemy just as we shoot fierce and 
 hungry bears that molest us." 
 
 "That would be cruel in the last degree," ex- 
 claimed the young man. "At least, if you are to 
 slay us all, do it, I pray, in a civilized manner." 
 He suddenly turned and swept the ground with his
 
 74 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 gaze. "Ah, I have it," and he picked up a pine stick; 
 quickly, with deft strokes with his pocket-knife, 
 he fashioned it to a shape suiting his fancy, then 
 thrust his hand into the breast-pocket of his coat, 
 and drew out a letter. Across its back was the 
 superscription in a woman's hand; on the front was 
 the big red wafer that had sealed it closely. The 
 young officer whirled it open, searching for a blank 
 space. "My mother's letter," he said, and a shade 
 swept over his mobile countenance. "I thought to 
 find a clean bit to tear off." 
 
 "Stay," begged Miliscent, with a pang at thought 
 of harm to the mother's letter, "I will get you a 
 piece of paper." She ran into the house, and came 
 back, bringing it, and a pair of scissors from her 
 work-bag. 
 
 "You are a good girl," said the young soldier, 
 shutting up the letter with emotion. "I have been 
 reading it again. My mother says, ' My son, re- 
 member to keep your feet from evil ways, and be 
 not led by your companions into aught that would 
 bring discredit to your family name or to your 
 early training.' Ah! if she knew in what company 
 I am thrown, and how all evil is around me, she 
 would realize that I had need to keep this letter." 
 He folded it close, and set it back carefully within
 
 MII.ISCENT BARRKTT AND THE BRITISH OFFICER. 
 " She leaned over to allow no movement of his to escape her."
 
 ONE LITTLE CARTRIDGE. ?$ 
 
 his pocket, this time taking the precaution to en- 
 close it in his leathern wallet. 
 
 "But you can keep from being led into evil, 
 though it may be around you," said Miliscent, 
 her thoughts on the absent mother, doubtless this 
 moment praying for her boy. " You surely can 
 follow her entreaties." 
 
 " Ah, you little know," said the young man sadly, 
 and his bright head drooped. " Well, let us get 
 to this killing business," he exclaimed suddenly, 
 by one of those quick transitions in which, from de- 
 jection, his buoyant spirit rose; "now, it is like 
 this." He seized the paper and the scissors from 
 her slender fingers, and rapidly twisted the former 
 over the shapely pine-stick until it suited his fancy. 
 "If you are determined to kill us, let it be by 
 some humane process, and not like so many wild 
 beasts of the forest." 
 
 Miliscent, with dark eyes dilating, drew near. 
 He could not see her above his bent head that, ab- 
 sorbed as he was over his work, he did not lift. 
 Her red lips parted, and she held her hand over 
 her heart to still its beating, as she leaned over to 
 allow no movement of his to escape her. 
 
 "There," he paused for its inspection, and held 
 up the finished article, like a boy pleased with
 
 76 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 his work, and smiled saucily into the face above 
 him, now intrenched in its accustomed expression, 
 though with every iota of color fled; "that is the 
 way we make our cartridges," he cried, waving it 
 before her, as Captain James Barrett drove up to 
 the house-place.
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST, 
 
 V. 
 
 THE OLD TOWN IS GETTING READY FAST. 
 
 THE conflict of arms, that ultimate struggle that 
 should once for all determine the governing 
 power and vouchsafe, or deny, to the colonies the 
 rights of freemen, was not much longer to be delayed. 
 The sky was already tinged with that glow that was 
 to proclaim the dawn of American liberty, and to 
 usher into the world of nations a new republic. 
 
 Events had been rapidly marshalling their forces 
 to an inevitable conclusion. Affairs were becoming 
 so complicated by the continued oppression of the 
 Province, without apparent reason other than a de- 
 termined and deliberate desire to oppress and to 
 enslave, that there was no evading the question of 
 liberty or slavery. The situation had become in- 
 tense and dramatic, and allowed of no greater delay 
 in parleyings or entreaties. Either the colonies must 
 stand by their continued utterances of belief in the 
 God, to worship whom in .freedom and truth they had 
 come across the sea, and defend their rights as free-
 
 78 A Lll^TLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 men, or they must take the alternative, and yield. 
 There was no middle course now. 
 
 So Old Concord men thought, and so had they 
 spoken, making themselves many times in the past, 
 as they well knew, marked rebels for future retribu- 
 tion when King George became victor. Seven years 
 before, in 1767, the citizens of Concord had come out 
 boldly for liberty, failing not to express their senti- 
 ments at the offensive stand of the British parliament. 
 Accordingly "the town had instructed its represen- 
 tative to oppose the operation of the Stamp Act, 
 and to unite in all Constitutional measures that 
 might be taken to obtain its repeal." And two 
 months later, in December, "the selectmen were 
 chosen a committee to consider and report on these 
 measures, which threaten the country with poverty 
 and ruin." After accepting their report, the town 
 voted "to encourage industry, economy, frugality, 
 and manufactures at home and abroad, and to pre- 
 vent purchasing so much as we have done in foreign 
 commodities." Thus did Old Concord early fire the 
 torch of Liberty. 
 
 And she kept the flame burning steadily and high 
 through all the five years thereafter; so that when in 
 1772 the address of the citizens of Boston on the 2oth 
 of November, concerning the state of distress in which
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST. 79 
 
 the Province was plunged, came before the town, it 
 awoke a spirited response. And the reply, prepared 
 by the committee with instructions to the representa- 
 tive of the town, "after being very coolly and delib- 
 erately debated upon, was unanimously accepted in 
 full town-meeting." So much for those early days, 
 when to speak and to act, and to fire the hearts of 
 others to patriotism, was to be a leader indeed. We 
 shall see how she lived up to her teachings. 
 
 "Debby," cried Miliscent, springing into the little 
 old kitchen of the Parlin cottage (her sunbonnet had 
 fallen from a face pale with excitement, but lumi- 
 nous from her splendid dark eyes), "I want you 
 to come home with me at once." 
 
 It was the time of sudden summons, the air of every 
 day was charged with excitement, and Debby did not 
 look surprised nor question why. 
 
 "Can I, mother?" she appealed to Mrs. Parlin, 
 hurrying "from pillar to post," as she always ex- 
 pressed it, now coming in from the woodshed. 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. Parlin with a quick look at Milis- 
 cent's intense face. She threw down her load of 
 kindlings in the wood-box behind the stove, and 
 shook her apron free of the chips. ".I know it's for 
 something special," with another lingering gaze into 
 the pale face.
 
 8O A LITTLE MAW OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 For answer the tall girl went swiftly up to the 
 mother's side. The lovely color spread over cheek 
 and brow. "Forgive me for not telling you, dear 
 Mrs. Parlin," she said; "it is a secret. If you will 
 only trust me," she implored. 
 
 "I'll trust you, Miliscent, wherever you are," said 
 Mrs. Parlin heartily. "Debby shall leave her work 
 and go." 
 
 "This very minute," cried Debby, tearing off her 
 apron to hang it behind the door; and taking out a 
 clean blue-and-white checked one from the table 
 drawer, she hastily tied it on, feeling now well dressed 
 indeed. "Mother, don't you touch to spin my stent. 
 I'll do it all to-morrow. Promise me." 
 
 "I won't touch your wheel," promised Mrs. Parlin. 
 "I can't; for I'm up to my eyes already with work. 
 Go along, child; it's all right." 
 
 "May she stay all night?" begged Miliscent, her 
 arm around her friend. "Say she may, Mrs. Parlin, 
 do." 
 
 " I suppose she might as well," assented Mrs. Par- 
 lin. "Yes, yes, go along, Debby. Only be home 
 bright and early in the morning. Then you'll have to 
 fly to your spinning in good earnest." 
 
 Debby tied on her sunbonnet, not without a good 
 glance in the cracked looking-glass in the corner, and
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST. 8 1 
 
 throwing on her shawl, she ran off with her friend, with 
 whose long steps she could scarcely keep up. 
 
 " What is it ? " demanded Debby breathlessly, as 
 they clambered the Ridge, and were now on the even 
 plateau back of the Felton homestead, ready to strike 
 into the cat-a-cornered trail. "Whatever in all this 
 world do you want me for in such a queer way ? Why 
 don't you speak up, Miliscent Barrett?" 
 
 " Hush, hush ! " warned Miliscent, drawing her cloak 
 tighter around her. " It is no time for speech till we 
 get safely home." 
 
 " I should think you'd be safe enough in this wood," 
 said Debby scornfully. "Only a bird or a squirrel to 
 hear, and they won't tell." 
 
 "Debby, I don't dare to tell," said Miliscent under 
 her breath. A red spot glowed on either cheek. She 
 seized Debby's plump arm, and pulled her along faster. 
 "This wood may be full of treachery. How do we 
 know ? One Tory Bliss or Tory Lee would ruin it all. 
 It is too much to risk. Don't ask it. Wait till we get 
 home." She struck off now down the slope; and 
 Debby, whose young feet were used to climbing, had 
 all she could do to follow the tall, slender girl, whose 
 swift foot-falls seemed not to press the ground. 
 
 At last Miliscent deserted the trail, and made a 
 dtiour through a meadow, finally reaching a small
 
 82 A LITTLE MAID OF COXCORD TOWN. 
 
 yellow house well set back in its own farmyard. 
 Here she paused. "You wait here, Debby," she 
 said abruptly; and running nimbly up to the farm- 
 house and into the kitchen, she made the same re- 
 quest, only this time it was for the two girls of the 
 household. A request that was speedily granted, as 
 were all those made by a granddaughter of Captain 
 James Barrett ; and Lucinda and Jane came out pres- 
 ently, and down the box-bordered path, tying on 
 their checked aprons, sure sign that they were going 
 visiting. 
 
 This performance was repeated at one or two other 
 houses. In some instances the girls were to follow 
 as speedily as possible when certain household tasks 
 were completed. But it was quite a goodly number 
 of Miliscent's mates who hurried along with her to 
 her home on the old Barrett Mill Road. 
 
 " James has gone over to tell Perces Wood to 
 come," said Miliscent to Debby, as the other girls 
 naturally fell back a little to let the two friends 
 walk together. 
 
 " Of course I knew you'd send for her," said 
 Debby. "Seems if Perces was older'n we are some- 
 times, she's so big and steady. Dear me, I'm thank- 
 ful to goodness, Milly, that we're almost there ; " and 
 she gave a yawn that was not weariness, but she
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST. 83 
 
 ached in every bone of her body to know the reason 
 for such mysterious actions. "I can't wait another 
 minute, seems to me, to know what you can want of 
 us." The two girls were together now, walking with 
 their arms around each other as was their wont; so 
 Debby whispered this against the slender neck of 
 the taller girl. 
 
 "Poor dear," said Miliscent fondly, "your patience 
 sha'n't be tried much more ; " and she turned her glow- 
 ing eyes affectionately on her friend. " How good 
 you are ! Now, I couldn't have done anything with 
 those other girls," with a toss of the head toward 
 their mates in the rear, " if you'd have teased me 
 to tell. Just see how amiable and nice they come 
 along." 
 
 " It wouldn't have done any good if I had have 
 teased," remarked Debby calmly ; " that I well knew, 
 when you looked like that, Milly. Well, I'm thankful 
 to gracious that we're most there, and the secret 
 can be told." 
 
 " I can't bear not to tell much longer," cried Milis- 
 cent suddenly. " Let's start and run. Come, girls ! " 
 she called back to them in her high, clear voice. 
 
 A wild chase now ensued down the road, past 
 Captain James Barrett's homestead to Miliscent's home 
 beyond. Into the house that seemed pervaded by
 
 84 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 an intense though quiet excitement, the girls flew 
 led by Miliscent and Debby. Mrs. Barrett, calm and 
 pale, met them. 
 
 "You're to go into the keeping-room," she said. 
 " Then you better button the door to keep the chil- 
 dren out. When my back's turned, I can't answer 
 for them. Button the door after you, Milly." 
 
 "No fear but I will, mother," said Milly. "Come, 
 girls." 
 
 No need to tell them. Every one scuttled in like 
 rabbits, and turned to face her, with wide expectant 
 eyes. She slipped the wooden button into place, then 
 set her back against the door, and surveyed them all. 
 "Girls," her voice throbbed with excitement, yet it 
 was low and deep, " I've something to tell you that 
 will make you very glad. But first you must each one 
 promise solemnly you will never, never, never, in all 
 this world, tell the secret until I give you permission 
 to. Promise, now, each one in line, beginning with 
 Lucinda." 
 
 "I never'll tell in all this world," proclaimed 
 Lucinda, on a high key; "black and blue, hope 
 to " 
 
 "Hush! " warned Milly; "what we say in this room 
 must be spoken low. Traitors may be lurking beneath 
 the windows," she glanced again at them ' a loud
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST. 8^ 
 
 voice may warn them of our purpose. Begin again, 
 Lucinda." 
 
 " I'll never tell in all this world," said Lucinda, in 
 a gruff, heavy voice, as effective in its way as the 
 high key; "black and blue, hope to die if I do, so 
 there ! " 
 
 "Now, Susan," said Miliscent nervously, to a thin 
 little maiden standing next, clasping and unclasping 
 her fingers in excitement, " do see if you can speak 
 low, and not make such a noise as Lucinda. Will you 
 promise? " 
 
 Susan whispered out her promise in terms as deadly 
 as her neighbor's. And Milly passed down the line 
 till she reached Debby, who stood last. 
 
 " I promise," said that damsel loftily, with her head 
 well in the air. " I sha'n't say any of our play words; 
 this is a different matter. But I won't break my 
 promise." 
 
 "I know you won't, Debby," said Milly affection- 
 ately, "for you never did yet. Well, now, girls," 
 and she drew a long breath, " you shall know the 
 secret. " 
 
 She picked up a pair of scissors that lay near 
 at hand on a table, and whirled them before their 
 eyes. 
 
 " See, see," she cried, under her breath, "these will
 
 t>6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCOKD TOWN. 
 
 help to cut our way to liberty! O girls! we have 
 longed to be of use to our poor country struggling to 
 get free from the tyrant King George. Now we can. 
 I know how to make cartridges /" she added in a whis- 
 per. 
 
 A silence like death fell upon the room. The girls 
 stared at her brandishing the scissors, and then at one 
 another. Suddenly the line was broken; and Debby 
 rushed out and threw her arms around Miliscent. 
 " O Milly, Milly, Milly!" she cried brokenly, having 
 no further words at her command. 
 
 "And if we can't go and fight in their battles, we 
 can equip our brothers and fathers," went on Milis- 
 cent, her pale face shining. " Oh ! the battles are 
 surely coming. Girls, girls, we've so longed to help. 
 And now we can! Quick, draw up your chairs. I'll 
 sit in the centre, and let us get to work ; I'll tell you 
 how I'll tell you how." 
 
 She uttered all these commands in a short, quick 
 voice, tense with feeling. And presently the ring of 
 chairs was formed ; and her mates, their cheeks still 
 rosy from their speedy run, and glowing with the 
 emotion that found an answering gleam in their 
 bright, clear eyes, were ready for the work that she 
 soon put within their hands, as Miliscent seized the 
 pine stick for the initiatory cartridge, and shaped
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST. 8/ 
 
 the paper over it, cutting it with her scissors into 
 the requisite pattern. 
 
 They held their breath, and watched her silently. 
 
 " Oh, oh ! " exclaimed Debby, wild with excite- 
 ment, and beating her hands together, " we may not 
 be allowed to fight, but we can make the cartridges." 
 
 Miliscent dropped her scissors to clap her hand over 
 Debby's mouth. " Don't speak the word again. You 
 may ruin all. I have told you once. Now, don't one 
 of you breathe it." Her eyes blazed, and she stood 
 tall and stern above the ring of chairs. 
 
 Then the latch of the door was rattled, and a voice 
 called softly, " Milly." 
 
 " It's the children ! " exclaimed Lucinda, in alarm. 
 
 "Open the door, Milly," said her brother James, 
 with his face close to the crack. " It's Perces and 
 I." Whereat the wooden button was slipped back, 
 and there was great rejoicing as Perces and James 
 were drawn in. 
 
 It was now but the work of a few moments to get 
 them all busily occupied ; and while the fingers flew, 
 Miliscent divulged the whole of the secret whereby 
 she and her mates were to help the brave men who 
 were to fight for liberty. 
 
 " See, see, I have the pattern," she cried exult- 
 ingly, and holding it high. " He cut it with these
 
 88 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 very scissors,'' and again she waved them. " Oh, 
 thank the Lord for such an enemy as he ! " and she 
 fell to busily on the paper, while the circle of bright 
 heads drew close about her fingers to see how it 
 was done. 
 
 "Milly wheedled him into telling," said James, 
 whittling more pine sticks into the required shape of 
 the one formed by the young British officer. " I saw 
 the whole thing from the barn-chamber window." 
 
 "Tell us, James, do; that's a good boy," begged 
 the chorus of girls. James needed no urging. 
 
 "Foolish boy," said Milly, with heightened color. 
 "Don't listen to him, but put your minds on the needs 
 of your country." 
 
 "Foolish boy! " snorted James. "That's what she 
 always says when I tell about the fellows and her. 
 And here I have been ever since, whittling the 
 pine sticks. Now I will tell, anyway, Milly.'' And 
 he set the story forth to its last syllable; Debby, 
 all her soul in her fingers, turning, out of loyalty 
 to her friend, a cold shoulder toward him as she 
 worked. 
 
 While this meeting was in progress, another was in 
 session around the Common. It could not be said to 
 be disorderly, yet there was that temper pervading it 
 that boded ill for any' interference. Almost to a man,
 
 THE CLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST. 89 
 
 ihere was an expression in face and attitude and ges- 
 ture that bespoke intense determination of that cooler 
 kind that results from a slow and cautious decision. 
 It might be that among this company, scattered here 
 and there, or massed in solid groups, or hurrying to 
 the scene with long and determined strides, was to 
 be seen occasionally the violent fellow whose quickly 
 fired blood was not mixed with its requisite, essential- 
 to-success power to control himself. He would bawl 
 to every chance comer, as he ran quickly on, gesticu- 
 lating wildly as he ran, "Down with King George's 
 troops ! Damnation to the Reg'lars ! " 
 
 But he was quickly, and as effectually as the circum- 
 stances would permit, where the spirit of freedom was 
 gro'wing rampant, quenched by the sober and sturdy 
 fathers of the town ; and while some of these hoi- 
 headed fellows were walked off to cool their blood, 
 others were well watched, lest their excited utterances 
 should break forth to the disadvantage of the temper 
 and mind with which the old town meant eventually 
 to win. 
 
 There was the inevitable small, boy, of course, as 
 omnipresent then as now, dodging here and there, 
 and massing into groups wherever the crowd was 
 the thickest; crowing and chuckling with delight at 
 the noisier demonstrations of the turbulent element,
 
 90 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN, 
 
 and saddening when the excitement was in any waj 
 checked or diminished. But there was a way our 
 fathers in 1774 had of making the small boy "mind 
 his p's and q's" that is conspicuously absent to-day. 
 Truth to tell, there was less of him in the earlier 
 day, but that should be no detraction to the skill of 
 knowing how to manage him. So, beyond their ex- 
 cessive exuberance over the situation, which after all 
 was a secret stimulus to the fathers and older broth- 
 ers, the small boy of Concord Town might be said, 
 on that day, to present no bad feature of the citizens' 
 meeting on the Common. 
 
 The women and girls, removed to a proper distance, 
 as was the correct feminine attitude of that day, 
 watched and waited, and hung about with bated 
 breath for any chance news that might befall as to the 
 progress of the meeting of the citizens thus congre- 
 gated. But amidst all the babel and excitement, the 
 women caught little but scraps of isolated talk, as 
 the groups waited with only a show of patience for 
 the messenger despatched in the early morning to 
 Boston for the latest news, who should have returned 
 by this time. And as the moments passed, and he 
 came not, the delay seemed to verify all those fears 
 raised by news of the recent " acts for the better reg- 
 ulation of the government of Massachusetts Bay"
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING KEADY FAST. 91 
 
 that had so roused them to indignation but a short 
 time before. 
 
 At last, when it appeared impossible to endure the 
 suspense much longer, the small boy so largely in 
 evidence espied, what was not discernible to the other 
 eyes, a horseman wending his way down the old Bay 
 Road. He announced this fact by a shout that was 
 taken up by the rest of the boy throats with a hearti- 
 ness that communicated itself to the waiting men ; 
 and presently, after what seemed a small eternity to 
 the impatient congregation, although the rider was 
 spurring on his horse faithfully, the animal, dripping 
 with perspiration, stood before them. 
 
 "What news? What news? " cried a dozen throats, 
 while the men massed around him, pale with excite- 
 ment and dread. 
 
 The rider, a young man of undaunted face and 
 mien, drew a long breath and hesitated, as if unwill- 
 ing or unable to speak. 
 
 "Give it to us to the last syllable," thundered Mr. 
 Wood, forcing his way through the crowd, and laying 
 his large hand on the bridle. The young horseman 
 glanced into his face, and blurted out, " The Act 
 dooms us all. The council is to be appointed by 
 King George. All other civil offices, not filled by him 
 or his tools, to be done away with."
 
 92 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Mr. Wood started back with a deep groan as his 
 hand fell from the bridle. All his determination to 
 bear ill news was unequal to the blow. 
 
 " For God's sake, fellow-citizens," cried another 
 with white face, and sweeping the circle with his 
 flashing eye, " are we to be ground, lower than slaves, 
 to the dust? Can we submit tamely to this last act 
 of despotism that would reduce us to a slavery than 
 which there could be no meaner on earth ? " 
 
 " No ! no ! " came from a hundred passionate 
 throats. "We will never give up our rights as free- 
 born Americans." 
 
 " Our natural and charter rights have been invaded 
 over and over," continued the speaker in a terrible 
 tone; "the hand of despotism has been over the 
 colonists with a constantly tightening grasp; the 
 harbor of Boston has been blocked up; bodies of 
 soldiery have desecrated the Province under one pre- 
 tence or another, but with one end constantly in 
 view, our complete subjugation. And now these 
 two last Acts just passed by Parliament are intended 
 to, and will if submitted to, reduce us to that con- 
 dition that no power on earth could rescue us from. 
 Are we men to take all this and not resist? No. 
 To arms! To arms/" 
 
 He flung his hands to heaven, and raised his face,
 
 THE OLD TOWN GETTING READY FAST. 93 
 
 gaunt and terrible to look at. The men crowded 
 around him wild with passion, but stilled for a mo- 
 ment at the sight of his face, depicting so strongly 
 what each one felt was in his own breast. At last 
 the silence was broken, and one cry broke forth, 
 "Yes! yes! To arms! to arms! Away with the 
 tyranny of King George I We are free men ! ' '
 
 94 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 VI. 
 
 A CRISIS. 
 
 IT was a terrible moment. The whole earth seemed 
 to open to Mr. Wood, and for an instant every- 
 thing turned black around him. He strove to speak, 
 but no words came ; and he looked helplessly around 
 for that assistance that might turn the tide in this 
 evil crisis of reckless undoing of months and years 
 of wise and patient patriotic work. Was Concord 
 to ingulf herself and others in a wild and premature 
 passion that would only hurl the thunderbolts of war 
 upon unprepared and defenceless heads, and make 
 herself an object of pity and contumely for all his- 
 tory to deplore ? 
 
 There were many citizens of like mind scattered 
 here and there in the turbulent crowd ; but they were 
 swallowed up by the struggling, yelling mass, and their 
 voices drowned in the general tumult. There was not 
 an instant to lose. 
 
 "Gallop for your life!" gasped Mr. Wood into the 
 ear of the young horseman, " and bring Parson Emer-
 
 A CRISIS. 95 
 
 son." And seizing by the flying jacket one of the 
 small boys, he bade him in a hoarse voice to run and 
 ring the meeting-house bell. Which the youngster, 
 wild for action of some sort, did as if by magic. 
 
 " One boom two boom boom ! " out rang 
 the bell, clear and true. The crowd, thinking it the 
 signal for a massing together, perhaps for military 
 instructions, and in their excitement eagerly welcom- 
 ing any call, stopped shouting and yelling instantly, 
 and hurried off in irregular groups to the meeting- 
 house, just as the young parson, breathless from the 
 canter that landed him at the church-door, entered, 
 and commanded them to sit down. 
 
 It was impossible to evade him. Parsons were 
 obeyed in those days. Far ahead in authority of 
 lawyer or captain or schoolmaster, was the divine, 
 who seemed to stand so near to God that a wholesome 
 fear possessed all souls of breaking any commands 
 he might make. So the men silently settled into the 
 corners of the big square pews some of them as 
 far off from the pulpit as they dared; while the young 
 parson rapidly mounted the pulpit steps, and took a 
 survey of the situation. 
 
 "Men of Concord," he began in a high, clear voice, 
 and looking into their wild, excited faces with cool 
 eyes, "listen to the word of God from this sacred
 
 96 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 desk. What means this turbulent crowd ? Think ye 
 that into hands that tremble with passion, and are 
 lost to reason and judgment, would be committed 
 the power to plunge this town, this good old town, 
 and the Province, into the red gulf of war before the 
 time is ripe! God knows the war is coming, and no 
 man among you will welcome it more gladly than I." 
 He flung back his head, and brought his hand down 
 on the big Bible with a resonant clap. " For we are 
 not slaves ! We are free as the air above and around 
 us, and so will we die. Ay, every soul of us will die 
 with our faces to the enemy before we will give up 
 our rights as men." 
 
 They were cooling off now; and, hearing such war- 
 like words fitting into their boiling indignation, they 
 began to listen eagerly. And for a good half-hour 
 the reverend gentleman gave them wholesome advice, 
 squarely, without mincing or dilution, as to the pro- 
 priety as well as wisdom of following the leadership 
 of the citizens of the town who were empowered by 
 their fitness and the suffrages of the townspeople to 
 take the lead in all matters, and certainly in such a 
 momentous one as this before them. "Be ready for 
 war, and to quit you like men when you are ordered to 
 war," he thundered, with another resonant clap on the 
 big Bible; "and think not for an instant that to em-
 
 A CRISIS. 97 
 
 broil yourselves and us in a wild and unprepared on- 
 slaught on our enemies is war. Verily there is great 
 and pressing need that wisdom for each man shall be 
 added to his courage, that so our glorious old town 
 may gain her well deserved honors of war, whenever 
 she shall be called to action." There was a movement 
 to depart, the passion in the faces of the men giving 
 place to quiet and steady resolve, more deadly to the 
 future peace of the enemy, and biding its time to strike. 
 But the parson had not done with them yet; for, 
 opening the big Bible, he read in a clear and 
 sonorous voice that woke the echoes in the old 
 meeting-house, a chapter from the Old Testament, 
 supplementing it with another from the New well 
 chosen for the time and the occasion. And then, 
 shutting the leaves, he led them in a lengthier prayer, 
 with eloquent and impassioned fervor. After that 
 came the by no means short extemporaneous sermon. 
 When at last, about two hours later, they filed out 
 of the square meeting-house, they might be said to be 
 thoroughly subdued. What could not be accom- 
 plished otherwise to stay their brute force, the par- 
 son, by his liberal quotations from Holy Writ, not 
 to speak of his seventhlies and eighthlies that ever 
 commanded immense respect, had done, and done 
 well. And they filed out, and dispersed quietly.
 
 98 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWM. 
 
 "The fight's begun! The fight's begun!" a voice 
 yelled out beneath the window, the window behind 
 which Miliscent and her mates were working, as a 
 man ran down the old Mill Road. " Where's Cap'en 
 Barrett?" 
 
 Miliscent threw down her scissors to the floor, and 
 sprang to her feet, her face white as death. James 
 jumped up with a whoop, and dashed out the door, his 
 pine stick in his hand. 
 
 "Oh, don't stop working! " cried Debby in an awful 
 voice, so full of tears that there was no time to shed. 
 " If the war has begun, we must get these done," 
 pointing to the little pile on the table. "Oh! why 
 didn't God tell us how in time to make enough " 
 
 " Listen ! one of us must go and carry these over 
 to grandfather's, and if he has gone, must take them 
 to him wherever they are fighting," said Miliscent. 
 " Now that James has gone poor boy ! he will feel 
 badly enough he forgot them. " 
 
 "I'll go," said Debby eagerly, jumping up with 
 panting bosom. " I can run the fastest ; give them to 
 me." She spread her blue-checked apron, and the 
 girls brushed the cartridges within it with hasty hands ; 
 and with Miliscent's last injunction, "Give them to 
 nobody but grandfather," ringing in her ears, she sped 
 off, first to Captain James's house, and failing to find
 
 A CRISIS. 99 
 
 him, and no news save that he was down to the Mill- 
 dam, she fled along the Barrett Mill Road to the 
 town's centre, her heart on fire with rapture that she 
 was really going to the battle and with aid to the men. 
 
 She was speeding along with head bent down over 
 her apron bunched out with the precious result of the 
 girls' work, when suddenly she came full upon a per- 
 son running in the opposite direction. He put out 
 his hand to save her from the collision. " Why, 
 Debby ! " he cried in surprise, as he saw her. 
 
 " O Abner ! " cried Debby breathlessly, her hair 
 blown about her face, " where where is the fight ? " 
 
 "There isn't any fight," said Abner, setting his teeth 
 hard. "There was danger of the men's losing their 
 heads, and getting their muskets to rush off to Cam- 
 bridge or Boston; but Parson Emerson has quieted 
 'em down now. Still, there'll always be the fear of 
 it, as long as we hear this wicked news." And he 
 told Debby what word the messenger had brought of 
 fresh evil piled upon the Province. 
 
 Every vestige of color fled from her cheek, and she 
 clinched her little brown hand. 
 
 " O Abner ! I want to tell you ; but I've promised, 
 and I must keep my word." 
 
 "Is it anything I can help you about?" asked 
 Abner eagerly, forgetting for one instant war and his
 
 100 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 country's sufferings. "Do let me," he begged in his 
 big, awkward way. 
 
 " Oh, no, no, no ! " said Debby, unable to stop her- 
 self. She leaned for an instant on the railing. They 
 were pausing by the Spencer brook, on whose edge 
 stood the Barrett saw and grist mill. " No, no ; do 
 not ask me, only tell me where I can find Captain 
 James. Oh, do tell me, Abner, I must see him at 
 once ! " 
 
 " He is down in the Centre at the Common. I've 
 a message from him to take to his home, Debby ; " 
 and not allowing himself to look again at her, he 
 strode off to set into a run. 
 
 Debby took two or three steps, then stopped im- 
 pulsively to look after his retreating figure. As she 
 did so some one jumped noiselessly up the little in- 
 cline by the bank beneath the bridge, and coming 
 up behind her, seized her arm. 
 
 "O Jim, how you scared me!" exclaimed Debby, 
 with a jump, and holding to her apronful of cartridges. 
 
 " What were you saying to Abner Butterfield ? " de- 
 manded Jim, looking down the road where Abner's 
 tall figure was fast disappearing. " Hush, don't you 
 call him here, or I'll kill him ! I've sworn to be even 
 with him yet. What were you saying to him?" 
 
 " I sha'n't call Abner Butterfield or any one else
 
 DEBBY AND JIM RASKINS. 
 "'O Jim, how you scared me!' exclaimed Debby."
 
 A CRISIS. 101 
 
 to help me," said Debby in white scorn. "I guess 
 I can take care of myself, Jim Haskins. Now go your 
 way, and I'll go mine." But he gripped her arm. 
 
 "Not so fast, Miss Debby Parlin; I've got done 
 with all your playing with me." 
 
 " I've never been playing with you," denied Debby, 
 in greater scorn than ever. Yet she saw in dismay 
 that Jim had been drinking, and she cast about in her 
 quick little mind how best to get rid of him quietly. 
 
 "Jim," she said, "aren't you ashamed, when our 
 country is in such need, to be acting so? Don't stop 
 to talk to me, but go your way and be about your 
 business, whatever it is." 
 
 Jim laughed, a joyless, harsh note, in her face. 
 "Didn't I see you talking with Ab Butterfield a min- 
 ute ago ? Time wasn't so precious but that you both 
 had a plenty. I don't care for the country." He swore 
 a great oath that turned the girl's cheeks whiter yet, 
 and made her eyes dilate. But she answered spirit- 
 edly, "Then you've a small, contemptible soul, and 
 not worth my talking to you here or any other place." 
 And she tried once more to pass him. 
 
 For answer he seized her other arm, and shook it 
 smartly. The apron-end loosened where it was 
 doubled up, and down rattled several cartridges upon 
 the ground.
 
 102 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Cartridges!" swore Jim, looking at them with 
 drunken eyes. Then he picked them up and exam- 
 ined them, meanwhile twitching roughly at the blue 
 checked apron to secure the rest. But Debby held it 
 with tight little fingers. "I'll scream, Jim, and have 
 the town around your ears. Give me back my prop- 
 erty this instant." 
 
 But he laughed again, and plunged into the thicket, 
 carrying the few cartridges with him, and snapping his 
 fingers at the girl as he disappeared in the bushes. 
 
 Debby rushed along in dismay. How unfortunate 
 that Jim, of all people, should see the cartridges ! 
 Folks said that he had lately been acting queerly 
 certain it was that he had taken harder to drink, and 
 that he had been heard to utter Tory sentiments on 
 more than one occasion, despite his outwardly violent 
 denunciations of Tory Lee and Tory Bliss. She re- 
 doubled her speed, and met Captain James just as the 
 men were released from the old meeting-house, and 
 were straggling off to their homes. 
 
 "Well, my little maid," he said sadly, taking the 
 small heap of cartridges from her apron, while some- 
 thing glistened in his eyes, "we shall need them and 
 as many more as can be made, God knows, before 
 long. But not to-day. Run home, child, and get to 
 work again with Miliscent."
 
 A CRISIS. IO3 
 
 There was no time to tell him of Jim's discovery and 
 possession of the cartridges, for Captain- James was 
 now immediately besieged on all sides. And thread- 
 ing her way out of the crowd, she ran backwards to- 
 ward the Barrett Mill Road. But she did not reach 
 her destination. 
 
 Jim, after leaving Debby, grasped the cartridges 
 tightly in his big sledge-hammer fist, and swore sev- 
 eral great round oaths to himself, in the bushes 
 that skirted the river, that he would be even with 
 the girl, Debby Parlin, who had so bewitched his 
 heart, and pay off at one and the same time the 
 deadly grudge, that still haunted him, against his 
 rival. 
 
 " My country well, that t's a good one!" laughed 
 Jim, snapping his fingers again, ''my country! What's 
 she ever done for me, except to get us in this fix. I 
 vum! I'm for King George every time now, since 
 the turn affairs have lately taken. What's th' use o' 
 kickin' against the pricks? King George has got the 
 best of it. An' now that officers are to be set over us, 
 an' we not to be allowed to say boo to anythin', why, 
 it's easy to see th' end. I'm goin' to get what I 
 can out o' it, an' be on the right side o' the fence. 
 Who knows but His Majesty'll give me a commission. 
 Anyway, my pretty Debby, here's a precious lot o'
 
 104 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 information against you; an' that slab-sided old 
 scoundrel, Ab Butterfield, a-makin' ammernition, an' 
 preparin' secretly for war. The sooner I git news to 
 Cambridge, an' spoil all your game, the better fer 
 me, an' the worse for you and your busted cause, 
 the rotten old rebellion agin the king." 
 
 He scratched his head in a drunken sort of way, 
 undecidedly, then turned and struck out in a bee-line 
 down the river-edge, completely concealed from all 
 eyes, so he thought. 
 
 Debby ran on with light feet, retracing her steps, 
 but with a sad heart. All the excitement and glow 
 attendant upon the expectant fight had vanished, leav- 
 ing a dull little ache and fear of, she knew not what. 
 The dread of what Jim might do with the secret so 
 cruelly wrested from her was uppermost in her mind, 
 although the horror of suspense in the face of this last 
 tyrannical act of oppression weighed down her young 
 soul in bitterness to the earth. 
 
 "All that is left to us," said Debby in the gloomy 
 depths of her own soliloquies, " is to work as hard as 
 we can, and make all the cartridges possible. It may 
 be that we women and girls will finally fight, and use 
 them up. Who can tell? At least we'll make them, 
 and enough to last." 
 
 Suddenly, with an unconscious influence, that was
 
 105 
 
 not altogether dread of meeting Jim upon the road, 
 she turned and ran off down the river, to follow its 
 bank, and come out beyond at a point somewhat near 
 the turn to the Barrett Mill Road. She ran as she 
 had before, with head down, wholly engrossed in her 
 own melancholy thoughts, now stopping to pick her 
 way more carefully along the river-bank, and again 
 occasionally to refresh herself with a sight of the 
 pure, gently flowing stream that seemed to breathe 
 peace to her soul. 
 
 It was at one of these pauses that she heard 
 voices ; and with that involuntary caution that times 
 of trouble and danger had taught our impulsive 
 little maiden, she stopped instantly, and brought her 
 lithe body up to a listening attitude. It was Jim's 
 voice that was speaking. 
 
 " I tell you, Squire, it's a good chance to show our 
 allegiance to our king." 
 
 The reply was slow and cautious, and too low 
 for Debby to catch a syllable, although she strained 
 every nerve to do so. From the position where she 
 stood, she could not see the face of either speaker. 
 Only she could have sworn to Jim's voice, and she 
 could see his big leather boots as he carelessly 
 leaned on one foot. And there was his right hand 
 on a tree-trunk, as if supporting himself in a half-
 
 106 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWA: 
 
 intoxicated condition, his right hand with the big 
 ring the girls had always teased him about it when 
 Jim had been a better companion, and not so given 
 to drink, saying that it was brass, partly to awaken 
 his ire, as he had as bright a temper as the color of 
 his locks. The figure of the other man now and 
 then came partially into view as he moved restlessly 
 about. It was that of an older man, and he was 
 not Tory Lee. At last she ventured to move a few 
 steps nearer, still keeping well within the shadow 
 of the thicket. 
 
 " I tell you, Squire, I'm fer goin' to once down to 
 Cambridge," said Jim, in a dogged, guttural tone, 
 "an' givin' them warnin' that our town is a-prepar- 
 ing to spring war on 'em. It'll be a rich thing for 
 them who want to stand well in the king's good 
 books to be up an' a-coming now." 
 
 " Stay, my good fellow," said the older man, in a 
 tone of remonstrance; "you say well that the time 
 is opportune, but it is best to observe caution. A 
 little lack of it would be disastrous indeed." 
 
 "What do you want to have done?" asked Jim 
 still more doggedly. When he met this man unex- 
 pectedly, he considered himself a lucky fellow in- 
 deed, as who better could help him to understand 
 the safest and best way to dispose of his secret.
 
 A CRISIS. IO/ 
 
 But now he did not attempt to disguise his lack of 
 appreciation in the other's slowness of action. "Air 
 you goin' to let th' fellows arm themselves, an' git all 
 ready, as you saw on th' Common for yourself they 
 mean to do, before you give warnin'? How much 
 would that story bring then? " He laughed sar- 
 castically, and shuffled his big boots. "Hey, Squire 
 Bliss?" 
 
 It was Tory Bliss! Debby clasped her hands un- 
 til the nails pressed into the flesh. Oh ! was God 
 to let her brave countrymen be hounded to death 
 by enemies within the border? She prayed to know 
 what to do, her lips not moving, while the quick 
 little ears watched like sentinels on duty, to hear. 
 "Softly, softly there, my good fellow." Mr. Bliss 
 was saying propitiatingly. "Your heart and dispo- 
 sition are all right, but you must let me plan for 
 you. Do you go to Mr. Lee; he knows the lay of 
 the land perfectly, and how to inform the Council at 
 Cambridge. Do you go to him; he will probably 
 start at nightfall, and carry the news." 
 
 "Tory Lee!" exclaimed Jim with a smothered 
 execration. 
 
 "Speak of Mr. Lee in that manner again," cried 
 Mr. Bliss warmly, "and I will give warning of you 
 as a turbulent fellow, and one given to drink, and
 
 108 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 have you locked safely in the jail, where you will 
 trouble no one." 
 
 "I didn't mean no harm," said Jim, cooling down 
 as the other warmed up. 
 
 "Then see that you obey instructions," said Mr. 
 Bliss curtly. "Do as I say; carry the news to Mr. 
 Lee, and give him the cartridges as proof. Then 
 you shall be rewarded, never fear, when, as I firmly 
 believe, the king will be intrenched in his power 
 over the Province, and these deluded fellow-towns- 
 men of ours will suffer the penalty of their foolhardi- 
 ness. " He stopped suddenly, and without another 
 word stole softly off, and was lost in the covert. 
 
 "You're a sweet one, ain't you 1 " cried Jim in an 
 exasperated way after him, when there was no longer 
 any danger of being heard. "You'll save your mean 
 skin, will you, until you're quite sure it's safe to 
 holler for King George, an' send me troopin' an' 
 trainin' to that other old skin-flint, Tory Lee, whom 
 I'm not to call Tory yet, till it's safe to be known 
 as a Tory. Confusion to you both ! " 
 
 He slouched off a few feet, and Debby drew a 
 long breath of relief, turned, wavered on unsteady, 
 drunken feet, lurched a bit, and suddenly whirled 
 with an astonished cry around into the very face of 
 Deborah Parlin.
 
 THE SIDE OF THE KING. 1 09 
 
 VII. 
 
 "l SHALL GO OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE KING." 
 
 MRS. PARLIN hung the kettle on the crane for 
 the hot cup of checkerberry tea for supper 
 against the time that her good man should come 
 home. All through this long, troubled day she had 
 gathered what news she could from various persons 
 passing up the Old Bay Road, the thoroughfare con- 
 stantly travelled since the first settlers built one side 
 of it against the protecting hill. And she had res- 
 olutely "baked and brewed, boiled and stewed," spun 
 and sewed, keeping the little cottage neat as a pin, 
 as was her wont, and filling the place in the world 
 God evidently intended for the women of 1775, with 
 no thought for the town's centre and the news there 
 to be obtained. 
 
 " Glad am I that Debby is with Miliscent this troub- 
 lous day," she said to herself ; " for the child with her 
 love of country and eager mind would have been mis- 
 erable enough tied to her spinning-wheel. It is cold 
 comfort to a woman to sit with none but her own
 
 110 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 thoughts for company, though Heaven knows the 
 children are a blessing. But to a young creature like 
 Debby bursting with eagerness to be free, it is intol- 
 erable distress. Where the child got her nature, I 
 cannot see. Surely not from John or me." 
 
 Mother Parlin never said a truer word. John Par- 
 lin was, his neighbors and townsfolk said, "the salt 
 of the earth," meaning he was wholesome, and had 
 sterling qualities that would keep well. But he was 
 slow to exasperation, and as heavy-mannered as one 
 of his oxen, whose great brown eyes looked exactly 
 like his. And he had gone down in the village rec- 
 ords as " Sot as a mule," the New England parlance 
 for having a will of one's own. And Mrs. Parlin, 
 she that was Lyddy Thompson, was of the same 
 build, square and upright, and honest in body and 
 mind. 
 
 Where little Debby of the peach-bloom and dim- 
 ples, and light dancing feet and sunny smile, with 
 the eager soul looking out of her laughing eyes that 
 could be fired with sudden purpose, ever came by it 
 all, was a mystery of mysteries. None of the other 
 children were like her. There was Johnny, more 
 lumpish than either father or mother had been at his 
 age, a boy of ten, who if he had enough corn-meal 
 griddle-cakes and doughnuts to eat, and a good store
 
 THE SIDE OF THE KING. Ill 
 
 of nuts laid by for winter nibbling, seldom cared to 
 stir from his beaten tracks. And Doris, the girl 
 who came next, seven years old, went soberly around 
 the kitchen and woodshed, in reduced pattern, like 
 her mother in feature and figure. And to wind up 
 the list, the baby was the roly-poliest little object, 
 just fat and stolid; calmly blinking at the world, 
 evidently intending to pattern after his immediate 
 predecessors when he got big enough to strike out 
 for himself on his own two feet. 
 
 But Mrs. Parlin did not waste much time over mys- 
 teries. It wasn't her way to bother over them, having 
 enough to do to keep the daily work " down from 
 around my ears " she often said ; so now, as she filled 
 her kettle with fresh water from the well beside the 
 cottage door, she followed the course she had ob- 
 served all through the troubled day; rejoiced her soul 
 with thankfulness that Debby was with her friend, and 
 in the stimulating atmosphere of the Barrett house- 
 hold ; was glad that things were no worse, and that 
 the lawlessness of the morning on the Common was 
 subdued, and that she and her family still had a 
 house-roof over them that they could call their own. 
 "Though how long that will be, Heaven only knows," 
 she sighed. 
 
 Clearly, where everybody was necessarily reduced
 
 112 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCOKD TOWN. 
 
 to such a state of constant worry as were the home- 
 steaders in the Massachusetts, or Old Bay, Province, 
 in the stormy days preceding the war of the American 
 Revolution, there was a place and a mission for such 
 good souls as Mrs. John Parlin, whose very existence 
 seemed to promise strength and solidity and repose 
 to the community. 
 
 Mr. Parlin strode heavily up the little path that led 
 by the enormous elm, within his enclosure, to the cot- 
 tage door. His wife met him with a mild and placid 
 brow. " Come in, John," she said, with a kind hand 
 on his arm. "You're dreadfully tired. Doris, get 
 father's slippers." 
 
 " Yes, I am, Lyddy, and that's a fact." John Parlin 
 sank down heavily in his chintz-covered chair, that 
 creaked in every joint, as it had done for years from 
 the same cause. "And I shall be tired'n this before 
 long, I 'xpect. Wife, give me my dish o' checkerberry 
 tea right here." 
 
 "O father!" expostulated Mrs. Parlin, "ain't you 
 going to wash up? " all her spirit of neatness quite in 
 alarm. "Doris, fill mother the tin basin with water, 
 and bring it and the towel." 
 
 "No, I ain't," said Mr. Parlin decidedly; "not till 
 I've had a good drink of checkerberry tea, anyway." 
 He held out his hand for the bowl, and drained it dry.
 
 THE SIDE OF THE KING. 113 
 
 Then he wiped his lips deliberately, and got out of his 
 chair, motioning Doris away, who was coming across 
 the kitchen with slow, heavy steps, bearing the wash- 
 basin and towel. " Bring it back," he said briefly, 
 going into the woodshed for the wash-up, which was 
 always performed with conscientious and painstaking 
 deliberation. Then he came back, and drew up to the 
 humble repast now set forth on the table. 
 
 "There's going to be a war, sure enough," he said 
 calmly, and looking over his slice of brown bread to 
 his wife, with calm, bovine eyes; ''so you and me, 
 Lyddy, 's got to get ready for it." 
 
 "Yes, I s'pose so," said Mrs. Parlin, with an air 
 of quiet assent that accepted the inevitable. "Well, 
 John, it is to be, and God will see us through it." 
 
 Mr. Parlin nodded reflectively and returned to his 
 brown bread. "Give me the Bible, wife," he said at 
 the conclusion of the meal, when she and Doris put 
 away the remains of the frugal repast, and swept up 
 the crumbs; "and we'll have prayers." 
 
 " I was thinking you'd tell me what's been going on 
 to-day," said Mrs. Parlin, pausing, broom in hand, a 
 moment; "seem's if every one going by here had 
 dropped in with something worse'n the last one, and 
 I said to myself, ' I'll wait till father gets home, and 
 know the truth.'"
 
 114 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 For answer, Mr. Parlin asked abruptly, "Where's 
 Debby?" 
 
 "She's over to Miliscent Barrett's," said his wife: 
 "I told her she might stay all night. Miliscent came 
 for her this morning." 
 
 Her husband looked around the kitchen as if miss- 
 ing something, with as much longing as his face ever 
 expressed; but there was an expression of relief, after 
 all, as he said briefly, " Well, reach me the Bible, wife, 
 and come to prayers." 
 
 So the big old Bible, its leathern lids encased 
 in a dark red spotted calico cover, was lifted rever- 
 ently down from the shelf, and put on the father's 
 knees; the tallow candle was trimmed, and John 
 and Doris folded their pudgy hands. Mrs. Parlin sat 
 decorously by her husband while he sonorously read 
 a long chapter, then knelt to offer a longer prayer. 
 
 After this was concluded, Mrs. Parlin reached 
 down her knitting-work, the long blue-yarn stock- 
 ing, and began to clack her needles. She did 
 not suggest again any communication from her 
 husband. Once expressed, such a thing was never 
 repeated. But she looked at him anxiously. He 
 was different to-night, that she clearly saw, from 
 any other home-coming. He looked up at last, 
 and saw her regarding him.
 
 THE SIDE OF THE KING. 115 
 
 "Send the children to bed, wife," he said. "I 
 want to talk with you." 
 
 "Go to bed, Doris," said her mother, "and you 
 too, Johnny. Good-night." 
 
 Both children went out, Doris across the hall, 
 over the landing of the stairs, to the little room 
 that jutted into the greensward, and Johnny to the 
 gabled loft above. The baby was already asleep 
 in the trundle-bed in the bedroom. 
 
 "Shut the door," said Mrs. Parlin. " Now, John," 
 as they were left alone by the fireside, "tell me all 
 that is on your mind; for that something is, and 
 weighing heavier than the coming war, there is no 
 manner o' doubt." 
 
 "You say truly, Lyddy, " agreed John Parlin; 
 "and yet 'tis occasioned by the war that has set 
 me to thinking so I scarcely know myself to-night." 
 
 " I should give you a dose of boneset if 1 didn't 
 know the troublous times had made so many folks 
 queer-actin' and thinkin'," remarked Mrs. Parlin, 
 not relaxing her even and monotonous clack, but 
 making her blue rounds just the same, so that one, 
 looking on, might be said to see the stocking 
 grow. " Now, the sooner you get it off your mind, 
 whatever it is, John, the better you'll feel." 
 
 " I must lead up to it, Lyddy," said her husband.
 
 Il6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "easy like. You know I never could be driv. So let 
 me take my own way." He put one foot slowly over 
 the other, and gazed at the fire a moment without 
 further speech. 
 
 Mrs. Parlin made at least three rounds on her 
 stocking. Then because, even to her slow nature, 
 some movement was necessary, she got out of her 
 chair, and went and looked at the clock in the corner, 
 taking a longer glance at her husband's ruminating 
 figure on the way back. 
 
 "Yes, the war is surely coming, Lyddy," at last he 
 said. 
 
 " I know it." 
 
 " And we've got to get ready for it, you and me." 
 
 "You said that before." 
 
 " Folks who have children," observed John Parlin, 
 not noticing her remark, "have a sight to think of, 
 Lyddy, in these times that try men's souls." 
 
 Mrs. Parlin made no reply to this. Her husband 
 proceeded. 
 
 " If the war comes, and it is a-coming, what will we 
 do, Lyddy ? Where's the provision for our children ? " 
 
 "We've got the same provision, I s'pose," said his 
 wife, "as everybody else in this town has; just noth- 
 ing at all, when it comes to that. The war, when it 
 is once upon us, will use us all up alike ; and if King
 
 THE SIDE OF THE KING. 1 1/ 
 
 George beats, why provision, if we had any, wouldn't 
 be of any earthly good to us nor the children after 
 us." 
 
 "That's it/' said John Parlin gloomily, staring at 
 the fire ; " we might as well be all dead then, and 
 that's a fact." 
 
 He continued to ruminate over this last idea ; and 
 his wife, uncertain how far to interrupt him, clacked 
 away vigorously at her knitting, wondering at this 
 most unusual mood. The big cross-log cracked with 
 bright little snaps that proclaimed the penetrating 
 flame pushing its path into the heart of the hickory, 
 and lighting up the pewter on the dresser opposite. 
 Everything in the kitchen was outwardly bright and 
 cheery, except the figure of the farmer, who, as he 
 thought on, settled down in his chair with a depres- 
 sing droop, that, despite her habitual placidity, made 
 his spouse conscious of nervous little creeps down 
 her spinal column. At last she dropped the knitting 
 into her lap from sheer inability to k-ep still, and 
 said, "Now, John, tell me all without delay. What 
 are you thinking of?" 
 
 Her husband set down both feet to the floor, raised 
 himself in his chair, and looked at her long and de- 
 liberately. 
 
 "Lyddy," he said, with that slow utterance that
 
 Il8 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 gives token of the choice of each word, "I've always 
 been fer liberty and our rights, and I've been a good 
 citizen of this town, hain't I?" 
 
 She kept her eyes on his face, unable to reply. A 
 vague notion of all the war-talk having gone to his 
 head, and unsettled his wits, crossed her mind; but 
 one glance at his. clear blue eyes, and she dismissed 
 the idea, and held her breath while he went on, 
 
 "Well, Lyddy, I've stood it day in and day out, 
 working and toiling, and praying and hoping. I'll 
 live on bread and water all my life, and you know 
 it, Lyddy, to live and die a free man. But to-day, 
 Lyddy, when that accursed news " his big face was 
 very white now " came, and I see how useless and 
 wicked 'tis for those of us who've got children to pro- 
 vide for, to hold out longer, when King George has 
 got us body and soul, why, Lyddy," he drew in his 
 breath hard, and spoke through his set teeth, "I've 
 made up my mind to go over to the side of the king." 
 
 The woman sprang from her chair. " O John ! stop 
 where you be. Stop, not another word! See, I'll go 
 down on my knees to you, but you shall take that 
 back." She slid down to the floor, and clasped her 
 hands over his hard and knotty ones. "You're not 
 well," she cried, crouching low and fondling him, 
 while she writhed on the floor. "You're all worn
 
 THE SIDE OF THE KING. I 1 9 
 
 out; this is the reason you say such dreadful words. 
 Come to bed." She essayed to draw him out of the 
 chair as she tried to regain her feet. 
 
 "Yes, I be, Lyddy; well as ever I was in my life," 
 declared her husband solemnly. "You let me be. 
 I've ben thinking this all out to-day, and it's best said 
 to-night. Get up and set in your chair. You must 
 hear me." 
 
 " No, I'll kneel to you ; it's the best place for me," 
 she cried, "so I may be able to turn you from such 
 speech, when it shows you how your wife can beg on 
 her knees. O John ! take back those words. Better 
 to struggle, to face death, ay, to die, us and the chil- 
 dren, than to hear such words. Oh, my husband ! " 
 
 She did not cry far worse was it to hear the tear- 
 less sobs ; and John Parlin turned his face away, and 
 his big hands shook. 
 
 " Lyddy," his voice was determined and low, like 
 that of a man whose mind is made up, " I tell you sol- 
 emnly that the struggle is useless. We have no right 
 to condemn our children to what will surely come if 
 we persist against the king. Our farm will be confis- 
 cated, and our children will be beggars." 
 
 "Let such a fate come." She raised her head 
 proudly. " Beggars we may be, but we will never eat 
 the bread of traitors."
 
 120 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 He winced at the word, but went on doggedly, 
 "And to hold out at such a time, believing that God 
 himself has left us no alternative, I know is down- 
 right wickedness. I shall go over to the side of the 
 king; there is no more to be said." 
 
 She sprang to her feet once more, and drew away 
 from him. She was a large, square woman, and now 
 in the bright firelight she seemed to tower over him 
 from a terrible height. 
 
 "John Parlin," she said, "when I married you I 
 gave my faith and my love to a man who feared God 
 and loved his country. I've served you faithfully, 
 John, as God will testify in the last great day. This 
 night you have said words that have made a bar be- 
 tween us that nothing can lower until you take them 
 back." She stepped forward, lighted another candle 
 from the one on the table, and left the kitchen, leaving 
 him immovable and stiff as he sat staring into the 
 fire.
 
 WHERE IS DEBBY? 121 
 
 VIII. 
 
 WHERE IS DEBBY? 
 
 HE was there in the gray morning light when 
 she came out of the little room, where alone 
 with Doris, fast asleep in fat, pudgy innocence of 
 trouble or sorrow, she had fought out her battle. To a 
 woman like Lyddy Thompson, brought up in the most 
 rigid belief that by love of God and of country, one 
 held to all that made life endurable or honorable, 
 the shock that she had received had dealt a most 
 awful blow. Her hair did not turn white, it is true, 
 in this single night; but her vital force had suffered 
 in a way that she knew meant for her to be there- 
 after a different woman. And she arose from her 
 knees where at intervals she had thrown herself dur- 
 ing the long hours of her agony to bury her face 
 in the patched bedquilt in that voiceless entreaty 
 that is swifter than any words, and passed out to 
 take up her round of daily work with full realiza- 
 tion of being this changed creature. All the blood 
 of her ancestors, who had fought to plant the Colonies,
 
 122 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOW A'. 
 
 who had struggled to maintain them, and who by 
 prayer and precept had died exhorting their children 
 to so fight and struggle, now seemed to assert itself 
 in her throbbing veins. She shut her lips tightly, 
 and with a marble front, that had hitherto been stolid 
 and comfortable placidity, she proceeded to the duty 
 nearest at hand. 
 
 Her husband turned heavily in his chair, and 
 scanned her from beneath his thick light eyebrows, 
 and for the first time in his life almost started in 
 surprise. To any one who had seen Mrs. John Par- 
 lin the day before, it would be impossible to believe 
 the matron now performing the household tasks to 
 be the same woman. John Parlin stared at her as 
 he had previously stared at the fire, but she ap- 
 peared to take no notice of him. When the break- 
 fast was ready, she simply announced the fact, and 
 drew up her chair, and tied on the baby's eating- 
 apron with an unmoved face. 
 
 " Father, come to breakfast," said Doris. Johnny 
 was already in his place, with his eyes on the plate 
 of hot smoking buckwheat griddle-cakes. 
 
 "I don't want any breakfast," said Mr. Parlin in 
 a gruff voice. 
 
 Mrs. Parlin folded her hands, and offered the grace 
 herself. An observance that astonished the children
 
 WHERE IS DEBBY? 123 
 
 so much that Johnny transferred his attention from 
 the griddle-cakes to his mother's face, on which he 
 hung open-eyed and open-mouthed. 
 
 "Eat your breakfast," she said. So both children 
 betook themselves to their plates and mugs. The baby 
 slapped his spoon into the molasses cup, and succeeded 
 in overturning it, which made a diversion, and a relief 
 to the overstrained woman, as it necessitated quick 
 movement on her part for repairs, and took her out 
 of the reach of curious eyes. When she came back 
 with the cloth to wipe up the sticky mess, her husband 
 was gone from the chair. She showed no sign of 
 feeling at the discovery. 
 
 "Father hain't eaten any breakfast/' said Doris, 
 laying down her knife and fork in slow but decided 
 amazement. " He's gone out." 
 
 " He hain't eaten any breakfast," repeated Johnny, 
 between his mouthfuls of dripping cakes. 
 
 "You eat your own," commanded Mrs. Parlin in 
 a stern, cold voice. " Did you hear me tell you ? I 
 speak but once, you remember." 
 
 They ducked their heads, and again addressed them- 
 selves to their plates, with an occasional side glance 
 at the tall, stern woman whom they had never seen as 
 their mother, and finished the meal in silence. 
 
 Everything was attended to as usual, with the most
 
 124 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 scrupulous care. And Mrs. Parlin at last sat down 
 to the mending-basket and an overstocked supply 
 of sewing. And then for the first time she began to 
 wonder why Debby was late, and what could have 
 kept her from obeying the injunction to be home 
 bright and early; for the girl never disobeyed the 
 slightest wish of father or mother. All through the 
 terrible night had been the one only cause for thank- 
 fulness that the girl, the loved one of the household, 
 had been saved the shock of hearing from the father's 
 own lips that he was a traitor to his country. " It 
 would have killed her," the mother moaned within 
 her parched and silent lips. But now the mother, 
 her heart wrenched at one awful strain away from 
 its natural abiding-place, turned with unspeakable 
 longing to the bright presence who was the light and 
 comfort of the house, and she cried aloud once to 
 herself as she sat there, "Deborah O Deborah!" 
 
 But the clock ticked on, and she came not. At last 
 footsteps were heard, light and quick. Mrs. Parlin's 
 heart gave a great leap of dread now that the event- 
 ful moment had really arrived ; and she sewed ner- 
 vously as a light figure, too swiftly to distinguish it, 
 came around the cottage. 
 
 "Mrs. Parlin," called Miliscent Barrett, coining 
 quickly into the kitchen, "why did you not let Debby
 
 WHERE IS DEB BY? 125 
 
 stay all night? I want her to come up again this 
 morning." 
 
 Mrs. Parlin's work dropped to her lap, and she 
 stared in speechless amazement out of a white face 
 into the blooming one of the girl. 
 
 " If it troubles you to let her go oh ! are you ill ? " 
 as the woman sent out her long arms and beat the air 
 with her hands. " Debby come, come quickly 
 your mother! " 
 
 "Where is Debby?" gasped the mother; "where is 
 my girl, my all? Where is Debby?" 
 
 "Where is Debby?" repeated Miliscent, her own 
 cheek blanching, "why here, of course. She left my 
 house yesterday afternoon to go down to the Common 
 to find my grandfather, on an errand ; and she came 
 home, didn't she ? She didn't come back to us." 
 
 " She is not here she never came back ! " 
 
 Miliscent was only conscious that a tall figure stood 
 over her calling in wild accents on God to restore her 
 daughter, that she, Miliscent, rushed out of the kitchen 
 and summoned the children to stay with their mother, 
 while she prepared to run on anguished feet up to 
 Captain James for help in this distressful moment. 
 
 " What's the matter ? " A voice that came from the 
 other side of the stone wall dividing Mr. Parlin's farm 
 from that of his next neighbor caused her to look
 
 126 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 up into the yellow face, under its big inevitable hand- 
 kerchief, of Aunt Keziah. 
 
 Miliscent was not afraid of her, as were most of the 
 village young people, nor had she any particular rea- 
 son for dislike, not being a neighbor. She recognized 
 gladly the fact that here was a woman who probably 
 could look after the half-crazed mother better than two 
 small frightened children. So she said quickly, " O 
 Miss Felton ! Mrs. Parlin is sick she has had- bad 
 news. Will you go in and stay with her while I go 
 for help?" 
 
 " Yes, yes," grunted Aunt Keziah, not ill-pleased at 
 an opportunity to display her medical lore ; " as soon 
 as I have got my herb-pot, which, thank fortune, is 
 ever steeping by the fire, I will be right over." 
 
 She disappeared within her own house before Milis- 
 cent could remark that the case was not one for medi- 
 cine save that required for an anguished heart ; and the 
 girl, with her own misery of the dread of ill befalling 
 her best-loved friend haunting her every step, hurried 
 on, the hot August sun beating down on her unpro- 
 tected head, for she had dropped her sunbonnet in 
 the Parlin cottage. 
 
 Where was Debby ? 
 
 " Ha ! " Jim Haskins had exclaimed, and seized 
 both of Debby's supple wrists before she had time
 
 WHERE IS DEBBY. 12? 
 
 to move, " been listening, have you ? " He brought 
 his drunken face so near to the girl that she recoiled 
 in disgust. "Well, you shall have no chance to tell 
 what you've heard." 
 
 "Jim," cried Debby in a passion, "unhand me 
 this instant." She shook his hard hands in her 
 efforts to get free. But he was too far gone in 
 drink and the fury of passion at having all his plans 
 thrown out by this girl, Abner Butterfield's sweet- 
 heart. It was gall and wormwood to him, and a 
 thousand times worse than having it found out by 
 any one else. He took both of her hands in one of 
 his big ones, and held them as in a vice, with the 
 other whipping out of his pocket a leathern string. 
 "Here you'll stay, ha, ha! You needn't think 
 your news, that you've so cleverly got, will do any 
 good." With a few swift passes (Jim was quick and 
 handy at a knot) he had her safely bound, her hands 
 behind her, to a tree, the cruel string cutting into 
 her young and tender flesh. 
 
 Debby gathered up all her soul into one mighty 
 scream; but she regretted it the minute afterward, 
 for he turned suddenly from regarding his work, 
 pulled out his red cotton handkerchief, and thrust 
 it in her mouth. " Now you can scream all you 
 want to, or try to, Miss Debby Parlin." He gave a
 
 128 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 parting laugh, and then loped off, plunging deeper 
 into the thicket, and was lost to view. 
 
 How long she stood there before she was con- 
 scious of making any effort to free herself Debby 
 never knew. She was in such a dense forest, with 
 the underbrush thickly filling up the interstices, that 
 there was no opportunity to tell by the sun's rays, 
 for all was dark and cool. She was first brought to 
 herself by the stinging pain in her hands, and an 
 intolerable sense of anguish from the gag in her 
 mouth. It was useless to pull against the leathern 
 string and struggle to be free, for every movement 
 only strained it deeper into the flesh. She at 
 last, after several worse than useless attempts, re- 
 signed herself to waiting until some one who missed 
 her should come to her release. 
 
 It was madness to think of word being carried to 
 Tory Lee, who would deliver it to the council at Cam- 
 bridge, warning them of preparations for warfare, and 
 possibly an uprising by the people. Debby felt her 
 brain swim at the thought of what the effect of those 
 words might be, if only to anger the leaders of the 
 Regulars, and swell the already aggressive spirit of 
 the enemy to more oppression. 
 
 " I will die, but I will make one more attempt," she 
 determined ; but the swoon that it produced made her
 
 WHERE IS DEBBY? 1 29 
 
 see, when her brain cleared and she came to herself, 
 that it must not be repeated. 
 
 It must be near nightfall now. Yes, the birds were 
 twittering about her poor head in that sleepy fashion 
 that bespeaks the nest and the folded wing, as they 
 fluttered to their resting-places. Debby closed her 
 eyes and tried to pray. The good Father would 
 take care of her, and let some one find her. But 
 that was not so much matter now, since it would 
 soon be too late to keep Tory Lee from his mission. 
 Oh 1 she would pray once more for the evil she 
 feared to be averted. " Send some one, O God ! for 
 Christ's sake." She looked up, and saw a man re- 
 garding har with a fixed and curious expression as he 
 stood behind a tree. The next instant he had torn 
 the red cotton handkerchief from her mouth, and was 
 cutting the leathern thongs. 
 
 "Poor little one! " he said; and he made an invol- 
 untary movement as though he would smooth the 
 rings of sunny hair lying across her hot and aching 
 brow, then his hand fell away, and he stepped back, 
 and told her she was free. 
 
 It was exquisite torture at first for Debby to move 
 her arms, so long bent back in their unnatural 
 position, and she nearly fainted from the trial, as 
 she sank upon the ground ; seeing which the stranger
 
 130 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 ran lightly to the river-bank, and brought water in his 
 hat, with which he laved her face and poor arms 
 until she opened her eyes. Then he withdrew as 
 before, and regarded her closely. He was dressed 
 in peddler's attire, having his pack resting against 
 the tree behind which he had first seen the girl. 
 He was tall and slender, now standing quite erect; 
 his head, on which was a wig of long, straw-colored 
 hair, thrown easily back. "What wickedness is 
 this," he cried in deep, rich tones of indignation, 
 "that has been perpetrated here? Do not try to 
 speak, poor girl ; " for Debby was making ineffec- 
 tual efforts to move her poor swollen mouth. " Enough 
 that I have been able to rescue you. ' ' 
 
 "Oh, I thank you, kind sir!" mumbled Debby, 
 trying to regain her feet. The peddler sprang 
 forward, and put forth his hand to help her, with as 
 much deference as if she had been a duchess. The 
 hand struck her particularly; it was long, with 
 tapering fingers and nails that certainly looked like 
 those of no peddler who had hitherto crossed her 
 path. She gave a little start, but quickly recovered 
 herself. It was it must be a British spy in dis- 
 guise. She must be on her guard about giving in- 
 formation. 
 
 " Can I can I help you ? " asked the peddler
 
 WHERE IS DEBBY? 131 
 
 awkwardly, and speaking in a high, squeaky voice. 
 " I am going through the country, miss, at my 
 trade of selling goods to the farmers' wives. If I 
 might see you safely from this wood to your home, 
 for it has been perilous enough for you here." He 
 glanced about, as if for sight of lurking foe, and 
 waited for her to speak. 
 
 "I can get along," said Debby, with a hot flush 
 rising on her white face ; and she staggered a few 
 paces off, then stopped a moment by a friendly tree. 
 
 He did not offer to assist her again, but waited till 
 she should recover freedom of motion. Nor did he 
 attempt to question her; but turned his back on her, 
 and seemed to be absorbed in contemplating his pack, 
 resting where he had left it. Soon Debby essayed 
 again to move on. 
 
 " I will follow you," said the peddler, leaving his nat- 
 ural tones into which he had been betrayed when lost 
 in pity over her condition, and addressing her in the 
 squeaky voice as before, "at a distance, miss; then if 
 you need assistance I can give it." He slung his 
 pack over his shoulders, which now looked bent and 
 worn, and dragged on hastily a pair of old black cot- 
 ton gloves, although the day might be said to be un- 
 necessarily warm for such an addition to a peddler's 
 costume, then motioned to her to lead the way.
 
 132 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Debby went off very well for some paces. Suddenly 
 she turned swiftly, went back to the peddler's side, and 
 put out her bruised little hand. " I thank you, sir," 
 she said, in a sweet, serious way, and raising her blue 
 eyes to his face, " for saving my life, and for all your 
 kindness." 
 
 " May God bless you, miss ! " (again the stranger 
 forgot to care for his voice, but he soon recovered 
 himself with a cough. He took the outstretched little 
 hand in one of his, and covered it for a moment with 
 its black-covered mate), "and keep you from all harm 
 forever. Now lead on, please," he squeaked forth 
 suddenly ; and the two went forth, the peddler slouching 
 along well to the rear, his head bent as if wholly oc- 
 cupied with thoughts of his travelling gains; while 
 Debby, as her wonted strength returned to her with 
 the exercise, stepped off faster and faster, her mind 
 laying rapid plans meanwhile. 
 
 " It won't ever do to go to Captain James's house 
 now, nor to Milly's," she said to herself. " If he is 
 a spy, and oh, he must be but how beautiful he is 1" 
 Then she pulled herself up with a remorseful twinge. 
 How could any British young man be beautiful, even 
 if he had wondrous dark eyes and long taper fingers ? 
 He was good, certainly. Debby was glad her con- 
 science would allow her to admit that, for he had
 
 WHERE IS DEB BY 133 
 
 saved her from a terrible fate; indeed, she thought, 
 she must have died before morning but for him; 
 perhaps there yet was time to keep Tory Lee from 
 taking his message. At this thought she struck into 
 a run. But where? She must not let the peddler, 
 whoever he might be, find the way to Captain James's; 
 yet it was imperative that some trusty person should 
 hear her news about Tory Lee as soon as possible. 
 Where? Oh, to Abner Butterfield's, of course! His 
 tidy farm, where he lived with his widowed mother, 
 was but a mile or so farther on; and if she could only 
 get this peddler to put aside his care of her, she should 
 do quite well enough, and reach there safely. But 
 no; there he was she could see in the turn in the 
 road, as she glanced backward coming on. He did 
 not seem to run, but to get over the ground all the 
 same easily enough with long, masterful strides that 
 kept about the same distance between ' them as at 
 starting; and the distance was traversed in this fash- 
 ion, till at last the candle twinkled out from a win- 
 dow of the old brown farmhouse set back from the 
 road that was known as the " Butterfield Place." 
 
 Debby stumbled up the box-bordered path to the 
 kitchen door. She could hear the peddler stop out in 
 the road opposite the house and wait, as she rapped 
 with a tremulous hand. Then the candle was with-
 
 134 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 drawn from the window, and heavy steps sounded in 
 the entry, and the green door was thrown wide. 
 
 " Why, Deborah Parlin ! " the peddler could hear 
 Abner Butterfield's mother say in her high-keyed 
 voice; "for the land's sakes, what brings you clear 
 over here ? "
 
 AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM. 135 
 
 IX. 
 
 AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM. 
 
 A BNER ! " Debby did not heed Mrs. Butterfield's 
 1\. exclamations nor her look of surprise, but 
 rushed past her into the kitchen's depths. 
 
 " Why, he isn't to home," said his mother, coming 
 back to set the candle on the table and look at her 
 curiously. She knew well enough her son's love for 
 this little blooming damsel, for he had freely confided 
 it, but not by any means so sure was she that it was 
 returned. Indeed, it had been hinted to her many 
 times that Deborah Parlin looked down on Abner, 
 and made fun of him, even to his face, for his big 
 hands and feet and awkward ways; and Mrs. Butter- 
 field had tossed her head, and said she guessed her 
 boy needn't to go seeking very hard for company. 
 When he got ready to settle down and get married, 
 she'd lay a shilling he could have his pick from the 
 best girls in Concord Town. So now she eyed Debby 
 sharply, and with no particular favor, waiting for her 
 to speak.
 
 136 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 But Debby did not seem to notice aught amiss in 
 face or manner. " O Mrs. Butterfield ! " she seized 
 the good woman's arm, thus bringing into view the 
 poor cut hands and wrists, along whose surface little 
 drops of blood had trailed; "where is he? I must 
 see him." 
 
 " Oh, my good gracious me ! " ejaculated Mrs. But- 
 terfield with a sharp look at them ; " what's the matter 
 with your hands ? " 
 
 "Nothing," said Debby, twitching back to tuck them 
 under her apron. "Never mind. Where is Abner? 
 Oh, dear 1 I tell you, Mrs. Butterfield, I must see him." 
 
 "He isn't to home I told you," repeated Mrs. But- 
 terfield testily; "but, you poor child, lemme take your 
 hands they're all cut up dreadful. I must wash 'em, 
 and bandage 'em up for you in opodeldoc." 
 
 " I don't in the least mind my hands," cried Debby 
 crossly, with another twitch ; " and you will oblige me, 
 Mrs. Butterfield, by not mentioning 'em again." And 
 in stalked Abner, to find his mother flushed and com- 
 bative, and Debby in a pretty pet, standing before 
 her. 
 
 She flew to him at once. " Abner," she said in an 
 authoritative way, vastly becoming to her, thought the 
 young man, but it made his mother grind her gums in 
 the absence of many important teeth, to see it. " I
 
 AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM. 137 
 
 must speak to you at once on a very important 
 matter." 
 
 Abner looked at his mother, who stood her ground 
 valiantly. Debby went swiftly up to her. " I want 
 you to forgive me, Mrs. Butterfield," she said, "for 
 speaking so; but I've been through a good deal, 
 though that's no excuse, and I've something to tell 
 that no one ought to know but Abner." 
 
 "You can take her into the keepin'-room, said 
 Mrs. Butterfield, bobbing her large head at Abner. 
 "All right, child; now you speak some way decent." 
 And Debby, in a tremor to get her news delivered, 
 fairly ran after him as he led the way, and shut 
 the door behind them. 
 
 "We'll, if I ever!" exclaimed Mrs. Butterfield, left 
 alone in the kitchen ; " well, there, there, there ! " she 
 cried gustily, quite unable to stop herself. " No, I never 
 did in all this world; I declare to gracious, I never 
 did." Then she sat down in the big calico-covered 
 rocking-chair, and swung back and forth breezily. 
 
 " Abner," Debby kept her hands well behind her 
 back, as she told all the story hastily; as it was 
 done, imploring him to hurry, and prevent in some 
 way Tory Lee from carrying the inflammatory news 
 to Cambridge. He stood still a moment, thinking 
 in his slow way.
 
 138 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOW*. 
 
 " O Abner ! why don't you start ? " cried Debby 
 impatiently. 
 
 " It is too late to keep him back,'' said Abner. 
 meditating a minute or so ; " for he has already 
 started, probably. But I ought to follow him, and 
 track him to Cambridge, and see if he really does 
 meet any of the council. But where did you come 
 from ? You must get home, Debby." He bent an 
 anxious look on the young girl's face. 
 
 " Oh, never mind me ! " exclaimed Debby more im- 
 patiently than ever. " Besides, I wasn't going home 
 to-night. Mother said I could stay with Miliscent 
 Barrett." 
 
 "Then I ought first to take you there," said Abner, 
 a sudden light in his face. 
 
 " No, no ! I can go with Pompey, can't I ? You 
 ought to hurry off this minute, Abner." 
 
 " I s'pose so," said Abner, the light dying out. 
 "Well, I ought, as you say, to hurry;" yet he made 
 no movement for the door. 
 
 " Yes, yes," cried Debby nervously. There was no 
 time to tell him about the peddler, nor was she certain 
 that it was a subject to be mentioned. Surely the 
 first thing to be done was to finish the business in 
 hand, and that with as much despatch as possible, with- 
 out wasting time on any other story. She had given
 
 AT THE BUTTERF1ELD FARM. 139 
 
 the lightest of touches concerning the way in which she 
 had become possessed of the plan, and only mentioned 
 Jim's name incidentally as talking with Tory Bliss when 
 she had overheard the conversation. She now almost 
 pushed Abner to the door. " Do hurry,'* she begged. 
 
 " Mother," said Abner, going into the kitchen, 
 " Pompey must take Debby down to Cap'n James's. 
 She was to stay there over night." 
 
 "All right," said Mrs. Butterfield, rocking noisily. 
 "You goin' away?" seeing him pick up his cap which 
 he had thrown down on the table. 
 
 "Yes ; and I sha'n't be home before morning. Take 
 good care of yourself, mother." He went over and 
 planted a kiss on her wholesome cheek. 
 
 "And you be careful of yourself," she said; "for 
 these are troublous times." But she didn't dare ask 
 him his errand. 
 
 "Good-night Debby;" he put out his hand, which 
 she pretended not to see, and a hurt expression came 
 into his face as he turned away. 
 
 "Abner, don't be angry," she began "nonsense ! " 
 and she gave a little laugh, too nervous now to care 
 for anything, as the reaction was coming. 
 
 "Well, I must wake up Pompey," said Mrs. But- 
 terfield as Abner's footsteps sounded down the road, 
 and she got heavily out of her chair.
 
 140 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " Oh, dear me ! has he gone to bed ? " cried Debby 
 in dismay. 
 
 "Why, yes; what do you expect at this time o' 
 night," said Mrs. Butterfield ungraciously; "long after 
 nine o'clock." And she went out the door. Debby 
 could hear her calling up to the barn chamber to rouse 
 the negro man who had been the faithful servant of 
 Abner's father. He had been, some folks said, a slave 
 when a boy, but no one knew for certain. Mrs. But- 
 terfield now called and called, but in vain ; and then 
 she mounted the stairs and searched for herself. 
 
 "Pompey ain't in bed nor nowheres," she an- 
 nounced, coming back with a puzzled face to set 
 her candle on the table. "Whewl how hot I bel 
 Now, what's to be done ? You was to stay at Cap'n 
 James's, was you, over night ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Debby in a miserable little voice. 
 All her brave spirit had suddenly oozed out of her, 
 and she presented a very abject appearance indeed. 
 " Miliscent was going to sleep at her grandfather's, 
 and mother promised her I might stay with her." 
 At mention of her mother, she looked ready to Cry, 
 and one or two tears did fall on the red table- 
 cloth. 
 
 "Well, you can't now," said Abner's mother, 
 who didn't see the tears; "you've got to stay all
 
 AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM. 14! 
 
 night here, as there ain't no way to get you down 
 there; it's black as Egypt out, 'cause there's a thun- 
 der-storm, I guess, coming up." She spoke harsher 
 than she otherwise would, thinking of Abner out 
 in it, driven somewhere by this girl, on some fool's 
 errand maybe. "You can take a ni'gown of mine; 
 it's the only way," she added shortly. 
 
 "I ain't afraid to go by myself," said Debby, 
 twisting her poor hands hard. Yet she thought of 
 the peddler; he wouldn't hurt her, even if she should 
 chance upon him, for he was good, but and she 
 hesitated. 
 
 "Well, I guess," began Mrs. Butterfield in a 
 loud, high key, "that I know better'n to let you 
 go streaking off alone this dark night, Deborah 
 Parlin. I shouldn't want to meet your mother after- 
 ward, that's all I say." 
 
 "Where shall I sleep?" asked Debby in a broken 
 little voice, longing for some bedclothes to pull 
 over her head, or she would disgrace herself and 
 break down altogether. 
 
 "You can sleep along of me, or you can go up 
 in the back chamber,"' said Abner's mother. 
 
 "Oh! I'll go up in the back chamber," said 
 Debby quickly; " if you please, and you don't 
 mind, Mrs. Butterfield," she added humbly.
 
 142 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWb. 
 
 "It don't make no difference to me; the clean 
 sheets is on the bed. You can take that candle," 
 pointing to one in a tin stand on the shelf. 
 
 "Good-night," said Debby. "I hope you'll say 
 you forgive me for being cross," she said, pausing 
 a minute on the way out. 
 
 "Well, I will," said Mrs. Butterfield, not looking 
 at her. Her thoughts were all on her boy, off some- 
 where this black night, she'd give a good deal to 
 know where. 
 
 Debby went up the crooked stairs unsteadily, and 
 set the candlestick on the bureau before the cracked 
 looking-glass, got off her clothes as well as she could 
 for her hands, that now began to bleed afresh, and 
 curled in between the sheets, which she pulled well 
 up over her head. Then she burst into a torrent of 
 tears. 
 
 "Mercy me, I forgot all about that child's hands!" 
 exclaimed Mrs. Butterfield. After shooing out the 
 cat, and tying on her nightcap, she was just about 
 to step into her own bed, and with a stab of remorse 
 that was genuine and deep, she toiled over the stairs 
 and into the back chamber. Without any preamble 
 this time, she advanced and .gave a hasty twitch to 
 the bedclothes, " I'm a-going to see your hands now, 
 for I won't have it on my conscience not to do for
 
 AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM. 143 
 
 'em," to see a face convulsed with sobs, the pillow 
 drenched, and Debby in an agony of grief. 
 
 "You poor, blessed little creeter, you!" Abner's 
 mother bent her nightcap over the bed, and just lifted 
 the little figure up until it rested in her arms. "There, 
 there, there ! " She cuddled her against her large neck ; 
 and Debby nestled there, a hurt little thing, without 
 a show of resistance. " Don't try to talk, nor say any- 
 thing. I'm a-going to take care of you. You're a 
 pretty creeter as ever lived." She was passing her 
 large hands over the sunny hair now with even, 
 soothing strokes. How like to Abner's hands they 
 were! Debby thought her own mother's could not 
 be softer nor more gentle. "I wouldn't cry if I 
 was you." But Debby was beyond all power to 
 help it; and Abner's mother soon began to be dis- 
 mayed at the stream of tears that flowed down her 
 neck, and the sobs that shook the slender little 
 frame. 
 
 "And so you come up here after supper," she said, 
 to make diverting conversation. "Well, there, you 
 must be tired." 
 
 "I haven't had any supper," said Debby involun- 
 tarily. 
 
 "Land o' Liberty!" exclaimed Mrs. Butterfield. 
 "I b'lieve the child's hungry. Hain't had no supper!
 
 144 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Now you just lie there," she slipped the bright head 
 on the pillow, "and don't you cry no more, like a 
 pretty creeter, and I'll bring you up something to eat, 
 the first thing I do, says I." 
 
 Debby, with a big flowered calico wrapper over 
 Mrs. Butterfield's "ni'gown," soon sat up in bed, with 
 a generous blue-edged plate on her knees, while Ab. 
 ner's mother sat at the foot admiringly watching her 
 eat, and alternately suppressing a groan of dismay as 
 she saw the full extent of the bruises on wrist and 
 hand where the large sleeves fell away. 
 
 Debby looked up as the last scrap disappeared, and 
 a wan little smile stole over her face. "I think you're 
 awfully good to me," she said simply. 
 
 " There, there ! " cried Mrs. Butterfield, quite over- 
 come ; and setting the empty plate on the bureau she 
 began to cuddle her again. "Don't say nothing about 
 it. How can I help it? You're as pretty as you can 
 be, and I hain't never had a daughter." 
 
 "And I was so cross to you," said Debby sorrow- 
 fully, and feeling it time to steer clear from dangerous 
 ground. 
 
 "Don't you speak of that," said Mrs. Butterfield 
 peremptorily; "for I've forgot about it long ago." 
 
 "But I can't forget," said Debby, with a droop of 
 her bright head.
 
 AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM. 145 
 
 "And I warn't none too pleasant to you," said Ab- 
 ner's mother, " to be honest about it. So I want you 
 to forgive me. You see, I was a-thinking of my boy. 
 I'm bound up in him, Debby." 
 
 "Yes, yes," said Debby, realizing that the ice was 
 becoming thin again, and it was best to skate away. 
 "Well, I wanted to tell you, dear Mrs. Butterfield, what 
 I'd come to Abner for; but it wasn't my secret alone, 
 you see." 
 
 "And I don't want to know," declared Mrs. Butter- 
 field most decidedly. "Now I'm going down for the 
 old rags and the opodeldoc; and I'll have these poor 
 hands of yours done up so nice, you won't know you 
 got any hands when I get through." 
 
 It took so long before the process was ended of 
 getting them where Debby was not to know that there 
 were any hands, that the thunder-storm, that otherwise 
 they must have perceived coming up, now broke in 
 fury over the old brown homestead, that shook in its 
 every casement. 
 
 "I don't want to leave you up here alone," said 
 Abner's mother, after oh-ing and ah-ing for the last 
 time over the poor hands, and viewing her work with 
 great satisfaction as the big bandages lay up against 
 the pillow. " Hadn't you better come down and sleep 
 along of me ? "
 
 146 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Yes," said Debby; "I should like it very much, 
 Mrs. Butterfield." 
 
 "Well, then, says I, you just hop out of bed," said 
 Abner's mother, very much gratified, "and I'll help 
 you down ; might as well carry this pillar, I s'pose," 
 bunching it under one arm as they went along. 
 
 " Oh ! I can get down by myself," began Debby 
 brightly. Then she thought better of it, and allowed 
 Mrs. Butterfield to hoist her along in the way popu- 
 larly supposed to be a great assistance, by tucking one 
 hand under the arm, and bestowing a series of persis- 
 tent shoves, indescribable to all but the one assisted. 
 At last, to the great satisfaction of both, the journey 
 was accomplished, and Debby lay back on the four- 
 poster in the big bedroom down-stairs. 
 
 " I forgot to tell you that I always sleep on feathers," 
 said Mrs. Butterfield ; "but then, la! it's best I do to- 
 night, being there's such a thunder-storm. You ain't 
 struck on top o' them." 
 
 "I don't mind the feathers," said Debby happily, 
 and stretching out her toes comfortably as far as they 
 would reach. 
 
 "Now you take plenty o' room, and stick out your 
 hands on the pillar. Don't you be a mite afraid ; they 
 won't be in my way," continued Mrs. Butterfield, with 
 a last critical survey of the" two white bundles that
 
 AT THE BUTTERFIELD FARM. 147 
 
 finished Debby's arms, before extinguishing the 
 candle. 
 
 She leaned over after she climbed into her nest of 
 feathers that billowed up into a big ridge between her 
 stout figure and the slender one. "You won't mind, I 
 hope, if I snore some; it's kind o' comp'ny, I think, to 
 hear the human voice in the night, and sociable like." 
 
 But Debby was beyond all the pleasures of such 
 entertainment, being fast asleep on her pillow.
 
 148 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 X. 
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. 
 
 " T 'CLAR to gracious, massa," Pompey shook in 
 
 JL every limb like an aspen leaf, " I'm skeered 'clar 
 through. Oh, golly ! " as a terrific boom of thunder 
 rolled over their heads ; " s'pose the Almighty is after 
 ole Pomp 'cause he done run away ? " 
 
 The peddler leaned back against the hayrick and 
 said, " I suppose the Almighty has more important 
 business on hand than looking after you, Pomp." 
 
 " S'pose so," said the negro, a little relieved ; " bul; 
 Passon Emerson, he do say, he do, that there can't 
 no one git away from God's big eye." 
 
 " Oh, well ! you're in the way of duty now, Pompey,'' 
 observed the peddler carelessly, " so take the comfort 
 of it. I'd advise you to." 
 
 Pompey scratched his wool with anything but a 
 happy hand. Still, in these dismal surroundings, with 
 the rain descending in torrents around them, and the 
 elements at war overhead, it was something to hear 
 a word of encouragement.
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. 149 
 
 " And as we are shut up to each other's society, we 
 might as well enliven the time by conversation," the 
 peddler went on in an easy voice. It was astonishing 
 how soon he lost his squeaking tones. " So go on, 
 Pomp, with what you began yesterday, or was it last 
 week when first we met ? '' 
 
 " Massa question a body up so I can't tell all de 
 times," said Pompey in a discomfited way. 
 
 " Well, never mind, we won't be exact about dates," 
 said the peddler. 
 
 " An' I'm a-goin' home, massa," said the negro with 
 a sudden lifting of his head, "an' tell missis why I 
 didn't come when I heerd her a-callin' me fit to split, 
 an' I in the woodshed corner just a-goin' to streak 
 it to meet you." He made a quick movement which 
 the peddler's long leg intercepted, so that with a howl 
 Pompey's round body rolled over and over on the 
 sodden grass beyond. "Golly, massa!" he cried, "you 
 needn't to kick so hard; you needn't to, shorely," as 
 he rubbed his shin. 
 
 " I was afraid you wouldn't stop for a small kick," 
 observed the peddler. 
 
 "Oh, golly! I ain't a-goin' to run, I ain't, massa," 
 declared Pompey, coming back to huddle deprecat- 
 ingly under the rick. 
 
 "No; 1 don't think you will," said the other; "and
 
 150 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 if you did, I could easily come up with you, if there 
 were miles between us." 
 
 " Massa he got such a very long leg," said Pompey 
 in still greater discomfiture, "he just like the debbil 
 after a body." 
 
 The peddler took this compliment coolly, and in- 
 dulged in a smothered laugh under cover of the dark 
 ness, presenting an unmoved countenance in the sharp 
 gleam of lightning that followed. 
 
 The negro burrowed deep in speechless fright within 
 the rick, and shook again worse than before. 
 
 "You must remember, Pomp," began the peddler in 
 a reassuring tone, "that you are now in his Majesty's 
 service, a fact that should make you proud as Luci- 
 fer." 
 
 "I donno who Loosifer is," grumbled Pompey, 
 "and I don't care fer the Majesty; I'd druther be 
 back at Mis' Butterfield's. Oh, wheel I wisht I 
 never lef her an' Massa Abner." 
 
 "Pomp," cried the peddler sternly, springing up to 
 a sitting posture so suddenly that he nearly overthrew 
 the darkey who was bunched up in a heap rubbing his 
 big hands together, "do you know you could be de- 
 livered over to the strongest hand of the law, that 
 would land you in a prison where you'd never see 
 daylight again? Not to care for your king, his Maj-
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. I$I 
 
 esty, is treason treason! Lucky for you that I 
 don't deliver you up at once to have your head cut 
 off." 
 
 Pompey's eyes stuck out till they could protrude no 
 farther ; and as the peddler made an involuntary move- 
 ment, he cried, "Don't kick, massa," protecting his 
 shin with both black hands, "golly, don't massa, 
 an' I'll do just everything you say." 
 
 " See that you do ; and there is no more talk about 
 deserting your king, and going to serve these rebels," 
 commanded the peddler, settling back into his easy at- 
 titude. "You've started with me now in his Maj- 
 esty's service, and there is no drawing back. Well, 
 now, to begin with, you know where I found you, 
 Pomp." 
 
 "Yis, yis, massa," said the negro with a groan of 
 remembrance which he speedily changed to a hee- 
 hee; "down in the wood-lot a-cuttin' out the ole 
 bresh. " 
 
 " Quite correct. That was let me see " said the 
 peddler reflectively, " last week ; and I gave you some 
 money, you remember." 
 
 "Yes, sir, yes, sir," said the negro. "Thankee sir, 
 thankee," bobbing his head. 
 
 "Well, that bound the bargain, as we say; that is, 
 you have had pay for accepting service for his Maj-
 
 152 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 esty. So you see you can't back out without awfu. 
 punishment." 
 
 "'Twas such a little money," said Pompey, squirm- 
 ing all over; "only a shillin', massa." 
 
 "It doesn't make any difference what the sum was," 
 said the peddler with a return of sternness. "Take 
 care, Pomp." 
 
 "Oh, yes, sir oh, wheel Yes, sir, thankee, sir." 
 
 "Well, and then I came again, you remember, that 
 was yesterday or have you forgotten, eh? " 
 
 "No, sir, no, sir, I done 'member; an' I was in the 
 wood-lot agin." 
 
 "What a good Pompey it is," remarked the peddler 
 pleasantly; "and I gave you some more money." 
 
 "Only another shillin' oh, thankee, sir, thankee." 
 
 "And that bound you again; so you see you are 
 bound twice, fast and long, strong and hard. Really, 
 Pomp, if you should attempt to run away now, I don't 
 know what would become of you." 
 
 "I ain't a-goin' to run, massa; oh, golly, I ain't!" 
 cried the negro, creeping up in abject terror to his 
 companion. "Keep the dreadful things from coming 
 after me an' cotchin' me, massa." 
 
 "I can't," said the peddler coldly. "If you take 
 it into that thick head of yours to give me the slip 
 at any time, I could catch you as easy as I can touch
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. 153 
 
 you now." He sent out his long and supple fingers 
 to close them around the darkey's wrist. 
 
 "Oh, golly, massa, how they pinch! Oh, wheel 
 Massa think my arm thick as my head ee!" 
 
 "Just as I can touch you now," repeated the ped- 
 dler, releasing the negro's arm, "so I could catch you 
 'f you tried to run. But I want to save you from the 
 punishment that would be yours for trying any such 
 game." 
 
 "Massa needn't be 'fraid, " said Pompey, his teeth 
 chattering in his head; " fer I'll stick to him just like 
 a burr. 'Deed, an' I will, massa." 
 
 "Very well. Now, seeing that you understand the 
 matter thoroughly, why, we can progress with our con- 
 versation. Only first I want to refresh your memory 
 a grain more. You know when I saw you yesterday I 
 made an arrangement for you to meet me to-night 
 down in the wood-lot again as soon as it was dark. 
 The storm favored us, and you came a little earlier 
 than I had dared to hope." 
 
 "Yes, massa; but I didn't think I wasn't a-goin' 
 back." 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 "Oh, nothin', massa, nothin' 'tall!" said Pompey, 
 ducking animatedly. 
 
 "Well, now that your memory is jogged up, we will
 
 154 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 leave our starting-point, and proceed to our conversa- 
 tion. To begin with, Pomp, you know Captain James 
 Barrett very well, you said." 
 
 "'Deed an' I do, massa; alwus know'd him since 
 I live in this yere town; an' that's a many years." 
 
 "He's a very important person hereabout, I be- 
 lieve, eh? " 
 
 " What's that ar?" 
 
 "He's one of the best men here, and makes people 
 do as he says? " explained the peddler. 
 
 "'Deed an' he do, sah. Capen James he have a 
 way with him, they just got to, sah." 
 
 "And he keeps a loc of things that the soldiers use, 
 I suppose," said the peddler, "bullets now, and 
 guns most likely, and maybe gun-carriages, eh? " 
 
 "There you're right, massa. He make those things, 
 Capen James do. Oh, he awful smart ! " 
 
 "Well, let us see. He keeps things to eat, most 
 likely," observed the peddler, "oatmeal and pork 
 and rice, eh? and maybe more? " 
 
 "Golly, massa, 'twould make your eyes stick out to 
 see 'em all ; the corn chamber's full, and the south 
 barn, an' " 
 
 " And there is another person who greatly interests 
 me in this town," said the peddler. "Among many 
 interesting characters, I must say you possess a few
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. 155 
 
 of remarkable claim to my regard. I refer to Mr. 
 Ephraim Wood." 
 
 "Massa Wood awful smart, he are," rejoined the 
 negro, bobbing his head. "He live up t'other end 
 of the town." 
 
 " I happen to know his residence," said his compan- 
 ion dryly. " I was up there practising my vocation 
 a few days ago, and had the honor to have his dwell- 
 ing pointed out to me. Well now, Pompey, does Mr. 
 Wood come down to talk with your Captain James 
 very often, do you know ? " 
 
 "He ain't my Capen James," contradicted Pomp; 
 "Mis' Butterfield's my capen." 
 
 "Was, you meant to say. Well, we won't split 
 hairs. Captain James is one of the fathers of the 
 town. Does he meet Mr. Wood very often to have 
 long talks? " 
 
 Any reference to hair always made the negro mad ; 
 so now he sat gloomily silent, not daring to exhibit 
 any further displeasure. 
 
 "I asked you a question, Pompey," said the ped- 
 dler, with a significant movement of his long right 
 leg. 
 
 " Don't kick, massa. Oh, golly ! Mercy, don't 
 kick! I'll tell, I'll tell. Yes, sah; he do, sah; a 
 great many times, sah."
 
 I $6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Goon" 
 
 "Once when I was down to the capen's, Mis' Butter- 
 field sent me fer " 
 
 " Never mind what you went for." 
 
 " An' Mis' Barrett warn't in; an' I went along th' 
 entry, an' I heard the capen an' some one a-talkin' 
 but 'twarn't Mr. Wood that ar time, 'twas Mr. Whit- 
 ney, sah." 
 
 "And you heard what they said? " cried the peddler. 
 
 " Couldn't help it, sah. Mis' Barrett warn't there, 
 an' I couldn't go home without what Mis' Butterfield 
 had sent me fer. She told me to get some " 
 
 " Yes, yes, that will do," interrupted the peddler im- 
 patiently. 
 
 " You told me to talk, massa," said Pompey. 
 
 " But I want you to tell things that I want to hear." 
 
 " Massa do ask sech a lot o' questions," said the 
 negro discontentedly, and scratching his wool. 
 
 "What's that?" 
 
 " Oh ! nothin' nothin' 't all, massa. Hee-hee! " 
 
 " You were going to tell me what you heard those 
 two gentlemen talking about." The peddler bent his 
 dark eyes full upon the round, black face clearly dis- 
 closed in the fitful lightning gleams that every now 
 and then illuminated the heavens. The fury of the 
 storm was somewhat abated; but it still thundered a
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. 157 
 
 sullen, persistent roar, and the rain showed little sign 
 of holding up. " Now begin at once." 
 
 " They said they warn't a-goin' to buy no more tea." 
 
 " Anything else ? " 
 
 " An' that they'd fight; they wouldn't be slaves. I 
 member that ar', 'cause white men ain't slaves." 
 
 " What did they say about fighting ? " asked the 
 peddler eagerly. " Remember, now. Be careful ; you 
 know what I told you." 
 
 " Yes, sah, yes, sah. Well, they said fer one thing 
 that they never should submit, that's the word, I 
 know fer shore, 'cause I kep a-sayin' it over an' over 
 arterwards, they never'd submit to the disrageous 
 commands of the king." 
 
 "Outrageous, you mean." 
 
 "Yis, sah, yis, sah, I said so; an' they'd fight fer 
 their liberties, and they'd git ready." 
 
 "Ah, they would?" 
 
 "Yis, sah." 
 
 "Cuffee, do you believe the men in this town would 
 really fight? " The peddler asked the question explo- 
 sively, as if quite beyond his volition. 
 
 "My name ain't Cuffee," said the negro, in a dudg- 
 eon, "it's Pompey, sah." 
 
 "Well, then, Pompey, or Snowball, or whatever you 
 choose, do you really believe they would fight? "
 
 158 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "I really think massa might give a man his right 
 name," said the negro sullenly; "I ain't no snowball, 
 an' I don' wanter be called one." 
 
 "That's a fact," exclaimed the peddler, bursting into 
 a laugh. At this cheerful sound, the first that had en- 
 livened the meeting, Pompey showed all his ivories, 
 of which he had a goodly supply, and grinned till his 
 mouth might be said to almost meet behind his ears. 
 When he had finished, his sullen fit had quite disap- 
 peared. 
 
 "Well, now, Pompey, I don't blame you for wanting 
 your own name," said the peddler; "and after this, I'll 
 observe great care to see that you get it, when we are 
 talking together, at least, and it is quite convenient. 
 And we feel better now, I think, and more acquainted, 
 after that little laugh. Well, now to business again. 
 I will ask my question once more; please pay atten- 
 tion, and not oblige me to repeat it. Do you think 
 the men of this town would ever fight, or would they 
 run away?" 
 
 " Do you mean fight the wicked Bloody Backs, sah? " 
 
 " What?" 
 
 Pompey never could tell whether it was the thunder 
 that roared so, nor what hit his shin with such a horri- 
 ble force, for he didn't see the long right leg move 
 from its place. But he was rubbing the place affected
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. 159 
 
 by the explosion, he knew, with quick hands, the tears 
 streaming down his face, and hearing the peddler say, 
 " Never let such words pass your black mouth again ; " 
 so he could form a private opinion, though not pub- 
 licly expressing it. 
 
 "Would they fight his Majesty's troops, think 
 you? " asked the peddler searchingly. 
 
 " Yis, sah, they would. O Lord ! 'taint my fault, 
 massa," cringed the negro, now thoroughly frightened, 
 and beginning to blubber outright. 
 
 " Stop that, you idiot ; you'll not be hurt, if you 
 keep a civil tongue in your black head for your king 
 and his soldiers. So they would fight, eh, and not 
 run away sure ? " 
 
 'Run?" exclaimed Pompey, and brushing off the 
 tears from his cheek with the back of one black 
 hand. " You don't know 'em, sah. Run ? " 
 
 It was enough to hear the tone, and the peddler 
 forbore to question further. When he spoke, it was 
 in a careless way, and on quite a different sub- 
 ject. 
 
 "Well, now, Pomp, I don't suppose you know any- 
 body around here of the name of Parlin." 
 
 "Deed an' I do, sah," cried Pompey, with a 
 chuckle. The turn of the conversation was quite to 
 his liking, and he became communicative again.
 
 160 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Why, that's the name of Miss Debby, that ar is, 
 hee-hee." 
 
 "Miss Debby?" repeated the peddler carelessly; 
 "I presume you mean Deborah." 
 
 "Yis, yis; Mis' Butterfield she call her Deb'rah, 
 but she not like her much. But Massa Abner, he call 
 her Debby. " 
 
 " Does this Massa Abner, as you call him, like her, 
 then? " queried the peddler, still without the slightest 
 appearance of interest, but rather as if the whole 
 thing bored him. 
 
 "No, sah, but he lubs her to 'straction; she's his 
 sweetheart, Miss Debby is." 
 
 "Ah?" 
 
 "But I donno's she keers so very much fer him," 
 said the darkey ; " I donno, sah, I heerd tell that she 
 laugh at him. But Miss Debby cain't help a-laughin', 
 she cain't, no more'n a bird can help a-flyin' an' 
 a-singin'. Miss Debby's alwus a-laughin' an' a-sing- 
 in', an' the little hole in her cheek keeps comin' in an' 
 out. My! but don't Massa Abner set by her, though." 
 
 "I suppose Miss Debby favors the king, and is a 
 good Loyalist," said the peddler, after a pause. 
 
 "What that ar?" 
 
 " She feels that the king is right, and ought to be 
 obeyed."
 
 AN UNUSUAL CONFERENCE. l6l 
 
 "Miss Debby feel that ar?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "O good Laws a gracious, Miss Debby ud fight like 
 pisen if a redcoat come into this town. I've heerd 
 her say a many times, how she wished she could fight 
 'em herself, an' she meant to when the war came. 
 Everybody here would fight, but Miss Debby would 
 be the worst of the hull lot." 
 
 "The storm is over, I think," exclaimed the ped- 
 dler suddenly. " Get up, Pomp, we must make good 
 travelling between now and morning." He sprang to 
 his feet, and stepped out into the night, with an im- 
 perative gesture motioning the negro to go before.
 
 1 62 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD 
 
 XI. 
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED." 
 
 THEY travelled two or three miles in silence, 
 Pompey not daring to grumble aloud, but 
 ejaculating "O Laws a massy," under his breath every 
 minute or so as he stumbled on by the side of the 
 long legs getting over the ground so evenly. The rain 
 had now entirely ceased, the clouds giving way quickly 
 to a bright starlit sky. The air was sweet and fresh 
 with that resinous quality pervading a wood-section 
 after a smart shower, and all nature gave out balmy 
 odors that to an untroubled mind would have pro- 
 duced peace to a remarkable degree. It was impos- 
 sible, from his imperturbable manner and expression, 
 to tell what the peddler thought as he tramped on; 
 certain it is that his companion was a good remove 
 from placidity. 
 
 At last they came to an abrupt halt. "Your legs 
 aren't in' as good marching order as mine, I take it, 
 Snowball, I mean, Pompey," observed the peddler, 
 "so we will stop here a bit and rest."
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED." 163 
 
 " 'Deed an' they're not, massa," grunted the darkey, 
 too sore in every bone to notice the slip in his name ; 
 and, without waiting for further invitation, he sank 
 to the ground and began to nurse his feet. 
 
 The peddler cast his pack aside, and threw him- 
 self lightly beside him, plucking up some tender 
 checkerberry leaves, which he meditatively chewed, 
 and then became lost in thought. 
 
 Suddenly he lifted his head, and his jaws were 
 set. " Get up, Pomp," he commanded ; and the negro 
 felt himself dragged, without ceremony, back from 
 the roadside to a thicket, where the hand on his 
 old coat was removed, and he slid to the ground. 
 " Hist, don't move or speak, or I'll blow your brains 
 out." The peddler by a swift movement threw open 
 his long coat enough to let Pompey see a pistol end, 
 as a traveller, long and lank, was proceeding with 
 immense strides round a curve in the road, directly 
 toward them. 
 
 It was well that Pompey's tongue stuck to the roof 
 of his mouth in fright at this threat, else he surely 
 must have bellowed out in fright, "Massa Abner 
 Massa Abner ! " But all was still ; not the faintest 
 echo of a sound disturbed the traveller's thoughts, 
 as his long steps carried him safely by the two men 
 in the thicket.
 
 1 64 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 When all danger of being overheard was over, the 
 peddler bent over the negro. 
 
 "Do you know that farmer fellow? " he demanded. 
 
 "It's Massa Abner," gasped Pompey, putting up 
 both hands to ward off a blow. 
 
 "Get up! " Pompey didn't wait to be assisted, but 
 found his feet. The peddler was stripping oil his 
 long coat. "Tear off your rags, and put on this." 
 And the change was quickly made. Then the black 
 man's old straw hat was on the peddler's tow-colored 
 wig, but not before it was sharply scanned to be sure 
 of no distinguishing marks to set it apart from other 
 hats of its kind, and the peddler's was on Pompey's 
 white wool ; and as a finishing stroke, an immense 
 bandanna was brought forth from the pack at his 
 feet, by the peddler, who proceeded to tie up the 
 negro's face so effectually with fold upon fold, that 
 no one could see a feature of his face, except two 
 black spots that might be supposed to be eyes as 
 they were in the right places. The white wool even 
 was effectually concealed, as the old black felt hat, 
 which was of a generous pattern, was well drawn 
 down over it. 
 
 " It requires some ingenuity to dispose of these 
 pistols," observed the peddler, drawing out a brace, 
 "so that they will not be intrusive, until wanted;
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED." 165 
 
 however, I can manage it, where needs must. Now 
 then, we are ready. Hark ye, Pomp, if you open that 
 black mouth of yours to utter a sound, I will send 
 cold lead in you that instant. And one thing more, if 
 you think we went on a canter before, you'll make up 
 your mind to go on a worse canter now. You've got 
 to keep up with me! Come on, Snowball!" 
 
 Away went peddler, and away went darkey as well 
 as he could, being assisted by the peddler's long and 
 sinewy arm, down the road after the traveller, who 
 had by this time, being blessed by such excellent 
 walking facilities, gotten a good piece ahead. But at 
 last his tall figure could be seen silhouetted in the 
 bright starlight ; and although the pace of the two 
 followers was slackened, they still kept up a goodly 
 gait, calculated to bring them success. When this 
 was in view, the peddler began to go slower. More- 
 over, it was imperative, as the puffs emitted from the 
 black man's throat were by this time demanding at- 
 tention ; so a pause was indulged in for him to secure 
 the necessary second wind. At last, however, they 
 joined the solitary pedestrian with a " Good-evening, 
 sir," squeaked out so that Abner turned to the salu- 
 tation. 
 
 " Good-evening," he said with no show of interest 
 in the meeting, plodding on as before.
 
 1 66 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Terrible rain that," volunteered the peddler, fall- 
 ing into step, Pompey on his other side. 
 
 "It was so," observed Abner, as something ap- 
 peared to be expected. 
 
 "I hain't met another such in all my tramping," 
 remarked the peddler, shifting his pack ostentatiously. 
 No answer. 
 
 "It's hard work goin' from pillar to post," 
 squeaked the peddler, "year in an' year out, to 
 scratch up a living. You fellows who own your 
 farms don't know nothing about it." Still no an- 
 swer. 
 
 "What's the next town now?" at last he de- 
 manded. 
 
 "Cambridge," answered Abner shortly. 
 
 "Oh! likely place is it? Would I sell much, 
 think?" 
 
 "That you could tell when you reach there," 
 said Abner. "I'm sure I cannot say. Women's 
 gewgaws and trinkets ought not to find a ready sale 
 when our country is in such distress," he added bit- 
 terly. 
 
 "Oh, but I have more things than a few trinkets 
 in my pack," cried the peddler eagerly; "those we 
 must carry to please the ladies, and pins and needles 
 and household things. But I have also many
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED." l6? 
 
 other useful articles, as you shall see. " He stopped 
 suddenly, dropped the pack to the ground, and 
 twitched it open. 
 
 "See, see!" as he knelt beside it, and rapidly 
 held up one thing after another. 
 
 Leathern wallets, cheap snuff-boxes, bandanna hand- 
 kerchiefs, comforters, suspenders, tobacco-pouches, 
 and a general odds-and-ends collection of what 
 might be termed the necessities, not to say luxu- 
 ries, of that day. " Here are many things that you 
 ought to see cheap. I'll sell 'em cheap." He 
 stuck out a big green leather wallet. "No?" as 
 Abner shook his head; "well, then, this. It's 
 dirt cheap only a ninepence; you can't get it in 
 Boston shops lesser'n a shillin';" and he tried a 
 tobacco-pouch. 
 
 " I want nothing," said Abner decidedly, and 
 going his way. 
 
 The peddler clapped to his pack in an angry fash- 
 ion, and slung it on his back. " Hard times it is," 
 he said, "when honest folks can't get a livin'." 
 
 "You speak truly," said Abner gloomily; "but 
 blame not us farmer-folk." 
 
 " Who is to blame then ? " squeaked the peddler. 
 
 " Who, indeed ? Ah, and can you ask me that ? 
 Your travels through the country have brought you
 
 1 68 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 little knowledge that sharp wits might have picked 
 up, I should think." 
 
 The peddler scratched his long straw-colored hair 
 in perplexity. "I go about to sell things, not to get 
 knowledge," he said with a stupid laugh. 
 
 " So I should say." 
 
 "And I see farms" he stretched his longhands, 
 on which were now his old black gloves " in every 
 direction, and cattle and nice houses. Surely there 
 must be money and plenty of it. Whew ! but I wish 
 I had one of these homes ! " 
 
 " And how long are we sure of these homes ? " 
 cried Abner, in a burst of bitterness. " In a mo- 
 ment, in the twinkling of an eye maybe, all that 
 a man, and his father and grandfather before him, 
 have toiled to earn and to save, may be swept 
 away at the behest of a tyrant king." 
 
 " Eh ? " the peddler gazed at him vacantly. 
 
 " And all for what ? " cried Abner, careless whether 
 or no he had a good listener, now that the pent-up 
 emotion had found utterance. " Because, forsooth, 
 we have been obedient to our God and our king 
 because we have obeyed his Majesty's slightest 
 wish, and given him the allegiance our consciences 
 told us was right. Ay, more, we went beyond the 
 letter of the law we obeyed in the spirit; and we
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED." 169 
 
 trusted him and the Parliament of Great Britain 
 to do the right thing by the Colonies. How have 
 we been rewarded ? By oppression and obloquy and 
 scorn; all our charter and natural rights trampled 
 down. Our ports have been stopped up look 
 at Boston Harbor; we have been taxed without the 
 privileges of all tax-payers in a civilized land; and 
 now, after untold tyranny, we are met with this last 
 proof of the perfidy of the king and his ministers." 
 
 " What is that ? " asked the peddler with open 
 mouth. 
 
 " The Act, the Act, man, where have you been not 
 to know it? by which our officers, appointed by the 
 vote of the people, are put out, and their places filled 
 with officers of the king's choosing, or that of his min- 
 ions. This makes us nothing but slaves, and reduces 
 us, and our children after us, to bondage. Nothing 
 now remains for us but death or freedom." 
 
 " Would yo\.\ fight ? " asked the peddler drawing near, 
 and bringing out the word in a long-drawn syllable of 
 astonishment. 
 
 "Fight? Ay, that we would 1" replied Abner. 
 u Fight?" he threw out his long arms and clinched 
 his hands. " Pray God it may come soon, and the 
 world will see how we will fight. We will fight as a 
 man does who has nothing to live for unless he can
 
 I/O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 win. We will fight so that those we love better than 
 life may live in freedom and safety." 
 
 " I s'pose now you're thinkin' of your wife an' chil- 
 dren," said the peddler meditatively. 
 
 "I have no wife," said Abner shortly. The hot 
 color rose to his brown cheek, and he stalked on im- 
 petuously. 
 
 "That so. Well now, I got ten I mean children," 
 said the peddler ; "an' my wife she finds it hard work 
 to get along, I can tell you, an' me trampin' round the 
 country to scratch up a livin' for all of us. It's mighty 
 hard I tell you, mister." 
 
 Abner walked straight ahead, lapsed in gloomy 
 thought, and for some moments neither spoke. At 
 last the peddler began. 
 
 " I sold a lot o' things in Concord Town, but then 
 the folks are rich there ! My gracious ! but it's a nice 
 town. If I hadn't got my trade, I'd bring my wife 
 and children an' settle down there myself. Be you 
 goin' far ? " 
 
 " A short piece," said Abner curtly, with a manner 
 that invited no further questioning. 
 
 " Yes, they're awful rich," continued the peddler, 
 shifting his pack again. " Here you, Simons, s'pose 
 you just carry this thing a spell now ; it's your turn. 
 Rim's my partner," he volunteered, as he slung the
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED." I /I 
 
 pack over on Pompey's back ; " we've tramped it to- 
 gether for years now. An' sometimes we each takes 
 a pack an' goes about country, but this time we left 
 t'other pack in Boston Town. Gosh an' Jerusalem ! " 
 he stretched his long arms, " ain't I glad to get red 
 on that tarnal thing ! Have a chaw, mister ? " He 
 twitched out a chunk of tobacco, and held it out 
 invitingly. 
 
 Abner shook his head, and plodded on. 
 
 " Be you 'quainted up to Concord Town ? " asked 
 the peddler, breaking the pause. 
 
 " Somewhat," answered Abner. 
 
 " I s'pose you don't happen to know a fellow named 
 Butterfield now, do you ? " 
 
 Abner did not reply for a minute, till the peddler 
 repeated the question. 
 
 "Yes, I know such a person," said Abner. 
 
 " Well, what sort of a fellow is he, anyway ? " 
 asked the peddler. 
 
 "Oh, I always thought he meant well enough," 
 answered Abner. 
 
 " Rich, maybe ? " asked the peddler insinuatingly. 
 
 " No ; he's poorer'n a good many there. Rich ? how 
 can a farmer be rich who's ground down to the earth ; 
 who has to put a mortgage on his farm, and nothing 
 to pay the interest with ? Rich ? I tell you, the peo-
 
 1/2 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCOXD TOWN. 
 
 pie are rich only in one thing, and that is, love of 
 freedom." 
 
 "Well, now, p'raps this man Butterfield, ! heerd 
 talk of his bein' a likely sort of a fellow, might git 
 his mortgage off, an' be a risin' citizen, ef he only 
 knew which side his bread was buttered on." 
 
 "What do you mean?" thundered Abner. 
 
 "I mean jest what I say. I've tramped around 
 country so I've picked up a few things that are o' use 
 to some folks, maybe, if they ain't to me ; an' if I hain't 
 got book learnin' and the idees you have in your 
 head, I know a thing or two, maybe." 
 
 " Explain yourself, if you can," cried Abner in con- 
 tempt. 
 
 "Well, I heerd yist'day, or maybe 'twas longer ago," 
 said the peddler composedly, "that there was a mighty 
 good chance for a young farmer like they said he 
 was, to come back to his allegiance to th' king if he'd 
 been lively the other way ; an' if he did, why he'd 
 git his house an' lands saved free to him, beside bein' 
 on the winnin' side, an' " 
 
 " Hold your dastardly tongue ! " cried Abner in an 
 awful voice, and squaring up before the long figure 
 of the peddler, "or I'll knock you into kingdom 
 come ! " 
 
 " Why, I hain't said anythin' about you," exclaimed
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED."' 1/3 
 
 the peddler coolly, " I'm a-talkin' 'bout that Butterfield 
 they told me of" 
 
 " How dare you speak of the king's tyranny being 
 the winning side," cried Abner, all his usually slow 
 blood racing in a fury in his veins. " And it's an 
 insult to mention one of the men of Concord Town 
 as sunk so low as to think of turning his back on 
 honor and truth." 
 
 "P'raps this Butterfield chap don't think as you do," 
 insinuated the peddler, facing him unmoved. 
 
 "He does he does. They all think alike," cried 
 Abner, in a passion; "that is, all but two or three, 
 who are confessedly traitors," and his face darkened. 
 
 "Well, stranger," said the peddler, with a triumphant 
 smile, "there's where you are wrong. You've got one 
 man in your town, for I see you are a Concord cit'zen, 
 who's been a rebel, dark and bitter, but who has just 
 come out strong for the king." 
 
 " Name him," commanded Abner, with glittering 
 eyes, and coming dangerously near. 
 
 "John Parlin." 
 
 "You liel " Abner made a rush, but the long arms 
 kept him back. 
 
 " Softly, softly there," said the peddler. " No man 
 tells me that to my face without he gives me satis- 
 faction. You must fight."
 
 174 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Willingly," cried Abner, in a white heat, and 
 stripping off his coat and waistcoat. Pompey, stand- 
 ing like a statue whenever they paused, now groaned 
 within the folds of his bandanna, and wrung his 
 hands. 
 
 The peddler cast his eyes quickly on all sides. 
 "We shall be more to ourselves, though as yet we 
 ain't troubled with folks passin', in this pleasant busi- 
 ness," he squeaked, "if we get beyond that grove. 
 Come on, Simons, you ain't in this, but you can look 
 on. Now, I'm agoin' to do the square thing, stranger, 
 an' jest have a knock-down with our fists, bein' as you 
 an' I ain't neither o' us armed. Be you ? " 
 
 " No," said Abner; "but I have some fists that you 
 will see are able to avenge insults." 
 
 " Here we be," said the peddler in great satisfaction, 
 as they reached the spot, Abner with his coat and 
 waistcoat over his arm ; and with a sudden move- 
 ment he quickly divested himself, behind a tree, of his 
 outer garments, which he laid carefully at the roots. 
 Pompey got behind some bushes, where he continued 
 to wring his hands and groan without intermission. 
 
 The two men gazed at each other a moment as they 
 rolled up their shirt-sleeves. They were just of a 
 height ; but where not an ounce of flesh that could be 
 spared to grace and beauty of outline was to be ob-
 
 "WE ARE WELL MATCHED." 1/5 
 
 served on the peddler, on the young farmer the frame 
 carried more weight beside that of brawn. Yet he had 
 the muscular arm and the fist of a deadly foe. The 
 black eyes gazed into the flashing blue ones, and the 
 pedler forgot to squeak, as he said, " Lay on, stranger! " 
 
 For the first few minutes the negro didn't dare to 
 look out of his covert. All he was conscious of was 
 the regular breathing, the thud, thud, of the blows 
 and the stamp and straining of the feet against the 
 ground, like that of angry animals when in combat. 
 But at last, as he became accustomed to the sounds, 
 he ventured a frightened glance, to acquaint himself 
 with the progress of the fight. If Massa Abner would 
 only kill the debbil, or his emissary, whom he was 
 sure that his companion must be, he would be well 
 content to witness an even worse battle. But all 
 Pompey's terror was, with the intimate acquaintance 
 he possessed of Abner's antagonist, that the combat 
 must end the other way. And what with his stabs 
 of remorse. at letting his own Massa Abner be slain, 
 and his perils that he ran from any interference, the 
 negro was in such a pitiable plight that he soon was 
 reduced to a mere quaking body of terror, unable to 
 render any assistance, had he decided to give it. 
 
 But after a few moments of this sort of work, the 
 combatants stopped suddenly, drew off, and looked at
 
 176 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 each other. Pompey gave a great gulp of joy, and 
 the tears ran down his black cheeks, soaking the 
 bandanna drawn over his mouth. 
 
 If the debbil wasn't to be killed, at least Massa 
 Abner was safe, as Pompey said, over and over to 
 himself, in excess of thankfulness, "They've done got 
 done now for shore." 
 
 But there was a tightening of band and girth, that 
 proclaimed other plans on the part of the combatants. 
 And the drawing in of the breath, and the setting of 
 the jaw, as well as the flashing eye, showed that the 
 truth was the contest had but just begun. 
 
 "We are well matched," said the peddler. 
 
 "Yes," said Abner, through his set teeth; "you 
 may know how to parry better, but I'll hold on longer, 
 for I've something to fight for." 
 
 " Are you ready? " asked his antagonist briefly. 
 
 " Yes," said Abner; and the fight was renewed. 
 
 Pompey must have lost consciousness about this 
 time, as he huddled on the ground, in abject, witless 
 fright. When he came to himself, and was conscious 
 of the stage in the affair, the two men were wrestling. 
 The muscles of their arms stood out like whipcords, 
 as they swayed back and forth in a deadly embrace. 
 The ground was torn up and stamped, and worn for a 
 large area, as one or the other dragged his contestant
 
 " WE ARE WELL MATCHED." 177 
 
 from his position. Pompey even imagined he could 
 see blood dripping from nose and mouth, as occasion- 
 ally he obtained a glimpse of the strained visage, 
 every nerve alive to victory, the flashing eye, and 
 locked jaw, of each adversary. At last the labored 
 breathing of the panting, struggling combatants be- 
 came so distressing to hear, that the negro thrust his 
 black fingers in his ears, and the sight being so dread- 
 ful, he covered up his eyes, so that he lost the ending 
 which now could not be much longer delayed. The 
 peddler by a dexterous twist, and with a lightning ra- 
 pidity of action, was achieving what mere strength 
 could not do, and Abner "O Lord !" cried Pompey 
 Abner was falling with a heavy thud to the ground. 
 
 The peddler drew off, and folded his arms, and 
 looked at him ; for Abner's eyes were open, and he was 
 by no means in that condition that required help. He 
 was simply a fallen hero. 
 
 "We are well matched," said the peddler, his heav- 
 ing bosom attesting his struggle. " I could never 
 have beaten you, I will frankly say, had I not been 
 acquainted a little better with the rules of wrestling," 
 and came forward and stood over his foe, whose great 
 frame he gazed at in admiration, and offered his 
 hand. " Let us call it even," he said. 
 
 But Abner's eyes were fastened on his antagonist's
 
 I?8 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWA T . 
 
 head. Quick as a flash, the peddler's hand sought 
 the spot toward which the gaze was directed, to meet 
 his own waving locks, the long straw-colored wig 
 lying at some distance on the ground, where it had 
 been thrown in the thick of the battle.
 
 ABNEK ACCOMPLISHES HIS MISSION. 179 
 
 XII. 
 
 ABNER ACCOMPLISHES HIS MIS.SION. 
 
 " r INHERE is small use in attempting to deny that 
 -i- for purposes of my own I chose to assume a 
 disguise," said the peddler, with a slight smile. "Well, 
 you are a brave man," and his face dropped back 
 again into its grave expression. "Will you shake 
 hands ? " 
 
 But Abner got up to his feet. "You beat me," 
 he said slowly, " in a fair fight. I'm not ashamed 
 to own that I like you, and you took no mean advan- 
 tage. But you've said words that are an insult; and 
 you are, I believe from my soul, an enemy to all my 
 poor struggling countrymen, and an adherent to that 
 tyrant, King George. I cannot take your hand." 
 
 " As you will," replied the other curtly ; " the time 
 will come when you will be glad to have me offer 
 you my hand, sooner than you think," he added, 
 with rising anger. 
 
 "And now permit me to go upon my way without 
 company," said Abner, resuming his outer garments.
 
 I SO A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "I have the pleasure to wish you good-night." He 
 strode off into the night, not with the ill-temper of 
 a defeated man, but as carrying a deeper hurt in 
 his soul, harder to bear than any personal misfor- 
 tune, and was soon lost to the view of his late 
 travelling companions. 
 
 "Well, Pompey," the peddler had resumed his 
 straw-colored wig, trusting to chance and to the 
 negro's terror, that the mishap of its displacement had 
 not been observed in that quarter, " our friend and 
 your late employer seems to have gotten the worst of 
 that encounter. On my soul, I wish I had dealt him 
 some harder whacks," his ill-temper gaining on him. 
 
 Pompey had evidently noticed nothing, being far 
 beyond wigs and such trifles, and his teeth chattered 
 as he tried to speak. 
 
 "We will give him a chance to stretch his legs well 
 toward Cambridge Town before we start on our journey 
 thither. Of a truth, this young fellow is spared to see 
 greater sorrow than this night's defeat has brought 
 him. He will wade in blood, I fear, before long, and 
 most ineffectually spilt, if ever it comes to the fight, 
 as he thinks it will. But pshaw! what fool's non- 
 sense is this! These country bumpkins will never 
 raise a rifle nor draw a sword. It is all well enough, 
 forsooth, for them to con their tales by the fireside,
 
 ABNER ACCOMPLISHES HIS MISSION. l8l 
 
 and believe they are ready for war. But war what 
 do they know of it? Poor innocents ! " 
 
 So he ruminated, lost in thought, and oblivious of 
 Pompey's presence. When at length a sufficient time 
 had elapsed to give, in his judgment, the right start 
 to his late opponent, the peddler, for so we must con- 
 tinue to call him, since he has given us no right to de- 
 scribe him by any other name, rose from the ground 
 where he had thrown himself, and commanding his com- 
 panion to do likewise, took up the pack, and struck 
 off down the road toward the town of Cambridge. 
 
 Abner, with head bent down, and the air of a man 
 lost in sorrowful thoughts, went swiftly on his way. 
 That he had missed Tory Lee at his own home on 
 account of the lateness of the hour, was not to be laid 
 to his inefficiency; and that his horse, which, after 
 Debby's tale, he had hurried out and saddled, leaping 
 to its back, and riding hastily off to the Tory's resi- 
 dence, and then away on the wings of the wind to 
 the Cambridge road, should rear in a mad fright at 
 a blinding lightning flash, plunging into a gully, was 
 certainly, again, his misfortune, and not his blunder. 
 Poor Dobbin had gone lame at the mischance; and 
 Abner had left him at the nearest farmhouse, and 
 set forth on foot for the remainder of the distance, 
 vowing to himself that he would track Tory Lee, at
 
 1 82 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 any rate, although he was denied by fate the power 
 to stop him. Then he met the peddler. 
 
 Who this person was, and why thus disguised, 
 Abner did not at present bother his head about. It 
 was a time when many new and strange people were 
 shifting into view; and in the presence of the low- 
 hanging cloud of war, the mind was callous to their 
 effects. What was knotting Abner's honest brow 
 and clinching his brown hands as he strode on, was 
 this fellow's mention of John Parlin's name. Of 
 course it could mean nothing. John Parlin was as 
 stanch a patriot as any in Concord Town. Imagine 
 Debby's father and the hot flush again rose to the 
 young man's face - being any but a thorough-going 
 patriot, who would die for his country, if need be, but 
 never give up to a traitorous thought ! Why, Abner 
 had heard him many a time raising his voice in town- 
 meeting in that slow, deliberative way of his, that was 
 all the more effective when used to impress zealous 
 sentiments, urging the citizens to stand by their rights, 
 and not consent to be further ground down under the 
 tyrant's heel. And how well he remembered that 
 Debby had quoted in her pretty way, often and often, 
 with loving pride, what father had said as being the 
 end of the matter, that if only followed, would lead on 
 to victory and freedom. Oh ! now how bitterly he
 
 ABNER ACCOMPLISHES HIS MISSION. 183 
 
 regretted that he had not been able to punish this 
 insulting fellow as he deserved one of King George's 
 dastardly minions, who, because he had the knowledge 
 of the tricks of the game, had beaten him in the wres- 
 tling. Abner knew in his heart that his combatant's 
 statement was perfectly true, and that courage and 
 strength had been well matched. It was gall and 
 wormwood to his sore heart now to reflect that the 
 fellow who had uttered the lying statement concerning 
 Debby's father had been spared the lesson of the 
 farmer's good right fist, that should have felled him 
 to the ground. 
 
 It was the early morning twilight when Abner en- 
 tered the town, and betook himself where he knew he 
 could get some glimpse of the man who had gone to 
 warn the members of the Council against the prepara- 
 tions to resist that were being made in his own town, 
 and the temper that was rapidly possessing his own 
 townsfolk. And at last, after some hours, he found 
 himself standing in the shelter of near-by build- 
 ings, to be soon rewarded by a sight of Tory Lee 
 emerging from the dwelling of one of the most prom- 
 inent of the Council, who stood upon the steps of the 
 mansion, profuse in his appearance of gratitude and 
 satisfaction at the interview. The horse of Tory Lee 
 was then brought around to the door; and with more
 
 1 84 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 satisfaction expressed on both sides, the Concord man 
 vaulted into the saddle, put spurs to his horse, and 
 struck into the turnpike leading to his home. Abner, 
 having thus got all that it was possible to acquire, 
 also started homeward, bu-t on foot. 
 
 " Why ? " Debby woke up with a start, and stared 
 at the bed tester of brown-and-white linen, on which 
 remarkable pictures of stage-coach trips, village 
 merrymakings, and men on prancing steeds, greeted 
 her eyes. Then she gazed at her hands, or rather 
 the bundles that adorned each wrist, and it all came 
 back to her. 
 
 "Mrs. Butterfield!" she called. 
 
 That good woman, with a throb at her heart at the 
 sound of the young voice, dropped her dish-pan with 
 a clatter in the sink, and hurried to look into the rosy 
 face and the eyes dewy with slumber. 
 
 "Well, I never!" she ejaculated in great satisfac- 
 tion. " If you hain't slep' ! " 
 
 "What time is it?" asked Debby, raising herself 
 to lean on the elbow of the big "nigown." "Oh ! I 
 hope it's not late, because mother told me to come 
 early." 
 
 "It's ten o'clock," said Mrs. Butterfield, "if 'tis 
 a minute. But never mind," as Debby sprang from
 
 ABNER ACCOMPLISHES UJS MISSION. 185 
 
 the bed with a dismayed little cry, "your ma wouldn't 
 expect you if she knew; an' you must git a good break- 
 fast first. I've kep' it hot for you down by the fire." 
 
 "But she doesn't know," said the girl, dressing 
 rapidly. "Oh! I mustn't stop, Mrs. Butterfield; 
 thank you so much for keeping my breakfast hot. 
 I must get home as quick as I can." 
 
 "Drat that black Pompey, he ain't at home this 
 morning. Where can he have gone ? " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Butterfield. "I've screeched and screeched till I've 
 most split my throat, and no more good than to call 
 the dead. He's took too much cider, I'll be bound, 
 somewhars, and has stayed to sleep it off. Now I 
 depended on his turning up this morning, and I'd 'a' 
 sent word to your mother. If there was only a team 
 going by now." She ran to the window, as she had 
 run forty times before that morning for the same pur- 
 pose; for the mother's secret worry, if she should find 
 out before her arrival home that her daughter had not 
 passed the night at Miliscent Barrett's, weighed heav- 
 ily on the good woman's heart. "Well, if you won't 
 stay to eat a bite, you must take some breakfast and 
 eat it on the way;" and she pressed some doughnuts, 
 a piece of pie, and some fried ham and potatoes, done 
 up in a clean old towel, into Debby's hands, which 
 were now undone from their bandages, and after a
 
 1 86 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 hurried inspection were pronounced wonderfully bet- 
 ter. "Which is all owing to that opodeldoc sup- 
 posin' I hadn't 'a' made you have it on, child!" 
 
 "Good-by," said Debby, bending down over her 
 bundle of breakfast, and putting out her pretty lips; 
 "you've been so good to me, Mrs. Butterfield, I can't 
 thank you." 
 
 " You pretty creetur, you ! " exclaimed the good 
 woman, highly gratified ; and she opened her motherly 
 arms, and gathered the girl in. " I wish you was here 
 always, Deborah, I do. Now if you only could "- 
 
 "Oh! I must hurry," cried Debby, in a fluster; 
 "mother is in a worry, you know." 
 
 " Oh, dear me ! if there was only a team," cried Mrs. 
 Butterfield again ; and stepping out after her on the 
 flat door-stone to scan up and down the road, "that's 
 just the way ! never is one when you want it, and when 
 you don't, always a-clatterin' round. Something like 
 men, teams is; can't put your fingers on 'em when 
 they could be of use, and la! when nobody wants 'em 
 round, there they be. Well, good-by, " she shouted, 
 for Debby was already nearly out of sight at the turn 
 in the road. " It's a mercy that the Barretts would 
 s'pose, of course, that Deb'rah had gone home last 
 night, or there'd be a dreadful piece o' work up there. 
 Well, I do wonder where in creation the child got her
 
 ABNEK ACCOMPLISHES HIS MISSION. 187 
 
 hands so cut up; must 'a' fell, and is ashamed to tell, 
 young folks is so queer. Well, I do wish that she 
 and Abner'd take to settin' up in real earnest; she's 
 old enough now, and I alwus liked her," for Mother 
 Butterfield was not the first one to discover lifelong 
 affiliations that were born of an hour, out of the past 
 absolute chill. All this she kept saying to herself 
 throughout the morning hours that now seemed so 
 dull, as if the old brown house had suddenly all its 
 sunshine withdrawn. 
 
 Debby, running across lots to Miliscent's to tell her 
 why she had not come back from the errand to the 
 centre, saw young James, and hailed him. 
 
 "Tell Miliscent," she began; but he ran up to her, 
 crying out, 
 
 "Oh! where have you been? Everybody's looking 
 for you," which meant his immediate family, as Mil- 
 iscent had confided the fright only to her own home 
 people. 
 
 "Tell Miliscent," she said, "I'm all safe," and ran 
 on, to hear him screaming after her, 
 
 "Your mother's took sick; she's got a fit, I guess; " 
 which sent the girl, with terror at her heart, off like 
 the wind. 
 
 When she arrived at the little cottage on the Old 
 Bay Road, she found every thing in the direst con-
 
 1 88 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 fusion. The baby, usually the most stolid specimen 
 of placid content, was screaming lustily; Debby could 
 hear him long before she reached the top of the 
 Ridge. And when she entered the kitchen, her 
 mother, always the one to greet her eye, busy and 
 cheerful, lay stretched out on the bed, just beyond, 
 Debby could see through the bedroom door. Aunt 
 Keziah was bending over some mess stewing before 
 the fire, and the children were sullenly weeping in 
 the corner. 
 
 "O mother!" cried the girl, rushing to the side of 
 the bed, and burying her face against the poor drawn 
 one, " surely you are not worrying over me ? " 
 
 Mrs. Parlin raised her tearless eyes, and a sob 
 shook her. 
 
 She put her hand up, and smoothed Debby's hair. 
 But she did not smile, and she looked so strange 
 that Debby shivered. "Dear mother," and she com- 
 forted her again, " I'm home now, and father will 
 be in soon to dinner, and" 
 
 " Don't speak your father's name to me," cried 
 Mrs. Parlin, her eyes flashing, and she sat up in 
 bed. " Remember, I command you ; " then she fell 
 back to her pillow. 
 
 Debby staggered out to the kitchen, and leaned 
 against the table.
 
 APNER ACCOMPLISHES HIS MISSION. 189 
 
 " O Debby ! " mumbled Johnny, coming out from 
 his corner, " I don't like that old woman ; send her 
 away old Miss Feiton." 
 
 " She scares me," said Doris, hurrying, as fast 
 as it was in her nature, to Debby's arms. " Make 
 her go home, sister." 
 
 Debby mechanically comforted them, and turned 
 her face to Miss Keziah, "What is the matter with 
 my mother ? " she asked. 
 
 " I can't tell the nature of her disease, but she'll 
 be better when I get some of my herb tea down 
 her," answered Aunt Keziah. "Of all times in the 
 year not to have any! and I thought I had a pot- 
 ful at home. Put it's most steeped now," stirring 
 the mess with a long spoon, " then this will reach 
 the trouble, whatever it is." 
 
 ''I do not wish her to take it," said Debby firmly; 
 "and thank you, Miss Keziah, you are very good to 
 come, but now I can do everything for my mother," 
 as the children huddled closer to her, begging in 
 loud whispers that the old woman might go home. 
 
 Debby hurried, with John and Doris at her heels, 
 to quiet the screaming baby, who kept his eyes as 
 if bewitched on the yellow face under the big hand- 
 kerchief, and roared, without stopping to draw breath, 
 steadily on.
 
 IQO A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Aunt Keziah in much passion twitched off her 
 brewing mess from the bed of coals, "And if you 
 had the smallest amount of faith in this, the only 
 thing that can cure" her," she said, "your mother 
 would be well. Silly child! well well-a-day. The 
 Lord have mercy on you, and all who doubt the 
 herbs he has made ! " And she went off, mumbling 
 to .herself vigorously. 
 
 The children drew long breaths of relief. Debby 
 had now succeeded in quieting the baby, but he 
 wouldn't let her put him out of her arms. So she 
 beckoned to Johnny and Doris to follow her to 
 the woodshed, where out of reach of the mother's 
 ears she might arrive at the bottom of the truth of 
 this mysterious illness. 
 
 But Johnny and Doris knew no more than she 
 did, and by a few well-directed questions Debby soon 
 found this out. Then she went back to the mother's 
 bed, the fat baby in her arms. Mrs. Parlin lay 
 there dry-eyed, and staring at the opposite wall.
 
 LEADING EVENTS. 19! 
 
 XIII. 
 
 LEADING EVENTS. 
 
 AND now Debby went no more to Miliscent's to 
 \- make cartridges, where the busy circle worked 
 day after day. And affairs progressed swiftly to the 
 great fulfilment so sure to come. And the county 
 convention was held, of delegates from every town, 
 and the fire of liberty burned brightly, each man 
 charging his spirit with fervor, till the whole town 
 was as one family all but the two or three now 
 openly avowed as Tories, and shunned accordingly. 
 " It is evident to an attentive mind, " rang out the 
 report to this convention, " that this Province is in 
 a very dangerous and alarming situation. We are 
 obliged to say, however painful it may be to us, that 
 the question now is, whether by a submission to some 
 late Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain we are 
 contented to be the most abject slaves, and entail 
 that slavery on posterity after us, or by a manly, 
 joint, and virtuous opposition, assert and support our 
 freedom. . . . Life and Death, or what is more,
 
 192 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Freedom and Slavery, are in a peculiar sense now 
 before us, and the choice and success, under God, 
 depend greatly on ourselves. We are therefore 
 bound, as struggling not only for ourselves, but for 
 future generations, to express our sentiments in the 
 following resolves; sentiments which we think are 
 founded in truth and justice, and therefore sentiments 
 we are determined to abide by. ... 
 
 "These are sentiments [the nineteen resolves which 
 were passed] which we are obliged to express, as 
 these Acts are intended immediately to take place. 
 We must now either oppose them, or tamely give up 
 all we have been struggling for. It is this that has 
 forced us so soon on these very important resolves. 
 However, we do it with humble deference to the Pro- 
 vincial and Continental Congress, by whose resolu- 
 tions we are determined to abide, and to whom, and 
 the world, we cheerfully appeal for the uprightness of 
 our conduct. On the whole, these are 'great and pro- 
 found questions.' We are grieved to find ourselves 
 reduced to the necessity of entering into the discus- 
 sion of them. But we deprecate a state of slavery. 
 Our fathers left a fair inheritance to us, purchased 
 by a waste of blood and treasure. This we are re- 
 solved to transmit equally fair to our children after 
 us. No danger shall affright, no difficulties intimi-
 
 LEADING EVENTS. 193 
 
 date us. And if in support of our rights we are 
 called to encounter even death, we are yet undaunted, 
 sensible that he can never die too soon who lays 
 down his life in support of the laws and liberties of 
 his country." 
 
 Such was the spirit fired by town-meeting, county 
 convention, and private assembly of citizens one with 
 another, that now took possession of the old town by 
 the river of her name. It was impossible, being given 
 over to it, for the march of events to be other than 
 they were; and September of 1774 saw the entire com- 
 munity aroused to the necessity of action, and only 
 awaiting the word of command, to fall in. But while 
 they held themselves in readiness, they were law-abid- 
 ing to the last degree, and determined to give no ex- 
 cuse to the hot-headed and the reckless, for any 
 premature explosion of indignation. 
 
 The vote recommending a " provincial meeting," to 
 assemble in Concord on the first Tuesday of October, 
 had also been passed at the above mentioned county 
 convention ; and all eyes were looking forward to this 
 with great hopes that their deliberations there to take 
 place might afford some means of relief. At all events, 
 the citizens would be instructed what next steps to 
 take. 
 
 Meantime John Parlin had not been seen by the
 
 194 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 townsfolk, but had so effectually disappeared from 
 their life that no one could say what the cause might 
 be, with the exception of his wife ; and she lay on a 
 bed hovering between life and death, unable to tell, 
 had she so desired. And Debby, withdrawn from the 
 life of the village, and fastened in the little cottage 
 with the children and the sick mother, felt the days go 
 by with stunned senses, that seemed only mechani- 
 cally to do her bidding. She heard, when Miliscent 
 or cousin Simon or Jabez dropped in, as one or the 
 other did daily, the common news of the Centre, or 
 the last reports from Boston Town, as they had gath- 
 ered them, and then ran on swift and sympathetic 
 feet to give them to her. And Abner came of an 
 evening, always awkwardly, more often silently asking 
 with his eyes to be allowed to help her, than by any 
 words ; and Perces Wood in her steady and mature 
 way would come and move around the little cottage 
 like any old woman, sending the half-fainting girl to 
 bed, while she kept house and minded the children. 
 It was astonishing how they looked up to her ; for, 
 let her speak never so lightly, and Perces had a 
 smooth voice that never adopted surprises, they im- 
 mediately made it their first business to hear it, and 
 to do as she said, obeying her a thousand times better 
 than Debby, who. was only "sister."
 
 LEADING EVENTS. 1 95 
 
 And Mrs. Butterfield came at once, as soon as she 
 heard of the illness, wild to help her " pretty creeter " 
 (already destined in her own mind to be her Abner's 
 wife) ; but she knocked down with her big body, ac- 
 customed to the freedom and breadth of her large 
 farmhouse kitchen, so many things in the little cottage 
 rooms, that at last she got frantic, and came to the 
 conclusion herself that she was much better away. 
 
 " And how you ever do any work in this little tucked- 
 up place, my dear, I don't see," she would say in her 
 loud whisper next to the sick woman's door. And 
 Debby would run and shut it, and try to smile 
 patiently, as she thanked her, till the good woman 
 fell into despair; and one day she clambered into the 
 wagon when Abner came to fetch her, saying, " I can't 
 come here never no more, Abner; tain't a bit o' use." 
 
 "What's the matter, mother? " asked Abner, paling 
 at the lips. 
 
 "I'm too big," blurted out Mrs. Butterfield, slap- 
 ping the ends of her shawl together in her lap ; " I 
 warn't cut out for a lettle mite o' room; an' 'tain't 
 any use, not a mortal bit, at my time o' life, to try 
 to git along in a three-inch corner when the Lord's 
 made such a lot o' creation. My ! how that girl 
 does it, Abner, I don't see ; but she just slips round 
 as easy, an' lo and behold, the work's done. But I
 
 196 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 tell you what I'm goin' to do; I'm just goin' to take 
 those children, Johnny and Doris, home to-morrow. 
 You may come down an' git 'em." 
 
 " That's a good idea, mother 1 " exclaimed the young 
 man; "why haven't we thought of it before? " 
 
 "I don't know. I s'pose because the Lord only 
 gives just so much common sense at a time to one in- 
 dividooal," said his mother; "an' you an' I hain't got 
 enough gumption to claim our share. Well, Debby 
 says they may come to-morrow, so you be sure to be 
 on hand with the team in the morning. She can 
 weather it through with the baby, I guess. It's a 
 mercy he's got so many teeth; he can eat quite like 
 folks." 
 
 And Debby never made any inquiries, not even of 
 Abner, for news of her father. With that terrible 
 sentence of her mother's ringing in her ears night and 
 day, she must hold her peace, and wait for recovery to 
 come to the one who alone could unfold the mystery. 
 Better was it for the townspeople to guess at a cause 
 that had carried her father away, than for her, the 
 daughter, to fan the curiosity of the village by any 
 useless questions. Probably they would think his 
 absence was all understood in the family, and the 
 curiosity would soon die down. So although her 
 heart was bursting with sorrow and dread, Debby
 
 LEADING EVENTS. 1 97 
 
 would meet Abner at the door of an evening, quiet 
 and patient as ever, with a face on which there ap- 
 peared to be no unanswered questions. And he never 
 dared ask her aught of her father, but feasted his great 
 brown eyes on her, feeling her never so sweet and 
 winsome as in the gravity of her trouble and distress. 
 And so the days slipped by. 
 
 The sessions of the two courts were to be holden on 
 the i3th of September; but a stormy meeting of citi- 
 zens of the town and neighboring communities, on the 
 Common, the great rendezvous of the day, decided 
 that " if it proceeded on in the old way " the sitting of 
 the court should be allowed ; " but if under the new 
 organization, they were determined to prevent it, agree- 
 ably to there commendation of the late convention ; " 
 and through their committee chosen from these towns 
 they voted, "as their opinion, that the Court of Gen- 
 eral Sessions of the Peace ought not to be opened or 
 sit at this time," the justices of the court being waited 
 on to this effect. And the court giving out a written 
 declaration, which was read to the assembled crowd, it 
 was declared satisfactory. This declared it " inexpe- 
 dient to open the court lest it should be construed 
 that we act in consequence of the late unconstitutional 
 Act of Parliament." Moreover, a promise was attached 
 that they would " not open nor in any way proceed to
 
 198 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN, 
 
 the business of said court." This all the justices 
 signed. 
 
 Affairs were now rapidly crystallizing. All persons 
 who favored the mandates or authority of the new 
 or unpopular judges were marked men. The people 
 now were in that temper that confessions were drawn 
 up, and persons who had offended in this way were 
 obliged to sign them. And these confessions were, 
 after being read to the public, published in the news- 
 papers, and scattered broadcast. Truly the spirit of 
 independence was working. 
 
 From this time on, the residents of the old town 
 came together without waiting for any special call. 
 " Eternal vigilance," they early concluded, " was the 
 price of liberty ; " and thoroughly awakened to the 
 duty of watchfulness, they did not propose to be 
 caught napping, nor to let their praiseworthy caution 
 outweigh their zeal and promptitude in action. So 
 each man, a " son of liberty," obeyed the covenant of 
 the town, had a sharp eye for Tories, controlling them 
 without resource to mob-law, and got himself, and 
 kept himself, ready for all such action as his coun- 
 try should need at his hands, whenever the time was 
 ripe and the command given to thus act. 
 
 A Tory to be watched was now Jim Haskins: openly 
 bragging on the Milldam, when in his cups too much
 
 LEADING EVENTS. 199 
 
 to observe proper caution, of his allegiance to the 
 king; so much that the other young fellows of the town, 
 polishing up their old muskets and taking account 
 of stock of powder and balls, had hard work to keep 
 their hands off him, but were more than once inclined 
 to treat him to a coat of tar and feathers. But older 
 and wiser heads forbade, and the hot-headed element 
 was forced to submit. As for Abner Butterfield, he 
 not knowing how much more reason he had to hate the 
 man, took special pains never to meet Jim, knowing 
 well that if he did, one or the other must fare badly. 
 And Jim, feeling sure that certain plans would result 
 to the complete routing of his rival in goods and es- 
 tate, if not bring him to an English prison when the 
 king should count up his victims and his victories, 
 as there was now not a shadow in the young Tory's 
 mind but what that must be the case, leered in his 
 sleeve, and thought he could afford to wait. So the 
 two kept apart by a tacit consent. 
 
 One night in early September the sick woman 
 turned uneasily on her pillow. All day her eyes had 
 followed her daughter in a way that Debby could 
 not shake off. And now. as she took the cooling 
 drink for her parched throat, she said, as she gave 
 the mug back, "I must say something; it is on my 
 mind, and I best have it over with."
 
 2OO A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Mother," Debby put up her hand as if to ward 
 off a blow, " not to-night," she began. 
 
 "To-night," said Mrs. Parlin, with a. return of her 
 old firmness. " Debby, I've lain here day after day, 
 praying for strength to tell it. I shall never get 
 off this bed until I do. Pray God to help you to 
 bear it ; for bear it, my girl, you must. Debby, my 
 husband, and your father, is a traitor to his coun- 
 try. He declared to me, the night you were away, 
 his allegiance to the king. And he is a Tory." 
 
 With a wild cry of despair Debby fell to the floor. 
 Suddenly she arose and faced her mother. " You 
 are dreaming, or your mind is clouded, mother," she 
 began gently; "think no more of these things, for 
 you are too ill to lie here and meditate on them." 
 
 But Mrs. Parlin put out her hand, now, alas, wasted 
 and white. "Give me your hand, daughter. I solemnly 
 swear," as she felt the young palm, " that your father 
 declared over and over this fixed determination. Now 
 will you believe ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Debby. But she could not feel that 
 it was she, Debby Parlin, who was uttering this word. 
 She seemed dead and cold, and to have no feeling 
 or emotion of any kind. Truly she ought to be stung 
 by the disgrace into a newer life, even if one of 
 keenest agony. Her father, John Parlin, a traitor to
 
 LEADING EVENTS. 2OI 
 
 his country, a thing for all future generations to 
 scorn as too bad to be mentioned save in terms 
 of blackest obloquy, to be ever after held up as an 
 example of the deepest infamy? Her father, who 
 had held her as a little child on his knee, teaching 
 her to prattle out childish admiration for the heroic 
 deeds of his ancestors who had helped to plant and 
 to save the new country. Her father, who had toiled 
 every day since she could remember, with one aim 
 in view, and one hope ever before him, the aim 
 to help that country when she needed him, and the 
 hope that the day of resistance to the oppression 
 of the king might come in his time and generation. 
 Oh, no ! she had been dreaming ; and she would 
 give her mother some quieting medicine, and put all 
 this dreadful thought aside, and get out into the 
 fresh air. She was over-tired, and the room was 
 close. She must get out right away. 
 
 " I wouldn't talk now, mother," she heard herself 
 say, as she measured the medicine out in the spoon, 
 and brought it with a steady hand to the bedside ; 
 " to-morrow you can tell me all about it." And then 
 she went out, climbed the Ridge, and sat down under 
 the silent stars to think it all out.
 
 2O2 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 XIV. 
 IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 
 
 A TORY oh, hateful thought! worse than if he 
 were a criminal, who in a moment of passion 
 had committed some crime for which he must suffer 
 the penalty he and his family with him. Then she 
 could envelop him with her tenderness, and so would 
 her mother have done, Debby well knew. Oh, how 
 that mother must have suffered, bearing the first 
 shock, and the weary days and weeks when it had 
 eaten into her sore heart, as she lay on her sick-bed ! 
 Debby shivered, and her slender throat contracted 
 convulsively. 
 
 And of course she must give up Miliscent's friend- 
 ship; for the granddaughter of that stanch old 
 patriot, Captain James Barrett, would never speak to 
 a Tory's daughter, much less associate with her. 
 Debby was quite sure she never would. And Perces 
 Wood for the same reason must be given up. And 
 Abner, oh, how he would look at her out of those 
 great brown eyes of his! Debby hid her own for
 
 IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 2O3 
 
 very shame, and grovelled on the soft pine-needles 
 in speechless misery. And all the townspeople would 
 point at her mother and herself and the children 
 with fingers of scorn, while every one else was doing 
 brave things for their country and Concord Town 
 
 oh, if she were only a man who could fling him- 
 self into seas of blood, and peril life and home and 
 family everything, to help put down the power of 
 King George, and to show the old town what love 
 of country was, how her crushed heart would rejoice 
 
 but now ! 
 
 A little noise in the underbrush startled her at 
 last. She looked up and saw her father. 
 
 "I don't s'pose you want to speak to me, Deb'rah," 
 he said, in his slow way; "but I'm goin' to say 
 somethin' to you, an' then I'm goin' for good." 
 
 "You better go first," flung out Debby in a hard 
 voice, her young face pitilessly stern as she raised 
 it. 
 
 "I've thought it all out many an' many a time 
 when you an' the rest o' the folks s'posed I was 
 satisfied in my mind. At night I couldn't sleep for 
 the worry of it, and by day it bore into my soul. 
 And when a man thinks out a thing in such a way, 
 and comes to his conclusion slowly, he has as good 
 a right to his opinion as anybody else has to theirs."
 
 2O4 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " Father," asked Debby slowly, when he had finished, 
 and set his mouth hard together in that way that the 
 villagers meant when they said "sot as a mule," "were 
 you ever offered money to change your opinion, and 
 did you take it ? " 
 
 The man started as if stung, and swore a great 
 oath, the first his daughter had ever heard from his 
 lips. 
 
 "What do you take me for? Money 1 Oh, my 
 God ! " 
 
 " A Tory can be taken for anything," said Debby 
 bitterly. 
 
 "This hand of mine," John Parlin shook it in her 
 face, "has never been soiled by touch of anything I 
 couldn't proclaim to the whole world. I am not to be 
 bought. You know that, girl." 
 
 "I thought I knew my father before," said Debby, 
 in bitter scorn. 
 
 "I did think of you children," he began; but she 
 interrupted him fiercely. 
 
 " Better that your children had not been born, than 
 to have a Tory for a father." 
 
 " Our king is our sovereign appointed by God," he 
 burst out doggedly. " Besides, any further resistance 
 by the Colonies is useless, and worse than useless. 
 Why, girl, the whole Parliament of Great Britain is
 
 7JV THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 2O$ 
 
 determined to crush us ; this last act shows it ; there 
 was hope before, but now there is none, they can 
 do it as easily as I could crush an egg-shell." 
 
 " Father," said Debby quite calmly, all the storm 
 hidden in her heart, "some one has been talking to 
 you lately, some one outside of this town, that I 
 can see. Who is it?" 
 
 He shuffled uneasily on his big feet. With all his 
 obstinacy, John Parlin had the heart of a child, and 
 could be as easily led. " That has nothing to do with 
 it," he said shortly. 
 
 " Father," Debby went up to him and laid her 
 hand on his arm, "you wouldn't refuse your daugh- 
 ter, would you, when she asks you such a simple 
 question? Father, just think how you've always 
 told me everything since you dandled me on your 
 knee." 
 
 The man took a hungry look at her face. " Debby," 
 he began ; then he broke off suddenly. " It's non- 
 sense for you to want to know. What difference does 
 it make? I'm my own master, and no one can influ- 
 ence me. I've my own mind to make up." 
 
 " Father," said Debby, and her voice broke, " I 
 never shall ask you anything more. And you won't 
 tell your little girl this one simple thing, father;" 
 she hid her face on his arm, and sobbed.
 
 2O6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD yOll'.Y. 
 
 "I met a man two or three times," said John 
 Parlin slowly; "and he has put the case to me 
 plainly as I have never had it in my whole life. 
 God threw him in my way. And he was not a tar- 
 nal aristocrat neither; he was as poor as I, with 
 only his hands to maintain him; not even a house 
 over his head." 
 
 "Who was he?" asked Debby. 
 
 "A peddler," said John Parlin, "a poor" 
 
 Debby thrilled from head to foot. All the scene 
 of her rescue flashed upon her, the long, tapering 
 fingers with the exquisite nails; the high bearing 
 and fine speech; the tones when dropped from the 
 occasional squeak; and the beautiful manners, as if 
 she were a duchess to be deferentially treated. Oh ! 
 was this the way to subjugate the high spirit of the 
 Colonies, to send out disguised serpents to lure 
 their patriots to destruction ? The open field and 
 the chance of war, this was easy to face. Oh ! if 
 she could only have known the truth, and charged 
 him with it, that he might have struck her down 
 in the wood. Better than to live to such calumny! 
 
 "A peddler !" 
 
 "It is no disgrace, child," said John Parlin, mis- 
 taking her tone, " to consort with peddlers. Poor 
 men are to my liking; and they know whereof they
 
 IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 2O? 
 
 speak. This peddler, child, from his very vocation, 
 tramping about the country, gets at the heart of 
 the truth." 
 
 Truth ?" cried Debby bitterly, " O father !" 
 
 ' I could hear from him what I could not have 
 tolerated from an aristocrat. He hates them as 
 much as I." 
 
 " Father," cried Debby, all in a glow with right- 
 eous indignation, that swept her as with a torrent, 
 "I have seen this peddler; I know oh! I am 
 sure he is some hateful Englishman in disguise; 
 he " 
 
 "There is where you are wrong," declared John 
 Parlin obstinately, and using a favorite phrase of 
 his; "the man whom I saw is not disguised; he 
 never could be, and cheat me. He was just what 
 he was. You have ever been apt to jump at con- 
 clusions, daughter, and to imagine things." 
 
 " But in this case I am right, father," she argued, 
 with the same spirit to meet his own, which sent 
 him back into his old obstinacy. " He had such 
 long, slim " 
 
 "No more no more," commanded John Parlin 
 sharply; " I'll not have my own daughter contradict 
 me. The peddler that I saw I could swear was an 
 honest man. There are many of them, no doubt, God
 
 2O8 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 help them in these limes, tramping over the coun- 
 try. Say no more. You were ever an impetuous 
 little thing, Deb'rah, to jump at things quickly." 
 
 She flung aside the reproof as a trifle not to be 
 noticed. "Go up and talk with Mr. Wood," she 
 said at last, "or Mr. Whitney, or some of those whom 
 you have always said knew the whole situation. 
 Do, father," she begged. 
 
 But he shook his head obstinately. " They are 
 intrenched in their own views; they never talk with 
 outsiders to hear the truth about the whole country. 
 They will plunge this town in blood, Deb'rah ; 
 blood and all spilt for nothing." 
 
 Debby wrung her hands. "Mother is very sick," 
 she said hoarsely. " O father ! we thought she would 
 die." 
 
 The man's face changed swiftly. " God help me," 
 he groaned. "I've haunted this place, Debby," he 
 said, under his breath; "many's the night I've watched 
 under these trees to see your candle in the window, 
 and you stepping about. Once when she was the worst, 
 I almost went in. But I knew that would kill her, 
 and I kept myself back. Oh, God knows I wish I 
 could see it all as you do!" 
 
 She knew it was useless to urge further. "Where 
 are you working, father? " she asked suddenly, glan-
 
 IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 2<X) 
 
 cing at his hands, which showed a respite from farm- 
 work. 
 
 He evaded this, and said presently, "And now she 
 is better, and I've seen you, so I am best out of the 
 way. Give me one kiss, daughter." 
 
 For a moment Debby drew back. Then she threw 
 her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. 
 He strained her to his breast with a hungrier grasp 
 than ever he had clasped her from a little child, his 
 first-born ; then suddenly thrust her forth, and ran 
 this slow, heavy man out through the trees and down 
 the Ridge. 
 
 "Father, father," cried Debby, with empty arms. 
 "Come back O father" 
 
 The entrance to the British coffee-house on King 
 Street, the resort of the high Tories of the town, gave 
 signs on the evening of the 2d of August of the de- 
 parture of a guest of no inconsiderable importance. 
 The landlord himself was on the upper step, obsequi- 
 ously rubbing his fat palms, and casting about in his 
 fertile mind how further to advance the comfort or the 
 welfare of a guest whose appearance and bearing be- 
 spoke wealth and consequence. The horses attached 
 to the governor's own carriage pawed the ground in 
 their eagerness to be off, and shook their manes rest-
 
 210 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 lessly. The equipage had been sent around as a last 
 mark of respect, to bear the personage now taking his 
 leave of Boston Town to the wharf where he was to 
 embark. Rumor had it that this Englishman stood, 
 in influence, near to the throne and Parliament; he 
 was therefore naturally very close to the regard of 
 Governor Gage, with whom both as governor and as 
 commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, 
 he had been often closeted in conference during his 
 stay in the Province. 
 
 As this person of importance passed down the steps, 
 and was about to place himself within the carriage, a 
 tall, slender figure, in the uniform of an officer in the 
 service of King George, came striding down King 
 Street. He quickened his pace, and presently stood 
 by the side of the older man, whose figure showed the 
 portliness of luxurious middle life; and the cordial 
 hand-shake indulged in, the smiles and chat of famil- 
 iar understanding, told the onlooker that two good 
 friends were about to part. 
 
 ' I will render good account of you, Bernard, to 
 the different members of our family," said the elder 
 man, as he stepped into the carriage, and he pausec 
 to lay his hand approvingly on the young shoulder. 
 "But best of all, our king, God save him, shall hear 
 it all to the last word. I' faith, you may trust me."
 
 IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 211 
 
 "Spare yourself that trouble," cried the young 
 officer hastily, and his face darkened. 
 
 "Tut, tut, man, you are too modest by half," 
 cried the other. " The king shall know it all. 
 You shall be so intrenched in his Majesty's favor, 
 when this paltry matter of the Colonies is settled, 
 that you can ask what you will, only to obtain 
 it." 
 
 Bernard put his hand up hastily in protestation ; 
 but the elder man laughed, gave the signal to depart, 
 and the governor's equipage rolled down King Street, 
 the admiration of all eyes. 
 
 The young officer, whose face now grew darker than 
 ever with suppressed dissatisfaction, paused a moment 
 to recover himself, then, with his usual sang froid, he 
 turned within the hostelry, to find a gay company of 
 young British officers, having a roystering time at a 
 near-by table, in the middle of which stood a steam- 
 ing bowl of hot punch. 
 
 "Ha, Thornton," called one, as he entered the 
 doorway, filling his glass again, "here's to you! 
 Verily, you are a poor companion these days. Pray, 
 where have you kept yourself? Come, and drink con- 
 fusion to these poltroon Yankees;" and he tossed off 
 his bumper with a gay hand. 
 
 The young officer thus addressed put himself into
 
 212 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 the chair now pushed toward him, and partook very 
 sparingly of the beverage as the toast was given. 
 Then he set back his glass, and despite his efforts 
 to lend himself to the conviviality of the hour, he 
 was soon becoming lost in revery as the jest went 
 on. 
 
 "Ho, here! wake up!" at last called out the young 
 man who had first spoken ; an officer whose commis- 
 sion ranked him as lieutenant, but with the eye of his 
 superior officers upon him for his brilliant promise. 
 "Egad, by my sword, I believe you're asleep, Thorn- 
 ton. It's this beastly climate that is pulling us all 
 down; and the Yankees pah! I wish we could mow 
 them down and end the business, and get home to 
 Old England." 
 
 Thornton glanced at the gay flushed face and un- 
 steady hand that poured another full glass. 
 
 "Best not, Harry," he said, with a meaning look. 
 "If we want to begin the mowing process, it needs 
 be that we keep our heads cool." 
 
 "I' faith, that's not necessary!" spoke up a big 
 hulking officer of more years than the most of them, 
 interlarding his words with a couple of strong oaths; 
 "these farmer fellows are easy game. If I had com- 
 mand now, it would be touch and go with every 
 mother's sen of them."
 
 IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 213 
 
 "What a pity that you haven't the command," 
 observed Thornton dryly, and with a sip at his 
 glass. 
 
 "They'd have small chance to say their prayers 
 and sing psalms through their noses," finished the 
 other, heedless of the laugh that went around the 
 table at his expense. "Confusion to 'em, say I, 
 and rot their bones! The whole of their carcasses 
 aren't worth one good Englishman; and the sooner 
 they're punished for their mad rebellion the better." 
 
 "How King George can play along with them in 
 this way passes any belief," spoke up another. " Egad ! 
 Buckthorne is right. Extermination is the only thing, 
 if we can't subjugate them speedily." 
 
 Thornton leaned back in his chair and laughed. 
 "To speak of exterminating full-grown colonies with 
 such power as have these in this Province, is, for- 
 sooth, food for amusement that must be enjoyed" 
 
 "But if the leaders were taken and hanged as they 
 should be," struck in Buckthorne angrily, and bringing 
 down his fist on the board till all the glasses rang, 
 " I swear by my soul these rotten old farmers, that 
 smell of their bogs, would all fall on their mouldy old 
 knees and beg for any mercy that Parliament would 
 give them." 
 
 " I swear it too, Buckthorne," said the other speaker.
 
 214 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "And I, and I," was taken up by a half-score of 
 throats. 
 
 "These rotten old farmers, as you are pleased to 
 call them, Buckthorne," said Harry, as the babel died 
 down and he filled anew his glass, oblivious of Thorn- 
 ton's appealing eye, " have considerable and whole- 
 some vigor, as I could tell you, who have chanced at 
 some of them, on my trips to fill the commissary 
 orders." 
 
 " Yes, to Concord. Isn't there a place of that name 
 where you were despatched a short time ago, Her- 
 ford ? " asked one of the half-score who had yelled 
 so vociferously a moment ago. 
 
 "Ay," said Harry, nodding his bright head; then 
 he drained his glass ; " if you'd seen that old town and 
 her men as I have, you'd know whereof to speak 
 better than the drivelling stuff you've given us. I tell 
 you, there's fight there ; and fight to the death." 
 
 " Hoh ! Pah!'' 1 breathed out the men derisively; 
 "and if they wanted to fight they must fight with- 
 out ammunition. It's madness for them to think of 
 it," cried several. 
 
 " Ay, ay," responded Harry, with an eye that was 
 unsteady and glistened unnaturally, " that's it ; it is 
 madness. Better to have the ringleaders here in Bos- 
 ton Town mowed down for their wild and senseless
 
 IN THE BRITISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 21$ 
 
 rebellion, than that these poor villagers should be 
 slaughtered like sheep." He pushed his glass away 
 abruptly, and stared gloomily at the circle, who met 
 the look with one of surprise. 
 
 " Herford's struck by one of the village beauties," 
 cried Buckthorne coarsely, at a venture. " Some 
 daughter of a horny-handed farmer has made love to 
 him," coupling the words with ribald oaths. " Here's 
 to the damsel of Concord Town ; give us her name, 
 Herford," he said with a leer. He poured out a stiff 
 bumper from a bottle standing near, and called to his 
 brother officers to do the same. 
 
 Lieutenant Herford sprang to his feet, his hand on 
 the hilt of his sword, his blue eyes flashing danger- 
 ously. " Speak not of any woman here, you who have 
 mothers or sisters," he said hoarsely, his voice thick 
 and unsteady with the wine; "your lips, Buckthorne, 
 are too foul for such a use." 
 
 The heavy figure of Buckthorne sprang to an upright 
 posture, as he dashed his glass to the floor ; and he 
 swore a great round oath, as he put his hand to his 
 sword, glaring at the handsome and heated face, that 
 before he spilled the blood of the Yankees, he would 
 have satisfaction for the words just spoken. 
 
 Instantly all the brother officers were on their 
 feet, and the coffee-house was in an uproar, every-
 
 2l6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 body pausing in drink and speech to take in the 
 brawl. 
 
 "Are you mad?" cried Thornton, seizing the young 
 lieutenant's arm. " Harry, disgrace not yourself by 
 another word. Think of your mother."
 
 PREPARING AN ARENA. 21? 
 
 XV. 
 
 PREPARING AN ARENA. 
 
 :< TTNHAND me!" cried Harry, his flushed face 
 LJ turning white with rage, and shaking off the 
 grasp of his friend, while one of the high Tories, as the 
 king's friends were called, in the corner, with his pipe 
 and his grog, discussing the political situation with 
 another of his ilk, roared out for a messenger to be 
 despatched to the guard-house or barracks, but a short 
 distance away, for a squad of soldiery to stop the 
 dispute. 
 
 " By my sword,'' he said, his big, florid face suffused 
 with an irritated flush, " these young blades assert 
 themselves too noisily to suit my taste. Better that 
 they stay where they belong, in the barracks, and 
 leave this place to those who can conduct themselves 
 like English gentlemen." 
 
 The landlord, hearing this from a quarter where sim- 
 ilar speeches had been aired, and with no desire that 
 such lucrative customers as " the young blades " should 
 find other quarters, now deserted the bar, and joined
 
 2l8 A LITTLE MAID OF COXCORD TOWN. 
 
 himself to the circle to which all eyes were turned, 
 where the two disputants, the table between them, 
 were glaring at each other like wild beasts. 
 
 " Softly, softly there, young gentlemen," he began 
 in his most conciliatory tones ; but the roar of angry 
 voices told him the quarrel had gone too far for him 
 to prevent, and his rotund figure was thrust unceremo- 
 niously aside as the young officers closed in around 
 the two. 
 
 " Stand back ! " commanded Thornton in low but 
 passionate tones to them. " Buckthorne, cannot you 
 see that Herford has taken a glass too much ? Listen 
 not to words that come at such a time." 
 
 " He meant to insult me ! " declared Buckthorne 
 sullenly, himself too far gone for reason, and glancing 
 at his comrades in a blustering way ; " and who throws 
 in the teeth of Jack Buckthorne aught but what he 
 can swallow, will have to chew the consequences." 
 He tapped the hilt of his sword significantly. 
 
 Thornton controlled his choler, and was about to 
 reply in a way that would have made all well, when 
 Harry drew his sword, and rushing toward Buck- 
 thorne, would have thrust him through on the spot 
 had he not been seized by the two who were nearest, 
 his weapon spinning over their heads to the flooi 
 beyond.
 
 PREPARING AN ARENA. 219 
 
 " You braggart," he was yelling, " and black-hearted 
 scoundrel, take that ! " 
 
 In an instant some one rushed out across the street, 
 bawling to the sentinel pacing back and forth on duty 
 before the custom-house ; and another, running to the 
 corner, met a squad of soldiers on their way to the 
 barracks. These latter stepped into the British cof- 
 fee-house ; and as Harry seemed to be clearly the 
 aggressor, they hauled him off summarily to the guard- 
 house. 
 
 The florid-faced Englishman and his high Tory 
 friend returned to their grog and pipes with great sat- 
 isfaction after this diversion ; the former remarking 
 that now matters were more to his mind, since one of 
 the party was by this time well on his way to the 
 guard-house, where, in order for his complete pleasure, 
 the remainder should have been carried. And the 
 other frequenters of the tavern, having seen the thing 
 to the end, or at least to the quelling of the distur- 
 bance, now took their minds back to their own affairs. 
 
 " You will not deny me the satisfaction, I presume," 
 said Thornton, going around the table to speak clearly 
 into the face of Buckthorne, now red with triumph as 
 well as liquor, as he leered his great delight at the 
 ending, " of measuring your sword with mine in some 
 fitting place, after I tell you that besides being a black-
 
 22O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 hearted scoundrel, you are a coward, and not a decent 
 companion for an English officer to associate with." 
 
 The words were low, and not a person beyond the 
 circle of young officers could hear them. Yet noth- 
 ing that could possibly be uttered could strike such 
 dismay into one of the group. Buckthorne's face 
 turned purple and then a livid white. "You know 
 I didn't mean, " he stammered thickly, "didn't 
 intend any offence, only to scare the boy." 
 
 Thornton stood silent and immovable, the picture of 
 scorn, his determined front adding new terror to that 
 already possessing the big, burly man he addressed. 
 As the latter seemed unable to speak, one of the 
 officers, who perhaps had as much regard for Buck- 
 thorne as any, which was not saying too much, ven- 
 tured to suggest, "You know, Lieutenant Thornton, 
 that what you said for your friend Herford might 
 apply here ; Buckthorne is in his cups." 
 
 "Yes, yes," muttered Buckthorne, catching at the 
 straw; "I didn't know what I was saying; I had taken 
 a drop too much." 
 
 "The case is different, Gardner, as you are well 
 aware," said Thornton coldly ; " the disparity in years 
 is quite enough to make Buckthorne's behavior das- 
 tardly. When I add, what we all know, that Herford 
 cannot take what other men can bear with impunity,
 
 ~ o
 
 PREPARING AN ARENA. 221 
 
 and that out of liquor he is a gentleman worthy of Old 
 England, whose soul of honor has never been ques- 
 tioned, I think you will, to a man, bear me out in pun- 
 ishing the scoundrel who has brought this disgrace 
 upon him." 
 
 A silence like the grave fell upon the circle. Buck- 
 thorne did not move a finger, only stared helplessly 
 into the face of the man whom, he well knew, as did 
 they all, it would be death to meet in a sword contest. 
 At last, after waiting what he considered a sufficient 
 time for Major Buckthorne to accept his proposition, 
 Thornton turned to the others, 
 
 " Gentlemen, you will all be witnesses that I have 
 offered Major Buckthorne complete satisfaction for 
 my avowed estimate of him, and that he has rejected 
 it. If any of you, as his friend, desires to take it up, 
 I will be pleased to hear it." 
 
 No one replying, Lieutenant Thornton said with a 
 smile playing around his thin lips, " I will be glad to 
 meet you socially at any time and on any occasion 
 when Major Buckthorne is not present. Now I go 
 to the guard-house to report the truth of the case, 
 and to do what I can for young Herford." Then he 
 turned on his heel, and strode out of the coffee-house. 
 
 And now the number of white tents of the en- 
 campment on Boston Common increased as if by
 
 222 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 magic. The quarters in Faneuil Hall were becoming 
 too largely occupied for comfort, as the British sol- 
 diery were transported in greater numbers over the 
 sea to re-enforce the Governor-Commander-in-Chief 
 Gage. The rattle of musketry, with the fife, drum, 
 and bugle, pierced the air of Boston streets, and 
 awoke angry echoes in the souls of her citizens that 
 the sight of the swarming redcoats was not likely to 
 assuage. The Town House was now well supplied 
 with soldiers, where hitherto had been the Merchants' 
 Exchange, and the meeting-place of the judges and 
 the governor's council. A British bayonet seemed to 
 meet one at every turn, peaceably, it is true, if not 
 opposed, and a British sentinel challenged whom 
 he would. It was a despotic Crown and Parliament 
 that spoke in this military display, the determination 
 to enforce the new and obnoxious laws that were to 
 break the proud spirit of the Colonists. And twenty 
 miles away, among the farms, by a quiet river, there 
 was this moment preparing an arena that should pro- 
 claim aloud to a waiting world, God's determination 
 also, against which no Crown or Parliament could 
 contend. 
 
 And now the days of petitions and memorials to the 
 Governor, the Council, the Parliament, and the Crown, 
 might be said to be over. All appeals that could be
 
 PRF^PARING AN ARENA. 2,2$ 
 
 made and yet retain self-respect, had been presented; 
 every argument, clear, forcible, and patient, had been 
 drawn up by the patriotic statesmen of the oppressed 
 Colonies. The spirit and temper of the leaders had 
 forced many expressions of admiration even from 
 those who would have been glad to be avowed ene- 
 mies. No opportunity was there for a deserved pun- 
 ishment to fall upon the faithful American subjects 
 of their king; for they had served him with a loyalty 
 that rose above privation, suffering, and oppression. 
 Nothing now remained but slavery. Instead of peti- 
 tion to an earthly king, was now a last prayer to God, 
 and a preparation for armed resistance. Action was 
 now the word. 
 
 It became now a necessity to Concord Town to 
 have the people often assemble for counsel and de- 
 liberation, and that interchange of patriotic fervor, 
 that the spirit of liberty leaping to break its chains, 
 must communicate by its divine right. 
 
 They now constantly called themselves and their 
 neighbors together on their Common, made decis- 
 ions as to those matters they deemed appropri- 
 ately arranged in such meetings, and forwarded all 
 important proceedings to the Continental Congress 
 at Philadelphia, keeping in touch with that body 
 with wonderful clearness of judgment and despatch.
 
 224 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 And the struggle over the sitting of the court that 
 was to hold its sessions in the old town on the i3th 
 of September, was urged with such determination 
 not to allow it unless it was carried on in, the old 
 way, that the strenuous efforts of the committee 
 chosen to wait upon the judges with this decision, 
 won the day. The written declaration from the 
 court was read to the people and then published, 
 " declaring it inexpedient to open the court, ' lest it 
 should be construed that we act in consequence of 
 the late unconstitutional Act of Parliament.' " And 
 then long-delayed attention was directed to dischar- 
 ging the debt of obligation to the Tory element in 
 their midst, and to all who had, or were helping for- 
 ward in any way, the " unconstitutional plan of govern- 
 ment" proposed by King George and his Parliament. 
 
 It took Simon and Jabez both to run up over 
 the hill and down the Ridge to tell Debby of the 
 rousing big meeting, "when we are going for the 
 Tories, yes, sir ! " and they wondered at the lack of 
 animation this news elicited, although her eyes shone 
 clear and bright in her pale face. 
 
 "Hush," she said, drawing them out from the 
 kitchen where the mother sat now, wan and spirit- 
 less, her hands employed in sewing, while her thoughts 
 were ever on the one subject near her heart; "don't
 
 PREPARING AN ARENA. 22$ 
 
 let mother hear you say the w6rd ' Tories.' " She 
 closed the door, and faced them in the woodshed. 
 
 "Why not?" asked Jabez, breathless from his long 
 run. "I sh'd think 'twas the best med'cine a sick 
 person could have to know there's going to be judg- 
 ment come to those fellows ; shouldn't you, Si ? " 
 
 Simon grunted some inaudible reply, taking his cue 
 from Debby's face. 
 
 "Mother's very weak," said Debby, "and the 
 least thing upsets her, so you just mustn't do it, 
 boys." Her lips were set together hard, and she 
 held the door firmly closed. 
 
 "All right," said Simon carelessly. "Now she's 
 sick, Aunt Lyddy's like mother ; we have to pick 
 and choose, as you know, Debby, just what things 
 we can talk about before her. Jabe and I hold 
 our meetings out by the wood-pile or in the barn. 
 Well, good-by, cousin ; sorry you can't go to the 
 Common. This is one of the times you'd rather 
 be a boy, I expect," he added saucily, hoping to 
 rouse her old spirit. But she didn't smile, nor 
 seem to notice the remark; and the boys ran off, 
 their delight over the approaching meeting consider- 
 ably subdued. 
 
 "Beats all how trouble and work have broke her 
 down," said Jabez, as they hurried along the Old
 
 226 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Bay Road to the "Centre. "I wouldn't b'lieve it 
 could be Debby." 
 
 Simon snapped his jaws together hard. ''What's 
 the use o' talking about it? Of course till Uncle 
 John comes back, she can't laugh and carry on.'' 
 He was sorely put to it to explain to himself a cer- 
 tain attitude of mind in his cousin that did not seem 
 to be the outcome of grief or worry. It was enough, 
 he kept arguing to himself, to break down any girl, 
 even one so self-contained as Debby, to have the 
 double blow of the father's sudden disappearance, 
 appealing as it did to the curiosity of the village, 
 and the mother's dreadful illness; yet still, when 
 the arguments were all in, Simon felt unsatisfied and 
 restless. 
 
 "Come on," he added roughly, "or the best of 
 the time will be over ; " which had the effect to make 
 Jabez drop all other considerations save getting over 
 the ground as speedily as possible, especially as he 
 had long ago accepted the common theory now becom- 
 ing settled in the town, that the troublous times had 
 unsettled John Parlin's wits, making him wander from 
 home beyond the long and careful search they had 
 given for him. 
 
 It was a busy crowd that greeted their eyes long be- 
 fore they ran into its midst, thoroughly determined,
 
 PREPARING AN ARENA. 22J 
 
 yet not turbulent, knowing that full justice would be 
 done, and the honor of the old town most thoroughly 
 vindicated. All testimony was in against the offend- 
 ers, and nothing now remained to be done, except, as 
 one old farmer said, to " let them know there is a God 
 in Israel." 
 
 They were choosing a committee to try the Tories, 
 when the boys arrived, and the excitement was at its 
 height. Suddenly a wild yell smote the air. Every- 
 body started, and some men grasped their muskets for 
 action if need be ; for by this time it was becoming 
 quite the custom to take along the firearm if one so 
 desired. It kept one in practice by the mere handling 
 of it, and suited well the spirit of the day. 
 
 "Forbear to use violence," cautioned some of the 
 fathers of the town, always in evidence at these meet- 
 ings; and mingling with the crowd, they essayed to 
 allay the fears the sudden disturbance had made. But 
 men's blood was easily fired in those exciting days ; 
 and they looked in each other's faces and waited, pre- 
 pared for action when the time arrived. It came, 
 bringing not the thing they feared, but something 
 quite different. 
 
 A man was seen running down the town centre to 
 the Milldam pursued hotly by some half-dozen others, 
 whose near approach to their victim had brought forth
 
 228 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 the yell of anger and despair. He fairly ran into 
 the heart of the crowd, panting and furious, and only 
 drew breath when he felt it close upon him. It was 
 Jim Haskins, now universally spoken of as Jim Has- 
 kins the Tory. 
 
 " I've come to be protected ! " he cried in a loud 
 tone, and pointing a shaking finger at his pursuers. 
 " Is there any law that will hound a man for having 
 opinions of his own ? " 
 
 " You've come to a poor place, Jim," said one of the 
 older citizens of the town gravely. " In the temper of 
 the time there is not much safety for one who gives 
 allegiance to a tyrant, at the expense of his own towns- 
 men. Keep quiet until the excitement of your pursuit 
 has abated, then slip out as quietly as you can, and 
 get to your home. It is the only way to save your 
 miserable skin, I fear." 
 
 " They are the ones," cried Jim in a loud, vindictive 
 voice, again pointing to the small band that had pur- 
 sued him, now quietly waiting on the outskirts of the 
 crowd, having run him to earth, as it were, well con- 
 tented to bide their time, " who would break the law 
 and molest me. Here are the officers of the town," 
 he looked around into their serious faces as he 
 spoke, "I am safe here;" and he smiled defiantly 
 at his persecutors.
 
 PREPARING AN ARENA. 22C) 
 
 "You are safe not an instant," said the citizen 
 sternly. "Can you not feel the righteous indigna- 
 tion, man, that is at last to break upon the heads of 
 all who, like you, have turned traitor to their country." 
 He spoke with suppressed feeling, but in a low voice, 
 to avoid adding to the inflammable material around 
 him aught that would hasten this man's doom. 
 
 But Jim was not to be silenced. And he continued 
 to attract attention to himself by adjuring all persons 
 before him to give liberty of speech and action to the 
 individual who, like himself, chose to be a most loyal 
 adherent to King George in all his plans for his sub- 
 jects at home and abroad. So that at last the business 
 of the meeting was for the time given up, to make way 
 for his loud, sonorous speech. 
 
 This quite delighted him, to find that he had at last 
 something to say which the people would hear ; and 
 he proceeded with a great degree of confidence to a 
 louder burst, mistaking the growing silence which was 
 now pervading all the circle. 
 
 'Fellow cit'zens," he cried, thrusting out his right 
 hand in the way he admired in oratorical attempts, yet 
 had never had the opportunity to display, "I stand be- 
 fore you to-day to say I am proud to support the king, 
 and" 
 
 " Cut the miserable wretch short," cried a dozen
 
 230 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 voices, that sent the cry out from as many different 
 quarters; "and toss his carcass over here," yelled the 
 waiting men who had followed him to the Common ; 
 " we'll teach him what it means to turn traitor." 
 There was at the same time a sudden rush made ; and 
 the compact mass of men trembled as if a wedge had 
 struck them in a vulnerable point, forcing admittance 
 to the centre. 
 
 It was all done in a moment, but not before Jim saw 
 the swiftness of his peril ; and had there been room, he 
 would have sunk to his knees entreating mercy. As 
 it was, he seized and clutched and strained at all those 
 who had the misfortune to stand near him, making 
 the air again resound with wild, incoherent cries that 
 upbore the discordant yells of the infuriated crowd. 
 They had him at last, pulling and hauling several 
 along with him in his frantic clutches of despair ; but 
 his captors speedily loosened his hold upon all such 
 and bore him shrieking off.
 
 THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED:' 2$1 
 
 XVI. 
 
 "THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED NOW." 
 
 IT was a fearful moment. The crowd parted enough 
 to allow the strong hands seizing the unhappy 
 man, to bear him with a rush through the howling 
 mass of men that closed up and surrounded him and 
 his captors. It was impossible to distinguish his cries 
 for help, as he was thus borne along mid the yells 
 of " Horsewhip him ! " "A tar-and-feather coat ! " and 
 "The river To the river with him!'" 
 
 This last cry prevailed ; and off over the Milldam the 
 throng swept, with small thought for any in their way, 
 least of all for the comfort of the luckless wight in 
 their midst who was at last to taste the penalty of be- 
 ing a Tory, and to know what it meant to turn against 
 his country and his countrymen. 
 
 In the mad rush of the first moment, when shoulder 
 was knocked against shoulder, and the triumphant 
 crowd surged down over the Milldam bearing their 
 captive, it was easy enough to drown the notes, stento- 
 rian though they were, of those in authority, left on the
 
 232 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Common, commanding the tumult to cease and that 
 the victim be released. But after this first moment, 
 the voice of the fathers of the town began to be heard 
 with its old insistence ; and one after the other of those 
 who, though not taking active part in the violent 
 proceedings, had yet put forth no hand to stay them, 
 commenced to bestir themselves on the side of law 
 and order. The foremost one was a young man, tall 
 and broad shouldered, up to whose honest blue eyes 
 crept the flush of remorse at not sooner stepping into 
 action. 
 
 " For shame ! " he cried in ringing tones, that 
 pierced like a clarion note far over the crowd, and 
 made them for an instant haste over the road with re- 
 doubled speed, so fearful were they that he led an 
 opposing force. " Would you thus deal with traitors ? 
 Hold, and let the law take its course ! " 
 
 When they, looking back, saw that it was Abner But- 
 terfield alone who stood forth and thus defied them, 
 they shook their brown fists in derision, and laughed 
 triumphantly, and rushed on. 
 
 " Come on, fellow-townsmen who do not believe in 
 riot ! " cried Abner, all the blood gone to his head, 
 and waving his right arm in the air ; " or, by Heaven, 
 I'll go alone." He sprang down the road, and madly 
 plunged after the swift retreating crowd, one thought
 
 " THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED." 233 
 
 only uppermost in his heart, to save the screaming, 
 struggling wretch he could now hear and see, as the 
 throng tossed him up and down as they hauled him 
 along. 
 
 It was Jim, Jim, the hated rival, the man who 
 had insulted him, and who had turned traitor; but 
 perhaps Debby had loved him, it was impossible 
 to be quite sure ; and perhaps Jim would turn back 
 to love for his country, if he could only be kept 
 from drinking. Then, if she had loved him before, 
 she would surely love him anew. At any rate, for 
 her sake he must be saved, and this blot kept from 
 the dear name of his town. He ran, he shouted, 
 he plunged madly on. And at last, oh, blessed relief ! 
 the sound as of rushing feet came to his ears, and 
 the road was full of eager, hurrying men swift to 
 follow his brave leadership, and the onslaught for 
 Jim's liberty had begun in earnest. 
 
 But the maddened crowd, seeing here a rescue- 
 force growing quite formidable, suddenly executed a 
 sharp detour, and deserting their original plan of car- 
 rying their victim to a quieter and better-adapted 
 place of vengeance, now plunged down to the river 
 bank with only one thought, to give the Tory such 
 a ducking that if he escaped with his miserable life, 
 it would be his luck. Fast on their heels came
 
 234 A LITTLE MAID Of- CONCORD TOWX. 
 
 the smaller company of rescuers. And now, down 
 the road followed the fathers of the town in all de- 
 grees of haste, with determination and stern resolve, 
 yet basing all their hopes on Abner and his slender 
 force. 
 
 " Quick t Divide the company! Half keep in the 
 rear, and close up; the others come with me/" cried 
 Abner under his breath, the men slipping easily into 
 the position of followers. None too soon. The men 
 holding Jim were one, two, three just sending him 
 off, when a mighty onslaught of blows, only from the 
 fists, it is true but who knows anything harder 
 than the Provincial fist that understood how to hit, 
 and when ? Down they rained, from Abner's little 
 company in front, and from Abner's small crowd in 
 the rear, like sledge-hammers, crowding, pushing, 
 and thrusting the surrounded men into a snug knot 
 where they could not use their arms to advantage. 
 " Leave him go ! " roared Abner, his blood well up, 
 and feeling the eyes of all the town fathers upon 
 him, " or we'll mash you to the powder you deserve 
 to be, for bringing disgrace upon this town." 
 
 To right and to left the men were knocked and 
 jostled, till there was small hope of telling friend 
 from foe as they struggled and kicked and fought. 
 When the confusion and smoke of the encounter
 
 "THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED." 235 
 
 cleared off, no man could say exactly how it had 
 all taken place. Some were lying on the ground, 
 where they had been flattened and worsted, and all 
 were looking at Butterfield bearing away down the 
 road the Tory Jim, such a goodly crowd supporting, 
 as made it useless to think of any successful inter- 
 vention. Besides, here were now the fathers of 
 the town closing in on their rear at the river brink 
 with such solemn and determined intentions as made 
 themselves known at once ; and the crestfallen crowd 
 oozed off, as many as were fortunate enough to do 
 so, the rest being taken into custody as ringleaders 
 of a mob who would put in jeopardy the good name 
 of the old town, to be dealt with as might seem 
 best after a council. 
 
 "Mother," cried Abner, his brown -face aflame, 
 and his honest blue eyes seeking hers somewhat 
 anxiously, the truth must be told, as he dreaded 
 her reply, "here's Jim," dragging him within the 
 kitchen door. "You can go now,'' to the men who 
 had accompanied them to the Butterfield farm; "he's 
 all right here," as they turned away. 
 
 "Don't dare to bring that man here," cried Mrs. 
 Butterfield, her arms akimbo; "this house can't 
 hold me and a traitor." 
 
 "Mother,"' said Abner. remonstrating, and, thrust-
 
 236 A LI7'TLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 ing Jim, pale-faced and shrinking, back of him, he 
 spread out his hands entreatingly, "think what you 
 would do to refuse him shelter at this time. He's 
 been treated sorely, and there's no telling what the 
 crowd will do to him if he's caught before they 
 cool down." 
 
 "He better be torn limb from limb," cried Mother 
 Butterfield savagely, standing erect in the middle 
 of her kitchen floor, her eyes blazing. "Ay, and 
 give his bones to the winds. A man to turn against 
 his country, and to use his foul tongue at such a 
 time, should be thrust from every hearthstone." 
 She took one step with threatening gesture, and 
 looked so very dreadful that Jim slunk down to the 
 floor, pleading feebly for mercy. " He shall go from 
 this door this instant! " She raised her large but 
 shapely hand in command to her son. It was no 
 time for mild measures. 
 
 "And I say he shall not stir from this house until 
 I deem it safe for him to do so," said Abner in a low, 
 clear voice, every syllable cutting her like a knife. 
 It was the first time in all his life of twenty-five years 
 that he had ever set himself against her will. She 
 stared at him, her arm still uplifted, gazing blankly 
 into the eyes that fastened themselves on her face as 
 if they were never to move. She opened her moulh
 
 " THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED." 237 
 
 as if to speak, but no words came. And still she 
 stood and stared. 
 
 " Say no more, mother," Abner was speaking, she 
 felt rather than heard. " And, Jim, you better go into 
 the other room." It was all done quietly enough now ; 
 and somehow or other Mrs. Butterfield was alone in 
 her kitchen, and going about in a dazed way at her 
 housework. 
 
 " I won't answer for your life if you get out of here," 
 said Abner to Jim, the door well shut behind them. 
 "You best go up to the loft, and stay quiet a bit." 
 He restrained a violent desire to kick him every step 
 of the way up the stairs. Jim turned a wild-eyed 
 face on him. "Debby," he made out to say. 
 
 " Stop, you hound ! " roared Abner, at the end of 
 his patience, and feeling all the reaction of doubt at 
 the wisdom of his course; "it needs but little more 
 from you to make me want to throw your vile carcass 
 out to any one who would treat it as it deserves, and 
 not raise a finger to save you. " 
 
 "But I say, Debby" 
 
 With one bound, Abner was on him, tugging like a 
 wild beast for his overthrow; and with a twist of his 
 brawny arm he thrust him up the stairs, bestowing as 
 he went, the kicks he had so longed to give, then 
 strode to the barn, saddled his horse, and not allowing
 
 238 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 his passion to cool, he tore madly down the road, 
 and never drew rein till he reached the Parlin 
 cottage. 
 
 "What is it between Jim and you? " he demanded, 
 not minding in the least that Mrs. Parlin was present, 
 silent and cold, spinning in the corner. " I will know." 
 His eyes blazed at her, and he repeated in an angry 
 tone. No one had ever heard Abner Butterfield 
 except in slow-going and quiet accents, and for a mo- 
 ment Debby lost herself. 
 
 " Abner - Abner " she cried, hurrying to him, 
 to clasp her hands, "oh! what is it?" 
 
 He put up one hand to stay her approach, all his 
 soul at arms against her, yet madly devoured with 
 his great love. " It is no time to parley, Deborah," 
 he said hoarsely, his great eyes looking her through 
 and through. She could see the veins on his fore- 
 head swollen, and his stern compressed lips white 
 with the effort to restrain the hot, impetuous speech. 
 " God knows I have loved you all my life, as no man 
 ever loved woman before, and held my peace, as I 
 felt you couldn't love me until some little time back, 
 and then it seemed as if God was giving me a chance. 
 And now Jim dares to take your name on his lips. 
 The hound!" 
 
 Debby put up one white hand to stay the passion-
 
 ""THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED." 239 
 
 ate avowal. Oh ! why should it come now, when all 
 hope was gone? She a traitor's daughter to be 
 loved by an honest man ! 
 
 " But now I will speak, although it is an insult to 
 ask you, if you ever loved him he a traitor. 
 Deborah Parlin, sooner than love one with traitor 
 blood in his veins, one should pray to die. God can 
 forgive everything else but that ; every other disgrace 
 but that can be wiped out. Tell me you did not love 
 him; that's what I will know now." 
 
 " I never loved him," said Debby, standing pale 
 and cold, with her head thrown back and her nostrils 
 quivering. 
 
 " Thank God ! " cried Abner, in a burst of joy. He 
 seized her hand, but she pulled it away. 
 
 "Don't speak," she cried, her voice breaking. 
 " O Abner ! do not make it harder for me to bear. 
 Speak no further, only go*" 
 
 " I will speak now, Deborah," said Abner solemnly, 
 and with such determination that it was useless to 
 impede his course. " I have kept silent too long, God 
 knows, and no power on earth shall stop me now. 
 Will you be my wife ? " 
 
 Deborah gave a low cry of pain, and with a mighty 
 effort held herself in check enough to utter, " No oh, 
 no ! do not ask it."
 
 24O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " You cannot love me, then," he flung at her through 
 set lips. 
 
 " Do not ask me. I can never marry you. O 
 Abner, Abner ! I must not say more." 
 
 Her quivering shoulder was suddenly grasped. Both 
 of them had forgotten the presence of the mother. She 
 held Debby now as in a vise, and, with a voice not 
 lifted from her ordinary one, said, " The secret must 
 be disclosed now; but, on your soul of honor," to 
 Abner, "you must not tell it." 
 
 " Mother mother ! " shrieked Debby, " stop think 
 what you are doing. Abner, do go." She seized his 
 arm now in her anguish, and wound her pleading fin- 
 gers around it. " Oh ! I implore you, if you love me, 
 to go." 
 
 " He shall hear it," commanded her mother sternly, 
 "then he will see how useless it is to plead for your 
 love. My daughter can never wed, Abner. No 
 honest man would want traitor blood in his children. 
 Her father has forsworn his country. He is a Tory ! " 
 
 Abner turned, and gave one look at Debby's face, 
 to see there the awful truth confirmed. 
 
 "Go," she cried, with face drawn and white, "tell 
 it not, Abner. My mother has answered you. I have 
 my cross to bear. Go, and leave me to bear it." 
 
 He obeyed, all his fire burned down. And, stunned
 
 " THE SECRET MUST BE DISCLOSED." 24! 
 
 by the news into more than his usual quiet acceptance 
 of fate's denials, he passed out silently. Debby waited 
 till the door closed, and he was on his horse ; then she 
 turned to her mother, and held out her arms. " I'm 
 tired," she said, "and we have only got each other, 
 mother," and fell fainting to the floor.
 
 242 A -LITTLE MA ID OF COXCORD TOWN. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 
 
 IT was no longer possible for the old town by the 
 river of the peaceful name to remain quiet. The 
 God of righteous war had already marked her for his 
 own, to proclaim to waiting worlds the note of liberty. 
 She was henceforth to move on fast to meet her 
 destiny. 
 
 And now came the day of retribution to the Tories. 
 Patience had become, by this time, a crime ; and the 
 three or four traitors to their country and their towns- 
 men were duly recorded and dealt with. Each citi- 
 zen was a veritable " son of liberty," and proud 
 enough to avow himself as such, feeling equal to a 
 whole corps of the militia, in his one beating breast 
 and his two good arms. And the work of preparation 
 went briskly on. The meetings at this time were on 
 short call, and most informal. Only one spirit bound 
 the entire assemblies; that was the spirit of liberty, 
 nevermore to be quenched. A committee in which 
 the neighboring towns were represented, was chosen
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 243 
 
 to take care of the Tories; and all things were well 
 under way for the final struggle. 
 
 Up in one of the front bed-chambers of the Lee 
 mansion, burned the candles in their tall silver can- 
 dlesticks, flanking the high carved mantel. Another 
 lighted pair stood on the centre mahogany table, with 
 its carved claw feet and its generous surface, now 
 strewn with papers, and well drawn away from the 
 big carved and brightly polished four-poster, with its 
 silken tester and counterpane. The old clock in the 
 corner ticked in ponderous tones the hour away, and 
 the long mirror with its little gilt divisions across its 
 glassy surface reflected back all the solid magnifi- 
 cence of the spacious apartment and its solitary oc- 
 cupant. He was a man above middle life, restless 
 and unhappy, to judge by his face and movements. 
 
 He seated himself in his carved oaken chair, and 
 took up his quill, dallying with it as one who has a 
 hateful task before him. And after a few ineffectual 
 trials in the way of a beginning, born out of an angry 
 and perturbed mind, he threw it down; and hastening 
 from his seat, he went to the window, drew aside the 
 curtain, and looked out into the night. Before him 
 spread his ample meadows, swelling away from the 
 gentle river flowing in caressing curve around them. 
 As far as his eye could reach, he could say with
 
 244 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 pride, "Mine." There were the barns and outhouses, 
 a long line, in that state of thrift that bespoke the 
 well-to-do and important farmer, that member of the 
 community whose bidding was law and gospel if 
 ah, if! He sighed involuntarily, and let the brocaded 
 curtain slip from his fingers, as he moved away to 
 divert his thought. Had these townsmen of his any 
 sense, and wisdom to discern the practical issues of 
 life, they must see, as did he, how useless the strug- 
 gle against the mighty force arraying to crush them. 
 Why had they not followed him, and his advice? 
 Why was he hated and execrated, a very name to de- 
 spise, as the children passed by and pointed to him ? 
 Time was when he had been wont to receive that 
 honor given to one whose word was law and gospel 
 to the simpler country folk, and to notice with com- 
 placence the obsequious homage of those rustics who 
 now were setting up opinions for themselves. Fools 
 fools he said to himself, an angry glow over- 
 spreading his features. 
 
 And yet, fools as they were, they had him in a tight 
 place, those rustics had. And unless he signed that 
 paper yonder, lying on the shining mahogany top, it 
 would go ill with him and his. Why did not the 
 mother country, by one summary blow, end this incipi- 
 ent, foolhardy rebellion, and come to the rescue of all
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 245 
 
 such stanch upholders of English law as ^e and his 
 Tory friends ? He stepped back, and thrust the cur- 
 tain aside angrily, to glance out across the quiet 
 meadows and peaceful river, as if along their outlines 
 could be seen the advancing army that was to him the 
 only hope of safety to his town and to the Colonies. 
 
 But the peaceful river shimmered on, undisturbed 
 by presence of the flower of England's army; and, 
 watching from the stately Lee mansion, he heaved a 
 great sigh, and went back to the big table once more. 
 
 "Whereas I, Joseph Lee of Concord, Physician, on 
 the evening of the first ultimo, did rashly and without 
 consideration," so a large sheet of paper, lying flat be- 
 fore him, showed up to his angry eye, as its preamble. 
 Well he knew the rest of it, and that document un- 
 signed when it was called for in the morning, no one 
 could tell the result. There was determination now, 
 so fixed as to be unhealthy to meddle with, in all the 
 towns around, that sympathizers with their country's 
 foes should meet with summary treatment once for all ; 
 and he, Joseph Lee, understood, and had silently re- 
 ceived his sentence at his outraged fellow-citizens' 
 hands. 
 
 But he had several kmg hours yet before the morn- 
 ing dawn, when his signature must be placed to that 
 hateful paper. Wild dreams of what might happen
 
 246 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 in this reprieve flashed across his heated brain. It 
 might be possible that the long-looked for British 
 army, his godsend, would descend, as they were sure 
 to some time, upon this quiet town, and compel its 
 surrender. If it would only happen this September 
 night! He even went to the window again, on restless 
 feet, and peered out as if he had half a mind to be- 
 lieve he saw them coming to victory, and release for 
 him. But, alas for his hopes! The morrow was to 
 bring only disgrace for him. By its dawn the paper 
 was to be signed, to be carried away, and read to the 
 people who were clamoring for satisfaction. 
 
 The old clock ticked away, every beat striking 
 into his angered and feverish brain. "Best have it 
 over with," he cried to himself at last ; and, hurrying 
 back, he snatched up the quill where he had flung 
 it " did rashly and without consideration make a 
 private and precipitate journey from Concord to 
 Cambridge, to inform Judge Lee" how his eye 
 glowed now at thought of this expedition ! " that 
 the country was assembling to come down (and on 
 no other business), that he and others concerned 
 might prepare themselves for the event, and with 
 an avowed intention to deceive the people ; by which 
 the parties assembling might have been exposed to 
 the brutal rage of the soldiery, who had timely notice
 
 RAPID PREPARATION'S. 2tf 
 
 to have waylaid the roads, and fired on them while 
 unarmed and defenceless in the dark ; by which 
 imprudent conduct I might have prevented the salu- 
 tary designs of my countrymen, whose intentions 
 were only to request certain gentlemen, sworn into 
 office on the new system of government, to resign 
 their offices, in order to prevent the operation of 
 that (so much detested) act of the British Parlia- 
 ment for regulating the government of the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay; by all which I have justly drawn 
 upon ms the displeasure of my countrymen." 
 
 He compelled himself to read it through, knowing 
 it by heart as he did. " When I coolly reflect on my 
 own imprudence, it fills my mind with the deepest 
 anxiety. I deprecate the resentment of my injured 
 country, humbly confess my errors, and implore the 
 forgiveness of a generous and free people, solemnly 
 daclaring that for the future I will never convey any 
 intelligence to any of the Court party, neither di- 
 rectly nor indirectly ; by which the designs of the 
 people may be frustrated, in opposing the barbarous 
 policy of an arbitrary, wicked, and corrupt adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 CONCORD, Sept. 19, 1774." 
 
 Again he threw the quill the table length, and 
 sprang to his feet to pace up and down the long
 
 248 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 apartment, anger overflowing his breast, as he clinched 
 his hands together, and swore by all that was most 
 dear to him that he would never attach his name 
 to that paper. And his wife came to the door, and 
 knocked timidly, and, in the exercise of her love, 
 daring to knock again, though she got no response. 
 And the night wore on, and the gray dawn came 
 up, and the morning flush followed, and still the 
 weary and anguished man strode on, knowing that 
 in the end he should sign it just as surely as that 
 the sun would burst over the hill-top yonder, to 
 tell of a new day. But just a little longer; see, 
 he had an hour, he glanced up at the clock ticking 
 away like an executioner, before he should be humil- 
 iated to the dust. He flung himself exhausted into 
 his big carved chair, and leaned his head upon his 
 breast for a second's repose. What ! is this the 
 trumpet signal of triumph echoing down the street 
 of Concord Town ? See his countrymen, those who 
 so lately met him with averted looks and cold dis- 
 dain, now behold them trembling and sueing for 
 mercy as the conquering train, brilliant in their gor- 
 geous uniforms and gay trappings, sweep by. Ha 
 ha now the fools know; and how they plead with 
 him, the rich and influential Joseph Lee, to inter- 
 cede with the governor and the British emissaries
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 249 
 
 for favor; for Joseph Lee, for steadfast adherence to 
 his Majesty's cause in the Colonies, has been prom- 
 ised rich emoluments, and henceforth his shall be 
 the path of royal purple and fine linen. Hear them 
 cheer for him those splendid fellows, the "flower 
 of the British Army." Hear them 
 
 " Open the door, O husband ! I pray you in mercy, 
 open the door. They have come for the paper." 
 
 He starts from his sleep, gives one baffled, angry 
 glance at the old clock ticking away his pride and his 
 old traditions and his liberty, seizes the quill, dashes 
 down a trembling, hasty Joseph Lee, at the bottom of 
 the manuscript, undoes the door, and silently thrusts 
 the paper out to his wife, who, weeping, would have 
 kissed his hand had he not bitterly withdrawn it and 
 locked himself in again. 
 
 And seven days later, on Sept. 26, the whole town 
 was " resolved into a committee of safety," and it was 
 " voted to raise one or more companies to march at a 
 minute's warning." The committee of correspondence 
 was appointed, and delegates to the proposed Provin- 
 cial Congress were chosen. Concord was nearly ready 
 for the great struggle. But one thing more of great 
 importance remained to be achieved. This was the 
 Provincial Congress. 
 
 On this same day, the 26th, when events so fate-
 
 250 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 ful were being prepared for by the citizens of Concord 
 Town and the neighboring boroughs, out of the Brit- 
 ish coffee-house in Boston Town strolled Bernard 
 Thornton, light of foot and of unmoved countenance, 
 but with a heart ill at ease. He went steadily down 
 King Street, crossed over the intervening space to the 
 Common, where, threading his way among the white 
 tents, he came to the object of his search, all as casu- 
 ally as if the meeting had been of chance. There he 
 was, the very special redcoat whom the dark eye rested 
 upon, though it gave no sign of any recognition. The 
 soldier was pacing leisurely up and down on guard, 
 more for the sake of the perfunctory exercise than for 
 any real good to ensue. Thornton came to a halt, 
 and spoke twice before the man appeared to hear. 
 
 "Oh, my good fellow! are you deaf?" cried the 
 young British officer pleasantly. " Never a word can 
 I get out of you. How goes the world with you, Par- 
 lin ? Well, I hope." 
 
 The man raised a heavy-eyed face, stolid and un- 
 communicative, with that sort of hold-fast quality 
 sometimes called firmness, that should be termed 
 obstinacy, and answered never a word. 
 
 " Not sorry you have seen the best way to help your 
 countrymen, eh ? " queried the young officer. 
 
 " No, I'm not sorry," said John Parlin doggedly.
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 2$ I 
 
 " That's right. Take my word for it, you are 
 kinder to your townsmen than if you stayed and 
 made one more to urge them on to a reckless folly 
 that is inexcusable. There is a terrible reckoning to 
 come upon them, my man. The only way to avert it 
 is for England to rise up in her power as soon as pos- 
 sible, and strike one decisive and short, sharp blow. 
 Once she does that, and the Colonies are taught wis- 
 dom; and all who have served his Majesty and the 
 English Parliament will be rewarded with honor and 
 riches. You, Parlin, will be in the end the benefactor 
 of your family and your misguided townsmen." 
 
 Still no answer. 
 
 "Mister," said John Parlin, when the pause was 
 becoming awkward, "my little gal, my Debby, knows 
 it now, and we never'll meet again." He snapped 
 this out mechanically, and never turned his heavy 
 eyes from Thornton's face. 
 
 "Eh, your daughter? Have you been out to Con- 
 cord to see her?" queried the young officer all in a 
 breath, with a quick glance that would have pierced 
 any less stolid countenance. 
 
 "My little gal, my Debby, knows it now, and 
 we'll never meet again," repeated his Majesty's 
 new subject, without a change of face. 
 
 " Nonsense, man. She'll be rejoiced at your good
 
 252 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 sense, when the end comes, at any rate. You are 
 earning money steadily, and laying it up for your 
 family; and when it is all over, as it surely must 
 be soon," his dark, lambent eyes gleamed, " none 
 will be more rejoiced than this daughter of yours. 
 Cheer up, the call to arms will be ere long. You 
 are pining for action, as are we all." 
 
 " My Debby knows it, and we'll never meet again/' 
 repeated John Parlin, without a change of muscle. 
 
 "Trust me to make you easy on that score," re- 
 plied the young officer, not without a touch of an- 
 ger ; " and hark ye, John Parlin, an unwilling 
 subject of his Majesty does not receive, at the final 
 reckoning, a share of the honor and the recompense." 
 
 " I'm not sorry," said John Parlin stolidly, and 
 not turning his eyes away. 
 
 "That's well. Of such stuff are good British 
 subjects made. I will reconnoitre, and bring you 
 word from Concord Town. Believe me that all will 
 be well." He stepped lightly on his way. John 
 Parlin, in his Majesty's uniform, marched back and 
 forth as before, with no change of countenance or 
 manner. 
 
 That afternoon, on the old Bay Road, at the out- 
 skirts of Concord Town, a venerable man, footsore 
 and weary, paused to ask permission to rest beside
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 2$$ 
 
 a cottage door. He was slim and bent, and his long 
 white hair flowed over his thin shoulders, as he 
 leaned trembling on his staff. The children playing 
 beside the door ran in and shouted out that a poor 
 old beggar-man was there, and couldn't he sit down 
 in a chair in the kitchen. This brought the good 
 wife to the door, with pity in her eye. She was 
 wiping up her dishes, and mechanically went on with 
 her task, carefully polishing up the bowl in her 
 hand on the long brown towel, as she listened to 
 his tale of woe with a sympathizing ear, the children, 
 with their fingers in their mouths, hovering near. 
 
 "Yes, good man, come in," she cried, holding 
 wide the door. " Nancy, set a chair. Susan, don't 
 get in his way so. Here, Jonas, give him your 
 arm, ; ' to the biggest boy in the crowd. 
 
 ' You are very good," sighed the old man, as he 
 sank into the wooden chair; "these be troublous 
 times, and I did not know that I should find so 
 much kindness." 
 
 ''Troublous the times may be, and you may well say 
 so," replied Dame Woodward, going back to her dish- 
 washing with a backward glance at him; "but that's 
 no reason why \ve shouldn't look well to the poor 
 within our gates. I'm sorry for you. How far have 
 you come ? "
 
 254 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Quite a piece quite a piece,'' said the old man 
 feebly, nodding his head, "so far I disremember." 
 
 "You must be very tired and hungry," said Dame 
 Woodward pityingly. " May the Lord forgive me for 
 not thinking of it sooner ! " She dashed down her 
 towel across the pile of dishes waiting to be dried ; 
 and, going to the buttery, she returned with a slice of 
 corn bread. " I will make you a cup of tea," she said, 
 hurrying to the kettle hanging on the crane. 
 
 "Thank the Lord you have tea to give me!" cried 
 the old man, in a revived voice. " 'Twould rest my 
 bones more than to take ten years off from them, to 
 get an honest cup of English tea." 
 
 " English tea ! " cried the dame, nearly dropping the 
 big blue cup and saucer, and turning a red and angry 
 countenance upon him. " Who are you to come to 
 Concord Town and talk of English tea ? Never a drop 
 can you get here to wet your throat. You may search 
 from one end of the place to the other. No, we 
 drink nothing that is mixed by tyrants, and stamped 
 by a wicked Parliament." She was so very angry that 
 the old man's head went down on his breast, and he 
 blubbered and whimpered, and gurgled that he didn't 
 mean any offence ; but it was so long since he had 
 tasted tea, and he was so very tired, and he hoped she 
 would forgive him, and all that.
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 255 
 
 " Don't scold him, mother," begged Jonas ; " see 
 him shake. He's old, and he didn't know any better." 
 
 " You must excuse me, sir," said the dame, hurry- 
 ing to pour an infusion from a pot by the fire into the 
 cup, and covering it with boiling water from the kettle 
 on the crane; "but I'm sore worked up indeed to 
 think that you'd believe for a moment that a house in 
 Concord Town could hold that wicked king's tea. 
 Here, drink this, poor man, it will rest you ; for it is 
 an honest cup, brewed in the spirit of liberty." 
 
 " I am better now. I need no tea," said the old 
 man, not offering to take the cup she held forth. 
 
 " Yes, you must drink it," said the good wife. 
 "You are beaten with your journey." She thrust it 
 under his nose. " You will say that it makes you well, 
 when once it is down." 
 
 Thus pressed, the stranger had no alternative but to 
 accept the cup, out of which he took gingerly a small 
 swallow, and then precipitately sought the door by a 
 series of jerks that were supposed to represent age in 
 a hurry. 
 
 " It is excellent excellent," he said tottering back, 
 and wiping his mouth on his ragged sleeve ; " but 
 my stomach is weak loss of food, dear madam 
 my long walk. Pardon me." He sat down, mum- 
 bling away deep in his throat things that no one un-
 
 256 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 derstood, although the children crowded him closely 
 not to lose a word. 
 
 " He's hungry, mother, don't you understand," said 
 Susan, who succeeded in getting the closest to him. 
 " Do get him something to eat, quick," with great sym- 
 pathy, as she was always in that state. 
 
 " I'm sure I will give him something to stay his hun- 
 ger," said her mother, somewhat mollified as she felt 
 this might be the reason for the low condition, unable 
 to more than taste her splendid herb tea. " Here is 
 the best I have," bringing the corn slice. 
 
 The stranger shook his head feebly. " Could one 
 of your little ones put the bits into my mouth ? " he 
 asked in a faint voice. 
 
 " You poor soul, yes," cried the good dame, quite 
 won over from her resentment ; " though I wish you 
 would take the tea, 'twould quite bring you to." 
 
 " Let me feed him let me," cried Susan, springing 
 for the blue plate on which reposed the slice of corn 
 bread. 
 
 " I want to," piped Nancy, on her tiptoes. 
 
 "You can't either of you do it straight," broke in 
 Jonas. " I shall do it myself." 
 
 Thereupon a scuffle ensued, in which the blue plate 
 changed hands so many times that it was difficult to 
 say to whom it really belonged, the slice of corn
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 2$? 
 
 bread lying unnoticed on the floor where it had flown 
 in the melee. 
 
 " Naughty children ! " cried their mother, bestowing 
 liberal boxes from her palm on the ears that came 
 handy, "to fight and quarrel so when we are all in 
 such trouble, and this poor man may be dying before 
 us." She picked up the slice, and laid it on the table, 
 and went to the buttery to fetch another. 
 
 " This isn't good enough for company,'' said Susan, 
 calmly eating it with a gusto. 
 
 " Ma, Susan's et up the corn bread," shouted Jonas, 
 who intended to take it himself. 
 
 " You bad girl," said her mother, giving her a shake 
 as she passed her, " and you had two whole slices for 
 dinner. Here, Jonas, you may feed the poor old man. 
 How you children can be so naughty I don't see, when 
 we are all in such trouble." 
 
 " You speak of trouble so often, my good woman," 
 quavered the old man, as he opened his mouth to 
 receive the liberal wedge of corn-bread that Jonas 
 applied to his lips. " Not such big pieces, please, 
 and don't feed me fast. I'm an old man, and I can't 
 eat very fast." 
 
 " You've got all your teeth," said Jonas, investigat- 
 ing the interior that received the corn-bread supply. 
 
 The stranger closed his mouth quickly ; and the
 
 258 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 corn crumbs must have gone down the wrong way, 
 for he coughed and spluttered, until Jonas at last put 
 down the plate in despair at ever being able to furnish 
 another supply. 
 
 " I don't want to feed him, mother," he announced 
 in a loud whisper to the dame ; " he's awful slow and 
 queer." 
 
 "He's very old," whispered loudly back his mother. 
 "We must pity the infirmities of the aged, my son. 
 See, he's nodding ; he'll go off to sleep most likely. 
 You children can run out to play." 
 
 Jonas and the others, having gotten all the fun out 
 of the episode likely to come, scampered off, while 
 the aged stranger dozed and nodded. Suddenly he 
 gave a long sigh. " I must have lost myself," he 
 said, opening his eyes. " Oh, well-a-day ! my poor 
 limbs were all tired out. You spoke of trouble, my 
 good woman, he roused himself as by an effort to 
 be conversational " and have you seen trouble ? 
 You seem comfortable," glancing around the cottage 
 walls. 
 
 "Where have you been not to know the trouble and 
 sore distress of our Colonies ? " cried the dame wrath- 
 fully. "Have you been asleep all these past years 
 not to have discovered it. The idea of coming to 
 Concord Town and asking me this question ! " she
 
 RAPID PREPARATIONS. 259 
 
 added in a dudgeon. " Well, since you don't seem to 
 know, I will tell you that wicked King George has 
 left no stone unturned by which he might oppress us. 
 He and his wickeder parliament are determined to 
 crush us but they can't do it. 
 
 The old man huddled down in his chair deprecat- 
 ingly. "You surely do not mean to oppose the 
 king ? " he quavered in dismay. 
 
 " Oppose ? Ay, we do. We will fight him to the 
 death. There isn't a man in Concord Town who 
 won't do it." 
 
 " What, fight your king ? " cried the old man in 
 horror, and spreading his hands, quivering like aspen 
 leaves. 
 
 " Our king," exploded Dame Woodward ; " we know 
 no king but God. The king you call ours is a despot, 
 and has treated us like slaves. We have obeyed him, 
 been loyal to him, and loved him now don't talk, 
 you're too old, and still he crushes us to the earth. 
 Nothing now remains for us but slavery. Fight ? 
 You shall see how we will fight when the time comes. 
 Bless God, it's coming soon, we pray." 
 
 " You wouldn't have your husband go to battle, 
 would you ? " queried the old man in a thin tone of 
 amazement. 
 
 " I wouldn't have him not go," shrilled the dame.
 
 26O A LIl^TLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " And if the men can't whip the British enslavers, 
 we women and girls will all turn out. Where have 
 you been not to know this without asking, pray tell?" 
 It was her turn to look amazed. 
 
 " I'm very old and poor and tired," said the 
 stranger feebly. " I pray you to forgive me if I 
 make mistakes ; " and then he went off into another 
 fit of mumbling. To restore him, Dame Woodward 
 began to talk, thinking to make him forget his blun- 
 der. " No matter how sick and poor and troubled we 
 be, we're all for fighting. Now you ought to hear 
 Debby Parlin talk." 
 
 The old man went on mumbling, as if he heard 
 not. But presently he begged humbly to be for- 
 given again. "You were speaking of one of your 
 relatives?" he asked. 
 
 "She's no kin to me, but I wish she was. Don't 
 you know Debby Parlin ? Why, everybody knows 
 her. She lives down this Old Bay Road in a little 
 cottage against the Ridge." 
 
 "You forget I do not live in this village," said the 
 old man. 
 
 " Seem's if everybody ought to know Debby Par- 
 lin," replied Mrs. Woodward. "Well, her father's 
 gone off, no livin' mortal knows where. The trouble 
 we've all been in, has prob'ly flew to his head. An'
 
 RAPW PREPARATIONS. 26 1 
 
 Mis' Parlin took a dretful spell by reason of him 
 away ; an' there's that Deb'rah with her sick ma, for 
 she's terribly changed, Mis' Parlin is, an' them three 
 children, and she's as fierce for the war to begin as 
 any of us. Land ! I wouldn't want to fight that girl 
 if I was a British soldier." 
 
 "You interest me very much," said the stranger, 
 when the busy tongue came to a pause. " And you 
 make me forget my own troubles to hear you, my 
 good woman." 
 
 "Well, it's a sight to make a body cry, to see that 
 girl ; why, she goes out spinning, or weaving, or doing 
 anything she can turn her hand to, and all the towns- 
 folk have her come an' help 'em. Everybody loves 
 Debby. Oh, dear, dear! an' we can't help her 
 much, cause we're all as poor as Job's turkeys, an' 
 got our own noses to the grindstone. You ain't 
 goin' ? " 
 
 "I must get on a piece now," said the old man, 
 getting out of his chair, and planting his staff on 
 the floor with a thump. "Thank you kindly, my 
 good woman, I won't forget you ever." 
 
 "You're welcome," said Dame Woodward; "let me 
 help you," essaying to ease his tottering footsteps to 
 the door. "I'm sure I wish I had better to give you, 
 but it's all we've got ourselves. At any rate, it's
 
 262 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 honest food, and it don't belong to slaves, for we're 
 bound to be free. Don't you fail to remember that. 
 An' I'm glad I seen you, and may the Lord help you 
 on your way." She shouted all this after him as he 
 tremblingly went down the road toward the centre of 
 Concord Town.
 
 "CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED." 263 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 f~^ OVERNOR and Commander-in-Chief Gage sat by 
 VJT" his fireside, in the Province House, for the 
 day, though in early autumn, was cool, lost in a train 
 of perplexed and angry musing. He had that after- 
 noon ridden out to view the blockhouses and repairs 
 on the fortifications at Boston Neck, which, to further 
 subdue the rebellious spirit of the colonists, he had 
 gotten well under way. Though none of the laborers 
 versed in such matters in the town would assist him, 
 he had managed to erect some sort of makeshift 
 for fortifying purposes. He intended to pursue the 
 work rapidly, at the same time to push forward every 
 other scheme to break the spirit of the rebels, who 
 were now becoming openly determined to stand by 
 their rights, and to remain "the conservators of ex- 
 isting institutions, they call themselves," he said 
 sneeringly to himself; "but rebels they are, and by 
 King George and the British Parliament and the 
 British army, as rebels I will subdue them."
 
 264 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Thwarted in all he had set out to do in the way 
 of subjugating these troublesome colonists, Thomas 
 Gage, received by the people of Boston in their great 
 relief at the withdrawal of the detested Hutchinson, 
 at first with a popular show of welcome, had failed, 
 like the other royal governors, to grasp the situation. 
 Here he sat in the handsome home, set apart by the 
 Colonial Legislature of 1716 for him and his prede- 
 cessors, looking back on a constantly increasing com- 
 plication of the difficulty he had hoped to straighten 
 out between the king and his subjects. 
 
 In his rage at the obstinacy and foolhardiness of 
 these rebels, he could not but acknowledge, had he 
 been truthful, that he lost his head when he became 
 malignant enough to send forth his proclamation 
 against those who were determined not to buy British 
 goods. All his efforts to fasten the charges of treason 
 and rebellion upon the colonist leaders, in their in- 
 dependent interpretation of their chartered rights, 
 had failed utterly, leaving him in a most mortifying 
 position, constantly forced to some new scheme by 
 which he fondly hoped to be successful. 
 
 But the Regulation Act, immediately put into opera- 
 tion by him when received from the English Par- 
 liament, not only made matters worse, but precipitated 
 the crisis. The colonists must now either be slaves,
 
 "CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED." 265 
 
 or independent men, free from the yoke of king or 
 Parliament. There could be no middle situation, and he, 
 sitting there, governor and commander-in-chief of the 
 British army, knew it, as did all the world looking on. 
 
 It was in the midst of these distressing and humil- 
 iating thoughts, that a tall and slender man, in the 
 garb of a British officer, approached the mansion, and 
 ascended the high flight of stone steps. He was 
 ushered through a " magnificent doorway which might 
 have rivalled those of the palaces of Europe." Here 
 he left his colored servant in the outer hall, with a 
 careless glance of his dark eye, and a manner indica- 
 tive of no special command ; yet Pompey ducked obse- 
 quiously, and shuffled his feet back instantly, as if 
 anxious to get well out of range of anything that 
 might fly in their direction. 
 
 " Ha, Thornton, is that you ? " said Governor Gage, 
 as the young man entered. " Close the door, and 
 come here. Stay, ring for wine to be brought." 
 
 " I want none, thank you," said Thornton hastily, 
 " and would to business as soon as possible." 
 
 "Wine you must have," replied the governor. Even 
 a little thing like that irritated him, who seemed not 
 able to impose obedience. " And if you cannot touch 
 that bell yonder, why, I can do it for you." 
 
 " Pardon me," said the young officer, the color ris-
 
 266 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 ing to his cheek, " in that case I find that I do need 
 some wine, and permit me to ring for you." 
 
 When the wine was brought by the black servant, 
 and the decanters and their glasses were set forth 
 on the shining oaken table, Thornton paused, between 
 his slow sips, to wait the pleasure of the governor. 
 But no summons to speak coming from the governor's 
 lips, he at last set down his glass and said, "If you 
 will permit me, Governor Gage, I will show you why 
 I come to you this afternoon. Really it seems to me 
 there is cause for grave consideration if not for serious 
 alarm, in the various matters I shall lay before you." 
 
 " Matters that I doubt not will be trifling, as are 
 all the affairs in which these rebels are engaged," 
 said Governor Gage, intending to be dignified and 
 cool, but missing his object. 
 
 " Perhaps so," assented Thornton, who had regained 
 his usual color, and taking another sip of wine with 
 an indifferent air, as if determined now to await the 
 governor's request before revealing his errand. 
 
 " I shall not be disturbed, Thornton, I tell you in 
 advance, at whatever you bring me. Remember, I 
 know these rascally poltroons well, and can be sur- 
 prised by nothing. What are their leaders, but men 
 of low birth and fortunes like this desperate Sam 
 Adams, or, on the other hand, weak fools who aspire
 
 "CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED." 267 
 
 to aristocracy, like this Hancock, who is really led 
 about by this same Adams ? Bah ! " He struck the 
 table with his palm till the glasses rang, poured out 
 a stiff glass of grog, and tossed it off. " Out with 
 your tale," he said briefly, and composed himself as 
 well as he could to listen. 
 
 " I shall sadly vex you, Governor Gage, I doubt not," 
 said Thornton respectfully, yet not without a shade 
 of contempt in his tone, " at what I am about to say." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " ejaculated the governor. " You can- 
 not vex me. Have I not known you well, and from 
 what you come ? You are an English gentleman ; 
 and, mark you, Thornton, there is no finer work of 
 God under the sun than one such." The young man 
 bowed in gratified acknowledgment at this tribute. 
 
 " You are of kin to Sir Francis Bernard, and 
 have lived in the midst of all his traditions of family 
 and government, to say nothing of being taught like 
 him at the University of Oxford, where, if anywhere, 
 thank God for it, men are made to believe in the 
 divine right of kings ; and your word has, I must 
 confess, as I have ever shown to you, great weight 
 with me," the governor proceeded, with a view to the 
 earliest propitiation of the young man before him. 
 
 "But I warn you, nevertheless, that I am about 
 to utter what may be instrumental in breaking up
 
 268 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 your regard for me, notwithstanding this regard is 
 based upon my being kinsman to your friend Sir 
 Francis." 
 
 "Not wholly, Thornton," interposed the governor 
 hastily. "You are a young man after my own heart 
 and mind, on your individual merits. It is for your- 
 self that 1 have regard ; your family traditions and 
 early associations do but enrich you." 
 
 Thornton moved his chair a trifle impatiently. 
 " Have I your permission to proceed to the business 
 in hand ? " 
 
 " Yes ; proceed at once," said the governor, com- 
 pressing his lips and folding his hands. 
 
 " In the first place, I have a confession to make 
 to you, sir," said Thornton respectfully yet firmly. 
 " Where I once thought that these Colonists, call them 
 rebels if you will " 
 
 " They are rebels," interrupted the governor harshly, 
 and bringing down his folded hand again in a way 
 to make the glasses ring; "rebels of the deepest dye; 
 mark you that. Proceed." 
 
 " Where I once thought that they were hopelessly 
 contending for a principle they would never bring to 
 the point of settlement by the sword, I now as con- 
 scientiously believe that they will fight to the death 
 to maintain that principle."
 
 "CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED." 269 
 
 " You lie ! " exclaimed the governor, startled out of 
 his composure, and leaping from his chair. 
 
 " No man, be he governor or king, dares tell me 
 that," said Thornton, getting deliberately out from his 
 chair and facing him. 
 
 " You are right, my boy," the governor put out a 
 quick hand, and laid it on the young man's shoulder; 
 " I was hasty and choleric forgive me. By my 
 sword, I have been more tried than even you imagine. 
 Here's my hand, I know you are a man of honor and 
 truth. Forgive and forget, Thornton." 
 
 The young officer silently took the proffered hand, 
 and reseated himself, as the governor did the same. 
 
 " I am at a loss how to proceed, sir," he said after 
 a moment, when his host was pouring out another 
 glass of wine, and drinking it to allay his perturbation ; 
 " I am fearful I may offend again." 
 
 " Go on, I promise not to take umbrage again, at 
 least till you are through," said Governor Gage with 
 a short laugh. Yet he clinched his hands tightly to- 
 gether to hold himself in check. 
 
 "I repeat it, sir, these Colonists" (it was noticeable 
 that all through the conversation that ensued, Thornton 
 did not once allude to them as rebels, and Governor 
 Gage winced many a time at the omission) "will fight 
 when the time comes, I believe and to a man."
 
 2/0 A LITTLE MAID OI- COKCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Why do you thus believe? and from what do you 
 draw your conclusions ? " demanded the governor. 
 
 "From my own personal observations, sir," said 
 Thornton. "I have been now, you know, many 
 months among them, in every conceivable disguise, 
 peddler, aged man, in any and every way in which 
 I could be admitted to their confidence. It is not 
 necessary to enumerate them. You know how I have 
 employed every moment I could be spared from my 
 regiment, and I will conscientiously say I have been 
 thorough in my work." 
 
 "This I believe, knowing you," the governor opened 
 his tightly compressed lips to say. 
 
 ''I have visited many towns and Colonies, and have 
 acquired besides the actual knowledge needed for our 
 commanders in the way of ammunition, men, and so 
 forth, the additional information as to the temper and 
 spirit of the Colonists. Lately I have centred my 
 best work in Concord Town." 
 
 " And what do you find there ?" demanded the gov- 
 ernor eagerly, and unclasping his hands to nervously 
 play with his wine-glass. "I venture to say that here 
 at least you will accord me the justice of good intui- 
 tions, when I say that they will not fight when brought 
 to the pinch. Old Concord is too near to Boston to 
 dare the trial. She knows too much."
 
 "CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED." 2/1 
 
 " On the contrary," said Thornton in a low, strained 
 voice, " she knows so much, that she is willing to die, 
 but she will be free. Take my word for it, sir. Be 
 warned in time. Concord will never be conquered." 
 
 There was an awful pause. Then came a crushing 
 sound as the wine-glass was hurled from the governor's 
 fingers and dashed against the hearthstone. 
 
 " I will keep my word, young man," he said, his 
 face almost purple in his attempts to restrain himself. 
 " I am a man of honor, and never will I forget that I 
 have promised to be silent and upbraid you not, but 
 to let you finish in peace. Have you more to say ? " 
 
 "Yes." The young officer nodded, and communed 
 silently how easiest to bring all the points to the best 
 and quickest consideration of his hearer. 
 
 "You have made, I hope, some good Loyalists?" 
 queried the governor sharply, with a keen glance, " in 
 all these journeyings." 
 
 "Yes," said Thornton. A pained expression swept 
 over his face, but it was gone in an instant, and he 
 bore his usual countenance. "I have, sir. But 
 these are all overborne by the determined spirit of 
 their opposers. They amount to nothing as far as 
 stemming the current of public opinion. It is all 
 one way. Believe me, sir, I would I had a pleasant 
 tale to tell."
 
 2/2 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Now, by King George," cried the governor, on 
 his feet, and clinching both hands before him, "they 
 shall taste the sword they are so anxious to run 
 against. Poor wretches! will nothing bring them to 
 reason? Are they so steeped in their folly and con- 
 ceit that they can see aught but ruin ahead of them ? 
 It is time to loose the dogs of war on them, for the 
 longer delayed, but intrenches them in their mad 
 delusions. Go on, for I see that you have more on 
 your mind," he commanded abruptly. 
 
 "They have begun to raise what they call com- 
 panies of minute-men among the various towns," 
 said Thornton. 
 
 "Ha, ha! and what are those, pray tell? Men 
 who will run the minute the British army stands 
 before them, I make no doubt," sneered Governor 
 Gage. 
 
 "They are men who will be ready to take up arms 
 the minute the call comes for them," said Thornton. 
 
 " Bosh ! " It was impossible to throw more con- 
 tempt into a single word than that now invested 
 with the governor's derision. 
 
 The young man's face settled into a deeper grav- 
 ity. t( I wish you could see it all as I, who have 
 been amongst them, see it, sir," he said at length. 
 "They are men, I am convinced, who do not rebel
 
 " CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED." 2/3 
 
 from fancied wrongs, nor from any lack of loyalty 
 to our king, but from a deep-seated conviction of 
 their rights invaded, and their charters infringed." 
 
 "Hold!" cried the governor in a loud tone; 
 "why, you are a rebel yourself," he was about to 
 add, but recollected his promise in time. 
 
 Thornton coolly finished the words for him. " You 
 were going to say that I was as bad a rebel as any 
 of these but you had not heard me through. I 
 was telling you the state of affairs seen through 
 their eyes, in order that you may realize that it is 
 a matter of conscience with them, and that as such 
 we must recognize the fact that it will be well-nigh 
 impossible to conquer them by mere force." 
 
 " Nevertheless it shall be tried," said the gov- 
 ernor under his breath. 
 
 " As for me," Thornton drew himself up to his 
 full height, " I am, as you say, an English gentle- 
 man, born and bred in the belief of the divine 
 right of kings. This is enough." 
 
 " Quite," assented Governor Gage dryly. 
 
 "Would it not be possible," the young British 
 officer leaned forward and searched the face before 
 him, " to use other measures to induce them to reason ? 
 Surely, if you could but see them for yourself, you 
 would recognize the fact that they are easily led.
 
 2/4 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 It is by no means too late to try conciliation. There 
 are many honorable ways of bringing this about, and 
 retaining our hold upon the Colonies, and " 
 
 But he got no farther. " Young man," thundered 
 the governor, " you are now transcending your prov- 
 ince. Verily, this is an unusual thing from one so 
 young as you, to be thus in conference with the 
 chief executive, and you must not overstep the priv- 
 ilege." 
 
 " I was sought," said Thornton with hauteur. 
 "Otherwise, you are quite aware, sir, that I should 
 never have intruded myself to your notice or your 
 presence ; " and again the expression of contempt 
 overspread his face. 
 
 " Quite true. Being what you are, I have gladly 
 intrusted to you this important work, and summoned 
 you to confidential conferences. But no one is 
 allowed to overstep the bound, nor to dictate to me, 
 the chief executive, the best way to deal with stiff- 
 necked and rebellious people." 
 
 " I shall not be likely to err in this direction 
 again," said Thornton, keeping his anger down ; " I 
 have eased my mind, and spoken freely in regard 
 to this unhappy estrangement between the mother- 
 country and her American Colonies. I have given 
 you what information I was sent to obtain. Now
 
 "CONCORD WILL NEVER BE CONQUERED." 2?$ 
 
 I will, with your permission, retire." He rose and 
 stood before the governor. 
 
 " You have done well in your expeditions, I doubt 
 not," replied Governor Gage, endeavoring to re- 
 cover his usual manner, and -partially succeeding; 
 " I shall doubtless send you again on similar ones. 
 Meantime gather all the news you can, from what- 
 ever source, and bring me; and carry away with 
 you, Thornton, from this interview, only my un- 
 bounded respect and affection. Your judgment only 
 is at fault." 
 
 The young officer bowed himself out, and motion- 
 ing to his colored servant, rolling his eyes in stiff 
 dignity on the carved oaken chair, to follow him, 
 he stalked down the street. 
 
 "Golly, massa," said Pompey, shambling after, "I 
 hain't gotter tell tings you brung me up to the big 
 house fer, about Capen James and the stuff he's 
 keerin' fer, and all the rest? Hee-hee, dis nigger's 
 glad!" 
 
 " No, you villain ! " The young lieutenant turned 
 suddenly and let his boot fly. Over rolled the 
 darkey, clapping his hand to his shin. He had met 
 his Waterloo again.
 
 2/6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. 
 
 MIDWINTER was fairly begun, ushering in the 
 year of liberty. It was of January, 1775. 
 Around the old church of Concord Town there 
 was a great stir. From the groups of men, old and 
 young, gathered out of the whole countryside, it was 
 easy to discover by the fragments of conversation, that 
 an event of unusual importance was about to happen. 
 There were exhibitions here and there of powder- 
 horns handed about from one to the other. Now and 
 then an old musket appeared that seemed to have done 
 duty in the Indian raids, or in shooting bears on 
 some lonely farm ; and great was the envy and pride 
 on the countenances, as these articles were displayed 
 by their owners and passed along. Those who were 
 less fortunate, slapped their breeches pockets, and 
 guessed they could raise enough to buy their accoutre- 
 ments. Some few hung their heads, until assured that 
 the town had promised to buy the guns for men un- 
 able to furnish them ; then their spirits revived.
 
 USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. 277 
 
 " Hush, here he comes." The young pastor, fair 
 and slender, came down the road, his Bible under his 
 arm. His step was springing, and there was that in 
 his air that gave courage to the waiting men and the 
 outer fringe of people, like the blast of a trumpet ; 
 and they all filed in and took their seats in the big 
 square pews, while he mounted the pulpit steps, con- 
 vinced that the enlistment to follow the meeting, was 
 to be a whole-souled movement. 
 
 Simon and Jabez crowded up into a front seat. 
 There was old Daddy Fairbanks, well along in his 
 eighties, hurrying after. " Move up, boys," he quav- 
 ered, with kindling eye, and he dropped into a seat 
 beside them; "I want to be a-settin' up high, so 's to 
 be one o' the fust to get my name writ down." 
 
 Here was Abner Butterfield, whose right hand ner- 
 vously fingered the grand'ther's musket he bore. 
 This had been at Louisburg, and Abner meant it to 
 tell more tales before he got through with it. And 
 here, crowding his toes, and shoving his long figure, 
 was the ubiquitous boy of Concord Town, standing 
 up big and straight, ready to demand the privilege of 
 "jining the comp'ny." They were all there, old and 
 young, big and little, from this and the neighbor- 
 ing towns, drawn to the great meeting when their 
 revered pastor was to preach, to be followed by the
 
 2/8 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 raising of the minute company to defend their rights 
 as freemen. 
 
 The long sermon has begun, from Psalm Ixiii. 2. 
 " To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen 
 thee in the sanctuary." Not a word is missed. No 
 one thinks of fatigue. Solemnly every word is taken 
 in by the absorbed, attentive listeners. Brought up 
 as they were to attend divine service on each Lord's 
 Day, and feeling it a sin and a shame to begin any- 
 thing without the blessing of the God of their fath- 
 ers, these men and boys look upon this effort of the 
 preacher as the only proper step to their induction 
 into the ranks of the fighters. And they drink 
 eagerly in every word, only drawing a long breath of 
 delight when the regulations are to be signed, and 
 the real enlisting is begun. 
 
 Sixty came forward, many of them being either too 
 old or too young to go into the militia, and signed 
 their names to the following regulations, or agree- 
 ments : 
 
 " i. We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, will, to 
 the utmost of our power, defend his Majesty, King George 
 the Third, his person, crown, and dignity. 
 
 " 2. We will at the same time, to the utmost of our 
 power and abilities, defend all and every of our charter 
 rights, liberties, and privileges ; and will hold ourselves in
 
 USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY, 279 
 
 readiness at a minute's warning with arms and ammunition 
 thus to do. 
 
 "3. We will at all times and in all places obey our offi- 
 cers chosen by us, and our superior officers, in ordering 
 and disciplining us, when and where said officers shall 
 think proper." 
 
 Debby Parlin sat with her mates, and between Mills- 
 cent Barrett and Perces Wood. Her tired hands, freed 
 from toil for this brief respite, for everybody went 
 to the meeting, and no one thought of working any 
 more than on a Sabbath day, rested in the palms of the 
 girls beside her. A gentle pressure, every now and 
 then, from Miliscent's warm, sympathetic fingers, and 
 a glance from the soft, dark eye, told how keenly the 
 heart of her friend was bearing the sorrow fallen upon 
 the young life. Perces held the poor, toil-marked 
 fingers ; but she sat bolt upright, as was her wont, 
 and stared religiously up into the minister's face. 
 Yet Debby knew the current under the still surface, 
 and was content. 
 
 The enlisting went on rapidly, with a promise of 
 more names to follow, which was afterward fulfilled, 
 one hundred joining the ranks, so that the number 
 was divided, making two companies, one of which 
 was called The Alarm Company. 
 
 When it was all over, and the newly enlisted men
 
 28O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 and boys had marched off to consider ways and 
 means for active work, Debby turned her pale face 
 to Miliscent, and drew a long breath. " I've got 
 something to tell you ; and I want you and Perces to 
 come out into the burying-ground, but not the other 
 girls." 
 
 " Come on, Debby," called one of these last, as 
 they filed out of church with that feeling that, after 
 such an unusual event, the hours to follow till sun- 
 down should be free from work. "You can't settle 
 down to anything. Nobody's going home yet." 
 
 "You forget I have mother; she'll be lonely," said 
 Debby, in the quiet way that was hers now. " But I 
 must speak to Miliscent and Perces first; don't be 
 angry with me, girls," she added pleadingly. 
 
 " We ain't mad/' said Louisa quickly, as she looked 
 into the pale face. "Come away," and she led off 
 the others, who were longing to add themselves to 
 Debby's company. 
 
 "Now, girls," up in the old hill burying-ground, 
 Debby stopped abruptly and faced them, " I've got 
 something on my mind, and you must help me." 
 
 Neither girl spoke. Debby was always sure to dis- 
 close everything in regular fashion, and much better 
 if not interrupted. But she hesitated so long- now 
 that Miliscent said, "Well?"
 
 USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. 28 1 
 
 " I am going to search for my father," said Debby 
 abruptly, pale and red by turns. 
 
 " Deborah Parlin ! " exclaimed both girls at once. 
 Such a thing had never been heard of in those days 
 as a girl's going away from home, alone, and into un- 
 known spots ; and they stared at her, after that first 
 explosion of surprise, in dumb amazement. 
 
 " I surely am," declared Debby in clear-cut, low 
 tones. " You know, girls, it is useless to say any- 
 thing, for my mind is made up." 
 
 " But you cannot go," cried Miliscent, off her guard, 
 and not realizing that this was not the way to deal 
 with one of Debby's make-up. " I never heard of such 
 a thing ; nobody has. Why, what could you do, De- 
 borah Parlin ? " She folded her hands imploringly. 
 
 " I can search for my father," repeated Debby in 
 lower tones, but ringing with determination. " Girls, 
 do you either of you know what it is to be without 
 a father ? " Her head sunk to her bosom, but her 
 eyes were dry. 
 
 " You poor thing ! " Miliscent threw both arms 
 around her, and strained her to her breast. " Oh ! 
 you know how we love you, how everybody loves you, 
 Debby. And we just long to do something for you. 
 But to go off for your father you don't in the least 
 know where he is. What will become of you ? And
 
 282 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 then we need you to make the cartridges. Oh, dear, 
 dear ! give it up, dear Debby, do." She caressed and 
 mourned over her and pleaded, Perces standing stiff 
 and tall and silent. 
 
 " Perces, do say something to get this idea out of 
 her head, and not stand like a stick or a stone," at 
 last cried Miliscent impatiently. 
 
 " I think Debby is right to go," said Perces de- 
 cidedly, and not moving a muscle. 
 
 " Perces Wood ! I wonder what your father would 
 say if he knew you encouraged Debby to leave her 
 home and go on such a dreadfully risky piece of 
 work," cried Miliscent angrily. 
 
 "I'm not encouraging her," declared Perces stol- 
 idly. "You wanted me to speak, and I'm going to 
 tell the truth. I think she ought to go." 
 
 " Perces Perces ! " cried Debby convulsively, 
 amid a rain of tears. Seeing this, Miliscent in a dum- 
 founded way began to pet her. But she clung to 
 the big, stolid girl. 
 
 " You will some time be glad that I advised you," 
 said Miliscent, standing off in a grand way, deter- 
 mined now to do the heroics. " Well, good-by, Deb- 
 orah Parlin," and she turned her back on the two, 
 "if you wish to desert your work on the cartridges 
 for a useless search."
 
 I'SHERIXG IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. 283 
 
 '' Miliscent ! " Debby flung herself after her. " You 
 don't know how you are hurting me, when I think 
 I must give up my work on the cartridges. Stop, not 
 another word, I know God wants me to search for my 
 father. He will take care of me. O girls, girls ! " 
 she had dragged Miliscent back to Perces standing 
 still, as she spoke, and she now laid a hand on the 
 arm of each girl, "I must find my father, or I shall 
 die." Every bit of color had fled from her face ; and 
 her hood, falling back, disclosed her thin cheeks with 
 the hollows under the blue eyes. '' Think what it is 
 to see each day go by and get no tidings from him. I 
 must bring him back." 
 
 " You seem to feel that he's alive, Debby," said 
 Miliscent, catching her breath at the misery of the 
 young face before her. " He's probably dead, dear, 
 long before this, or he would have come home. So 
 there is no use in your risking your life, as you surely 
 will, I feel, in going on such a wild errand." 
 
 Debby turned and looked at her, but did not release 
 her hold on the arm. What'would the girls do if they 
 knew that her father was a Tory ! She almost felt like 
 a traitor, to be accepting their affection and confidence. 
 
 "If he were dead," she said solemnly, "I would 
 not mourn, but take it as the will of God. I must 
 bring back mv ^ther."
 
 284 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "I see there is no use in talking," said Miliscent 
 with a break in her voice, " and that you are going. 
 Forgive me for what I said." The tears gushed from 
 her eyes, and she fell on Debby's neck with many 
 sobs. 
 
 " You didn't mean you cannot know," said Debby, 
 " unless you had it to bear yourself, what it is to live 
 through O Miliscent 1 O Perces! if you will only 
 help me in this one thing." 
 
 They hung on her words, one tearful and sympa- 
 thetic, the other stolid and with dry eyes. 
 
 " Just go as often as you can, without neglecting the 
 cartridges, to see mother" Debby's lips trembled 
 " and the children. They've learned many nice ways 
 since Mrs. Butterfield took them for a visit; and they're 
 handy about the house, so she won't miss me much 
 about the work. But she's lonely in her mind, and 
 you know she never goes out; and oh! I'm so worried 
 about her." And the white face was overcast by a 
 cloud. Perces spoke up. 
 
 "Don't you worry. I'm a-going down there to stay. 
 You know I'm so slow I'm no good on the cartridges.'' 
 
 "Perces!" it was now Debby's turn to be aston- 
 ished. As for Miliscent she sank down on one of 
 the graves, and clung to the tombstone in amaze- 
 ment.
 
 a 
 
 - -I?
 
 USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. 285 
 
 "Mother doesn't need me," Perces was saying 
 steadily. "She's got Betsy Higgins there now ; she's 
 had to give up her farm, you know, and father told her 
 to come to our house. And I'm really no good on 
 the cartridges; so I'll just go and see after your ma, 
 Debby, and you can go off easy in your mind,'' she 
 added, with the air of a woman of forty, who was 
 accustomed to settle big matters every day. 
 
 Miliscent peeped behind the tombstone and gazed 
 at her. Debby had seized her hands, " O you Perces, 
 you good Perces ! " and was laughing and crying at 
 one and the same time. 
 
 "Perhaps your mother won't let you go, Debby," 
 said Miliscent, feeling as if the whole world were up- 
 side down, and she had no bearings at all. 
 
 " She will ; she knows it of course I told her first," 
 cried Debby breathlessly. " O you good Perces ! " 
 
 " Then I must give up, and let you go," said Milis- 
 cent with a sigh, getting up and shaking the damp 
 mould from her blue stuff gown. " And, Debby, since 
 you are really going, I promise to help you every 
 single bit I can while you are gone. I can't go to 
 stay all the time at your house," with a pang at the 
 thought of Perces's happiness, for we've such loads 
 of children; and then grandfather and grandmother 
 expect me over there every day and there are the
 
 286 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 cartridges. But every minute 1 can spare, I'll be 
 down to see your mother. O Debby ! '' 
 
 She fell on her neck again, but this time without 
 tears; and at last, as the sun sank down behind the 
 hill, they parted, and went their several ways. 
 
 " Mother," said Perces Wood, going straight up to 
 the matron's side when they were alone in the big 
 kitchen, " Debby Parlin is going away to find her 
 father, and I am going down to stay with her mother. 
 I knew you'd let me. And don't let us tell any one." 
 
 Mrs. Wood looked up at her daughter. "Well, 
 you can go,'' she said slowly, after a while. 
 
 "I knew you'd let me," said Perces in a matter- 
 of-fact way; "and so I told Debby this afternoon." 
 
 "But as for not telling any one, we shall inform 
 your father, of course," -said Mrs. Wood, feeling 
 for the moment younger than her daughter, and 
 not caring to show in the presence of so much com- 
 posure how startled she was at this news of Debby's 
 plans. Evidently the times were days of develop- 
 ment for the girls, who, if they couldn't fight, could 
 show their pluck in other ways. She went silently 
 about the old kitchen with many conflicting emo- 
 tions within her. And Perces, as if such things 
 were of daily settling, put up the supper dishes on 
 the dresser with her usual precision and slow care.
 
 USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. 287 
 
 The next morning she put on her hood and big 
 shawl and went out, hearing Betsy Higgins say, 
 'La, where's she a-streakin' it to now, I wonder," 
 with the freedom of the New England homestead, 
 where all were on a footing of equality. But 
 Betsy got no reply, Perces felt quite sure, as no one 
 but herself knew her expedition, her mother allow- 
 ing it without asking why. 
 
 The girl kept on her slow and steady way, till 
 the two miles between the Wood mansion and her 
 destination were traversed. Then she turned in at 
 the Butterfield farmyard, and rapped at the big green 
 door. 
 
 " My senses, it's Perces Wood!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Butterfield, as if announcing it to an imaginary 
 company. " Your pa out in the waggin, or your 
 ma most likely?" craning her neck. 
 
 "No," said Perces; " I came on foot and alone. 
 I want to see Abner, Mrs. Butterfield." 
 
 " La, well, you do ? " said Abner's mother, much 
 puzzled. Perces never was a girl to run after the 
 boys ; but here she was now, sure enough. And 
 Mrs. Butterfield began to draw lively conclusions 
 of the motives that had induced rich Mr. Wood's 
 daughter to travel those long two miles, and a com- 
 placent smile overspread her big features 'at the
 
 288 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 thought of so much appreciation of her son. " Though 
 I always knew he could pick and choose through the 
 hull town. But, la me 1 I wouldn't have him really 
 marry any one but Debby, bless her heart ! Ab-//<?r / " 
 she screamed at the foot of the stairs leading up to 
 the corn-chamber, while Perces waited on the door- 
 stone. 
 
 " You ain't goin' in in that rig," she remonstrated, 
 as Abner came down the stairs in response to the 
 summons ; u it's the Wood girl, an' she wants to see 
 you. Do go an' slick up a bit I'll keep her talkin'." 
 
 But Abner pushed past her, and was already at the 
 door. " Did you want to see me 1 " There were dark 
 hollows under his heavy eyes. Mrs. Butterfield fol- 
 lowed heavily after. 
 
 " I want to see Abner alone," said Perces, quite com- 
 posed, and with no circumlocutory effort. 
 
 " This way, then." Abner was about to fling wide 
 the keeping-room door ; but remembering with a pang 
 the night that Debby had given therein her confidence 
 touching Tory Lee, he closed it hastily. " You can 
 tell me out here," he said ; and they stepped beneath 
 the large oak just on the edge of the house-place, Mrs. 
 Butterfield, as on that other occasion, left in thwarted 
 curipsity this time, however, with the satisfaction 
 born of the fact that she could command a good view
 
 USHERING IN THE YEAR OF LIBERTY. 289 
 
 from the kitchen window of all that went on under the 
 oak. 
 
 " It don't look like love-making," she soliloquized, 
 as she peered out " and of all beings, Perces Wood, 
 who's as stiddy as a clock. But then you can't ever 
 tell about these girls an' no wonder they are crazy 
 about my Abner ; an' these quiet ones are the most 
 dangerous, I reckon. Well, she sha'n't get him away 
 from Debby. She'll have me to tackle first." 
 
 Outside, Perces was saying in a matter-of-fact way, 
 and looking straight in the young man's face, " Debby 
 Parlin is going to look for her father. I thought I'd 
 tell you, but no one else is to know. Good-day ; " 
 and she trudged down the path, and out the gate- 
 way. 
 
 "Well, if ever I see anything more sing'lar in all 
 my born days ; she hain't had time to say a dozen 
 words skeercely, and gone, an' he a-standin' there as 
 if struck dumb." Mrs. Butterfield hurried to the door. 
 " Abater f" she called. " What did she want ? " 
 
 Abner started, and passed his hand over his fore- 
 head. " Oh ! you heard Perces say that she must tell 
 me alone, mother." 
 
 Then Mrs. Butterfield's thoughts deserted their first 
 charge and flew, as they ever must, to the impending 
 dangers. " Did Mr. Wood send her ? " she demanded
 
 290 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 hoarsely. " It's something about the Britishers com- 
 ing, I know." 
 
 " Nothing of the sort," denied Abner shortly, turn- 
 ing on his heel, and wishing the war only would com- 
 mence, to give his .torturing thoughts something to 
 dwell on that could lead him into action.
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 29 1 
 
 XX. 
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 
 
 ALOW knock sounded on the green door of the 
 Parlin cottage that evening. Debby took up 
 the candle, and went out into the little entry. As she 
 lifted the latch a sudden gust of wind blew the door 
 wide, and extinguished the light. 
 
 " Don't be scared," said a voice. 
 
 " Oh ! is that you, Jim ? " said Debby. 
 
 " Yes ; but don't be scared. I say, Debby, I've 
 come to tell you something before I'm off. Can you 
 trust me to shut that door and step outside a minute ? '' 
 
 Debby closed the door back of her, and followed 
 Jim to a little distance from the cottage, where he 
 paused. There was no moon ; but the sky above was 
 studded with brilliants, and the air, despite the sea- 
 son, was soft and balmy. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Debby patiently. " If you have 
 anything to tell me, Jim, say it at once, or I shall go 
 back to the house." 
 
 Jim seemed to find great difficulty in beginning.
 
 2Q2 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 He cleared his throat several times, and at last blurted 
 out in sheer desperation. " I'm awfully sorry I treated 
 you so, Debby, but " 
 
 " If that is all you have come to say, you might well 
 have remained at home," said Debby in scornful dig- 
 nity, and moving off toward the cottage. 
 
 "Well, it ain't," cried Jim hastily; "but I wanted 
 to get that off my mind first. I'm powerful sorry, 
 Debby; but I had to, for fear you'd tell on us, and 
 spoil the job. Don't you believe I'm sorry ? " 
 
 " Let that pass," said Debby, arresting her footsteps 
 at the suggestion of some other piece of information 
 weighing on Jim's mind. What if he should know 
 anything of her father ? flashed through her mind, al- 
 ways on the alert for chance news of the absent one. 
 
 " I was run into Ab Butterfield's house the day they 
 seized me at the Common to tar and feather and 
 duck me," said Jim suddenly in a burst. " He saved 
 me ; blast him, I'd rather 'a' been saved by any one 
 else than Ab. I've been hid away since; and, as it 
 ain't healthy for me to be seen around these parts, 
 I've streaked it over here at night to see you, for I 
 don't want you to think altogether bad of me, Debby. 
 I'm in Boston Town, where there's lots o' Tories to 
 keep me comp'ny. Now, before I go back, I'm goin' 
 to set your mind at rest somewhat about your father.
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 2Q3 
 
 Don't you worry a mite about him ; he's prob'ly 
 joined the Reg'lars." 
 
 A low cry broke from Debby's lips. " O Jim ! 
 anything but that ! " moaned the girl, clasping her 
 hands, and gazing up to the myriad lights above, with 
 anguished eyes. " If you told me that he was dead, 
 and up in yonder sky, I would not mourn ; but to take 
 up arms against his country, O my God! my God ! " 
 
 Jim trembled like an aspen leaf to hear her ; and he 
 managed to say, " Don't mind it so, Debby, lots o' 
 good men are Loyalists ; " drawing near as he did so, 
 with the vain hope of comfort. 
 
 It was at this instant that a tall, square-shouldered 
 figure stepped upon the soft greensward behind the 
 big elm just within the Parlin enclosure. Abner But- 
 terfield had mastered his fear that Debby would be 
 displeased at his intrusion upon the grief and shame 
 overwhelming her at her father's treachery to his 
 country, and had followed the instincts of his heart 
 bounding toward her at Perces's disclosure ; and here 
 he was, to give her what comfort he could. When he 
 caught sight of Jim, standing with her in the even- 
 ing shadow, in an apparently confidential attitude of 
 complete understanding, he could not believe his eyes. 
 He had not seen Jim since he had slipped off one 
 night, weeks before, from the Eutterfield homestead.
 
 294 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 But a second view, and Jim's voice, now sympathetic 
 and confident, left him no room for hope. Stung to the 
 quick, he started back, and strode off into the night. 
 
 " Speak not to me of good men who are Tories," 
 cried Debby in passionate accents. " There can be 
 no forgiveness for a traitor. O father, father ! " 
 
 Jim twisted uneasily from one foot to another. 
 " I'll tell you the man who put him up to it," at last 
 he said, determined to make a clean breast of the 
 whole matter. " It was the same one who made me 
 see things as they be. He was a peddler, but an 
 awful smart fellow, and he opened my eyes." 
 
 Debby's white face was upturned to the glowing 
 heavens ; her lips moved, but no words came. 
 
 "Well, some day maybe you'll see it, when the 
 tussle is over, and the British have whipped us out 
 o' our boots, as they're bound to do. Then your 
 father's being a Tory, is what'll save you, Debby 
 Parlin." 
 
 She did not even hear him, but in agonized accents 
 was begging piteously for some clew to her father's 
 whereabouts. 
 
 " I d'no any more'n the dead where he is," declared 
 Jim desperately ; " on my soul I wish I could help you. 
 'Twas a good many weeks back I run across him 
 suddint like. An' he told me he was goin' to join the
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 295 
 
 Reg'lars. I hain't seen him since. It'll be your sal- 
 vation if he does; an' you ought to know it, Debby 
 Parlin." 
 
 With a low cry of despair, she went swiftly into the 
 cottage, and up to her little room under the eaves, 
 where she flung herself on her knees with only God 
 to comfort. 
 
 It was morning in Boston Town. The unrest per- 
 vading all classes was visible to any chance observer, 
 who met every few steps of his way the British soldier, 
 insolent with gun and bayonet ; the youth of the town 
 wild with repressed indignation ; the grave and deter- 
 mined Patriot ; and the ardent Loyalist, bitter and 
 outspoken. The Common, white with the encamped 
 army of the invaders, was alert with military activity, 
 having within its borders the Fourth, Fifth, Thirty- 
 eighth and Forty-fifth Regiments, together with 
 twenty-two pieces of cannon, and three companies of 
 artillery. 
 
 " And over all the open green, 
 
 Where grazed of late the harmless kine, 
 The cannon's deepening ruts are seen, 
 
 The war-horse stamps, the bayonets shine." 
 
 Within the limits of the town, the Tory party, en- 
 deavoring to secure followers, and driven, many of 
 them, from their homes in the countryside by indig-
 
 2Q6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 nant fellow-citizens, was rapidly taking refuge, and 
 swelling the tide of bitterness against the Patriots, 
 toward whom there was now nothing but open abuse 
 by the tongue of the most virulent sort. 
 
 While the British coffee-house on King Street, 
 opposite the Custom House, was the resort of the 
 high Tories and the British officers, the Green Dragon 
 Tavern on Green Dragon Lane was the meeting- 
 ground of the Patriots. It was "in front a two-story 
 building with a pitch roof, but of greater elevation in 
 the rear ; and over the entrance an iron rod projected, 
 and upon it was crouched the copper dragon which 
 was the tavern's sign." Here, among others, assem- 
 bled Paul Revere, with a band of thirty men, mostly 
 mechanics, who volunteered to keep watch of the 
 movements of the British, and did so during 1774- 
 
 '775- 
 
 As Governor Gage felt his power over the people 
 daily lessening to the precincts of Boston and Salem, 
 then the seat of government, he confined himself in 
 his futile rage and chagrin to the completion of the 
 fortifications on the Neck, and raising the general 
 standard of the British army in quality and accoutre- 
 ments, and thus getting ready for decisive action in 
 the matter of subjugating the rebels. Accordingly 
 the British vessels continued to discharge their relays
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 297 
 
 in the harbor of "the flower of the English army," till 
 the old staid town began to literally bloom into color, 
 as the men, gay with their scarlet and gold and mili- 
 tary trappings, marched hither and yon along her 
 streets. The barracks were full to overflowing, and 
 all things seemed ripe for the downfall of the Patriots. 
 But despite the fact that there was within her borders 
 all royal authority, the king's governor, the king's 
 judges, and the king's army, all of these combined 
 had not been able to make the courts to sit, nor the 
 jurors to serve, while the people steadfastly refused to 
 obey. The Massachusetts Assembly, being repulsed 
 by Governor Gage at the Salem court-house, had been 
 equal to the emergency; and going off to Concord 
 Town, had continued the Provincial Congress, elect- 
 ing their own officers, and showing themselves capable 
 of taking care of the interests committed to them, and 
 in full accord with the Continental Congress at Phila- 
 delphia. The minute-men were forming in the various 
 country towns, while the ranks of the militia were rap- 
 idly filling up. "Forward for liberty!" and "Down 
 with oppression!" were the watchwords. "We will 
 stand by our chartered rights! " was the ultimatum 
 of the people; and when the people make a stand, it 
 is useless for a king to speak. 
 A young girl in a blue stuff gown, and hood
 
 298 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 drawn well over her face, and a packet on her arm, 
 was wending her way along the roadway, entering 
 the town on this spring morning. It was easy to 
 see that she was from the country, not so much by 
 the free spring of her foot that bespoke the field 
 and the meadow, as by a certain innocent grace of 
 each movement, and the modesty of her bearing. 
 She addressed no one to inquire the way; yet a keen 
 observer could have told that this was first time 
 she had trod this thoroughfare, and that hitherto 
 she had been a stranger to the town. Yet there 
 was no uncertainty in her demeanor, nor aught of 
 perplexity, as she went calmly on her way, appar- 
 ently not noticing many curious glances cast upon 
 her from the passers-by. At last, when well within 
 the borders of the town, she halted, and drew from 
 her packet a small paper. 
 
 " I would better ask the way to Dame Barker's 
 house," she said to herself, "than to waste time in 
 trying to find it. I will inquire of the next person 
 I meet, if the face warrants it." 
 
 But the next persons were two British soldiers, who 
 stared at her in a way to bring the pink color to her 
 cheeks as she haughtily passed by ; they endeavored 
 to look within her hood, and playfully challenged her 
 with their muskets, calling her '"Pretty Rebel'' mean-
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 299 
 
 while. But Debby bit her lips together, and decided 
 to go on her way by the guidance of her own mind 
 and intuitions. With a bosom swelling with the in- 
 dignities pressed upon her, and upon all other Patri- 
 ots, she passed on, careless of the direction her steps 
 were leading her, until she looked up. She was on 
 King Street, and beneath the windows of the British 
 coffee-house. 
 
 A party of young British officers was descending 
 the steps. Back of them stood some florid-faced, 
 older men, who had evidently been but shortly de- 
 tached from the card-table and the punch-bowl. 
 She paused involuntarily, her feet refusing to carry 
 her farther, as her eye rested on the foremost fig- 
 ure of a tall and slender young man. In this instant 
 of time his piercing dark eyes had met hers; and 
 despite his gorgeous uniform, gay in scarlet and gold, 
 that set off his dark, refined face and tall, slender 
 figure, she knew she was looking at "the peddler." 
 In the next, he was talking and laughing with the 
 bevy, his back to her, while he pointed up King 
 Street, directing the attention of his comrades thither 
 as the direction they should take. 
 
 "Stay a bit," called one of the florid-faced Eng- 
 lishmen on the steps; "there's a deucedly pretty 
 little rebel," pointing to the young girl. " Come
 
 30O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 back, Thornton and Herford, and you other fellows," 
 as they were moving off. " Don't turn your backs 
 on the little beauty." 
 
 Thus summoned, the men glanced back, particu- 
 larly one of their number, who had seen for himself. 
 " Come on," said Thornton sternly, "Harlow is deep 
 in his cups. Don't sink so low as to listen to him." 
 
 "Verily, she is a beauty," said the one who had 
 noticed her first, and taking a few steps toward 
 Debby's side, who still stood as if paralyzed, with 
 heart beating fast in her bosom. Oh! if the men 
 would only go away, and let her ask this young 
 British soldier who had it in his power to tell her 
 where her father was ! 
 
 " Fair maiden, where do you come from ? " queried 
 the young man who had turned back, now putting 
 himself directly in Debby's way; the older men on 
 the steps thrust their hands in their pockets and 
 smiled to see the encounter, some going down to the 
 pavement to get a nearer view of the pretty stranger. 
 
 Thornton wheeled suddenly. "This is dastardly!" 
 he exclaimed, without a glance at the girl. " Are 
 ye Englishmen?" he cried, his eyes blazing. "Well 
 would it be for our country if she could call you all 
 by any other name." 
 
 Young Herford by his side sprang into the circle.
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 30 1 
 
 "Shame on you for Englishmen!" he exclaimed, his 
 hot blood in his boyish cheeks; "let the maiden go, 
 and molest her not by idle talk." 
 
 Debby had by this time regained her composure; 
 and she stood pale, but dignified as an angry goddess, 
 viewing them all with clear, undaunted eyes, till they 
 quailed, and with a foolish laugh backed off up the 
 steps, averring that Thornton with his deuced scruples 
 was carrying matters with too high a hand for their 
 liking. 
 
 "Whoever you may be," said Thornton to Debby, 
 looking full at her, but with a glance that betrayed 
 no knowledge of ever having seen her before, " I 
 would warn you that it is unsafe for a maiden who is 
 a stranger to go unattended upon the streets of Bos- 
 ton Town at this troubled time. I pray you, take my 
 advice, and return to your home." 
 
 Debby turned a white face to him, and was on the 
 point of crying through ashen lips, " My father, can 
 you tell me aught of him ? " when Thornton, touching 
 his cap, and bowing to her reverentially, drew off 
 Herford most abruptly, leaving her no other course 
 than to retrace her steps, which she did as in a dream, 
 when some one abruptly stopped her way. She looked 
 up, and saw Abner Eutterfield. 
 
 " Deborah," he said, speaking hurriedly, the color
 
 3O2 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 coming over his brown cheek, " you ought not to be 
 here alone. This is King Street, where daily and 
 nightly tumult is likely to occur if anywhere. Come, 
 let me take you to a quieter place, where I can help 
 you maybe," he added awkwardly. 
 
 Debby lifted a calm face to his heated one, as if 
 with mind lost to her own need. " Do not be afraid 
 for me, Abner," she said. " You know why I am here. 
 I have come to look for father. Oh! I may meet him 
 now at any moment." 
 
 "Where are you going to stay?" asked Abner, es- 
 saying to lead her off. 
 
 She fell into step by his side, like a docile child, 
 and went on steadily. "At Dame Hannah Barker's. 
 She is a kinswoman of my mother's, you know. She 
 wrote me in response to my letter, and said I could 
 stay there while I searched for father. Is it far from 
 here, think you, Abner ? " She took out the paper 
 again from her packet, and gave it to him, bending 
 anxiously over it as he perused it. 
 
 "At the farther end of the town, I think," said 
 Abner, wrinkling his brows in perplexity. " Come 
 this way, Debby; I will find it for you." 
 
 In all his distress over her, his mad rage at Jim, 
 and the fate that had enveloped her with the friend- 
 liness and sympathy of the miserable wretch, it was
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 303 
 
 heaven to be walking by her side, to note the sad 
 droop of her sweet face and the touching confidence 
 with which she now resigned all care of the expedi- 
 tion to him. They went on silently for some mo- 
 ments, Debby scanning eagerly the face of every 
 passer-by, particularly if King George's uniform cov- 
 ered the pedestrian. Suddenly they heard a great 
 commotion and the rattle of muskets, with loud shouts 
 and jeers. Abner instantly sought to turn Debby 
 down a quieter thoroughfare ; but there was no oppor- 
 tunity, before a negro man, running at full speed, 
 chased by taunting British soldiers handling their 
 bayonets suggestively, dashed into them, nearly knock- 
 ing them prostrate. " Save me O God-a-mighty 
 save me!" and falling on his knees he clasped 
 Abner around his long legs. It was Pompey. 
 
 Abner swung his legs free, and put himself between 
 the grovelling negro and the soldiers, who now see- 
 ing double game in a couple of rustics added to the 
 fun of frightening the darkey, manipulated their bayo- 
 nets in a way calculated to bring out much amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 " Put up your weapons," said Abner quietly, as 
 Debby lifted her face and looked at them calmly, 
 while one hand soothed Pompey's woolly head, that 
 in the last weeks had taken on a frostier hue.
 
 304 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "We are peaceable citizens, and law-abiding, and 
 as such shall have protection of this town." 
 
 "This nigger insulted us," shouted one of the sol- 
 diers, pricking the negro's leg with his bayonet, which 
 made him roll over on the ground in an agony of 
 apprehension, so that it exposed his eyes, and he saw 
 Abner's face for the first time. Debby he had not 
 noticed, save that she was a woman, and not likely to 
 be of much help in saving him. The astonishment 
 and delight that seized him was now so great that 
 it overpressed the pain and fright. "O Massa Ab- 
 ner! " he exclaimed, in a delirium of joy, and jumped 
 up and precipitated himself into Butterfield's arms; 
 "you done sabe ole Pomp!" 
 
 "Is he your nigger?" enquired the man who had 
 played his bayonet on Pompey, and falling back a 
 little. 
 
 "He is my servant," said Abner sternly, "and who- 
 ever touches him will have me to answer to." 
 
 " He's a lying, thieving nigger," spoke up a soldier, 
 who found little pleasure in having the game dis- 
 turbed, and was casting about for some excuse for 
 their persecution. 
 
 "You lie yousef," shouted Pompey, raising his 
 head, quite re-enforced by Abner's protection, since 
 in him he had recovered his long-mourned master.
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 305 
 
 " Shut your black mouth ! " threatened the Regular, 
 advancing on him, bayonet well poised. 
 
 "Kick his shin that fetches a nigger," advised 
 another. 
 
 "Oh, no no no!" roared Pompey, far gone in 
 his dreadful fright, and whirling around Abner, whom 
 he grasped with both hands, so that the two revolved 
 rapidly, until Butterfield thrust his newly recovered 
 servant determinedly back of him, and endeavored to 
 address the soldiery. 
 
 "Listen," said Debby, laying her cool hand on the 
 frantic arm of the negro. " No one shall hurt you. 
 Don't you know me, Pompey? I am Deborah Parlin." 
 
 Pompey turned an instant, rolled his eyes till there 
 seemed nothing but the whites displayed, and gasped 
 without speech. Meantime the hubbub brought to 
 the spot another squad of redcoats, who had turned 
 at the noise on their way to their barracks. 
 
 "What's the trouble?" cried their officer, levelling 
 his musket at the young countryman. " Sir, I think 
 you will have to come with me to the guard-room," 
 without waiting for an answer, " for creating a dis- 
 turbance in the streets." 
 
 " I think not, sir," replied Debby in clear tones, 
 and regarding him fearlessly, "when you come to 
 hear the cause of this noise. It is "
 
 306 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " A mere fracas of words," hastily set in the soldier 
 who had pricked Pompey with his bayonet. " Cor- 
 poral, nothing to speak of ; these country people don't 
 understand the ways of the town, and addressed us in 
 a manner unbecoming the British soldier to receive. 
 But let it pass, it was but a trifle." 
 
 "That is not the truth," said Debby in a clear 
 voice, and not taking her blue eyes from the round 
 red face of the corporal ; " we were quietly proceeding 
 on our way, when these soldiers," pointing to them, 
 "who were ill-treating the servant of my friend, em- 
 broiled us in abuse and confusion." 
 
 "Who is this nigger?" demanded the corporal 
 fiercely with an oath, for the first time perceiving the 
 grovelling Pompey. 
 
 " My servant, sir," said Abner sturdily. 
 
 The corporal's color ran high on his cheek. Dearly 
 would he have loved to punish these independent 
 rustics who dared to thus face him. But realizing 
 what he in his turn would be obliged to face when 
 the story should come out in the guard-room that 
 he had permitted any abuse of the property of Ameri- 
 can citizens, as clearly from their attitude, it could 
 be proved that the soldiery had interfered with their 
 servant, he hesitated in a surly fashion. 
 
 " I tell you, Corporal, it's but a trifle, and they know
 
 A SEARCH THROUGH BOSTON TOWN. 307 
 
 no better," exclaimed the British soldier who had been 
 chief spokesman. 
 
 " You keep your place, Jones," angrily commanded 
 the corporal, " and be less lively with your tongue. 
 To your quarters, men ; " and he flourished his musket 
 and swore roundly until the heavy tramp died off down 
 the street. " Now, you miserable Yankees, disperse 
 and go your way with your nigger ; and hark ye ! if 
 I catch you kicking up any more tumults, I'll deal 
 with you as you deserve." 
 
 " We shall not be ordered off from Boston streets, 
 as long as we are not disobeying the law, by you or 
 any other person," declared Abner sturdily, his big 
 brown hands working hard. 
 
 The corporal's face was livid with passion, and he 
 made as though he would run Abner through with his 
 bayonet ; but thinking better of it, " We'll bear with 
 you now," he cried, "because we're sure to have you 
 all in our hands sooner or later, to do what we like 
 with," with a parting oath.
 
 308 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " r INHERE is no time to lose now, Debby," said 
 
 -L Abner hurriedly; " some of these drunken fel- 
 lows may return; we best make haste to Mistress Bar- 
 ker's. Get up, Pompey; you shall tell me later how 
 you came to run away, and to fall into such a plight." 
 
 "Golly, massa, I tell you now," cried Pompey, as 
 they hurried on ; " 'twas de debbil shore done took 
 me. An' he got such a long leg, he have, an' he let 
 it fly at my shin oh, whee ! " The negro stopped to 
 rub his leg now in exquisite distress at the remem- 
 brance. "Only get me safe home to yer ma, an' I 
 axes nothing but to die." 
 
 "Come along," cried Abner, impatiently striding 
 on, "or we'll leave you to be taken again, you black 
 nuisance." 
 
 Thus warned, Pompey scuttled after the two; and 
 devious wanderings, not necessary to detail here, 
 at last brought the three to the Barker homestead. 
 It was a little many-gabled house, with its doors
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. 309 
 
 and garden palings painted green, and a wide space 
 before neighboring yards. 
 
 Here Debby was drawn into shelter; and Abner, 
 imploring motherly Mrs. Barker, a wholesome-looking 
 woman of fifty, to look well to her kinswoman, and 
 not to let her venture alone upon the streets, took 
 Pompey in charge, and started off home for Concord 
 Town. 
 
 " Though why I promised, as shouldn't, to go with 
 her every time she puts her face out-o'-doors, I don't 
 know," said the discomfited woman to herself, when 
 Abner's back was turned. " Cousin Debby looks ver- 
 ily like a child accustomed to have her own way 
 an' me, la, I never could make a cat obey me. Dear, 
 dear! well, I hope she'll find her father; I hope these 
 pesky Britishers will leave us alone. These be dret- 
 ful times, the Lord knows, an' me a lone woman, with 
 no one to look after me." 
 
 Dreary and heart-breaking for Debby were the days 
 that followed. At first good Mrs. Barker made a 
 show of attendance upon her young cousin that pres- 
 ently dwindled away to nothing ; and Debby would 
 patiently tie on her hood and fold her big shawl 
 around her morning after morning, and make the 
 search alone. She never knew how near she came 
 to the object of her sad wanderings. Once, while
 
 310 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 nearing the Province House, she paused and looked 
 up at the splendid big brick mansion, well set back 
 on its beautiful lawn, and guarded by a stately oak on 
 either side of the gateway. All her strength at this 
 moment seemed to desert her, and she leaned heavily 
 against the fence with its ornamented posts; her tired 
 eyes drooped to the ground. A wild desire to risk 
 everything and rush to its forbidding portals, and 
 throw herself on the mercy of Governor Gage's wife, 
 who was American born, for a moment seized and 
 overbore her serene, undaunted spirit. Surely she 
 would, she must, help her to find her father. And 
 then the girl bitterly reflected that it was the last 
 thing that the wife of the commander of the British 
 could do, secure the dismissal from the British 
 ranks of soldiery, of a man who had been won to them. 
 
 " O God in heaven ! " cried poor Debby, overcome 
 with grief and bitterness, "help me, for there is 
 none on earth who can." 
 
 A soldier on duty before the Province House 
 looked at her sharply, and in an instant stepped be- 
 hind the angle of the mansion, his heart beating as 
 high as that under the maiden's bodice. Who can 
 tell what the father suffered now ? or how near he came 
 to deserting his post? Death, and disgrace to his 
 name, must ensue; and how could this help Debby?
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. 3! I 
 
 He watched her every movement, and the droop of her 
 sad face, though no expression other than that intense 
 gaze was on his countenance. And when at last she 
 turned off, and went on her patient way, he cursed 
 God in his heart, and prayed to die. 
 
 In all this weary search, the only thing that com- 
 forted Debby was the fact that she could find out 
 many things that would not be possible for one of 
 her countrymen to gain. No one would suspect a 
 young woman, so absorbed in her own personal mat- 
 ters, of trying to acquire any knowledge that might 
 be of benefit to the oppressed people. And so it 
 chanced that Debby gained many valuable bits of 
 information that she hid in her heart to reveal to 
 her townspeople on her return. Her return? She 
 was slowly coming to face the fact that she could 
 delay it but a little longer; she must go back, and 
 with a heavier load to carry than the burden she 
 bore away, for then she had allowed herself to be 
 buoyed up by hope. 
 
 Revolving these thoughts one day, and feeling 
 faint and ill at the prospect, she turned a sudden 
 corner, and came, without a hint of warning, upon 
 the young British officer Thornton. There was no 
 chance of his evading her, for they met face to face. 
 With a countenance as pale as her own, he fixed
 
 312 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 upon her his keen dark eyes, and lifted his cap 
 gravely, again bowing low and reverentially. 
 
 " Oh, sir ! whoever you are," cried Debby, clasping 
 her hands, " undo your wicked work, and help me to 
 get back my father to the love of his country and 
 his home ! " 
 
 The young officer continued to look at her, but 
 did not speak. 
 
 "It is useless to attempt to deny it," said Debby 
 in a torrent; "you were disguised, and you came to 
 our town to steal away the hearts of my country- 
 men. Is this the part of honorable warfare that Eng- 
 lishmen should play upon a defenceless and well-nigh 
 crushed people ? " 
 
 He could not turn whiter, for his pale face was 
 ghastly now. But he looked at her steadily. 
 
 "God is on our side," said Debby, her bosom 
 panting, and her pale face and eyes alight. " He 
 will avenge. You need not think, sir, that you will 
 go unpunished for your deed." 
 
 "I do not for an instant think this," said Thornton 
 in a low voice, clear and well modulated. " Believe, 
 Miss Parlin, in this word of mine." 
 
 Her hand, that had been involuntarily raised in 
 warning, fell to her side, and it was now her turn to 
 gaze at him open mouthed.
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. 313 
 
 "My punishment is not for the future; it is here 
 and now," he said, his eyes piercing her through 
 and through. 
 
 " Oh, sir ! " cried Debby joyfully, the pink color 
 coming to her pale cheek, and clasping her hands 
 in gratitude, " now may God forgive me for my harsh 
 words; you can give me back my father and par- 
 don me for forgetting to thank you for saving my 
 poor life." 
 
 The young officer put up a protesting hand. " I 
 cannot help you to recover your father. He is in 
 the British army. No power on earth but his own 
 desertion can free him. You must not be seen talk- 
 ing with me. May that God whom you serve, keep 
 you ! " He was gone in an instant, whither Debby 
 knew not. She staggered on a few steps, paused 
 weakly, and gathered up all her soul to reach her 
 kinswoman's door. But the reaction had been too 
 great; and with only one thought, "This must be 
 death," she sank to the ground. 
 
 A crowd collected, and kind hands picked her up. 
 "Where to? " they queried. "She's from the country, 
 sure. " 
 
 It was near the Salter homestead, at what is in 
 this day the corner of Winter and Washington 
 Streets ; and a gentlewoman looked out of the win-
 
 314 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 dow. It was Mrs. Stedman, then a resident of the 
 house. 
 
 "Run," she said, to her domestic, a Mrs. Gibson, 
 whose husband belonged to the British army, "and 
 see what the tumult is in the street. Perhaps some 
 woman is sick or in trouble." 
 
 Betsy Gibson threw her apron over her head and 
 ran out, and presently came beneath the window and 
 screamed, "It's a young country girl, and they've no- 
 where to carry her." 
 
 Mrs. Stedman deserted her embroidery, and got out 
 of her high-backed chair, and casting a glance in the 
 tall mirror discovered there that she was a comely 
 spectacle. She passed out and over the broad stair- 
 way, and picking up her flowered morning-gown over 
 her stuffed petticoat, she descended with dignity to 
 the thoroughfare. The crowd made way for her re- 
 spectfully. There was poor Debby, propped against 
 the tree with white face and closed eyes. Her hood 
 had fallen off, and her sunny hair floated away from 
 her marble face. Her poor hands were folded, and 
 she looked indeed dead. But the practised eye 
 of Mrs. Stedman saw a faint movement of the 
 blue kerchief that denoted life. "Lift her up," 
 she said with the air of authority, "and take her 
 into my house; and do some of you run for Dr.
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. 315 
 
 Church," pointing to his residence but a short dis- 
 tance away. 
 
 The same kind hands that had raised Debby now 
 bore her to the hospitable mansion; and there, on a 
 big couch, with Betsy running for hot water and the 
 simple restoratives of the matron, they all awaited 
 breathlessly the arrival of the good doctor, who was to 
 bleed the patient into sensibility and a new lease of 
 life. 
 
 But Debby was saved this experiment. The worthy 
 doctor was off on his horse, with saddle-bags of medi- 
 cines and surgical instruments, miles into the coun- 
 try; and so Debby came unassisted, except by such 
 attentions as could be shown her by the good matron 
 and her frightened domestic, back into life again. 
 And she sat up on the big couch, and tried to tell 
 enough of her history to satisfy the curiosity of both, 
 Betsy especially plying her with eager questions. 
 
 "Concord? I have heard that it is a goodly town," 
 said Mistress Stedman reflectively. 
 
 But the girl could not speak. Big tears rolled over 
 her white face, and she put up no resisting hand. 
 
 "Take yourself off, Betty," commanded Mistress 
 Stedman, when she saw this; "she is too ill for idle 
 questions." 
 
 "I am well enough to go on my way now, madam,"
 
 3l6 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 said Debby, essaying to get to her feet. The furni- 
 ture seemed to sway about her, and the brocaded cur- 
 tains to swing from their fastenings. " I must get 
 back to my kinswoman's." 
 
 " And who is she ? " demanded Mistress Stedman. 
 
 "Dame Hannah Barker," said Debby faintly suc- 
 cumbing to the inevitable, and sinking back again, 
 closed her eyes. 
 
 Mistress Stedman went out speedily, and nearly 
 overturned Mrs. Gibson, who was applying her ear 
 to the crack of the door. 
 
 "What are you doing here, Betsy?" cried her mis- 
 tress sharply. 
 
 "A-polishin' up the latch," said Betsy, beginning 
 now to rub the end of her check apron smartly over 
 the brass trimmings of the door. "I see it needed 
 it dreadful bad the other day." 
 
 " Nonsense 1 do you put on your shawl and hood, 
 and find the house of one Dame Hannah Barker. 
 And let no grass grow under your feet. Tell her 
 that her kinswoman oh, dear me! J didn't get her 
 name, and she is too far gone again to trouble her 
 more is ill in this house. And be sure not to 
 bring her back, if she is a fussy or unwholesome per- 
 son, Betsy; for I'd rather take the care of this young 
 girl myself than to be over-burdened with a meddle-
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. 317 
 
 some creature." With this warning repeated to the 
 iast, Mistress Stedman saw her domestic depart. 
 
 "Betsy is a good creature in the main," she said, 
 watching the rotund form disappear, "though Heaven 
 knows I sigh for the day when we shall be in quiet 
 peace, and the power to adjust our households to 
 our liking. Though I ought to be thankful that I 
 can obtain even the wife of a British soldier. British 
 soldiers ! " her comely cheek took on a rosy red, and 
 her bright eyes snapped beneath her matron's cap; 
 " forsooth, what right have they to be quartered on 
 us in desecration of our town and our liberties ! " 
 
 The ribbons of her cap trembled in indignation 
 as she hastened back to Debby, glad that she had 
 for the time some distracting element to draw away 
 her thoughts from the ever-present distress and hu- 
 miliation. And loving all household practices, and 
 especially that of nursing, she speedily made all 
 things as comfortable around the sick girl as possible, 
 giving a sigh of relief when Betsy came back and 
 alone. 
 
 Evidently Dame Hannah Barker was not anxious 
 to intrude herself on the personality of the big man- 
 sion. She held herself as good as anybody, but pre- 
 ferred to take no chances at comparison. And since 
 Debby was apparently in the best of hands, judging
 
 318 A LITTLE MAID OF COA T CORD TOWN. 
 
 from the wholesome appearance of the domestic, and 
 the good sense and kind heartedness of the sender, 
 she decided, as nothing was said about her coming, 
 to stay at home. 
 
 "I don't know but Deb'rah has got herself into 
 trouble with the Britishers, and madded some on 
 'em, she's so bent on her pa. An' I'm a lone wo- 
 man and a relict, with no one to look after me." 
 She glanced around her tidy house with its accumu- 
 lations of years of hard work by herself arid her 
 spouse, whose black silk silhouette, and also portions 
 of his hair wrought into an endless chain of flowers, 
 reposed on the high mantel-piece, and she shivered in 
 dread. 
 
 "You tell her I'll maybe walk up to-morrow an' 
 see how she's a-gettin' on. If she ain't no better, 
 your missis had better send out to Concord for her 
 folks." 
 
 Instead of which, Mistress Stedman, within a few 
 days, sent a letter, of which the following is a tran- 
 scription : 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I take my pen in hand to inform you that your daughter 
 Deborah is in my house with a disorder that is not of great 
 moment, but which nesesitates her being under good nurs- 
 ing. She is a good girl, and I mind that she seems to be
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. 319 
 
 well brought up, and to have a lively consideration for the 
 feelings of others, which is not always possessed by the 
 young people of our age. She was with 3. kinswoman, a 
 Dame Barker of this town, a commonplace creature enough, 
 I should judge, having never met her, and with no soul to 
 apreciate your daughter. It behooves me therefore to beg 
 of you, my dear madam, the satisfaction of a reply, to say 
 that you are agreeable to this care that I will exercise for 
 your daughter, and to add that I will send her home at 
 the earliest moment that you insist upon, although I hope 
 to retain her, being strangely attached to her. 
 Yours to command, 
 
 BATHSHEBA STEDMAN. 
 
 For the first time in many months Mrs. Parlin 
 awoke from her state of bitter indifference. She 
 frightened the children, who had brought her the 
 big letter written on blue paper and sealed with im- 
 mense red wafers, by saying, "You mind the house; " 
 and throwing her shawl over her head, without wait- 
 ing for a hood or a bonnet, she almost ran to the 
 road. 
 
 "Oh, oh, she's gone crazy again! " screamed 
 Johnny, as she disappeared; and running out of the 
 door, he plunged across the greensward between 
 their cottage and the Felton yellow house. 
 
 Doris screamed after him, "Don't you bring old 
 Miss Felton, or we shall all be crazy," she said.
 
 32O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 (( I'm goin' to beg Mr. Septimius to go after her/ 
 shouted Johnny, "and bring her back." But Mr. 
 Septimius was not to be found, being apparently off 
 exploring the silent haunts of nature on the hill- 
 top, that wooed him daily; and Johnny, blubbering 
 and wringing his hands, returned to the cottage, 
 harassed by the steps of Aunt Keziah, bearing aloft 
 her herb-pot. 
 
 "Come in, come in!" cried Doris, pulling him well 
 within the green door and turning down the button. 
 "Don't bawl so ; she can't get at us." 
 
 "I don't know about that," said Johnny through his 
 tears; "she's a witch, and witches can go anywheres." 
 
 Doris shook mightily at this; but it was necessary 
 for some one to be brave, so she said, " Pshaw, there 
 ain't witches now! and I'll set the kettle biling, and 
 scald her if she comes in. There, see! she's gone 
 home." 
 
 Debby was at this instant saying to good Mistress 
 Stedman, "I am strong now; I must go home." 
 
 And looking in her face, the kind matron knew 
 there was no longer an excuse to keep her back. But 
 she sighed, "I find it in my heart to detain you, 
 child," she said; "for you verily have grown into my 
 love." 
 
 Debby for answer kneeled on the low ottoman at
 
 HOME TO CONCORD TOWN. $21 
 
 the feet of her kind friend. " You have been so good 
 to me," she said brokenly, putting her young hands 
 on the gay-flowered lap. 
 
 Mistress Stedman threw aside her embroidery, and 
 gathered the girl up to her breast. "You do not need 
 to tell me your trouble, Deborah ; it is enough to me 
 that you are in distress of mind. Oh, if I could only 
 help you! But, alas, child, how many hearts are sore 
 and torn in these cruel days, and there is none to ren- 
 der assistance ! " 
 
 "God sent you to my aid," said Debby, pushing 
 back the terrible sorrow that must be borne alone. 
 How could she tell that her father was a soldier in 
 the British army ? And yet she felt meanly indeed, 
 and sore at heart, to be accepting sympathy and aid 
 when, as a traitor's daughter, she deserved to be 
 thrust without the door. 
 
 "Yes; I must go home, my dear Mistress Sted- 
 man," she said brokenly, and in a shame-faced man- 
 ner. " I shall pray for you every day of my life to 
 the good God. He will reward you, though I cannot." 
 
 Mistress Stedman pressed a kiss on the soft, round 
 cheek, regaining a little of its wonted color, and the 
 tears filled her eyes. "There may be much woe ahead 
 for us both, Deborah," she said; "God knows. What- 
 ever comes, we will hold close to each other."
 
 322 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 And that afternoon Abner Butterfield, who had been 
 summoned by the mother love, awakened and hungry 
 for her daughter by the written words of another 
 woman, drove up in his big green wagon to the Salter 
 homestead, and said, " Deborah, your mother has sent 
 for you, with kindly words of thankfulness to the one 
 who has befriended you. " 
 
 The young man was too much shocked at Debby's 
 changed appearance to keep his countenance. 
 
 "She is quite strong now," said Mistress Stedman 
 cheerfully. "I could wish that she might have my 
 nursing a bit longer, but it may not be," she added 
 sorrowfully, all her heart going out to the girl. 
 
 She stood on the steps of the hospitable mansion 
 and watched them depart. "It is easy to see that the 
 honest fellow devours her with his eyes, and that his 
 heart is wholly hers. But that little flower of a 
 maiden, despite her rustic gown and speech, is worthy 
 to grace a high station, and I pray God that she be 
 not sacrificed. If she could only remain with me, I 
 could fit her for her evident destiny." She sighed, 
 and turned back with irritation to her embroidery.
 
 "/ AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER!" 323 
 
 XXII. 
 "i AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER!" 
 
 THE keeping-room of the Wood mansion was 
 astir with patriotism, the walls echoing and 
 re-echoing to the fearless utterances of the fathers 
 of the town, met in deliberative council, informal, 
 and at short notice. They had sat there for an hour 
 or more discussing various ways and means at this 
 juncture, of helping toward some decisive crisis, the 
 complications in which they and their unfortunate 
 countrymen were entangled. Suddenly Mrs. Wood's 
 pale, earnest face was put within the doorway. 
 "Father," she said, "Deborah Par 1 in has something 
 to say to you and to the others." 
 
 "Let the child wait," said Mr. Wood quickly, to 
 whom Debby seemed but a little one in pinafores 
 along with his Perces. And he went on with his 
 talk with Brother Hosmer. 
 
 "Indeed, I think, father, it would be well to see 
 .Deborah before you decide thus," Mrs. Wood ven- 
 tured to say.
 
 324 A LITTLE MAID OF CONGO KD TOWN. 
 
 "I agree with you, Mrs. Wood," said Mr. Hey- 
 wood; "for since Deborah gave us so much infor- 
 mation of matters in Boston that she learned in her 
 visit there, I for one feel her to be an uncommonly 
 sensible young person. Perchance she may have 
 come into possession of some news of great value. " 
 
 "If that is so, I would have her called in at 
 once,' 1 said Mr. Wood, relenting; and he laid down 
 the paper upon which he had been laboriously lin- 
 ing and interlining various paragraphs, sighing, how- 
 ever, as he did so. 
 
 Deborah came in, paler than was her wont, but 
 otherwise not changed in appearance or manner, ex- 
 cept for a certain gravity that overlaid her old 
 sprightliness, and became her greatly. 
 
 "Thank you for letting me come," she said simply; 
 "I will tell my story quickly." 
 
 "What is it, Deborah child?" cried Mr. Wood 
 eagerly, leaning his ponderous body forward to catch 
 every word; "some news of the enemy?" 
 
 "Have they advanced? are they coming?" cried 
 one excitable individual, springing from his chair, 
 and beginning to look for his gun, which he had 
 set up in the corner on entering. 
 
 "Nay," said Deborah; "it is not of the enemy I 
 come to speak to-day. I know naught of them."
 
 "I AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER!" 325 
 
 " It ill befits thee then, child, to interrupt us at 
 our conference," said Mr. Wood in cold reproof. 
 " Another time, Deborah, we will hear thee, if thou 
 desirest to speak; but go thou away now." 
 
 " Nay, nay, dear Mr. Wood, do not send me away 
 till I have told thee all," cried Debby, in a voice 
 of so much anguish that every one started to see 
 her face changed to one torn with sorrow and shame. 
 " I have struggled with myself so long in order to 
 make my heart and mind willing to come oh, do 
 not send me away until you hear my story!" 
 
 "The child has something on her mind, and it 
 would be the best and easiest way to let her free 
 herself," said Mr. James Barrett, now a colonel. 
 "Come, Debby girl, what is it?" he asked kindly. 
 
 Debby controlled a violent desire to turn and rush 
 from the room; instead, she took one step until she 
 stood within the circle of watchful faces, and stood by 
 the big mahogany centre-table. "My father is a Tory, 
 and a soldier in the British army." 
 
 The entire circle stood upon their feet. " It is 
 not possible!" thundered Mr. Wood. "In the Brit- 
 ish army? Girl, you are dreaming!" 
 
 "As God lives," said Debby, "my father is in the 
 British army. You should know this, though I have 
 struggled with myself to make it seem right to keep
 
 326 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 it from you." And then she told her story: How he 
 had been led away; of her mother's illness and 
 changed condition; and of her decision to fold the 
 sin and shame in her own breast; of her search for 
 her father in Boston Town; of the inevitable and 
 hopeless result; and lastly, of her battle with her- 
 self to keep from laying the secret bare. 
 
 It was all told ; and still the circle stood as one 
 man, unwilling or unable to believe that John Parlin. 
 whom they all believed dead, had turned traitor to 
 his country, and was even now bearing arms against 
 her. 
 
 "It is a sorry tale," observed Colonel Barrett; 
 "and it distresses me greatly." He looked strangely 
 moved, and glanced at his fellow-townsmen. They 
 were all affected to silence by the sudden surprise. 
 Debby, having told her story, stood pale and motion- 
 less in the centre of the group. 
 
 "But, Debby, child," Mr. Wood found his kind 
 heart coming to the rescue, and his good sense as 
 well, "there surely is no fault to be laid to your 
 door, and no stain." 
 
 "You forget," said Debby, standing now with proud 
 scorn, and uplifted eyes where before they had 
 drooped in shame, "I am a traitor's daughter; there 
 is his blood in my veins. Every one must know
 
 "/ AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER!" $2? 
 
 it, and the very ground will cry out when I go abroad. 
 All the people will despise me, as well they may, 
 a traitor's daughter ! " 
 
 " Debby, child, are you mad?'' cried Mr. Wood, 
 seizing her arm. "No such shame can be laid to 
 your door. Shame is the result of sin. Your love 
 for your country is as pure and true as ours." 
 
 "Ah," cried Debby with sudden fire, "but you 
 can do something to prove your love. You can save 
 this town; you are men, and you can make your 
 names so that they will ring with your country's 
 praises. What can a poor weak girl do but die in 
 shame at her father's treachery and her own weak- 
 ness? " 
 
 " What do you want to do, Deborah ? " asked Mr. 
 Hosmer in pity, and more for the purpose of humor- 
 ing her mood than for any answer she might make. 
 
 "Anything where there is danger that is needed. 
 Make me a spy. I am trained by what I have learned 
 in Boston Town, and able also to use my powers. I 
 can learn many things that may be of use to this town 
 and to my country. Oh ! I long to do something to 
 prove that I have, as you just said, a love for my 
 country as pure and true as yours." 
 
 "My poor child!" Mr. Wood took one of the cold 
 hands in his big palms; "do not fret yourself at your
 
 328 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 lack of opportunity. Deborah, the time is coming to 
 you, I verily believe, when in this town you may be 
 able to prove your bravery and your devotion. It is 
 coming for us all I believe also," he added solemnly. 
 "And we who are standing here, each man of us, feels 
 it in his soul, I venture to assert." They all silently 
 bowed their heads. "Meantime hearken, Deborah. 
 Whoever bears such a cross as do you, and patiently 
 serves out each day with the work allotted to you, 
 holding firm and high the love of country, such an 
 one is a Patriot. Bless you, my dear child; say no 
 more, . only go your way in content, and worry your 
 poor heart no longer." 
 
 But great was the consternation in Concord Town 
 when it became known that John Parlin was not only 
 a traitor, but in the active service of his Majesty, ac- 
 tually belonging to the regular troops. It seemed at 
 first as if all his old friends (and who of them had not 
 been glad and proud to claim honest John as friend 
 and fellow-citizen?) could not curse his name and 
 fame with too loud and deep objurgation. What to 
 them was now his former fair name but so much 
 added reason to hold up his infamy to the world of 
 neighbors and fellow-townsmen ! And Debby was 
 right. The innocent must suffer with the guilty; and 
 although she had their love and their pity, many there
 
 "/ AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER!" 329 
 
 were who raised only feeble doubts when it was 
 hinted that they "guessed Parlin's family got a good 
 price for his serving as a redcoat," or " the Parlin girl 
 doesn't seem to mind her father's bein' a Tory," when 
 she went with the children to the old meeting-house 
 as usual on the Sabbath day. And she bore many 
 cold looks and averted faces from people who were 
 embittered by privation and distress, and fears of 
 coming evil of darker portent. 
 
 So the days came and went, and the red cloud of 
 war was arising and illumining the sky. The ranks of 
 the minute-men were filling up rapidly. There was the 
 noise of the drum-beat and of the fife in the air, to 
 awaken the echoes from farmyard and meadow. Men 
 began to voice themselves still more boldly, and to 
 work with ill-concealed delight at the preparations for 
 the coining struggle. And the girls, working in Milis- 
 cent's house, with Debby in their midst, labored fast 
 and furiously now at the cartridges, each little instru- 
 ment of death destined to help forward the war that 
 now began to be talked of as what must surely come. 
 
 The girls were lovely to Debby, encircling her, 
 after the first horror of the thing had passed, with 
 their loyal devotion, and striving in every way to 
 make her forget. On Miliscent seemed to rest the spe- 
 cial privilege and responsibility of soothing the over-
 
 330 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWA T . 
 
 wrought sensitiveness that shuddered even when no 
 suggestion of or allusion to the painful story was 
 thought of. She often kept Debby at her house over 
 night after the work of making the cartridges was done 
 for the day, and by every means in her power sought 
 to alleviate the sore distress that had fallen upon her 
 dearly loved friend. 
 
 "Miliscent," said Debby one night, the two girls 
 had said their prayers and kissed each other good- 
 night, but lingered a while at the window, in the pale 
 moonlight flooding the farm land, "just think how 
 very long we have been getting ready for what is 
 coming in this town the list of the big days, when 
 for years and years Concord Town has spoken out 
 for freedom and her country's rights, and that you 
 and I have kept. I read mine over every day." 
 
 "Yes," said Miliscent. getti-ng up from the floor 
 where she had been kneeling, her head on the window- 
 sill, to go over to the high shelf and take down a 
 long white paper, tied with one of her few treasured 
 bits of ribbon. "It is blue, because it is true," she 
 said coming back with it in her hand. 
 
 "That is the ribbon you had given you when you 
 went to Cambridge; I remember it," said Debby; 
 "your grandmother gave it to you for your hair." 
 
 "Yes," said Milliscent, "Grandmother Barrett did;
 
 "/ AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER !" 331 
 
 but I had rather tie up my Concord Town days with 
 it, so I saved it, and put it on here." 
 "I didn't have any ribbon,'' said Debby with a 
 sigh; " I tied mine up with a linen string, and it was 
 white, and part of mother's setting out, and she spun 
 it with her own hand." 
 
 "Well, that is better than mine, and white is for 
 purity," said Miliscent comforting her; "and I should 
 never have thought of writing them all down if it 
 hadn't been for you, Debby dear. I saw it first in 
 your room. But you had a red bit on yours too, the 
 last time I saw it." 
 
 Debby hesitated. "Yes; I put it there since 
 father " 
 
 "Don't speak it," said Miliscent, laying her hand 
 on her friend's mouth; "just keep it in your heart, 
 and never say the words. Well, red is for courage, 
 Debby, as well as for blood. And you can show 
 yours, dear. I do believe there is some splendid 
 thing coming for you to do for your country." Mi- 
 liscent's eyes glowed and her bosom heaved. 
 
 " Father has become a man of blood, and taken up 
 arms against his country, and I must never forget 
 it," said Debby steadily; "although you and the 
 girls are all kind to try to make me, Miliscent. 
 And, oh ! thank you for believing that something will
 
 332 A LITTLE MAfD OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 be given for me to do that can help this town to 
 be free." 
 
 "And now let's talk of the great days of Concord 
 Town," said Miliscent cheerily. "See, Debby, as 
 long ago as October, 1767, how we began to oppose 
 the Stamp Act ! Look, I put it down with tremen- 
 dous letters, see! and I blotted it as well," she added 
 mournfully. "I never shall forget my distress; and 
 I tried salt on it, and vinegar and everything, for 
 you know I couldn't get another piece of paper. 
 Grandfather had given this to me with especial charge 
 to keep it nice, for it was all he could spare." 
 
 "Well, then, December, 1767, is the next date 
 that I put down," said Debby, losing her sorrowful 
 thoughts for a moment. 
 
 "That's just it. I copied from yours, you know," 
 said Miliscent "when the selectmen sent in the 
 report they had made, and the town voted ' to en- 
 courage industry, economy, frugality, and manufac- 
 tures at home and abroad, and to prevent purchasing 
 so much as we have done of foreign commodities.' 
 
 "And then Sept. 22, 1768, grandfather was chosen 
 a delegate to the Boston convention," said Miliscent 
 in pride; but remembering Debby's father, she quickly 
 passed on to the next event in big letters, headed 
 town meeting, Jan. n, 1773.
 
 "/ AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER!" 333 
 
 "I wanted to copy this every word," she said. "I 
 heard grandfather read 'em ; he had the committee at 
 his house ever so many times, and grandmother and I 
 used to hear them talking it over. But they are all on 
 the town records, so I only put town meeting down, 
 and let it go at that. And the next one is " 
 
 "Jan. 20, 1774," said Debby, "about the export- 
 ing of tea, you know, and that Perces Wood's father 
 signed, don't you know." She laid her head in 
 deep distress upon her folded arms on the window- 
 sill. These other girls, with their beautiful and holy 
 memories, what a heritage they had ! and she a 
 traitor's child ! 
 
 " Debby," said Miliscent tenderly, her soft arms 
 around her neck, and her loving voice in her ear, 
 "we will put this up, if it makes you feel badly. 
 Come, it's getting late, dear, and we ought to go to 
 bed." 
 
 "I shall always meet something that brings me 
 face to face with the fact that I am a traitor's 
 daughter," said Debby in a bitter tone, and raising 
 her head; "no, go on, Miliscent; so I read over 
 and over my list every day, and it strengthens me 
 to work for the future. Go on, dear/' she added 
 more gently. 
 
 "Then the non-consumption covenant, June 27,
 
 334 A I-ITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 1774," said Miliscent. "Just think, more than three 
 hundred men signed that, Debby. I know your 
 father must have been among them, for he was al- 
 ways so good and patriotic. May Heaven deal 
 with those who led him astray, instead of counting 
 it sin laid to his charge. 
 
 "And then in August how many dates there are," 
 she hastened to add, "of town and county conven- 
 tions. See, Debby, ever so many ! " 
 
 "And all along after," said Debby, "thick and 
 fast. But the Provincial Congress is the best of all, 
 and the Committee of Safety day, and the Minute- 
 Men day, and the day the cannon were bought and 
 brought." 
 
 "And the Liberty Pole day," cried Miliscent in 
 great excitement, "and" 
 
 " Girls ! girls ! go to bed ! " called Mrs. Barrett. 
 
 "And the Enlistment day," whispered Miliscent, 
 as she hung up her precious list, she had left out the 
 Tory day, and the meetings on the Common for con- 
 sultation and action on their cases, "and all the 
 rest. O Debby ! Concord Town has got to do some 
 splendid work now, after being such a long time get- 
 ting ready. And you and I, depend upon it, will 
 have a little piece of the work for our hands." 
 
 They kissed each other again, and climbed into the
 
 "/ AM A TRAITOR'S DAUGHTER!" 335 
 
 four poster. Miliscent was soon asleep, her breath 
 falling lightly upon the air; but Debby lay with the 
 moonlight flooding her, a prey to wretched and hope- 
 less thoughts, stretching down to the years in which 
 she could never forget that she was a traitor's 
 daughter.
 
 336 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 "THE REG'LARS ARE COMING !" 
 
 IT was the i8th of April. The Provincial Com- 
 mittee of Safety was meeting up town as it had 
 met three times before during the month. The min- 
 ute companies were out for their military exercise, 
 while hitherto peaceful citizens might be seen wend- 
 ing their way along, their guns over their shoulders. 
 Even the Sabbath day saw some of them thus ac- 
 coutred. But nature was at peace. Soft was the 
 air and mild the season. The open winter had 
 brought forward an early spring, her youthful arms 
 full of promising vegetation. "The winter grain had 
 grown several inches out of the ground," and "the 
 fruit-trees were in blossom." 
 
 "I saw a robin down by Mill Brook," said Doris 
 coming in, in great excitement, " and I ain't going 
 to wear this old hood any more," casting it on the 
 floor. 
 
 "Huh! that's nothing one old robin; I saw two 
 robins last February," declared Johnny, who had
 
 "THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 337 
 
 never ceased boasting of it. "Great big ones, with 
 my own eyes, Doris Parlin." 
 
 Doris didn't care, since the robins had come to 
 her, and evidently to stay, how many he had seen. 
 She continued to remark that she wasn't going to 
 wear her hood any more, and she was hot with that 
 dreadful thick dress on, and couldn't she take it off. 
 
 "And go squealing round with the earache," put 
 in Johnny, resenting the lack of interest over his 
 robins. 
 
 "Stop it! I don't squeal half as much as you do," 
 retorted Doris, her usually stolid face red with anger. 
 
 "I don't squeal; it's only girls that scream and 
 cry. Say that again, and I'll slap you." 
 
 "Children, children, don't quarrel!" said Debby, 
 spinning over in the corner. " How can you, when 
 no one knows how soon we shall be in a dreadful war? 
 Do let us all live in peace with each other." 
 
 "No one can live in peace with Johnny," said 
 Doris, relapsing into her matter-of-fact way; "he's 
 worse'n the Britishers. He did scream when he cut 
 his thumb, and then he went behind the wood-pile 
 and cried and cried." 
 
 Johnny sprang after her, beating the air with his 
 fists, but Debby got between the two. "O children, 
 just think! who knows how long we shall have our
 
 338 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 home or each other? and here you are wasting these 
 precious moments in bickering." 
 
 "I won't let the Reg'lars get in," declared Johnny, 
 veering off to the never-tiresome topic, the dread of 
 a raid of British soldiery after the stores. " When they 
 see me, I guess they'll run, and let our home alone." 
 
 "You know nothing about what you are talking 
 of." She shook her head sadly, yet there was a fire in 
 her blue eye. "Well, go to your work, and pray God 
 you may be brave children when the time comes." 
 
 "I'm going to make a little garden when I'm 
 through with my work, and plant my seeds Mrs. But- 
 terfield gave me," said Doris, trying not to be 
 crushed at sister Debby's rebuke. 
 
 "I'll help you," said Johnny magnanimously; "at 
 any rate, I will to-morrow. Wait until to-morrow, 
 Doris, then we'll fix it out under the big elm." 
 
 " All right," said Doris amicably ; " to-morrow 
 morning just as soon as I get the dishes washed up, 
 then we'll begin it." 
 
 The candles were extinguished early in the Parlin 
 cottage ; and Debby, soothed by the soft air that 
 played through the little window, and worn out by her 
 toil of a tedious day, fell into slumber. She was 
 wandering in the old days, when the talk of coming 
 trouble with the king and Parliament could not vex
 
 " THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 339 
 
 the soul of a light-hearted maiden, scarcely more than 
 a child. Her little world of girls and their favored 
 swains in old Concord Town was again gay and 
 happy. How she had laughed at Abner Butterfield, 
 holding him up to the ridicule of the girls for his big 
 hands and awkward ways, and then laughing more yet 
 to see how he took it to heart when she smiled on Jim 
 and the other young men in a way she never remem- 
 bered being able to help. Miliscent and she were off 
 gathering flowers, or following the course of the river 
 in its woodside meanderings, and yes, there was Per- 
 ces and her other mates, and life was sunny, and she 
 was joyous once more, for her world of dreams never 
 hinted of a father's dishonor. And now Miliscent 
 was ahead, and had discovered a lovely flower spot, 
 and was calling her. " I'm coming, Miliscent!" cried 
 Debby in answer, and she sprang up in bed, a smile 
 on her dewy face. 
 
 "THE REG'LARS ARE COMING!" shouted a voice, as 
 a horseman clattered by, the hoofs of the animal 
 striking deep into the road with every spring. In 
 a flash Debby was on her feet, throwing her shawl 
 over her shoulders, and rushing to the window. It 
 was Dr. Samuel Prescott, she could tell by his voice, 
 if she could not see in the dim light his figure, as he 
 bent to his horse's mane, urging him to top speed.
 
 34O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "THE REG'LARS ARE COMING!" back peals his cry, 
 echoing through all the open meadows, across the 
 road guarded by the Mill Brook and the silence of 
 Walden Pond beyond. " THE REG'LARS ARE COMING ! " 
 
 Debby hurried on her clothes with hands that knew 
 no quaking. The past had dropped from her like a 
 cloud, and she recognized that for the daughter of 
 the traitor had now dawned a day of opportunity. 
 Slipping down stairs lightly, her shoes in her hand, 
 not to awaken the children, she said softly, "Mother, 
 did you hear it? It's come. The Reg'lars are on the 
 way 1 " 
 
 "Yes," said Mrs. Parlin stonily; "I heard." 
 
 "Mother," the girl crept in the bedroom, and 
 laid her cheek down against the thin white one; 
 Doris slept, a round body of blissful composure, on 
 the other side of the big four-poster; the baby was 
 cuddled in the trundle-bed ; and Debby whispered low 
 against the ear that did not appear to notice or to 
 care, "I'm going to give the alarm too." 
 
 " Do 1 " cried her mother fiercely. " I would that 
 I could. And hark ye, Debby, bear yourself this day, 
 whatever comes, as if you knew naught of traitors or 
 traitor's blood in your veins. You are my daughter 
 too; remember that. And my blood, loyal and true, 
 will leap to rescue you from your shame. Would
 
 " THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 34! 
 
 to God I could go too, and could work and fight." 
 She covered her face with her thin hands, and shook 
 with tearless sobs. 
 
 "Mother, mother!" cried Debby, thrilling at her 
 words, "you will wake the children. See, I'm going 
 now ; give me my blessing, for I may not return, but 
 take you at your word." 
 
 " I bless you," said Mrs. Parlin putting both hands 
 solemnly on the sunny head; "only show yourself 
 worthy of my blood, and may God keep you ! " 
 
 " Mother, you will take the children and go over 
 the Ridge to Aunt Sophia's," said Debby; "it's safer 
 there. Take over the silver buckles and the pew- 
 ter ; they are all done up in the checked apron, you 
 know. The Reg'lars may be down over this road. 
 Good-by, mother." 
 
 " Good-by, my child." 
 
 It all took but a few moments, and Debby was out 
 in the soft light of the morning twilight. Even now 
 it gave promise of the "ever glorious morning" with 
 which the patriot Adams ushered in the dawn of that 
 memorable day. Without so much as a glance at the 
 scenes burned into her memory, Debby sped on, giv- 
 ing her young voice to the morning air, as she shrilled 
 out clear and high, " The Reg'lars are coming! The 
 Reg'lars are coming!"
 
 342 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 It brought Septimius and Aunt Keziah to the 
 windows of the yellow farmhouse. " O Mr. Felton," 
 she cried, "do come and help!" Aunt Keziah 
 grunted something inaudible at a distance ; but Sep- 
 timius flushed deeply, and closed his shutter hastily. 
 " I want not to mingle in scenes of blood," he said 
 to himself as Debby sped on. 
 
 Seeming not to touch the ground, the girl ran, 
 making here and there a detour from the main road, 
 down which she knew Dr. Prescott had aroused the 
 inhabitants; and into many a lonely farmhouse she 
 rushed to spread the news and arouse the minute- 
 men, calling and shrilling it out as she hasted on 
 and on, oblivious to fatigue, and scarce knowing 
 that she was in the body. And now the church-bell 
 clanged out on the edge of three o'clock. 
 
 At last, in the full flush of the morning splendor, 
 and fresh from the massacre at Lexington, there 
 marched over the Old Bay Road, sent out to Con- 
 cord Town, eight hundred strong, the grenadiers, 
 light infantry, and marines, the "flower of the Brit- 
 ish army." 
 
 Passing the jest along, 
 The jubilant host march on, 
 
 and Concord Town, by her river of peace, was wait- 
 ing to receive them.
 
 "THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 343 
 
 At this moment Debby, having done what she 
 could by way of summons, now had a sudden pang 
 at thought of mother and the children; and she re- 
 traced her steps to rush into the little old kitchen. 
 The children were crying, and hanging to Mrs. Par- 
 lin's skirts, who had clasped her baby in her arms, 
 and now stood quite bewildered in the middle of the 
 floor. 
 
 "We can't get her out," sobbed Johnny; "we've 
 pulled and hauled, and she won't stir a step." 
 
 "Come, mother/' said Debby soothingly; -'we 
 are going to Aunt Sophia's, you know. Here, take 
 my hand. Johnny, you can carry the apron bundle." 
 She could hear the dull echo of tramp, tramp, and 
 her fancy at least brought her the rattle of the 
 swords and musketry, with a sickening dread for 
 her little family about her. " Hurry, there is no 
 time to lose. Dear mother, come." 
 
 " It's my home," cried the distracted woman stub- 
 bornly; "no British soldier shall drive me out of 
 it," while the children roared harder than ever, and 
 the baby in sympathy put up its lip and whimpered. 
 
 Tramp, tramp! it was clearly denned now; yes, 
 there was the dreadful rattling noise, and voices of 
 command, and a confused babel of sounds as of a 
 large advancing body.
 
 344 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Mother," said Debby, "your daughter kneels to 
 you." She sank down, still clinging to her mother's 
 hand. " In a few moments it will be too late. 
 Come mother, dear mother! we must save the chil- 
 dren, if we care not for ourselves." 
 
 At the word "children" a shiver passed ovr the 
 frame of Mrs. Parlin. She glanced around at her 
 small brood, and gathered the baby closer into her 
 breast. "You are right, Debby," she said; "I will 
 go to Sophia's." 
 
 Debby sprang up, put Johnny, grasping the blue- 
 checked apron bundle containing the silver buckles, 
 some precious bits of linen, and other household 
 stuff, in front, marshalled Doris, and still grasping 
 her mother's hand, she opened the old green door. 
 
 A glance down the road, a wild throbbing at the 
 heart, an attempt to thrust the mother, who is closely 
 following, back into the house too late! the advance 
 guard of British soldiers, only a few rods before the 
 army, rushed up to her, and charged their bayonets 
 almost into her face. Johnny stared, wide-eyed and 
 dazzled by the scarlet uniforms ablaze with gilt, 
 stunned into silence. As for Doris, she was too 
 frightened to open her mouth. Mrs. Parlin dropped 
 to the threshold, and strained her baby to her breast. 
 
 u What would you do with us ? " demanded Debby
 
 "THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 345 
 
 with flashing eyes, and drawing herself to her full 
 height. "Do you send a full army," glancing at 
 the glittering host, "to a quiet, peaceful town to 
 attack defenceless women and children? " in wither- 
 ing scorn. "You see our defenders," she pointed 
 to Doris and Johnny and the baby, who peeped out 
 from under his mother's arm. 
 
 "Egad! but you are a bold little rebel, and need 
 to be taken over to King George for treatment. How- 
 ever, I'll let you off with a kiss for my pains, and 
 a mouthful of breakfast, pretty one." He advanced 
 to her as he spoke with that easy familiarity that 
 betokens the conqueror. But Debby held him with 
 a clear blue eye, and he stopped in a shame-faced 
 way that he hoped none of his comrades saw. "As 
 sure as there is a God in heaven," said the girl, 
 lifting her slender hand, and pointing to the sun- 
 light reflecting the Ridge in its golden beauty, "a 
 curse will fall on you this day, if you touch one 
 hair of our heads. Go search our house for food, 
 if you wish. You will find it bare enough. God 
 alone knows how we have lived while we tried to 
 serve him. Go, and find what you can, and see 
 the cottage you would rob." She pushed the door 
 wide with her scornful foot, and viewed them all, 
 and the advancing host, with absolute composure.
 
 346 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 "Let the girl alone," commanded the leader, com- 
 ing up, and learning the cause of the uproar, " Have 
 we not all large work enough before us this day 
 without wasting our precious moments. Before night- 
 fall we'll have every rascally rebel in this town under 
 our feet. March on, my men. " He swung his sword, 
 and stepped off down the road, as confident a speci- 
 men of manhood as one could hope to see. And 
 after him went the glittering ranks of red and gold, 
 every man smiling into the faces of his comrades. 
 Oh, what a feast of varied pleasures should be theirs 
 when once this proud old town had fallen into their 
 hands! 
 
 Debby stood rooted to the spot, and gazed after 
 them. It was not until the last line had disappeared 
 in the curve of the wayfaring, that she stirred. Her 
 eyes had looked upon "the peddler" as a British 
 officer, tall and handsome in his resplendent uniform. 
 In that dreadful moment, when her whole soul was 
 calling upon a righteous God for vengeance on him, 
 there shot to her from his piercing dark eye as he 
 passed, a glance of suffering, appealing and swift. 
 It went through her like a knife. 
 
 "Come, mother," she said, touching her arm; but 
 the mother did not move, and Debby, with a name- 
 less dread at her heart, leaned over to see that she
 
 "THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 347 
 
 had fainted, it was now the work of a few moments 
 to resuscitate her as best she could, with Doris, whose 
 dumb admiration changed to fright and anger, cling- 
 ing to her, impeding every movement. At last Mrs. 
 Parlin opened her eyes. " O daughter ! " with a long- 
 drawn sigh, "have they gone?" 
 
 " Yes, mother. " 
 
 "And taken nothing? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 'Are your grandfather's silver buckles safe?" 
 
 "They are here in the bundle." 
 
 " Get the silver pieces in the stocking leg in the 
 chimney closet." 
 
 " You forget, mother, " said Debby in a low voice 
 so the children might not hear, "that we have spent 
 those lately." 
 
 "True," cried Mrs. Parlin with returning passion, 
 and she sprang to her feet with sudden energy. "O 
 Debby ! let us go. They will come back here. Shut 
 the door fast, though there is small hope that house 
 or home will be left for us if we ever do get back. 
 Now let us be gone to your Aunt Sophia's." 
 
 "Are you able to walk there, mother?" asked 
 Debby, gazing at her fearfully. 
 
 "Yes, yes; only let us get out of this dreadful 
 place," cried the mother with feverish energy. She
 
 348 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 fairly thrust Debby off the flat door-stone ; and her- 
 self, with the baby at her bosom, rapidly led the 
 way up to the Ridge by the trail their feet had often 
 worn. 
 
 Debby shut the old green door, and took one long 
 look around on all things. "Come, Doris," she said, 
 grasping her fat hand. 
 
 Old Aunt Keziah peered out at them from her 
 side window when they were well within the trail. 
 "I can't get Seppy to go; no, I can't, an' more's 
 the pity; for our house'll be burnt round our heads, 
 an' he doesn't care." 
 
 Rose Garfield and Mr. Felton stood by the old 
 well in the Felton dooryard. Debby vouchsafed only 
 a contemptuous glance at the pensive, silent man, 
 like an indifferent spectator at his country's peril, 
 as she sped on. 
 
 Shortly the dense wood was reached, then the 
 plateau was passed. Debby could hear the shouts 
 and confusion of the town beneath, as it was wafted 
 to her tortured ears, and her heart leaped in her 
 bosom at what she believed was the beginning of 
 the slaughter to come to the old town; though that 
 it could result in anything but victory for Concord, 
 the girl never once allowed herself to imagine. 
 Drenched in blood she seemed to see all things, in
 
 S s 
 
 5 -
 
 "THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 349 
 
 a confused and awful dream; but out of it, somehow, 
 some time, God was to interpose and save his people. 
 And fired by all these thoughts, and her terrible anx- 
 iety to be up at Colonel Barrett's, where she felt 
 sure she could help, Debby put forth every effort 
 to urge the footsteps of the little party to the utmost 
 speed. On the wings of the wind, Mrs. Parlin 
 needed no urging. Her slender feet scarcely touched 
 the ground ; and Debby, impeded by stout little 
 Doris, had hard work to keep up with the mother. 
 
 At last the red roof of Aunt Brown's little story- 
 and-a-half house was seen, and redoubling all their 
 energies, the four were soon at the kitchen-door and 
 begging for admittance ; for it was heavily barred, and 
 everything pulled down before the windows, so that 
 they could not see within. 
 
 "Oh, she's fled; Sophia has fled!" mourned Mrs. 
 Parlin, sinking down exhausted on the step. 
 
 "I don't think so," said Debby. "She is scared 
 like, she is so feeble; and the boys, of course, are 
 off with the minute company. Aunt Sophia! Aunt 
 Sophia ! " she called, and rapped on the little window- 
 panes. 
 
 A shuffling noise was heard within, the heavy oaken 
 bar was withdrawn, and Aunt Sophia's pale, haggard 
 face appeared.
 
 350 A LITTLE MAID OF CONGO KD TOWN. 
 
 "O Lyddy!" she fell on her sister's neck a mo- 
 ment, then drew her into the kitchen " and you poor 
 children. Oh, the Lord has forsaken us ! " and throw- 
 ing her apron over her head, great sobs shook her thin, 
 spare frame. 
 
 "Take care of mother," said Debby, swiftly con- 
 signing them all to Aunt Sophia. " You'll be sorry, 
 aunt, before night that you said those words, for God 
 is our helper." Then she set a kiss on her mother's 
 lips, and ran off, not heeding, 
 
 "Debby, Deborah Parlin! Why, where is the girl 
 going, Lyddy? " from her aunt's lips. 
 
 As swiftly as a young fawn, knowing no such word 
 as fatigue, she sped, skirting the road, till she reached 
 the confines of the burying-ground hill, where she 
 concealed herself from view, and silently watched the 
 preparations for the on-coming struggle. The Regu- 
 lars had paused to reconnoitre before proceeding far- 
 ther on their way to secure the military stores at the 
 homestead of Colonel James Barrett and their other 
 hiding-places in the old town. 
 
 The houses in the vicinity were shut and barred in 
 the poor way that was all they could command for 
 protection, and the women and children huddled 
 within them for safety. Excited knots of townspeo- 
 ple might be seen on the Milldam, citizens, militia,
 
 "THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 351 
 
 minute-men, trying to protect all such Provincial 
 stores that the hasty alarm had not allowed time to 
 remove to a place of safety. 
 
 A part of Captain Brown's company had paraded at 
 daybreak. The minute-men and militia were also on 
 duty on the Common getting their ammunition from 
 the court-house, and marching down to see if the Reg- 
 ulars were really coming in over the Old Bay Road; 
 while a party of the minute company from Lincoln, 
 who had been aroused by the calls of Samuel Pres- 
 cott, were also early on the ground, making in all 
 something like one hundred men armed enough to 
 fight. When, behold ! about seven of the clock, the 
 glittering forces of England's trained soldiery, fresh 
 from the massacre at Lexington, advanced in all their 
 military splendor over the winding thoroughfare, with 
 faces set toward Concord Town. 
 
 " Let us stand our ground ! " cried young Parson 
 Emerson, who had been busy going about among 
 the men to stimulate and to exhort; "and if we die, 
 let us die right here ! " 
 
 Eleazar Brooks of Lincoln was reconnoitring from 
 the hill, when some one cried, " Let us go and meet 
 them " " No; " he called sternly, " it will not do for 
 us to begin the war; " and they waited on the north- 
 ern slope of the burying-ground hill till, one hun-
 
 352 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 dred and fifty strong, they obeyed the command to 
 march to the Old North Bridge and 
 
 Hardest of all to wait, 
 To say coolly, one by one, 
 "We will never fire a single shot 
 Unless first fired upon." 
 
 The British army, in the flower of its youth and 
 beauty, halted; the grenadiers were posted on the 
 Common, while six companies of light infantry were 
 stationed on the hill. Debby, from her place of 
 concealment, could see all this, and keep unob- 
 served herself. Gorgeous in their gay uniforms and 
 shining arms, with high spirits, they chaffed each 
 other, and passed the word of badinage along their 
 glittering ranks! What a pity! Could not some in- 
 tervening power keep these simple, misguided farmers 
 from further show of resistance? Really it was in the 
 conquering hearts to pity the poor fools who were to 
 fall such easy game before the British guns. 
 
 And amongst the glittering ranks of soldiers she 
 spied two central figures of importance on the old 
 hill burying-ground. One of them had a field-glass, 
 and the other was talking earnestly, both helped by 
 the previous intelligence as to topography of the 
 town and the location of the military stores, from 
 the Tories and the English spies. Debby thrilled at
 
 "THE REGULARS ARE COMING!" 353 
 
 sight of them, although she did not know that her 
 eyes were looking at Major Pitcairn and Colonel 
 Smith. It seemed to her that in their keeping was 
 the destiny of the town, as they examined and con- 
 sulted over all the points and indications of the 
 situation. It was through that field-glass perhaps 
 that lay the clews to the indefensibility of her poor, 
 oppressed people. 
 
 But even in that dreadful moment her heart did 
 not falter. With a prayer, unuttered it is true, but 
 just as surely winging its way to the God of na- 
 tions, she glanced around the old hill burying- 
 ground, eloquent with the quiet dead, whose lives 
 had been passed in toil, in oppression, in anguish 
 and dread, but never in a loss of the simple and 
 rugged faith of their fathers, and the steadfast hope 
 of the help to come from the mighty God whom 
 they served. 
 
 And thrusting her fingers in her ears to shut out 
 the ominous signs of the portending struggle, and 
 longing to close her eyes as well, she plunged unob- 
 served down the back of the hillside, and made all 
 possible speed toward the Barrett homestead. 
 
 It being of the utmost importance to the British 
 io gain control of the two bridges the Old South 
 and the Old North that crossed the river and
 
 354 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 guarded the main avenues of the town, the struggle 
 had now begun for their possession. Hoping to 
 keep the militia and minute-men thus at bay, Colo- 
 nel Smith therefore remained in the town centre, 
 while he sent six companies of light infantry to 
 hold the North Bridge, and then to set about the 
 work of capturing the stores. Out of these six com- 
 panies three were to guard the bridge ; the other three 
 were ordered to Colonel James Barrett's home to 
 destroy the military stores. The Tenth Regiment 
 was stationed at the South Bridge, while Smith and 
 Pitcairn, with the grenadiers, held the centre of the 
 old town, pillaging what ammunition and provisions 
 they could capture. Excellently well planned, with 
 plenty of soldiers, and apparently a clear field before 
 them. 
 
 As Debby ran lightly on, already were they set 
 about their work. The noise of it shocked that 
 quiet spring morning, and reached her as she fled. 
 On she rushed over by-path, and through nook and 
 field and forest, scarcely daring to breathe freely un- 
 til she stood in the Barrett kitchen, in the midst of 
 the stout hearts and busy hands swiftly concealing the 
 property of the town and the Province, left as a 
 sacred charge to the shelter of their household.
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 355 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 
 
 WHERE'S Miliscent?" cried Debby, bursting 
 into the "muster-room." 
 
 Stephen, the son, had been posted off to Price Place 
 at the juncture of the roads, to warn the Stow and 
 Harvard minute-men not to come down the Barrett 
 Mill Road, as this would make a meeting certain 
 with the British soldiers, momentarily now expected 
 at the old homestead. 
 
 " She's been helping her father get her mother and 
 the children off to a place of safety," answered 
 Grandmother Barrett, pale and determined, but with 
 a light in her eyes no one had seen there before. It 
 was as if a positive delight now took the place of 
 watchful outlook for impending evil, and her step 
 was as free as a girl's. "To the woods back of the 
 house, more'n likely. Then, when they're fixed, he's 
 going to join his company, and Miliscent's coming 
 here." She spoke as if all this were only every-day 
 preparations. One must rub one's eyes and believe
 
 356 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 himself to be dreaming, to think of a terrible struggle 
 perhaps already begun, but two short miles away, in 
 a war for liberty against oppression. 
 
 " Here, Debby, run up and put those balls in a 
 barrel of feathers you will find up in the garret," she 
 said, pointing to the ammunition in the corner on the 
 floor. " Sink 'em well down at the bottom, and pile 
 the feathers lightly over them. " 
 
 "The cartridges oh, where are they?" cried 
 Debby, bundling the balls rapidly into her blue- 
 checked apron. 
 
 " James took off the last load yesterday afternoon," 
 said grandmother. "Thank the Lord, they will be do- 
 ing their blessed work before long," she added grimly. 
 
 "Oh, yes, thank the Lord!" Debby's brain was in 
 a whirl; but she blessed Him, as she staggered over 
 the attic stairs and did as commanded. Then, just 
 as she was running down again, her eye spied a big 
 hair trunk under some boxes. 
 
 " I remember Miliscent said once, when we were 
 up here putting away the butternuts, that there were 
 silver pieces in it, and papers that must be saved 
 if any harm threatened the house. I'll look within." 
 
 She got the boxes off, and freed the trunk for obser- 
 vation, and, throwing up the lid yes, there were 
 rolls and packages of yellowed papers tied with linen
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 357 
 
 strings, and down in the corner was a stout bag that 
 rattled its contents when shaken. Here doubtless 
 were the silver pieces. There was no time to lose in 
 investigation; and hastily closing the trunk, Debby 
 thrust the papers and the bag down under the feathers 
 also then rushed over the stairs. 
 
 " We may be only women and girls," said grand- 
 mother, "but I guess we can outwit our tyrants. Here, 
 Debby, run with this, and turn up the furrow back of 
 the house with the spade, and drop it in. Mr. Barrett 
 has ploughed the ground up this morning, and sunk 
 the muskets and balls and other things. Stay, child," 
 her busy hand dropped, and her strong face grew a 
 shade paler, "I forgot; there are some papers and 
 a bag of silver pieces in " 
 
 "The old hair trunk in the garret?" interrupted 
 Debby. "I hid those in the barrel of feathers too, 
 along with the balls." 
 
 "Now bless you for a sharp-witted girl," breathed 
 Grandmother Barrett thankfully. " Save the pewter 
 platter, then; we may need it for bullets yet. Run, 
 Debby, child. Oh, if we can but get through before 
 they come ! " 
 
 None too soon. Just a breathing-space, and down 
 the Mill Road came the redcoats. Some were whis- 
 tling with the fun of the expedition, and laughing and
 
 358 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 chatting. It was a most informal raiding-party, in- 
 tent on two objects; and these were the destruction 
 of the military stores, and the capture of that rebel- 
 lious subject, Colonel James Barrett, to send over to 
 England. 
 
 On they came, right merrily, and swarmed over the 
 Barrett meadow and field and house-place, and pres- 
 ently they were within the old house. 
 
 Stephen, hurrying home, fell into their clutches, 
 and they dragged him into the kitchen. "You are 
 my prisoner," thundered the emissary of King George, 
 the officer in command, as the soldiers hauled Stephen 
 into their midst. "I have orders to carry you to 
 England." 
 
 " Those orders were for my husband, Colonel James 
 Barrett," cried Grandmother Barrett spiritedly. "This 
 is my son Stephen. Touch not one hair of that young 
 man's head, or his blood be upon you. You were 
 ordered to take Colonel James. Take him if you can 
 find him. Loose my son. and let him go this instant." 
 
 " My orders are to take Colonel James Barrett at 
 all hazards," said the officer in some confusion, fall- 
 ing back. "Take your hands off from the young 
 man's person, but keep an eye to his movements," 
 which the soldiers obeyed, their arms falling to their 
 sides sullenly.
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 359 
 
 "Well, now, my men, to work! We've no time 
 to lose. Let the search begin. Thornton, see that 
 it is carried on thoroughly. Let nothing escape 
 you." 
 
 This to a younger officer, a man about six or seven 
 and twenty, tall and slender, though firmly built, and 
 having a pair of keen dark eyes in his pale, re- 
 fined face. Debby. pressing up back of Mrs. Bar- 
 rett, with Miliscent, who had just run over, followed 
 the direction of his command. At last she saw him 
 face to face, where he could not escape her. It was 
 the peddler spy, the tempter of her father, the young 
 British officer come to finish his deadly work. 
 
 In spite of the peril of their position, the swarm 
 of redcoats, grounding their muskets on the floor and 
 filling the house with their boisterous mirth, and only 
 Grandmother Barrett, the serving-woman, Miliscent, 
 and herself to defend the home, Debby opened her 
 mouth to utter the torrent of denunciations that her 
 bosom could not contain. 
 
 In a twinkling the young officer said, " Captain 
 Parsons, while you search without, my men shall go 
 above stairs ; " and with the word of command, before 
 Debby could utter one syllable, he and the squad fol- 
 lowing him had left the apartment. 
 
 "Are you mad, Debby?" said Miliscent in a whis-
 
 360 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 per, and seizing her arm. " I saw you; you could not 
 contain yourself." 
 
 " It was he," gasped Debby, her hand at her heart. 
 " The villain the tempter the British spy ! Oh, 
 why did I not have a chance to let him see that the 
 Concord maiden is not afraid of him and his wicked- 
 ness ? " 
 
 " You must not, you shall not attempt it again," 
 cried Miliscent, as Captain Parsons was saying, 
 " Madam, do you expect us to be detained here in 
 this way ? The stores are in this house, and it will 
 be vastly better for you to tell us where. You will 
 then be let off easily, and probably the order for the 
 capture of Colonel James will be revoked." 
 
 "You will receive no help from me, sir," replied 
 Mrs. Barrett spiritedly. " Not to save a life will 
 one of us lisp a syllable. And as for the capture 
 of Colonel James, take him if you can find him. 
 He is in God's hands, and he will deliver him from 
 you." 
 
 With a brace of round oaths the officer gave the 
 word, and the search began; and soon in the cellar, 
 the kitchen, the barn, and the sheds, the Regulars 
 were running in and out, in full spirit with the work, 
 and confident that each instant the coveted articles 
 would come to light.
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 36 1 
 
 Stephen all this time was between two soldiers, to 
 prevent any interference on his part. He clinched 
 his fist, and was about to pitch in then and there; 
 but reflecting that such a movement on his part would 
 only bring destruction upon the house and its in- 
 mates, he gulped down his mortification and anger, 
 only mollified by the thought of the warning he had 
 carried to the minute-men of the neighboring towns, 
 who were now probably safe with their comrades at the 
 Old North Bridge. 
 
 "I'm going up to listen at the foot of the garret 
 stairs," said Miliscent. " They are up there now ; I 
 hear them. We must save those things." 
 
 Debby crept up after her, the beating of their young 
 hearts seeming to proclaim their approach. 
 
 " There's a beggarly old Yankee trunk. Rip it 
 open with your sword." 
 
 But the lid was thrown wide without that trouble, 
 as the girls, with bated breath, crouching at the foot 
 of the stairs, well knew. 
 
 " Ha ! Grandfather's precious papers, safe and 
 the silver pieces safe; that is,' so far." A storm of 
 oaths followed the noise of that search. 
 
 "The old beds a ctffse on these rascally rebels ! 
 Where have they hid the stuff? " roared another voice. 
 "Tear open the beds! Confusion to them! We'll
 
 362 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 fire the house over their heads. Then the rats will 
 tell rather than roast." 
 
 " Hold I " It was the voice of their commander. 
 "Behave like Englishmen and gentlemen in this 
 house, and respect the rights of others, or, by my 
 sword, you'll find it the worse for you. I'll run you 
 through." 
 
 Debby held her breath in stunned silence. 
 
 "Oh, how good he is!" whispered Miliscent grate- 
 fully into her ear. 
 
 This stung her. " Good!" she spurned the thought, 
 and turned on her with flashing eyes. 
 
 "Hush, hush!" implored Miliscent; "hear what 
 they are saying. " 
 
 "Rebels have no rights against our king," one sol- 
 dier ventured to grumble out. The others stared at 
 his temerity. 
 
 "You have only your orders to obey," said the offi- 
 cer sternly; "and they are to search this house 
 quietly, without violence or personal harm to the oc- 
 cupants. Another word from you, my man, and you 
 will find yourself in the guard-room on your return 
 to Boston." 
 
 Milly raised her slender hands and her beautiful 
 dark eyes in thankfulness to heaven. Debby gripped 
 her with speechless passion.
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 363 
 
 The garret had now become a scene of wild con- 
 fusion. The dragging of heavy articles about con- 
 tinued for some time, as the search went on. At last 
 oaths and angry exclamations of disappointment fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 " The barrel yonder of feathers ! " screamed one 
 soldier at length, when all else had failed to disclose 
 the coveted stores. 
 
 Miliscent wound her arms around Debby, and the 
 two gazed in anguish in each other's faces. 
 
 "There is no good to be obtained by our waiting 
 longer," said the officer. " Go below, men ! " 
 
 One soldier hung back, and rushed to the barrel, 
 thrusting his hand into the feathers. 
 
 " You fool you ! plough up those feathers, will you," 
 jeered the rest. ;< What do you expect to get there 
 for your pains ? " sang out one man. " Another goose, 
 perhaps, to match you. " A roar of laughter greeted 
 this sally, a rattle of bayonets on the floor in applause, 
 and a chorus of jeers, the victim of it all turning 
 back from the barrel with a red face and discomfited 
 manner. 
 
 "Fly, Debby," warned Miliscent; "they are coming 
 down ! " 
 
 Debby, torn with conflicting emotions, the upper- 
 most one being anger at Miliscent's gratitude to the
 
 364 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 British officer, dashed after her, her blue stuff gown 
 catching on a long nail by the side of the doorway 
 leading up the attic stairs. She pulled at it to tear 
 herself free, but cloth was made honestly in those 
 days, and it would not yield. They were close upon 
 her; she was surrounded by armed men, the muskets 
 were at her head, the bayonets as well; and helpless 
 and alone, Miliscent, supposing herself followed by 
 Debby, having reached grandmother's side by this 
 time, she was in the centre of a baffled crowd of 
 soldiery, whose angry eyes gave her no good reason 
 to expect any mercy. 
 
 As many of the men as were near him were thrust 
 aside impetuously. "Allow me," said the young offi- 
 cer, as deferentially as though she were a great lady 
 and he her guest. And in an instant he had released 
 Debby's gown, and with one quick movement, his 
 fingers closing on her arm, he had put her behind 
 him. It was impossible to describe Debby's feel- 
 ings at the touch of his hated hand, so gentle and 
 deferential, yet with a grip that was like steel. She 
 trembled with passion. 
 
 " Ah ! " she cried, " I would rather die than be 
 saved by you ; " and she shook herself free, and 
 looked him full in the piercing eyes. 
 
 " The saucy rebel ! " cried one of the soldiers.
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 365 
 
 advancing on her. " You shall pay for this, girl, 
 and find out what it is to defy English authority," 
 clamored another threateningly. 
 
 ''Silence!" thundered their commander, drawing 
 his sword; "the maiden is sore distressed. Are you 
 men, with mothers and sisters, that you would add 
 to her suffering? March below!" 
 
 Debby essayed to speak; but the rattle of their 
 arms and their heavy tread, as they filed by her, 
 with flashing eyes and glances that boded no good, 
 drowned all her attempts. She was only conscious, as 
 the noise decreased, that the tall figure of the British 
 officer was before her, and that they were alone. 
 
 "May heaven forgive me for what I have done," 
 he said in a low tone. " Miss Parlin, it could not 
 be undone. I must warn you now that your father 
 is here to-day with our men." 
 
 She had no time to utter even a low cry of an- 
 guish, for his hand gripped her arm again. " For- 
 give me," he said, " but I cannot again hold back 
 my soldiers if they hear you. Your father was forced 
 to come. Do not turn against him. Believe me, 
 he will do no harm to his townsmen," he added 
 significantly. " I will save you and your people 
 from every annoyance, and pray God we shall re- 
 turn quietly to Boston."
 
 366 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCOXD TOWN. 
 
 "And I," said Debby deliberately, in a low, clear 
 voice, "pray God that I may die before sinking to 
 the shame of a rescue from the slayer of my father's 
 honor. " 
 
 He drew back with a swift expression of suffer- 
 ing in his piercing dark eyes, bowed silently, and 
 motioned for her to proceed before him to the rooms 
 below. Debby swept off, holding her head high on 
 her slender neck, gained the "muster-room," swarm- 
 ing with soldiery, heard him say to Captain Par- 
 sons, "We could find nothing, although our search 
 has been exhaustive." 
 
 " Hark ye ! " exclaimed Captain Parsons sharply, as 
 Grandmother Barrett uttered a " Heaven be praised!" 
 "your gratitude is short-lived. While we have pos- 
 session of the whole town, as we presently shall, 
 the matter of a few stores is of trifling importance. 
 Now give us something to eat," looking into the 
 sullen and disappointed faces of his men, " for verily 
 we need it sorely. " 
 
 "Yes, give us something to eat," they clamored. 
 
 "We are commanded to feed our enemies," said 
 Mrs. Barrett with dignity. So she gave orders to 
 Miliscent, to Debby, and to the serving-woman, to 
 set forth the doughnuts and the big pans of milk, 
 the boiled meat and the bread and ham and the
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 367 
 
 pies, on the mahogany centre-table. " Draw up, and 
 eat your fill," she said when all was ready, with 
 the air of a queen dispensing royal favors. 
 
 "Truly the old lady has grit in her," observed 
 one soldier to his comrade, as they took their por- 
 tions of food to a quiet corner. 
 
 "I like those two pretty maidens, and I'll have 
 a bout with them," said the comrade who had re- 
 mained below stairs with Captain Parsons's company, 
 and fixing his eyes on the two girls, obeying, but 
 with panting bosoms and flashing eyes, the commands 
 of grandmother to set the food on the table. 
 
 "Better not; I think that the flaxen hair and blue 
 eyes is the identical maiden we encountered at the 
 cottage some three miles from here, before we reached 
 the town." 
 
 " The veriest nonsense ! " exclaimed the other, 
 munching his bread and beef with a gusto; "that 
 little maid is saying her prayers with chattering teeth 
 in her home chimney. Fancy her running up here 
 into our muskets. Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 "You may laugh if you like," said the other dog- 
 gedly; "but I'll take my oath she is one and the 
 same. She'd have slain me with her eyes, and flown 
 at us tooth and nail, if we had not turned away and 
 left her poor miserable little house in safety. The
 
 368 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 temper of this one is just the same. Let these girls 
 alone, and stir them not up by any notice. Our 
 orders are not for such work." 
 
 "Nevertheless, I shall try my luck with that fair 
 rebel," persisted the first soldier stubbornly, "and 
 get a word and a kiss." 
 
 "And your head cracked for your pains." Another 
 comrade drew near. "You should have been up- 
 stairs with us to have seen Lieutenant Thornton. 
 Confusion to him; we were about to teach that same 
 saucy little rebel to respect the English army, but 
 he interposed." 
 
 " Did he so ? " cried the other men. 
 
 "And hark ye we must move carefully with him 
 around," dropping his voice; "he's the devil and 
 all, as you know, when he's roused." 
 
 "The aristocrat!" grumbled the soldiers under 
 their breath, prefixing the title with an oath. 
 
 Captain Parsons was throwing some pieces of gold 
 into Dame Barrett's lap. "We are not robbers; we 
 pay for what we eat," he said. 
 
 "We take not the price of blood," she replied with 
 spirit, tossing them back; but he left them where they 
 fell. 
 
 " Now collect the gun-carriages, and we will fire 
 them," was his order.
 
 SEARCHING FOR THE STORES. 369 
 
 One of the sergeants interrupted. "We have hard 
 work before us, Captain; we must have some spirit 
 to drink. This house must hold a lot of the stuff, 
 or at least some cider; and this Yankee drink is 
 not bad, you know." 
 
 "Not a drop!" commanded the captain sternly, and 
 drawing his sword. " Hard work we have before us, 
 ay, and bloody as well, before the sun goes down. 
 We will do it as Englishmen, and not as drunken 
 fools. Hark! the firing has commenced. March! 
 my men, and wipe out the rascally rebels ! " 
 
 The scattered redcoats formed into glittering 
 ranks. Angry though they were at the failure to 
 secure the coveted stores, yet they preserved their 
 good temper at the prospect of the victory that should 
 lay the whole town in one conquest at their feet. 
 Military stores and everything else would, before 
 nightfall, be theirs. They could afford to bear little 
 annoyances now. They beat a hasty retreat, the two 
 comrades who had discussed the charms of Debby 
 and Miliscent gave them a parting glance of admira- 
 tion, the audacious one kissing his fingers toward 
 Debby's pretty face, despite her anger, which amused 
 him greatly. 
 
 The firing indeed had begun at the bridge, although 
 as the detachment left the house, and started on a
 
 37O A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 quick step down the Barrett Mill Road, they did 
 not then know their destination, where they should 
 get into the battle they were so eager to help for- 
 ward. 
 
 Debby seized Miliscent with her strong young 
 hands, and drew her off to the little entry. Stephen 
 had rushed off the minute the soldiers turned their 
 backs, and was already half across the fields, on 
 his way to the conflict. Mrs. Barrett had sunk to 
 her knees in prayer, while the serving-woman was 
 pottering about the remnants of the food, with a 
 " Lord have mercy on us, how those British do eat ! " 
 and mumbling a spasmodic and scanty petition to 
 Heaven as. the report of each volley at the bridge 
 smote her ear. 
 
 "I've got a gun, and I'm going!" cried Debby in 
 a hoarse tone. "Kiss me good-by, Miliscent, and 
 and"- 
 
 " You are mad ! " cried Miliscent, her dark eyes di- 
 lating in terror. "You are a girl. It is improper ! " 
 
 "I shall go." Debby's spirit flashed high. "It is 
 no more improper than for us to make the cartridges."
 
 THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD." 371 
 
 XXV. 
 
 THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD." 
 
 MEANTIME, during all this search for the mili- 
 tary stores at Colonel James Barrett's, the 
 grenadiers and marines under Smith and Pitcairn 
 were alert and determined at the same work in the 
 centre of the old town. But the distress and priva- 
 tion and suffering the citizens had gone through with 
 had sharpened their wits, and the larger portion of 
 the oubiic stores were now concealed in such places 
 where they were practically safe ; the remainder must 
 be defended by the tact and the cleverness of the be- 
 sieged inhabitants. Despite all their efforts, however, 
 about sixty barrels of flour were burst open ; the trun- 
 nions of three cannon were knocked off; carriage- 
 wheels were burned; and wooden trenchers and spoons, 
 and hundreds of pounds of balls, found a resting-place 
 in the millpond and the wells of the vicinity. The 
 flames overcoming the liberty pole on the hill had 
 been started, firing the hearts of the townspeople into 
 fresh anger, but not dismay, when a British officer
 
 372 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 stalked up to Captain Timothy Wheeler. " Open your 
 barn," was the order, short and sharp. The barn was 
 opened by Captain Wheeler with a " Certainly, sir," 
 that charmed by its ready acquiescence in the inevita- 
 ble ; and there was a stock of Provincial flour, together 
 with some belonging to himself, now revealed to the 
 devastating hand of the enemy. 
 
 Captain Wheeler put his hand on a barrel. "I am 
 a miller, sir. Yonder stands my mill. I get my liv- 
 ing by it. In the winter I grind a great deal of grain, 
 and get it ready for market in the spring. This is my 
 flour;" touching another barrel, "this is my wheat;" 
 and pointing to another cask, "this is my rye." 
 
 "In that case," said the officer with a longing 
 glance around, "I must leave it untouched. We do 
 not injure private property." 
 
 The tumult was now great. The soldiers, maddened 
 by the pillage they had succeeded in effecting, but 
 more by what they had missed, rushed hither and 
 thither, without strict military discipline or order, 
 only intent on destroying as much of the public 
 property as possible. The Province treasurer, who 
 boarded during the sessions of Congress at the tavern 
 of Ephraim Jones, left in his care the chest contain- 
 ing money and important enclosures. At this time 
 Captain Jones was a prisoner, with five bayonets
 
 THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD." 373 
 
 "fixed and pointing at him." But wanting some 
 refreshment at the bar, the guard of five soldiers 
 released him for this purpose, and then searched his 
 house, as were all houses searched, if the soldiery 
 were so disposed; and there they discovered the chest. 
 But Hannah Barns, a member of the family, spoke 
 up, "This is my room, and contains my property." 
 They parleyed and bickered ; but she stood her ground 
 sturdily, and forced them to retire. 
 
 "The court-house is on fire! Quick! the top of 
 the house is filled with powder; and if you do not put 
 the fire out, you will all be killed ! " screamed Mrs. 
 Martha Moulton, who lived near, and who, with a 
 servant of Dr. Minott across the way, was endeavor- 
 ing to extinguish the flames. On this the British 
 soldiers in the vicinity turned to and gave them as- 
 sistance. 
 
 Into the houses rushed the soldiery, now hungry 
 and defiant. The whole town was in an uproar, and 
 swarmed with redcoats; while the defenceless citizens, 
 too old to fight, and the women and children, with the 
 able-bodied men who were set to guard the public 
 stores, were the sole defenders of the town. 
 
 Over at the South Bridge, meanwhile, Captain Mun- 
 dey Pole, of the Tenth British Regiment, and his 
 squad, set up a special search at the house of Eph-
 
 374 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 raim Wood. His distinguished patriotism and his 
 public office in the town made him a shining mark, 
 and they hoped to secure him. But he was " engaged 
 in directing the important events of the day, and 
 assisting to remove the stores; " and thus, being from 
 home, he escaped. All this time the minute-men and 
 military companies from the adjoining towns were 
 assembling, until now there were in the neighborhood 
 of two hundred and fifty men. 
 
 Joseph Hosmer, acting adjutant, " formed the sol- 
 diers as they arrived, singly or in squads, the minute 
 companies on the right, and the militia on the left 
 facing the town." He then, observing an unusual 
 smoke arising from the centre of the village, went to 
 the officers and citizens in consultation on the high 
 ground near by, and inquired earnestly, "Will you 
 let them burn the town down?" and they "resolved 
 to march into the middle of the town to defend their 
 homes, or die in the attempt, and at the same time 
 they resolved not to fire unless first fired upon." 
 
 Colonel Barrett has given orders to march; Major 
 Buttrick has led the men in double file to the spot, 
 the birthplace of liberty and the triumph of the 
 American cause; the Acton minute-men with Cap- 
 tain Davis at their head, and the Concord minute 
 company under Captain Brown, get into position in
 
 THE OLD NORTH BRIDGE. 
 
 King George's troops stood where The Minute Man marks the 
 
 the monument was erected. position of the Provinci 
 
 And the river rolled between.
 
 THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD." 375 
 
 front ; and the quiet river of peace slips gently by 
 at their feet. 
 
 Over on the east side, the rustic bridge between, 
 the British are tearing up the planks. Major But- 
 trick, in a loud tone, orders them to desist. A few 
 shots are discharged into the river, probably as 
 "alarm guns;" and then a single gun, in the hands 
 of a British soldier, speeds a ball that strikes Luther 
 Blanchard of the Acton company and Jonas Brown 
 of the Concord company, both minute-men. Now 
 follows a volley from the British. Isaac Davis and 
 Abner Hosmer, both of Acton, fall dead. Brave 
 Major Buttrick leaps from the ground, and cries, 
 
 "Fire, fellow-soldiers! for God's sake, fire!" and 
 the embattled farmers, so long held back, respond 
 with "the shot heard round the world." 
 
 It was at this instant, "between ten and eleven 
 o'clock," that the three companies under Captain 
 Parsons were on the double-quick step from the 
 search for the military stores at Colonel James Bar- 
 rett's, that Stephen was rushing across the fields, 
 and Debby was securing the "grand'ther's musket" 
 she had taken pains to have ready against the time 
 of need. Oh, wonder of wonders ! the British, leaving 
 their dead and wounded, are running by the bridge! 
 the scarlet uniforms in a mad confusion and rout,
 
 376 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 closely pursued by the embattled farmers with stern, 
 set faces, and firing as they go at the flying foe, 
 intent on getting over the great field to stop the en- 
 emy at Merriam's Corner. All military order now is 
 broken up. Henceforth it is to be each man fighting 
 for freedom, and each man defending himself on the 
 retreat. 
 
 Debby, skirting the thicket at the foot of the Ridge, 
 and concealed by the thick growth of young pines and 
 scrub oak, unmindful of the heavy musket she carries, 
 looks about with watchful eyes. Ha I here runs a 
 hated redcoat, and then a squad of the flying enemy. 
 Now God defend her good right arm and give her 
 clear sight; but without warning the foremost man 
 turns suddenly, leaves the thoroughfare, and plunges 
 into the "heart of her covert," disturbing her aim, 
 while the rest rush on. She pauses, her fingers 
 on the trigger. He has laid down his gun, and is 
 tearing off his coat to thrust it from him with mad 
 gesture, tossing out his long arms to heaven. She 
 shuts her eyes. "O God! I cannot kill him thus de- 
 fenceless;" and waits, praying for strength to do it 
 when he sees her, and it is an equal fight. He turns, 
 seizes his gun from the earth, and meets her eyes. 
 " Father!" she screams. 
 
 "I haven't fired a shot," he said hoarsely. "I
 
 THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD." 377 
 
 was in the thickest of the fight at the bridge ; but 
 although I prayed to die, every ball passed me by. 
 Hinder me not; I am John Parlin of Concord Town 
 once more, and God give this gun power over the 
 tyrant." 
 
 She was at his knees, sobbing and clasping them 
 with her arms. " O father, father ! " she moaned, 
 "forgive me for the wicked thoughts against you." 
 
 He lifted her from the damp spring mould. "Kiss 
 me, child," he said solemnly, "and say, 'Father, I 
 know you love your country now." 
 
 She said the words after him between her tears, 
 and laid her head on his bosom, soothing his bronzed 
 cheek and hair with her hand. 
 
 "Put away your gun, Debby, " he said, "or give 
 it to some man to use upon the enemy." He seemed 
 to guess at her reason for carrying it, and it brought 
 the hot blood to her cheek to see that he divined 
 it. "Your father will do your work now. One more 
 kiss now, daughter; for this day will be my last on 
 earth, something tells me, and it is better so." 
 
 "Father!" she screamed after him, and fell sense- 
 less on the red coat he had spurned. 
 
 John Parlin strode over the Ridge his feet knew so 
 well ; and deadly was every ball he sent at the flying 
 redcoats on the Old Bay Road beneath, harassed and
 
 3/8 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 spent, not knowing where, behind stone wall or tree, 
 in thicket or covert, the invisible enemy were in- 
 trenched. With feverish haste he pressed on, load- 
 ing and firing, and loading again, leaving all along 
 the thoroughfare the dead foe to mark his swift, un- 
 erring aim. He only paused a moment when he 
 reached his cottage, and raised his head to look at 
 it, half expecting to find it burned to the ground. 
 There it stood; but the memory of the happy days 
 passed within, and the wreck of the sweet confidence, 
 changed to bitterness and wrath, burned into his 
 soul as he thought of his wife. " She will know 
 that I am true to my country now." He did not 
 dare to trust himself to even look within the small- 
 paned window for the sight of her face for which 
 he longed, despite the abiding scorn and shame he 
 had seen there in many stolen visits in silent re- 
 morse, but plunged on to the fight beyond. 
 
 They were hotly at work when he came up at 
 Merriam's Corner. The king's troops, vainly en- 
 deavoring to keep together and retreat in good or- 
 der, became surrounded at this point, where the old 
 Bedford road ran into the main thoroughfare, by the 
 Provincials. These made a spirited attack, led on 
 by a tall, square-shouldered, sinewy minute-man, who 
 was in the thickest of the fray. At too short range
 
 THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD." 379 
 
 sometimes to use his trusty musket, he then em- 
 ployed his fists, that, like sledge-hammers, brought 
 down their man every time. His blue eyes shone; 
 and his hair, tossed back from his brow, disclosed a 
 long sabre cut that had trickled blood all down his 
 homespun clothes. But he knew it not, and felt 
 nothing but exultation running high in his veins, 
 as he endeavored to keep the British from massing 
 together to a successful resistance. 
 
 ''That's right. At it, Abner! " shouted John Par- 
 lin from the hilltop, and dashing down to his as- 
 sistance with a yell. The enemy, made desperate 
 by concealed foes, and thinking it the cry of a party 
 of re-enforcements, lost heart in the mad confusion of 
 the moment; and the bloody encounter that ensued, 
 in which the Provincials, surrounding them on all 
 sides, easily picked off their men, resulted in a com- 
 plete rout of the foe, in which not a farmer was 
 injured. 
 
 Abner, at that cry, glanced for a moment in its 
 direction, saw that it was Debby's father, and dealt 
 his blow that felled the scarlet coat before him to 
 the dust, then gathered up his soul with a new glad- 
 ness as he fought on. 
 
 It was an awful struggle. The British moved off, 
 to be caught up by balls from invisible opponents.
 
 380 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 laid low in the dust, and trampled, perchance, by 
 mad, on-rushing feet. Into the very teeth of mus- 
 kets, run out over the stone walls, some plunged to 
 their death, as the farmers dashed ahead to wait for 
 the foe, hurrying on their retreat ; then the assail- 
 ants would dash ahead to repeat this process, till the 
 brilliant troops were sadly decimated, and reduced to 
 a straggling, chaotic company in flight for their lives. 
 Abner and John Parlin kept together, bound by more 
 than the common tie of love of country. It rejoiced 
 the stalwart young farmer to see that wherever the 
 danger was the greatest and the conflict the thick- 
 est, Debby's father was there, his passionate face 
 upturned, his head bare, and in his shirt-sleeves, 
 fiercely waging such an onslaught that the redcoats, 
 at sight of him, ran in dismay. "When it is all 
 over," flashed through Abner 's mind in the horrid 
 tumult, " if I live, how I can gladden Debby's heart 
 by the recital, and how proud he will be; " for that 
 such invincible strength could be conquered seemed 
 past belief. The next instant a flashing sword de- 
 scended on the bare head before him. It was in the 
 hand of an officer, who came up unseen, as Parlin 
 was fighting the soldiers in front of him; and to Ab- 
 ner's horrified vision it seemed to cleave the body 
 from crown to toe. The officer then turned, and ran
 
 THE "SHOT HEARD ROUND THE WORLD." 381 
 
 to the woods. Abner dealt fury and destruction to 
 all in his path, and ran to kneel and take the poor 
 maimed head of Debby's father upon his breast. 
 
 "Tell her and my wife " as he sighed his life out 
 against the young man's heart, amid the tramp of 
 the departing enemy, leaving them alone on the 
 highway "that I " and his eyes glazed. 
 
 "All shall be told," said Abner, careless of the 
 danger he was in as he knelt there. "For love of 
 country you die," he added, as the breath left the 
 body. He dragged John Parlin gently to the road- 
 side, and broke off a branch of pine, covering with 
 it the poor, still face, bathed in blood; then he ran 
 off, mad to avenge Debby's father. 
 
 Skulking behind every protecting bush and shrub 
 and tree and stone wall, ducking at every step, crept a 
 negro, alternately clasping his trembling black hands 
 and mumbling in fright, and raising a head where the 
 wool had whitened fast, to peer about the spot like 
 a frightened rabbit. It was at the foot of the Ridge, 
 and just a short remove from the Parlin cottage. 
 When Pompey saw where he was (for Pompey it was) 
 he breathed the first sigh of relief for many an hour. 
 "Golly, ef I can't creep in yere and rest a bit; I'm 
 all tired to def; an' Massa Abner he give me gun, 
 an' tell me to fight, but I done los it long ago."
 
 382 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 Pompey scratched his wool helplessly, unable to sat- 
 isfy himself why he hadn't fought, or where the gun 
 was now. He only knew he had been caught up, as 
 it were, on the tide of the rushing throng that had 
 swept him like a dark leaf on the swift current down 
 the Old Bay Road, until too scared to attempt a re- 
 turn, he only sought shelter till the hot conflict 
 should be over. 
 
 "Pompey," said a voice he wanted least of any in 
 the world to hear. He instinctively ducked, and 
 clapped both black hands over his shins. 
 
 "It is I who am at your mercy now," said he 
 who had been the peddler, now the young British 
 officer. He was lying prone upon the ground, at 
 such a short distance removed that the trembling 
 negro must have discovered him before but for the 
 panic into which he was plunged. " Take my gun," 
 he tapped it with his long fingers, how well Pompey 
 remembered those fingers, "and, Pompey, take 
 good aim,'' as the darkey, shaking like a leaf, re- 
 ceived the weapon. "Look at me; you are to shoot 
 me through the head through the head, remember. " 
 
 "Oh, golly, massa!" exclaimed Pompey, tumbling 
 back in terror; "I couldn't go fer to murder you;" 
 the gun executing nimble movements : . Ms quaking 
 fingers.
 
 THE "SHOT I/KAKH KOUKD THE WORLDS 383 
 
 " You will do the job if you do not exercise more 
 care, Pompey, and kill yourself as well," observed 
 the young officer. "Now, listen. I am an enemy of 
 your country, whom it is not only lawful, but it 
 would be a praiseworthy action on your part, to kill. 
 I beseech you, therefore, Pompey, to despatch me 
 at once. I assure you I have no wish to live, and 
 would thank anybody for putting me out of exist- 
 ence," he added bitterly. 
 
 " Maybe you ain't much hurt, massa," said Pompey, 
 dropping the gun at a safe distance from the long 
 fingers, and still with a thought for his shins he 
 knelt down in a heap at the young officer's side. 
 
 "Ah, Pompey, I am afraid not; 'tis but a trifle in 
 the side here. Never mind the blood ; it needs 
 not to be quenched. Listen. I wronged you too. 
 Forgive every kick." 
 
 Pompey's shins quivered, and he wriggled them 
 under him. " I fergib ye, massa," he said humbly. 
 
 " Can you remember a message, do you think?" 
 suddenly asked the young officer, with a piercing 
 gleam of his dark eyes. 
 
 "I specs I kin, ef 'tisn't too long, massa." 
 
 "Say after me: MissParlin." 
 
 "Is that Miss Debby or her ma?" queried Pom- 
 pey suddenly.
 
 384 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 " Miss Deborah, you black rascal. Don't inter- 
 rupt; you are to say: Miss Par 1 in." 
 
 "You are to say Miss Parlin," repeated Pompey 
 like a parrot. 
 
 " No, no," cried the young officer impatiently, 
 and trying to raise himself to his elbow. 
 
 "No, no," said the negro, with violent efforts to do 
 it all just right this time. 
 
 The young officer sank back, his face growing 
 whiter, and closed his eyes. 
 
 "He goin* to die fer shore," groaned Pompey; 
 "then what become o' dis darkey? Maybe de Brit- 
 ishers will tink I killed him. Wake up, massa, don't 
 go an' leave Pompey." 
 
 He fairly shook the lithe figure, in his terror. 
 
 "Will you tell Miss Deborah Parlin that I never 
 fired a shot at her countrymen, and that I did what I 
 could to undo the wrong I had done? " demanded the 
 young officer, suddenly opening his eyes, and dis- 
 missing all hopes of teaching the lesson by repetition. 
 
 "Golly, I will, massa," promised Pompey, nearly 
 tumbling backward at the sudden resuscitation. 
 
 A rushing noise. Stragglers from the enemy, left 
 behind in the flight for safety, now plunged over the 
 road, some of them skirting their thicket. Not know- 
 ing who or what they were, but fearing the worst fcr
 
 THE " SHOT HEAKD ROUND THE WORLD." 385 
 
 the negro if discovered, the young officer quickly com- 
 manded him to fly into the denser covert. 
 
 Pompey's teeth shook in their sockets. "Golly, 
 massa," and his eyes showed little but their margins, 
 "dey'll kill you fer shore! I'll carry you into Miss 
 Debby's. " And before Lieutenant Thornton could 
 utter a protest, fright lent such sudden strength that 
 the darkey lifted the young officer in his long arms, 
 pushed open the door with a desperate foot, no longer 
 trembling and uncertain, and laid him on the floor, 
 then softly closed the door and fled.
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 387 
 
 my life once, yes, twice; give me leave to save 
 yours. " 
 
 "Thanks be to God if you will let me die," he 
 cried. 
 
 "No, we do not so with our enemies," she said 
 gently, her hands moving swiftly over the wound; 
 and bidding a basin of water and a towel to be 
 brought her, she tenderly bathed the blood away till 
 the terror of it grew less. 
 
 "Oh, my golly, missee!" and "O Heaven above 
 and Lord* a' mercy, you pretty dear ! " cried both Mrs. 
 Butterfield and Pompey as they came noisily in. The 
 farmers, when they saw somebody come with help, 
 hurried off. Debby looked up gratefully. " How 
 good of you," she breathed. "Now you can tell me 
 what to do for this poor man." 
 
 Mrs. Butterfield, despite the strain of mercy in her 
 disposition, which was large, could not come up to 
 an expression of delight as she saw the redcoat. 
 When she found that he was a lieutenant of the 
 king's troops, she sniffed out, "Well, I sh'd think 
 'twas pretty poor taste to come in here, after all 
 you've done to us." 
 
 " Madam, I can assure you it was against my will 
 that I came." said Thornton dryly. 
 
 " I brung him," said Pompey. " The pesky redcoats
 
 388 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 were coming down de road like debbils; an' he tole 
 me to run an' save myself, an' I wasn't goin' to leabe 
 him." 
 
 "The redcoats wouldn't have hurt him," said 
 Mother Butterfield grimly, and rolling up her sleeves 
 with an inflow of satisfaction impossible for such a 
 born nurse to conceal. 
 
 "I didn't know whether 'twas all redcoats, an' he 
 didn't know but 'twas de minute folks," grumbled 
 Pompey in a discomfited fashion. "Gracious, Mis' 
 Butterfield ! 'twas one or turrer, an' de Lord hissef 
 couldn't tell; dey's been so mixed up all day." 
 
 "Well, they ain't mixed up any longer," declared 
 Mother Butterfield with energy ; ' ' and we beat you, 
 young man, whoever you be," nodding to him on the 
 floor. 
 
 "I thank the Lord you did," he said, not taking 
 his eyes from Debby. 
 
 Mrs. Butterfield dropped everything, then trotted 
 to Debby. "The first thing to be done," and she 
 lifted her like a child and carried her to the sofa, 
 " is to put you here. That man there has gone clean 
 crazy. Pompey an' me will look after him." 
 
 "Instead, you may say he has come to a clear 
 mind," said Thornton addressing her, but still look- 
 ing at Debby. "Now, my good woman, I do not
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 389 
 
 doubt that you are the best nurse in the world ; but if 
 there is a physician in this village, I must see him. 
 Pompey, run your fingers in this pocket." He moved 
 as well as he could, even this effort making his 
 bloodless face whiter yet ; and Pompey obeying, though 
 with great awkwardness, at last succeeded in bring- 
 ing forth a wrought leather purse heavily bound with 
 silver. "Open it," commanded the young lieutenant. 
 
 A shower of gold pieces fell to the old kitchen-floor. 
 Pompey's eyes protruded. " Oh, golly, massa ! " Mrs. 
 Butterfield endeavored to look indifferent, and as if 
 gold were nothing in her eyes ; but the effort could 
 not be called a success. "Take two of those," said 
 Thornton, " and go with all speed to the village, and 
 bring your physician here with some men and a 
 wagon." 
 
 "There are dead and dying all around us," said 
 Mrs. Butterfield sharply, at the thought of her nursing 
 faculty gone to waste; "and it ain't likely that Dr. 
 Minott can leave 'em, 'specially when our own towns- 
 men will suffer by it." 
 
 "You speak with sense, madam," observed Thorn- 
 ton coolly, "nevertheless, Pompey has his orders. 
 See how quick you can be," to the darkey, who closed 
 his broad thumb over the two pieces of gold, and hur- 
 ried off. " And now will you be good enough to feel
 
 390 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 in this other pocket for me, and get a pencil and a 
 small packet of papers you will find there?" 
 
 Mrs, Butterfield got down on her fat knees with a 
 long sigh ; and suppressing many more, she finally 
 put the articles into the long fingers, taking special 
 note how exquisite were the skin and nails, in the 
 interval that consumed some time before she regained 
 her perpendicular. 
 
 The young British officer turned with great diffi- 
 culty on his side, and began to write, covering page 
 after page of the paper he took from the packet. 
 
 Debby motioned to the matron. "Put a pillow 
 under his head, and prop up his back, do, dear 
 Mrs. Butterfield." 
 
 He shot her a grateful glance, although her speech 
 was low, and continued to write, even through Mrs. 
 Butterfield's fussy manipulation of the pillows. 
 
 "Have the kindness, my dear madam," he said, 
 folding up the paper, and putting it within the packet, 
 "to return these articles to my pocket. And if any- 
 thing should happen to me, remember to send the 
 packet to the address on its cover." He looked at 
 Debby as he spoke. 
 
 "All shall be done as you wish," she said. 
 
 And good Dr. Minott came, but not for the gold, 
 for he did not see it. Long before Pompey got to the
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 391 
 
 town centre he had lost both pieces, through much 
 turning and returning of them in his thick, awkward 
 fingers. He scrabbled around for them in a fright 
 in the roadside thicket where they had fallen, and 
 at last, in a deadly terror that the young British 
 officer would die before he got back, he left them, 
 and fled precipitately to Dr. Minott's, where he told 
 such a harrowing tale of need for his services that 
 he good doctor started at once in his gig, with the 
 darkey by his side, for the Parlin cottage. He 
 came none too soon. Death and he had a battle, 
 fierce as any that was waged that day. In the end 
 the doctor was to win, though he knew it not that 
 night. 
 
 It was a soft, warm day in early June. Far in the 
 distance seemed now the day when 
 
 "On the rude bridge that arched the flood, 
 Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, 
 Here once th' embattled farmers stood, 
 And fired the shot heard round the world," 
 
 a shot that proclaimed Freedom to be born on Con- 
 cord plains, by the side of her river of peace. 
 
 The wild-flowers had gone long ago; the old robins 
 were flying about careless of their little families that 
 were taking care of themselves by this time; the
 
 3Q2 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 earth was fragrant with its sweet increase. The sol- 
 dier-farmers, vigilant and wary with musket and 
 bayonet for any chance warning, were drilling with 
 renewed zeal ; for their victory over the British troops 
 had made them a shining mark for fresh attacks, 
 and never, since that birthday of liberty on their 
 riverside, had they slept on guard. Bitter need 
 would be their portion, they realized, for many w'eary 
 months, and maybe years sore the privation as the 
 war drew its length. And so they tilled and planted, 
 toiling, as never before, to sustain Me, and the vic- 
 tory so hardly won. 
 
 Debby threw wide her window, and looked without. 
 The little birds sang to her their sweetest; she never 
 heeded, although her heart was at peace. Just above, 
 on the Ridge, lay her father at rest. Her mother and 
 herself would have it so, when the fathers of the town 
 begged that he might lie with those others, who had 
 served their day and generation well, in the old hill 
 burying-ground. For his sin had been more than 
 wiped out by his mighty valor on the day of crisis, 
 when he had been terrible for the enemy to look 
 upon, and his good strokes had helped to "hold the 
 town." 
 
 "Nay," said Mrs. Parlin, "let him be at home 
 now, where he longed to be. It is his right; and
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 393 
 
 within sight of the cottage windows shall be his bed 
 of rest. " 
 
 And so they had brought him hither, after the great 
 victory brought him from the roadside, all gashed 
 and gory; and nothing that could be done or said 
 for a hero was lacking as they laid him away in his 
 winding-sheet. And good Parson Emerson preached 
 the funeral sermon ; and Miliscent and Perces and the 
 other mates of Debby planted the periwinkle above 
 the mound, and watered it with their tears, and 
 brought flowers, and tended the resting-place cease- 
 lessly. And Debby welcomed a glad and peaceful 
 joy stealing into every tired sense. And the mother 
 each day felt the way back to the recovered heart of 
 her young happy wifehood. Had she not John back 
 again, crowned a hero in the eyes of his townsmen, 
 and through with the strain and stress of life? He 
 was hers to worship now, and not do wrong to God 
 or man by so doing. And she could sit beside him 
 on the Ridge ; and he knew all her heart, with no veil 
 or shadow between them. And each dawn was a 
 landmark on the way back to the strength she knew 
 would all be needed in the weary, terrible months 
 and years before her countrymen. 
 
 "John, I must live up to you, dear," she would 
 whisper above the grave. "I will be strong so that
 
 394 A LITTLE MAID OF CONGO KD TOWN. 
 
 I may help forward what you died to get, and not be 
 unworthy of your name." 
 
 And the little birds, swaying in the pine branches 
 above her head, cooed and trilled, and made sweet 
 love to their mates. 
 
 The other grave on the Ridge was sweet, too, in the 
 cool shade of the benignant forest, under the flowers 
 that Miliscent and Debby planted with gentle hands 
 and pitying tears for the mother over the sea, who 
 had lovingly yearned for her boy to keep good and 
 true and pure. Better perhaps was it that young 
 Herford should rest here safely, where he fell by the 
 hand of Septimius Felton on that day of conflict, 
 than for a longer life to be his, whose light-hearted, 
 boyish spirit was ill-fitted to cope with the sterner 
 issues of life. 
 
 And Mother Butterfield, to whom Dr. Minott had 
 consigned the sick British officer when he was able 
 to be moved to the Butterfield farm, was happy and 
 radiant. Added to the Concord victory, was it not 
 the cap-sheaf that she be installed chief nurse, where 
 all her faculties could have free play? And through 
 all his ravings, when the brain fever was at its height, 
 she was placid and benignant. 
 
 One day, however, she shut the door hastily. " If 
 Abner heard him now," she said under her breath,
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 395 
 
 "he might find it in his heart to reproach me for 
 bringing him back to life. Debby is but a girl, and 
 young, pretty things are won by gold. I would he 
 had kept to his British training, and his love to the 
 king, then she'd spurn him like the dust beneath her 
 feet. But now oh, alack, alack!" 
 
 But Abner had heard, albeit she was now so care- 
 ful, though he gave no sign. And he kept his pa- 
 tient tongue quiet, and hid the tale he had refrained 
 from speaking to the girl, till she had chance to do 
 honor to her father without interruption, and to recover 
 her peaceful heart. When he brought, as hasten he 
 did with it that night after the battle, the grand story of 
 John Parlin's death, he longed to fold her in his arms, 
 with a new story of the great love he bore her. But 
 all was confusion in the Parlin cottage, owing to the 
 pr:sance of the stranger supposed to be dying; and he 
 could get no speech alone with Debby, and her great 
 eyes in the white little face seemed to implore him to 
 be let alone to find peace. So he read them. And 
 since that time he had tried to content himself with 
 doing for her what he could, and biding his time, 
 meaning soon to speak. And now must it always 
 be a time of renunciation with him? he cried alone in 
 his agony in the forest, where he plunged after hear- 
 ing the ravings of the young British officer. First, oh,
 
 396 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 so long ago, for he had loved Debby even a little 
 maid in pinafores, he had given her up in his mind 
 to Jim and the other fellows of their set, who were 
 handsome and cleverer than he ; and now, when at last 
 he had a right to show his heart, fate had thrown 
 among them this stranger. Good? yes, Abner knew 
 in his soul that the man was good and pure, and 
 willing to renounce what he saw was an unrighteous 
 cause. And last of all, for to Abner's thinking this 
 would weigh more in Debby's mind than the gold, 
 this redcoat officer had been born and bred in an 
 English home of aristocracy, educated in a British 
 university, and had about him that nameless quality 
 that fascinates the world of men as well as of women. 
 
 " My flower ! my Debby ! the only woman in the 
 world ! shall I speak now ? The queen's palace is 
 not too good for you. Poor fool am I ! " He flung 
 his sinewy, brown arms to heaven, looked at them, 
 and laughed bitterly. " I would not speak now if 
 I knew she would look at me in pity, for she ought 
 to take what God has provided for her. It is her 
 right." 
 
 On the ground, in the depth of the forest where he 
 had wandered, he flung himself on his face, for the 
 first time in his life allowing the hours to slip by 
 over his neglected work. When he came back to the
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 397 
 
 farm he was the same quiet Abner, going in and out, 
 but with more helpful solicitude for Thornton's recov- 
 ery than before. 
 
 "Poor boy! if he only knew," sighed his, mother; 
 and she racked her brain to get him his favorite 
 dishes to eat, and to show him all possible atten- 
 tions. 
 
 And sometimes, when the ravings were very bad, 
 they would have to send for Debby. And it was 
 Abner who went for her in the big green wagon. And 
 she would lay her cool, soft hand on the poor wasted 
 brow, and her tears would fall for the mother or sister 
 in the distant English home, who ought to be in her 
 place, and Abner would rush out to go all over again 
 with the agony and temptation he thought he had 
 conquered. And at last the fever turned; and now, 
 on this soft, warm day in early June, although the 
 young British officer had lingered, the time had ar- 
 rived when it was no longer seemly to do so. 
 
 There were footsteps without, slow, but decided. 
 Mrs. Parlin, with a peaceful smile beneath her white 
 cap, looked up from her spinning. When she saw 
 that it was Thornton (no one called him now "the 
 young British officer," knowing well that the Ameri- 
 can cause had won him to its side), she smiled. It 
 was one of the strongest reasons for Abner's belief
 
 398 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 that Providence willed it for Thornton's love to pre- 
 vail with Debby, that her mother had long ago be- 
 stowed upon the young man that love and sympathy 
 that his Jieart craved. Good Mrs. Butterfield might 
 toil and slave, be up nights on the anxious watch, 
 potter over gruels and other helpful messes for day 
 and night in and out; but let Mrs. Parlin come into 
 the sick-room, and sit there in her white cap, her 
 hands folded in her lap, and smile at him, and say, 
 "You poor boy," and Thornton, ungrateful wretch, 
 grimaced in Mother Butterfield's face at the gruels 
 and the medicines, and lay serene and happy so long 
 as he could see Debby's mother. 
 
 Why did she so ? Ah, her John was a hero, en- 
 shrined in the heart of the town, and safe, forever at 
 rest. Perhaps, had it not been for the work of this 
 misguided young man, the glory of that eventful day 
 would have been less for the farmer-soldier, slow of 
 purpose and action. And the Englishman but did his 
 duty, he believed; and he was won to the American 
 cause by her Deborah. Should she not devote that 
 brilliant life and gold to the service of her suffering 
 countrymen? Debby might yet be a great lady in 
 the Colonies, and worthy her father's name. 
 
 She smiled on Thornton, and bade him be seated. 
 He came close to the spinning-wheel, and held her
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 399 
 
 with his intense eyes. "I have your permission 
 to speak?" he asked feverishly. 
 
 ''Yes." She knew he was weak and still sick, 
 and words should be few. " I will call Debby; " and 
 after she had done so she hastened to John's grave, 
 glad that their daughter was to meet her sweet, vic- 
 torious womanhood. 
 
 It was the same room the keeping-room into 
 which he had been laid, and where Debby had knelt 
 to him, tending his wound, to which he had now 
 brought the heart that had so long been hers, to put 
 it at her feet. She stood before him, her clear 
 blue eyes raised to his, and her sweet face still pale. 
 But the mouth was firm in its curves. 
 
 "I am glad you are better," she said gently. "Do 
 not stand; you are still weak." 
 
 "Instead, I would kneel at your feet from hence- 
 forth," he said feebly. "Miss Parlin, I need not 
 many words to tell you why I come to you to-day. 
 My ravings have spoken my heart ; good Mrs. Butter- 
 field has confessed it." 
 
 She put up her brown hand, thin and shapely, but 
 his great will mastered her to silence. 
 
 "No; I must speak. For my crime against your 
 father " 
 
 "Speak not of that," she interrupted him; "our
 
 400 A LITTLE MAW OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 hearts are at rest. And I have a crime against you, 
 nay, many, that I wish you to forgive." The kerchief 
 on her bosom rose and fell with her quick breath- 
 ing. "I was unjust and cruel when you did what 
 you thought your duty, and I would that you forgave 
 me." 
 
 He could not speak, yet he would not so much as 
 trust himself to touch her hand. His iron will must 
 master every impulse until his tale of love had been 
 told. 
 
 "Ah, you cannot forgive me !" said Debby sadly. 
 
 He turned on her then, and burst forth, his plans of 
 speech all scattered, "Cannot forgive?" his great 
 eyes burned into hers with a devotion that stirred her 
 very heart and soul to its depths, his thin white face 
 worked with the passion that knows not the need of 
 words. "Deborah, come to me, if you can. Have 
 pity, and come." He flung wide his arms. "All 
 all I have and am is yours, and the Cause you love. " 
 
 One instant, not hesitation for the fame and the 
 gold, the brilliant career of a leading lady in the 
 Colonies, nor the pride of the handsome scion of an 
 old English family won to her and to her cause, 
 but only to consult her woman's heart how gently to 
 strike the blow. 
 
 "I will throw myself on your mercy," her lips
 
 WILL SHE BE A GREAT LADY? 401 
 
 were tremulous now, "so that you may see that God 
 will not let me take your love. My heart has been 
 another's for long, long years; and oh! have pity 
 on me, for I am like you, he loves me not." She 
 stood there, in her womanly shame, the pink glow 
 over her face, her appealing eyes raised to his face. 
 
 He had time to gather himself up; and he cried 
 hoarsely, " Now may God have mercy on me, and help 
 me to do his will." He reverently bent and touched 
 her brow with his lips. 
 
 The next day he sailed from Boston Harbor. Close 
 to his heart lay the writing on the packet, in which he 
 had transferred, in case of his expected death, his 
 English estate to the little Maid of Concord Town, 
 to be recorded in proper shape as soon as his foot 
 touched his native soil. No wife nor children should 
 be his, he had sworn in his empty heart; and the 
 struggling Colonies that she had lived for, ay, was 
 living for yet, should some time be the richer for his 
 sojourn among them. 
 
 The grave on the Ridge was soft in the moonlight. 
 Debby laid her heated face against it. "Father," she 
 mourned, " comfort my mother for her sore disappoint- 
 ment. I cannot bear to look in her eyes. O Abner! " 
 
 It was as if she called him, yet she had spoken 
 never a word; for there he stood, as she raised her
 
 402 A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD TOWN. 
 
 head, standing on the other side of the grave, tall 
 and still. 
 
 Debby sprang to her feet. " Abner ! " she gasped, 
 laying her hand on her beating heart, " when did you 
 come ? " 
 
 He did not seem to hear. He only stretched his 
 hands out to her. And the little Maid of Concord 
 Town went within them, and laid her head upon his 
 breast. 
 
 "His parting words to me were, 'She loves you,'" 
 he said at last, when words began to be spoken be- 
 tween them. " O Debby ! what have you given up for 
 me?" 
 
 She drew away a bit to look into his steady brown 
 eyes, 
 
 "Instead, I have gained all, for my heart came to 
 life in Concord Town, Abner," she said, her blue eyes 
 shining into his.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 I. 
 
 THE framed manuscript copy of this letter, to which the 
 scissors are appended, hangs in the Public Library at Con- 
 cord. 
 
 BRONXVILLB, N. Y., March 24, 1875. 
 
 CHARLES THOMPSON, ESQ. ; 
 
 Dear Sir, About one hundred and one years ago, Dr. War- 
 ren sent a young man, his nephew by marriage, Joseph Swain, son 
 of Rev. Joseph Swain, of Wenham, to Concord, to take charge of 
 the rebel armory. After repairing the guns generally in use, he 
 attempted to make some new ones. For this purpose he returned 
 to Salem, to the edge-tool factory of Mrs. Proctor, where he had 
 previously had charge, and secured such tools as were to be had ; 
 and among them this anvil, which I now, through you, present 
 to the town of Concord. On this anvil the first gun-barrel was 
 welded in Concord. 
 
 Colonel James Barrett and his son James had, during the French 
 war, furnished, through the commissary department in Boston, 
 oatmeal and some other provisions. This continued on until near 
 1774. It was a common occurrence for a young staff officer to 
 come to Concord on this business, and, while waiting a reply, 
 would amuse himself by talking loyalty with James Barrett's 
 oldest daughter, Meliscent, to hear her rebel replies. He asked 
 her what they would do if it should become necessary for the 
 Colonies to resist, as there was not a person who even knew how 
 
 403
 
 404 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 to make cartridges. She replied that they would use their powder- 
 horns and bullets, just as they shot bears. "That," says the 
 young man, " would be too barbarous ; give me a piece of pine, 
 and I will show you how." After whittling the stick to the 
 proper form, he took these scissors, which I now present to the 
 town of Concord, and cut the paper for the pattern cartridge. 
 
 The sequel shows how apt a scholar she was, for all the cart- 
 ridges were made under her superintendence by the young ladies 
 of Concord ; her only male assistant was her younger brother, the 
 late Major James Barrett, who drove the last load of cartridges 
 from the house after the British came in sight on the igih of April, 
 1775. After the war, Joseph Swain returned to Concord, and 
 married Meliscent Barrett, and took these relics to Halifax, Vt., 
 where I came in possession of them. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 JAMES P. SWAIN. 
 
 MELISCENT BARRETT'S SCISSORS. 
 (Now in the Public Library, Concord.) 
 
 NOTE. The name " Miliscent" is spelled in various ways in differ- 
 ent documents and genealogical records. The author has chosen the one 
 given above. " Meriam " was the old way of spelling this family name, 
 now written " Merriam."
 
 APPENDIX. 405 
 
 II. 
 
 A LIST OF BOOKS that, with many others, formed the 
 historic basis for this volume. 
 
 The Town Records. 
 
 History of the Town of Concord ', by LEMUEL SHATTUCK. 
 
 Concord in the Colonial Period, by CHARLES H. WALCOTT. 
 
 History of the Fight at Concord on the iqth April, 1775, by REV. 
 EZRA RIPLEY, D.D. 
 
 Story of a Concord Farm, by REV. GRINDALL REYNOLDS. D.D. 
 
 The Centennial of the Social Circle in Concord, March 21, 1882. 
 
 Memoirs of the Social Circle in Concord. Second Series, from 
 1795 to 1840. 
 
 Traditions and Reminiscences of Concord, Mass., by EDWARD 
 JARVIS. 
 
 Concord Fight, April igth, f?7j, by REV. GRINDALL REY- 
 NOLDS, D.D.
 
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