The Minute Boys of Boston Part 26

Certain it is that Hiram was not particularly well pleased because we had given ourselves so unreservedly into the power of Master Lord, and of this he gave proof by saying when we were alone:

"Having come thus far on the venture we must take things as we find them; but it will do no harm if we keep a sharp watch over every one we meet, and it would seem that the four of us should be able to discover anything smacking of treachery."

"Meaning that you have doubts concerning--"

I did not finish the sentence, which was spoken in a whisper, but pointed with my thumb upward so that he might know who I meant, whereupon he said quickly:

"Meaning no one in particular, and everybody in general."

"I would that we had come into this town trusting none but ourselves,"

Archie said, and Hiram cried much as though the words irritated him:

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

After this long speech Hiram set the example by throwing himself down on one of the beds of straw, and we lads soon followed him, for it was disheartening to sit there giving words to our fears and doubts when we were at the mercy of the man we distrusted.

How long I slept after my eyes were closed in uneasy slumber, it is impossible for me to say; but looking back at the matter afterward I fancied at least three hours had pa.s.sed since we entered this cellar, when the sound of loud voices in the room above brought the four of us to our feet as if moved by a single spring of steel.

The floor was of roughly hewn planks, looking, so far as one might see by the light of the lantern, to be very heavy, and we who were in the cellar could not distinguish words spoken in an ordinary tone; but now so excited and apparently angry were the speakers, that we could catch a word here and there, although not in sufficient numbers as to give any inkling to the trend of the conversation.

It seemed to me, judging from the sounds, as if there were three or four in the room just over our heads, and that all were on the eve of a quarrel--fight would be the better word--so menacing were some of the tones.

It was evident Master Lord had been expecting there would be trouble before morning in this home of his, else why had he warned us against making any outcry or movement if we heard aught that might alarm? Surely his angry visitors could hardly be friends of the Cause, for they would not dare raise their voices so high lest the attention of the patrol be attracted, and if they were not of our people, why was this man, so greatly to be trusted by us "rebels," having any connection with them?

Before we had been awake three minutes came a clattering as if the table was overturned, and I distinguished sounds betokening the splintering of wood, telling that some article of furniture had been destroyed, while above such noises came the trampling of heavy feet, and shouts, and cries.

When this disturbance was at its height Hiram ran toward the ladder as if it was his intent to ascend, despite the warning which had been given; but I clutched his arm, holding him back by main strength as I said in a hoa.r.s.e whisper:

"If Master Lord is not to be trusted, you would be making a bad matter worse by showing yourself at this time. In case he is true to the Cause, then most like you would do an injury to our people such as could not be repaired."

"You are right," Hiram said after the briefest hesitation, and he went back from the ladder to take a seat on the bed.

The lantern was still burning. None of us had been minded to extinguish the flame when we laid down to rest, because of the doubts which a.s.sailed us all, and therefore it was we could look into each others'

faces during that seemingly desperate struggle which was going on above, mutely asking for some solution to what was a fearsome mystery.

Once when the uproar was greatest, Archie whispered that he would go to the top of the ladder, hoping it might be possible there to distinguish something of what was said; but he failed in the attempt, coming back to report that he could see no glimmer of light around the edges of the door, therefore believed it must be covered on the upper side, either to prevent those same visitors from seeing the entrance to the cellar, or to shut out from us all sound.

I think the quarrel, or fight, whichever it may be called, continued upward of half an hour, and then it seemed much as if those who had taken part in it were become friends again, for we heard nothing betokening anger, while now and then came the tramp of footsteps across the floor, showing that the visitors yet remained in the house.

After a time slumber lay so heavy on my eyelids that I stretched myself out on the bed once more, falling asleep almost immediately, and when I next awakened there was the belief in my mind that another day had come.

Because of being in the cellar, which was wholly underground, no light could come to us from the outside; but the lantern burned dimly as if the oil had been nearly consumed, and I fancied it was day.

My comrades awakened very shortly afterward like lads who have had their fill of slumber, and we lay on the beds trying for at least the twentieth time to get some glimmer of an idea regarding the strange doings of the night before, as well as questioning whether it might not be possible for us to learn whether Master Lord was at home.

While we talked Hiram, growing impatient, went boldly up the ladder, setting his shoulder against the trap-door; but failing to move it ever so slightly, and at this seeming evidence of our being held prisoners we grew alarmed.

So narrow was the ladder that two of us could not stand side by side on the upper rung in order to come at the barrier, and when each in turn had spent his strength against the heavy timbers without effect, we came together near the table, groping about that we might touch hands, for by this time the flame of the lantern had died away entirely, leaving us in total darkness.

"If Master Lord wanted to make friends with the Britishers, he would be on a fair road to so doing by giving us up to General Gage," I suggested, striving to speak in a mirthful tone as if in my mind there was no possibility of such treachery on his part, and Harvey clutched me by the hand nervously, as he whispered:

"Don't! Don't give words to what seems so very like the truth!"

"Have done with talk like that!" Hiram cried angrily. "To judge Master Lord an enemy is the same as calling the lieutenant, who treated us in such friendly fas.h.i.+on, a traitor."

"But why are we locked in here when it surely must be daylight?"

"There can be no answer to that question until Master Lord himself comes to make it, and I am bound to hold him a good man and true because of what we have been told, until he proves the contrary."

I believe Hiram himself was more than a little alarmed, for it seemed to me he struggled overly much to convince us he was apparently easy in mind, and we were yet giving words to our painful doubts when, without our having heard a sound previously, the trap-door was raised, letting into the cellar a flood of light as if the day had already grown old.

It was no more than natural we should step quickly toward the foot of the ladder, meeting there Master Lord himself, who looked about as if surprised because we were in darkness, and then, ascending quickly, he returned before we had time to follow, bringing with him the smaller lantern.

Not until he had set this aflame and placed it on the table did he give any heed to the questions which we were showering upon him; but then he said with the air of one who is vexed with too many words:

"Yes, it is full noon. I would have come to you before; but was on your business, and believed you could content yourselves, even in this poor place, knowing that your work was being forwarded. Are you suffering for food?"

"We can bear with hunger many hours and make no complaint, as has already been shown at Breed's hill," Hiram replied in a tone of sharpness. "Because of what we heard last night, and through knowing that we were locked in here as prisoners, did we come to be somewhat uneasy in mind."

"Then you tried to get out when there was trouble above, regardless of my warning?" the old man cried angrily.

"We held ourselves as you commanded," and now Hiram's voice rang with temper. "It was this morning we strove to learn whether we were free to come and go as we pleased, and found that such was not the case."

"Neither are you free, so far as leaving this house without my consent is concerned. I have much the same as promised to aid you, and am doing so, even at risk to myself and injury to the Cause, therefore it is you are holden here until I shall give the word that you may depart without endangering the secret of this place."

Master Lord spoke with such an air of authority, as if he understood full well we were thoroughly in his power, that I was more alarmed than at any time since we came into the town, and mayhap there was somewhat of the same feeling in Hiram's heart, for he asked as if he had the right to know:

"What was going on above us last night?"

"What did you think might be happening?" Master Lord asked.

"It sounded as if three or four men were fighting to such purpose that the furniture of the room was destroyed."

"You have such a good idea of the matter that there is no need for me to make any explanation," Master Lord replied somewhat indifferently.

"There were three Tories with me last evening, and but for the fact of their being well known as favoring the king, I am thinking one or more of us might have been taken into custody by the patrol."

"Then you consort with enemies of the Cause?" Hiram asked, and the old man replied:

"Aye, that I do, else how might it be possible for me to do our people a good turn here in Boston town?"

The man could have made no reply which would have disturbed me more sorely than did this, for it was in substance exactly what Seth Jepson had said when we taxed him with being traitorously inclined, and if it had been possible to get out of that cellar without leaving my comrades in the lurch, I would have taken to my heels, fleeing through the streets of Boston town at risk of being arrested by the patrol, rather than remain there at his mercy.

If Hiram remembered the excuse Seth made for having been seen in the company of Tories, and set the words alongside those just spoken by Master Lord, he failed to give proof of the fact; but asked as if believing everything had been explained:

"Did you succeed in learning aught concerning Silas Brownrigg?"

"There is a lad among the prisoners in the Bridewell, and none, so far as I can learn, in the Queen-street prison. I am of the belief your friend is the boy I have heard about, because I saw young Jepson loitering around the building as if expecting to see some one that might interest him."

"How is this Bridewell guarded?" Hiram asked after a moment's pause.