Under the Liberty Tree Part 11

Amos heard some one cry, and he thought it was Attucks:

"Let us fall upon the guards! The main guard! The main guard!"

He saw, as if in a dream, the mulatto beat down the musket of a soldier with a club; he heard those directly behind him cheering wildly, and he added his voice to theirs.

Somewhere from the rear came the cries:

"Don't be afraid of them!"

"They daren't fire!"

"Kill them! Kill them!"

He half turned his head, believing it was Jim who had raised the last cry, and just at that instant he saw the mulatto aim a blow at Captain Preston's head with the club; he understood that it was parried by the officer's arms, and then noted with satisfaction the fact that as the weapon descended it knocked a musket from the hands of a soldier.

It was to him more like a dream than a reality when he saw the mulatto raise the musket quickly, as if to use it upon the officer, and at that moment some one, Amos never knew who, shouted:

"Why don't you fire? Why don't you fire?"

Instantly, above the shouts and yells of the mult.i.tude, was heard the sharp, ominous crack of a musket, then another and another, until six reports seemed literally to cleave the air, while before him, and on either side of him, Amos saw men fall; saw the crimson blood gus.h.i.+ng from gaping wounds, and then it was as if consciousness deserted him.

[Footnote F: Afterwards Was.h.i.+ngton's Secretary of War.]

CHAPTER VI.

AFTER THE Ma.s.sACRE.

Amos was brought to a consciousness of his surroundings by the wailings of Jim, who, regardless of everything save his own sore affliction, was kneeling by the side of his brother, trying to staunch a sluggish flow of blood, which was issuing from Sam's forehead.

Near him lay James Caldwell and Crispus Attucks, both of whom had been killed instantly, and a short distance away Samuel Maverick and Patrick Carr were writhing in the agony of mortal wounds, while here and there within the narrow s.p.a.ce were six others who had been brought to the ground by the leaden hail.

Amos dimly understood that the crowd had fallen back at the discharge of the weapons, but he thought only of his friend's great grief, and tried in vain to a.s.suage it.

Sitting upon the snow-covered ice, Jim held the head of his dead brother, moaning and sobbing, until Amos began to fear he also had been wounded.

"Did any of the bullets. .h.i.t you, Jim?" he asked, solicitously.

"No, no, I only wish they had! _I_ don't amount to anything. Poor Sam!" And, in the frenzy of his grief, Jim swayed to and fro, still holding in tender clasp the lifeless head, while above him, grim and menacing, stood the soldiers with levelled muskets.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

While one might have counted twenty, the square, lately the scene of such an uproar, was silent, save for the moans of the wounded, and then the tramp of the soldiers rang out horribly distinct as Captain Preston marched them away to the main guard.

The people recovered sufficiently from their terror and bewilderment to advance, in order to succour those who were suffering, and hardly had they done so when the sound of drums beating the call to arms was heard, and a few moments later it was whispered from one to another that the Twenty-ninth Regiment was forming in ranks near the Town House.

Then from far up the street came the dreadful cry, shrill and menacing:

"The soldiers are rising! To arms! To arms! Turn out with your guns!"

While the drums continued to beat, this terrible summons resounded through first one street and then another, striking terror to the hearts of those who heard it; but causing the courageous to hasten to the scene of the murder in order to aid their townsmen, and the cowardly to seek refuge in flight.

Five minutes later, amid the rattle of drums and the menacing cries, came the pealing of bells summoning the inhabitants to defend their city.

In Dock Square men stood shoulder to shoulder, the well-to-do citizen by the side of the labourer or sailor, each armed after his own fas.h.i.+on, and each ready to defend the lives of those nearest and dearest to him.

During half an hour or more there was probably no person in the vicinity of the tragedy who did not firmly believe that the soldiers were rising with the intent to ma.s.sacre, and then Governor Hutchinson appeared upon the scene, ordering the people to disperse, and declaring the "law should have its course."

"Has the captain who ordered the soldiers to fire been arrested?" some one cried, and instantly there went up a great shout.

"Arrest the murderers! Bring them to justice before you call upon us to go quietly to our homes! Murder has been done this night, and the blood must be avenged!"

The Governor hesitated, as if uncertain what reply should be made, and then said:

"Justice shall be meted out to all. You who have gathered here have done so in defiance of the law, and--"

"We have come here that the law shall not be broken," a voice cried.

"Arrest those who have committed the murder! Do your own duty before you call upon us to do ours."

The Governor attempted once more to speak, but the cries of the more ignorant ones drowned his voice, and he disappeared from view.

Shortly after, while the citizens remained in an att.i.tude of defiance, it was reported that Governor Hutchinson had ordered Captain Preston to be brought before him, and that an investigation of the officer's conduct would be made.

Then a portion of the people returned to their homes; but yet more remained to make certain the report regarding the investigation was not a falsehood, devised for the purpose of inducing them to disperse.

Of all these things Amos knew nothing. His thoughts were confined entirely to his grief-stricken friend, and as he a.s.sisted in carrying Sam to his brother's house on Royal Exchange Lane, he moved and acted like one in a dream, for the terror of the scene was still upon him.

He left Jim by the side of the lifeless body, while kindly friends hastened to break the sad news with some degree of gentleness to the parents of the murdered man, and then went to his own home; but not to sleep.

It was not yet daylight, on the following morning, when Christopher Gore, his arm bandaged and in a sling, appeared at Amos's home.

"I was afraid you might have come to some harm when I heard that Sam Gray was killed, for I knew you and Jim were most likely near him,"

he said, as if apologising for his early visit. "How did you escape?"

"I don't know, Chris. It doesn't seem to me that I can remember anything of that awful moment, except that I saw Sam Gray fall dead, and heard Jim weeping over him."

"Do you know what became of Hardy Baker?"

"I didn't see him after the shots were fired. I only know it was he who called attention to the sentinel, and but for him it is almost certain no disturbance would have taken place at the Custom House.

Have you heard from him?"

"No. I wanted to go out as soon as we heard that murder had been done; but mother wouldn't listen to me. It was only by promising to come directly here, and have you walk home with me, that she was willing I should venture out now. The streets are filled with people, and the excitement is as great as at noonday."

"Have you heard whether the British captain has been arrested?"

"Father said, and he was among those who waited to be certain Governor Hutchinson wouldn't play us false, that the investigation was not finished until three o'clock this morning. The captain has been held for trial, and the squad of soldiers who did the firing are all in jail."