Part 5 (1/2)

And Hancock went

Meanwhile a British officer had been sent in advance of the troops to inquire for ”Clark's parsonage” By ht to Hancock as he was debating whether to take Dorothy's advice or not He waited no longer With Adae in a thickly wooded hill back of the parsonage An hour later Paul Revere returned to the house to report that after he left there, with two others, he had been captured by British officers Having answered their questions evasively about the whereabouts of the patriots, he finally said: ”Gentle, the town's alarmed You are all dead men!” This so terrified the officers that, not one hundred yards further on, one of theive warning to the on-co troops, while Revere went back to report to Hancock and Adams

It was evidently unsafe for theht they were ready to start for the home of the Rev Mr Marrett in Woburn Dorothy and Aunt Lydia were to reh they had kept well in the background through all the exciteht, Aunt Lydia noent down to the door, not only to see the last of her beloved nephew, but to try to speak to soive her more definite news of the seven hundred British soldiers who had arrived in town and were drawn up in forainst the motley company of colonists The British officers at once commanded the colonists to lay down their arle man obeyed All stood in silent defiance of the order Then the British regulars poured into the ”minute-men” a fatal volley of shots; and about that tie door, and excited Dorothy threw open herthat she ht As she drew back, she saw so the barn door beyond, and heard her aunt exclaim:

”What was that?”

It was a British bullet, and noI kneo ht into the house, one, whose head had been grazed by a bullet, insisted that he was dead; but the other, as shot in the arm, behaved better”

Dorothy Quincy had seen the first shot fired for independence!

Never was there a e and well-disciplined enemy force than that shown by the ton, and when at last the British retreated under a hot fire from the provincials at whom they had sneered, they had lost two hundred and seventy-three, killed, wounded, and , while the American force had lost only ninety-three

As soon as the troops were ht Dorothy a penciled note fro-place for dinner, and would they bring with them the fine sale?” Of course they would--only too eagerly did they uide them to the patriot's place of concealment There, while the lovers enjoyed a tete-a-tete, Adams and Aunt Lydia made the feast ready, and they were all about to enjoy it, when aout wildly:

”The British are co! My wife's in eternity now”

This was gri

Hurriedly Mr Marrett -place, in Amos Wyman's house in Billerica There, later in the day, they satisfied their appetites as best they could with cold pork and potatoes in place of the princely sal what they had heart to consume of the feast, returned to Parson Clark's home, where they waited as quietly as possible until the retreat of the British troops Then Dorothy had the joy of being again clasped in her lover's arly into her dear eyes, he could see lines of suffering and of neomanliness carved on her face by the anxiety she had experienced during the last twenty-four hours Then, at a ether, came their first lovers' quarrel

When she had soain, Dorothy announced that she was going to Boston on the following day--that she orried about her father, who had not yet been able to leave the city, that she rim determination:

”No,as there is a British bayonet in Boston”

Quick came the characteristic reply: ”Recollect, Mr Hancock, I ao to my father to-morrow”

Her determination matched his own, and Hancock saay to achieve his end, yet he had not thought of yielding As usual, he turned to Aunt Lydia for advice She wisely suggested retiring, without settling the mooted question, as they were all too tired for sensible reflection on any subject Then, after defiant Dorothy had gone to her rooirl's bedside, not to advise,--oh no!-- to step into Dorothy's place should she flout the handsoested, how terrible it would be if Hancock should be killed, or even captured while the girl he worshi+ped ay from his side! There was no reply, and the older woman stole from the room without any evidence that she had succeeded in herwhen Dorothy announced that she had never had any real intention of leaving for Boston, and gracefully acknowledged to an entranced lover that _he_ had been right, after all!

The next question here should the woe until the cloud of war should have passed over sufficiently to make it safe for them to return to their homes? Hancock advised Fairfield, Connecticut, a beautiful tohere there would be sestion met with approval, and Mrs Hancock and her pretty ward at once set off for the Connecticut tohile Adams and Hancock journeyed cautiously toward Worcester, where they were to ress at Philadelphia They were detained at Worcester three days, which gave Hancock a chance to see his Dorothy again on her way to the new place of refuge Theirs was a rapturous though a brief visit together; then the patriots went on toward New York, and Dorothy and Aunt Lydia proceeded to Fairfield, where they were received in the home of Mr

Thaddeus Burr, an inti citizen, whose fine colonial house was a lande Quincy, ht fro, uncohter's hohter Dolly and Hancock had taken dinner ten days before, having driven over from shi+rley for the purpose” He writes to his son Henry of this, and adds, ”As I hear, she proceeded with Mrs Hancock to Fairfield; I don't expect to see her till peaceable times are restored”

The two patriots reached New York safely, and Hancock at once wrote to Dorothy:

NEW YORK, _Sabbath Even'g, May 7, 1775_

MY DEAR DOLLY:--

I Arrived well, tho' fatigued, at King's Bridge at Fifty Minute after Two o'clock yesterday, where I found the Delegates of Massachusetts and Connect' with a number of Gentlemen from New York, and a Guard of the Troop I dined and then set out in the Procession for New York,--the Carriage of your Hu first in the procession (of course) When we Arrived within three Miles of the City, ere Met by the Grenadier Coies and on Horseback, and many thousand of Persons on foot, the roads fill'd with people, and the greatest cloud of dust I ever saw In this Situation we Entered the City, and passing thro' the Principal Streets of New York amidst the Acclamations of Thousands were set down at Mr

Francis's After Entering the House three Huzzas were Given, and the people by degrees dispersed

When I got within awith proper Harnesses insisted upon Taking out h the City, a Circumstance I would not have Taken place on any consideration, not being fond of such Parade

I beg'd and entreated that they would suspend the Design, and they were at last prevail'd upon and I proceeded