Part 6 (1/2)

Vivacious Dorothy had not only now become Mrs John Hancock, but she was also called _Madanified title to its youthful owner! She read with girlish satisfaction the item in a New York paper of September 4th, which reported, ”Saturday last, the Honorable John Hancock and his Lady arrived here, and ireater pleasure a few days later she set herself to the establishi+ng of a home in that city which was to be her first residence as a n to make John Hancock a worthy co all the necessary duties of a housekeeper, she quickly acquired the dignity and reserve needed for the wife of athe war for Independence There was , hich she was obliged to vie, even in the tohere the Quakers were so , as she did, many persons of social and political importance, it was impossible for pretty Dorothy to be as care-free and merry now as she had been in the days when no heavy responsibilities rested on her shoulders

So well did she fill her position as Madaolden opinions froether under Hancock's hospitable roof-tree; her husband noting with ever increasing pride that his Dolly wasthan ever he could have dreamed she would become when he fell in love with her on that Sunday in June And loyally did he give to her credit for such inspiration as helped to reatest honors in the power of the colonists to bestow

With the later life of Dorothy Hancock we are not concerned; our rose had bloomed It matters not to us that Madam Hancock was one of the most notable woe Washi+ngton, that she and Martha Washi+ngton had actually discussed their husbands together To Dorothy's great pride Mrs

Washi+ngton had spoken enthusiastically of Hancock's high position, while at that tieneral Then, too, pretty Madam Hancock had known the noble Lafayette--had reat and patriotic men who had devoted their best endeavors to the establishment of a free and independent America

All that is no concern of ours in this brief story of the girl, Dorothy, nor is it ours to mourn with the mother over the death or her two children, nor ours to wonder why, three years after the death of her beloved husband, a man who had made his ain

Ours only it is to adirlish beauty, as we follow her through the black days of fear and of tension preceding the outbreak of that war in which her lover played such a pro wit, and to respect with deep adirl of the Massachusetts colony atched a great nation in its birth-throes, and whose name is written in history not alone as Madairl who saw the first gun fired for Independence

An inspiration and an exaood Americans are united in a firm determination to make the world safe for democracy

MOLLY PITCHER: THE BRAVE GUNNER OF THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH

”Oh, but I would like to be a soldier!”

The exclaht have been expected, but fro, blue-eyed, freckled, red-haired serving-'s family, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania Molly, as they called her, had a decided ability to do well and quickly whatever she attempted, and her eyes of Irish blue and her sense of hu the line of descent, although her father, John George Ludas a Ger been born in 1754 on a s between Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey, Molly's early life was the usual happy one of a child who lived in the fields and made comrades of all the animals, especially of the cohich quite often she milked and drove to pasture Like other children of her parentage she was early taught to work hard, to obey without question, and never to waste a moment of valuable tiing, or a the live stock, in her blue-and-white cotton skirt and plain-blue upper gar, it was said, that she could carry a three-bushel bag of wheat on her shoulder to the upper rooth made her very helpful in ly when she announced her deter in a broader sphere of usefulness, but their objections ithout avail

The wife of General Irving, of French and Indian war fame, cairl back to Carlisle with her to assist in the work of her household, and a friend told her of Molly Ludwig At once Mrs Irving saw and liked the buxo, she was taken back to the Irvings' home There she became a much respected member of the family, as well as a valuable assistant, for Molly liked to work hard

She could turn her hand to anything, fro floors and scouring pots and pans, which she greatly enjoyed, being ave her violent exercise Meals could have been served off a floor which she had scrubbed, and her knocker and door-knobs were always in a high state of polish

But though she liked the househich fell to her lot, it was forgotten if by any chance the General began to talk of his experiences on the battle-field One day, when passing a dish of potatoes at the noonartilleryman's brave deed so stirred Molly's patriotic spirit that she stood at breathless attention, the dish of potatoes poised on her hand in mid-air until the last detail of the story had been told, then with a prodigious sigh she proclaimed her fervent desire to be a soldier

The General's fah at the expense of the serving-ood-naturedly joined Little did she drea days her as to be fulfilled, and her name to be as widely known for deeds of valor as that of the artilleryman who had so roused her enthusiasetic in appearance was Molly that she had ree of practical purpose, beyond their sentimental avowals Molly treated them one and all with indifference except as co barber of the town, an to pay her attention, which was an entirely differentas it was possible for one of her rollicking nature to mope--even lost her appetite te and ecstatic Hays, and gave her husband a heart's loyal devotion

Of a sudden the peaceful Pennsylvania village was stirred to its quiet center by echoes of the battle of Lexington, and no other subject was thought of or talked about All men with a drop of red blood in their veins were roused to action, and Hays was no slacker One ently to his wife, with intent to hurt her as little as possible

”I a, Molly,” he said; ”I've joined the Continental army”

Then he waited to see the effect of his words Although he knew that his as patriotic, he was utterly unprepared for the response that flaer eyes as she spoke

”God bless you!” she exclaimed; ”I am proud to be a soldier's wife

Count onno tearsas cheerful a farehen he left her as though he wereof the first gun in the cause of freedom her soul had been filled with patriotic zeal, and now she rejoiced in honoring her country by cheerfully giving the h she privately echoed her wish of long ago when she had exclaimed, ”Oh, hoish I could be a soldier!”

Like a brave and sensible young wos, where she scrubbed and scoured and baked and brewed and spun and washed as vigorously as before, sly predicted that she ”had lost her pretty barber, and would never set eyes on hi his country, and too sure of his devotion, to be annoyed by any such reh it were her sole interest in life

Months went by, and hot July blazed its trail of parched ground and wilted hu her wash on the lines, then she took a pail and went to gather blackberries on a near-by hillside As she came back later with a full pail, she saw a horse up to General Irving's house” Perhaps he had brought news froht, and she broke into a run, for she had received no tidings froer to knohere he was and how he fared She had been right in her instinct, the ht a letter froreat news indeed, for he wrote: