Part 43 (1/2)
”To the old tree on Beacon Hill, where Uncle Ben used to talk to me in childhood.”
”May I go with you, Jane? They say that a fleet has been sighted off Narragansett Bay. We shall know when the post comes in.”
”Yes, Jamie, come with me. I love to talk of old times with you.”
”And what a friend I was to _him_.”
It was a fiery day. c.u.mulus clouds were piling up in the fervid heats.
The Hanc.o.c.k House gardens, where now the State House is, were fragrant with flowers, and the Common below was a sea of s.h.i.+ning leaves.
A boom shook the air.
”What was that, Jane?”
”It came from the Castle.”
”Perhaps there is news.”
Another boom echoed from the Dorchester Hills, and a puff of smoke rose from the Castle.
”There is news, Jamie; the Castle is firing a salute.”
”I think the French fleet has arrived; if so, _his_ work is behind it, and I always was such a friend to him, too!”
The Castle thundered. There was news.
A magistrate came riding over the hills on horseback, going to the house of John Hanc.o.c.k.
”Hey!” cried Jamie, ”an' what is the news?”
”The French fleet has arrived at Newport. Count Rochambeau is landing there. Hurrah! this country is free!”
Jane sat down under the old tree, as she had done when a girl in Uncle Benjamin's day. She saw the flag of the Stripes and Stars leap, as it were, into the air over the Hanc.o.c.k gardens. She had always revered John Hanc.o.c.k since he had heroically written to Was.h.i.+ngton at the time of the siege, ”Burn Boston, if there is need, and leave John Hanc.o.c.k a beggar!”
Who was that hurrying up from the broad path of the Common toward the Hanc.o.c.k mansion? Jane rose up and looked. It was Samuel Adams, the so-called ”last of the Puritans,” a man who had almost forgotten his own existence in his efforts to unite the colonies for the struggle for liberty, and who had said to an agent of General Gage who offered him bribes if he would make his peace with the king, ”I have long ago made my peace with the King of kings, and no power on earth can make me recreant to my duties to my country.”
The Castle thundered on from the green isle in the harbor. People were hurrying to and fro and gathering about the grounds of the first President of the Provincial Congress. Business stopped. The hearts of the people were thrilled. The independence of the American colonies now seemed secure.
There went up a great shout in front of the Hanc.o.c.k house. It was--
”Franklin! Rochambeau! Franklin!”
Jamie the Scotchman echoed the cheer from his l.u.s.ty lungs.
”Franklin!” he cried, waving his hat, ”Franklin now and forever!”
His face beamed. ”Only think, Jane, what a friend I used to be to him!
What do you suppose gave his hand such power in these affairs of the nation?”