Part 39 (2/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Province House.]

”If it had not been, your excellency, for my timely arrival, I fear few of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith's troops would have escaped, as they were completely exhausted, their ammunition gone, and the men upon the run. I am free to say that I was completely astonished. I formed my brigade in hollow square, and his men threw themselves on the ground with their tongues lolling from their mouths,” he said.

”It is plain that you marched none too soon,” the governor replied.

”I cannot account for such a sudden uprising. I saw very few rebels.

There were no organized bodies of rebels to be seen,--not more than twenty or thirty in a group; but they were all around us, firing from fences, rocks, trees, ditches, houses. If we charged and drove them, they were back again the moment we resumed our march. I must admit they were brave and persistent. They were like so many wasps,” said the earl.

”I learn,” said the governor, ”that several thousand armed men have already gathered at Cambridge and Roxbury. A loyal citizen informs me they have been arriving through the night in great numbers. It seems probable that we are to be hemmed in by the provincials for the present, and must make preparations accordingly.”

Fast and far the alarm had gone. Twenty-four hours and it was one hundred miles away, and Robert Walden of Rumford with bullet-pouch, powder-horn, and musket was on his way, as were Colonel John Stark, Captain Daniel Moore of Derryfield, and hundreds of others in New Hamps.h.i.+re, Israel Putnam, Thomas Knowlton of Connecticut, and their fellow-citizens, all animated by one thought,--to resist the armed aggressions of the myrmidons of the king. There was a brave heart behind Rachel's quivering lips when she pressed them to Robert's.

”Roger is sure to be there. Tell him I think of him every night before I go to sleep.” Little did they know that he was being borne to his last resting-place on the banks of the winding river.

Robert was glad to learn when he reached Medford that John Stark was to be colonel of the New Hamps.h.i.+re troops.

Tom Brandon was working day and night to help people obtain pa.s.ses from General Gage and leave the town. More than five thousand closed their houses and took their departure.[66] The governor would not allow any one to take their guns or swords, or anything which would in any way contribute to the success of the provincials.

[Footnote 66: For a week after the affair at Lexington and Concord, Governor Gage refused the request of the people to leave the town, but the growing scarcity of provisions compelled him to permit their departure.]

The soldiers from Rumford, having unbounded confidence in Robert Walden, elected him lieutenant. When General Artemus Ward, commanding the troops at Cambridge, asked Colonel Stark if he had a trustworthy young man whom he could recommend to execute an important order, Lieutenant Walden was selected and directed to report at general headquarters. He was kindly received and informed he was to negotiate with the British for an exchange of prisoners.

Mounted upon his horse, Lieutenant Walden rode to Charlestown Neck, and from thence to the top of Bunker Hill to obtain a view of Boston and the harbor. He saw the wars.h.i.+ps were swinging at anchor in the stream. Across the river were the silent streets of the besieged town.

He could distinguish the home of Captain Brandon, and the Green Dragon Tavern,--its doors closed. It was not these buildings, however, that most interested him, but a mansion on the slope of Beacon Hill, with its surrounding grounds,--the Newville home. The window of Miss Newville's chamber was open, the curtain drawn aside. His spy-gla.s.s made it seem very near. How would she greet him were they to meet again? Would she be changed by the changing circ.u.mstances? Would she, daughter of a loyalist, deign to notice him, a rebel? Blessed vision!

A figure in white appeared at the window. It was she for whom he could lay down his life, if need be. Oh, if he could but reach out his hand to her,--hear once more the voice that had thrilled him in the past!

She stood by the window, looking upon the flowers blooming in the garden. The vision was but for a moment, for the window was soon closed and the curtain drawn. He descended the hill, rode through the village to the ferry landing, displaying a white flag. It was answered by the waving of another on the deck of the Lively wars.h.i.+p. Then a boat brought a lieutenant of the fleet to the sh.o.r.e.

”Who are you and what do you want?” the curt question of the Britisher.

”I am commissioned by the commander-in-chief of the provincial army to ask if it will be agreeable to General Gage to make an exchange of prisoners?”

”The rebel army, you mean.”

”I said provincial, but if it suits you any better to think of the Americans as rebels, I will not object. We are rebels against tyranny and oppression, as I trust we always shall be. We have several officers of the king's troops in our hands, and you have some of our men. If an exchange is desired by General Gage, I am empowered to arrange the details,” Robert said with calm dignity.

The Britisher bowed, and the boat pulled back to the s.h.i.+p, returning again after a time with an officer commissioned to make arrangements for the transfer.

The sun was nearing the hour of noon, three days later, when Lieutenant Walden, accompanied by General Putnam, Doctor Warren, and a detail of soldiers, conducted the British officers and men to the ferry landing, meeting Major Moncrief and other British officers, with the provincial prisoners in their keeping. The British soldiers, with tears upon their faces, thanked Doctor Warren for the kind treatment they had received. The Americans had no thanks to give for what they had received on the strawless floor of the jail, the prison fare for food. Lieutenant Walden had engaged a dinner in the tavern. The landlord set forth his choicest wine. Putnam and Moncrief, being old acquaintances, chatted of the days at Ticonderoga while partaking of the viands and quaffing gla.s.ses of madeira.

”While the white flag is waving we will not let our differences mar the pleasure of the hour,” said Doctor Warren, who delighted the company with his wit. Dinner over, there was a shaking of hands, expressions of personal good-will, and courteous salutes. With the furling of the white flag they were enemies once more.

s.h.i.+ps were arriving from England bringing General William Howe, General Henry Clinton, and General John Burgoyne, with several thousand troops to carry on the war. Every morning Miss Newville heard the drums beating the reveille and in the evening the tattoo. Many officers called at the hospitable home of Honorable Theodore Newville to enjoy the society of his charming daughter, who received them with grace and dignity.

With no fresh provisions in the market, the dinners given by Mr.

Newville to the generals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne was not so elaborate as that to Lord Upperton, but more appetizing than those on s.h.i.+pboard while crossing the Atlantic. It was a pleasure to General Howe to escort Miss Newville to the dining-room, sit by her side, and listen to a voice that charmed him by its purity and sweetness. A lady so highly endowed, and with such grace of manner, would adorn any home,--even the drawing-room of her majesty the queen.

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