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diff --git a/42429-0.txt b/42429-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7921feb --- /dev/null +++ b/42429-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7903 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42429 *** + +The Historic Series for Young People + +By RUPERT S. HOLLAND + + ++Historic Boyhoods+ +Stories of the Boyhoods of Famous Men. + ++Historic Girlhoods+ +Stories of the Girlhoods of Famous Women. + ++Historic Inventions+ +Stories of the Great Inventors. + ++Historic Poems and Ballads+ +The Heroic Poems of All Lands. + ++Historic Adventures+ +Stories of Our Nation's Heroes. + ++Historic Heroes of Chivalry+ +Stories of Brave Knights of Old. + +Each 12mo. Cloth, Illustrated, $1.50 net + + +"_Ideal Books for Young Americans_" + + +[Illustration: ANDROSS STARED AT GOVERNOR TREAT] + + + + +Historic Events of Colonial Days + +By RUPERT S. HOLLAND +_Author of "Historic Boyhoods," "Historic +Girlhoods," "Historic Inventions," etc._ + +[Illustration: Logo] + +PHILADELPHIA +GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + + +Copyright, 1916, by +GEORGE W. JACOBS & COMPANY +_Published, October, 1916_ + +_All rights reserved_ +Printed in U. S. A. + + + + +Contents + + + I. A PURITAN HERO 9 + (_Rhode Island, 1630_) + + II. PETER STUYVESANT'S FLAG 21 + (_New York, 1661_) + + III. WHEN GOVERNOR ANDROSS CAME TO CONNECTICUT 55 + (_Connecticut, 1675_) + + IV. THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN NATHANIEL BACON + AND SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY 70 + (_Virginia, 1676_) + + V. AN OUTLAW CHIEF OF MARYLAND 105 + (_Maryland, 1684_) + + VI. IN THE DAYS OF WITCHES 139 + (_Massachusetts, 1692_) + + VII. THE ATTACK ON THE DELAWARE 174 + (_Pennsylvania, 1706_) + +VIII. THE PIRATES OF CHARLES TOWN HARBOR 206 + (_South Carolina, 1718_) + + IX. THE FOUNDER OF GEORGIA 245 + (_Georgia, 1732_) + + X. THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS AND THE YORKERS 287 + (_Vermont, 1774_) + + + + +Illustrations + + +Andross Stared at Governor Treat _Frontispiece_ + +Stuyvesant Bit His Lips as His Gunners Waited _Facing page_ 46 + +"I Yield as Your Prisoner" " " 116 + +Nick Turned to Lead the Way " " 210 + + + + +I + +A PURITAN HERO + +(_Rhode Island, 1630_) + + +The good ship _Lyon_ had been sixty-seven days outward bound from the +port of Bristol, in England, when she dropped anchor early in February, +1630, at Nantasket, near the entrance of Boston Harbor, in New England. +The ship had met with many winter storms, and passengers and crew were +glad to see the shores of Massachusetts. On the ninth of February the +_Lyon_ slipped through a field of drifting ice and came to anchor before +the little settlement of Boston. On board the ship was a young man who +was to play an exciting part in the story of the New World. + +Yet this young man, Roger Williams by name, seemed simple and quiet +enough, as he and his wife came ashore and were welcomed by Governor +John Winthrop. He was a young preacher, filled with a desire to carry +his teaching to the new lands across the Atlantic Ocean, and he had been +asked to be the minister of the First Church in Boston. As it turned +out, however, his ideas were not the ideas of the people of Boston, and +he soon found that the First Church was not the place for him. + +So after a short stay in Boston Roger Williams and his wife went to +Plymouth, which was then a colony separate from Massachusetts Bay. +William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth, and his neighbors made the +young preacher welcome, and there Roger Williams stayed for two years, +teaching and exhorting and prophesying, as ministers were said to do in +those days. There his daughter Mary was born. Roger Williams, however, +was given to argument and could be very obstinate at times, and +presently he fell out with his neighbors at Plymouth, and moved again, +this time to Salem. There he was given charge of the church, and there +he, like many other free-thinking men, fell under the displeasure of the +governor of Massachusetts Bay. For some things he taught he was summoned +before the General Court of the Bay, and the Court ordered him to leave +the colony. He did not go at once, and Governor Winthrop let him stay +until the following January, when rumors came to Boston that Roger +Williams was planning to lead twenty men of his own way of thinking to +the country about Narragansett Bay, and there establish a colony of his +own. John Winthrop objected seriously to any such performance. + +The governor sent Captain John Underhill in a sailboat to Salem, with +orders to seize Roger Williams and put him on board a ship that was +lying at Nantasket Roads, ready to sail for England. But when Captain +Underhill and his men marched up to the house of Williams they found +that the man they wanted had fled three days before. There was no +knowing which way he had gone, the wilderness stretched far and wide to +west and south, and so they gave up the search for him and reported to +Governor Winthrop that Roger Williams had disappeared. + +Five friends of Williams, knowing that he had been commanded to leave +Massachusetts Bay, had gone into the wilderness and built a camp for him +on the banks of a river which was called by the three names of the +Blackstone, for the first settler there, the Seekonk, and the Pawtucket. +There Williams joined them, and there they stayed during the winter and +planted their crops in the spring. Then a messenger from the governor of +Plymouth came, saying that their plantation was within the borders of +the Plymouth Colony, and asking in a friendly way that Roger Williams +and his friends should move to the other side of the river. + +The settlers did not like to lose the harvest of their new crops, but +neither did they want to make enemies at Plymouth, and so they launched +their canoe and paddled down the river in search of a new site. As they +went down the stream tradition says that a group of Indians, standing on +a great rock near the river's bank, recognized Roger Williams as a man +who had once befriended them. They cried their greetings to the white +men, and the latter landed and went up the rock and talked with the +Indians. Then, taking their canoe again, the white men went on down the +river to its mouth, rounded a promontory, and came into an estuary of +Narragansett Bay. Here they paddled north a short distance, until they +reached the point where the Woonasquatucket and the Moshassuck Rivers +joined, and there they landed, near a spring of sweet water. Here they +pitched their camp, founding what was to be known in time as the +Providence Plantations. + +The little colony of six men was soon joined by others, and presently a +government was formed, somewhat like those of Massachusetts Bay and +Plymouth. There were many Indians along the shores of Narragansett Bay, +and Roger Williams made it his concern to be on friendly terms with all +of them. When he had lived at Plymouth and at Salem he had met many +Indians and had been liked by them. Canonicus and his nephew +Miantonomoh, chiefs of the Narragansetts, ruled over all this new +region. When the six settlers reached their new plantation these chiefs +were at odds with a chief to the north named Ausamaquin. Williams set to +work to reconcile the hostile Indians, and while he did so he made such +friends of the Narragansett chiefs that they gave him a large tract of +land, stretching from the Pawtucket to the Pawtuxet Rivers. In his turn +Roger Williams sold the land to his company for thirty pounds. + +Here, as the little colony of Providence Plantations grew, Roger +Williams tended to the government of it and preached constantly to his +people. All was not smooth sailing, however, even here in the +wilderness. Men disagreed with the preacher, and he found it hard to +keep them from continually fighting with each other. When there was no +danger of trouble with the Indians, the settlers stirred up trouble for +themselves, and Roger Williams had his hands full trying to keep first +the white, and then the red, men in order. + +Every little while there would be some dispute, usually ending in +bloodshed, between Indians and white men. Two white traders, venturing +into the country between the two rivers now known as the Pawcatuck and +the Thames, were killed by chiefs of the Pequods, who were the strongest +tribe in all New England. News of this came to Plymouth, and was sent +from there by messenger to the governor of Massachusetts Bay. Not long +afterward a settler named John Oldham was killed by a party of Indians +as he was sailing his own boat off Block Island. The white men, putting +this and that together, decided that the Pequods were planning to kill +all the settlers that came into their country, and thought it likely +they were trying to get the Narragansett chiefs to join them in this. If +these two tribes joined forces it would go hard with the white men, and +so the people of Massachusetts Bay sent a message to Roger Williams, +urging him to see his friends the Narragansetts, and try to keep them +from joining with the Pequods. + +Williams was brave, and he had need to be when he made his visit to the +wigwam of the chief, Canonicus. He found men of the Pequods there, +trying to induce Canonicus and the other Narragansett sachems to join +them in war on the whites. He came as a friend, he showed no fear, and +he stayed for several days, sleeping among them at night, as if he had +no suspicion that the Pequods might want to kill him, alone and unarmed +among so many of them. And the Pequods did not touch him. He had learned +something of the Indian tongue while he lived at Plymouth and Salem, and +he talked with them and the Narragansetts, urging them to be friends +with the white men who had come to live among them. + +His visit to Canonicus was successful. The Narragansett chiefs renewed +their promises of friendship for Roger Williams' men and sent the Pequod +envoys away. The disappointed Pequods, however, told the Narragansetts +that the English were treacherous folk and warned them that they would +not always find these new settlers as friendly as Roger Williams had +said. And in part the Pequods were right, for there were white men who +were fully as treacherous as any Indians. + +Not long afterward four young men set out from Massachusetts Bay to go +to the Dutch settlement on Manhattan Island. Somewhere between Boston +and the Providence Plantations they sat down to rest and smoke. A +Narragansett Indian came in sight, and they called to him to stop and +smoke a pipe with them. The Indian accepted their invitation. The white +men saw that he was a trader and had a large stock of wampum, and also +cloth and beads with him, and so, as he sat with them, they suddenly +attacked him, and, robbing him, left him for dead. The Narragansett, +though very badly wounded, was able after a while to drag himself back +to the wigwams of his tribe. There he told his story before he died. +Some of the chiefs set out on the trail at once, and capturing three of +the whites, took them to the settlers at Aquidneck. They were tried for +the robbery and murder, found guilty, and executed, though some settlers +murmured against Englishmen being condemned for doing harm to Indians. +But wise men such as Governor Bradford and Roger Williams knew that they +must use the same justice toward Indians as toward white men if they +were ever to live in peace with their neighbors. + +So the Narragansetts kept peace with the newcomers who were building +their homes on the shores of the great bay that bore the name of the +Indian tribe, and Roger Williams turned his attention to the needs of +his people. He wanted a charter from the king of England for his new +colony, and to get it he had to go back to England. Instead of going to +Boston or Plymouth to take ship he traveled south to the Dutch seaport +of New Amsterdam. The Dutch were also having trouble with their Indian +neighbors, and Roger Williams was urged to try to pacify the red men. +Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay kept record of most of the +important things that were taking place in the English colonies, and +this is what he wrote: + +"1643. Mo. 4, 20.--There fell out hot wars between the Dutch and the +Indians thereabout. The occasion was this. An Indian being drunk had +slain an old Dutchman.... The Indians also of Long Island took part with +their neighbors upon the main, and as the Dutch took away their corn, so +they fell to burning the Dutch houses. But these, by the mediation of +Mr. Williams, who was there to go in a Dutch ship for England, were +pacified and peace reëstablished between the Dutch and them." + +Roger Williams sailed from New Amsterdam in June or July, 1643, and on +the voyage he spent much time in writing a remarkable book, "A Key into +the Languages of America," as he called it. He reached England at a most +exciting time. Parliament had rebelled against King Charles the First, +the king had fled from London, the battle of Edge Hill had been fought +between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, and the country was an armed +camp. Williams tried to get his charter from the Parliament, but matters +were so upset that such business took a long time. The people of London +were suffering for fuel, and he busied himself in plans to provide coal +and wood for them, and he went on with his writings, most of which were +religious arguments, such as many men of that period, among them +William Penn, were fond of writing. + +At last he was able to get his charter from Parliament, and set out on +his return journey. He had not sailed from Boston on his outward voyage +because of the order of exile from the colony of Massachusetts Bay that +still stood against him. But he asked permission of that colony to let +him return by way of Boston, and this was granted. He landed at the same +place where he had made his first landing in America; journeyed, +probably on foot, to the Blackstone River, and paddled his canoe to +Narragansett Bay. As he approached the Bay he was met by a fleet of +canoes manned by the chief settlers of his colony, who gave him a royal +welcome. In return for his services in obtaining the charter for the new +Providence Plantations the three settlements of Newport, Portsmouth and +Providence agreed to pay him one hundred pounds. + +Roger Williams' wife had joined him at the Providence Plantations, and +they now had a family of six children. He did not approve of a minister +being paid for his services, and so he, like many other preachers of the +Puritans, found other means to supply his family with bread and meat. He +had traded with the Indians for furs while he was at Salem, and since +then he had built a trading house on the west shore of Narragansett Bay, +at a place called Cawcawmsquissick by the Indians, about fifteen miles +south of Providence, and near where the town of Wickford now stands. +Ninigret, one of his powerful Indian friends, lived near by, and saw to +it that the best furs went to Roger Williams' house. It was a convenient +place for the hunters to bring their stores, and it was not far across +the bay to Newport, which was becoming the main shipping port of the +colony. To Newport he took his furs to sell them in the market or send +them by trading-vessel to England, and there he bought the stock of +cloth and beads, sugar and other supplies that he paid to the Indians. +He made at his trading-house at least one hundred pounds a year, the +equal of five hundred dollars in American money, and with a much greater +purchasing power in those days than now. + +Meantime the Narragansetts and the Mohegans had been at war with each +other, and the former tribe winning, had made an alliance with the +Mohegans, and threatened a joint attack on the English colonies. +Williams and two or three others went out to the Indian chiefs and again +made a treaty of peace with them, for there was no white man in New +England for whom all the Indians had such affection as they had for +Roger Williams. Time and again he saved his own colony, and the +neighboring ones of Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth and Connecticut from +Indian attacks. His knowledge of the Indian tongues was of great +assistance to him, and his desire to be perfectly fair and frank with +them was even more valuable. + +Once more he went to England, for a Mr. Coddington of Newport had +obtained from Parliament a commission as governor for life of the +settlements at Aquidneck, which interfered with the charter already +granted to the Providence Plantations. There he succeeded in having the +claims of his colony adjusted, there he wrote more religious pamphlets +and preached and lectured, and there he met Oliver Cromwell, the Lord +Protector of England, and John Milton the poet, and told them about the +Indians of New England, their language and their customs and the +missionary work the colonists were doing among them. + +After he went back to Providence George Fox, the famous Quaker leader, +came to New England and preached to the people there. Roger Williams did +not agree with Fox in many of his teachings, and took the opposite side +at many public meetings. Whenever there was debate or argument over +religious matters Roger Williams wanted to have his share in it. He held +the same views as leader of the Providence Plantations that he had +voiced when he first came as minister to the First Church at Boston. + +In many ways Roger Williams was something like William Penn. He founded +a colony that was in time to become one of the original Thirteen States +of the American Union. He was a religious leader, and he was always fair +in his dealings with the Indians. Probably he was greatest as a friend +of the Indians, for his little colony was spared the frequent attacks +and massacres that made life so hard for many of the small English +settlements along the Atlantic coast. He came to the New World seeking +liberty and justice between all men, and these he taught to the settlers +who followed and built their homes around his log house on the shores of +the great bay named for the Narragansetts. + + + + +II + +PETER STUYVESANT'S FLAG + +(_New York, 1661_) + + +I + +The island of Manhattan, which is now tightly packed with the +office-buildings and houses of New York, was in 1661 the home of a small +number of families who had come across the Atlantic Ocean from the +Netherlands to settle this part of the new world for the Dutch West +India Company. There was a fort at the southern end of the island, +sometimes known as the Battery, and two roads led from it toward the +north. One of these roads followed the line of the street now called +Broadway, running north to a great open field, or common, and, skirting +that, leading on to the settlement of Harlaem. In time this road came to +be known as the Old Post Road to Boston. Another road ran to the east, +and in its neighborhood were the farms of many of the richer Dutch +settlers. Near where Third Avenue and Thirteenth Street now meet was the +bouwery, as the Dutchmen called a farm, of Peter Stuyvesant, the +governor of the colony of New Netherland. It was a large, prosperous +bouwery, with a good-sized house for the governor and his family. + +This Dutch governor, sturdy, impetuous, obstinate, had lost a leg while +leading an attack on the Portuguese island of Saint Martin, in 1644, and +now used a wooden stump, which caused him to be nicknamed "Wooden-Legged +Peter." He was a much better governor than the others who had been sent +out by the West India Company to rule New Netherland. He had plenty of +courage, but he had also a very determined will of his own, which often +made him seem a tyrant to the other settlers. + +Now there were two distinct classes of people in New Netherland: the +peasants who worked the land, and the landowners, called patroons, who +had bought vast tracts from the West India Company, and lived on them +like European nobles. It was the patroons who brought the peasants over, +paying for their passage, and the peasants worked for them until they +could repay the amount of their passage money, and then took up small +farms on their patroon's estate, paying the rental in crops, as tenants +did to the feudal lords of Europe. The great manors stretched north from +the little town of New Amsterdam at the point of Manhattan Island. Above +Peter Stuyvesant's bouwery was the manor of the Kip family, called Kip's +Bay. In the middle of the island lived the Patroon De Lancey. Opposite, +on Long Island, was the estate of the Laurences. And along the Hudson +were the homes of the powerful families of Van Courtland and of +Phillipse, of Van Rensselaer and of Schuyler. In spite of constant +danger from Indians and their great distance from Europe the patroons +lived in a certain magnificence, and grew in power down to the time of +the Revolution. Farming and fur-trading were the chief sources of profit +of the colony. There were a few storekeepers and mechanics, but they +lived close to the fort and stockade at the Battery. The trades that had +done so much to make the Netherlands in Europe rich played small part in +the life of this New Netherland. + +In the year 1661 the West India Company bought Staten Island from its +patroon owner, a man named Cornelius Melyn. A block-house was built +which was armed with two cannon and defended by ten soldiers, and +invited the people of Europe who were called Waldenses and the Huguenots +of France to settle on the island. Fourteen families soon came and took +up farms there south of the Narrows. The West India Company, however, +had broader views on religion than their governor, Peter Stuyvesant, +had. John Brown, an Englishman, moved from Boston to Flushing, on Long +Island, and, having by chance attended a Quaker meeting, invited the +Quakers to meet at his new house. Neighbors told the governor that John +Brown was using his farm as a meeting-place for Quakers, and Stuyvesant +had him arrested. The quiet, unoffending farmer was fined twenty-five +pounds and threatened with banishment, and when he failed to pay, was +imprisoned in New Amsterdam for three months. Then Governor Stuyvesant +issued an order banishing Farmer Brown. "John Brown," so ran the order, +"is to be transported from this province in the first ship ready to +sail, as an example to others." Soon afterward he was sent to Holland in +the _Gilded Fox_, but the officers of the West India Company received +him kindly, rebuked the haughty governor for his severity, and persuaded +John Brown to return to Flushing. When he did go back Stuyvesant showed +by his acts that he was ashamed of what he had done. For the governor, +in spite of his headstrong acts, had sense enough to know that his +little colony needed all the settlers it could find, no matter what +their religion, and that Quakers made as trustworthy settlers as any +other kind. + +Early in 1663 an earthquake shook New Netherland and the country round +it. Soon afterward the melting snows and very heavy rains caused a +tremendous freshet, which covered the meadow lands along the rivers, and +ruined all the crops. Then came an outbreak of smallpox, which spread +among the Dutchmen and the Indians like fire in a field of wheat. Over a +thousand of the Iroquois tribe died of the plague. Then, as if these +troubles were not sufficient for the colony, Peter Stuyvesant soon heard +that there was new danger of an Indian uprising against his people. + +There had been a truce between the red men and the white, but the former +could not forget that after their last attack on the Dutch fifteen of +their warriors had been sent as slaves to the island of Curaçoa. There +were many Indians near the prosperous settlement of Esopus, up in the +Hudson country, and in the spring of 1663 settlers there sent word to +the governor that they needed more protection from their dark-skinned +neighbors. Stuyvesant replied that he would come himself soon and try to +settle any differences. The Indian chiefs heard of this reply of the +governor and in their turn sent him word that if he were coming to renew +their treaty of friendship they should expect him to come without arms, +and would then gladly meet in a council in the field outside the gate of +Esopus, and smoke the pipe of peace with him. + +This was a friendly message, and the settlers at Esopus who lived within +the palisades, as well as those at the little village of Wildwyck, which +had sprung up a short distance from the fort, decided they had been +wrong in suspecting the Indians of intending to harm them, and went on +with their farming as usual. Peter Stuyvesant, busy in New Amsterdam, +had not yet had a chance to go up to Esopus. On the seventh of June, as +on other days, Indians came into the village, chatted with the settlers, +and sold corn and other provisions they had grown. + +Then suddenly a war-whoop rang out inside the palisades, and was +instantly followed by a hundred more within and without the gates. +Indian blankets were thrown aside, and tomahawks and long knives +gleamed in the hands of the savages. The settlers were taken completely +by surprise. Each Indian had marked his man. Men, women, and children +were made prisoners or killed. Houses were plundered and set on fire, +and the flames, escaping to the farms, soon made havoc of the prosperous +village. + +The settlers fought, and for several hours the savage war-whoops were +answered by the fire of muskets. The chief officer of the village, +called the Schout, Roelof Swartwout by name, rallied a few men around +him, and by desperate fighting at last drove the Indians outside the +palisades and shut the gates against them. But the outer village was in +ashes, the fields were strewn with bodies, and houses smoked to the sky. +Within the palisades matters were not quite so bad, for a change of the +wind had saved part of the buildings from the flames. + +Twenty-one settlers had been killed, nine were badly wounded, and +forty-five, most of them women and children, had been taken captive. All +that night the Schout and his men stayed on guard at the gates, while in +the distance they heard the shouts of the triumphant red men. + +The news of what had happened at Esopus spread rapidly through the +Hudson country. In the villages the men hurried to strengthen their +palisades, farmers fled with their families to the shelter of the +nearest forts. The news came to Governor Stuyvesant on Manhattan Island, +and he instantly sent forty-two soldiers to Esopus, and offered rewards +to all who would enlist. Some friendly Indians from Long Island joined +his forces, scouts were sent through the woods to find the hostile +Indians' hiding-places. The Mohawks tried to make peace, and capturing +some of the Dutch prisoners, sent them back to the village. The Mohawks +also sent word that the Indians who had gone on the war-path felt they +were only taking a just revenge for the act of the Dutch in sending some +of their chiefs to Curaçoa, that they would return their other prisoners +in exchange for rich presents, and were ready to make a new peace with +the settlers. + +But Peter Stuyvesant thought it needful to teach his Indian neighbors a +lesson. + +A white woman, Mrs. Van Imbrock, escaped from her captors, and finally +reached Esopus after many hardships. She brought word that the Indians, +some two hundred, had built a strong fort, and sent their prisoners +every night under guard to a distant place in the mountains, intending +to keep them as hostages. When he had heard her account, Stuyvesant sent +out a party of two hundred and ten men, under Captain Crygier, armed +with two small cannon, with which they hoped to make a breach in the +walls of the Indian fort, which were only bulletproof. + +This little army set out on the afternoon of July 26th. They made their +way through forests, over high hills, and across rivers. They bivouacked +for the night, and next morning marched on until they were about six +miles from the fort. Half the men were sent on to make a +surprise-attack, while the rest followed in reserve. + +Scouts had brought word to the fort of the approach of the Dutch, and +the Indians had gone into the mountains with their prisoners. So Captain +Crygier's men went into the fort and spent the night there, finding it +an unusually well-built and well-protected place. An Indian woman, not +knowing the white men were there, came back for some provisions, was +taken prisoner, and told the direction in which the chiefs had gone. +Next morning twenty-five men were left at the fort, and the others +followed the trail to a mountain, where the squaw said the Indians meant +to camp. There were no red men there, and the squaw told of another camp +yet farther on. + +The Dutch soldiers marched all day, but their hunt proved fruitless. +Finally Captain Crygier gave the order to return to the captured fort. +Here they burned the buildings, and carried off all the provisions. Then +they returned to Esopus, to await other news. + +Early in September word came that the Indians had built another fort, or +castle, as they called it, thirty-six miles to the southwest. Again +Captain Crygier set out with his men, and on the second day came in view +of the fort. It stood on a height, and was built of two rows of stout +palisades, fifteen feet high. Crygier divided his forces, and one-half +the men crept toward the fort. Then a squaw saw them, and by her cry +warned the Indians. Both parties of the Dutch rushed up the hill, +stormed the palisades, drove their enemies before them, and scattered +them in the fields. Behind the fort was a creek. The Indians waded and +swam it, and made a stand on the opposite bank. But the fire of the +Dutchmen was too much for them, and shortly they were flying wildly into +the wilderness. + +The Indian chief, Papoquanchen, and fourteen of his warriors were killed +in the battle, twenty-two white prisoners were rescued, and fourteen +Indians were captured. The fort was plundered of provisions, and the +Dutch found eighty guns, besides, as they reported, "bearskins, +deerskins, blankets, elk hides and peltries sufficient to load a +shallop." + +There was great joy at Esopus when the victorious little army returned. +Danger from that particular tribe of Indians seemed at an end, but to +make the matter certain a third expedition was sent out in the fall. +They scouted through the near-by country, but found only a few scattered +red men. Those that were left of the Esopus tribe after that last attack +on their fort had fled south and finally become part of the Minnisincks. + +Again peace reigned in the Dutch settlements; the farmers went back to +their fields, and the soldiers returned to the capital at New Amsterdam. + +To the north of the Dutch colony lay the English colonies of New +England, and the boundary between New Netherland and its neighbors had +never been fixed. Many Englishmen had settled along the Hudson and on +Long Island, and Governor Stuyvesant thought it was high time to reach +some agreement with the New England governors. So he went to Boston in +September, 1663; but scarcely had he left New Amsterdam when an English +agent, James Christie, arrived on Long Island, and told the people of +Gravesend, Flushing, Hempstead and Jamaica that they were no longer +under Dutch rule, but that their territory had been annexed to the +colony of Connecticut. + +Now many of the settlers at Gravesend were English, and most of the +magistrates and officers. When Christie read his announcement to the +people one of the few faithful Dutch magistrates, Sheriff Stillwell, +arrested him on a charge of treason. Then the other magistrates ordered +the arrest of Stillwell in turn, and the public feeling against the +latter was so strong that he had to send word secretly to New Amsterdam, +asking for help. A sergeant and eight soldiers were sent from New +Amsterdam, and they again arrested Christie and placed him under guard +in Sheriff Stillwell's house. + +Rumors came that the farmers meant to rescue Christie, so he was taken +at night to the fort on Manhattan Island. Sheriff Stillwell had to fly +from his own house to escape the neighbors, and hurried to New +Amsterdam, where he complained of the illegal acts of the Gravesend +settlers. Excitement ran high. People on Long Island demanded that +Christie be set free; but the Dutch council insisted on keeping him a +prisoner. The council sent an express messenger to Peter Stuyvesant in +Boston, asking him to settle the Long Island difficulties with the +English governor there. + +But the officers of New England would not agree to the sturdy Dutchman's +terms. And other English colonists went through the land that belonged +to the Dutch, rousing the farmers against the West India Company. +Richard Panton, armed with sword and pistol, threatened the men of +Flatbush and other villages near by with the pillage of their property +unless they would swear allegiance to the government at Hartford and +fight against the Dutch. Such was the news that greeted Stuyvesant when +he came back to his capital from Boston. He knew that there were not +enough of the Dutch to resist an attack from the English, who had come +swarming in great numbers recently into Massachusetts and Connecticut. +His only hope lay in argument, and so he sent four of his leading men to +Hartford to try to arrange a peaceful settlement. + +The four Dutchmen sailed from New Amsterdam, and after two days on the +water landed at Milford. There they took horses and rode to New Haven, +where they spent the night. Next day they went on to Hartford over the +rough roads of the wilderness. They were well received, and John +Winthrop, who was governor of Connecticut and a son of Governor +Winthrop of Massachusetts, admitted that some of the claims of the Dutch +were just. But the rest of the officers at Hartford stoutly insisted +that all that part of the Atlantic seacoast belonged to the king of +England, by right of first discovery and claim. "The opinion of the +governor," said these men, "is but the opinion of one man. The grant of +the king of England includes all the land south of the Boston line to +Virginia and to the Pacific Ocean. We do not know any New Netherland, +unless you can show a patent for it from the king of England." +Apparently the Dutch had no rights there at all; the whole tract between +Massachusetts and Virginia belonged to Connecticut. + +Still the Dutchmen tried to reach some sort of friendly agreement. They +proposed that what was known as Westchester, the land lying north of +Manhattan Island, should be considered part of Connecticut, but that the +towns on Long Island should remain under the government of New +Netherland. "We do not know of any province of New Netherland," the +Hartford officers replied. "There is a Dutch governor over a Dutch +plantation on the island of Manhattan. Long Island is included in our +patent, and we shall possess and maintain it." + +So the four Dutchmen had to return to Governor Stuyvesant with word that +the Connecticut men would yield none of their claims. + +The state of affairs was going from bad to worse. Stuyvesant called a +meeting of men from all the neighboring villages, and the meeting sent +a report to the Dutch government in Europe. + +The report had hardly been sent, however, when more startling events +took place in the colony. Two Englishmen, Anthony Waters and John Coe, +with a force of almost one hundred armed men, visited many of the +villages where there were English settlers, and told them they must no +longer pay taxes to the Dutch, as their country belonged to the king of +England. They put their own officers in place of the Dutch officers in +these villages, and then, marching to settlements where most of the +people were Dutch, they tried to make the people there take the oath of +allegiance to the English king. + +A month later a party of twenty Englishmen secretly sailed up the +Raritan River in a sloop, called the chiefs of some of the neighboring +Indian tribes together, and tried to buy a large tract of land from +them. They knew all the while that the Dutch West India Company had +bought that same land from the Indians some time before. + +As soon as he heard of this Peter Stuyvesant sent Crygier, with some +well-armed men, in a swift yacht, to thwart the English traders. He also +sent a friendly Indian to warn the chiefs against trying to sell land +they no longer owned. The Dutch yacht arrived in time to stop the +Indians from dealing with the English, and the latter, baffled there, +sailed their sloop down the bay to a place between Rensselaer's Hook +and Sandy Hook, where they met other Indians and tried to bargain with +them for land. The Dutch Crygier overtook them. + +"You are traitors!" he cried. "You are acting against the government to +which you have taken the oath of fidelity!" + +"This whole country," answered the men from the sloop, "has been given +to the English by His Majesty the King of England." + +Then the two parties separated, Crygier and his men sailing back to New +Amsterdam. + +While matters stood this way in the province of New Netherland an +Englishman, John Scott, petitioned King Charles the Second to grant him +the government of Long Island, which he said the Dutch settlers were +unjustly trying to take away from the king of England. Scott was given +authority to make a report to the English government on the state of +affairs in that part of the New World, and in order to do this he sailed +to America and went to New Haven, where he was warmly welcomed. The +colony of Connecticut gave him the powers of a magistrate throughout +Long Island, and he at once set to work to wrest the island from the +Dutch, whom he upbraided as "cruel and rapacious neighbors who were +enslaving the English settlers." + +Some of the villages on Long Island, however, and especially those where +there were many Quakers and Baptists, did not want to come under the +rule of the Puritans. Therefore six towns, Hempstead, Gravesend, +Flushing, Middlebury, Jamaica and Oyster Bay, formed a government of +their own, asking John Scott to act as their president, until the king +of England should establish a permanent government for them. Scott +swelled with pride in his new power. He gathered an armed force of one +hundred and seventy men, horse and foot, and marched out to compel the +neighboring Dutch towns to join his new colony. + +First he marched on Brooklyn. There he told the citizens that their land +belonged to the crown of England, and that he now claimed it for the +king. He had so many men with him that the Dutch saw it would be +impossible to arrest him, but one of them, the secretary, Van Ruyven, +suggested that he should cross the river to New Amsterdam and talk with +Peter Stuyvesant. Scott pompously answered, "Let Stuyvesant come here +with a hundred men; I will wait for him and run my sword through his +body!" And he scowled and marched up and down before the stolid Dutchman +like a fierce cock-o'-the-walk. + +The Dutchmen of Brooklyn, however, did not seem anxious to exchange the +rule of Governor Peter Stuyvesant for that of Captain John Scott. As he +was strutting up and down Captain Scott spied a boy who looked as if he +would like to use his fists on the Englishman. The boy happened to be a +son of Governor Stuyvesant's faithful officer Crygier. Captain Scott +walked up to the boy, and ordered him to take off his hat and salute the +flag of England. Young Crygier refused, and the quick-tempered captain +struck at him. One of the men standing by called out, "If you have blows +to give, you should strike men, not boys!" + +Four of Scott's men jumped at the man who had dared to speak so, and the +latter, picking up an axe, tried to defend himself, but soon found it +best to run. Scott ordered the people of Brooklyn to give the man up, +threatening to burn the town unless they did so. But the man was not +surrendered, and the captain did not dare to carry out his threat. + +Instead he marched to Flatbush, and unfurled his flag before the house +of the sheriff. Settlers gathered round to see what was happening, and +Captain Scott made them a speech. "This land," said he to the Dutchmen, +"which you now occupy, belongs to His Majesty, King Charles. He is the +right and lawful lord of all America, from Virginia to Boston. Under his +government you will enjoy more freedom than you ever before possessed. +Hereafter you shall pay no more taxes to the Dutch government, neither +shall you obey Peter Stuyvesant. He is no longer your governor, and you +are not to acknowledge his authority. If you refuse to submit to the +king of England, you know what to expect." + +But the men of Flatbush were no more ready to obey the haughty captain +than those of Brooklyn had been. One of the magistrates dared to tell +Scott that he ought to settle this dispute with Peter Stuyvesant. +"Stuyvesant is governor no longer," he retorted. "I will soon go to New +Amsterdam, with a hundred men, and proclaim the supremacy of His +Majesty, King Charles, beneath the very walls of the fort!" + +The Dutch would not obey him, but neither would they take up arms +against him. Such treatment angered the fire-eating captain more and +more. He marched his troop to New Utrecht, where the Dutch flag floated +over the block fort, armed with cannon. Meeting no resistance from the +peace-loving settlers Scott hauled down their flag and replaced it with +the flag of England. Then, using the Dutch cannon and Dutch powder he +fired a salute to announce his victory. All those who passed the fort +were ordered to take off their hats and bow before the new banner, and +those who refused were arrested by his men, and some were bound and +beaten. + +Peter Stuyvesant, in New Amsterdam, heard of these disturbances on Long +Island, and sent three of his leading men to meet Scott and try to make +some settlement with him. They met the captain at Jamaica, and after +much wrangling, at last reached what they thought might be an agreement. +But as they left Scott fired these words at their backs: "This whole +island belongs to the king of England. He has made a grant of it to his +brother, the Duke of York. He knows that it will yield him an annual +revenue of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He is soon coming +with an ample force, to take possession of his property. If it is not +surrendered peaceably he is determined to take, not only the whole +island, but also the whole province of New Netherland!" + +This was alarming news. Some of the English settlers were rallying to +Scott's command, the Dutch in some of the villages fled to Dutch forts +for shelter. Even the prosperous men in New Amsterdam began to fear lest +the English captain should attack their homes. Fortifications were +hurriedly built, and men enrolled as soldiers. + +Peter Stuyvesant, fearful lest he should lose his colony, knowing well +that the English greatly outnumbered the Dutch, found himself in a very +difficult situation. But "Wooden-Legged Peter" was a fighter, quite as +fiery as John Scott when his blood was up. + + +II + +Peter Stuyvesant saw that he would have to make terms with the English +Captain Scott, or more English adventurers might come swarming down from +New England and speedily gobble up the whole of Manhattan Island. He +went to Hempstead on Long Island, on the third day of March, 1664, and +made an agreement with Scott that the villages on the western part of +the island, where the settlers were mainly English, should consider +themselves under English rule until the whole dispute could be settled +by King Charles and the Dutch government. The Dutch had now lost bit by +bit most of the colony they had started out to settle. First the English +had taken the valley of the Connecticut River, because there were more +English settlers there than Dutch, then they took Westchester, now the +four important villages of Flushing, Jamaica, Hempstead and Gravesend +were added to their list. + +Meantime the States-General of Holland, receiving appeals for help from +Stuyvesant, sent him sixty soldiers, and ordered him to resist any +further demands of the English and to try to make the villages that had +rebelled return again to his flag. But the governor knew that he could +not possibly do this, his people were outnumbered six to one, and while +he was turning this matter over in his mind news came that the English +people in Connecticut were making a treaty of alliance with the Indians +who lived along the Hudson. Fearful lest all the tribes should side with +his rivals, Stuyvesant invited a number of the Indian chiefs to a +meeting at the fort of New Amsterdam. + +The chiefs came to the council. One of them called upon Bachtamo, their +tribal name for the Great Spirit, to hear him. "Oh, Bachtamo," he said, +"help us to make a good treaty with the Dutch. And may the treaty we are +about to make be like the stick I hold in my hand. Like this stick may +it be firmly united, the one end to the other." + +Then turning to Stuyvesant and his officers, he went on, "We all desire +peace. I have come with my brother sachems, in behalf of the Esopus +Indians, to conclude a peace as firm and compact as my arms, which I now +fold together." + +He held out his hand to the governor. "What I now say is from the +fullness of my heart. Such is my desire, and that of all my people." + +A treaty was drawn up, signed by the Dutch and the Indians, and +celebrated by the firing of cannon from the fort. Stuyvesant proclaimed +a day of general thanksgiving in honor of the new alliance with the +Indians. + +Now it had been supposed that the English towns on Long Island would +join the colony of Connecticut, but instead the settlers proclaimed +their own independence and chose John Scott for their president. Then +the court at Hartford sent John Allyn, with a party of soldiers, to +arrest Captain Scott for treason. Scott met the Connecticut soldiers +with soldiers of his own, and demanded what they wanted on his land. The +Connecticut officer read the order for Scott's arrest. Then said Captain +Scott, "I will yield my heart's blood on this ground before I will give +in to you or any men from Connecticut!" The men from Hartford answered +readily, "So will we!" + +But in spite of his bold words his opponents did succeed in arresting +Scott, and, taking him to Hartford, put him in prison there. Governor +Winthrop went to Long Island to appoint new officers in the English +villages in place of Scott's men, and Stuyvesant seized the chance to go +to meet the Connecticut governor and make some treaty with him. The +governor of New Netherland explained to the governor of the Connecticut +Colony that the Dutch claimed the land they occupied by the rights of +discovery, purchase, and possession, and reminded him that the boundary +between the two colonies had been defined in a treaty made in 1650. Said +that treaty, "Upon Long Island a line run from the westernmost part of +Oyster Bay, in a straight and direct line to the sea, shall be the +bounds between the English and the Dutch there; the easterly part to +belong to the English, the westernmost part to the Dutch." + +Yet, in spite of this, Governor Winthrop was now many miles west of the +line, claiming villages that were clearly in Dutch territory. The truth +was that Governor Winthrop knew Peter Stuyvesant had not the needful +number of men to oppose the English claims. And the upshot of the +meeting was that Winthrop simply declared that the whole of Long Island +belonged to the king of England. + +That king of England, Charles II, now took a hand in the matter himself. +On March 12, 1664, he granted to his brother, James, Duke of York, the +whole of Long Island, all the islands near it, and all the lands and +rivers from the west shore of the Connecticut River to the east shore of +Delaware Bay. It was a wide, magnificent grant, sweeping away the colony +of New Netherland as if it had been a twig in the path of a tornado. + +Word reached New Amsterdam that a fleet of armed ships had sailed from +Portsmouth in England, bound for the Hudson River, to take possession of +the neighboring territory. The prosperous Dutch settlers were in a +panic. Peter Stuyvesant called his council, and they decided to lose no +time in making their fortifications as strong as possible. Money was +raised, powder was sent for, agents hurried to buy provisions all +through the countryside. In the midst of these preparations the Dutch +government, which had been completely fooled as to the plans of the +English king, sent a message to Governor Stuyvesant saying that he need +have no fear of any further trouble from the English. + +This was pleasant word; it relieved the fears that had been raised by +the message of the armed fleet sailing from Portsmouth for the Hudson. +The work on the forts was stopped, and Stuyvesant went up the river to +Fort Orange to try to quiet Indian tribes in that neighborhood who were +threatening to take to the war-path. + +The English fleet, four frigates, with ninety-four guns all told, +meantime came sailing across the Atlantic, and arrived at Boston the end +of July. Colonel Richard Nicholls was in command of the expedition, with +three commissioners sent out with him from England. Their instructions +were to reduce the Dutch to subjection. They were to get what aid they +could from the New England colonies. The people of Boston, however, were +too busy with their own affairs, and too content, to be interested in +helping to fight the Dutch. But Connecticut was quite ready to help, and +so Colonel Nicholls sent word to Governor Winthrop to meet the English +fleet at the west end of Long Island, to which place it would sail with +the first favoring wind. + +A friend of Peter Stuyvesant's in Boston sent news of the English plans +to New Amsterdam. A fast rider carried the message to the governor at +Fort Orange. Stuyvesant hastened back to his capital, very angry at +having lost three weeks in which to make ready his defenses. He called +every man to work with spade, shovel and wheelbarrow. Six cannon were +added to the fourteen already on the fort. Messengers rode through the +country summoning other garrisons to come to the aid of New Amsterdam. + +On August 20th the English frigates anchored in Nyack Bay, just below +the Narrows, between New Utrecht and Coney Island. All communication +between Long Island and Manhattan Island was cut off. Some small Dutch +boats were captured. Three miles away from the fleet's anchorage, on +Staten Island, was a small fort, a block-house, some twenty feet square. +It boasted two small guns, which shot one pound balls, and was +garrisoned by six soldiers. The English, sending some of their men +ashore, had little difficulty in capturing the fort and rounding up the +cattle that were grazing in the near-by fields. + +The morning after he dropped anchor Colonel Nicholls despatched four of +his men to Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, with a summons to the +garrison to surrender. At the same time he sent out word that if any of +the farmers furnished supplies to the fort he would burn their houses, +but that if they would quietly acknowledge the English flag they might +keep their farms in peace. + +Now Peter Stuyvesant had only one hundred soldiers in his garrison, and +he could not hope for much real aid from the other men, undisciplined +and poorly armed as they were, who lived on Manhattan Island. But he +meant to resist these invaders as strongly as he was able, and so called +his council together to consider what they might do for defense. + +The peace-loving Dutch citizens, however, lacked the fiery spirit of +their governor, and they too held a meeting, and voted not to resist the +English fleet, and asked for a copy of the demand to surrender that +Nicholls had sent to the fort. Governor Stuyvesant, angry though he was, +went to the citizens and tried to persuade them to stand by him. But the +citizens, fearful that a bombardment would destroy their little +settlement, were not in the humor to agree with his ideas. + +The English commander sent another envoy, with a flag of truce, to Fort +Amsterdam, carrying a letter which stated that if Manhattan Island was +surrendered to him the Dutch settlers might keep all the lands and +buildings they possessed. Stuyvesant received the letter, and read it to +his council. The council insisted that the letter should be read to the +people. Stuyvesant refused, saying that he, and not the people, was the +best judge as to what New Amsterdam should do. The council continued to +argue and threaten, until Stuyvesant tore up the letter and trampled it +under his feet to settle the matter. + +The citizens, however, had heard that such a letter had come with a flag +of truce, and they sent three men to demand the message from Peter +Stuyvesant. These men told him bluntly that the people did not intend to +resist the English, that resistance to such a large force was madness, +and that they would mutiny unless he let them see the letter Colonel +Nicholls had sent. + +Again Governor Stuyvesant was forced to yield to pressure. A copy was +made of the letter from its torn pieces, and this was read to the +turbulent citizens. When they had heard it they declared that they were +ready to surrender. But the governor hated the notion of giving up his +province of New Netherland without a struggle; of yielding to highway +robbers, as he regarded the English fleet. So he sent a ship secretly +from Fort Amsterdam by night, bearing a message to the directors of the +Dutch Company in Europe. The message was short. "Long Island is gone and +lost. The capitol cannot hold out long," was what it said. + +Then he sat down and wrote an answer to the letter of Colonel Nicholls. +It was a fair-spoken answer, pointing out that this land belonged to +the Dutch by right of discovery and settlement and purchase from the +Indians. He said that he was sure the king of England would agree with +the Dutch claims if they were presented to him. This was the end of his +letter: "In case you will act by force of arms, we protest before God +and man that you will perform an act of unjust violence. You will +violate the articles of peace solemnly ratified by His Majesty of +England, and my Lords the States-General. Again for the prevention of +the spilling of innocent blood, not only here but in Europe, we offer +you a treaty by our deputies. As regards your threats we have no answer +to make, only that we fear nothing but what God may lay upon us. All +things are at His disposal, and we can be preserved by Him with small +forces as well as by a great army." + +The only answer the English commander saw fit to make to the Dutch +governor's letter was to order his soldiers to prepare to land from the +frigates. + + +III + +Soldiers, both foot and cavalry, were landed on Long Island from the +English fleet, and marched double-quick through the forest toward the +small cluster of houses that stood along the shore where the city of +Brooklyn now rises. They met with no resistance; for the most part these +woods and shores were as empty of men as the day when Henryk Hudson +first sailed up the river that bears his name. + +The fleet meanwhile went up through the Narrows, and two frigates +landed more soldiers a short distance below Brooklyn, to support those +that were marching down the island. Two other frigates, one of +thirty-six guns, the second of thirty, under full sail, passed directly +within range of Stuyvesant's little fort, and anchored between the fort +and Governor's Island. The English fleet meant to show their contempt +for the Dutch claims. + +What was Peter Stuyvesant doing as the frigates so insolently sailed +past under his very eyes? He was a fighter by nature and by trade, as +peppery as some of the sauces he had brought with him from the West +Indies. The cannon of his fort were loaded, and the gunners stood ready +with their burning matches. A word, a nod, a wave of the hand from +Stuyvesant, and the cannon would roar their answer to the insolent +fleet. And what would happen then? Fort Amsterdam had only twenty guns; +and the two frigates sailing by had sixty-six, and the two other +frigates, almost within sight, had twenty-eight more. Stuyvesant bit his +lips as his gunners waited. The first roar of his cannon would almost +certainly mean the ruin of every house in New Amsterdam. + +[Illustration: STUYVESANT BIT HIS LIPS AS HIS GUNNERS WAITED] + +Yet could the governor see the flag of his beloved New Netherland +flouted in this fashion? Raging with anger, the word to fire trembling +on his lips, Stuyvesant turned to listen to the advice of two Dutch +clergymen who had hurried up to him. They begged him not to be the +first to shed blood in a fight that could only end in their utter +defeat. They were outnumbered, outmatched in every way. The governor +knew this was so; no one in the colony indeed knew it better than he. "I +won't open fire," he said, bitter rage in his heart, but he shook his +fist at the white sails of the frigates. + +Stuyvesant left the rampart, leaving fifty men to defend the fort, and +took the rest of the garrison, one hundred soldiers, down to the shore, +to repel the English if they should try to land. He still had a faint +hope that the English commander would make some terms with him that +would allow him to keep the flag of Holland flying over New Amsterdam. + +With this faint hope he sent four of his chief officers with a flag of +truce to Colonel Nicholls. They carried this message from Peter +Stuyvesant: "I feel obliged to defend the city, in obedience to orders. +It is inevitable that much blood will be shed on the occurrence of the +assault. Cannot some accommodation yet be agreed upon? Friends will be +welcome if they come in a friendly manner." + +So spoke the Dutch governor, trying to be patient and reasonable, no +matter how hard such a course might be for him. Colonel Nicholls, sure +of his greater power in men and guns, cared not a whit to be either +reasonable or patient. He sent back a determined answer. "I have nothing +to do but to execute my mission," he said. "To accomplish that I hope +to have further conversation with you on the morrow, at the Manhattans. +You say that friends will be welcome, if they come in a friendly manner. +I shall come with ships and soldiers. And he will be bold indeed who +will dare to come on board my ships, to demand an answer or to solicit +terms. What then is to be done? Hoist the white flag of surrender, and +then something may be considered." + +This haughty answer spread through New Amsterdam, and men and women +rushed to the governor to beg him to surrender. Bombardment by the fleet +would destroy all they owned, and doubtless kill many of them. +Stuyvesant would have fought until his flag fell over a heap of ruins, +but he knew that his people would not stand behind him. "I had rather," +he told the men and women as they thronged about him, "be carried a +corpse to my grave than to surrender the city!" + +The people went to the City Hall, and drew up a paper of protest to +their governor. The protest said that the people could only see misery, +sorrow, and fire in resistance, the ruin of fifteen hundred innocent +men, women and children, only two hundred and fifty of whom were capable +of bearing arms. + +The words of the protest were true. "You are aware," it said, "that four +of the English king's frigates are now in the roadstead, with six +hundred soldiers on board. They have also commissions to all the +governors of New England, a populous and thickly inhabited country, to +impress troops, in addition to the forces already on board, for the +purpose of reducing New Netherland to His Majesty's obedience. + +"These threats we would not have regarded, could we expect the smallest +aid. But, God help us, where shall we turn for assistance, to the north +or to the south, to the east or to the west? 'Tis all in vain. On all +sides we are encompassed and hemmed in by our enemies." Ninety-four of +the chief men of New Amsterdam signed this protest, one of them being +Stuyvesant's own son. In front of the governor were the guns of the +English fleet, behind him was the mutiny of his own people. + +New Amsterdam, only a cluster of some three hundred houses at the +southern end of Manhattan Island, was entirely open to attack from +either the East or the North River. An old palisade, built to protect +the houses from Indian attacks, stretched from river to river on the +north, and in front of this palisade were the remains of an old +breastwork, three feet high and two feet wide. These might be of use +against the Indians, but hardly against well-trained white soldiers. + +Fort Amsterdam itself had only been built to withstand Indians, not +white men. An earthen rampart, ten feet high and four feet thick, +surrounded it, but there were no ditches or palisades. At its back, +where the crowds of Broadway now daily pass, were a number of low wooded +hills, with Indian trails leading through them. These hills, if held by +an enemy, could easily command the fort. The little Dutch garrison +hadn't five hundred pounds of powder on hand. The store of provisions +was equally small, and there was not a single well of water within the +fortifications. To cap the climax, the garrison itself couldn't be +trusted; it was largely made up of the lowest class of the settlers, +unfit to do any other work than shoulder a gun. + +So Peter Stuyvesant saw that he must yield. He chose six of his men to +meet with six of the English at his own bouwery on the morning of August +27th. There was little for the Dutchmen to do but agree to the terms +their enemies offered them. The terms were that the province of New +Netherland should belong to the English. The Dutch settlers might keep +their own property or might leave the country if they chose. They might +have any form of religion they pleased. Their officers, to be chosen at +the next election, would have to take the oath of allegiance to the king +of England. + +Peter Stuyvesant only yielded because he saw that he must. He pulled +down his flag that was flying above the ramparts, and "the fort and town +called New Amsterdam, upon the island of Manhatoes," as the treaty +called it, passed from the ownership of the Dutch to that of the +English. The officers and soldiers of the fort were allowed to march out +with their arms, their drums beating and their colors flying. Most of +the soldiers, many of the settlers, cared little what flag flew above +their colony, so long as they were permitted a peaceful living, but at +least one Dutchman, the governor, "Wooden-Legged Peter," cared much when +he saw the flag of the Netherlands come fluttering down. + +The English Colonel Nicholls and his men marched into the fort and took +possession of the government. They changed the name of the little +settlement from New Amsterdam to New York, in honor of the Duke of York, +who was the brother of the king of England. The fort was christened Fort +James, the name of the Duke of York. Then Colonel Nicholls sent troops +up the Hudson to take possession of the Dutch settlement of Fort Orange, +and other troops to the Delaware River to raise the English flag over +the small Dutch colony of New Amstel. The name of Fort Orange was +changed to Fort Albany, the second title of the king's brother, the Duke +of York. The settlers there were well treated, and given the same +liberty as was given the people on Manhattan Island. But those at New +Amstel, on the Delaware, did not fare so well. Peter Stuyvesant +indignantly reported that "At New Amstel, on the South River, +notwithstanding they offered no resistance, but demanded good treatment, +which however they did not obtain, they were invaded, stript bare, +plundered, and many of them sold as slaves in Virginia." + +The flag of England now flew where the flag of the Netherlands had waved +for half a century. There was no excuse for this seizing of the Dutch +colony by the English. The Dutch were peaceful neighbors, fair in their +dealings with the other colonies. But while the Dutch had not greatly +increased the number of their settlers in the New World, the English +had. New England was growing fast, so was Virginia, and in between these +two English settlements lay the small Dutch one, at the mouth of a great +river, and with the finest harbor of the whole seacoast. The English had +cast envious eyes upon Manhattan Island. They wanted to own the whole +seacoast; and so, being strong enough, they took it. And the Dutch, like +the Indians before them, had to bow to the stronger force. + +The Dutch Government in Europe called Peter Stuyvesant there to explain +why he had surrendered his colony. He went to Holland and made his acts +so clear to the States-General that they held him guiltless of every +charge against him. Then he returned to New York and settled down at his +bouwery, where he lived comfortably and well, like most of his Dutch +neighbors, unvexed by the constant troubles he had known when he was the +governor. + +The colony of New York grew and prospered. The patroons lived on their +big estates, rich, hospitable families, much like the wealthy planters +of Virginia. The Dutch people in the towns were a thrifty, peaceable +lot, glad to welcome new settlers, no matter from where they came. Most +of the settlers came now from England, very few from the Netherlands; +and in time there were more English than Dutch in the province. By the +time of the Revolution the people of the two nations were practically +one in their ideas and aims. Dutch and English fought side by side in +that war, and helped to make the great state of New York. But the Dutch +blood and the Dutch virtues persisted, and many of the greatest men of +the new state bore old Dutch names. And so, though Peter Stuyvesant and +his neighbors had to haul down their flag from their primitive ramparts +at Fort Amsterdam, they and their descendants left their stamp upon that +part of the New World they had been the first to settle. + + + + +III + +WHEN GOVERNOR ANDROSS CAME TO CONNECTICUT + +(_Connecticut, 1675_) + + +One of the most interesting stories in the history of the American +colonies is that of the adventures of the judges who voted for the +execution of King Charles I of England and who fled across the water +when his son came to the throne as Charles II. They were known as the +regicides, a name given to them because they were held to be responsible +for the king's death. When Charles II came back to England as king, +after the days when Oliver Cromwell was the Lord Protector, he pardoned +many of the men who had taken sides against his father, but his friends +urged him not to be so generous in his treatment of the judges. So he +issued a proclamation, stating that such of the judges of King Charles I +as did not surrender themselves as prisoners within fourteen days should +receive no pardon. The regicides and their friends were greatly alarmed. +Nineteen surrendered to the king's officers; some fled across the ocean; +and others were arrested as they tried to escape. Ten of them were +executed. Two, Edward Whalley and William Goffe, reached Boston Harbor +in July, 1660. Another, John Dixwell, came afterward. + +Governor Endicott and the leading men of Boston, not knowing how King +Charles intended to treat the judges, welcomed them as men who had held +posts of honor in England. They were entertained most hospitably in the +little town, and they went about quite freely, making no attempt to +conceal from any one who they were. + +Then word came to Boston that the king regarded the escaped judges as +traitors. Immediately many of those who had been friendly to the +regicides slunk away from them, avoiding them as if they had the plague. +The judges heard, moreover, that now Governor Endicott had called a +court of magistrates to order them seized and turned over to the +executioner. So, as they had fled from England before, the hunted +regicides now fled from the colony of Massachusetts Bay. + +At the settlement of New Haven there were many who had been friends and +followers of Oliver Cromwell, and the regicides turned in that +direction. They reached that town in March, 1661, and found a haven in +the home of John Davenport, a prominent minister. Here they were among +friends, and here they went about as freely as they had done at first in +Boston; and everybody liked them, for they were fine, honorable men, who +had done their duty as they saw it when they had decreed the execution +of King Charles I. + +There came a royal order to Massachusetts, requiring the governor to +arrest the fugitives. The governor and his officers were anxious to show +their zeal in carrying out all the wishes of the new king, and so they +gave a commission to two zealous young royalists, Thomas Kellond and +Thomas Kirk, authorizing them to hunt through the colonies as far south +as Manhattan Island for the missing judges and to bring them back to +Boston. + +The searchers set out at once, and went first to Governor Winthrop at +Hartford. He gave them permission to arrest the regicides anywhere in +the colony of Connecticut, but he assured them that he understood that +the judges were not in his colony, but had gone on to the colony of New +Haven. So they set forth again, and next day reached the town of +Guilford, where they stopped to procure a warrant from Governor Leete, +who lived there. + +Governor Leete appeared to be very much surprised at the news the two +men brought. He said that he didn't think the regicides were in New +Haven. He took the papers bearing the orders of Governor Winthrop and +read them in so loud a voice that the two men begged him to keep the +matter more quiet, lest some traitors should overhear. Then he delayed +furnishing them with fresh horses, and, the next day being Sunday, the +pursuers were forced to wait over an extra day before they could +continue their hunt. + +In the meantime an Indian messenger was sent to New Haven in the night, +to give warning of the pursuers. Then Governor Leete refused either to +give the pursuers a warrant or to send men with them to arrest the +regicides until he should have had a chance to consult with the +magistrates, which meant that he himself would have to go to New Haven. +The upshot of all this was that the pursuers stayed chafing in Guilford +while the men they were hunting had plenty of time to escape. + +John Davenport, the minister at New Haven, preached that Sunday morning +to a congregation that had heard the news of the pursuit of the English +judges. Davenport knew that the king of England had ordered the capture +of the judges and that this colony of New Haven was part of the English +realm. Yet, for the sake of mercy and justice, he urged his hearers to +protect the fugitives who had taken refuge among them. Not in so many +words did he urge it, but his hearers knew what he meant, for the text +of his sermon, taken from the sixteenth chapter of Isaiah, read: "Take +counsel, execute judgment, make thy shadow as the night in the midst of +noonday; hide the outcasts, bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine +outcasts dwell with thee; Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face +of the spoiler." The congregation understood his meaning. + +Early Monday morning Kellond and Kirk rode into New Haven, where the +people met them with surly faces. They had to wait until Governor Leete +arrived, and when he did he refused to take any steps in the matter +until he had called the freemen together. The two pursuers, now growing +angry, told the governor flatly that it looked to them as if he wanted +the regicides to escape. Spurred on by this the governor called the +magistrates together, but their decision was that they would have to +call a meeting of the general court. + +More exasperated than ever, the two hunters spoke plainly to Governor +Leete. They pointed out that he was not behaving as loyally as the +governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut had; they warned him against +giving aid to traitors, and then they flatly asked whether he meant to +obey King Charles or not. + +"We honor His Majesty," answered Governor Leete, "but we have tender +consciences." + +The pursuers lodged at a little inn in New Haven. There the governor +went that evening, and taking one of them by the hand, said, "I wish I +had been a plowman, and had never been in office, since I find it so +weighty." + +"Will you own His Majesty or no?" demanded the two men from +Massachusetts. + +"We would first know whether His Majesty would own us," was the +governor's guarded answer. + +The officers of New Haven would not help them, the people were openly +hostile, and so Kellond and Kirk left the colony, without having dared +to search a single house. They went south to Manhattan Island, where +the Dutch Governor Stuyvesant received them very politely, and promised +to help them arrest the fugitives if the latter came to New Netherland. +Then they went back to Boston, baffled of their quarry. + +Now when the Indian messenger had come to New Haven the fugitive judges +had fled from the town and spent the night at a mill two miles away. +Then they went to a place called "Hatchet Harbor," where they stayed a +couple of days, and from there to a cave upon a mountain that they +called Providence Hill. This cave, ever since known as the "Judges' +Cave," was a splendid hiding place. On the top of the mountain stood a +group of pillars of trap rock, like a grove of trees. These rocks +slanted inwards and so formed a room, the door of which could be hidden +with boughs. Here the regicides hid for almost a month. A friend named +Sperry, who lived in the neighborhood, brought them food. Sometimes he +sent the provisions by his small son, who left the basket on the stump +of a tree near the top of the mountain. The boy couldn't understand what +became of the food and how it happened that he always found the basket +empty when he returned for it the next day. The only answer the cautious +father would give him was, "There's somebody at work in the woods who +wants the food." + +That part of the country near the "Judges' Cave" was full of wild +animals. One night the regicides were visited by a panther that thrust +its head in at the door of their cave and roared at them. One of the +judges fled down the mountain to Sperry's house and gave the alarm, and +the farmer and the fugitives hunted the panther the rest of the night. + +After a while the fugitives decided that it would be better for their +friends in the colony, and particularly for Mr. Davenport, if they +should give themselves up in obedience to the command of King Charles. +They left their cave and went to Guilford to see Governor Leete. But the +governor and the other officers did not want to surrender them to the +king. The judges hid in the governor's cellar, and were fed from his +table, while he considered the best course to adopt. The colony of New +Haven decided that it would not arrest them, and so the fugitives moved +to the house of a Mr. Tompkins in Milford, where they stayed in hiding +for two years. + +The people of Milford did not know that the fugitives were there. One +day a girl came to the house and happened to sing a ballad lately come +from England, that made sport of the fugitive regicides. She sang the +song in a room just above the one where the fugitives were, and they +were so amused by the words that they asked Mr. Tompkins to have her +come again and again and sing to her unseen audience. + +Officers came out from England in 1664, charged, among other duties, +with the arrest of the fugitive judges, and the friends of the regicides +thought it best that they should leave Milford for some new hiding +place. So in October they set out for the small town of Hadley, on the +frontier of Massachusetts, a hundred miles from Milford, and so distant +from Boston, Hartford and New Haven that it was thought that no one +could trace them there. They traveled only at night, lying hidden in the +woods by day. The places where they stopped they called Harbors, and the +name still remains attached to one of them, now the flourishing town of +Meriden, which bears the title of Pilgrim's Harbor. They reached Hadley +in safety, and were taken in at the house of John Russell, a clergyman. +He gave them room in his house, and there they spent the rest of their +lives, safe from royal agents and spies in the small frontier +settlement. So three of the men, who, doing their duty as they saw it, +had voted for the execution of King Charles I, found a refuge in the +American wilderness from the pursuit of his son, King Charles II. + +Ten years later a very different sort of man came to the colony of +Connecticut. King Charles I had made large grants in America to his +brother the Duke of York, and among other territory that which had +belonged to the Dutch, called New Netherland. The Duke of York made +Major Edmund Andross, afterward Sir Edmund Andross, governor of all his +territories, and sent him out to New England. With full powers from the +Duke, Andross expected to do about as he pleased, and rule like a king +in the new world. + +By way of making a good start Edmund Andross at once laid claim to all +the land that had belonged to the Dutch and also to that part of +Connecticut that lay west of the Connecticut River. Unless the settlers +in that part of Connecticut consented to his rule he threatened to +invade their land with his soldiers. Now the people of Connecticut had +received the boundary of their colony in an early grant, and though they +already had the prospect of a war with the Indians under King Philip on +their hands, their governor and his council determined to resist the +cutting in two of their colony. + +Word came to Hartford that Andross was about to land at the port of +Saybrook and intended to march to Hartford, New Haven and other towns, +suppress the colonial government and establish his own. At once colonial +soldiers were sent to Saybrook and New London, and Captain Thomas Bull, +in command at the former place, strengthened the fortifications there to +resist the Duke of York's new governor. + +July 9, 1675, the people of Saybrook saw an armed fleet heading for +their fort. The men hurried to the fort and put themselves under the +command of Captain Bull. Then a letter came from the governor at +Hartford telling them what to do. "And if so be those forces on board +should endeavor to land at Saybrook," so ran the order, "you are in His +Majesty's name to forbid their landing. Yet if they should offer to +land, you are to wait their landing and to command them to leave their +arms on board; and then you may give them leave to land for necessary +refreshing, peaceably, but so that they return on board again in a +convenient time." + +Major Andross sent a request that he might be allowed to land and meet +the officers of Saybrook. The request was granted, and Captain Bull, +with the principal men of the town, met the Englishman and his officers +on the beach. Captain Bull stated the orders he had received from the +governor of Connecticut. Andross, with great haughtiness, waved the +orders aside, and told his clerk to read aloud the commission he held +from the Duke of York. + +But Captain Bull was not easily cowed. He ordered the clerk to stop his +reading of the commission. The surprised clerk hesitated a minute, then +went on with the reading. "Forbear!" thundered the captain, in a tone +that startled even Major Andross. + +The major, however, haughty and overbearing though he was, could not +help but admire the other man's determined manner. "What is your name?" +he asked. + +"My name is Bull, sir," was the answer. + +"Bull!" said Andross. "It is a pity that your horns are not tipped with +silver." + +Then, seeing that the captain and his men would not listen to his +commission from the Duke of York, Andross returned to his small boat, +and a few hours later his fleet sailed away from the harbor. + +The colony of Connecticut, like those of Massachusetts and New York, +now had a checkered career. Governor John Winthrop, who had done so much +for his people, died. False reports of the colony were carried to +England, the people were accused of harboring pirates and other outlaws. +Finally, in 1686, Andross, now Sir Edmund Andross, was given a royal +commission as governor of New England. + +Sir Edmund went to Boston, and from there sent a message to the governor +of Connecticut saying that he had received an order from the king to +require Connecticut to give up its charter as a colony. The governor and +council answered that, though they wished to do the king's bidding in +all things, they begged that they might keep the original grants of +their charter. + +Sir Edmund's answer to that was to go to Hartford. October 31, 1687, he +entered Hartford, accompanied by several gentlemen of his suite and with +a body-guard of some sixty soldiers. He meant to take the charter in +spite of all protests. + +The governor and council met him with all marks of respect, but it was +clear that they were not over-pleased to see him. Andross marched into +the hall where the General Assembly was in session, demanded the +charter, and declared that their present government was dissolved. +Governor Treat protested, and eloquently told of all the early hardships +of the colonists, their many wars with the Indians, the privations they +had endured. Finally he said that it was like giving up his life to +surrender the charter that represented rights and privileges they had so +dearly bought and enjoyed for so long a time. + +Sir Edmund listened to the governor's speech attentively. Looking about +him at the citizens who had gathered in the Assembly Hall he realized +that it would be well for him to obtain the charter as quietly as he +could, and without waking too much spirit of resentment in the men of +Hartford. Governor Treat's speech was long, the sun set, twilight came +on, and still the charter of the colony had not been handed over to Sir +Edmund. + +The governor and the people knew that Sir Edmund meant to have the +charter; he himself was prepared to stay there until they should hand +the paper over to him. Candles were brought into the hall and their +flickering light showed the spirited governor still arguing with the +determined, haughty Sir Edmund. More people pressed into the room to +hear the governor's words. Sir Edmund Andross glanced at the crowd; now +they seemed peaceful people, not of the kind likely to make trouble. + +Sir Edmund had listened to Governor Treat long enough. He grew +impatient. He slapped his hand on the table in front of him, and stated +again that he required the people of Connecticut to hand him over their +charter, and that at once. The governor saw that Sir Edmund's patience +was at an end, and whispered a word to his secretary. The secretary +left the room, and when he returned he brought the precious charter in +his hand. + +The charter was laid on the table in full view of Sir Edmund and the men +of the Assembly and the people who had crowded into the hall. Sir Edmund +smiled; he had taught these stubborn Connecticut colonists a +well-deserved lesson. He leaned forward in his chair, reaching out his +hand for the parchment. At that very instant the candles went out, and +the room was in total darkness. + +No one spoke, there were no threats of violence, no motion toward Sir +Edmund. In silence they waited for the relighting of the candles. + +The clerks relighted the candles. Andross looked again at the table. The +charter had disappeared. Andross stared at Governor Treat and the +governor stared back at him, apparently as much amazed as was Sir Edmund +at the disappearance. Then both men began to hunt. They looked in every +corner of the room where the charter might have been hidden. But the +charter had vanished in the time between the going-out of the candles +and their relighting. + +Sir Edmund, baffled and indignant, hid his anger as well as he could, +and with his gentlemen and soldiers left the Assembly Room. Next day he +took over control of the colony, and issued a proclamation that stated +that by the king's order the government of the colony of Connecticut was +annexed to that of Massachusetts and the other colonies under his rule. +The orders he gave were harsh and tyrannical, and the people of the +colony had little cause to like him. + +What had become of the charter? When Governor Wellys, a former governor +of Connecticut, had come to America he had sent his steward, a man named +Gibbons, to prepare a country home for him. Gibbons chose a suitable +place, and was cutting trees on a hill where the governor's house was to +stand when some Indians from the South Meadow came up to him and begged +him not to cut down an old oak that was there. "It has been the guide of +our ancestors for centuries," said the leader of the Indians, "as to the +time of planting our corn. When the leaves are of the size of a mouse's +ears, then is the time to put the seed in the ground." + +The tree was allowed to stand, and flourished, in spite of a large hole +near the base of its trunk. + +When the candles had been blown out in the Assembly Hall Captain +Wadsworth had seized the charter and stolen away with it. He knew of the +oak with the hole that seemed purposely made for concealing things. +There he took the charter and hid it, and neither Andross nor his men +ever laid hands on it. The tree became famous in history as the Charter +Oak. + +As long as James II was king of England Andross and other despotic +governors like him had their way in the colonies. But when James was +driven from his throne by William, the Prince of Orange, conditions +changed. William sent a messenger with a statement of his new plans for +the government of New England, and when the messenger reached Boston he +was welcomed with open arms. Andross, however, had the man arrested and +thrown into jail. Then on April 18, 1689, the people of Boston and the +neighboring towns rose in rebellion, drove Andross and his fellows from +their seats in the government and put back the old officers they had had +before. They thought that William III would treat them more justly than +James II had done, and they were not disappointed. + +Already, in their protection of the regicides and in their saving of +their charter, the people of Connecticut had shown that love of liberty +that was to burst forth more bravely than ever in the days of the +Revolution. + + + + +IV + +THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN NATHANIEL BACON AND SIR WILLIAM BERKELEY + +(_Virginia, 1676_) + + +I + +There was great excitement in that part of the American colony of +Virginia where Edmund Porter lived. It was in the month of May, 1676, +and the place was the country just below the settlement of Henricus, on +the James River, as one went down-stream toward the capital city of +Jamestown. The Porters had a plantation not very far from Curles, which +was the name of the place where their friend Nathaniel Bacon lived; and +Nathaniel Bacon seemed to be the centre of the exciting events that were +taking place. + +Nathaniel Bacon was a young man, of a good family in England, who had +come out to Virginia with his wife, and settled at Curles on the James. +He had another estate farther up the river, a place called "Bacon +Quarter Branch," where his overseer and servants looked after his +affairs, and to which he could easily ride in a morning from his own +home, or go in his barge on the James, unless he objected to being rowed +seven miles around the peninsula at Dutch Gap. He was popular with his +neighbors, and seemed as quiet as any of them until trouble with the +Indians in the spring of that year made him declare that he was going to +see whether the governor would protect the farms along the river, and if +the governor wouldn't, then he had a mind to take the matter into his +own hands. + +Now Edmund, who was a well-grown boy of sixteen, wanted to be wherever +there was excitement, and so spent as much time as he could at Curles. +He was out in the meadow back of the house, watching one of the men +break in a colt, when a messenger came with news that Indians had +attacked Mr. Bacon's other estate; killed his overseer and one of his +servants, and were carrying fire and bloodshed along the frontier. The +news spread like wild-fire, as news of Indian raids always did, for +there was nothing else so fear-inspiring to the white settlers. Edmund +jumped on his pony, and rode home as fast as he could to tell his +father. Then father and son, each taking a gun, with powder-horn and +bullet-pouch, dashed back to Nathaniel Bacon's. Other planters had +already gathered there, armed and ready to ride on the track of the +Indians. There was much talk and debate; some wanted to know whether +Governor Berkeley, down the river at Jamestown, would send soldiers to +protect the plantations farther up the James; others wondered whether +the governor, who was not very prompt or ready in dealing with the +Indians in this far-off part of the colony, would be willing to +commission the planters to take the war into their own hands. In the +midst of all the talk Bacon himself appeared, and the crowd of horsemen +called on him to take command, it being known he had often said openly +that he intended to protect Curles and his other farms from the +redskins. + +Bacon agreed to lead his neighbors, but told them he thought it would be +best to send a messenger to Sir William Berkeley, and ask for the +governor's commission. A man was sent at once down the river to +Jamestown, and the neighbors rode home to wait for the governor's +answer. Next afternoon they met again at Curles, and heard the answer +Sir William Berkeley sent. It was very polite, and spoke highly of +Nathaniel Bacon and his neighbors. It further said that the times were +very troubled, that the governor was anxious to keep on good terms with +the Indians, and was afraid that the outcome of an attack on them might +be dangerous, and urged Mr. Bacon, for his own good interests, not to +ride against them. He did not actually refuse the commission that Bacon +had asked for, but, what amounted to the same matter, he did not send +it. + +The horsemen were very angry. Sir William Berkeley, a man seventy years +old, and safe at Jamestown, might care little what the Indians did, but +the men whose plantations were threatened cared a great deal. Again they +urged Bacon to lead them, and he, nothing loath now that he had set the +matter fairly before the governor, jumped into his saddle and put +himself at the head of the troop. All were armed, some had fought +Indians before; in those days such a ride was not uncommon. A few boys +rode with their fathers, and among them Edmund Porter. + +Bacon's band rode fast, and were marching through the woods of Charles +City when a messenger came dashing after them. The company stopped to +hear him. He said that he came from Sir William, and that Sir William +ordered the band to disperse, on pain of being treated as rebels against +his authority. The message made it clear that they would ride on at +their peril. + +This threat cooled the ardor of some, but not of many. Bacon snapped his +fingers at the governor's messenger, and rode on, with fifty-seven other +followers. They were not the men to leave their frontiers unguarded, no +matter what Sir William might call them. + +Bacon led on to the Falls, and there he found the Indians entrenched on +a hill. Several white men went forward to parley, but as they advanced +an Indian in ambush fired a shot at the rear of the party, and their +captain gave the word to attack. Edmund and a few others formed a +rear-guard by the river, while the rest waded through a stream; climbed +the slope; stormed and set fire to the Indian stockade, and so blew up a +great store of powder that the red men had collected. The rout of the +marauding Indians was complete, and when the fighting was over one +hundred and fifty of them had been killed, with only a loss of three in +Bacon's party. Victory had been won, the Indians were driven back to the +mountains, leaving the plantations along the James safe, for some time +at least. With a train of captives, Bacon and his neighbors rode +homeward. The Porters went to their plantation, and the others scattered +to their houses farther down the river. Edmund and his father thought +the excitement was over, and everybody in the neighborhood had only +words of the highest praise for the gallant Nathaniel Bacon. + +Sir William Berkeley, however, was very angry, and he was a man of his +word. He had sent his messenger to say that if Bacon marched against the +Indians he should consider Bacon a rebel and the men who rode with him +rebels as well. He meant to be master in Virginia, and therefore as soon +as the news of what was called the Battle of Bloody Run came to him he +made his plans to teach all rebellious colonists a lesson. He called for +a company of officers and horsemen and set out hot foot, in spite of his +seventy years, to capture the upstart Bacon and make an example of him. + +But Sir William had not ridden far when disquieting news reached him. +The people along the coast had heard how Bacon had sent to the governor +for a commission and had been refused, and they also knew how he had +fought the Indians in spite of the governor's warning. They were proud +of him; they liked his dash and determination, and they meant to stand +by him, no matter what Sir William might have to say. + +The governor, who had always had his own way in Virginia, was thoroughly +furious now. There were rebels before him, and rebels behind him, for +that was the name he gave to all who dared to dispute his orders. But +with the lower country in a blaze he didn't dare attend to Nathaniel +Bacon then, so he ordered his troop of horse to countermarch, and +galloped back to Jamestown as fast as he could go. + +When he reached his capital he found it in a tumult; word came to him +that all the counties along the lower James and the York Rivers had +rebelled. It looked as if the colony were facing a civil war like the +one that had broken out in England thirty years before. Then, realizing +that this was no time for anger, but for cool, calm words, Sir William +mended his manners. He didn't pour oil on the colonists' fire; instead +he met their demands half-way. When the leaders of the colonists +protested that the forts on the border were more apt to be a danger to +them than a help, Sir William agreed that the forts should be +dismantled. When the leaders said that the House of Burgesses, which was +the name of the Virginia parliament, no longer represented the people, +but in fact defied the people's will, Sir William answered that the +House of Burgesses should be dissolved and the people given a chance to +send new representatives to it. And the governor kept his word after the +angry planters had gone back to their homes. He didn't want such a civil +war in Virginia as the one that had cost King Charles the First his +throne in England. + +Sir William might have forgiven Nathaniel Bacon's disobedience, and +forgotten all about it, but the owner of Curles Manor bobbed up into +public notice again almost immediately. As soon as orders were sent out +through the colony that new elections were to be held for the House of +Burgesses, as the governor had promised, Bacon declared that he was a +candidate to represent Henrico County. He was so popular now that when +the election was held he was chosen by a very large vote. Many men +voting for him who had no right to vote at all, according to the law, +which said that only freeholders, or men who owned land, should have the +right to vote in such a case. So now the man who had been called a rebel +by the governor was going to Jamestown to sit in the House of Burgesses +and help make laws for the colony. Many a man might have hesitated to do +that, but not such a good fighter as Mr. Bacon. + +The new burgesses were summoned to meet at Jamestown early that June, +and they traveled there through the wilderness in many ways. Some rode +on horseback, fording or swimming the numerous streams and rivers, for +bridges were few, some came by coach, and some went down the river by +barge or by sloop, the easiest way for those who lived near the James. +Bacon chose the last way, and on a bright morning in June left his house +at Curles, and with thirty neighbors sailed down the river. Mr. Porter +and Edmund went with him, for the father had often promised his son to +take him to Jamestown, and this seemed a good opportunity. + +The voyage started pleasantly, but ended in disaster. Sir William now +considered himself doubly flouted by this man from Curles, and vowed +that the rebel Bacon should never sit in the new House of Burgesses. As +the sloop came quietly sailing down to Jamestown a ship that was lying +at anchor in front of the town trained its cannon on the smaller vessel, +and the sheriff, who was on board the ship, sent men to the sloop to +arrest Bacon and certain of his friends. There was no use in resisting; +the cannon could blow the sloop out of the water at a word. Bacon +surrendered to the sheriff's men, and he and the others who were wanted +were landed and marched up to the State House, while Edmund Porter and +the others rowed themselves ashore, wondering what was going to happen +to their friend. + +Governor Berkeley was at the State House when Bacon was brought in. Each +of the two men was quick-tempered and haughty, but they managed to keep +their anger out of their words. Sir William said coldly, "Mr. Bacon, +have you forgot to be a gentleman?" + +Bacon answered in the same tone, "No, may it please your honor." + +"Then," said Sir William, "I'll take your parole." + +That was all that was said, and Bacon was released on his word as a +gentleman that he would do no more mischief. Doubtless the haughty +governor would have liked to lodge the other man in jail, but he didn't +dare attempt that, for the newly elected burgesses were reaching +Jamestown every hour. Further almost all of them were known to side with +Bacon, and in addition the town was fast filling with planters from the +counties along the river that had revolted against the governor. So for +the second time that spring Sir William saw the advantage of bending his +stiff pride in order to ride out the storm. + +The governor knew, however, that Bacon would be a thorn in his side +unless he could be made to bend the knee to his own authority. So Sir +William went to Bacon's cousin, a man who was very rich and prominent in +the colony, and a member of the governor's council. He urged this man, +who was known as Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, Senior, to go to his cousin, +Nathaniel, Junior, and try to induce him to yield to Sir William's +wishes. Colonel Bacon agreed, and was so successful with his arguments +that the younger man, proud and headstrong as he was, at last consented +to write out a statement, admitting that he had been in the wrong in +disobeying Sir William Berkeley's orders, and to read it on his knees +before the members of the Assembly, which was another name for the House +of Burgesses. This was a great victory for the governor. Events had +followed one another fast. In the space of little more than a week the +owner of Curles Plantation had been proclaimed a rebel, had marched +against the Indians and beaten them, had been a candidate for the House +of Burgesses and been elected, had sailed down to Jamestown, been +arrested, and paroled, and was now to admit on his knees that he had +indeed been a rebel. + +On June 5, 1676, Bacon went to the State House. The governor and his +council sat with the burgesses, and Sir William Berkeley spoke to them +about recent border fights between Virginians and Indians. He denounced +the killing of six Indian chiefs in Maryland, who, he said, had come to +treat of peace with white soldiers, and he added, "If they had killed my +grandfather and grandmother, my father and mother and all my friends, +yet if they had come to treat of peace, they ought to have gone in +peace." + +Sir William sat down; then after a few minutes stood up again. "If there +be joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repenteth," +said he, with solemn humor, "there is joy now, for we have a penitent +sinner come before us. Call Mr. Bacon." + +Bacon came in, and knelt down before the governor and his council and +his fellow Virginians. He read from a paper he held, confessing that he +had been guilty of "unlawful, mutinous, and rebellious practices," and +promised that if the governor would pardon him he would act "dutifully, +faithfully, and peaceably," under a penalty of two thousand pounds +sterling. He pledged his whole estate for his good behavior for one +year. + +When Bacon had finished, Sir William said, "God forgive you; I forgive +you." And to make the words more impressive he repeated them three +times. + +"And all that were with him," said Colonel Cole, a member of the +council, meaning the men who had rebelled with Bacon and fought the +Indians. + +"Yes, and all that were with him," the governor agreed. Then Sir William +added, "Mr. Bacon, if you will live civilly but till next +quarter-day,--but till next quarter-day," he repeated the words, "I'll +promise to restore you to your place there!" and he pointed to the seat +which Bacon had sometimes occupied during meetings of the council. + +All was peace again; the black sheep had repented and been allowed to +return to the fold. It was generally understood that in return for +Bacon's apology the governor would now give him the commission he had +asked for before, the commission as "General of the Indian Wars," which +would allow him to protect outlying plantations against Indian raids. +Sir William pardoned the rebel on Saturday, and "General Bacon," as many +people in Jamestown already spoke of him, took up his lodgings at the +house of a Mr. Lawrence, there to wait until his expected commission +should be sent him early the next week. Mr. Porter and his son, and many +of the friends who had come in Bacon's sloop, took rooms at near-by +houses, for their leader might be going back to Curles as soon as he had +his commission, and they wanted to go with him. + +Monday came and Tuesday, but no commission arrived from Sir William. On +Wednesday there was no message for Bacon from the governor. Instead +rumors began to spread abroad. Mr. Lawrence, who had an old grudge +against Sir William, was reported to be busy with some plot against him; +men of doubtful reputation were seen about the house, and it was +whispered that possibly there might be further trouble. Edmund heard +these rumors; he knew that there were men in Jamestown who wanted +Nathaniel Bacon to defy the governor, and he kept his eyes and ears wide +open. Then one morning, as he and his father came out from the house +where they were staying, they met a crowd of their friends. "Bacon is +fled!" cried these men. "Bacon is fled!" + +Edmund listened to the excited words. Sir William had been frightened as +he heard that more and more planters were flocking into Jamestown, he +doubted that Bacon meant to keep his word, he knew that Lawrence's house +was a hot-bed of disorder, and he determined that he would crush any +rebellion before it got a start, and put the popular leader where he +could do no harm. Bacon's cousin, the colonel, who was fond of his +kinsman, though he disapproved of what he had done, had sent word the +night before to Nathaniel, bidding him fly for his life. At daybreak +the governor's officers had gone to Lawrence's house; but the man they +wanted was gone; he had fled into the country, wisely heeding his +cousin's warning. + +"Bacon is fled!" were the words that sped through Jamestown that June +morning. And many who heard the words were glad, for now they hoped that +the rebel would raise a force and overthrow Sir William, who had made +many enemies in his long and strict rule as governor. Men stole away +from the capital in twos and threes, some by the river, more on +horseback through the country. They were afraid to stay lest Berkeley +should put them in irons as partisans of Bacon's. Mr. Porter found a man +with horses to sell, bought two, and with his son rode out of Jamestown +before noon. West along the river bank they galloped. Bacon would make +for Henrico County, and there they wanted to join him. "And I may ride +with you and General Bacon, father?" Edmund begged. + +"I don't know," said the father. "This may be more serious business than +looking after the rear-guard in a skirmish with Indians." + +"But I'm almost a man, father," Edmund urged. "And even if I didn't +fight, there's other things I could do." + +"I hope there'll be no fighting. It's bad when settlers turn their guns +against each other. We'll have to wait till we find Nat, Edmund, and +learn what he's going to do. If it's a fight it's a fight for liberty +and the safety of our homes. The governor's wrong; he hasn't treated us +fair." + +All that day they rode through the river country, and wherever they came +to settlements they found armed men mounting, for the news had spread +rapidly that Nathaniel Bacon was raising an army to fight the governor. + + +II + +From big plantations and from small farms, from manor-houses in the +lowlands and from log cabins in the uplands, grown men and half-grown +boys, armed with guns or swords, hurried to join General Bacon, who was +sending out his call for recruits from his headquarters up the James +River. The colonists were a hardy lot, used to hunting and fighting, and +well pleased now at the prospect of upsetting the tyrannical governor at +Jamestown. Within three days after Bacon's escape from the capital he +was at the head of about six hundred men, stirring them with his +speeches, for he was a very fine and fiery orator, until they were ready +to follow wherever he led. The Porters, father and son, succeeded in +joining his ranks, and when the young commander set out on his march to +Jamestown they rode among his men. + +What was Sir William Berkeley doing meantime? Bacon was a fighter, but +the white-haired governor was a fighter also. He sent riders from +Jamestown to summon what were called the "train-bands" of York and +Gloucester, counties that lay along Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic +Ocean. But the spirit of rebellion had spread from the plantations along +the James down to the seaboard settlements, and only a hundred soldiers, +and not all of them very loyal to the governor, answered his summons. +They marched so slowly that Bacon reached Jamestown before they were in +sight of the town. At two in the afternoon the rebel leader entered the +capital at the head of his men and drew up his troops on the green, not +an arrow's flight from the State House where he had knelt for the +governor's pardon less than ten days before. + +At his order his men sentineled the roads, seized all the firearms they +could find, and disarmed or arrested all men coming into Jamestown by +land or river, except such as joined their own ranks. + +The little capital was in a turmoil. Sir William and his council sat in +a room at the State House, debating what course to take. They ordered a +drummer to summon the burgesses, and those burgesses who were not +already in Bacon's army came trooping to the State House. It seemed as +if war was to break out then and there. Bacon marched across the green +with a file of fusileers on either side, and reached the corner of the +State House. Sir William and his council came out, and the two leaders +fronted one another, Bacon fairly cool and collected, but the aged +governor raging at this affront to his dignity. + +Sir William walked up to Bacon, and tearing open the lace at the breast +of his coat, cried angrily, "Here! Shoot me! 'Fore God, a fair +mark--shoot!" + +Bacon answered calmly, "No, may it please your honor; we will not hurt a +hair of your head, nor of any other man's. We are come for a commission +to save our lives from the Indians, which you have so often promised, +and now we will have it before we go." + +But though his words were mild, Bacon was really very angry. As the +governor, still raging and shaking his fist, turned and walked back to +the State House with his council, Bacon followed him with his soldiers, +one hand on his sword-hilt, the other threatening Berkeley. As the +governor and council continued their retreat, Bacon and his men grew +more threatening. The leader shook his fist, the fusileers cocked their +guns. And as they came to the windows of the room where the burgesses +sat some of the soldiers pointed their guns at the men inside, shouting +again and again, "We will have it! We will have it!" + +Presently one of the burgesses waved his handkerchief from the window, +and called out, "You shall have it! You shall have it!" by which he +meant the commission that Bacon wanted. The soldiers uncocked their +guns, and stood back, waiting further orders from their leader. Bacon +had grown as angry meantime as the governor had been before, and had +cried, "I'll kill governor, council, Assembly and all, and then I'll +sheathe my sword in my own heart's blood." And it was afterward said +that Bacon had ordered his men, if he drew his sword, to fire on the +burgesses. But the handkerchief waved from the window, and the words, +"You shall have it!" calmed him somewhat, and soon afterward he went +into the State House and discussed the matter fully with Sir William and +his council. + +Later that same day Bacon went to the room of the burgesses and repeated +his request for a commission. The speaker answered that it was "Not in +their province, or power, nor of any other save the king's vicegerent, +their governor, to grant it." Bacon replied by saying that the purpose +of his coming to Jamestown was to secure some safe way of protecting the +settlers from the Indians, to reduce the very heavy taxes, and to right +the calamities that had come upon the country. The burgesses gave him no +definite answer, and he left, much dissatisfied. Next day, however, Sir +William and his council yielded, Nathaniel Bacon was appointed general +and commander-in-chief against the Indians, and pardon was granted to +him and all his followers for their acts against the Indians in the +west. + +This was a great triumph for the rebel leader. Berkeley hated and feared +him as much as ever, but had seen that he must pocket his pride in the +face of such a popular uprising. + +The owner of Curles Plantation was now commander-in-chief of the +Virginia troops, and although it was intended that he should use his +army only in defending the colony from Indian attacks, it was generally +believed that he could do whatever he wished with his men. The colony +was practically under his absolute control. The colonists would do +whatever he ordered, and as they hailed Bacon's leadership they paid +less and less heed to Sir William Berkeley. And the governor, knowing +that many adventurers, many men of doubtful reputation, and many who +were his own enemies, were now much in Bacon's company, feared for their +influence on the impulsive young commander. + +Having seen their neighbor win his commission, Mr. Porter and Edmund +rode back to their own plantation, and took up the work that was always +waiting to be done in summer. They were busy, and heard only from time +to time of what Nathaniel was doing. They knew he was planning to take +the field against the Indians with a good-sized troop of men. + +Full of energy, and eager to show the colony that he was in truth a +great commander, Bacon made his headquarters near West Point, at the +head of the York River, a place frequently called "De la War," from Lord +Delaware, who belonged to the West family. He disarmed all the men who +opposed his command, and then set out, with an army of between five +hundred and a thousand men, to attack the Indians in the neighborhood +of the head waters of the Pamunkey. His scouts scoured the woods and +drove out all hostile Indians; he cleared that part of the frontier of +red men, and in a short time had made the border plantations safer than +they had ever been before. He had justified all his friends had said of +him, he had acted as a loyal Virginian, and he had proved his worth as +general-in-chief of the colony's army. + +Edmund Porter, going to the store at the crossroads on a July day, heard +men discussing news that had just come from Jamestown. The rumor was +that, despite Nathaniel Bacon's success as a commander, Sir William +Berkeley had again denounced him as a rebel and traitor, and had fled to +York River and set up his banner there not only as governor, but as +general also. The report proved true. Sir William had nursed his anger +for a short time, and now it flamed forth afresh and even more bitterly +than before. In spite of Bacon's success he was still a rebel in the +governor's eyes; he had forced the Assembly at Jamestown to do his +bidding, and had acted as if the colony belonged to Bacon and his +followers, and not to the king of England and the royal officers. This +matter the governor meant to decide when he flew his flag at York River +and summoned all loyal Virginians to come to his aid. Some came; there +were many planters who honestly believed that Berkeley was in the right +and Bacon in the wrong; but the great mass of the people sided with the +latter, and it began to look as if Sir William might still call himself +the governor, but would find that he had no people to govern. + +Then, when the old Cavalier, proud in his defeat as the Cavaliers of +England had been when the Roundheads beat them in battle after battle, +was beginning to see his men desert him, a messenger came post-haste +from Gloucester County, to the north of the York River, with word that +the planters there were still loyal to the king's governor, and begged +him to come to their county and to protect them from the Indians. The +loyalists of Gloucester, some of whom Bacon had disarmed, were ready to +rally round Sir William. + +Sir William was overjoyed; he went to Gloucester at once, he flew his +flag there, and called all loyalists to join him. Twelve hundred people +came on the day Sir William set. But, with the exception of the wealthy +planters who had sent the message, even these men of Gloucester were +unwilling to take the field against General Bacon, as Sir William +wanted. Some of them said that Bacon was fighting the common enemy, the +Indians, with great success, and that as good Virginians they ought to +help, and not to hinder, his work. The governor urged and argued with +them, but as he talked men began to leave, muttering "Bacon! Bacon! +Bacon!" as they went. A short stay showed that Sir William was not to +find, even in Gloucester, the support he wished. Where could he go? +There was one place where men might yet listen to him, the distant +country that was sometimes called the "Kingdom of Accomac." It lay +across Chesapeake Bay, remote from the rest of Virginia. The governor +took ship and sailed across the thirty miles that divided it from the +mainland, a romantic, apparently defeated figure, like some of the +English Royalists who fled before the victorious troops of Oliver +Cromwell. + +On July 29, 1676, Berkeley posted his proclamation, declaring that +Nathaniel Bacon was a traitor and outlaw. Bacon heard the news as he was +in camp on the upper waters of the James. He was hurt at what he felt +was the governor's injustice to him. To a friend he said, "It vexes me +to the heart to think that while I am hunting wolves, tigers, and foxes +(meaning Indians), which daily destroy our harmless sheep and lambs, +that I and those with me should be pursued with a full cry, as a more +savage or a no less ravenous beast." + +The general marched his men down the river, arresting such as were known +to side with the governor, but leaving their property unharmed. +Presently he made his quarters at Middle-Plantation, which was situated +half-way between Jamestown and the York River. Here his riders +bivouacked around the small group of houses that formed the settlement, +and their commander set to work to try to bring some sort of order out +of the tangle into which Virginia had fallen. Sir William Berkeley was +away in the distant country of Accomac, a country that was hardly looked +upon at that time as part of Virginia, and Bacon was to all intents now +the governor as well as the general-in-chief. Some of his friends +advised him to do one thing, some another. Mr. Drummond, an old enemy of +Berkeley's, who knew what Sir William thought of him, and who had once +said of himself as a rebel, "I am in, over shoes; I will be over boots," +now advised Bacon to proclaim that Berkeley was deposed from the +governorship and that Sir Henry Chicheley should rule in his place. But +Bacon would not go so far as that; he was quick-tempered, but fairly +cool when it came to planning action, and he knew that to overthrow Sir +William would make him clearly a rebel in the eyes of England. + +So, instead of acting rashly, he issued what he called a "Remonstrance," +which protested against Sir William's calling him and his men traitors +and rebels, when they were really faithful subjects of His Majesty the +King of England, and had only taken up arms to protect themselves +against the savages. Besides that, he complained that the colony was not +well managed, and called on all who were interested in Virginia to meet +at Middle-Plantation on August 3d, and make a formal protest to the +English king and Parliament. + +Many men met at the village on that day, four members of the governors +council among them. Bacon made a fiery speech, and all agreed to pledge +themselves not to aid Sir William Berkeley in any attack on General +Bacon or his army. Then Bacon went further; he asked the meeting to +promise that each and every man there would rise in arms against Sir +William if he should try to resist General Bacon, and further that if +any soldiers should be sent from England to aid Sir William each man +there would fight such troops until they had a chance to explain matters +to the king of England. + +That was going too far; the men had no desire to rebel against their +king. They were willing to sign the first pledge, but not the second. In +the midst of their arguing Bacon interrupted angrily. "Then I will +surrender my commission, and let the country find some other servant to +go abroad and do its work!" he exclaimed. "Sir William Berkeley hath +proclaimed me a rebel, and it is not unknown to himself that I both can +and shall charge _him_ with no less than treason!" He added that +Governor Berkeley would never forgive them for signing either part of +the pledge, and that they might as well sign both as one. Then into the +stormy meeting rushed a gunner from York Fort, shouting out that the +Indians were marching on his fort, that the governor had taken all the +arms from the fort, and that he had no protection for all the people who +had fled there from the woods of Gloucester in fear of the Indians' +tomahawks. + +The gunner's words settled the matter. All the men agreed to sign the +whole pledge, promised to fight not only Sir William Berkeley but the +king's troops as well if they came to Virginia to support him. The oath +was taken, the paper signed by the light of torches near midnight on +that third day of August, 1676. Just a hundred years later another +Declaration of Independence was to be signed by men, some from this same +colony of Virginia, in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. + +The next business was to organize a new government, and Bacon sent word +through the colony for men to choose representatives to meet early in +September. Then the general marched off with his army to protect the +people who had fled to York Fort, and try to finish his war with the +Indians. + +There was great rejoicing throughout the length and breadth of Virginia +when news came to town and plantation that Nathaniel Bacon had set up a +new government in place of the old one that had failed to protect the +colony and that had suppressed the people's liberty. They gloried in +their defiance of the royal governor. Sarah Drummond, the wife of +Bacon's friend, said to her neighbors: + +"The child that is unborn shall have cause to rejoice for the good that +will come by the rising of the country!" + +One of her neighbors objected, "We must expect a greater power from +England that will certainly be our ruin." + +Mrs. Drummond picked up a stick, and breaking it in two, said +scornfully, "I fear the power of England no more than a broken straw!" + +And when others shook their heads doubtfully, she said bravely, "We will +do well enough!" That was the feeling of most of the people. They were +back of Bacon, and pledged themselves to support him through thick and +thin. + +At the plantation near Curles Mr. Porter brought the news of the oath at +Middle-Plantation to his family, and his wife and son and the men and +women who worked for him celebrated the event as a great victory for all +true Virginians. + +Meantime General Bacon crossed the James River, attacked the Appomattox +Indians, and killed or routed the whole tribe. He then marched along the +south side of the river toward the Nottoway and Roanoke, scattered all +the Indians he met, and ultimately returned north to West Point, where +he dismissed all his army but a small detachment, bidding the others go +back to their own plantations to harvest the autumn crops. + +Scarcely had the men of Bacon's army reached their homes when a new +message electrified the whole countryside. From man to man the news ran +that Sir William Berkeley, with seventeen ships and a thousand men, had +come back from far-away Accomac, had sailed up the James River, had +taken possession of Jamestown, and was now flying his flag above the +State House there. + + +III + +Sir William Berkeley had met few friends in that distant country of +Accomac when he had first flown there. Rebellion was in the air there as +it was on the mainland of Virginia, and only a few of the planters of +the eastern shore welcomed the king's governor and agreed to stand by +him in his fight with Nathaniel Bacon. Still he stuck to his +determination to try conclusions with the rebels, and meantime he waited +as patiently as he could, hoping that the tide of fortune would +presently turn in his favor. + +General Bacon, when he set out from Middle-Plantation to fight the +Indians, sent Giles Bland to keep Governor Berkeley in Accomac, and, if +possible, to induce the people there to surrender him. Giles Bland +started on his mission with two hundred and fifty men, and one ship with +four guns, commanded by an old sailor, Captain Carver. One ship was not +enough, however, to carry the men across to the Eastern Shore, and so +Bland seized another that happened to be lying in the York River, and +that belonged to Captain Laramore, a friend of Governor Berkeley. +Captain Laramore was seized by Bland's men, and locked up in his cabin, +but after a time he sent word to Bland that he would fight with him +against the governor, and Bland, thinking that the captain was sincere, +restored command of the vessel to him. Two more ships were captured, and +so it was a fleet of four vessels that ultimately carried the rebel +party to the Eastern Shore. + +When he saw this fleet nearing Accomac Sir William gave up his cause as +lost. He knew that he must surrender, as King Charles the First of +England had surrendered to Oliver Cromwell's men. Then suddenly a +loophole of escape offered itself most unexpectedly. Captain Laramore, +still very angry with the rebels for having seized his ship in such a +high-handed manner, secretly sent word to Sir William, that if +assistance were given him he would betray Giles Bland. The fleet was at +anchor, and Captain Carver had gone ashore to try to find the governor. +Laramore's offer looked as if it might be a trap, but Colonel Philip +Ludwell, a friend of Berkeley's, offered to vouch for Laramore's honesty +and moreover to lead the party that was to capture Bland. Sir William +agreed to this offer, and Colonel Ludwell got ready a boat in a near-by +creek, out of sight of the fleet. At the time set by Laramore Colonel +Ludwell's crew rowed out toward Laramore's ship. Bland thought he came +to parley, and did not fire. The boat pulled under the ship's stern, one +of Ludwell's men leaped on board, and aiming a pistol at Bland's breast, +cried, "You're my prisoner!" The crew of the rowboat followed, and with +the help of Laramore and those sailors who sided with him, quickly +captured the rebels on board. When Captain Carver returned he and his +crew were seized in the same way, and Colonel Ludwell and Laramore took +Bland and Carver and their officers ashore and presented them to Sir +William as his prisoners. + +Sir William was stern in dealing with men he considered traitors. He put +Giles Bland and his officers in chains, and he hung Captain Carver on +the beach of Accomac. This victory won him recruits also among the +longshoremen, and now one of his own followers, Captain Gardener, +reached the harbor in his ship, the _Adam-and-Eve_, with ten or twelve +sloops he had captured along the coast. Counting Bland's ships the +governor now had a fleet numbering some seventeen sail, and on these he +embarked his army of nearly a thousand men. Many of them were merely +adventurers, lured by Sir William's promise to give them the estates +that belonged to the men who had taken the oath with Bacon at +Middle-Plantation. Sir William also proclaimed that the servants of all +those who were fighting under Bacon's flag should have the property of +their masters if they would enlist under the king's standard. + +The governor set sail for Jamestown, and reached it on the sixth day of +September. One of the bravest of Bacon's commanders, Colonel Hansford, +held the town with eight or nine hundred men. The governor called on +Hansford to surrender, promising pardon to all except his old enemies, +Lawrence and Drummond, who were then in Jamestown. Hansford refused to +surrender, but Lawrence and Drummond advised him to retreat with his +army, and so he evacuated the town during the night. At noon next day +Sir William landed, and kneeling, gave thanks for his safe return to his +former capital. + +Colonel Hansford, with Drummond and Lawrence, rode north to find General +Bacon. They found him at West Point and told him the startling news that +Sir William had come back with an army. The fight was to be waged all +over again, the question whether Bacon or Berkeley was to rule Virginia +was yet to be settled. + +Bacon had only a body-guard with him, but he mounted in haste and rode +toward Jamestown, sending couriers in all directions to rouse the +countryside and bring his men to his flag. The message came to Curles, +and Edmund Porter and his father and their neighbors armed and hurried +to join their general. So swiftly did the planters take to horse that by +the time Bacon was in sight of Jamestown he was followed by several +hundred men. + +Sir William had built an earthwork and palisade across the neck of the +island where Jamestown stands. Bacon ordered his trumpets to sound, and +then a volley to be fired into the town. No guns answered his, and Bacon +ordered his troops to throw up breastworks in front of the palisade, +while he made his headquarters at "Greenspring," a house that belonged +to Sir William. + +Now Bacon, although usually a gentleman, resorted to a trick that was a +blot on his character. He sent horsemen through the near-by country to +bring the wives of some of the men who were fighting on Berkeley's side +into his camp. He sent one of these women, under a flag of truce, into +the town to tell her husband and the others there that Bacon meant to +place these wives in front of his own men while they were building the +earthworks, so that any shots fired would hit the women first. This he +did. He made these women stand as a shield before his men. The +governor's party would not fire a shot. The earthworks were finished, +and then Bacon had the women escorted to a place of safety. The trick +savored more of the customs of some of the Indian tribes the settlers +had been fighting than of the warfare of Virginia gentlemen. + +When the women were gone, Sir William burst out of Jamestown with eight +hundred men and attacked Bacon's troopers. But the rabble that made up +the governor's army, longshoremen, fishermen from Accomac, a rabble +attracted by the hope of plunder, was no match for the well-drilled and +well-armed planters. At the first touch of steel they turned and fled +back to the town, leaving a dozen wounded on the ground. Sir William +lashed them with a tongue of scorn, but his anger did no good. He saw +that he could not rely on this new following, and so embarked on his +ships again that night, and sailed away from Jamestown. + +Bacon marched in, took counsel with his officers, and determined that +Sir William should make no further use of his capital. Orders were +given to set fire to all the houses, and shortly the town, founded by +that great adventurer, John Smith, was only a mass of burned and +blackened timbers. + +Sir William had sailed down the river, but a courier from York County +brought word that a force of his friends were advancing from the +direction of the Potomac to attack Bacon's men. So, when Jamestown was +only ruins, the general left that place and marched at the head of his +horsemen to meet this new enemy. He was as full of courage as ever, but +he had caught a fever in the trenches before Jamestown, and instead of +stopping to cure it he insisted on pushing on and trying to settle +matters with his opponents as soon as possible. + +His men crossed the York in boats at Ferry Point and marched into +Gloucester. There Bacon called on all the men of Gloucester who had +taken the oath with him at Middle-Plantation to join him promptly. +Another courier arrived, with word that Colonel Brent was coming against +him with a thousand soldiers. Bacon did not wait for any more recruits, +but marched at once up country in the direction of the Rappahannock +River. But there was to be no fighting. The spirit of rebellion had +spread so far that even Colonel Brent's men, supposed to be very loyal +to the governor, deserted to Bacon's standard, and Brent himself, with a +few faithful followers, had to retire from the field, and leave the +rebel chief in entire command. + +Bacon went back to Gloucester, and again summoned the men of that +county to meet him at the court-house. Six or seven hundred came, but +they did not want to fulfil their pledge and take up arms, it might be +against the king's own soldiers. They said that they wanted to take no +sides in the matter. Bacon insisted that they should pledge themselves +to follow him. The fever had hold of him, his temper was short, and he +spoke in such a domineering way that at last the men of Gloucester gave +him the pledge he wanted. Having had his way Bacon closed the meeting, +and, seeing that all the mainland of Virginia was now under his control, +laid plans to follow Sir William Berkeley to Accomac, where the governor +had fled again. + +But now Nathaniel Bacon, at the very moment when he had driven all his +enemies out of the colony, and had made himself the master of Virginia, +fell very ill of the fever he had brought from Jamestown. His old +friends, Mr. Porter among them, urged him to give up command of his army +and rest. In spite of his wish to go to Accomac and settle accounts with +Berkeley, he had to take their advice. He went to the house of a friend, +Major Pate, in Gloucester, and there, after a few weeks' illness, he +died, in October, 1676. + +Sorrowing for their brave leader and friend, Mr. Porter and Edmund went +back to their plantation on the James. They had stood by him when he +needed their aid, but, in spite of all the exciting events of that +summer, they had not had to take part in any actual fighting except the +brief battle with the Indians in May and the short skirmish outside +Jamestown. Neither father nor son were known as officers in Bacon's +army, and as they stayed quietly at home the storm that followed blew +safely over their heads. + +In four months Nathaniel Bacon had risen from the position of a +little-known planter to be the ruler of Virginia, and because the king's +governor would not give him a commission to march against the Indians +who had attacked his farm he had driven the governor out of the colony. +It was a remarkable story, packed full of strange happenings. + +When Bacon died, however, the rebellion fell to pieces. A man named +Ingram tried to rally his army, but the men of Virginia would not fight +under any other leader than Bacon. Sir William Berkeley came back from +the county of Accomac with a wolfish thirst for vengeance. His chief +enemy had escaped him, but he meant to take his revenge on the other +leaders of the rebellion against him. And take his revenge he did, not +like an honorable governor who wishes to make peace in his country, but +more like that Judge Jeffreys in England, whose name became a byword for +cruelty. He captured Colonel Hansford, who was a fine Virginian, and +hung him as a rebel. Lawrence escaped, but Drummond was caught in his +hiding-place in the Chickahominy swamp, and brought before Sir William. + +"Mr. Drummond," said the governor, "you are very welcome! I am more +glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be +hanged in half an hour!" + +"When your Honor pleases," Drummond coolly replied. + +Drummond was hung, and his brave wife, who had broken the stick to show +how easily the planters could defeat Sir William, was driven into the +wilderness with her children. + +Bland was found in Accomac and executed. Men were hung in almost every +county, and the settlers hated the name of Berkeley more than they hated +raiding Indians. In all Sir William executed twenty-three rebels, as he +called them, and King Charles II of England, when he heard the report, +said indignantly, "That old fool has hanged more men in that naked +country than I have done for the murder of my father." + +At last the Assembly begged the governor to stop. He reluctantly agreed +that all the rest of the rebels should be pardoned except about fifty +leaders. The property of these leaders was confiscated, and they were +sent away from the colony. + +Sir William, however, was no longer popular with any in Virginia. Soon +afterward he sailed to England, and never came back again to the colony +he had ruled with an iron hand. Salutes were fired and bonfires blazed +when he sailed, for the people were all still rebels at heart. Other +governors came from England, but they found the Virginians harder to +rule since they had tasted independence in that summer of 1676. + +By many boys of Virginia, like Edmund Porter, Nathaniel Bacon was always +remembered as a gallant hero, one who had fought for them against the +tyranny of Sir William Berkeley. + + + + +V + +AN OUTLAW CHIEF OF MARYLAND + +(_Maryland, 1684_) + + +I + +"I'm riding south to St. Mary's to-morrow, Michael," said George Talbot. +He gave his horse a slap on the flank that sent it toward the stable. +"Want to come with me, and see something of the Bay?" + +"Yes indeed," said Michael Rowan. "You know, Mr. George, I always like +to ride with you." + +Talbot smiled at the red-cheeked boy, whose black hair and blue eyes +gave proof of his Irish blood. "You're loyal to the chief of the clan, +aren't you, Michael? Well, if I were warden of the Scottish marches I +wouldn't ask for better followers than such as you." + +Michael flushed. "My father has taught me always to do your bidding, Mr. +George. It seems to me the right thing to do." + +"I hope it always will. There's some who don't think as well of me as +your father does." Talbot slapped his riding-whip against his boot. "But +we don't care what they think, do we? A fig for all critics, I say! Each +man to his own salvation!" He went up the steps to his house, while +Michael watched him with frank admiration. + +George Talbot, Irish by birth, was a prominent man in the province that +belonged to Lord Baltimore. He was a kinsman of Sir William Talbot, who +was Chief Secretary of Maryland. George had obtained a large grant of +land on the Susquehanna River, when Lord Baltimore was anxious to have +the northern part of his province settled. Three years after he staked +out his plantation on the Susquehanna he was made surveyor-general of +the province. That was in 1683. The next year Lord Baltimore went to +England, leaving his son, a boy, as nominal governor. A commission of +leading men was chosen to take charge of the actual work of the +governorship, and George Talbot was at the head of the commission. In +much of that sparsely-settled country he ruled like the chieftain of a +Scottish clan. He built a fort near the head of Chesapeake Bay; +garrisoned it with Irish followers, and sometimes set out from it with +his troop to check Indian raids; sometimes rode into the land that was +in dispute between Lord Baltimore and William Penn, and lectured or +bullied or drove away some of Penn's settlers. He ruled with a high +hand, both at his fort and on his plantation, with the usual result that +he was tremendously admired by his retainers, among whom was Fergus +Rowan, the father of Talbot's young squire Michael. + +Next day the adventurous Talbot and the faithful Michael set out south. +They rode through a country almost as untouched by men as it was before +the first white explorers landed on its coast. Then there had been +Indians to hunt game in its woods and marshes; to fish its streams and +bay, to plant their crops in its open arable fields. But the Indians +were like the birds and beasts, essentially migratory; they built few +permanent homes, they wasted little labor on bridges or mills, clearings +or farm-stockades. When the hunting or the crops grew poor in one place +they packed their tents on their ponies or in their canoes and set out +for a new, untouched country. The white men were very different; they +wanted to own, to fence off, to build, to make travel and commerce +easier. But in 1684 there were so few of them that one might ride all +day and see no sign of a human habitation. Talbot and Michael had to +hunt the streams for fording-places, had to push through underbrush that +threatened to hide the trails, and to rely on the provisions they +carried in their saddle-bags to furnish them food and drink. + +Every now and then the riders caught sight of the blue waters of +Chesapeake Bay to the east. Whenever they reached a farmhouse in the +wilderness they stopped and chatted with the settlers, giving them any +news from the north. They spent one night at a hunter's log cabin; +another at a miller's house built on the bank of a river. Many times +they had to go far out of the route as the crow flies in order to cross +wide estuaries and streams. But they were in no particular haste, and +rested their horses often. It took them the better part of a week to +reach the Patuxent River and cross into St. Mary's County. + +Many small fishing-hamlets were to be found along this southern shore of +Chesapeake Bay, and Talbot stopped at each one, announced who he was, +and questioned the fishermen for news. The chief complaint of the +settlers was against the tyrannical manners and methods of the +revenue-collectors, or excisemen, who levied taxes for the king of +England on all goods coming into the province or going out of it. Men +who collect such taxes have almost always been unpopular; in Maryland +they were pretty generally hated. To judge from what Talbot was told by +the fishermen some of the collectors had acted as if they were Lord +Baltimore himself. They took horses, servants, boats, as they pleased, +and dared the owners to complain of them to the king. The most unpopular +of the race of collectors appeared to be Christopher Rousby, who lived +at the town of St. Mary's, and made trips up and down St. Mary's River +and along the shores of the bay to collect taxes from unwilling settlers +and threaten them with dire punishments if they dared refuse obedience +to his orders. + +"The knave ought to be whipped!" Talbot declared to Michael, as they +left one of the hamlets. "I know him, an arrogant, conceited fool! It's +fortunate I'm not one of these folk here, or I might run him through +some dark night." + +Down to St. Mary's they rode, where Talbot took lodgings for himself and +Michael. The lodgings were at a tavern known as "The Bell and Anchor," +where a great anchor lay on the lawn before the tavern door and a bell +hung over the porch, used by the wife of the tavern-keeper to inform her +guests when their meals were ready for them. The inn faced St. Mary's +River, which was wide here, and the beach in front of it was a +gathering-place for sailors and fishermen and longshoremen, whose boats +were pulled up on the sand or anchored in the small harbor to the south +of the town. Talbot and Michael went among the men, the chieftain +hobnobbing with the simple folk, as he was fond of doing, though he +never allowed them to forget his dignity. + +There were ships lying in St. Mary's River, one of them a ketch +belonging to His Majesty's navy. Men on the beach told Talbot and +Michael that the captain of the ketch was very friendly with Christopher +Rousby, the tax-collector, and the other excisemen. They also told +Talbot that neither the captain of the ketch nor Rousby nor his mates +paid any attention to Lord Baltimore's officers in St. Mary's. The +former treated the latter as if they were stable-boys, made to be +ordered about, the longshoremen told Talbot. + +At first Talbot only listened and swore under his breath. Then he began +to swear openly, and to look angry and shake his fist at the royal ship +out in the bay. "These dogs of sea-captains and tax-collectors think +they own the whole province!" he muttered to Michael. "I'd like nothing +better than to teach them a lesson!" + +The man and boy happened to be standing near the door of "The Bell and +Anchor" when a long-boat landed passengers from the ketch, and the +captain and Christopher Rousby and two other men came up to the tavern +door. All four men glanced at Talbot, whose bearing and dress made him a +conspicuous figure. He gave them a curt nod. The captain and one of the +other men acknowledged his greeting, but Rousby strode past him with a +shrug of the shoulders and a sneer on his lips. + +George Talbot was not used to such treatment; when he gave a man a nod +he expected at least a bow in return. Hot blood flushed his cheeks, and +his fingers gripped the hilt of the hunting-knife he wore at his belt. +Michael could not hear what he murmured, but he could guess at what he +meant. Michael grew angry too; he expected people to treat his master +with as much deference as they would show the king. + +The four men went into the tavern, and soon Michael caught the sound of +a drinking song. To get away from the noise Talbot and his page walked +up the street. Presently they met the chief magistrate of St. Mary's, +who recognized George Talbot, and greeted him, as was proper, by taking +off his hat and making a low bow. + +"Things go badly here, Mr. Talbot," said the magistrate, with a shake of +his head. "The captain of that ship yonder and the collectors laugh at +Lord Baltimore. They do what they will with me and my men. They sit in +the tavern all night, carousing, and then they take any boats they see +or anything they like, and threaten the owners with their pistols and +His Majesty's vengeance if they dare object. I've gone to see them about +it. They snap their fingers at me and the governor." + +"I've seen the brutes," said Talbot. "I think I'd best take it on myself +to explain the matter to them." + +"Be careful," warned the other. "They think themselves above all the law +of the province." + +"By Heaven, they're not above me!" ejaculated Talbot. "I'll tell Rousby +so to his face, and let him take the consequences!" + +Talbot and Michael went back to "The Bell and Anchor." The singing was +still going on. The man and boy went into the tap-room, and ordered two +cups of ale. They sat at a small table in a corner, some distance from +where the four men were drinking, laughing, and singing. This was no +time for Talbot to speak to them; their wits were too befuddled to pay +any heed to what he might have to say. + +Presently the man and boy went up to their rooms. The noise of the +revelers reached their ears. Talbot was very angry. He told Michael +that he should have a settlement with Christopher Rousby the next day. +So loud was the noise down-stairs that Michael had to pull the +bedclothes up about his head in order to get to sleep. + +The next day was cold and dark--early winter. Talbot spent the morning +going from house to house, questioning each owner as to unjust taxes +that Rousby had collected, or any other injury the collector had done. +He made a note of each complaint, and by noon he had a long list. + +The two dined at the tavern, and afterward Talbot engaged a fisherman to +row them out to the royal ketch in the river. Rain was falling now, and +a wind had sprung up. Whitecaps dotted the water. The fisherman rowed +them to the ship, and Talbot and Michael climbed up the rope-ladder that +hung down over the side. A sailor stepped up to them. "What do you +want?" he asked. + +"I want to see the captain and Christopher Rousby," said Talbot. "I'm +told that Rousby came out to the ship this morning." + +"Aye, Mr. Rousby's still here," said the sailor. + +"I am George Talbot," announced the other man, and, as if that were +sufficient warrant for him to do as he chose, he walked across the deck +and went down the companionway to the cabin. Michael kept close behind +him. + +A bottle and glasses stood on the cabin table. The captain, Christopher +Rousby, and an officer of the ship sprawled in chairs. Rousby's face +was red and bloated. At sight of George Talbot he smiled, but made no +motion to get up from his chair. + +Talbot didn't take off his hat or cloak, though both were wet with rain +and spray. He stepped to the table and leaned on it with one hand, while +he pointed his other gloved hand at the insolent-looking tax-collector. +"You know who I am," said Talbot, in his deep, positive voice, "and I +know who you are. I am chief of the deputy governors Lord Baltimore has +appointed to care for his province during his absence; and you are a +tax-collector." + +"A representative of His Majesty the King of England," said the captain +of the ship, as if to make out that his friend Rousby was a more +important man. + +"Let the fellow talk," said Rousby to the captain. "I've heard he was +clever at making speeches." + +His tone and manner were the height of insult. Talbot's face flushed, +and Michael saw that his hand on the table doubled itself into a fist. + +"Yes, I will talk," said Talbot, in a voice that could have been heard +on deck. "And you will listen to me, whether you want to or no! I have a +list of unjust taxes you've levied here in St. Mary's. The Devil only +knows how many you've levied elsewhere." He put his hand into his pocket +and pulled out the list he had made. + +"I'll not listen to such speech on my own ship," said the captain, his +hands on the arms of his chair as if he was about to stand up. + +"Indeed you will!" roared Talbot. "This list is a list of crimes +committed by your friend Christopher Rousby, representative of His +Majesty the King of England in the province of Maryland." He opened the +list and began to read the items, giving the names of the men in St. +Mary's who had been unjustly taxed and the amount they had been forced +to pay to the greedy collector. + +The three men at the table grew restless; Rousby picked up his glass and +drained it, the captain drummed on the arm of his chair with his +fingers, the third man stared at the cabin-ceiling. + +Talbot went on with his reading until he had finished the first page and +turned to the second. Then Rousby broke in. "You can read all night," +said he, "but I tell you now that all those taxes stand, and I'll +collect more in future as pleases me." + +"Even if you know they're illegal and unjust?" asked Talbot. + +"Look you here," said Rousby, leaning forward. "The fact that I collect +them makes them both legal and just. I am the law hereabouts, and I do +as I please. If you don't like it, ride back to your own plantation, and +leave matters here to your betters." His small bloodshot eyes sneered at +Talbot. + +Now Talbot's Irish blood was very quick and fiery. That word "betters" +stung him, the look on Rousby's face infuriated him. "I don't admit any +betters," said he. "In fact I only see inferiors before me." His voice +was cold as steel, and as biting. Michael had never heard him speak like +that before. + +Rousby and the captain started to their feet. + +"Keep out of this, you!" Talbot roared at the captain, and leaning +across the table gave him such a push that he set him down in his chair. +Then Talbot's gloved hand struck Rousby on the cheek. "Take that!" he +cried. "If you want to settle the matter now, I'm ready!" + +Rousby bellowed with rage. He gave the table a shove that sent it +flying, and his fist shot out at Talbot. Talbot caught it and whirled +the man around. Then Rousby grabbed the dagger he wore at his side and +rushed at Talbot with it. Talbot stepped to one side, and the same +instant drew his own knife. Rousby swung round at him again, dagger +uplifted; but Talbot was the quicker. He struck with his knife, in the +breast, pressed Rousby back and back until he leaned on the table. + +It had all happened in the twinkling of an eye. Now the captain and the +third man sprang forward. Each caught one of Talbot's arms and held it +They were too late to save the collector, however. Talbot had stabbed +him in the heart, and Christopher Rousby was dead. + +The captain seized a pistol from a rack and leveled it at Talbot. "Drop +your knife!" he ordered, "and surrender to His Majesty's officers! This +is bad business for you! Murder of a royal agent!" + +Talbot dropped the knife. "At your orders," he said. "I yield as your +prisoner." + +[Illustration: "I YIELD AS YOUR PRISONER"] + +The other man caught up a rope and soon had the prisoner's hands bound +behind him. + +"Take him up on deck," said the captain. "And send two of the sailors +down here to me." + +The other officer marched Talbot up the companionway. Michael followed. +On deck the officer stepped away from his prisoner long enough to speak +to one of the sailors. While he was doing this Talbot whispered to +Michael. "Get ashore," he whispered, "and tell the magistrate at St. +Mary's what has happened. Then get word if you can to Sir William Talbot +and to my wife." + +It was dark on deck, a murky evening. Michael slipped over to the side +of the ship, found the rope-ladder, and crawled down it to where the +fisherman was still waiting in his boat. He didn't like to leave his +master in the hands of his enemies, but he knew that Talbot wanted to be +obeyed. + +"Mr. Talbot is going to stay on board," Michael said to the boatman. +"You're to row me to shore." + +A little later he landed at St. Mary's. He was soaking wet and very +cold, but he gave no thought to that. + + +II + +Michael Rowan asked the boatman where the chief magistrate of St. Mary's +lived, and, on being directed, went straight to the latter's house. To +this man he told what had happened in the cabin of the ketch, how +Rousby and Talbot had had a quarrel, how high words had passed between +them, how Talbot had stabbed the tax-collector, and was now the +captain's prisoner. The magistrate was very much alarmed. + +"There's no knowing what they'll do to him!" he exclaimed with +excitement. "Rousby treated us ill, there's no doubting that. But he was +His Majesty's exciseman, and the killing of such, even in a righteous +quarrel, is a mighty bad business! What's the captain going to do with +Mr. Talbot?" + +"I know no more about it than you," said Michael. "My master bade me +give you the true account of what happened, and then told me to ride +north to tell Mistress Talbot and help her rouse his friends to do what +they could for him. You see he's kinsman to Sir William Talbot, and Sir +William is nephew to Lord Baltimore." + +The magistrate shook his head. "That might be of some avail if this +affair concerned the province of Maryland alone," said he. "But Rousby +was one of His Majesty's officers,--there's the difficulty." + +"I must get my horse and start at once," declared Michael. + +The magistrate went to "The Bell and Anchor" with Michael, helped him +put bread and cheese in his saddle-bags, saw him mount his horse, and +waved his hand as Michael set out up the village street. When the +magistrate went to the water-front he learned that the ketch had +weighed anchor and sailed to the south. + +The night was cold and wet, and the road was dark and hard to follow; +but Michael put his horse to the gallop and rode recklessly. His one +thought was to reach Talbot's plantation on the Susquehanna as quickly +as he could. + +He rode until it grew so dark that he could not see to avoid overhanging +boughs and holes in the road. Then he stopped at the next farmer's +cabin, asked for a night's lodging, and was given a place to sleep +before the hearth. At dawn he was off again, following the rude trail +through the wilderness, making his meals from the food in his +saddle-bags, and only stopping when he felt he must rest his horse. + +That night he spent in a hunter's lodge, the next at a log house on the +edge of a small village. He told the people who asked his business that +he was on an errand for George Talbot, but he gave them no inkling of +what the errand was. + +He remembered the fords they had found on their journey south, and +sought them again without much loss of time. Presently he came into +country that he knew well, the upper shores of Chesapeake Bay where he +had often ridden and hunted. Then he saw the familiar landmarks of +Talbot's plantation, and was riding up the road to the door of the +manor-house. He had pushed his horse to the utmost; he himself was tired +and aching in every sinew and muscle. Late in the afternoon he threw +himself from his mount and ran up the steps. He opened the main door and +walked into the living-room, a muddy, bedraggled figure. + +Mrs. Talbot was sitting at a spinet, a luxury brought out to Maryland +from England. She stopped her playing and looked up as Michael entered. +She saw he had important news. "What is it, Michael?" she asked. + +He told her what had happened. She listened without interrupting him. +Then she stood up. "Send your father and Edward Nigel to me at once," +she said. + +Michael went to his father's house, only a short distance from the big +house, and then to the cabin of Edward Nigel. He gave each of them the +message of Mrs. Talbot. Then he stabled the horse that had carried him +so well all the way from St. Mary's. By that time the boy was too tired +and sleepy even to taste the food that his mother had set out for him. +He fell into his bed and was sound asleep. + +Mrs. Talbot had great strength of character. She told her husband's two +faithful Irish retainers that their master was now a prisoner, charged +with the murder of a royal tax-collector. She said that they must set to +work at once to see what could be done to aid him. She wrote out +messages, one for Rowan to take immediately to influential friends in +Baltimore City, the other for Nigel to carry to Annapolis. Then, when +the two had set out, she and her maid prepared to journey to Baltimore +City next day. + +In a very short time the news had spread through the province. Men of +influence, the members of the provincial council, met and took action in +behalf of George Talbot. They had all disliked Rousby and the other +royal excisemen, and almost all of them were close friends of the +prisoner. The council sent messengers south to find out what the captain +of the ketch had done with Talbot. The messengers returned with word +that Talbot had been put in irons, that the captain had landed him in +Virginia, and delivered him over to the governor, Lord Howard of +Effingham, who had put him in prison at a small town on the Rappahannock +River. + +Lord Howard of Effingham had the name of being a greedy and tyrannical +governor. The council of Maryland sent a request to him that Talbot +should be tried by a court in Maryland. Lord Howard treated the request +with contempt, saying that he meant to try Talbot himself, since the +latter had killed one of His Majesty's officers, and he represented His +Majesty in that part of the country. Talbot's friends knew what that +meant. If Lord Howard sat in judgment on him Talbot's fate was sealed. +There was a chance that a huge bribe might influence the governor of +Virginia, but the chance was slim. So the council sent a messenger to +Lord Baltimore in England, urging him to rescue his nephew's kinsman +from Lord Howard's clutches. + +Mrs. Talbot had done all she could through the council and other men of +influence to help her husband, and their efforts seemed likely to bear +very small results. Meantime Lord Howard of Effingham might decide to +try George Talbot at any time. So the devoted wife determined to see +what she could do herself. She had several long talks with Edward Nigel +and Fergus and Michael Rowan, and they worked out a scheme for +themselves. + +On a cold day in the middle of winter a little skiff set sail from the +landing-place at Talbot's plantation and headed for Chesapeake Bay. In +the skiff were Mrs. Talbot, her two friends and retainers, Nigel and +Rowan, and the faithful Michael. Fergus Rowan was a skilful sailor; he +knew the river and the bay from long experience. He took the tiller, and +the others, muffled up for protection from the high wind, watched water +and shore as their little boat bobbed up and down on the waves. + +The wind was favoring, and they made much better time than they would +have done by riding through the wilderness. They spent the night at a +small fishing-village, and were off again in the skiff next day. They +sailed past Annapolis, on the River Severn, and went scudding down the +bay to where the broad waters of the Potomac flowed into it. Rowan kept +fairly close to the shore on their right, and presently changed his +course to the west. Now they had come to the Rappahannock, and were +sailing up it, keeping a close watch for a good place to land. + +By night they had run into a little creek and made the skiff fast. A +farmer's house was not far away, and the four headed for it. Fergus +knocked on the door, and when a woman opened it he explained that they +had expected to sail to a plantation farther up the Rappahannock, but +that the darkness made navigation dangerous for one who was unfamiliar +with the river. "There's a lady and three of us men," he said, "would be +thankful for a night's lodging." Mrs. Talbot pushed back her fur hood, +and the farmer's wife, looking at her, saw that she appeared to be of +the quality, as the saying was, and invited them to step in. + +The cabin was small; Fergus and Nigel and Michael shared the attic with +the farmer, Jonas Dunham, while Mrs. Talbot was taken into Mrs. Dunham's +room. They ate their supper on a table close to the kitchen hearth for +warmth. Afterward Fergus inquired about the plantations farther up the +river. Presently he chanced to say that he understood that the governor +was holding Mr. Talbot of Maryland a prisoner somewhere in the +neighborhood. That remark, innocently made, started Farmer Dunham's +tongue to wagging. He said that the prison was about two miles distant, +on the southern side of the river, and that it was true that Talbot was +kept there. He made it pretty clear from what he said that the governor +was not very popular along the Rappahannock, and that in his opinion +Talbot had done a good job in killing one of the royal tax-collectors. + +Mrs. Talbot and Fergus and Nigel each carried a bag of gold pieces, all +that they had been able to gather in Maryland; and next morning they +paid the farmer well for their food and lodging. They sailed up the +river, close to the southern shore, in mist and rain, keeping a sharp +lookout for the building that Dunham had described. + +There was a small settlement on the shore, then woods, then a log +building, square like a frontier fort, which they took for their goal. +Fergus brought the skiff up to the bank, dropped the sail, and helped +Mrs. Talbot to land. The mist had grown so thick that it hid objects a +score of yards away. + +Mrs. Talbot and Nigel stayed in the shelter of the woods while Fergus +and Michael went up to the log house. They rapped on the door. A man +with a grizzled beard opened it. Fergus asked him a few questions about +the neighborhood, explaining that they were very wet and cold, and would +like to find a tavern or some place where they could get a bottle of ale +or brandy. The jailer said that one of his neighbors had spirits for +sale, and suggested that he should show them the place. Fergus accepted +the offer, and they went about half a mile down the road to the +neighbor's, where Fergus showed a gold piece and was provided with a +bottle of brandy. + +Fergus saw that the jailer's glass was kept well filled. They became +great friends across the table, and presently the jailer was telling his +new acquaintances everything he knew. He had only one prisoner at +present, a very fine gentleman from Maryland, Mr. George Talbot, and he +felt very sorry for his prisoner because the latter's only crime was of +falling foul of a tax-collector. Fergus suggested that the jailer hardly +needed many assistants to keep guard over one man. The jailer answered +that he only had two assistants, a young fellow only just lately arrived +from England, and a lout of a boy. + +When Fergus had learned all he wanted he paid for the bottle of brandy, +tucked the bottle under his arm, and with Michael, walked back to the +log house with the bearded man. There he thanked the latter for his +kindness, and presented him with the bottle, which was still half +filled. It seemed very probable that the jailer would use up the rest of +the brandy on such a damp day. + +The two went back to the woods and made their report. In the skiff there +were provisions, and Mrs. Talbot and her friends had dinner there, and +tried to keep as much out of the wet as they could. Then they waited for +dusk, and the two men and the boy looked to the priming of their +pistols. + +The men, muffled in greatcoats, the woman, in fur cloak and hood, went +up to the log house in the winter twilight. Nigel beat on the door with +his fist, and after a considerable wait the door was opened by a young +fellow, who looked as if he had only just been waked from a sound nap. + +Mrs. Talbot, slipping her hood back from her head, smiled at the rather +dull-looking fellow. "Can you shelter me from the storm?" she asked, in +most appealing tones. "I'm wet and cold, and I'm afraid we've lost our +way." + +The boy didn't often see such a fine-looking woman, evidently no +farmer's wife, but one of the gentry. "I'll go ask Master Hugh," he +said. "Step in from the wet. This is no tavern, but a prison, my lady. +Howsomever, I'll go ask Master Hugh." + +The fellow hurried away, and Mrs. Talbot and her three companions +stepped in. In a minute the serving-lad was back. "Master Hugh'll see +you in his room," he announced, jerking his head in the direction of +that apartment. + +He stood aside, while the lady, Nigel and Michael went to the jailer's +room. Fergus, hanging back a minute, slipped a gold piece into the +fellow's hand, whispering, "A lady of quality. Be sure you speak her +fairly." The youth squinted at the piece of money, a coin of greater +value than any he had seen. + +Master Hugh was drinking the last of the brandy as the party entered his +room. The candle-light showed that he was far more disposed to be merry +than suspicious. "A lady!" he exclaimed, getting to his feet and bowing. +"'Tis a shame things are so rude here! Be seated, my lady." Then, +recognizing Fergus and Michael, he smiled broadly. "Well met, my +friends. Sit ye down. 'Tis a raw night. We must make ourselves +comfortable." He glanced at the brandy bottle. "If I'd known company was +coming, I'd have been more ready to give welcome," he added. + +Mrs. Talbot loosened her cloak and smiled at the jailer as if she was +delighted at his hospitality. "It's very agreeable here, I do assure +you, Master Hugh," she said. "Good company is better than wine or food." + +"So I think," said the jailer, flattered at the lady's graciousness. + +"If my son and I might go out to the kitchen to dry our feet----" +suggested Fergus. + +"George, show them to the kitchen fire," the jailer ordered the boy, who +stood staring in the doorway. + +Mrs. Talbot drew her chair a little closer to Master Hugh. "My skiff met +with a mishap as I was on my way to visit friends up the river," she +said. And then she used all her arts to fascinate the jailer. + +Fergus and Michael followed George to the kitchen. A man was scouring an +iron pot on the hearth and looked up in some surprise. "They wants to +dry their feet," George explained. + +Fergus and his son pulled off their boots, showing their wet stockings. +"Could Master Hugh spare you long enough to run down to the village and +fetch us a bottle of brandy?" Fergus asked, and he held another shining +gold piece so that George could catch its glitter. + +George thought he had never seen such attractive strangers. "I think he +might," he said, and left the room in haste, intent on winning the +second coin. + +The man at the hearth, seeing the gold piece, made room for the two +strangers to stand near the fire. He also grew talkative, as Fergus, in +a very friendly fashion, asked him various questions. He said there were +only four men in the house at present, Master Hugh, the boy George, +himself, and a prisoner, who lodged in a small room off the kitchen. He +indicated the door to the prisoner's room. + +"We have a lady with us," Fergus said after a time. "She's cold with +being so long out in the rain. If you could build up the fire I might +ask her in here to warm herself. She'll pay you well for your trouble." +He held out a gold piece to the man, who took it readily enough, slipped +it into his pocket, and straightway commenced to put new logs on the +fire. + +As the man placed the last log and turned to stand up again he found +himself confronting a pistol-barrel. "Not a word!" murmured Fergus. +"Keep your hands at your side!" He nodded to Michael, who had pulled a +cord from under his jacket. "Bind him fast," he ordered. "Now we've no +wish to do you harm," he added to his prisoner. "Only a rope round your +hands and a cloth over your mouth. We'll put a couple more gold pieces +in your pocket too, so that if you lose this place you'll have enough to +find you another." + +The pistol kept the man quiet until he was bound and gagged. Then Fergus +slipped two coins into his pocket. That done, he ran to the door and +drew back the bolt. But he found the door was not only bolted, but +locked as well. He had no time to hunt for the key, so he threw himself +against the door, and at the third try found the lock gave way. On a +stool inside sat George Talbot. To his amazed master Fergus explained +quickly what they must do. + +Fergus and Michael and Talbot, all in their stocking-feet, their boots +in their hands, stole down the hall. The lady who was entertaining +Master Hugh had asked Nigel to close the door behind her so as to shut +out the draught. The three men crept down the hall, past the jailer's +door, and slipped out of the house. There they drew their boots on. Then +Michael hurried his master down to the edge of the woods and the waiting +skiff. + +Fergus went back to the jailer's room. "I've sent my boy to the village +to engage you a room for the night, my lady," said he. "If you are warm +and rested, we might make our start." + +"Certainly," agreed the lady. She smiled at Master Hugh. "You've been +most kind to me," she said. "I shall tell all my friends how courteous a +gentleman you are." + +The jailer beamed his pleasure. "'Tis a thousand shames such a gentle +lady should have to walk to the village," said he. "I own I could give +you only poor quarters here. But I could saddle you a horse." He rose. +"Where's that rascal George?" + +"No, no," said Mrs. Talbot. "I'm afraid we've put you out more than we +should already." She opened a bag at her belt and laid a piece of money +on the table. "For your hospitality, Master Hugh," she said, with a +gracious smile. + +The jailer made his best bow. "A pleasure, madam, a pleasure," he +assured her. "I ask no pay for that." But he let the coin lie on the +table instead of returning it. + +Mrs. Talbot and Nigel and Fergus went to the door, Master Hugh after +them. There the jailer made more bows and spoke more pleasant words as +the lady fastened her cloak and pulled her hood over her hair. "You can +find the road?" he asked Fergus. + +"Yes, I know the road," said Fergus. + +As they left the log house they saw some one coming toward them. It was +George with the precious bottle. "Take it to Master Hugh with my +compliments," said Fergus. Then as they moved away he murmured, "That +ought to keep our friend from finding out what's happened for some +time." + +They sped to the woods and the skiff. Talbot and Michael were waiting in +the boat with the sail raised. "Oh, my dear wife!" exclaimed Talbot, as +he clasped the devoted woman in his arms. "'Twas almost worth being in +such peril to find you here again!" + +The skiff stole down the Rappahannock in the rain and darkness, carrying +the outlaw Talbot back to his plantation. + + +III + +The skiff retraced its course up Chesapeake Bay. The only landings it +made were for food and water, and at such times George Talbot kept +closely hidden, while Fergus or Michael or Edward Nigel did the +parleying. For Talbot was known by sight to almost every one who lived +on the shore of the great bay, and they all knew as well that he had +been a prisoner of the governor of Virginia. News could travel +surprisingly fast through the wilderness, and the hunters and farmers, +though having the best of intentions toward him, might hinder his escape +from Lord Howard of Effingham. + +The skiff brought them safely to the Susquehanna, and Talbot, his wife, +and his three friends landed and went up to his manor-house. There was +great rejoicing among all his retainers, and the story of his rescue +from the Virginia prison was told again and again, and each time it was +told it gained in thrills. But Fergus Rowan told every man, woman, and +child on the plantation that no whisper of the chief's whereabouts must +get beyond the limits of his farms. The chief was safely out of +Virginia, but Lord Howard had great influence in Maryland, and might +try to capture George Talbot again. + +A fortnight later Michael, who had been sent to Baltimore City on +business, brought back word that the governor of Virginia had raised a +great hue and cry when he found his prisoner escaped, had sent his +agents into Maryland to find out where Talbot had gone, and had +compelled Lord Baltimore's own agents to help him in the search. + +"The first place where they would look is here," Mrs. Talbot said to her +husband. "We must find some hiding-place for you." + +"Can you think of one, Michael?" asked Talbot. "Boys are apt to know the +most concerning places to hide." + +Michael thought of all the places near the plantation. "There's a cave +in the river bank up in the woods," he said presently. "I don't think +any one could find you there." + +So Talbot and his wife and Michael looked for the hiding-place. The cave +was large, and was surrounded by thickets, and screened by bushes from +any one on the river. It seemed just the place that was wanted. Fergus +and Nigel were told about it, but no one else; and plans were made to +send provisions by a roundabout path. + +There were wild fowl in the marshes of the river, and Talbot could hunt +them almost from the door of his cave. He caught two hawks and trained +them to catch wild fowl and so help to stock his larder. While Nigel +and Fergus kept watch at the plantation, always on the lookout for any +suspicious-appearing stranger, Michael, fowling-piece in his hand, would +make his way along the Susquehanna, and, joining his master, spend hours +with him training the pair of hawks. + +The outlaw,--for that was what Talbot was now, with a price set on his +head,--had only been in hiding for a few days when officers, both of +Lord Baltimore and of the governor of Virginia, came to the plantation. +Mrs. Talbot was at the manor-house with Fergus. To the officers' +questions as to where her husband had fled, she answered with a +question: "Would he come back here, where he would expect his enemies to +be certain to search for him?" + +It was clear that neither she nor Fergus would tell the men anything +they might know about Talbot. She told them to search the house and the +plantation. The officers made their search, while Michael, hunting fowls +along the river, kept watch, ready to warn his master to draw back into +his cave, in case the searchers should hunt along the bank. + +The men didn't go anywhere near the cave, and left the plantation +without any inkling of where Talbot had gone. But for several days his +wife and friends were careful not to go near his hiding-place, lest +spies might be watching them. + +Lord Howard of Effingham had had all ships sailing from Virginia and +Maryland searched for the fugitive. He had spread a net pretty well +over both provinces, for he was determined to catch George Talbot if he +possibly could. Another man might have given up the chase when he found +no clue, but not so the determined governor of Virginia. As a result his +agents came to the plantation time and again, and Talbot had to stay in +his hiding-place while winter changed to spring, and spring to summer, +and the next autumn came. Michael was his companion much of the time, +but idleness was hard for a man of Talbot's nature. + +The people on the plantation were faithful to their master, and gave no +sign that they suspected he might be in hiding not very far away. But +such a secret was hard to keep through many months, and at last some of +Lord Baltimore's officers got wind in some way of the farmers' +suspicions. They waited until they heard from London that Lord Baltimore +had been successful in getting an order from the Privy Council of +England directing that the governor of Virginia should send Talbot to +London for trial instead of trying him in the province, and then they +swooped down on the plantation, found Talbot, and forced him to +surrender. + +The outlaw chief rode to Baltimore City a prisoner. His wife went with +him, and Michael to wait on her. In the town he learned from his friends +that he was to be tried in England, not in Virginia. That was some +comfort, and his wife told him that as soon as she learned that he had +sailed for Europe she would take ship too, and meet him there. She had +friends in London, and they might have much influence with the Privy +Council. + +The Maryland officers handed their prisoner over to the agents of the +Virginia governor. These took him to Lord Howard, who had him put in a +prison that was more securely guarded than the one on the Rappahannock +had been. In prison George Talbot cooled his heels for some time, while +his wife and Michael waited in Baltimore City to learn of his sailing +for England. + +Lord Howard of Effingham had grown so arbitrary as governor of +Virginia,--where he had almost as much power as the king had in +England,--that, instead of obeying the order of the Privy Council and +sending his prisoner to London, he kept him in prison during the winter +of 1685, and then in April of that year actually dared to announce that +he meant to place Talbot on trial in Virginia for the killing of +Christopher Rousby. + +Word of this came to Mrs. Talbot and her friends in Maryland. Lord +Howard was disobeying the law of England in not sending Talbot there for +trial, but, notwithstanding that, he might, in his tyrannical fashion, +try Talbot, convict him, and even execute him. His wife could do nothing +to prevent this if she stayed in Maryland; so, faithful and brave as +ever, she took passage in a merchantman for England, and crossed the +Atlantic Ocean, with Michael as her squire. + +Michael, used to the wilderness of the colonies, with only a few +scattered settlements to break the stretches of woods and meadows, +opened his eyes very wide at the multitude of houses, the throngs of +people, that he saw in the city by the Thames. He went with Mrs. Talbot +to call on Lord Baltimore, the owner of the province of Maryland. Lord +Baltimore listened intently to Mrs. Talbot's story, and grew red in the +face with anger when he heard how the governor of Virginia was making +light of the order of the Privy Council. + +"I will at once see the most influential members of the Council, +Madame," said Lord Baltimore. "I will see my friend Tyrconnel, I will go +to His Majesty himself, if need be, to secure Mr. Talbot his rights. I +knew Lord Howard to be a headstrong knave; I'd not suspicioned him to be +a traitor also! I'll bring him to time right soon!" + +"It must be soon, my lord," said Mrs. Talbot. "The governor may bring +Mr. Talbot to trial any day." + +"I'll go at once," Lord Baltimore assured her. "We'll have a message +sent to Virginia by the next ship out." + +Mrs. Talbot and Michael went back to their lodgings, and Lord Baltimore +hastened to his influential friend Tyrconnel, who took him to the king, +James II. Hot with indignation, Baltimore denounced the illegal act of +the governor of Virginia. He made it plain that Lord Howard was actually +daring to defy His Majesty's orders in his province. + +The king frowned. "Indeed, my Lord Baltimore, it does look as if our +governor of Virginia were growing somewhat overfed with pride. Our Privy +Council orders your man Talbot sent here for trial on the charge of +killing a tax-collector, and instead Lord Howard holds him and threatens +to try him there. I will teach my obstinate governor a lesson." He +turned to a page and bade him fetch writing materials. + +The king wrote a few lines in his own hand, and handed the paper to +Baltimore. It was a pardon in full for George Talbot. "Send that to +Virginia as fast as you can," said the king. "If Howard fails to heed +that, I shall have to appoint another governor in his stead." + +Lord Baltimore went directly to Mrs. Talbot's lodgings and showed her +the king's pardon. "We must send it to Virginia at once," said he. + +"Let my boy Michael Rowan take it," said Mrs. Talbot. "There is none +would do more for my husband." + +So Michael sailed for America with the precious document. His ship made +a quick passage to Virginia; and it was fortunate it did, for no sooner +had he landed at Jamestown than he heard that Talbot had been put on +trial, had been convicted of murder, and was waiting execution. + +Michael carried the king's pardon to Lord Howard. The governor read it +and considered it. Apparently he realized that this was an order he did +not dare disobey. So he gave directions to his officers to set the +prisoner free. + +Michael was the first friend George Talbot saw when he came out of +prison, no longer an outlaw with a price upon his head, but a free man. +"You were with me when I caused this trouble, Michael," said Talbot, +gripping the boy by the hand, "and you're with me now when the trouble's +at an end. God bless you for a faithful friend to me!" + +He asked news of his wife, and when he learned that she had gone to +London and had besought Lord Baltimore to rescue him from the governor +of Virginia he said, "We must go to her, Michael. First a trip to the +plantation to get the funds and set matters straight there, and then +over the sea to England!" + +So Talbot and Michael rode north to the manor-house on the Susquehanna +in the summer. It was not like the voyage in the skiff, when the outlaw +had to keep constantly in hiding. Now he rode openly, and everywhere +people who knew who he was flocked to shake his hand and welcome him +back to Maryland. + +They reached the plantation and there Fergus Rowan and Edward Nigel and +all the other retainers gave their chief a great welcome. But his +thoughts were over the ocean, and he quickly gave directions what should +be done in his absence, and went to Baltimore City to take ship. He +wanted Michael to go with him, and Michael's parents consented, for the +boy was now grown to be a man, and they thought it well that he should +see something of the world. + +Husband and wife met in London, and Michael made his home with them +there, serving as Talbot's secretary, and learning the ways of a world +vastly different from that of the plantation on the Susquehanna. + +Talbot never returned to Maryland. He had not been in England long when +the revolution broke out that placed William of Orange on the throne. +Talbot, ever an adventurous spirit, took the side of James II and the +Stuarts, fought as a Jacobite, and when the Stuart cause was lost, went +to France and entered the service of the French king. + +Michael, however, went back, was granted land by Lord Baltimore, and +made his own farm in the fertile country of northern Maryland. George +Talbot had always been more of an adventurer than a planter or farmer, +but Michael Rowan preferred to till his own fields, though he never +forgot the thrill of excitement of the days when he had served his +outlawed chief. + + + + +VI + +IN THE DAYS OF WITCHES + +(_Massachusetts, 1692_) + + +I + +The schoolmaster closed his book with a snap. "That's all for to-day," +he said. "Be sure you know your lessons well to-morrow, for I expect +visitors any day now, and I want my classes to make a good appearance." +He was a pale young man with pleasant blue eyes, and his shoulders +stooped as though he were used to sitting much of the time bent over a +table. Most boys and girls liked him, because of his kindness and +patience with them, but a few, such as there are to be found in almost +every school, made fun of him behind his back because he wasn't harsher +with them. Sometimes they made fun of him too because of his strange +pets, a lame sheep-dog, birds that had hurt their wings and couldn't fly +far, any sort of animal that other people didn't care for. + +Matthew Hamlin and Joseph Glover left school together, and walked down +one of the miry streets of Salem. "My father talked about them last +night," said Matthew. "He thought I didn't hear him. He said 'Witches!' +and laughed." + +"And didn't he say anything more?" demanded Joseph. + +"Oh, yes. He said, 'Nonsense! A pack of old wives' tales! Folks ought to +be ashamed to hearken to such things.'" + +"Well," said Joseph, "I was sitting in the corner of the smithy shop, +and two men came in, and they said to the smith, 'You've got a +good-sized chimney here, and you'd best keep an eye out, or the +witches'll be flying down it.' The smith didn't laugh; he frowned and +shook his head, and said, 'There's no telling. But if they do come, I'll +be ready for them.'" + +Matthew dug his fists hard into the pockets of his jacket, and his +round, rosy face looked unusually serious. "Let's go by the smithy, +Joe," he suggested. "I'd like to have a look at the chimney." + +So when they came to the next lane they turned down it, and presently +reached the wide doors of the blacksmith's shop, which stood hospitably +open. The smith was working at his anvil, striking great sparks with his +hammer as he beat a crooked horseshoe. He nodded to the two boys, who +threw their school-books on a bench, and walked over to the hearth, as +if to warm their hands. + +"Well, lads," said the smith, after a minute, "and what did ye learn +to-day?" He rested his brawny arms on his hammer. "Folks tell me that +Master Thomas Appleton is mighty learned and a great teacher; and, +faith, he looks it, though I caught him chuckling on the road the other +night." + +"And he laughs sometimes in school too, and tells us stories," said Joe. +"I like him. Most of us do; only that John Rowley and Mercy Booth and +Susan Parsons don't, because he caught them beating a dog and scolded +them for it. But when they talk about him, the rest of us shut them up, +don't we, Mat?" + +Mat, however, appeared to be much more interested in examining the +smithy chimney than he was in Master Appleton. He had bent forward and +was trying to look up the great sooty throat. "Do you think it's big +enough for any one to come down?" he asked. "And is it clear to the +top?" + +Jacob Titus, the smith, rested his hammer on the anvil, and slowly wiped +his hands on his leather apron. "Some might come down it--or fly up it," +he answered. "Witches." + +The word carried a thrill. Mat stood up straight again, facing the +smith. Joe stopped warming his hands at the blaze. Titus nodded his head +slowly. "Witches might," he said. "And they wouldn't need it clear to +the top, they wouldn't." + +Joe laughed. "But there aren't such things as witches, Mr. Titus. +They're like fairies. People tell stories about them to frighten +children." + +"People tell stories about them right enough," agreed the smith, "but it +ain't so sure they only do it to frighten children. They've found +witches, and proved them witches, and not so very far from Salem. A man +from Boston was in here yester eve, a likely-looking man, too, and he +stood there by the fire, where you be standing, and he gave me facts and +figures. Seems he was well acquainted with the matter. He says they hung +a woman in Charlestown for trying to cure sick people by mixing magic +with simples and herbs, contrary to what the doctors allowed, and they +found another witch at Dorchester, and yet a third at Cambridge. Seems +as if the witches sometimes took hold of children, and used their magic +on 'em so's they did strange things, things no children would do usual." + +The smith's voice had grown low and mysterious, and in his interest in +the subject he had left his anvil and walked over to the boys by the +hearth. He was gazing at them when there came a sound at the door and +the boys saw a man's figure appear against the winter dusk that had +settled on the lane. Jacob Titus wheeled about. "The very man I was +speaking of!" he muttered. And in a louder voice he added, +"Good-evening, sir, good-evening." + +The stranger came into the shop. He was very tall, and his black clothes +seemed to increase his height and the darkness of his face. He took off +his high-crowned hat and ran his fingers through his long, uncombed +hair. Then he flung his cloak back over his shoulders as if he found the +smithy warm. "Good-evening to you, friend smith," he said, "and to you, +young men." His voice was deep and oily, with a fawning sound to it. +"Don't let me disturb your talk. I'll rest a few minutes with your kind +permission." + +Titus drew a stool near the hearth. "Sit here, sir. It happens I was +telling these boys about you, and about your talk of yester eve, about +the witches," he added. + +The stranger sat down, stood his tall hat on the floor, and spread out +his fingers, fan-like, on his knees. "About the witches?" he repeated in +his deep voice. "Hardly a pleasing subject. And yet one that concerns +folks everywhere. Moreover, unless I'm mistaken, it concerns the people +of Salem very particularly." + +Mat and Joe could not help being impressed; there was something very +mysterious in the man's voice and manner; he seemed to carry a strange, +uncanny atmosphere about with him, and to give the impression that, if +there were such creatures as witches, he would be precisely the person +who would know most about them. As for the smith, it was very evident +that he held his visitor in great awe. + +"I told you of Goody Jones, of Charlestown," said the stranger. "I +hadn't told you of the strange case of the woman Glover, who was +laundress for John Goodwin of Boston. One day Martha, John Goodwin's +oldest daughter, who was thirteen, told her parents that the laundress +was stealing pieces of linen from the family washing. They spoke to her +about it, and the woman dared to answer them with many strange threats +and curses. Thereupon the little Martha fell down in a fit, and soon the +same thing happened to the three other children, who were eleven, seven, +and five years old. Afterward they all plainly showed that the laundress +had bewitched them; they became deaf and dumb for stretches of time, +they said they were being pricked with pins and cut with knives, they +barked like dogs and purred like cats, they could even skim over the +ground without touching it, or, in the words of the worthy Cotton +Mather, seemed to 'fly like geese.' This lasted for several weeks." + +"Saints above!" murmured the smith. "To think of that!" + +"Yes," went on the stranger. "Doctors and ministers studied the case, +and agreed that undoubtedly the Glover woman had bewitched the children, +and she was hanged for trading in black magic." + +"Aye," agreed Jacob Titus, "no doubt she was a witch. What those +children did tallies with all stories of bewitchments." + +Joe and Mat kept silent, but they could not help acknowledging to +themselves that the children had acted very much as if the woman had +bewitched them. Moreover, the stranger's manner made a great impression +on his hearers; he never smiled as he spoke, was evidently very much in +earnest, and looked tremendously wise. + +His very next words served to increase this impression. "I have given +much time and thought to this matter of witches," said he, "and it's +that which has fetched me to your town of Salem. You know Salem Village, +or Salem Farms, as some appear to call it?" + +Of course they all knew Salem Village, a little group of farms that lay +four or five miles out from their own town. + +"There," said the stranger, "lives one Samuel Parris, minister of the +Gospel, and his family." As he spoke he made marks and lines on his leg, +as if to indicate the people he was naming. The boys looked back and +forth from his lean finger tracing these lines to his deep, glowing +eyes. "Samuel Parris," continued the speaker, "lived in the West Indies +for a time, and when he came here he brought two colored servants with +him, a man called John Indian, and his wife, who was known as Tituba, +who was part Indian and part negro. These two brought with them from the +Indies a knowledge of palm-reading, fortune-telling, second-sight, and +various strange incantations, such as the natives use there. They soon +attracted to them by these tricks a number of children, chiefly girls, +some as old as twenty, one child, Mr. Parris's daughter Elizabeth, only +nine. At first the girls simply did the tricks these Indian servants +taught them, but before long they gave signs of being bewitched in +earnest; they crawled about on their hands and knees, they spoke a +language no one could understand, they fell into trances. When these +'Afflicted Children,' as they call them, were asked who made them do +these things, they pointed to the Indian Tituba, and to two elderly +women, one named Sarah Good, the other Sarah Osburn. People have watched +these three, and they find that whenever Sarah Good quarrels with her +neighbors their cattle have been apt to sicken and die. Naturally the +three women are now under arrest. Such things savor strongly of the Evil +Eye, methinks." + +"I think so too," said the smith stoutly. "That bewitching of the +neighbors' cattle is bad business!" + +It was now dark outside, and the only light in the smithy was the fire +on the hearth. "Folks here in Salem should be on watch that this +witchcraft comes no nearer home," muttered the stranger in his deep +voice. "I have come here partly to warn them." + +"That's good of you," said Titus. + +The stranger picked up his hat, as if about to leave. + +"Might we know your name?" asked the smith, very respectfully. + +"Jonathan Leek," said the other. "One time I was in business with a man +of Salem, Richard Swan. He took more than his fair share of the profits +of our ventures, and left me poor. But I forgave him." + +"Oh, I knew Richard Swan well," said the smith. "He died some years ago. +We all thought well of him here in Salem. His widow lives here now, +Mistress Ann Swan." + +"Her house is near ours," spoke up Mat. + +"The schoolmaster boards with her," volunteered Joe. "He has a little +shed at the back where he keeps his dogs." + +"I forgave him," repeated Jonathan Leek in his oily tones. He put on his +high-crowned hat and stood up. "Let us all beware of the evil eye, my +friends," he added, and, drawing his cloak close about him, strode out +through the doorway. + +The smith and the two boys stared after him, and then looked at each +other. He had certainly brought mysterious stories with him, and the +effect of them seemed to remain. "What was I telling you?" said Titus. +"Don't be making sport of such business." He went back to his work at +the anvil. + +The boys said good-night, and left the smithy. The air was colder now +that darkness had settled on the lane, and they buttoned their coats +tight and stuck their hands in their pockets. "He knows a good deal +about them, doesn't he?" said Mat. + +Joe nodded his head. "It does sound mighty strange," said he. + +"I wonder what father would have said if he'd heard Mr. Leek," observed +Mat. "He couldn't have called all that just old wives' tales." + +At a corner the boys parted, and Mat trudged home alone. He glanced with +new interest at the house where Mistress Swan and the schoolmaster +lived. He would have liked to know what Mr. Appleton would say about +this business of witches. Would he laugh and say, "What nonsense!" or +would he look as much impressed as Jacob Titus had looked? Jacob was no +fool, and it was very clear that this Mr. Jonathan Leek was an unusually +wise man. + +But when Mat came into his own warm house, and found the sitting-room +brightly lighted and the family there, he couldn't help doubting whether +all he had just heard was true. He didn't mention the matter at all at +supper, or until he had finished his studying for the next day. When he +was through, however, he pulled his stool up to his father's chair, and +told him all that he and Joe had heard that afternoon. All, that is, +except what Mr. Leek had said about the business dealings he had once +had with Richard Swan. + +"And did this make you believe in witches and the Evil Eye?" asked Mr. +Hamlin. + +"I don't know," answered Mat, doubtfully. "Joe and I didn't know what to +think. The stories folks are telling about the witches and about what +they do to children and to animals are so strange; and then so many +grown-up people believe them. How's a boy to know whether they're true +or not?" + +"Only by using his seven wits, Mat," said Mr. Hamlin. "Before you +believe any of these unnatural things, see them happen with your own +eyes. And when a boy or girl cries out that a witch is sticking pins +into them, make sure that they're not pretending; you know children love +to pretend things, and they like it all the better if they can get +grown people to believe what they pretend. I don't think any witch will +try sticking pins or knives in you or Joe, or make you fly over the +ground like geese. The witch won't, that is, unless you help her." + +Mat chuckled. "Trust Joe and me for keeping away from creatures like +that," he declared. + +Mat started whittling a whistle from a willow stick, and Mr. Hamlin +began adding a column of figures in a cash-book, but after a few minutes +he looked up at his wife, who had come into the room and was knitting. +"I can't blame the children for talking of witches and magic things," he +said, "when all the province of Massachusetts Bay seems to be thinking +about the same matters. Everybody's whispering about them, and every +man, woman, and child seems suddenly to know exactly what witches do. +Three men told me to-day about those poor women they've jailed over at +Salem Village. And the men seemed almost to believe that the women +really had dealt in witchcraft, although they were all three sober men, +and one was a minister of the Gospel." + +"And I've been hearing the same things," said his wife. "Men don't do +all the gossiping, my dear." + +Mr. Hamlin turned again to his cash-book, but his counting was +interrupted in a few minutes by a loud rapping at the street-door. Mat +opened the door, and Mr. Samuel Glover and his son Joe came hurrying +in. "There's strange news afoot," said Mr. Glover, "and I thought it +only neighborly to share it with you." He threw his hat and cloak on a +chair. "Some one has charged Mistress Ann Swan with dealing in +witchcraft, with being a familiar of the Evil One." + +"Mistress Swan!" exclaimed husband and wife, while Mat stood listening +with his mouth wide open. + +"It's said she's bewitched the children, makes them act like cats and +dogs, sends them into trances, and misuses them in many different ways." + +"She's a most kind-hearted woman, and loves children dearly," said +Mistress Hamlin. "She always gives them sweets when they come to see +her." + +"Aye," agreed Mr. Glover, "so the children say, but they add that she +gives them the sweets so she may have a chance to work her evil on +them." + +"What children say this?" demanded Mr. Hamlin. + +"Mercy Booth and Susan Parsons and John Rowley," answered Mr. Glover. +"They're the main ones." + +Mat looked at Joe. "Serves 'em right," said he. "They're mean enough to +be bewitched!" + +"They stone dogs and cats," put in Joe. "And the schoolmaster caught 'em +at it, and gave 'em a good scolding." + +"But who started the story?" asked Mr. Hamlin. "Did the children tell +these things themselves?" + +"A man who's lately come from Boston took the matter to the town +clerk," answered Mr. Glover. "It seems the children had told their +strange stories to him. His name is Jonathan Leek." + +Mat gave a long whistle. "Jonathan Leek!" he echoed. "Why, he's the man +Joe and I met at the smithy!" + +"Yes," said Joe, nodding vigorously. "And he knows all about +witchcraft." + +"I should think he did," agreed Mat. + +"Poor Ann Swan," said Mistress Hamlin. "As fine a woman as ever lived. +And to be charged with being a witch!" + +"That's what I say," assented Mr. Glover. "And I'm doubtful if the +matter stops there. There's talk already that another had some part in +mistreating the children." + +"Who?" demanded Mr. Hamlin. + +"Who but the man who lives in the house with her, Mr. Appleton the +schoolmaster." + +"And what can they say against him?" asked Mr. Hamlin. "He's as +straightforward a man as ever I met." + +"He has a little shed back of the house where he keeps some dogs," +explained the other. "The children say that he cures these dogs of +broken bones by magic. They say they've seen him do it; take a stray cur +who limps and say a few words they can't understand, and soon the dog +doesn't limp any more. And the three afflicted children say that he +makes them suffer instead of his wounded pets." + +"They've been put up to this!" exclaimed Mr. Hamlin. "They'd never have +thought of all this for themselves." + +"Maybe," agreed Mr. Glover. "But you know how such matters go. Speak a +word or two against a man or woman, never mind how honest they may be, +and folks seize on it, and before you know it they have a dozen ill +stories to tell against them." + +"The schoolmaster a witch! I'll not believe it!" declared Mat. + +"Nor will I," said Joe. + +Mr. Hamlin smiled. "That's right, boys. Stand to your guns. Mr. Appleton +has some skill at setting broken bones, probably, and that's how he +mends these wounded animals. It's those who believe these charges of +witchcraft who are crazy, in my opinion; not the folks they charge with +having dealings with the Evil One. As for calling Mistress Swan a witch +because of what those children said, any woman might accuse a neighbor +of being a witch because her milk wouldn't churn into butter while that +neighbor happened to be chatting with her." + +"That's about what they have said of some of their witches in Boston," +put in Mr. Glover. "Yet, absurd as this may seem to us, it's likely to +prove fairly serious to Mistress Swan and Mr. Appleton. People don't +stop to use their wits in such affairs nowadays. Call man or woman a +witch, and you're two-thirds of the way to proving him or her one." + +"But the schoolmaster!" protested Mat. He looked at Joe. "In trouble +because those three little rats don't like him! Well, you and I'll stand +by him, won't we, Joe? We'll show people that he's no more a witch than +the minister is, or than Jonathan Leek himself." + +"We will," assented Joe. "I didn't like that Mr. Leek much anyway." + +"And I'll help you," said Mr. Hamlin. Mr. Glover nodded his head. +"Here's four of us at least who'll stand by the schoolmaster," said he, +"and by Mistress Swan too," he added, "for she's likely to be as +guiltless as Thomas Appleton." + + +II + +There were a great number of people in Massachusetts in 1692 who +believed in witches, and quite as many in Salem as in any other town. +Usually there was some old enmity under each charge of witchcraft, +though not always, for in some cases people made their charges +recklessly, apparently enjoying the prominence it brought them, and +thinking little of their victims. In those cases where there was some +old score being paid off, however, the populace usually gave little +attention to that side of it, but were only interested in the facts +brought out to prove that the accused person was a dealer in the Evil +Arts. As Mr. Glover said, "Call a person a witch, and you were +two-thirds of the way to actually proving that he or she was a witch." + +There was school next day, as usual, and Thomas Appleton tried to +appear unconcerned about everything but his scholars' lessons. The three +afflicted children, the two girls and the boy, were not there, having +been kept at home by their parents; and the others, who had all heard +the story about the schoolmaster by now, could see that he had something +on his mind. When school was over Mat and Joe waited until Mr. Appleton +was ready to go, and then joined him on his walk home. At first they +talked about all sorts of things, but presently Mat said, "We wanted you +to know that we're friends of yours, no matter what people may say about +you." + +The schoolmaster smiled, and put his hand affectionately on the boy's +shoulder. "You've heard then that people are saying that Mistress Swan +is a witch, and that I'm another?" + +Both boys nodded. + +"It's the most absurd story in the world," the man went on. "Mistress +Swan is kindness itself to every one, and especially to children. When +she hears of any boy or girl who's ill she takes them jellies and +puddings. I know a thousand things she's done that shows how much she +loves them." + +"And we know how you care for dogs and cats and birds," put in Joe. "And +every one in school, except those three, would follow you anywhere." + +Just then two women, coming along the lane, saw the schoolmaster, and +deliberately crossed to the other side so as to avoid meeting him. +Thomas Appleton reddened, and looked hurt. Then he snapped his fingers, +and muttered, "I'd like to play on my pipe, like that Pied Piper of +Hamelin Town we hear of, and dance away, taking all the children and +animals after me. It would serve you right, you evil-minded folk of +Salem!" + +Presently they came to Mistress Swan's door. "Might we see the shed +where you keep your dogs?" asked Mat. + +"Certainly," said the schoolmaster, and he led them to the little +building back of the house. Inside were half-a-dozen dogs, and those who +could leaped up about Appleton, licked his hands, and showed their +devotion to him. "These two," said he, pointing to a couple of collies, +"need exercise. Would you boys like to go for a walk with the three of +us?" + +The boys said they would, and soon they were out in the open country +back of Salem, master and boys and dogs racing along in the nipping air. +They passed some of their school-fellows playing in a field, and these +joined them, so that presently there was quite a crowd tramping with the +schoolmaster and his dogs, and all enjoying themselves. + +The schoolmaster whistled and sang and laughed as if he had quite +forgotten what people were saying about him in Salem; but when they were +back at Mistress Swan's gate, and all but Joe and Mat had left, he +frowned. "Poor Mistress Swan!" he said. "She can't throw off her +troubles as easily as a man can. And I doubt if any of the neighbors +have come in to see her." + +"We'll come in," said Joe; and as soon as the dogs were housed again +they went in with Mr. Appleton. They found Mistress Swan, a pink-cheeked +woman with soft gray hair, working on a sampler at a window. "I'm right +glad to see you, Mat, and you too, Joe," she said. "Thomas, will you +fetch some apples from the pantry?" + +The schoolmaster brought the apples, and the boys sat near the window, +eating them, and told her of their tramp in the country. Neither Mat nor +Joe could see anything that made them think of a witch in this +sweet-faced woman. + +While they were chatting a resounding thump came at the front door, and +when Mr. Appleton opened it, three grim-faced men walked in. One was the +town clerk, and the other two were constables of Salem. They marched +into the room, with never a bow or "By your leave," or smile of +greeting. Mistress Swan grew a trifle pale, and the boys stood up. "What +do you want?" demanded the schoolmaster in a low voice. + +"We want Mistress Swan," answered the town clerk, his eyes very stern +and forbidding. "She stands accused of dealing in Black Arts and other +evil business. She must go with us to the jail, there to await +examination of the charges brought against her." + +"It's an infamy," cried the schoolmaster, "and a lie! You've known +Mistress Swan for years, and you know her to be as innocent as your own +wives!" + +The town clerk glowered at Thomas Appleton. "Have a care," said he, his +voice like steel scraping on iron. "Have a care lest it be your turn +next, Master Appleton." + +"I care nothing for that," hotly retorted the master. "Gladly would I go +with you in Mistress Swan's place. But to think that you charge her, the +soul of gentleness and kindness to every one, with such an infamous +thing! What can you be thinking of? How can any man or woman or child in +Salem bring such charges against Mistress Swan?" + +"They have been brought, nevertheless," responded the clerk. "There are +three children claim to have been bewitched by her, and there is a man, +Jonathan Leek, who tells of strange happenings." + +"Jonathan Leek?" exclaimed Mistress Swan. "He? Why, 'tis he who claimed +my husband owed him money, and has tried to get payment from me. But we +owed him no money. He's an evil, tale-bearing man; but he knows I am not +guilty of such wicked things as these." + +"All that you can answer to the court," said the clerk. "My business is +only to see you taken into custody." + +"Is there no way by which she may stay here?" asked Appleton. "I will +promise that she will be here when you want her. Or take me as hostage +for her." + +"She must come," said the clerk. "There's been enough talk, and to +spare. Get your cloak and come." + +Mistress Swan rose, folded the sampler and put it away in a closet, and +got out her cloak and hood. She held out her hand to the schoolmaster. +"You've stood by me like an honest man, Thomas. God grant they don't +drag you into this!" + +He took her offered hand and his eyes glowed as he looked into her face. +"If they do you a wrong they shall suffer for it," said he. "There are +honest men in Salem as well as knaves." + +She smiled at the two boys, who were taking in every incident of the +strange scene, and walked out through her doorway, followed by the three +grim-looking men. + +Mr. Appleton paced the floor. "Infamous!" he exclaimed. "The lies of +three wicked children and a villain to stand against the spotless life +of such a woman as she! What is Salem coming to? It should hide its head +in the ocean for very shame of such a crime! Witchcraft! Yes, there must +be witchcraft to make people believe such lies!" He stopped and looked +at the boys. "What was the name of this man who brought the charges?" + +"Jonathan Leek," answered Mat. "Joe and I heard him talking yesterday at +the smithy. A tall black man from Boston, who seemed to know a great +deal about witches." + +"I will find him," said Appleton. "I will make him take back these words +about Mistress Swan, or I will cram them down his throat!" + +"But, Master Appleton," said Joe, "suppose he should make the same +charges against you. He's a dangerous man. And then you would be +arrested, and couldn't be of any help to Mistress Swan." + +The schoolmaster stared at Joe. "That's true," he answered slowly. "I +must keep my head, and tread right warily. Yes, I must not tell these +rascals what I have in my mind about them. But Mistress Swan must be +saved. And, to speak the truth, I don't know where I can go for help to +save her." + +"Joe's father and mine will help," said Mat eagerly. "They both know +Mistress Swan. And the children at school will help, and perhaps their +fathers too. We'll go home now, and tell what has happened." He picked +up his hat, and ran out of the house, Joe at his heels. + +They went straight to Mr. Hamlin's house, and, finding him and his wife +at home, told them of the arrest of Mistress Swan. "I expected as much," +said Mat's father. "All Salem is talking witchcraft to-day, and they +tell the most outrageous stories of Mistress Swan, and worst of all, +half the people seem to believe them." + +"I heard a woman say to-day that Ann Swan gave her baby the croup last +December," said Mistress Hamlin. "They're laying every ache and pain +their children ever had at her door now. It's scarcely to be believed +that people can be so wicked against a kind woman they've known all +their lives." + +"But what's to be done?" said Mr. Hamlin. "As matters stand the court +may find Mistress Swan guilty of witchcraft without any to say a word +on her behalf." + +"Would they listen to me?" asked Mat. "I could tell them how mean and +cruel and hateful John Rowley and Mercy Booth and Susan Parsons are, and +what the rest of us at school think about them." He thought a minute. +"And as to that man, Jonathan Leek, I'd say that both Joe and I thought +him much like a snake." + +"Jonathan Leek?" said Mr. Hamlin. "Tell me all you know about him, Mat." + +Mat, aided by Joe, told what he had heard Mr. Leek say at the smithy, +and also what he had heard Mistress Swan say about him that afternoon. +Mr. Hamlin got paper and pen and made notes, and then they planned what +might be said in answer to the charges against Mistress Swan. "You bring +Master Appleton here after school to-morrow, Mat," said his father. +"Then we'll see what can be done to clear Mistress Ann's good name." + +School met next morning, but there was more excitement than on the day +before, for all the boys and girls had heard how Susan Parsons and Mercy +Booth and John Rowley were telling the most remarkable stories about +being bewitched. The schoolmaster tried to teach the lessons, but it was +plain that he was worried, and that his thoughts were not on the work. +Just before the noon recess, Joe, who was reciting, saw Master Appleton +look up and then stare at the door at the farther end of the room. Joe +turned round to see what was the matter. In the doorway stood the town +clerk, with the same two men who had been at Mistress Swan's. + +The clerk walked down the passageway between the benches, while all the +children stared. He went up to the master's desk, stepped up on the low +platform, and laid his hand on Master Appleton's shoulder. He was +smiling, as though he took a certain pleasure in the work on hand. +"Thomas Appleton," he said, "I arrest you in the name of the court of +Salem. You are charged with witchcraft." + +The schoolmaster pulled his shoulder away from the clerk's hand. He +looked very proud and unconcerned at the charge, as though he were +defying all the officers of Salem. "Very good," said he. "You have +arrested better people than me for such hocus-pocus. I should feel +honored." He shut the school-book that lay open on his desk, and smiled +at the children on the front row of benches. "I suppose, Master Clerk," +he said, "that you chose this hour, when you knew I would be busy with +my scholars, to come to arrest me, so that they might all see the +entertainment, and thus make my arrest as public as possible." + +"It is some of your own scholars who bring part of the charges against +you," retorted the clerk. + +"Aye, I know," said Master Appleton. "But they are not here now. Those +who are here know me better." He looked at the boys and girls, who were +watching intently. "I'm sorry to leave you," he said. "There will be no +school for several days, not until they can find another master to take +my place. They say I deal in witchcraft, that I take wounded animals and +cure them by sending their aches into children, that I can bewitch you +so that you do strange things you couldn't do otherwise. These are just +fairy tales, nonsense, the most absurd of stories. I know no more of +witches than any one of you. There are no such things as witches, there +is no such thing as the Evil Eye. But people in Massachusetts are +believing in them, men and women here in Salem are letting themselves +believe such nonsense. None can say what they will do next. Yet you boys +and girls know there are no such evil spirits; you must stand for the +right and the truth, and deny such falsehoods. You will, I know. You +must help to save Salem such disgrace." + +The children were still for a moment, and then Mat spoke up. "Of course +there are no witches," he said. "We're old enough to know that." He +looked round the room. "All who think as the schoolmaster does, stand +up," he commanded. + +Every boy and girl stood up. + +"I knew it," said the schoolmaster. He turned, smiling, to the clerk. +"The children are wiser than their elders," he said. "There is some hope +for Salem." + +"A very pretty scene," answered the clerk, sarcastically. "But the court +may take a different view of it; they might even think you had the +children bewitched so's they'd do exactly what you tell 'em to." + +"Yes, they might," agreed Master Appleton. "They might use anything +against me. To some minds innocence is always the best proof of guilt. +Yet I didn't bewitch the children; I have only taught them their +lessons, as I was paid to do." He took his hat and cloak from the peg +behind his desk. "I am at your service." + +Smiling at his scholars, Master Appleton walked down the aisle to the +door. As he passed Mat he said, "See to the dogs for me, will you? I +shouldn't like them to go hungry." + +Mat bobbed his head. + +The schoolmaster went out into the lane, with his three guards, while +the children crowded to the door and watched until he turned the corner. + + +III + +The fear of witches, like the fear of the plague in the Middle Ages, +spread over Massachusetts with amazing rapidity in that winter and +spring of 1692, and found one of its chief centers at Salem. Men and +women of standing and education were arrested, as well as those who had +few friends and little learning, and the wildest and most improbable +stories about their actions were told and were believed. As day followed +day the three "afflicted children," John Rowley, Susan Parsons, and +Mercy Booth, told more and more fantastic tales about Mistress Swan and +Master Appleton, and Jonathan Leek spread these stories so thoroughly +that soon there was not a man, woman, or child in Salem, or in the +neighboring country, who had not heard how the accused schoolmaster and +Ann Swan had bewitched the three. To hear a story about witchcraft at +that time was usually to believe it, and many people had condemned the +man and woman in their own minds long before the court took up the case +against them. + +Mat's family, and Joe's family, however, started out with the +determination to save Mistress Swan and Thomas Appleton if it could be +done. Then these two boys urged their schoolmates, none of whom could +believe that the teacher they were so fond of was a witch, to ask their +parents to speak kindly of the two accused persons, and so there was +soon quite a little party in Salem who protested that the two were +innocent. Of course there were many, largely of the more ignorant class, +like Jacob Titus, the blacksmith, and people who had listened to +Jonathan Leek and fallen under his influence, who felt certain that the +schoolmaster and Ann Swan were able to ride about on broomsticks when +they had a mind to. Strange to say, some of the ministers of Salem took +this view too. + +Mr. Hamlin went to the jail and talked with both the prisoners, he +visited the houses of the three "afflicted children" and watched their +strange performances, and he sought out Jonathan Leek, who had suddenly +become a very prominent person, and listened to his oily and mysterious +speeches. Then he wrote letters to friends in Boston, and after a while +he began to find out facts that were scarcely creditable to Mr. Leek's +reputation. He had been driven out of Boston because of the falsehoods +he had uttered about people there; he was described as a cheat, a +swindler, and a man who tried to get money from men and women by +threatening to accuse them of various crimes. Mr. Glover helped in this +work, and so did the two boys, and in addition the boys looked after the +dogs in the schoolmaster's little hospital and reported to Master +Appleton how his charges were getting on. + +People were being condemned and hung as witches in Salem Village and +other places, and things did not look too cheerful for Mat's two +friends. Yet they were both full of patience and courage, and when +people came to them and tempted them to admit that they had ill-treated +the children, had used magic on them, or worked some spell over them, +they always indignantly denied the charges and said such stories were +utterly absurd. "I never raised a finger against a child in my life," +said Mistress Swan at one such time, "and I never will, no matter what +those three may say about me, or what you may do to me." And Master +Appleton would say, "Yes, it is true I have cured a number of dogs, but +not by sending their ills into these children. Surely you must know that +I care as much for children as for animals! Otherwise you'd make me no +better than an ogre." + +"He is an ogre!" cried Jonathan Leek, when he heard what Master Appleton +said. He pointed his lean hand at the crowd who had gathered around him. +"Many a schoolmaster is an ogre in disguise, and chooses that work so +that he may prey on children! I know; I have seen such men before." And +his manner was so impressive as he said this that many people nodded +their heads and murmured to each other that doubtless he was right. + +So matters stood when the two prisoners, whose cases were so much alike +that they were to be considered together, were put on trial in Salem. +Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Glover were there, and their sons, and a lawyer they +had engaged to represent them. The court room was full to overflowing, +and very warm, for it was midsummer. + +"How could any one believe those two guilty of such evil deeds?" said +Mr. Hamlin to his friends, as he looked at the kind and gentle Mistress +Swan and the frank-faced Thomas Appleton. + +"People have believed such charges of men and women who look full as +innocent," answered Mr. Glover. + +Many there in the court room believed that these two were witches as +they listened to the stories the three "afflicted children" told, and +heard Jonathan Leek and other grown men and women testify as to strange +doings they had witnessed. Through all this the two prisoners simply +looked at their fellow-townsfolk, as if wondering that such stories +could be told of them, and when they were asked by the judges if they +had done any of these things, each simply denied all knowledge of such +events. + +Then Mr. Hamlin's lawyer rose, and he had neighbors of Mistress Swan +tell how they had always respected her and how highly they thought of +her, and how kind she had always been to their children. After that Mr. +Hamlin told what he had discovered about the man Jonathan Leek, how Leek +had demanded money from Mistress Swan, and how she had refused to give +him any money, saying that her husband had never owed Leek anything as a +result of their business dealings. Here the lawyer presented an +account-book that showed that, as an actual fact, Jonathan Leek had owed +Richard Swan money, instead of the account standing the other way about. +Leek looked very angry and indignant as Mr. Hamlin and the lawyer +related all these affairs to the court, and when the account-book was +shown he jumped up, protesting loudly, saying, "Figures have nothing to +do with the fact of this woman's being a witch!" But the lawyer retorted +very quickly, "These figures have much to do with the reason why you +charged this woman with witchcraft!" + +When Mr. Hamlin told what he had learned of Jonathan Leek's leaving +Boston the man in black squirmed in his seat, and grew so yellow of face +that Mat whispered to Joe, "He looks like a witch himself now, doesn't +he?" There wasn't much left of the stranger's character when Mr. Hamlin +had finished with him, and even those people who had believed most +implicitly in him began to murmur their doubts to each other. + +Then came the chance for Mat to tell what he knew of Mistress Swan and +Master Appleton. He told how the other children in school had never +liked the three "afflicted children." "Those three liked to hurt +animals," said he. "They stoned cats and dogs, they caught young birds, +and hurt them, and when Master Appleton told them not to be so cruel +they made faces at him and told false stories about him behind his back. +Sometimes he would rescue birds and dogs from them, and try to mend +their hurts, and he has a lot of dogs now in a shed back of Mistress +Swan's house, poor dogs that nobody else would look after, and most of +them he's cured of some hurt. None of us boys in school would believe a +word those three others would say, least of all about Master Appleton, +and we'd all expect them to say ill things about him whenever they got +the chance." Mat said more about the schoolmaster, and Joe followed him, +and then other children, and they were all so evidently sincere, and +showed such affection for the teacher that people began to look more +kindly at him, and to whisper that they'd always heard he was popular at +school. "Against the word of one boy and two girls, who had their own +reasons for disliking this master, we have the witness of these other +children, who all respect and admire him," said the lawyer. "True it is +that he has an almshouse for maimed and neglected animals in his yard, +but should that not rather speak to his credit than against his honesty? +He may know more than most of us about curing sores and broken bones; +but would you accuse a physician of dealing in witchcraft or evil arts +because he helped the suffering who came to him? If you would, then +there must be evil in all men who help their neighbors!" + +Here Jacob Titus, standing in the back of the court room, murmured +behind his hand to the man next him, "I always had my doubts of those +who deal in herbs and such like. There's something magical in the best +of it. And when it's a matter of dogs, why----" he shrugged his +shoulders, meaning clearly enough that that was carrying magic pretty +far. + +There were others who thought as the blacksmith did, for many, having +once got the notion that Mistress Swan and Master Appleton were witches, +couldn't find any way to get that idea out of their heads. Others were +wavering in their opinions, however, and thinking that there might +perhaps be as much truth in the words of this woman whom they had always +known and this schoolmaster of such former good repute as in the words +of three spoiled children and a man who had been driven out of Boston +for misdeeds. + +"There may be witches," the lawyer said, "though it happens that I've +never met with any such myself. There are rumors of witchcraft all +through this province of Massachusetts to-day, and many stories are told +that could scarcely be understood as following the course of nature. But +if we let ourselves suspect such evil things of our neighbors so +readily, who knows when others may suspect such dealings of us as +easily? You," he said, and by chance he was looking at a stout man in +front of him, "may be accused to-morrow because your neighbor's cow +sickened on the day you helped him harvest his crops. You," he looked at +a forbidding-featured woman in a great gray bonnet, "may be called a +witch next week because your suet puddings were too rich for the stomach +of your maid. Or you," and his glance fell on a minister, who sat with a +Bible clasped in his hand, "may be charged with dealings with the Evil +One because your chimney smoked and the sparks frightened a horse upon +the road so that he ran away. This is how such easy suspicions go. +Within a month we may all be witches and warlocks, each man and woman +accusing their nearest neighbors." + +A murmur of protest rose; the idea was not to be put up with; and yet +every one there knew that there was much truth in the speaker's words. + +"It happens that three children and a man from Boston have hit upon +these two prisoners as their victims," went on the speaker, now looking +at the judges, "instead of aiming their shafts at you or me. Yet are +you or I any more honest than this woman who has befriended others, or +this man who teaches and cares for maimed dogs? Are we to be their +judges? Then, as we consider the charges against them, let us remember +that men might bring charges of evil against us also, and consider +whether we know ourselves to be more innocent than they. Look at +Mistress Swan! Look at Thomas Appleton! Are these two witches? Why, men +of Salem, the very children laugh at such a charge!" + +The speaker sat down amid a tense silence. The judges withdrew, +considered the matter in private, and then, returning, announced that in +their opinion the charges of witchcraft against Mistress Swan and Master +Appleton had not been proved by the evidence, and that the two prisoners +might return to their homes. There was a buzz of excited talk for a few +minutes, then neighbors and friends crowded round Mistress Swan and the +schoolmaster and said they had never really believed the evil reports of +them. + +So these two innocent people returned to their home, and men and women +who had been in doubt before as to whether they should believe the tales +of magic now said they had always considered the three "afflicted +children" mischievous brats and wondered that their parents hadn't +whipped them for telling such monstrous falsehoods. As for Jonathan +Leek, when he found that he had no chance to injure Mistress Swan, and +knew that people in Salem were beginning to hear the true story of his +earlier career in Boston, he departed from Salem in haste, probably to +carry his ready-made charges of witchcraft to other towns, where there +might be people against whom he cherished grudges. + +Thomas Appleton returned to his school, and the children liked him +better than ever, and brought him so many lame and footsore dogs to care +for that he said he should have to take the largest building in town to +house them all. The three "afflicted children" didn't go back to school, +though no one knew whether that was because their parents thought they +wouldn't be popular there after what had happened, or because they still +considered that the schoolmaster might bewitch them. + +Naturally enough it took Mistress Swan and Master Appleton some time to +forgive their townsfolk for treating them so badly. But the people did +their best to show them how sorry they felt that they had ever suspected +them of evil dealings, and in time the two returned to their old +attitude of friendliness toward all their neighbors. Neither of them was +the kind to cherish a grudge. + +Other people in Massachusetts, however, who were charged with being +witches were not so fortunate as Ann Swan and Thomas Appleton. Some were +found guilty and were executed for witchcraft. Then, when this strange +and inhuman superstition had run its course, popular feeling changed +quickly. Men and women became ashamed of what they had said and done. +The fear of witches passed into history and became only a strange +delusion of the past. But it had been a very real fear in Massachusetts +in 1692. + + + + +VII + +THE ATTACK ON THE DELAWARE + +(_Pennsylvania, 1706_) + + +I + +Jack Felton, coming back to his home from the woods that lay north of +the town of Philadelphia, on a day in May, 1706, stopped at his +friend's, Gregory Diggs, the shoemaker, to ask for a bit of leather for +a sling he was making. There was an amusing stranger there, a round, +red-faced man, lolling back in his chair, one knee crossed over the +other. Small, sharp-featured Gregory was driving pegs into the sole of a +boot while he listened to the other's talk. The stranger nodded to Jack. +"Howdy-do, my fine young Quaker lad," said he. "Do your boots need +mending?" + +"I want a piece of leather for my sling," said Jack. + +"Oho, so you're playing David, are you? Well, I tell you what, this +settlement of Penn's is going to need all the Davids it can muster one +of these fine days. And that day's not so far off, my friends." + +"What do you mean?" asked Jack, sitting down in the doorway. + +"I mean," said the stranger, "that you simple folk along the Delaware +are like fat sheep that the wolves have sighted. Sea-wolves, they are." +He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his plump knees. "Have you ever +heard of a Frenchman named De Castris?" + +"I have," said Gregory. + +"I haven't," said Jack. + +"Well, the Frenchman has four fast frigates, and he's been cruising up +and down the coast between Long Island and the Chesapeake capes, looking +for English prey. He chased two small English corvettes up the Delaware +almost to Newcastle. He's captured over a score of merchant ships, and a +week ago he landed at Lewes for water and provisions, and carried off +the pick of the live stock there." + +"And what would you have us do, Mr. Hackett?" asked Gregory, picking up +another boot. "Arm, and march up and down the river bank? We're +peaceable people. We try not to make any enemies, and so we don't expect +any enemies to come against us. See how friendly we've lived with the +Indians, while the Virginians have been fighting them all the time." + +The other man smiled, that superior, much-amused smile of the wise man +arguing with the ignoramus. "And the sheep don't make enemies of the +wolves either," said he. "The sheep are peaceable beasts, tending to +their own concerns. But that doesn't keep the wolves from preying on +them, does it? Not by a long chalk, my friend Diggs. As for the Indians, +it's only your good fortune that you haven't stirred them up to attack +you. You don't think they care any more for you because you make +treaties with them, and give them beads and trinkets for their land, and +smoke their pipe of peace?" + +"We've been thinking that," answered Gregory. "We thought we'd been +treating them as good Christians should." + +"Oh, you foolish Quakers!" said Hackett. "You're worse than sheep; +you're like the ostriches that stick their heads in the sand. Look here. +Suppose the Indians should drink too much fire-water some day and make a +raid on your farms; where would your treaties be then? Or +suppose,--what's much more likely,--that this French privateer captain +should take it into his head to sail up the Delaware and levy a ransom +on your prosperous people, and maybe carry off some of your fine Quaker +gentlemen as prisoners. What would you do then?" + +Gregory scratched his head. "I suppose we'd try to fight them off," he +concluded. + +"But you wouldn't be ready. You wouldn't have enough guns, and powder +and shot. And you wouldn't know what to do with the guns if you had +them." + +"Well," the shoemaker repeated patiently, "what would you have us do, +Mr. Hackett?" + +"I want you to prepare, Diggs, I want you to prepare. That's what His +Majesty's other colonies have done. I want you to make sure you have +enough guns and ammunition on hand, and know how to use the muskets. I +want you to set sentries along the river and outposts through the +country to give you warning of any possible attack. And above all I want +you to get rid of this Quaker notion that you can go on getting rich and +prosperous without rousing envy in your neighbors." + +"You don't see much riches right here," said Gregory, glancing round at +his simple, meagrely-furnished shop. + +"No, not here, my honest old friend," agreed Hackett, and he got up and +slapped the shoemaker on the shoulder in a friendly fashion. "But most +of the Philadelphia people aren't like you. They're fat and easy-going, +and they wear good clothes and live in fine houses. They like their +comfort, these people of William Penn." + +"They look more like you than like me," said Gregory, smiling. + +The stout man laughed. "Why, so they do, so they do. But don't put me +down for one of them! I'm no Quaker, Diggs. I'm a good Church of England +man, and I believe in musket and powder-horn." He picked up his +walking-stick, which leaned against his chair, and flourishing it round +his head shot it forward toward Jack Felton as if it had been a +dueling-sword. "There, my young friend," said he, "how would you parry +that? But I forget, Quaker lads aren't taught how to fence." + +Jack laughed at the attitude the stout man had struck. "I know how to +shoot with a bow, even if I can't fence," he retorted. + +"Shoot with a bow--faugh, that's Indian warfare. Sword and musket's +what we want, Master--I don't know your name." + +"Jack Felton," said Gregory. "And he's the son of one of those very +prosperous Quakers you were speaking of, Mr. Hackett." + +"So?" said Hackett. "Well, I trust, Master Felton, that you see the +common sense of my argument, and will persuade your father that it's not +unlikely this French buccaneer De Castris may take it into his head to +visit Philadelphia some day." He put on his hat and picked up his cloak. +"I'm on my way to visit my old friend Governor John Evans, and tell him +of the reports I bring from Chesapeake Bay." + +Jack stood up to let Mr. Hackett pass him, and then stepped into the +shop. "Is what he says about Philadelphia and the Quakers true?" he +asked the shoemaker. + +"I hardly know, Jack. The Friends don't believe in fighting, and maybe +we're not as well prepared for defense as most of our neighbors. We've +kept peace with the Indians by treating them fairly. Charles Hackett +comes from Maryland, where they've had lots of trouble with Indians and +every man goes armed." + +"Suppose that French captain came up the Delaware and did what Mr. +Hackett thought he might?" suggested Jack. + +Gregory shook his head. "I don't know what we'd do. I take it I'm like +most of the others; I don't like to borrow trouble, Jack." + +Jack got the leather for his sling and started home. The stranger's +words stuck in his mind, however. He didn't like to think an enemy might +come up the Delaware and do as he pleased with Philadelphia. It seemed +to him that Mr. Hackett might be right, that the people ought to be +prepared to defend themselves. + +Mr. Felton lived in a big house at the corner of Second and Pine +Streets. He was a well-to-do Quaker and a friend of John Evans, the +Deputy Governor who represented William Penn in the province. After +supper Jack told his father what he had heard at the shoemaker's. +"That's idle talk," said his father. "The Frenchman wouldn't think of +coming to Philadelphia, and if he did we've plenty of men here to +protect the town." + +"But how do you know they'd do it?" Jack asked. "Friends don't believe +in fighting, the stranger said." + +"We don't unless we have to," agreed Mr. Felton. "Don't you bother about +such things, Jack. Leave it to Governor Evans." + +Mr. Felton, however, thinking the matter over, decided that perhaps the +governor ought to know that people were talking about a possible attack +by the French privateers, and so he wrote a note and sent it over by +Jack that evening to the governor's house. + +Jack thought he would like to speak to the governor himself, so he gave +the servant his name, but not his father's note. The servant reported +that Governor Evans would be glad to see Master Felton in his private +office. + +In the office sat the governor and Mr. Charles Hackett. The governor +read Mr. Felton's note. When he looked up he saw that Hackett was +smiling at Jack. "So you've met before, have you?" he said. "It's odd +that this note should be on the very matter we were discussing, +Charles." He handed it to his guest, who read it rapidly. + +"So you told your father of our little chat at the shoemaker's, did +you?" said Hackett. "What did he say to it?" + +"He didn't say very much," Jack answered. "He told me not to bother +about it." + +"You see," said Hackett, looking at the governor. "He said not to +bother. That's what all your good Quaker folks will say, I dare +venture." + +Governor Evans looked very thoughtful. He stroked his smooth-shaven +cheek with his hand. "You may be right," he said finally. "They are a +hard people to rouse, beyond question. I think we'd better try the plan +you and I were talking of, the messenger from New Castle arriving in the +morning with news of what happened there." + +"Make the message strong," advised Hackett. "Burning, plundering, and +pillage." + +Governor Evans nodded his head. "To-morrow will be weekly meeting-day," +he said thoughtfully. "That'll be as good a time as any to try the +plan." He turned to Jack. "Thank your father for his message, and tell +him that I've already heard the news of the French frigates he speaks +of. Good-night." + +Jack bowed to the governor and to Mr. Hackett, who beamed at him and +waved his hand in friendly salute. + +Mystified at the governor's words about a messenger from New Castle and +at Mr. Hackett's mention of burning, plundering, and pillage, Jack went +home, and gave his father the governor's answer to his note. He went to +bed, wondering if it was possible that this quiet little town of +Philadelphia, so peaceably settled on the shore of the Delaware, could +possibly be the object of an enemy's attack. + +Next day was meeting-day, and as Jack, his father and mother, his +younger brother and sister, went to the red brick meeting-house, +Philadelphia was calmly basking in the sunshine of a bright May morning. +As Mr. Hackett had said, most of the people looked prosperous. William +Penn, the proprietor of the province of Pennsylvania, had been generous +in his dealings with the settlers. Land was plentiful, and farms, with +average care and cultivation, produced splendid crops. The houses in the +section near the Delaware, which was the central part of town, stood in +their own gardens, with carefully kept lawns and flower-beds. People +gave each other friendly greetings in passing. It would have been hard +to find a more peaceful-looking community. + +Jack sat quietly through the meeting, and then hurried out of the +meeting-house to join some other boys. A change had come over the street +outside. People were hurrying along it; some were talking excitedly on +the corners. Two stout men, who looked as if they rarely took any +exercise, were going at a double-quick pace toward Chestnut Street. + +"What are they hurrying for?" Jack asked the two other boys who had come +from the meeting-house. + +"I don't know," answered George Logan. + +"Let's go see," said Peter Black. + +The three started for Chestnut Street, a couple of squares away. As they +ran along other boys and men joined them, people who were talking +stopped and headed after the crowd, almost all those who had been to +Meeting showed their curiosity by walking in the same direction. The +quiet street was filled with bustle and noise. + +There were many people at the crossing of Third and Chestnut Streets; +indeed it looked as if most of Philadelphia was there. Jack caught +snatches of sentences. "A messenger from down the river." ... "Word from +New Castle." ... "Going to attack us." ... "The French ships":--such +were some of the words. + +The boys made their way through the crowd until they looked up Chestnut +Street. People were flocking down there too. Jack didn't know there +were so many people in the town as he saw in the streets. Then out from +Fourth Street rode three men on horseback and came down Chestnut toward +the thickest of the crowd. The riders were Governor Evans, his +secretary, and Charles Hackett. + +The governor reined up and held out his gloved hand to silence the babel +of voices. "I have news for you!" he cried. The crowd quieted. "A +messenger has come from New Castle with word that a French squadron is +sailing up the Delaware! They have chased two English ships up the bay! +Their crews landed at Lewes, burned the town, plundered and pillaged, +and carried off prisoners and cattle! To arms, lest we share the same +fate! To arms, to defend our homes and families! Get your arms and make +ready to obey the orders I shall issue later!" He drew his sword and +pointed it toward the Delaware. "Let us show the enemy we are ready for +him!" + +There was a moment's silence, then a few shouts, then the crowd began to +make away by the side-streets, talking excitedly, gesticulating, very +much startled at the governor's news. They knew that the English and +Dutch settlements along the Atlantic Ocean had often had to defend +themselves against enemies, both white and red, but here in Pennsylvania +there had practically been no need of defense; they had always been on +good terms with their Indian neighbors, and no other enemies had +appeared. Now the French privateers meant to treat their town as they +had already treated Lewes. Burn, plunder, and pillage! There was no good +reason for such an attack. They had done nothing to harm the French. +They couldn't understand why any one should wish to make war on them +when they were such peaceable people, always strictly minding their own +business. Yet there were the governor's words that the French frigates +were sailing up the Delaware, and word had already reached the town +through other channels telling of the attack on Lewes, though the other +reports hadn't made the matter out as bad as had the governor's +messenger. Well, it looked as though, Quakers or not, they would have to +do as Governor Evans bade. + +Jack ran all the way home. Everywhere people were telling each other the +news. Even in front of the meeting-house there was an excited group. +Philadelphia was no longer peaceful; there was an entirely new thrill in +the air. + +Jack's family had not yet returned. He hurried into the house, and up to +the attic where his father's musket hung on the wall. He took it down, +he found a powder-horn in a chest, he pulled out a sword from behind +some boxes in a corner. With musket and sword and powder-horn in his +arms he went down-stairs. The family were just coming in from the +street. He held out sword and musket. "Here are our arms, father!" he +exclaimed. + +Mr. Felton could not help smiling at the excited face of his son. "You +don't intend to be caught napping, do you, Jack?" said he. "Well, I +don't think the French will attack us before dinner. You'd better put +the weapons away for a while." + + +II + +There were not many people in Philadelphia who took the governor's call +to arms as lightly as did Mr. Felton. Most of them were scared half out +of their wits, and pictured to themselves the French raiders marching +into their houses and carrying off all their valuables, to say nothing +of ill-treating themselves. They did not stop to consider that the men +of Philadelphia must greatly outnumber the raiders, and that, properly +armed, they ought to have little trouble in keeping the enemy at bay. +All they appeared to think of was that the enemy were fierce, fighting +men, and that they must hand over their precious household goods at the +pirates' demand. + +Many households had no firearms at all, for the province had had small +need of them. But even where there were muskets the men seemed very +little disposed to make them ready for use. The Quakers didn't want to +fight, that was the long and short of it. Wherever men did get out their +muskets and prepare to obey the governor's summons to defense they were +in almost all cases men who were not Quakers. But the Quakers did not +intend to hand over their valuables if they could possibly help it. + +Some bundled their silver and other prized possessions into carriages +and wagons and drove their families out into the country, far from the +Delaware. They took shelter in farmhouses and even in barns, intending +to stay there until the French frigates should have come and gone. +Others simply took their possessions out of town and hid them in the +woods, returning to their homes in town. Every one seemed to be busy +hiding whatever they could; much more concerned about that than about +preparing for defense, as Governor Evans wanted. + +Though his father was inclined to go slowly both in arming and in hiding +their valuables, Jack Felton was not. The boy who lived in the next +house, Peter Black, had a talk with Jack right after dinner. Peter +Black's mother was a widow, and Peter felt that it was his duty to save +the family heirlooms, as he saw the neighbors planning to save theirs. +So Peter and Jack hurried out into the country north of Philadelphia. +Since the French ships would come from the south they thought the +northern country would be the safer. Their road took them by Gregory +Diggs' shop, on the outskirts of town, and they stopped there for a few +minutes. + +The little shoemaker had his gun lying on the table. "Well, Master +Jack," he said, grinning, "I hear the governor's given the alarm. I got +out my gun so as not to disappoint Mr. Hackett if he comes along." + +"We're going to look for a good place to hide things," said Jack. "What +are you going to do with the things in your house?" + +Gregory looked round his shop, at the unplastered walls, the plain, +home-made furniture, the few pots and pans that stood near his hearth. +"I don't think there's much here for me to hide," said he. "The French +can take all my goods if they want to. I could make boots out under a +tree if they care to burn my house. You see that's one of the advantages +of being poor, you don't lose any sleep thinking about robbers." + +"Peter's mother has a lot of things the raiders might take," explained +Jack. "Do you know a good hiding-place?" + +"There's a place up in the woods, along a creek, that ought to be pretty +safe," said Gregory. "I'll go along to show you." + +Shouldering his musket, which seemed to be his one valuable possession, +the shoemaker led the two boys along the road to the woods. There he +took a path that presently brought them to a little stream. The banks +were covered with violets right down to the water's edge. "There's a +cave in the bank a little farther up-stream," he said. "I'll show you +some stepping-stones." + +They crossed by the stones and found the place where the bank revealed +an opening. It was quite large enough to hold all that Peter wanted to +stow away. "I'll make a door so no one will suspect it's there," said +Gregory. + +He took out his knife, and hunting among the trees found several where +the bark was covered with gray-green lichens. Stripping off these pieces +of bark he brought them back to the cave. Then he took some narrow +strips of leather from his pocket, such strips as shoemakers use for +lacing, and making eyelets near the edges of the bark, he fastened them +together with the lacings. This made a bark cover more than big enough +to close the opening in the bank. Gregory set it in place, then trimmed +the edges so that it fitted neatly. He dug up some of the clumps of +violets and replanted them at the base of the bark door. "Now I'll defy +any one to find that cave," he said. "It's the safest hiding-place in +the province of Pennsylvania." + +"I'll mark a couple of trees so I can find it again," said Peter. With +his knife he cut some notches in a couple of willows that bordered the +stream. As they went back through the woods both boys noted the trail +carefully, so that they might readily find it another time. + +On the road wagons and carriages passed them, people flying out of town +through fear of the enemy. The shoemaker, his musket perched on his +shoulder, in spite of his small size was the most martial figure to be +seen. "I'm afraid our good folk are more bent on hiding than on +fighting," Gregory said with a chuckle. "Well, perhaps I'd be the same +if I had something to hide." + +"Do you think Mr. Hackett was right about our people not being ready to +fight?" Jack asked. + +"I think it looks very much that way," said Gregory. "I've seen a lot of +people on this road to-day, but not one with a gun." + +Leaving Gregory at his house, Jack and Peter walked east to the river +and followed the foot-path along the Delaware. Skiffs, filled with +household goods, were being rowed up-stream. Families were seeking +refuge in the country north of town. Men and boys along the shore were +calling words of advice or derision to the rivercraft. At one place a +man was shouting, "There's the French frigates coming up on the Jersey +side!" The rowers paddled faster, glancing back over their shoulders to +see if the alarm was true. The man who had shouted and the others within +hearing on the bank laughed at the rowers. The only boats on the +Delaware appeared to be those manned by frightened householders. + +"Nobody's doing anything to build defenses in case the French frigates +do come," said Jack. And indeed there was not a sign of defense anywhere +along the shore. If the frigates came they could fire at Philadelphia +without an answering shot. + +When they reached the center of the town the boys found the same +confusion. People were talking on street-corners; some were reading the +notices that Governor Evans had posted, calling on the men to meet him +next day with arms and ammunition. He stated that he wanted to organize +a well-equipped militia in case there should be any need of defense. +But the boys heard none speak with enthusiasm of the governor's plan. + +When he got home Jack told his father what he and Peter had done. "Would +you like me to take some of our things there too?" he asked. "I'm sure +no one could possibly find the place." + +"No," said Mr. Felton, "I think we'll keep our things in our own house. +I'm not going to be driven into hiding just because of a rumor." Even +Mr. Felton, intelligent man though he was, did not seem inclined to look +with favor on the notion of armed defense. + +After supper Jack saw the man who lived across the street putting some +boxes into a cart before his door. Jack watched him cord and strap the +boxes in the cart. "I'm taking my wife and baby into the country for a +few days," the neighbor explained. + +"And you're coming back yourself?" Jack asked. + +"I don't think so." The neighbor shook his head. "I'm not a fighting +man; I don't believe in shedding blood. I'm sure no good Quaker could +approve of warfare. I'll stay away till the town's quiet again." + +"But suppose the French take the town and hold on to it," said Jack. +"Perhaps you couldn't get your house again." + +"Well, there's plenty of country for us all," answered the other. + +"I suppose you're right," said Jack. "Most people seem to think as you +do. But somehow I can't understand how so many people are willing to +give in to so few. Aren't our men in Philadelphia as big and strong as +the Frenchmen?" + +"Why yes, of course they are, Jack. But the French come with firearms, +and we don't approve of firearms. We'd be glad to reason with them, if +they'd listen to us. But men with guns don't generally want to listen to +reason." + +"And because they won't listen we run away," said Jack. "I can't +understand that." + +"You will when you're older," said the man, and went indoors for another +box. + +Jack went to Peter Black's, and helped him put his mother's silverware +and valuables, securely tied in a sack, into a small hand-cart. Together +the boys pushed the cart through the town and in the direction of the +hiding-place. They secreted the sack in the cave beside the brook, and +trundled the cart back to Gregory's shop. The night was fair and warm, +and the shoemaker was sitting outside his house. "The town must be +pretty empty by now," he said. "I've seen so many people hurrying away. +Soon there'll be nothing left there but the governor and some stray cats +and dogs. All our good citizens seem to prefer to spend the spring in +the country." + +"Come down to the Delaware with us, Mr. Diggs," urged Jack. "We wanted +to leave Peter's cart here and go back by the river. It's fine at +night." + +"I know what you want," said Gregory, nodding very wisely. "You want to +catch the first sight of the French frigates. Very well, I'll go along +with you. Only you must let me get my pistol. I'm not going to be caught +unarmed by the enemy." + +The shoemaker, his pistol stuck in his belt, and the two boys struck +across for the river. The sky was full of stars, and when they reached +the bank they could easily make out the low-lying Jersey shore across +the Delaware. All shipping, except a few small skiffs, had disappeared. +"The big boats have run before the storm," said Gregory, "and the little +ones are ready to make for the creeks at the first alarm. The French +won't find any shipping here at any rate." + +They went along the shore until they came to the southern end of the +town. Even on the wharves there were very few men. "I think we'll have +to be the lookouts," said Gregory, with a chuckle. "Here's a pile of +logs. Let's sit here and watch for the frigates." + +Down the three sat, the little shoemaker in the middle. "I think," said +Jack thoughtfully, "that you're the only person in town who'd want to +fight the enemy, unless perhaps Governor Evans would. I think I'd hate +to run away as soon as we saw his ships. Wouldn't you hate to, Peter?" + +"Now we've hid those things," said Peter, "I'd like to stay and see the +fun." + +"Of course you would," agreed Gregory. "I'll tell you how it is, my +lads. There aren't many adventurers in this sober town of ours, only a +few boys and an old shoemaker." + +Jack glanced at the little man, and caught the glint of starlight on the +barrel of his pistol. "I shouldn't think you'd care for adventures as +much as some other people would,--well, as my father would or the man +who lives across the street from us." + +Gregory clapped his hand on Jack's knee. "That's just the puzzle of it," +he said. "You never can tell who are the real adventurers. Most boys +are; but when they grow up they forget the taste and smell of adventure. +They don't want to think of any pirates stealing up the Delaware. They +don't want to have any pirates anywhere." + +"I like pirates," announced Peter. + +"Of course you do," said Gregory, clapping his free hand on Peter's +knee. "So do I. I like to think there's a chance of those frigates +pointing up the river any minute. But most of the people in town would +say I was mad if I told them that. They'd say it was because I hadn't +anything to lose. It's riches that make folks cautious." + +"I see a light down there!" exclaimed Peter, pointing down the shore. + +All three jumped up and peered through the darkness. The light proved to +be a lantern in the bow of a small skiff skirting the bank. "That's not +the frigates," said Gregory. "I almost hoped it was. Well, I don't +suppose the safety of Philadelphia depends on our keeping watch any +longer to-night. It's getting late. Come on, my brave adventurers." + +Back to town they went, and said good-night to Gregory. As Jack passed +the governor's house he saw a familiar figure standing at the front +gate. The stout Mr. Hackett likewise recognized Jack. "So you've not +fled from town like the rest?" said the man from Maryland. "The +governor's called the men to meet him to-morrow in the field on Locust +Street; but I misdoubt if there'll be many left to join him." + +"There's one who will be there," answered Jack, pointing down the street +after Gregory. + +"Who's that?" inquired Mr. Hackett. + +"Gregory Diggs, the shoemaker. He's got a gun and a pistol, and he won't +run away." + +"The little shoemaker?" said Mr. Hackett. "So he's a fighting man, is +he? I've always liked him, but I didn't know he had so much spirit." + +"He's a real adventurer," declared Jack. "He thinks it may be because +he's poor and hasn't any family; but I don't think that's it. I think he +couldn't help being that way anyhow. I want to be like him when I grow +up." + +"Good for you!" exclaimed Mr. Hackett. "Then I suppose we may count on +having you at the governor's muster to-morrow." + +"I'll be there," said Jack. "I'm big enough to handle a gun." + +"I'll be there too," put in Peter, who had been listening to the talk +with the greatest interest. + +"Good enough," said Mr. Hackett. "Gregory and you boys ought to put some +of these smug people to shame. I'll look for you at the meeting in the +morning." + + +III + +Jack and Peter were at the meeting-place on Locust Street next morning, +although each only brought a heavy stick as his weapon of defense. +Jack's father had refused to let his son have the musket, saying that he +would be much more apt to harm himself with it than to injure an enemy. +Mrs. Black had not only forbidden Peter to handle anything that would +shoot, but had intimated that she thought Governor Evans and all the +people who went to his militia meeting were behaving much more like +savages than like good Christians. So the boys had to put up with the +hickory sticks for weapons, though each carried a sling and a pocketful +of pebbles, which might be useful for long-distance fighting. + +Gregory was there with his gun, and the three friends stood under the +shade of a maple and waited for the rest of the volunteer army to +appear. A few men and boys were lounging out in the road, apparently +more interested in watching what was going to happen than in taking part +in it. "Where are our gallant soldiers?" said Gregory, with a grin. + +Jack counted the men who had come, with their muskets, into the field. +"Six besides us," he announced. + +"That'll make a good-sized army," said Gregory, a twinkle in his eye. + +There were only the six others at the meeting-place when Governor Evans, +his secretary, and Mr. Hackett arrived. The governor looked disgusted. +He muttered to his two companions. Then he beckoned the seven men and +the two boys toward him. "So this is Philadelphia's volunteer militia, +is it?" he said. "These are the troops I could count on to defend our +homes from an enemy?" Then his angry brow softened. "I don't blame you, +my good friends. You are doing your best. But I shouldn't like to +express my opinion of your fellow-townsfolk." + +The governor turned to Hackett "I might as well disband the militia, eh? +The night-watchmen of the town will furnish as good defense." + +"Unless you choose to keep your army of seven men and two boys to shame +the worthy citizens," suggested Hackett. + +"You can't shame them!" snorted Governor Evans. "Their heads are made of +pillow-slips stuffed with feathers; and goose-feathers at that!" He +looked again at the volunteer soldiers. "My secretary will take your +names," he said, "and I'll know who to call on if I need help. Many +thanks to you all." + +As they were leaving the field Hackett came over to Gregory and the two +boys. "I suspected your good people would act like this," said he. +"Though I'd no idea that only seven men would put in an appearance. I'll +have to wash my hands of your Quaker colony. I never saw anything to +equal it. The Saints keep you from trouble! I doubt if you'll be able to +keep yourselves out of it." + +Now Gregory was a little nettled at the other's superior manner. "We've +been able to keep out of it so far," he retorted, "and I don't see but +what charity toward others mayn't keep us out of it in the future. +William Penn is a just man, and has bade us act justly toward all +others. We hoped to leave fighting and all warlike things behind us when +we left Europe. Because there's been fighting in Massachusetts and +Virginia is no reason why there should be such matters here." + +"So you think Penn's colony is different from the others, do you?" asked +Hackett. + +"I think you and your Cavalier friends in Maryland are more eager to +draw your swords than we are here," said the shrewd shoemaker. + +"Now, by Jupiter, I think you're right!" agreed Hackett, with a laugh. +"Every man to his own kind. I much prefer Lord Baltimore to your good +William Penn. I've seen enough of your worthy Quaker tradesmen. I must +get back to Chesapeake Bay." + +Jack and Peter, sitting on the steps of Mr. Felton's house that +afternoon, saw a number of men who worked on the river-front go past in +the street, guns in their hands. There were five or six in the first +group, then a few more, then a larger number. There were small farmers +from the southern side of the town, there were servants, there were +negroes. None of those who went by appeared to be of the wealthy, Quaker +class. "Where are they going?" Jack asked presently. + +"Let's go find out," suggested Peter. + +The boys followed the groups, which grew in size as men from other +streets joined in the current. They went to Society Hill on the +outskirts of the town. There a crowd had already gathered, some with +firearms, some without. The boys pushed their way through the crowd +until they reached the front edge. There they heard one speaker after +another addressing the throng. The speakers all declared that they would +go to the governor, ask for weapons, and tell him they were ready to +march against the enemy whenever he should give the order. + +Nearly seven hundred men met on Society Hill that day and volunteered +for military service. Perhaps the word had gone around that the leading +men of the colony had failed to meet the governor, and these men meant +to show that there were some at least he could rely on. However that +was, this gathering shamed the other meeting, and when it broke up it +sent its delegates to report to Governor Evans. + +The boys stopped to tell Gregory Diggs what they had seen. + +"Aye," said Gregory, when he had heard the type of men who made up this +second meeting, "wealth and position make men timid. And then Quakers +are over-cautious folk. I know how it is. I found it hard enough to +shoulder my gun and make up my mind to join the militia. Like as not I +wouldn't have volunteered at all if you two boys hadn't seemed to shame +me into it. But that's the way it is, our good, respectable folk won't +fight, and the only ones the governor can rely on are the poor and the +down-at-heels, and a penniless shoemaker and two boys. Master Hackett +was right about Penn's province." + +At his home Jack told his father of the day's happenings. "And I'm very +much surprised our friends and neighbors didn't help Governor Evans +better," he concluded. + +"Only seven at one meeting, and a great many at the other?" said Mr. +Felton. "Well, that shows our friends aren't very warlike, doesn't it, +Jack?" + +"But I think they ought to be," protested the boy. + +"So does Governor Evans," agreed Mr. Felton. "And it's my opinion that +he and that truculent friend of his, Charles Hackett, planned this whole +scare just to see how warlike the people of Philadelphia are. I think he +arranged to have that messenger arrive from Maryland with that story +about the French frigates. It's true enough they landed at Lewes, but +they did little harm there beyond taking a few cattle and some wood and +water they needed. I don't believe they had the slightest intention of +coming up the river to Philadelphia. But it gave the governor a good +chance to see what the people would do if the French had been coming." + +"Most of the people believed it, or they wouldn't have hidden their +valuables, and so many of them run away," said Jack. + +"Oh, yes, they believed it," assented Mr. Felton. "And I guess the +governor is thoroughly out of temper with most of us. But as a matter of +fact he didn't need any militia to protect us from a raid." + +That was the truth of the situation, as Philadelphia found out a few +days later. The governor had laid a plot to find out what the people +would do if their town were threatened with attack by an enemy. He +thought that the Delaware River was insufficiently protected. He wanted +to form a strong militia. His ruse had worked; but to his disgust he +found that the more respectable and wealthy part of the community, the +Quaker portion, had no wish either to strengthen the defenses of the +Delaware or to enroll in a militia. His stratagem had at least taught +him that much about them. + +The Quakers brought the goods they had hidden back to town; those who +had gone into the country returned to their homes as soon as it was +known that the French frigates had sailed down the Delaware to the sea +instead of up it to Philadelphia. They did not like Governor Evans for +the trick he had played on them. As the governor himself said, "For +weeks afterward they would stand on the other side of the street and +make faces at me as I passed by." + +As a result of the governor's stratagem most of the Quakers in +Philadelphia signed a petition to William Penn, who was then in England, +urging him to remove Evans from the governorship. William Penn did not +like to do this. He had appointed Evans at the suggestion of some very +powerful men at the English Court, and he did not want to antagonize +them, or Evans himself for that matter, for so slight a cause. He wrote +a letter to Evans, however, mildly reproving him for the trick he had +played, and making it clear that he himself was no more in favor of +warlike measures than were the Quakers in his colony. Governor Evans +held his office for almost three years after this event, and was finally +called back to England for very different reasons. + +Penn's province did have less warfare than the neighboring colonies, +partly because of the just way in which Penn and his settlers dealt with +the Indians, partly by good fortune. No enemy attacked Philadelphia. But +as men pushed out into the country west of the Delaware they began to +come into conflict with the Indians. Often these settlers were able to +protect themselves, but sometimes they felt that the men living securely +in Philadelphia ought to help them in their effort to enlarge the +province. After the defeat of the English General Braddock by French and +Indians in western Pennsylvania the settlers found the Indians more +difficult to handle. So the men of the frontier formed independent +companies of riflemen and fought in their own fashion. They demanded, +however, that the governor and General Assembly at Philadelphia should +aid them with supplies, if they were unwilling to furnish soldiers. + +The Assembly in Philadelphia refused to send the supplies. The news +spread along the border, and the settlers, the mountaineers and +trappers, set out for the Quaker city on the Delaware. Four or five +hundred of them marched into town, men clad in buckskin, their hair worn +long, armed with rifles, powder-horns, bullet-pouches, hunting-knives, +and even tomahawks they had taken from Indians. Philadelphia was used to +seeing a few of such hunters on her streets, but the good people grew +uneasy at the appearance of so many of them at one time. The +mountaineers swaggered and blustered as they passed the quiet Quakers. +They let it be known that if the Assembly refused to vote them the +supplies they wanted they would take supplies wherever they could find +them. + +Pressed by the frontiersmen, the Assembly finally voted the supplies. +Then the men in buckskin went back to hold the borders against the +Indians. + +Later, however, Philadelphia received another visit from much more +unruly mountaineers. A large number of these men, known as the Paxton +boys, met a battalion of British regulars at Lancaster, demanded the +latter's horses and ammunition wagons, and told them that "if they fired +so much as one shot their scalps would ornament every cabin from the +Susquehanna to the Ohio." + +The regulars didn't fire, and the mountaineers helped themselves to +everything they wanted and set out for Philadelphia. Some Indians were +being held as prisoners in the town, and the Paxton boys, growing +insolent with power as they saw British regulars and Quaker farmers +yielding to their orders, determined to make the people of Philadelphia +give the Indians to them. The mountaineers marched to the high ground of +Germantown, north of the town, nearly a thousand in number, and sent +their envoys to the town officers. The officers knew, quite as well as +Governor Evans had known before, that there was no militia sufficient to +take the field against the frontiersmen, and that the citizens would +never arm against them. The leading people of the town went to talk with +the Paxton boys, trying to persuade them to leave peacefully. Finally by +agreeing to give the mountaineers everything they asked, except only the +opportunity to massacre the captive Indians, the townspeople succeeded +in persuading their unwelcome visitors to leave. For long, however, the +men of the frontiers and the mountains looked on the people who dwelt +along the Delaware as a cowardly race, who had to be bullied before +they would do their share in protecting the province. + +The governors of Pennsylvania were not always as fair in dealing with +their neighbors as the people were. When John Penn, grandson of William +Penn, held the office of governor he sent a gang of rascals to attack +men from Connecticut who had settled in the Wyoming Valley, which was +claimed by Penn as part of his province. The settlers had built homes +and planted crops in the Wyoming Valley, and they had no intention of +letting John Penn's mercenary troopers despoil them without a fight. +They built a fort, and defied the governor's soldiers. John Penn's men +had finally to retreat before their stubborn resistance. + +The attack on the Wyoming settlers was in 1770, and only five years +later the men of Lexington and Concord fired the shots that were to echo +from New Hampshire to Georgia. In the war that followed Pennsylvania did +her part. Philadelphia, then the leading city of the colonies, became +the home of the new government. In the very street where Governor Evans +had urged the townsfolk to organize a militia to fight a few French +frigates, men went to Independence Hall to proclaim a Declaration of +Independence against the king of England. No one could have accused +Philadelphia in July, 1776, of a lack of patriotic spirit. The Liberty +Bell rang out its message to all, to the Quaker descendants of William +Penn's first settlers as well as to those of other faiths who had come +to his province since, and all alike responded to its appeal to proclaim +liberty throughout the world. + + + + +VIII + +THE PIRATES OF CHARLES TOWN HARBOR + +(_South Carolina, 1718_) + + +I + +Antony Evans was rowing slowly round the southern point of Charles Town, +the bow of his boat pointing out across the broad expanse of water that +lay to the east. It was early morning of a bright summer day, and the +harbor looked very inviting, the breeze freshening it with little +dancing waves of deep blue, tipped with silver, and bringing the salt +fragrance of the ocean to the sunlit town. Deep woods ringed the bay; +here and there tall, stately palmettos standing out on little headlands, +looking like sentries stationed along the shore to keep all enemies +away. + +Antony loosened his shirt at the throat and rolled his sleeves higher up +on his sunburned arms. He had finished school a few days before, and was +to have a fortnight's holiday before starting work in his father's +warehouse. He loved the water, the two rivers that held his home-town in +their wide-stretched arms; the little creeks that wound into the +wilderness, teeming with fish and game; the wide bay, and the open +ocean. His idea of a holiday was to fish or swim, row or sail, and he +meant to spend every day of his vacation on the water. In the bow of his +boat was a tin box, and in that box were bread and cold meat and cake, +and a bottle of milk--his lunch, and possibly his supper too. + +Slowly the town receded across the gleaming water. It grew smaller and +smaller as Antony watched it from his boat, until it looked to him like +a mere handful of toy houses instead of the largest settlement in His +Majesty's colony of South Carolina. He half-shut his eyes and rested on +his oars, letting the wind and the waves gently rock his boat. Now +Charles Town became a mere point, a spot of color on the long, level +stretch of green. He opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder at the +wide expanse of blue. Then he pulled toward the southern shore, planning +to follow it for a time. There would be more shade there as the sun grew +warmer. + +The depths of the woods looked very cool and inviting as he rowed along +close to them. Great festoons of gray moss hung from the boughs of the +live-oaks, festoons that were pink or pale lavender where the sun shone +on them. He paddled along slowly, letting the water drip from the blades +of his oars, until the town had disappeared around the curve of the +forest and he was alone with the waves and the trees. + +The sun, almost directly overhead, and his appetite, presently suggested +to him that it was time for lunch. He chose a little bay with a sandy +beach, and running his boat aground, landed, carrying the precious tin +box with him. There was a comfortable mossy seat under a big palmetto, +and here he ate part of his provisions, and then, rolling his coat into +a pillow, prepared to take a nap. The air was full of spices from the +woods, warm and sleep-beguiling; he had slept an hour before he waked, +stretched his rested muscles, and went back to the boat. + +He had a mind to do a little exploring along this southern shore. The +water was smooth, and he felt like rowing. Rapidly he traveled along the +shore, peering into bays and inlets, covering long stretches of thick +forest, while the sun made his westward journey, the air grew cooler, +and the shade stretched farther across the sea. There would be a moon to +see him home again, and he was weatherwise enough to know that he had +nothing to fear from the wind. + +The sun was almost setting when the rowboat rounded a wooded point and +swung into a bay. Antony was following the shore-line, so he did not +bother to look around, but pulled steadily ahead, keeping about the same +distance from the bank. Then, to his great surprise, a voice directly +ahead hailed him. "Look where you're going, son! Ease up a bit on your +oars, and you'll get to us without bumping." + +He looked around and saw three men fishing from a boat. They must have +kept very quiet not to have attracted his attention. He slowed the +speed of his boat by dragging his oars in the water, but even so he +swept pretty close to the fishermen, and one of them, with a quick turn +of his own oar, brought the larger boat side-on to Antony's. + +"Pull in your oar," the man ordered. To avoid a collision Antony obeyed. +The man caught the gunwale of Antony's boat, bringing the two side by +side. + +All three of the men were grinning. "Well, now, lad," said the man at +the oars, "where were ye bound at such a pace? Going to row across the +ocean or down to St. Augustine? Bound out from Charles Town, weren't +ye?" + +Antony smiled. "I was doing a little exploring," he answered. "I didn't +know there were any fishermen down along here." + +The man's grin widened. "Ye didn't, eh? Well, there's quite a lot of us +fishermen down along here. Take a look." He gestured over his shoulder +with his thumb. Antony turned and saw that at the other end of the bay +were a number of boats, men on the beach, and that the hull and spars of +a good-sized ship stood out beyond the trees of the next headland. + +The man in the bow of the other boat, a slim, dark fellow with a +straggling black mustache, pulled in his fishing-line. "An' now you've +done your exploring, you'll make us a little visit. It wouldn't do to go +right back to Charles Town to-night." He stood up, and with the agility +of a cat stepped from his boat to Antony's and sat down on the +stern-seat. + +Antony had plenty of nerve, but somehow neither the words of the man at +the oars nor the performance of the dark fellow was altogether +reassuring. The two men now in the other boat were big swarthy chaps, +with many strange designs tattooed on their brawny arms; and the one who +sat in the stern wore gilded earrings and had a good-sized sheath-knife +fastened to his belt. They didn't look like the men he was used to +seeing about Charles Town. + +They weren't disagreeable, however. The man at the oars gave Antony's +boat a slight shove, which sent them some distance apart, and then +dropped his fishing-line into the water again. "See you two later," he +said, still grinning. "Keep an eye on the lad, Nick." + +Nick sat leaning forward, his arms on his knees, his black eyes +twinkling at Antony. "Don't you be feared of this nest," said he. "I +don't say that some mightn't well be, but not a lively young limb like +you. What's your name?" + +Antony told him. "And why might some be afraid?" he asked, his curiosity +rising. + +"Because," said Nick, "that sloop round the point belongs to old man +Teach, and she flies a most uncommon flag at her masthead." + +"Blackbeard!" exclaimed the boy, his eyes wide with surprise and sudden +fear. + +"Now don't be scared," said Nick. "Some do call him Blackbeard, but he +don't make trouble if he's handled right." + +"They said he was down around the Indies, after Spanish ships," said +Antony. + +"He's been in a good many places," said the other. "Spanish galleys pay +well, but trade's trade, wherever you find it." + +This Nick was a pleasant fellow, with nothing piratical-looking about +him, unless you considered the skull and crossbones tattooed on his +right forearm as a sign of his trade. He smiled in a very friendly +fashion. "We've got a little matter on hand now that brings us up to +Charles Town. Some of the crew's sick, and we want drugs and other +things for 'em." He chuckled, as though the notion was amusing. "Pirates +get sick just like other folks sometimes," he added. He pointed to the +beach ahead of him. "Row us up there, Tony." + +There was nothing for Antony to do but obey, and somewhat assured by the +mild manner of Nick, he pulled at his oars until the boat grounded in +shallow water. "Don't mind a little wetting, do ye?" said Nick, stepping +over the side. Antony followed, and they drew the boat high and dry on +the shore. "Come along," said Nick, and he turned to lead the way. + +[Illustration: NICK TURNED TO LEAD THE WAY] + +Men were working on a couple of overturned skiffs, men were lounging +about doing nothing, men who looked nowise different from the fellows +Antony saw in his own town. They paid no particular attention to him, +and Nick led him along the shore through the woods that covered the +headland, and out on the other side. Here was a snug harbor, with a +good-sized ship at anchor, men on the shore and more men on the ship's +deck. + +Nick shoved a small boat into the water, motioned to Antony to climb in, +and with a few strokes brought them to the ship's side. He made the boat +fast, and climbed a short rope-ladder to the deck. "Don't be scared," he +muttered; "he don't eat boys." He led the way to where a stocky man with +a heavy black beard sat in a chair smoking a long pipe. + +"Here's a lad," said Nick, nodding to the chief, "we picked up as he was +rowing down along the coast from Charles Town. He wanted a taste of salt +air, and something better to do than what he'd been doing. And we didn't +want him to go back home and tell what he'd seen down here." + +Blackbeard was certainly black, and there was a scar on one side of his +face that didn't add to the beauty of his appearance, but he wasn't +ferocious-looking, not as fierce in fact as several men Antony knew at +home. He puffed at his pipe a minute before he spoke. + +"We're going up to the town to-morrow morning," he said. "What's the +talk about us there?" + +"They thought you were chasing Spanish ships from Cuba and St. +Augustine," answered Antony, "and I think they were pretty glad you were +doing it." + +"They were, eh?" snorted Blackbeard. "That's always the way of it! +Fight the enemy and you're a hero, but don't for the love of Heaven come +near us. Smooth-faced rascals all! Keep an eye on him, Nick," and he +jerked his head to show that the audience was over. + +"Not so terrible, was he?" said Nick, as they went aft. "Now I'll show +you some folks you know." They came to the window of the cabin, and he +indicated that he wanted Antony to look inside. Half a dozen men and a +couple of small boys were in the cabin, a most disconsolate-looking lot. +To his great surprise Antony recognized the nearest as Mr. Samuel Wragg, +a prominent merchant of Charles Town. The faces of all the others were +familiar to him. "What's Mr. Wragg doing there?" he demanded. "He isn't +a pirate, too?" + +"No, he's no pirate," chuckled Nick. "He's what you might call a +hostage. You see, all that merry-looking crowd sailed from your town a +few days ago, bound for England, but we met their ship when she reached +the bar and we asked 'em to come on board us. Thought we might be able +to accommodate 'em better, you see. We overhauled eight ships within a +week out there, and that's pretty good business, better than what we've +done with your Spanish Dons lately. But there's no denying the Dons do +carry the richer cargoes." + +"And what are you going to do with them?" asked Antony. + +"That's for old Teach, the chief there, to make out. I've a notion your +friend Mr. Wragg and the others in there are going to help us get that +store of drugs and supplies I was telling you of. Let's be going ashore. +I don't want those mates of mine to eat all the fresh fish before we get +back to 'em." + +Blackbeard's men--pirates and desperadoes though they were--seemed no +rougher to Antony than any other seafaring men he had met at Charles +Town. They carried more pistols and knives perhaps than such men, but +though he listened eagerly he heard no strange ear-splitting oaths nor +frightening tales of evil deeds they had committed. Nick looked after +him almost like an older brother, saw that he had plenty to eat, helped +him gather up wood for the fire they lighted on the shore after supper. +There were a number of these small fires, each with a group of +swarthy-faced men round it. As Big Bill, the man who had first hailed +Antony and caught the gunwale of his boat, explained, "Blackbeard's men +were glad to stretch their legs ashore whenever they got the chance." + +Their pipes lighted, the pirates sat about the campfires as the moon +flooded the sea with sparkling silver. Nick told Antony how he had run +away from his English home in Devon when he was a boy, and had shipped +on board a merchantman out of Bristol. He had followed the sea year in, +year out, until one day the captain of his ship had suddenly given up +being a peaceful merchantman and had begun to hold up and rob any +well-laden vessels he happened to meet. There was more profit in such a +life, he said, and a great deal more excitement. Then he went on to tell +Antony that many great sea-captains had really been pirates, and that +both the people in England and the American colonists really liked the +pirates as long as they preyed on Spanish commerce and the ships of +enemies. King Charles the Second of England, he said, though he +pretended to frown on piracy, had actually made Morgan, the greatest +pirate of them all, a knight, and appointed him governor of his island +of Jamaica. "In most seaport towns," said Nick, "the townsfolk are glad +enough to have us walk their streets, spend our Mexican doubloons, and +sell them the silks and wine we bring in, without asking any questions +about where we got 'em. We're as good as any other traders then; maybe +better, because we don't haggle so over a bargain. But when we hold up +one o' their own precious ships they sing a song about us from t'other +side their mouths." + +So he talked on, boastfully enough, about the doings of the sea-rovers; +but the boy, listening intently, thought that every now and then it +sounded as if the dark man were making excuses for himself and his +mates. + +The fires burned down, and most of the men hunted soft beds under the +forest trees. The summer night was warm, and the air was fresher here +than in the close bunks on the ship. Big Bill and Nick and Antony found +a comfortable place for themselves. "You might take it into your head to +run away," said Nick, "but Big Bill and I always sleep with one eye +open, and there's a couple of men by the boats that'll see anything +stirring, and there's a big marsh through the woods, so you'll do better +to stay where you be. And if they should catch you trying to take French +leave, I'm afraid they'd put you in that stuffy cabin along with your +friend Mr. Wragg and the others. So my advice to ye is, get a good +night's sleep." + +Antony took the advice so far as lying still went, though it was not +nearly so easy to fall asleep. He watched the moon through the +tree-tops, he listened to the lapping of the water on the shore, and he +thought how strange it was that he should actually be a prisoner of the +pirates. He thought of his father and mother and hoped they weren't +worried about him; he had stayed away from home overnight before, +camping out in the woods, and probably they wouldn't begin to worry +about him until next day. Then he fell asleep, and when he woke the sun +was rising over the water, and the woods were full of the early morning +songs of birds. + +"Yeo ho for a swim!" cried Nick, jumping up. He and Antony plunged into +the water, swam for half an hour, came out and lay in the sun, drying +off, put on their clothes, and went on board the ship, where, in the +galley, they found the cooks had breakfast ready. + +Soon afterward there was work to be done preparatory to weighing +anchor. The small boats were brought on board, the crew set the sails, +orders rang from bow to stern. Blackbeard was no longer a quiet man +smoking a pipe in a chair. He was very alert and active, overseeing +everything, and when he snapped out a word, or even jerked his thumb +this way or that, men jumped to do his bidding. The anchor was hoisted +aboard, the ship slowly turned from her harbor and sought the channel. + +With a fresh favoring wind the ship set in toward Charles Town. Antony, +on the forward deck with Nick, watched the shore-line until the bright +roofs of the little settlement began to stand out from the green and +blue. Farther and farther on Blackbeard sailed until they were in full +view of the town. Then he called a half-dozen men by name, among them +Nick, and gave them his orders. "Man the long-boat," said he, "and row +ashore. Send this note to the governor. It's a list of drugs I want for +my crew. And tell the governor and Council that if the drugs don't come +back to me in three hours I'll send another boat ashore with the heads +of Samuel Wragg and his son and a dozen other men of Charles Town. Their +heads or the drugs! Look to the priming of your pistols." Blackbeard was +a man of few words, but every word he spoke told. + +As the others swung the long-boat overboard Nick stepped up to the +chief. "I'll take the boy along," said he. "He might help us ashore, as +he knows the people there." Blackbeard nodded. + +An idea occurred to Antony, and whispering to Nick, he darted to the +galley. He found a scrap of paper there, and scrawled a couple of lines +to his father, saying he was well, and begging his parents not to worry +about him. As he ran back by the cabin he couldn't help glancing in at +the window, and saw Samuel Wragg and the other prisoners whispering +together, their frightened faces seeming to show that they had heard +what was in the wind, and knew that Blackbeard meant to have their heads +in case their friends in Charles Town should refuse to let him have the +drugs he wanted. + +The long-boat was now manned and floating lightly on the bay. At a word +from Nick, Antony swung himself over the side of the ship by a rope and +dropped into the boat, "You steer us," said Nick, "and mind you don't +get us into any trouble, or overboard you go as sure as my name's +Nicholas Carter." + +The harbor was smooth as glass and the long-boat, pulled by its lusty +crew, shot along rapidly. Nick was pulling the stroke oar, and presently +Antony, who sat opposite him, took the little note he had written from +his pocket. "If you go ashore, won't you give this paper to somebody?" +he begged. "My father's name's on the outside, and everybody knows him. +It'll make his mind easier about me." + +Nick bobbed his head. "Slip it into my pocket," he murmured, nodding to +where his jacket lay on the bottom of the boat. + +The town was right before them now, its quays busy with the usual +morning life of the water-front. To Antony, however, it seemed that more +men and boys than usual were standing there, some watching the +long-boat, and others looking past her at the big ship far down the bay. +He saw faces he knew, he saw men staring at him wonderingly, he even +felt rather proud at the strange position he had so unexpectedly fallen +into. + +"Easy now, mates," sang out Nick, looking over his shoulder at the near +water-front. He gave a few orders, and the long-boat swung gently up to +an empty float, and he and the man next to him, slipping on their +jackets and making sure that their pistols slid easily from their belts, +stepped lightly to the float. + +By now a large crowd had gathered on the shore, all staring at the +strangers. Nick and his fellow-pirate, cool as cucumbers, walked up the +plank that led from the float to the dock. There Nick made a little +mocking bow to the men and boys of Charles Town. "Who's governor here?" +he demanded, with the assurance of an envoy from some mighty state. + +Several voices answered, "Robert Johnson is the governor." + +Nick took from an inner pocket the paper Blackbeard had given him. "One +of you take this message to Governor Robert Johnson. It comes from +Captain Teach, sometimes known as Captain Blackbeard. He entertains +certain merchants of your town on board his ship, Mr. Samuel Wragg and +others. And should any of you harm me or my mates while we wait for the +governor's answer Captain Teach will feel obliged, much to his regret, +to do the same to your worthy townsmen on his ship." + +There were murmurs and exclamations from the crowd, and whispers of +"It's Blackbeard!" "It's the pirates!" and the like. + +As no one stepped forward Nick now pointed to a man in a blue coat who +stood fronting him. "Take this message," he said, and spoke so +commandingly that the man stepped forward and took it. Then he beckoned +a boy to him and gave him Antony's note. "For Mr. Jonas Evans," he said. +"Make sure he gets it." After that he sat down on a bale of cotton, +pulled out a pipe, filled it with tobacco, and lighted it. The other +pirate did the same. The bright sun shone on the brace of pistols each +man wore in his belt. + +The man in the blue coat hurried to Governor Johnson with the message +from the pirate chief. The governor read the message, demanding certain +drugs at once, on pain of Samuel Wragg and the other merchants of +Charles Town losing their heads. The governor sent for the Council and +read the message to them. They would all have liked to tear the message +to shreds and go out at once to capture this insolent sea-robber, but +there was danger that if they tried to do that their worthy +fellow-citizens would instantly lose their heads. + +Meantime the news had spread through the town, and there was the +greatest excitement. The people longed to get their hands on Blackbeard +and pay him for this insult. But they dared not stir now; they dared not +even lay finger on the two insolent rascals who sat on the bales of +cotton on the water-front, smiling at the crowd. The families and +friends of Samuel Wragg and the other prisoners, all of whom were named +in Blackbeard's message to the governor, hurried to the house where the +Council was meeting, and demanded that the drugs should be sent out to +Blackbeard at once. + +The governor and Council argued the matter up and down. They hated to +yield to such a command, and yet it would be monstrous to sacrifice +their friends for a few drugs. Then Governor Johnson made his decision. +He reminded them that he had time and again urged the Proprietors and +the Board of Trade to send out a frigate to protect the commerce of +Charles Town from just such perils as this; and added that it was his +duty to protect the lives of all the citizens. He would send the drugs, +and then the Council must see to it that such a situation shouldn't +occur again. + +All the medicines on Blackbeard's list were carried down to the float +and put on board the long-boat under Nicholas Carter's supervision. "I +thank you all in the name of Captain Teach," Nick said, smiling and +bowing in his best manner. Among the crowd on shore Antony had caught +the faces of his father and mother, and waved to them, and called out +that he would soon be back. + +The long-boat left the shore amid angry mutterings from the people. The +tide was low now, and presently Antony, by mischance, mistook the course +of the channel, and ran the boat aground. He showed so plainly, however, +that he hadn't meant to do it, that Nick forgave him, and said he +wouldn't throw him overboard. It took some time for the crew to get the +boat afloat again, and when they finally reached the ship they found +Blackbeard in a terrible rage at the delay and almost on the point of +beheading Mr. Wragg and the other prisoners. + +The sight of the drugs calmed his anger somewhat, and he ordered his +captives brought out on deck. There he had them searched, and took +everything of value they had with them, among other things a large +amount of gold from Mr. Wragg. Some of their clothes he took also, so +that it was hard to say whether the poor merchants were shivering more +from fright or from cold. Then he had them rowed in the long-boat to a +neighboring point of land, where they were left to make their way home +as best they could. + +Antony had asked Nick if he couldn't be set on shore with the others, +but Nick, drawing him away from the rest of the crew, had whispered, +"Stay with me a day or two more. I'm going to leave the ship myself. +I'm tired of this way of living, and I'd like to have a friend to speak +a good word for me when I land. I'll see no harm comes to you, boy. I +got that note to your father, and--one good turn deserves another. We'll +leave old Blackbeard soon." + +Antony liked the dark man. "All right," said he. "I think we can get +into Charles Town without any one knowing who you are. I'll look out for +you." + +"Much obliged to you, Tony," said Nick, with a grin. + +So when the pirate ship sailed out to sea again, Antony was still on +board her. + + +II + +Five days Antony stayed on board the pirate ship, while Blackbeard +doctored the sick men of his crew with the medicines he had obtained in +Charles Town. The boy was well treated, for it was understood that he +was under Nick's protection, and moreover, although the pirates could +show their teeth and snarl savagely enough in a fight, they were +friendly and easy-going among themselves. It was a pleasant cruise for +Antony, for the weather held good, and Nick taught him much about the +handling of a ship. Then, after five days of sailing, Blackbeard +anchored off one of the long sandy islands that dot that coast, and +those of his men who were tired of their small quarters on the ship went +ashore and spent the night there. Among them were Nick and Antony, and, +as on that other night ashore, they made their beds at a little distance +from the others. + +Just before dawn Antony was waked by some one pulling his shoulder. It +was Nick, who signaled to him that he should rise noiselessly and follow +him. The boy obeyed, and the two went silently through the woods and +came out on another beach as the sun was rising. They walked for some +time, watching the wonderful colors the sun was sending over sea and +sky. Then said Nick, "We're far enough away from them now. They won't +hunt for us; they've more than enough crew, and old Teach ain't the man +to bother his head about a couple of runaways. Five minutes of curses, +and he'll be up and away again, with never a thought of us. I'll beat +you to the water, Tony," and Nick started to pull his shirt over his +head. + +They swam as long as they wanted, and then they followed the shore, +growing more and more hungry as they went along. "There must be +fishermen somewhere," said Nick. "A little farther south, and we'd have +fruit for the taking; but here"--he shrugged his shoulders--"nothing but +a few berries that rattle around in one like peas in a pail." + +After an hour, however, they came to a fisherman's shanty, and found the +owner working with his nets and lines on the shore. He was a big man, +with reddish hair and beard, and clothes that had been so often soaked +in salt water that they had almost all the colors of the rainbow. "We'll +work all day for food and drink," said Nick, grinning. + +The fisherman grinned in return. "Help yourselves," said he, waving his +hand toward his shanty. "You're welcome to what you find; I got my gold +and silver safe hid away." + +They found dried fish and corn-meal cakes and water in an earthen jar. +When they came out to the beach again they told the man their names, and +learned in turn that his was Simeon Park. They went out with him in his +sailing-smack, and fished all day, and when they came back they felt +like old friends, as men do who spend a day together on the sea. + +There followed a week of fishing with Simeon, varied by mornings when +they went hunting ducks and wild turkeys and geese with him over the +marshes and the long flats that lay along the coast. Antony had never +had a better time; he liked both of his new friends, and, except for his +father and mother, he was in no hurry to go back to Charles Town and +work in the warehouse there. At the end of the week Simeon Park +suggested that they should take the smack for a cruise, fishing and +gunning as chance offered. So they put to sea again, this time in a much +smaller vessel than Blackbeard's merchantman. + +They met with one small gale, but after that came favoring winds. +Presently they found themselves near Charles Town harbor again. They +camped on shore one night, and Antony told Nick that he must be heading +for home shortly. + +Next morning the boy was waked by the big fisherman, who pointed out to +sea. Three big ships were standing off the coast, and even at that +distance they could see that the "Jolly Roger" of a pirate, the skull +and crossbones, flew from the masthead of the biggest vessel. Guns +boomed across the water. "The two sloops are after the big fellow," +exclaimed Simeon Park. "Let's put out in our boat, and have a look at +the game." + +They put off in their smack, and with the skilful fisherman at the helm, +stood off and on, tacked and ran before the wind, until they came to a +point where they were out of shot and yet near enough to see all that +was taking place. + +"I can read the names of the sloops," said Park, squinting across at +their sterns; "one's called _Sea Nymph_ and t'other the _Henry_, and +they both hail from Charles Town." + +Nick chuckled. "That governor of yours," he said to Antony, "didn't lose +much time. He's got two sloops of war now for certain, and he means to +try a tussle with the rovers." He too squinted at the vessels. "I don't +think she's Blackbeard's, howsomever. No, there's her name." And he +spelled out the words _Royal James_. + +The two sloops, each mounting eight guns, had swept down on the pirate, +evidently planning to catch her in a narrow strait formed by two spits +of land. But the pirate ship, undaunted, had sought to sail past the +sloops, and by her greater speed to gain the open sea. Then the two +sloops bore in close, and before the _Royal James_ knew what she was +about she had sailed out of the channel and was stuck fast on a shoal of +sand. Then the _Henry_, too, grounded in shoal water, and some distance +further, her mate, the _Sea Nymph_. + +This was a pretty situation, all three ships aground, and only the +little fishing-smack able to sail about as she liked. "Lucky we don't +draw more'n a couple of feet of water," said Simeon Park, at the helm. +"If we only had a gun of our own aboard we could hop about and pepper +first one, then t'other." + +"And have one good round shot send us to the bottom as easy as a man +crushes a pesky mosquito," observed Nick. "No, thankee. If it's all the +same to you I'd rather keep out of gun-fire of both sides to this little +controversy." + +Antony, crouched on the small deck forward, was too busy watching what +was going on to consider the likelihood of his boat going aground. + +The tide was at the ebb, and there was no likelihood of any of the three +fighting-ships getting off the shoals for hours. The _Royal James_ and +the _Henry_ had listed the same way, and now lay almost in line with +each other, so that the hull of the pirate ship was turned directly +toward the Charles Town sloop, while the deck of the latter was in full +view of the pirate, and only a pistol-shot away. + +"They're more like two forts now than ships," said Nick. "There she +goes!" + +Antony was yelling. The _Henry_ had opened fire on the pirate ship. But +instantly the _Royal James_ returned the fire with a broadside, which, +on account of its position, raked the open deck of the _Henry_. + +"Those lads have got grit to stick to their guns!" cried Park, keeping +his smack bobbing on the waves at a safe distance. "They're using their +muskets, too!" Antony cheered every time shots blazed from the _Henry_ +and held his breath to see what damage the answering fire of the pirate +did to his own townsmen. + +The other Charles Town sloop, the _Sea Nymph_, was aground too far +down-stream to be of any help to her mate. Her crew, like the crew of +three in the fishing-smack, could only watch from a distance, and cheer +as the battle was waged back and forth. + +And waged back and forth it was for a long time, while men were shot +down at the guns, and parts of each ship shot away, and the sea +scattered with wreckage, and the air filled with smoke and the heavy, +acrid odor of powder. "The pirate's getting the best of it," shouted +Simeon Park, after some time of fighting. It looked that way; her crew +were yelling exultantly, and her captain had called to the sloop, +demanding that the latter's crew haul down their flag in surrender. + +At length, however, the tide began to turn, and with it the chance of +victory for the pirates. The _Henry_ floated from the shoal first, and +her captain prepared to grapple with his enemy and board her. Then the +_Sea Nymph_ floated, and headed up to aid her consort. The pirate chief, +seeing the chances now two to one against him, yelled to his crew to +fight harder than ever; and the _Royal James_ blazed again and again +with broadsides, making a desperate stand, like a wild animal brought to +bay. The rail of the _Henry_ was carried overboard, and to the three in +the fishing-smack it looked as if some of the crew had gone over with +it. + +Antony forgot the sea-fight; he was calling directions to Park to steer +his boat so as to near the wreckage. He saw a man with his arm thrown +over a piece of the railing, and he called encouragement to him. The +fisherman sent his boat dashing ahead, and the man in the water, hearing +Antony's voice, tried to swim in his direction. "Easy now!" cried the +boy, and the boat swept up to the wreckage, and lay there, with loosely +flapping sail, while Antony and Nick leaned far over her side and drew +the man on board. They laid him on the deck, while Park, at the tiller, +brought his boat about and scurried away from the line of fire. + +The man was not badly hurt; he had a flesh wound in one shoulder, and +was dazed from having been flung into the sea with the railing. "Never +mind me," he said. "Look for others." The three looked over the water, +but though they saw plenty of floating wreckage, they spied no other +men. + +"She's striking her flag!" cried Park. They all looked at the fighting +ships, and saw that the pirate had hauled down his flag, and heard the +cheers of victory from the _Henry_ and the _Sea Nymph_. Antony jumped up +and down and yelled with the best of them; the men of Charles Town were +having their revenge on the sea-rovers who had so openly flouted them a +short time before. + +"That's the end of Blackbeard!" cried the wounded man, sitting up and +watching the crews of the two sloops as they prepared to board the other +vessel. + +Nick shook his head. "Not Blackbeard," he said. "Whoever that rover may +be, he's not old Teach, I know." + +The gun-smoke drifted away across the water, and Park, at Nick's +suggestion, headed his boat for shore. The dark man had no wish to sail +up to the sloops from Charles Town just then, thinking it not unlikely +that some of the crew might remember him as Blackbeard's agent at the +Charles Town dock. So they skirted the shore till they reached a good +landing-place. There they camped, binding the sailor's wounded shoulder +as best they could, cooking dinner, for they were all ravenously hungry, +and resting on the sand. There the sailor, Peter Duval, told them how +angry Governor Johnson and the men of Charles Town had been when +Blackbeard had sailed away with his medicines, leaving Samuel Wragg and +the others, plundered and almost stripped, to find their way home; and +how Colonel Rhett had sworn that with two sloops he would rid the sea of +the pirate, and had sailed forth to do it. In return Antony told the +sailor who he was and they planned that in a day or two they would +return home. "And Nick there is going back with me," added Antony, +nodding toward the dark young fellow who sat on the beach with them. + +Now Duval had heard how Blackbeard or some of his men had kidnapped the +son of Jonas Evans, and he had his own suspicions concerning what manner +of man this dark-haired fellow might be. Yet he could not help liking +the man, who had certainly helped to do him a good turn; and even if he +had been a pirate there was no reason why he shouldn't have changed his +mind about that way of living and have decided to become an honest +citizen. So he nodded his head approvingly, and said, "That's good. The +old town needs some likely-looking men," and shifted about so that the +warm sand made a more comfortable pillow for his wounded shoulder. + +Next day they sailed back to Simeon Park's cabin, and there Nick +discovered a pair of shears and cut his black mustache and cropped his +hair close, so that he looked more like one of the English Roundheads +than he did like a sea-rover. "Now, mates," said he to Antony and Duval, +"I'm a wandering trader you happened to meet in the woods. Tony stole +away from Blackbeard's men one night, and found Park's cabin here. Then +I came along, and a day or two later the three of us picked Duval out of +the sea. What d'ye say to that, mates?" + +"I say," said Duval, winking, "that with the lad and me to speak up for +you, they'll be glad to have you in Charles Town, whatever you may be." +He added sagely, "Folks aren't over particular in the colonies about +your granddaddy. Many of 'em came over from the old country without +questions asked as to why they came. No, sir; if a man deals square by +us, we deal square by him." + +The following afternoon Simeon Park's boat tacked across the bay, and +zigzagged up to the Charles Town docks. At sundown his three passengers +landed, and bade him a hearty farewell. Few people were about, and none, +as it chanced, who knew them, so that the three walked straightway up +the street along the harbor, Nick in the middle, looking as innocent as +if he had never seen the town before. + +The Evans family lived in a small frame house on Meeting Street, and +husband and wife were just sitting down to supper when there came a +knock at the street door. Jonas Evans opened the door, and his son +sprang in and caught him around the shoulders. "Here I am, dad!" he +cried. "Safe and sound again!" After that bear-like squeeze he rushed to +his mother, and gave her the same greeting, while she exclaimed, and +kissed him again and again, and called him all her pet names. + +"And I've brought a friend home with me, Nicholas Carter," said Antony. +"I met him along the coast, and he's been very good to me, so you must +be good to him. He's a splendid fellow," he added loyally. "And he and a +fisherman and I pulled Peter Duval out of the water after the big +sea-fight the other day." + +"Any friend of my boy's is my friend," said Mr. Evans, and he caught +Nick by the hand and drew him into the house. Then he shook hands with +Duval, and so did Mrs. Evans, almost crying in her delight at having her +son home again, and they both urged the sailor to stay and have supper +with them, but he said that now that he had seen his two mates safely +home he must dash away to his own family. + +Antony and Nick sat at the supper-table and ate their fill while Jonas +Evans told them the news. Colonel Rhett had sailed out from Charles Town +with his two sloops and after a great battle had captured the pirate +ship. He thought he had captured Blackbeard, but found he was mistaken. +The pirate had turned out to be a man named Stede Bonnet, a man who came +of a good family and owned some property, a gentleman one might say, a +man who had been a major in the army, and a worthy citizen of +Bridgetown. Once he had repented of his pirate's life, and taken the +King's pardon, but he had gone back to his lawless trade, and been one +of the fiercest of his kind. No one in Charles Town could understand why +such a man had a liking for such a business. Mr. Evans supposed that it +must be because of the wild adventures that went with the career of the +sea-rovers. Here Antony caught a smile on Nick's face, and knew that his +friend was thinking there were many reasons why respectable fellows +turned outlaws. Some drifted into it, as Nick had done as a boy, and +found it easier to stay in than to leave. + +Colonel Rhett, Jonas Evans added, had returned to Charles Town with the +_Royal James_ as a prize, and with Stede Bonnet and thirty of his crew +in irons. Eighteen of the men of Carolina had been killed in the +sea-fight, and many more badly wounded. + +Then, when he could eat no more, Antony told his story. "And I hope, +dad," he finished, "that you can find a place for Nick in the warehouse. +And on Sundays," he added to his friend, "we'll get out on the water, +and go gunning and fishing." + +"Any honest work," said Nick, with his familiar smile, "till I can get +my bearings, and see what I'm best fitted for." He thought he might +endure the warehouse for a week or so, but already he felt the call to +the old free life of the rover. + +Jonas Evans agreed to try to find a place for his son's friend. They +talked till the tallow dips sputtered and went out, and then Nick and +Antony climbed to their two bedrooms up under the eaves. "It's the first +time I've slept in a house for years, Tony," said Nick. "I don't know +how I'll like it." + +He found that he liked it very well, and the ex-pirate slept +comfortably under the roof of the respectable Charles Town merchant. + + +III + +Jonas Evans was as good as his word, and when Antony went to work in the +warehouse Nick was given a place there too. The dark-haired man had some +pieces of silver in his pocket, and he bought himself quiet-colored +clothes and a broad-brimmed hat, so that he looked very much like other +men in the town; but his black eyes would shine and his clean-shaven +lips curl in amusement as they had done when Antony first rowed his boat +almost into his arms. However, the people of Charles Town were +accustomed to having all sorts of men settle among them, as Peter Duval +had said, and they made no inquiries as to what a man had done before he +arrived there, but only considered how he behaved now, and so they took +it for granted that Nicholas Carter was quite respectable enough, and +didn't trouble themselves about his past. And who would be likely to +think that the man with the long black hair and mustache who had landed +from Blackbeard's small-boat and insolently ordered the governor to +furnish him with drugs was the same man as this young fellow, who was +polite and friendly with every one? + +The room in the warehouse where Antony and Nick worked had a window that +looked out across the water, and often the boy saw his friend gazing at +the dancing waves with longing eyes. But when Nick would catch Antony +looking at him he would grin and shake his head, and then try to appear +very much absorbed in the job he had on hand. At such times the boy, who +had only tasted that free life of sea and shore for a few days, could +appreciate the feelings of the man who had known that life for years. + +Meantime Charles Town had been very busy dealing with the pirates it had +captured. There was no jail in the town, so most of the crew of the +_Royal James_ had been locked up in the watch house, while their leader, +Stede Bonnet, and two of his men had been given in charge of the marshal +to keep under close guard in his own house. After some time the crew +were put on trial before Chief Justice Trott, and the attorney-general +read to the court and jury a list of thirty-eight ships that Bonnet and +Teach had captured in the last six months. The prisoners had no lawyers +to defend them, but two very able lawyers to attack them, and the Chief +Justice and the other judges, as well as the jury, were convinced that +the crew of the _Royal James_ had beyond question been guilty of piracy. +Four, however, were freed of the charge, while the rest were sentenced +to be hung, the customary punishment for pirates. + +Stede Bonnet, their captain, was not put on trial. The guards at the +marshal's house had been very careless, and Bonnet had made friends with +some men in the town. With the help of these friends he had disguised +himself as a woman, and with one of his mates had escaped in a boat with +an Indian and a negro. People said that his plan was to reach the ships +of another pirate named Moody, who had appeared off the bar of the +harbor a few days before, with a ship of fifty guns, and two smaller +ships, likewise armed, that he had captured on their way from New +England to Charles Town. + +From the warehouse window Antony and Nick saw the sails of this insolent +new sea-rover, who dared stand so close inshore, waiting to pounce on +any boats that might put out from the town. + +The governor had already sent word to England, asking for aid in his +warfare with the buccaneers, but none came from England. So he told the +Council that they must act for themselves, and they ordered the best +ships in port impressed into service and armed. Colonel Rhett, the man +who had captured Bonnet, was asked to take command of this new fleet, +but he declined, owing to some difficulty he had had with Governor +Johnson. Thereupon the governor himself declared he would be the +admiral, to the great delight of Charles Town. Four ships, one of them +being the captured _Royal James_, were armed with cannon, and a call was +sent out for volunteers. + +Nick and Antony, going home one night, read the governor's call posted +on a wall. They went down to the harbor and saw the big ships ready to +sail. "This looks like a chance to set myself right again," said Nick, +slowly. "I wouldn't fight my old mates or Blackbeard; but I don't see +any reason why I shouldn't help to clear the sea of Moody or any other +rascal. I'm going to volunteer." + +"The governor might want a boy on board," said Antony. "There are lots +of things I can do about a ship." + +That night he asked his father to let him volunteer, and though Jonas +Evans and his wife were very loath to lose their son again, he finally +won their permission. Their friends and neighbors were volunteering; +there was no good reason why they should refuse to do their share. + +Next day three hundred men and boys volunteered for the little navy of +Charles Town. Then word came that Stede Bonnet and his companions when +they had reached the bar had found that Moody was cruising northward +that day, and so had put back and taken refuge on Sullivan's Island. +Colonel Rhett, who was very angry at the escape of his captive, +volunteered to lead a party to capture Bonnet again. A small party went +in search, hunting the fugitives. The sand-hills, covered with a thick +growth of stunted live-oaks and myrtles, offered splendid protection, +and the hunt was difficult, but at last the men were sighted, shots were +fired, Bonnet's comrade was killed, and the pirate chief himself was +taken prisoner, and once more brought back to Charles Town by Colonel +Rhett. + +While this search and capture were going on Antony and Nick were busy +on Governor Johnson's flag-ship, making ready to put to sea. Lookouts +caught sight of the pirate Moody's vessels returning, sailing closer and +closer in, actually coming inside the bar, as though they meant to +attack the town itself. But inside the bar they stopped, and casting +anchor, quietly rode there, while the sunset colored their sails, and +men and women of Charles Town, on the quays and from the roofs and +windows of their houses, watched them and wondered what might be the +pirate's plans. + +That night Governor Johnson, from his flag-ship, gave the order to the +other ships of his small fleet to follow him, and they all slipped their +moorings and stole down the harbor to the fort, and waited there. + +At dawn next day the four ships from Charles Town, with their guns under +cover and no signs of war about their decks, crossed the bar, heading +toward the sea. The pirate supposed them to be peaceful merchantmen, and +let them sail past him, and then had his ships close in on their track, +in order to cut off their retreat. What he had often done before with +merchantmen he did now; he ran up the black flag and called to the ships +to surrender. + +But Governor Johnson had planned to get his enemy into just this +position. The pirate fleet now lay between his own ships and the town. +He hoisted the royal ensign of England, threw open his ports, unmasked +his guns, and poured a broadside of shot into the nearest pirate ship. +Antony, from the deck of the flag-ship, could see the sudden surprise +and alarm on the faces of the pirate crew. + +The pirate chief was a clever skipper, however. By wonderful navigating +he sailed his ship straight for the open sea, and actually managed to +get past Governor Johnson. The latter followed in swift pursuit, and as +the ships were now somewhat scattered, the flag-ship signaled the _Sea +Nymph_ and the _Royal James_ to look out for the pirate sloop. + +Soon these ships and the sloop were close together, yard-arm to +yard-arm, and a desperate fight under way. The men of Charles Town +fought well; they drove the pirates from their guns, they swarmed aboard +the pirate ship, and killed the pirates who resisted them. Most of the +pirates fought to the last inch of deck-room, refusing to surrender. A +few took refuge in the hold, and threw up their hands when the enemy +surrounded them. Then the crews of the _Sea Nymph_ and the _Royal James_ +sailed the captured sloop back to the harbor, where the men and women +who had been listening to the guns cheered wildly. + +In the meantime the governor's flag-ship was chasing the pirate +flag-ship. Antony and another boy stood near Johnson, ready to run his +errands whenever needed; Nick was of the crew that manned one of the +forward cannon. It was a long stern chase, but Johnson slowly drew up on +the other. The buccaneers threw their small boats and even their guns +overboard in an attempt to lighten their ship, but the ship from Charles +Town was the faster, and at length overhauled the rover. A few +broadsides of shot, and the black flag came fluttering down from the +masthead; the governor and part of his crew went on board and the +pirates surrendered. + +Antony, dogging the governor's steps, was by him when the hatches were +lifted; to his great astonishment he saw that the hold was filled with +frightened women. The governor turned to the captured rover captain. +"What does this mean?" he demanded, pointing to the women, who were now +climbing to the deck with the help of the Charles Town crew. + +"When we captured this ship," said the rover, "we found she was the +_Eagle_, bound from England to Virginia, carrying convicts and +indentured servants. We'd have set them ashore at the first good +chance." + +It was true. There were thirty-six women on board, sailing from England +to find husbands and homes in the new world. The pirates had changed the +name of the ship, and taken her for their own use, but had had no chance +to land the women safely. + +The governor had another surprise that day. He found that the captain of +this fleet of pirates was not Moody, as all Charles Town had supposed, +but an even more dreaded buccaneer, Richard Worley. This Richard Worley +had been on board the sloop, and had been killed in the fierce fighting +on her deck that morning. + +Antony and Nick were of the crew that brought the captured _Eagle_, +with her cargo of women, back to shore. There kind-hearted people of +Charles Town took care of the frightened passengers. In the town that +night there was great rejoicing over the defeat of two of the rovers who +infested that part of the seas, Stede Bonnet and Richard Worley. It was +true that Blackbeard and Moody were still at large, but it might well be +that the fate of their fellows would prove a warning to them that the +people of Charles Town meant business. Governor Johnson and his crews +went back to their regular business, and the town grew quiet again. + +Neither Moody nor Blackbeard again troubled the good people there. Weeks +later it was learned that Moody had heard how Charles Town was prepared +for him, and that he had gone to Jamaica, and there taken the "King's +pardon," which was granted to all pirates who would give up their +lawless trade before the following first of January. Afterward word came +that Blackbeard had been captured by a fleet sent out by Governor +Spotswood of Virginia, and commanded by officers of the Royal British +Navy. + +Stede Bonnet's crew had already been tried and found guilty of piracy. +The judges had now to consider the case of that buccaneer chief himself. +Every one in Charles Town knew that he had sailed the seas time and +again with the "Jolly Roger" at his masthead, but he was a man of very +attractive appearance and manners, and many of the good people of the +town thought that he really meant to repent and lead a better life. The +judges and jury, however, with Bonnet's past record before them, saw +only the plain duty of dealing with him as they had already dealt with +his crew. Then Colonel Rhett, the gallant soldier who had twice captured +Bonnet, came forward and offered to take the pirate personally to +London, and ask the king to pardon him. The governor felt that he could +not consent to this request; he knew how Bonnet had taken the oath of +repentance once before, and had immediately run up the "Jolly Roger" on +his ship at the first chance he found. Bonnet was a pirate, caught in +the very act. The law was very clear. So Bonnet was hanged, as were the +forty other prisoners who had been found guilty. + +Nick stayed with Antony at Mr. Evans's warehouse until the excitement of +the war with the pirates had blown over. He and Antony were almost +inseparable, and the people who met the slim, dark fellow liked him for +his good-nature and ready smile. Whenever they found the chance Antony +and he went sailing or hunting or fishing. + +"Tony," he said one day as they sailed back from fishing, "I'm going to +leave the warehouse. No, don't look put out; I'm not going back to my +old way of living. Besides, there aren't any of the rovers left for me +to join. But I was made for the open air, and the work there in the shop +can't hold me. The governor wants soldiers for his province of South +Carolina, and I've a notion the life of a soldier would suit me. I take +naturally to swords and pistols." + +Antony smiled. "You'll make a good one, Nick. I shouldn't wonder if you +got to be a general. Yes, you'll like it better. But Dad and I'll hate +to have you go." + +So, a few days later, Nicholas Carter, who had once been one of +Blackbeard's crew, offered his services to Governor Johnson and became a +soldier in the small army of the province. He did well, and rose to be a +colonel, and one of the most popular men of Charles Town. But sometimes, +when he and Antony Evans were alone together, Colonel Nicholas Carter +would wink and say, "Remember the day when you and I sailed away on +Blackbeard's ship? Yeo ho, for the life of a pirate!" + +"The day you kidnapped me, you mean," Antony would remind him. "That was +a wonderful holiday, to be sure!" + +For respectable men turned pirates, and pirates reformed and became +worthy citizens and soldiers, in the days before the little settlement +of Charles Town became the city of Charleston in one of the thirteen +states of the American Union. + + + + +IX + +THE FOUNDER OF GEORGIA + +(_Georgia, 1732_) + + +I + +There was a man in England in the first half of the eighteenth century +who became so impressed by the misfortunes of men thrown into prison for +debt that he resolved to do what he could to help them. The man was +James Oglethorpe, and the result of his resolve was the founding of the +colony of Georgia, which in time became one of the original thirteen +colonies of the United States. + +To owe money was regarded as a most serious crime in England in those +days, at least four thousand men were sent to prison every year for +inability to pay their debts, and many of these debtors spent their +lives in jail, since it was next to impossible for them to secure any +money while they were imprisoned. The prisons, moreover, were vile dens +of pestilence, where smallpox often raged, jailers treated their +prisoners barbarously, and the man who had stolen a few shillings was +kept in the same pen with the worst of pirates and murderers. A man +named Castell, an architect and writer, was arrested for debt, and +thrown into a prison where smallpox was rife. In spite of his protests +he was kept there, and caught the disease and died. James Oglethorpe +knew Castell, and the story of the architect's imprisonment roused +Oglethorpe to action in aid of others who might be similarly treated. + +Oglethorpe was a man of influence in England. He had studied at Oxford, +served in the army, and was a member of Parliament. He had a committee +appointed to investigate the prisons, and, acting as its chairman, he +unearthed so many cases of barbarities and showed that so many of the +jailers were inhuman wretches that Parliament interfered and righted at +least a few of the most crying wrongs. But his plans went farther than +that; he wanted to give men who had the misfortune to be in debt a +chance to start new lives, not simply to stay in jail with no chance to +better their condition, and to this end he looked across the ocean to +the great, unsettled continent of America, and planned his new home for +debtors there. + +Oglethorpe succeeded in interesting some of the most prominent men of +England in his plan, and on June 9, 1732, King George II granted them a +charter for a province to be called Georgia, which was to consist of the +country between the Savannah and the Altamaha Rivers and to extend from +the headsprings of these rivers due west to the Pacific Ocean. The seal +of the patrons of the new province bore on one side a group of silkworms +at work, with the motto, "_Non sibi, sed aliis_,"--"Not for themselves, +but for others,"--showing the purpose of the patrons, who had agreed not +to accept any grant of lands or profit from them for themselves. On the +other side of the seal were two figures representing the boundary +rivers, and between them a figure of Georgia, a liberty cap on her head, +a spear in one hand, a horn of plenty in the other. Some of the patrons +were content with the lofty ideals expressed in the seal and the +charter, but James Oglethorpe meant to see the noble project carried +out. + +With a commission to act as Colonial Governor of Georgia, Oglethorpe +sailed with about one hundred and twenty emigrants for America in +November, 1732. In fifty-seven days he reached the bar outside +Charleston. There the colonists of South Carolina welcomed the new +arrivals warmly, for they were glad to have a province to their south to +shield them from their Spanish enemies. The governor ordered his pilot +to conduct the ship to Port Royal, some eighty miles to the south, from +whence the emigrants were to go in small boats to the Savannah River. +Oglethorpe meanwhile went to the town of Beaufort and then sailed up the +Savannah to choose a promising site for his new town. The high cliff +known as Yamacraw Bluff caught his eye, and he chose for his site that +high land on which the city of Savannah stands. + +Half a mile away dwelt the Indian tribe of the Yamacraws, and their +chief, Tomochichi, sought the white leader and made gifts to him. One +gift was a buffalo skin, painted on the inside with the head and +feathers of an eagle. "Here is a little present," said the chief, +offering the skin. "The feathers of the eagle are soft, and signify +love; the buffalo skin is warm, and is the emblem of protection. +Therefore love and protect our little families." We may be sure that +Oglethorpe promised to live in friendship with them. + +On February 12th the colonists reached their new home, and camped on the +edge of the river, glad to escape from their long stay on shipboard. +Four tents were set up, and men cut trees to provide bowers for their +immediate needs. Four pines sheltered the tent of Oglethorpe, and here +he lived for a year, while men laid out streets and built houses and his +city of Savannah began to take shape. + +Much good counsel the leader gave his people in those first days, +warning them often against the drinking of rum, which would not only +harm themselves, but would corrupt their Indian neighbors. "It is my +hope," said he, "that, through your good example, the settlement of +Georgia may prove a blessing and not a curse to the native inhabitants." + +It was a lovely country, and the emigrants, harassed by debts and +misfortunes in Europe, were delighted with the groves of live-oak, bay, +cypress, sweet-gum, and myrtle, and the many flowers that grew profusely +in the wilderness. While they worked gladly in their new fields +Oglethorpe, knowing their security depended in part on their neighbors, +did his best to make friends of the red men. He invited the chiefs of +the Muskohgees to make an alliance with him, and they came down the +river and through the woods to his tent. Long King, chief of the Oconas, +spoke for the others. "The Great Spirit, who dwells everywhere around, +and gives breath to all men," said he, "sends the English to instruct +us." He bade the strangers welcome to the land that his tribe did not +use, and as token of friendship, laid eight bundles of buckskins at +Oglethorpe's feet. "Tomochichi," he said, "though banished from his +nation, has yet been a great warrior; and, for his wisdom and courage, +the exiles chose him their king." Then Tomochichi expressed his +friendship for the white men. The chief of Coweta rose and said, "We are +come twenty-five days' journey to see you. I was never willing to go +down to Charleston, lest I should die on the way; but when I heard you +were come, and that you are good men, I came down, that I might hear +good things." A treaty of peace was then signed, by which the English +claimed title over the land of the Creeks as far as the St. Johns River, +and the chiefs departed with many presents. + +Later a Cherokee came to the settlement. "Fear nothing," said +Oglethorpe, "but speak freely." The red man from the mountains answered +proudly, "I always speak freely. Why should I fear? I am now among +friends; I never feared even among my enemies." Friends were then made +of the Cherokees. + +In July Red Shoes, a Choctaw chief, arrived to make a treaty. "We came a +great way," said he, "and we are a great nation. The French are building +forts about us, against our liking. We have long traded with them, but +they are poor in goods; we desire that a trade may be opened between us +and you." + +Other people than the poor debtors of England soon came to the province. +The Archbishop of Salzburg by his cruel persecutions drove scores of +Lutherans from his country, and many of these prepared to cross the +ocean to the new settlement on the Savannah River. They traveled from +their Salzburg home through part of Germany, past cities that were +closed against them, through country districts where they were made +welcome. From Rotterdam they sailed to Dover, and from there set forth +in January, 1734, for their new home in the land across the Atlantic. +The sea was a strange experience to the Lutheran families of Salzburg; +when it was calm they delighted in its beauty, when it was swept by +storms they prayed and sang the songs of their faith. They reached the +port of Charleston on March 18, 1734, and Oglethorpe welcomed them +there, not forgetting to have supplies of fresh provisions and +vegetables from his Georgia gardens for the people who had been so long +without them. + +A few days later the colonists from Salzburg sailed up the Savannah +River and were met by the earlier colonists. A feast of welcome had been +prepared. Then Governor Oglethorpe gave the strangers permission to +select their home in any part of the province. The country was most of +it still an untraversed wilderness, and so Oglethorpe supplied horses +and traveled with his new colonists. With the aid of Indian guides they +made their way through morasses, they camped at night around fires in +the primeval forest. At last they reached a green valley, watered by +several brooks, and this they chose for their settlement and named it +Ebenezer in thankfulness to their God for having brought them safely +through great dangers into a land of rest. Oglethorpe had his own +carpenters help them build their houses and aided them in planning their +new town. + +That the land about Ebenezer was very fruitful is shown by a letter +written by the pastor of the Lutheran colonists. Said he, "Some time ago +I wrote to an honored friend in Europe that the land in this country, if +well managed and labored, brings forth by the blessing of God not only +one hundredfold, but one thousandfold, and I this day was confirmed +therein. A woman having two years ago picked out of Indian corn no more +than three grains of rye, and planting them at Ebenezer, one of the +grains produced an hundred and seventy stalks and ears, and the three +grains yielded to her a bag of corn as large as a coat pocket--the +grains whereof were good and full grown, and she desired me to send part +of them to a kind benefactor in Europe." + +His colony now well started, Oglethorpe sailed back to England in April, +1734, taking with him the Indian Tomochichi and several other chiefs, in +order that they might see the country from which so many of their new +neighbors were coming, and also that his English friends might learn how +friendly the Indians were to the settlers. He was received in London +with expressions of the highest praise. His experiment in founding a +colony for poor debtors and for those persecuted for their religion was +declared to be a wonderful success. Missionaries volunteered to go to +Georgia to work among the Indians. One of the rules of the province +forbade the importing of slaves into its borders, and this was regarded +in England with the greatest favor. Yet a little later people in +Savannah were petitioning the trustees of the province to allow them to +have slaves, and many an influential man in England argued in favor of +the slave-trade. + +To such an attractive colony many new colonists went. A company of one +hundred and thirty Scotchmen with their families sailed for Savannah, +and settled on the shore of the Altamaha, founding the town of New +Inverness, a name afterward changed to Darien. A small band of Moravians +was led across the Atlantic by their pastor to the new province, and +this youngest of the English colonies quickly gave promise of becoming +one of the most prosperous. + +Oglethorpe wanted still more colonists, and at length succeeded in +embarking three hundred persons on three ships in December, 1735. On +February 4th the cry of land was heard from the lookout, and two days +later the fleet anchored near Tybee Island, at the mouth of the Savannah +River. Landing, Oglethorpe gave thanks for their safe arrival, and +showing them how to dig a well and make other arrangements for their +comfort he went on by small-boat to Savannah, where the colonists +saluted him with twenty-one guns from the fort. + +Three years before the land beside the river had been a wilderness. +Oglethorpe now found a town of two hundred dwellings, with beautiful +public gardens, and every sign of prosperous industry. The gardens +especially pleased the governor; on the colder side were planted apples, +pears, and plums, while to the south were olives, figs, pomegranates, +and many kinds of vines. There were also coffee and cotton, and a large +space planted with white mulberry trees, making a nursery from which the +people were to be supplied in their culture of silkworms. + +The governor went back to see the new colonists at Tybee, and when he +found that some disgruntled traders had been making trouble by spreading +reports that all settlers who went south would be massacred by Spaniards +and Indians, he assured them that such stories were altogether false. +The Spaniards were at peace with them, and they had treaties of +alliance with the Indians. He wanted, however, to make the outlying +settlements as secure as he could, and so sent fifty rangers and one +hundred workmen under Captain McPherson to help the Scotch at Darien, +had men inspect the country with a view to opening a highroad, and +supplied them with Indian guides and plenty of packhorses for their +provisions. + +While Oglethorpe was at Tybee the Indian chief Tomochichi, with his wife +and nephew, came to visit the ships there. The chief brought presents of +venison, honey, and milk. When he was introduced to the missionaries who +had come with the latest colonists, Tomochichi said, "I am glad you are +come. When I was in England I desired that some one would speak the +great Word to me. I will go up and speak to the wise men of our nation, +and I hope they will hear. But we would not be made Christians as these +Spaniards make Christians; we would be taught before we are baptized." +The chief's wife then gave the missionaries two large jars, one of honey +and one of milk, and invited them to go to Yamacraw to teach the +children, saying the milk represented food for the children and the +honey their good wishes. + +He now wanted to transport the new settlers to their homes as soon as +possible; but the mates of the English ships were afraid to risk +navigating Jekyll Sound. So Oglethorpe bought one of the sloops, put +thirty old colonists, well armed, on board, and told them to sail to St. +Simons. He himself, with a white crew and a few Indians, set out for the +same place in a scout boat and traveled night and day. The Indians +showed the white men their way of rowing, a short stroke and a long +stroke alternately, what they called the "Yamasee stroke." Taking turns +at the oars the party reached St. Simons after two days' journey. They +found the sloop already there, and the governor gave a large reward to +the captain for being the first to enter that port. + +All hands now set to work to build a booth for the stores. They threw up +earth for a bank, and raised poles on it to support a roof. The booth +was thickly covered with palmetto leaves. Cabins were then built for the +families, and a fort, with ditches and ramparts, was begun. + +Next Oglethorpe went to Darien, dressing in Highland costume out of +compliment to the Scotchmen there. The Highlanders, clad in kilts, with +broadswords, targets, and firearms, gave him a royal welcome. Their +captain invited the governor to sleep in his tent on a soft bed with +sheets and curtains, a great luxury in the wilderness, but Oglethorpe +preferred to sleep in his plaid at the guard fire, sharing everything, +according to his custom, with his men. + +He found that the Scotch at Darien had already built a fort, defended by +four cannon, a chapel, a guard-house, and a store. They were on the +friendliest terms with their Indian neighbors, and hunted buffalo +through the Georgia woods with them like members of their own tribe. + +In the Georgia woods there was plenty of game, rabbits, squirrels, +partridges, wild turkeys, pheasants and roebuck. There were also +rattlesnakes and alligators, and the alligators so frightened the +settlers at first that Oglethorpe had one of them caught and brought to +Savannah, so the people might grow familiar with it and lose their fear +of it. + +He wanted now to mark out his boundaries with the Indians, and also to +learn what had become of Mr. Dempsey, a commissioner he had sent to +confer with the Spanish governor of Florida, who had not been heard +from. In two scout boats, with forty Indians, he rowed across Jekyll +Sound, sleeping one night in a grove of pines, and the second day +reached an island formerly called Wisso or Sassafras, but which +Tomochichi had now christened Cumberland in honor of the young English +prince he had met in London. Here Oglethorpe marked out a fort to be +called St. Andrews, and left a few white men to carry out its building. + +The governor rowed on through the marshes, and came to an island covered +with orange-trees in blossom. The Spaniards had called this Santa Maria, +but Oglethorpe changed its name to Amelia, in honor of an English +princess. They also changed the name of the next island they reached +from the Spanish San Juan to Georgia. Here was an old fort supposed to +have been built by Sir Francis Drake, and Oglethorpe sent one of his +captains to repair it. + +They climbed some heights and Tomochichi pointed out the St. Johns +River, the boundary line of Spanish territory. A Spanish guard-house +stood on the other side. "All on this side the river we hunt," said +Tomochichi. "It is our ground. All on the other side they hunt, but they +have lately hurt some of our people, and we shall drive them away. We +will stay until night behind these rocks, where they cannot see us; then +we will fall upon them." + +Oglethorpe tried to persuade them not to attack the Spaniards, and got +them to stay near Amelia Island while he went in one of the scout boats +to the guard-house to find out what had happened to Mr. Dempsey, the +agent he had sent to St. Augustine. He found no one in the guard-house +and so returned to the camp, where all his party were except Tomochichi, +who had gone scouting. + +That night the governor's sentry challenged a boat. Four Indians jumped +out, all of them in a rage. They said to Oglethorpe, "Tomochichi has +seen enemies, and has sent us to tell you and to help you." + +"Why didn't Tomochichi come back?" asked the governor. + +"Tomochichi is an old warrior," the Indians answered, "and will not come +away from his enemies till he has seen them so near as to count them. +He saw their fires, and before daylight will be revenged for the men +whom they killed while he was away; but we shall have no honor, for we +shall not be there." + +Oglethorpe asked if there were many of them, and the messengers +answered, "Yes, a great many, for they had a large fire on high ground, +and Indians never make large fires except when so strong as to defy all +resistance." + +This didn't suit Oglethorpe at all, and he immediately ordered all his +men into their boats, and rowed to the Indian chief's hiding-place, some +four miles away. He found the chief and his men and urged them not to +attack the Spaniards that night. Tomochichi was for going on, however. +"Then," said the governor, "you go to kill your enemies in the night +because you are afraid of them by the day. Now I do not fear them at any +time. Therefore wait until day, and I will go with you and see who they +are." + +Tomochichi reluctantly agreed to wait. "We do not fear them by day," +said he, "but if we do not kill them to-night they will kill you +to-morrow." + +At daylight the whole party started toward the foe. Soon they saw a +white flag flying on the shore and white men near it. But, to +Oglethorpe's delight, the men turned out not to be Spaniards, but one of +his own officers, Major Richards, with Mr. Dempsey and his mates, back +from Florida. + +The agent reported that his party had had many adventures, but had +finally reached St. Augustine, where Don Francisco, the governor, had +welcomed them and given them letters for Oglethorpe, asking for an +answer in three weeks. + +The expedition returned to Frederica, where the governor read his men +the contents of the Spaniard's letters. These were full of flattering +phrases, but there was also complaint that the Creeks had attacked +Spaniards, and requests that Oglethorpe should restrain his Indian +allies. The governor suspected that these requests were only a blind to +hide a future attack by the Spaniards on the English colonists, but he +was very anxious to avoid such trouble if it was possible, so he sent a +boat of twenty oars, fitted out with swivel-guns, to patrol the St. +Johns River and keep any Creek Indians from crossing to attack the +Spaniards. He also stationed scout boats at other places, and asked +Tomochichi to send word to the Creeks that their ally, the governor of +Georgia, requested them not to make raids into Florida, but to keep +guard on the mainland in the neighborhood of the settlement at Darien. + +Soon after Oglethorpe returned to Savannah he saw that trouble was +brewing with the Spaniards. He heard that a large troop of soldiers had +lately marched from St. Augustine. He knew that there was a garrison of +three hundred foot-soldiers and fifty horse at St. Augustine, with +reinforcements coming from Havana, and that he had not a single regular +soldier with which to oppose them. Then word came that a fleet of +strange ships had been seen at sea. He ordered his colonists to +strengthen their fort at once, and set out in a boat for St. Andrews to +learn exactly how matters stood. + +From Fort St. George he crossed to the Spanish side of the St. Johns +River, and climbing a hill, fastened a white flag to a pole, hoping the +Spaniards would come to a conference with him. None came, however, but +fires were seen on the Florida side that night, and the governor thought +the Spaniards were planning an attack. He ordered two gun-carriages and +two swivel-guns taken into the woods and placed at different points. The +larger guns were to fire seven shots, and the smaller to answer with +five. The latter would sound like a distant ship firing a salute, and +the larger guns would resemble the noise of a battery returning the +salute. In this way Oglethorpe hoped to make the Spaniards think that +reinforcements were coming to the aid of the Georgians. + +By this trick Oglethorpe escaped great danger. As a matter of fact the +Spanish governor had arrested Oglethorpe's messengers, and had sent a +strong force to attack the fort on St. Simons Island. The battery there, +however, drove the Spaniards out to sea again, and when they tried to +approach by another inlet they were driven off the second time by the +garrison at St. Andrews. They then decided to attack St. George, but as +they were planning this they heard the booming of the distant cannon, +thought reinforcements must be arriving, as Oglethorpe had figured on +their thinking, and decided not to make the attack at all then. + +At the same time Oglethorpe lighted fires in the woods, thereby making +his enemy believe that Creek Indians were coming to join the English. +The Spanish commander, Don Pedro, gave the order to return to the walls +of St. Augustine, and there, by his reports of the numbers of +Oglethorpe's troops, induced the Spanish governor to send back +Oglethorpe's two agents, and with them one of his own officers to urge +the Englishman to keep his Indian allies from invading Florida. + +Oglethorpe, however, did not know that Don Pedro had returned to St. +Augustine, and so, with twenty-four men, crossed the St. Johns River to +the Spanish side, hoping to get word of his agents. He saw a Spanish +boat with seventy men on board. The boat headed away at sight of the +English colonists. Then two Spanish horsemen appeared and forbade the +English landing on the soil of the king of Spain. Oglethorpe said that +he would do as they wished, but he invited them to land on English +ground if they desired and offered them wine should they come. + +The governor now learned that men in Charleston were selling arms and +ammunition to the Spaniards, regardless of the fact that the latter +meant to use them against the former's own English neighbors. He wrote +to men in South Carolina urging them not to allow this, but in spite of +his protests the men of Florida continued for some time to draw a large +part of their supplies from the colony to the north of Georgia. + +Then he returned to Fort St. George, taking with him Tomochichi and his +men in their canoes, a large barge, and two ten-oared boats with fifty +soldiers, cannon, and stores for two months. On the way he heard that +his agents were coming back accompanied by two Spanish officers. He did +not want the Spaniards to learn the strength of his garrison, so he gave +orders that they should be entertained on board his ship the _Hawk_, on +the excuse that the country was full of Indians who might otherwise +attack the Spaniards. + +Tents were set up on Jekyll Island, the Scotchmen dressed in their +plaids, the whole garrison assumed its most martial air, and Oglethorpe, +attended by seven officers, embarked for the _Hawk_, his purpose being +to impress the Spaniards with the size of his forces. The Spaniards were +impressed; they promised on their part to right the wrongs that +Oglethorpe's Indian allies complained of, and gained a promise from him +in return that he would do his best to keep the Creeks and other tribes +from molesting the Spanish settlers. Later, on his return to Savannah, +the governor made a treaty with the Spanish governor. More and more +bickering arose, however, between the settlers of the two nations, and +so Oglethorpe sailed for England in November, 1736, hoping to win aid +for his colony from the British government. + + +II + +Oglethorpe had no sooner reached England than word came that the +governor of Florida had ordered every English merchant to leave his +territory and was planning for warfare. The king of England at once +appointed Oglethorpe commander-in-chief of all his troops in Carolina +and Georgia, and ordered a regiment to be raised and equipped for +service there. Troops were sent from Gibraltar, and meantime the +governor busied himself in urging men and women to go out with him to +America as colonists. The terms he offered them were so promising that +finally he sailed from Portsmouth with five transports, carrying six +hundred men, women, and children, besides arms and provisions. + +In a little more than two months this new party reached St. Simons +Island. The settlers there, who had been fearing an attack by the +Spaniards, were delighted to welcome the general and his company. +Oglethorpe went to work at once to strengthen the forts, to build roads +between the forts and the towns, and to station scout ships to give +notice of any hostile fleet. Then he went to Savannah, where cannon +roared at his approach and the settlers crowded about to welcome their +trusted governor and general. Tomochichi and the chiefs of the Creek +nations came to assure him of their loyalty and offered to serve him at +any time against their common enemies the Spaniards. + +General Oglethorpe well knew how important the help of the Indians might +be to him, and so decided to journey through the wilderness to visit the +various tribes. This meant a long and perilous trip. It is partly +described for us. "Through tangled thickets," runs an account of the +journey, "along rough ravines, over dreary swamps in which the horses +reared and plunged, the travelers patiently followed their native +guides. More than once they had to construct rafts on which to cross the +rivers, and many smaller streams were crossed by wading or swimming.... +Wrapped in his cloak, with his portmanteau for a pillow, their hardy +leader lay down to sleep upon the ground, or if the night were wet he +sheltered himself in a covert of cypress boughs spread upon poles. For +two hundred miles they neither saw a human habitation, nor met a soul; +but as they neared their journey's end they found here and there +provisions, which the primitive people they were about to visit had +deposited for them in the woods.... When within fifty miles of his +destination, the general was met by a deputation of chiefs who escorted +him to Coweta; and although the American aborigines are rarely +demonstrative, nothing could exceed the joy manifested by them on +Oglethorpe's arrival.... By having undertaken so long and difficult a +journey for the purpose of visiting them, by coming with only a few +attendants in fearless reliance on their good faith, by the readiness +with which he accommodated himself to their habits, and by the natural +dignity of his deportment, Oglethorpe had won the hearts of his red +brothers, whom he was never known to deceive." + +A great council was held, a cup of the sacred black-medicine was drunk +by the white man and the chiefs, the calumet or pipe of peace was +smoked, and a treaty was drawn up, by which the Creeks renewed their +allegiance to the king of England while Oglethorpe promised that the +English would not encroach upon the Creeks' country and that the traders +would deal honestly with them. + +On his way home the governor fell ill of fever and had to stay at Fort +Augusta for several weeks. Here chiefs of the Cherokees and Chickasaws +came to him, complaining that some of their people had been poisoned by +rum they had bought from English traders. Inquiry showed that traders +had not only brought bad rum, but smallpox also, to the Indians, and the +governor promised the chiefs that hereafter he would only permit certain +licensed traders to come among them. + +Troubles over runaway slaves, who left South Carolina and Georgia for +Florida and were protected by the Spanish there, soon brought fresh +controversies between the settlers on the two sides of the border. +England, moreover, was preparing for war with Spain. On October 2, 1739, +the men of Savannah met at the court-house and General Oglethorpe +announced to them that England had declared war on Spain. The governor's +militia was now well armed and trained, ships guarded the coast, he had +a string of forts protecting his borders. Yet he, like the government in +England, would very much have preferred to keep the peace with the +Spaniards, and was only driven to hostilities because the latter were +constantly making trouble for his colonists and seizing English merchant +ships and imprisoning their crews. + +The southernmost outpost of Georgia was now Amelia Island, where there +was a settlement of about forty persons. They were protected by +palisades and several cannon. In November some Spaniards landed at night +and hid in the woods. Shots were heard in the fort, and the English +soldiers, searching the woods, found the bodies of two of the +Highlanders. The Spaniards had shot them, and escaped in their boats. + +At once Oglethorpe, with some of his Scotchmen and Indians, marched into +Florida. He captured Spanish boats at the mouth of the St. Johns River, +and went on toward St. Augustine. A troop of the enemy came out to +attack him, but fled before the rush of his Indians. + +He knew that he needed more troops, however, if he were to make good his +war on Florida, so he sent to South Carolina, urging the governor of +that colony to contribute as many soldiers as Georgia had supplied. This +caused some delay, but at length arrangements were completed, and +Oglethorpe was prepared to take the field. + +In May the general assembled four hundred of his soldiers, Creek Indians +under their chief Malachee, Cherokees under their chief Raven, at St. +George Island, at the mouth of the St. Johns River. Oglethorpe's object +was to cut off supplies from St. Augustine. His men crossed the river, +and a body of Indians and a few white soldiers made an attack on the +Spanish fort at San Diego. This place was defended by a number of large +guns, and the first attack on it failed. Then Oglethorpe came up with +the rest of his men and decided to try a little strategy. He ordered +some of his soldiers to beat drums in different parts of the woods and +other soldiers to march out at these places and march back again, the +same soldiers appearing again and again. The Spanish garrison, seeing so +many men at so many different points in the woods, soon concluded that +the English had an overwhelming force in the field against them. Then +Oglethorpe sent a Spanish prisoner he had captured to tell the garrison +how well he had been treated. Thereupon the garrison surrendered to the +English general. + +The troops from Carolina had not yet arrived, and Oglethorpe learned +that, while they delayed, two sloops filled with provisions and +ammunition and six Spanish galleys had reached St. Augustine. On the +eighteenth of May, however, two English ships anchored in the harbor and +two others blocked the southern entrance to the Spanish port, and soon +afterward a part of the troops from Carolina joined the general. He then +gave the order to advance on the Spanish town. + +St. Augustine was defended by 2,000 soldiers, quite as many as the +troops Oglethorpe had marshaled against it. The Spanish artillery was +vastly superior to that of the English. If the town was to be taken the +sea forces must attack at the same time as the land forces, and signals +were arranged for such a joint attack. + +The general came to Fort Moosa, three miles from St. Augustine, and +found the garrison had abandoned it. He gave orders to burn the gate +there and make holes in the walls, "lest," as he said, "it might one day +or other be a mouse-trap for some of our own people." Marching on, he +gave the signal to attack the Spanish capital, but was surprised that +the fleet gave him no answering signal. Later he learned that the +Spaniards had deployed their ships in such a way that a sea attack would +have been very difficult, and that the English commanders had decided +that if they made the attack as agreed upon they would probably be +defeated. Therefore the general determined that instead of an assault he +would attempt a blockade. + +He returned to Fort Diego, and ordered Colonel Palmer, with over two +hundred Scotchmen and Indians to march to Fort Moosa and scout through +the woods to prevent any communication between St. Augustine and the +interior of Florida. Colonel Palmer was told to camp each night in a new +place, to avoid battle, and to return at once if a larger force than his +own appeared. Another officer was sent with the Carolina soldiers to +take Point Quartell, which was about a mile distant from the castle of +St. Augustine, and build a battery there to command the northern +entrance to the harbor. + +The general himself set out to capture the Spaniards' battery at +Anastasia, and by clever maneuvers there succeeded in driving the enemy +to their boats. Oglethorpe set up cannon and sent an envoy to the +Spanish governor, calling on him to surrender. The Spaniard replied that +he should be glad to shake hands with General Oglethorpe if the latter +would come to him in his castle. In answer Oglethorpe opened fire from +his new battery, but the distance to the town was too great for his guns +and little harm was done the enemy. + +Colonel Palmer, meantime, disregarding the general's orders to camp in a +new place each night, had kept his men in the partly demolished Fort +Moosa. The Spaniards sent six hundred men to attack his small force. +Palmer's soldiers resisted desperately, but the Highlanders and the +Indians were too much outnumbered by the Spaniards; half of them, +including Colonel Palmer, were killed, a few escaped, and the rest were +made prisoners. + +The commander of the fleet also disregarded the arrangement he had made +with Oglethorpe and ordered off the war-ship stationed outside the +harbor, with the result that several sloops from Havana with new troops +and provisions stole into the channel and reached the Spanish +stronghold. The garrison at St. Augustine had begun to feel the pinch of +hunger and might soon have surrendered, but these fresh supplies tided +them over and enabled them to keep up their defense. + +General Oglethorpe, discouraged in his plan of a blockade, decided to +make one more attempt at carrying the town by assault. The British +commodore, Pearse, was to attack with his fleet while Oglethorpe led his +soldiers by land. The colonial troops and Indians were ready to open +fire, and only waited the signal from the ships. They waited in vain, +however. Instead of keeping his agreement, Commodore Pearse quietly +sailed away with all his ships, sending word to General Oglethorpe that +it was now the season when hurricanes might be expected off the Florida +coast and that he didn't intend to risk His Majesty's fleet there any +longer. + +Oglethorpe, who alone seemed really in earnest in his desire to fight +the Spaniards, deserted by the English fleet, getting very little +support from the officers and men of the Carolina regiments, found it +impossible to carry on the campaign. Even his own men from Georgia were +worn out by fatigue and the heat of Florida. Reluctantly therefore he +gave over his expedition, and returned to Savannah. The campaign, +however, had shown the Spaniards that the governor of Georgia was a man +whose power was to be respected, and they did not renew their raids into +his province for some years. + +Oglethorpe was a great builder as well as a very skilful military +leader, and he used this time of peace to improve the prosperity and +beauty of the towns he had settled in his colony. Savannah was already a +thriving place, with fine squares, parks, and wide shaded streets. Now +he turned his attention to Frederica, a town of a thousand settlers. He +meant this to be a strong frontier fort, and designed an esplanade, +barracks, parade-ground, fortifications, everything that could be of use +to protect Frederica from an enemy. + +Not far from Frederica, on the same island of St. Simons, was a small +settlement called Little St. Simons. A road connected the two places, +running over a beautiful prairie and through a forest, and at the edge +of this forest Oglethorpe built himself a small cottage and planted a +garden and an orchard of oranges, grapes and figs. Here he made his +home, where he could watch the water and keep an eye on Frederica and +its forts. A number of his officers built country-seats for themselves +near the general's cottage, almost all of them larger and more +pretentious than that of the general. Strange as it may seem, the +founder of Georgia never claimed or owned any other land in his province +but this one small place, and he lived almost as simply as the poorest +colonist, a great contrast to the elaborate state kept by the governors +of such colonies as Virginia and Maryland or the luxury of William +Penn's home at Pennsbury. + +Meantime other forts were built in the southern part of Georgia, one on +Jekyll Island, another on Cumberland Island, a third at Fort William; +and fortunately the governor saw to all this, for his province was to be +for some time the buffer between the English and the Spaniards, two +peoples who were constantly either on the verge of warfare or actually +fighting. The mother-countries of England and Spain were always at +swords' points, and those troubles on the other side of the Atlantic +were sure to bring the American colonists into the same strife. Each +country hectored the other. In the spring of 1740 the British government +decided to attack Spain through its American possessions. France also +decided to take a hand in the business, and this time joined with Spain. +Ships of these two countries set sail for the West Indies and threatened +the British colony of Jamaica. The English admiral, Vernon, was +despatched with a large squadron to attack the enemy, but instead of +sailing to Havana he turned in the direction of Hispaniola to watch the +French fleet, and so lost a splendid chance to capture the Spanish +stronghold of Havana. General Oglethorpe learned of this, and in May, +1641, he wrote to the Duke of Newcastle in England, explaining how +matters stood in that part of America and stating what the colonists +would need if they were to carry on a successful war with the Spanish +Dons of Florida and the West Indies. + +His letter was laid before the proper officers in England, but, as so +often happened in such cases, those officers, far though they were from +the scene of action, thought they knew more about conditions in Georgia +and Florida than Oglethorpe did. The government delayed and delayed, +while the general waited for an answer to his requests. Then he had to +write again to England. Either the northern colonies or the +mother-country was accustomed to supply his province with flour, but now +Spanish privateers were capturing the merchant vessels that brought it. +Only two English men-of-war were stationed off the coast, and they were +insufficient to protect it from privateers. A Spanish rover had just +seized a ship off Charleston Harbor with a great quantity of supplies on +board. When Oglethorpe heard of this he sent out his guard-sloop and a +schooner he had hired, met three Spanish ships, forced them to fly, +attacked one of their privateers and drove it ashore. Then he bought a +good-sized vessel and prepared it for service on the coast until the +English should send him a proper fleet. + +A large Spanish ship was sighted off the bar of Jekyll Sound on August +16th. The intrepid governor manned his sloop and two other vessels, the +_Falcon_ and the _Norfork_, and started in pursuit. He ran into a storm, +and when the weather had cleared the Spaniard had disappeared. The +storm had disabled the _Falcon_, and she had to put back, but +Oglethorpe sailed on with the other two, laying his course for Florida, +and a few days later sighted the Spanish ship at anchor. + +The Spaniard was a man-of-war, and with her was another ship, by name +the _Black Sloop_, with a record as a daring privateer. But Oglethorpe +was equal in daring to any Spanish captain. He ordered his small boats +put out to tow his two ships, the weather being now a calm, and as they +approached the enemy, gave the command to board. The two Spanish vessels +opened fire, but Oglethorpe's guns answered so vigorously that the +Spaniards quickly weighed anchor, and, a light breeze coming to their +aid, were able to run across the bar of the harbor. + +The English followed, and, though they could not board the enemy, fought +them for an hour, at the end of which the Spaniards were so disabled +that they ran for the town, while half a dozen of their small galleys +came out to safeguard their retreat. + +Other Spanish vessels were lying in the harbor, but none dared to attack +the two ships of Oglethorpe, and the governor spent that night at anchor +within sight of the castle of St. Augustine. Next day he sailed for the +open sea again, and there cruised up and down outside the bar, as if +daring the Spaniards to come out to meet him. When they refused to come +he sailed back to Frederica, having spread a proper fear of his small +fleet of two ships all along the Florida coast. + +Perhaps the greatest service that Oglethorpe rendered to his colony was +his retaining the friendship of all the neighboring Indian tribes. This +he did by always treating them fairly and impressing them with his +sincere interest in their own welfare. Another man might have let the +Indians see that he was merely using them to protect his own white +settlers, but Oglethorpe convinced them that he was equally concerned in +protecting both red men and white from ill-usage by the French and +Spanish. Georgia moreover needed the friendship of the native tribes +much more than the other English colonies did. It was nearest to the +strong Spanish settlements in Florida, and its neighbor to the north, +South Carolina, was able to furnish it very little assistance in times +of need, and was often barely able to protect itself. Had the Creeks, +the Chickasaws and Cherokees been allies of the Spaniards or the French +instead of allies of Georgia the English settlers would have found +themselves in hot water most of the time. + +The general had difficulty in corresponding with England and letting the +people there know what he needed. "Seven out of eight letters miscarry," +he said. Fortunately no more English merchantmen were captured by +Spanish privateers; the Dons had apparently been taught a lesson by the +vigorous attack Oglethorpe had made on their own ships. + +To keep this lesson in their mind the governor sailed again for St. +Augustine, but ran into a storm that almost destroyed his fleet. At +nearly the same time a privateer reached the bar outside St. Augustine +with large supplies for the garrison. The Spanish governor, as usual in +need of fresh supplies, joyfully hailed the privateer, sent out a pilot +with two galleys to bring her into the harbor, fired the guns from his +castle, and ordered some of his Indians to cut wood and build a +welcoming bonfire. + +Oglethorpe and his Indian allies were on the alert, however. A party of +his Creek friends attacked the Spanish Indians and captured five of +them. At the same time one of his ships reached the privateer before the +tide was high enough to float her over the bar, seized her, and took her +to Frederica. Now the settlers of Georgia, and even of South Carolina, +praised the general for his vigilance and dashing courage. A merchant of +Charleston wrote, "Our wrongheads now begin to own that the security of +our southern settlements and trade is owing to the vigilance and +unwearied endeavors of His Excellency in annoying the enemy." + +Yet, in spite of this, Carolina continued to fail in providing the men +or ships or supplies that Oglethorpe, Commander-in-Chief of His +Majesty's forces in Georgia and Carolina, requested of it. + +Presently the Spaniards, following the policy of England in trying to +annoy enemy colonies in America, took the offensive. A Spanish fleet of +more than fifty ships, with more than 5,000 soldiers on board, was +despatched to attack the English settlements. Fourteen of the ships +tried to reach Fort William, but were driven back by the battery there. +They then made for Cumberland Sound. Oglethorpe sent out Captain Horton +with white soldiers and Indians and followed with more troops in three +boats. The Spanish ships attacked him, but he fought his way through +their fleet with two of his boats. The third boat made for a creek, hid +there until the next day, and then returned to St. Simons with the +report that General Oglethorpe had been overpowered and killed. A day +later, however, the people of St. Simons were delighted to see their +general return safe and sound. He had escaped damage from the Spaniards, +but had hit them so hard with his guns that four of their ships +foundered on the way back to St. Augustine for repairs. + +At once he prepared ships and men for another conflict. His daring had +so inspired his crews that as some of them said, "We were ready for +twice our number of Spaniards." They soon had their chance. Thirty-six +Spanish ships in line of battle ran into St. Simons harbor. The forts +and the vessels there opened fire at once. Three times the enemy tried +to board the _Success_, a ship of twenty guns and one hundred men, but +each time the crew proved that they really were ready for twice their +number of Spaniards. After fighting for four hours the Spaniards gave up +the battle and sailed up the river in the direction of Frederica. + +Oglethorpe called a council of war. In view of the great number of +Spanish ships it was decided to destroy the batteries at St. Simons and +withdraw all the forces to Frederica. This was quickly done, and that +evening some of the enemy landed and took possession of the deserted and +dismantled fortifications. + +Meantime the general learned from some prisoners captured by the Indians +that the Spaniards had land forces of 5,000 men and had issued commands +to give no quarter to the English. As Mr. Rutledge of Charleston later +wrote, "The Spaniards were resolved to put all to the sword, not to +spare a life, so as to terrify the English from any future thought of +re-settling." Oglethorpe was now in a most dangerous situation. The +enemy had numerous ships, a great many soldiers, and were evidently +determined to settle matters once for all with their neighbors. The fate +of the English colonies of Georgia and South Carolina might depend on +the outcome of the next few days. + +Spanish outposts tried to reach the fort at Frederica, but were driven +back by Indian scouts. The only road to the town was by the narrow +highway, where only three men could walk abreast, with a forest on one +side and a marsh on the other. Artillery could not be carried over it, +and it was guarded by Highlanders and Indians in ambush. Yet, after many +attempts, the Spaniards managed to get within two miles of the town. + +Oglethorpe now led a charge of his rangers, Highlanders and Indians, so +fiercely that all but a few of the enemy's advance-guard were killed or +made prisoners. The Spanish commander was captured. The English pursued +the retreating Spaniards for a mile, then posted guards, while the +general returned to the town for reinforcements. + +The Spaniards again marched up the road and camped near where the +English lay hid in ambush. A noise startled them and they seized their +arms. The men in ambush fired, many Spaniards fell, and the rest fled in +confusion. As a Spanish sergeant said, "The woods were so full of +Indians that the devil himself could not get through them." For a long +time the place was known as the "Bloody Marsh." Oglethorpe marched his +troops over the road to within two miles of the main Spanish encampment, +and there halted for the night. + +The enemy withdrew to the ruined fort at St. Simons, where they were +sheltered by the guns of their fleet. Oglethorpe went back to Frederica, +leaving outposts to watch the Spaniards. There he found that his +provisions were running low, and he knew that no more could be brought +in since the enemy blocked the sound. He told the people, however, that +if they had to abandon their settlement they could escape through +Alligators Creek and the canal that had been cut through Generals +Island, and he assured his little army of 800 men that they were more +than a match for the whole Spanish expedition. + +Presently Spanish galleys came up the river; but Indians, hid in the +long grasses, prevented the soldiers from landing. When they approached +the town the batteries opened such a hot fire that the galleys fled +down-stream much faster than they had come up. + +English prisoners, escaping from the Spaniards, began to bring word that +the enemy were much discouraged. Many Spaniards had fallen sick, and the +soldiers from Cuba were wrangling with the men from Florida. Oglethorpe +therefore planned a surprise for the enemy and marched to within a mile +of their camp. He was about to attack when one of his soldiers, a +Frenchman who had volunteered but was in reality a spy, fired his gun +and ran from the general's ranks. + +The Frenchman was not caught, and the general knew that he would tell +the Spaniards how few English soldiers there were. So Oglethorpe tried a +trick of his own, hoping to make the Frenchman appear to be a double +spy. He hired a Spanish prisoner to carry a letter to the spy. "The +letter was in French," Oglethorpe later said, "as if from a friend, +telling him that he had received the money, and would strive to make the +Spaniards believe the English were very weak; that he should undertake +to pilot their boats and galleys, and then bring them into the woods +where the hidden batteries were. That if he could bring about all this, +he should have double the reward, and that the French deserters should +have all that had been promised them. + +"The Spanish prisoner got into their camp," Oglethorpe said, "and was +immediately carried before the general. He was asked how he escaped and +whether he had any letters; but denying this, was searched and the +letter found. And he, upon being pardoned, confessed that he had +received money to carry it to the Frenchman, for the letter was not +directed. The Frenchman, of course, denied knowing anything of the +contents of the letter, or having received any money or had any +correspondence with me. Notwithstanding which, a council of war was held +and they decided the Frenchman a double spy, but the general would not +suffer him to be executed, having been employed by himself." + +While the Spaniards were still in doubt as to the strength of +Oglethorpe's forces some English ships arrived off the coast. This +decided the Spaniards to leave, and they burned the barracks at St. +Simons and took to their ships in such haste that they left behind some +of their cannon and provisions. + +Hearing that ships had been sighted Oglethorpe sent an officer in a boat +with a letter to their commander. But when the officer embarked he found +no ships were to be seen. Later the general learned that one of the +vessels sighted came from South Carolina, and that the officer in +command had orders to see if the Spanish fleet had taken possession of +the fort at St. Simons, and if it had to sail back to Charleston at +once. Here was further proof that the plucky governor of Georgia could +expect little assistance from the sister colony on the north. + +By now some of the Spanish ships were out at sea, and others had landed +their soldiers at St. Andrews in a temporary camp. A couple of days +later twenty-eight of their ships sailed up to Fort William and called +upon the garrison to surrender. The English officer there answered that +he would not surrender the fort and defied the Spaniards to take it. The +latter tried; they landed men, who were driven off by the guns of +soldiers hidden in the sand-dunes, their ships fired on the fort, but +were disabled by the return-fire of the Georgia batteries. After a +battle of three hours the Spaniards withdrew from the scene and returned +to their base at St. Augustine. + +With a few ships and eight hundred men Oglethorpe had defeated a Spanish +fleet of fifty-six vessels and an army of more than 5,000 soldiers. +Small wonder that the people of his province couldn't find praise enough +for their leader! George Whitefield, a famous clergyman of Savannah, +wrote of this war against the Spanish Dons, "The deliverance of Georgia +from the Spaniards is such as cannot be paralleled but by some instances +out of the Old Testament. The Spaniards had intended to attack Carolina, +but wanting water, they put into Georgia, and so would take that colony +on their way. They were wonderfully repelled, and sent away before our +ships were seen." + +The governors of the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, +Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina sent letters to Oglethorpe +thanking him for his valiant defense of the southern seaboard and +expressing their gratitude to God that Georgia had a commander so well +fitted to protect her borders. The governor of South Carolina and most +of his officers had done little or nothing to help their neighbor, but +the people of that colony thoroughly disapproved of this failure to be +of assistance and a number of them sent a message to Oglethorpe in which +they said, "If the Spaniards had succeeded in their attempts they would +have destroyed us, laid our province waste and desolate, and filled our +habitations with blood and slaughter.... We are very sensible of the +great protection and safety we have so long enjoyed by having your +Excellency to the southward of us; had you been cut off, we must, of +course, have fallen." + +Even after this defeat, however, the Spaniards of Florida continued from +time to time to molest the Georgia borders. A party of rangers was +killed by Spanish soldiers, the settlement at Mount Venture was burned +by Yamasee Spanish Indians. Oglethorpe had to be on the watch constantly +lest the French or the Spanish should raid his territory. And the +English government, though he wrote them time and again, neglected to +send him proper reinforcements. + +In the spring of 1743 the general was again camped on the St. Johns +River. He heard that a Spanish army was marching against him, and he +resolved to attack them before they should attack him. His Indian +allies stole up on the enemy, and surprising them, drove them back in +confusion. The Spaniards took shelter behind one of their forts, and +Oglethorpe could not manage to draw them out to battle. He marched his +men back to Frederica, and there by Indian scouts, by sentry-boats, kept +an eye on the Spaniards, ready to spring out to meet them should they +renew their raids at any time. + +His soldiers never faltered in their obedience to the general's orders; +his Indian allies, though they were often tempted, never forsook their +allegiance to him. The Spaniards tried many times to buy the red men +over to their side. Similli, a chief of the Creeks, went to St. +Augustine to see what was being done there. The Spaniards offered to pay +him a large sum of money for every English prisoner he would bring them, +and showed him a sword and scarlet clothes they had given a chief of the +Yamasees. They said of Oglethorpe, "He is poor, he can give you nothing; +it is foolish for you to go back to him." The Creek chief answered, "We +love him. It is true he does not give us silver, but he gives us +everything we want that he has. He has given me the coat off his back +and the blanket from under him." In return for his loyalty to his +English friend the Spaniards drove the Indian from St. Augustine at the +point of the sword. + +The general had spent all his own money in protecting his people in +Georgia, and the English government would not send him the sums he said +were urgently needed for the province. Therefore he decided that he must +go to England and see what could be done there. He put his forts on the +border in the best possible shape for defense, appointed a deputy +governor in Savannah, and sailed for England in July, 1743. + +Was the colonial hero received with the praise his great services +deserved from England? Instead of praise he was harshly criticized for +this or that trivial matter; though a few of the wiser men came forward +to do him honor. Parliament would not vote him the money his colony +needed; he had difficulty in finding enough money to pay his personal +debts. Yet he kept on appealing for aid for Georgia, while the +government took the same attitude it had taken toward so many of the +other American colonies, and appeared of the opinion that the province +across the Atlantic must look after itself. Fortunately for Georgia, +Oglethorpe had so trained its soldiers, had so befriended its Indian +neighbors, had so protected it by forts that the colony was now able to +go its own way without English help. + +In 1744 Oglethorpe married Elizabeth Wright, the heiress of Cranham +Hall, a manor in Essex. He was also in that same year chosen as one of +the officers to defend England from a threatened invasion by France. His +services were not needed for that purpose; but in the next year he was +given the rank of major-general and took part in the suppression of the +rebellion of the "Young Pretender." This kept him in England, and he +left the government of Georgia to the care of the men he had trained +there. From time to time, however, he bestirred himself to send new +colonists across the sea to Savannah. + +When the rebellion was ended General Oglethorpe and his wife settled at +Cranham Hall. Here he lived the life of a country gentleman, delighting +in the peace and quiet after his many turbulent years in Georgia. He +lived to see the American Revolution, though he took no part in it; he +said "that he knew the people of America well; that they could never be +subdued by arms, but their obedience could ever be secured by treating +them justly;" he learned that his colony of Georgia, with twelve of her +sisters, had succeeded in winning her independence from that +mother-country he had served so long and on whose lists he was now the +senior ranking general; and he seems to have harbored no ill-feeling +against the colonists for forming a new nation. + +Georgia and America owe a great debt of gratitude to General James +Edward Oglethorpe. None of the colonies had a more unselfish founder and +governor, none were more bravely defended from enemies, and in none was +more devotion shown to making a few scattered settlements in the +wilderness blossom into the safe homes of a contented people. + + + + +X + +THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS AND THE YORKERS + +(_Vermont, 1774_) + + +I + +A young fellow, raccoon skin cap on his head, with heavy homespun +jacket, with breeches made of buckskin and tucked into the tops of +light, supple doeskin boots, was running along the shore of a lake in +the Green Mountain country on a winter afternoon in 1774. He went at a +comfortable dog-trot, and every now and then he would slow up or stop +and look about him with keen eyes. Some people would only have seen the +lake, with thin, broken layers of ice floating out from the shore, the +underbrush and woods to the other side, powdered with a light fall of +snow, and heard only the crackling of frozen twigs and the occasional +scrunch of loose ice against the bank. But this tall, slim boy saw and +heard a great deal more. He caught the hoot of an owl way off through +the forest, and listened intently to make certain that it was an owl and +not a signal call of some Indian or trapper; he saw little footprints in +the snow that told him a marten had gone hunting small game through the +brush, and he spied the thatched roof of a beaver's house in a little +scallop of the lake. Then he ran on up the shore of the lake, all his +senses alert, his eyes constantly looking for other trails than the one +he had made himself on his south-bound journey that morning. + +The sun had been set a half-hour when he came to a place where the trail +led inward a short distance from the shore. A few more yards brought him +to a small log cabin. Other ears heard him coming and as he stopped a +boy and a man looked out from the cabin doorway. "You made good time of +it, Jack," said the boy at the door. "Did you really get to Dutton's?" + +"Did I get there?" chuckled the runner. "I got there a good hour before +noon." + +"And what did they say there?" asked the man at the door. + +"That the Yorkers mean to settle this land themselves. If they can," he +added, with a grin. "That's what all the men said down at Dutton's, 'if +they can,' and they shook their fists when they said it." Jack Sloan +shook his fist in imitation of the men. "Not if the Green Mountain Boys +can help it! Not by a jugful! No, sir!" he added. + +The man grunted approvingly and stepped back into the cabin. The boy +came out. "I got a silver fox to-day," he declared proudly. "The biggest +one I ever saw, too." + +"Did you, Sam? That's fine! I saw plenty of tracks, heard a bull-moose +calling, too; but I didn't have time to stop. Gee, but my legs are tired +now! I'm going to lie down by the fire and rest a bit." + +He went inside, where the man was busy frying bacon and boiling coffee, +and taking a blanket from a bed in the corner spread it out before the +fire and stretched himself comfortably on it. "Dutton wanted to know +when you'd be sending him some more skins, Peter," he said. "He wants to +get 'em over to Albany early this year, in case there should be more +trouble with the Yorkers." + +"I can send him some next week," was the answer. "There's a dozen mink +and a dozen otter out in the shed now, an' a lot o' beavers an' martens, +and four fine foxes. Did they say anything about Ethan Allen, Jack?" + +"They said he was down at Bennington. My, but that bacon smells good! +They had corn-cake and molasses down at Dutton's, and I ate so much I +didn't think I'd ever be hungry again, but I am all right now." + +Peter Jones, the trapper, laughed. "I never saw the time when you and +Sam wasn't ready for food." + +Sam came in soon, like a bear-cub scenting food, and the three had +supper and then made things snug for the night. The weather was growing +colder. Peter, taking a squint at the sky, allowed that he thought the +lake would be frozen clear across by morning. They brought in a good +stock of wood and built up the fire, and then sat down in front of it +to hear what Jack had to tell them of the news at Dutton's trading-post. + +At that time, in 1774, there was a great dispute between the two +colonies of New Hampshire and New York as to which owned the country of +the Green Mountains. New York stretched way up on the west shore of Lake +Champlain, and New Hampshire extended from the northern boundary of +Massachusetts up along the eastern shore of the Connecticut River. Now +Massachusetts reached as far west as a line drawn south from Lake +Champlain, and the governor of New Hampshire claimed that his colony +extended as far west as Massachusetts. He quoted his colony's grant from +the king of England to prove his claim, and he sent word to Governor +Clinton of New York that he meant to settle the great Green Mountain +tract that lay between the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain. + +Governor Clinton sent back word to Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire +that the province of New York claimed all that land under the charter of +King Charles II to his brother the Duke of York. + +New Hampshire settlers, however, went into this debatable land and built +homes and began to farm there. Governor Wentworth granted lands, known +as the New Hampshire Grants, to any who would settle there, and a +township was organized west of the Connecticut River, and was named +Bennington. The country was very fertile, the woods and rivers were +full of game, and it was a tempting land to take. But the New Yorkers +looked on the land as greedily as did the men from New Hampshire, and +soon both provinces were sending their sheriffs and other officers to +enforce their own laws there. + +New York appealed to the king of England to settle the dispute, and he +declared that the western bank of the Connecticut River should be the +boundary line, giving all the Green Mountain country to the province of +New York. By this time, however, there were a great many people from New +Hampshire living there, and they meant to keep their homes no matter +what the New York governor might do. What he did was to order the +settlers to give up their grants from New Hampshire and buy their lands +over again from New York, which charged twenty times as much as New +Hampshire had. A few settlers did this, but most of them refused. A +meeting of the latter was held at Bennington, and they resolved, as they +said, "to support their rights and property in the New Hampshire Grants +against the usurpations and unjust claims of the governor and Council of +New York by force, as law and justice were denied them." + +The settlers began to resist all New York officers who came to arrest +them or try to eject them from their homes. Surveyors who came to run +new lines across lands already granted by New Hampshire were forced to +stop. No matter how secretly a sheriff with a party of Yorkers, as the +New York officers were called, came to a farm in the disputed land, +there were sure to be settlers there to meet the Yorkers and drive them +away. The settlers had scouts all through the country; every +trading-post was a rallying-point. + +A military force was organized, and chose Ethan Allen, a rugged, +eloquent man, to be its colonel. The governor of New York declared that +he would drive these men into the Green Mountains, and when they heard +this Ethan Allen's followers took the name of Green Mountain Boys for +themselves. + +Peter Jones was a hunter and trapper. The two boys, Jack and Sam, were +the sons of men who had moved into the country on New Hampshire grants +and taken up farm land. The boys had wanted to learn more of the woods +than they could on their fathers' farms, and so had joined Peter at his +cabin. He had taught them woodcraft and Indian lore, how to paddle a +canoe, how to shoot straight, how to track the animals they wanted. All +three were ready at any time to go to the help of settlers who might be +driven from their land by New York officers. + +Jack told the news of Dutton's trading-post, and then the hunter and the +boys went to bed. Outside the cabin the wind whistled and sang. By +morning the wind had dropped, but the air was very cold. Peter was up +soon after dawn, putting fresh wood on the fire. The boys followed him +shortly, getting into warm clothes as quickly as they could. They ate +breakfast, and went outdoors. The lake was a field of ice, the trees +were stiff with frost, the cold air nipped and stung their faces +viciously. + +There was plenty of work to do. Soon Peter set out to visit a line of +traps to the south, and the boys went through the woods northwest to +look at other traps. They came to the frozen bed of a little stream and +a couple of beaver traps. There were no animals there. Perhaps the night +had been too cold to tempt them from their homes. "I shouldn't think any +animals would have gone prowling round last night," said Sam. + +"I know I wouldn't," said Jack, "if I was a beaver." + +They pushed on through the woods until they came to an open pasture. +They had started across it when they heard a crow calling overhead. +"Must be a fox somewhere about," whispered Jack. "Let's see if we can +find him, even if we haven't got our guns." + +They went back to the edge of the woods, making as little noise as they +could, for they knew that a fox depends more on his ears than on his +eyes. They stopped behind the trees and after a few minutes saw a big +gray fox trotting slowly along the edge of the woods. Dropping to their +knees the boys crept forward to a hummock and hid back of it. The fox +stood still, looked about, and then started at a slow gait across the +meadow. + +The fox was more than a hundred yards away from the boys when Jack +began to squeak like a meadow-mouse. No Indian or hunter could have +heard the sound at half that distance, but the air was very still and +Jack knew the fox's big ears were very sharp. True enough, the fox did +hear it, and stopping, looked around. + +Again Jack gave the squeak of the meadow-mouse. The fox came leaping +lightly over the frozen hassocks of the meadow toward the two hidden +boys. Every few yards he would stop and cock his ears over the long +grass to listen. Each time he did this Jack squeaked, lower and lower +each time, and every time the fox came on again, more and more +cautiously, as if he were afraid of frightening the game he was hunting. + +The fox got within fifty yards, and from there the boys, crouching +behind their hummock, were in plain view of him. The fox looked sharply, +distrustingly at the hummock. Had either boy moved his head or arm the +fraction of an inch the fox would have shot off like an arrow to the +woods. Neither did move, however. Jack waited until he judged from the +fox's attitude and the set of his ears that his suspicions were +vanishing, and then he squeaked again, very faintly now. The fox bounded +on, almost up to the hummock. Then he stopped short, and the boys could +see from the look on his shrewd face that he judged something was wrong. +Instead of coming on he circled round to the left, trusting to his nose +rather than to his eyes. + +Jack squeaked, but the fox went on circling; it was plain he meant to +come no farther. "What's the matter, old boy?" said Jack softly. + +At the sound of Jack's voice the fox sprang up into the air and then +bounded away to the edge of the woods, where he stopped a minute to look +back and then disappeared behind the trees. + +"We could have had him easy," said Sam, getting up. "We could almost +have caught him with our hands." + +"I don't want to try catching a big fellow like that with my hands," +said Jack, chuckling. "Give me a gun every time." + +When they got back to the cabin they found that Peter had been more +successful than they in his visit to the traps on the south, for the +skins of an otter and a mink had been added to the store that hung on a +line in the drying-shed. After dinner the hunter took from his pocket a +piece of wood he had been working over for several days. "I'm going to +see if I can't fool a pickerel with this," he announced, holding out the +little decoy for the boys to look at. The wood was cut to represent a +minnow, was weighted on the bottom with lead, and had fins and a tail +made of tin. He had painted a red stripe on each side, a white belly, +and a brilliant green back. A line fastened to the minnow would allow +Peter to pull it about in the water as if it were swimming. + +Armed with a long-shafted fish-spear and a hatchet Peter and the boys +went out on the ice. Choosing a smooth place Peter cut a square of ice. +Then through the open space the hunter dropped his wooden minnow and +made it swim about in a very lively way. In his right hand he held the +spear poised, ready to strike at any venturesome fish. + +For some time they waited; then the long nose of a pickerel showed in +the water; Peter jerked the minnow and struck with the spear. The +pickerel, however, slipped away unharmed. They had to wait fifteen +minutes before another appeared. This time the pickerel stopped +motionless, and seemed to be carefully considering the lively +red-striped minnow. Then the fish shot forward, Peter aimed his spear, +and the shining pickerel was caught and thrown out on the ice. Peter +caught two more fish before he let Sam have a try at it. Sam and Jack +each caught a pickerel, and then they brought their five trophies back +to the camp to cook for supper. + +They had just sat down to supper when there came a rap on the door +followed by the entrance of a tall man in a fur jacket with a gun slung +across his back. He was John Snyder, a hunter from the country north of +the lake, and he had met the three in the cabin several times before. + +"H-mm," said he, "that fish smells mighty good. I haven't tasted fish +for a month o' Sundays." + +"Pitch right in," invited Peter, setting out another tin plate and +pouring a cup of coffee for the new arrival. + +Snyder pulled off his cap and gloves, and threw off his fur coat, +showing a buckskin jacket underneath. He ate like a man who hadn't +tasted food for a month. After a while he said, "They say up where I +come from that thar's trouble down Bennington way. If the Yorkers want +trouble I reckon we can supply 'em good and proper. I'm on my way to +Dutton's, and thar's more of the Boys comin' on down through the woods. +Why don't you come along with me in the morning?" + +"We was planning to go when we'd got a few more skins," said Peter. "But +we've got a fair-sized stock, an' I don't know but what we might go +along with you." + +"That's what the word is," said Snyder. "Green Mountain Boys to +Bennington." He looked hardy and tough, a typical pioneer, quite as +ready to fight as he was to hunt or farm. + +That night the guest slept on the floor before the fire, rolled in a +blanket, and soon after dawn next morning the four set out, pulling two +heavy sleds to which the furs and skins were securely strapped. + +All four of the party were used to long trips on foot, often carrying +considerable baggage. There were few post-roads through that part of the +country, and horses would have been little use in traveling through such +rough and wooded stretches. So most of the new settlers, and +particularly those who were hunters, copied the customs of the Indians +and trained themselves to long journeys afoot, varied occasionally by +canoeing when they reached open water. The party of four traveled fast, +in spite of the heavy sleds. Peter Jones, not very tall but very wiry, +all sinew and muscle, and Sam, red-haired, freckle-faced, and rather +stocky, pulled one sled, and big, raw-boned, weather-beaten Snyder, and +slim, Indian-like Jack the other. + +Presently they left the lake and came into more open country, where they +could see snow-powdered hills stretching away to the clear blue horizon. +Now they made better time, for there was no underbrush to catch the +sleds and stop them. On they went until they saw a number of cabins +grouped about a larger frame building, then they broke into a run, and +dashed up with a shout before Dutton's trading-post. + +The shout brought three or four men out to see what was the matter. They +called the newcomers by name, and "Big Bill" Dutton, seeing the sleds, +told Peter Jones to bring his furs inside. Jack and Sam and Peter +unstrapped the furs and carried them into the house, where they were +spread out on a long counter, over which Dutton was accustomed to buy +whatever farmers and hunters and trappers might have for sale, and in +return to sell them provisions or clothing or guns or powder and shot or +whatever he might have that they wanted. + +There was always a great deal of haggling over the sale of furs. Peter +had to point out what unusually fine skins of otter and beaver and mink, +of marten and fox he had brought, and Dutton had to argue that this fur +was rather scanty, that other one very much spotted. But at last they +reached an agreement, Peter was paid in cash for the pelts, and they +were carefully stowed away by the trader, to be sent at the first good +opportunity over to Albany, from where they would go by boat down the +river to New York. + +Meantime Jack and Sam, outside the house, were listening to the stories +of the men who had gathered at Dutton's. They were exciting stories of +conflicts between Green Mountain settlers and the Yorkers or those who +sided with them. One man told how a doctor, who had openly talked in +favor of the Yorkers, had been swung in an armchair for two hours under +the sign of the Green Mountain Tavern at Bennington, on which sign stood +the stuffed hide of a great panther, a monster who showed his teeth at +all enemies from New York. Most of the stories were of the exploits of +Ethan Allen and his band of Green Mountain Boys. They said that Ethan +Allen had caught a surveyor marking out claims for Yorkers, and had +taken him prisoner and had ordered him out of the country on pain of +death if they caught him there again. Then Allen had marched on to the +First Falls of Otter Creek, where Yorkers had driven out some New +Hampshire settlers who had built a sawmill. The Boys had sent the +intruders flying at the point of their guns, and had burned their log +houses and broken the stones of a gristmill the enemy had built. Then +they had brought the original owners back and settled them again in +possession of their houses and sawmill. All through that part of the +country similar things were taking place. The men said they had word +that Yorkers were planning to drive settlers off their farms not very +far to the west of Dutton's. "If they do it," cried Snyder, striking his +open palm with his great fist, "I want to be there to settle accounts +with them!" So said all the rest; Ethan Allen and his men shouldn't have +all the glory there was going. + +"Big Bill" Dutton's frame house was tavern and post-office as well as +trading-post and meeting-place for the settlers of the neighborhood. +When Mrs. Dutton rang the dinner bell all the strangers trooped into the +room back of the store and sat at the long table. Jack and Sam marched +in with the others and ate their share of dinner while they listened to +the talk of the men. Some of the latter were for setting out south +toward Bennington immediately, in order to learn at first hand what was +going on. + +After dinner they all stood about the stove in the store, talking, +talking, talking. Sam and Jack went outdoors and looked about the little +group of cabins. A boy of near their own age came out from one of the +houses and talked with them about hunting moose. As they were swapping +yarns a man rode into the settlement from the southwest. At sight of the +three he flung out his right arm. "Yorkers down to Beaver Falls!" he +called out. "They're coming to drive our people out o' their homes! Are +there any Green Mountain Boys hereabouts?" + +"In there!" exclaimed Jack, pointing to the store. "Tell 'em about it in +there!" + +The horseman sprang from his saddle. "Fetch a blanket for my horse, will +you?" said he. The boy who lived there ran indoors to get a covering. +Meantime the rider strode up to Dutton's door and flung it open. He +walked up to the group of men about the stove, announcing his news +briefly. At his heels came Sam and Jack, and back of them came the boy +from the log house opposite. + + +II + +They started from Dutton's next morning, a troop of a dozen men and +three boys, bound for Beaver Falls. "Big Bill" left his store in charge +of his wife, and took command of the troop. They were all hardy and +strong, and they covered the twenty miles to Beaver Falls by the middle +of the afternoon. + +Here there stood a sawmill on the river, with a score of log houses, and +farms scattered through the neighborhood. The place looked perfectly +quiet as the fifteen Green Mountain Boys trooped up to it. But they soon +found there was plenty of excitement in the mill. There were gathered +most of the men of the Falls, and they were very glad to see the +reinforcements. + +"Yorkers been found prowling round in the woods!" "Surveyors been caught +in the act of staking claims!" "Jim Murdock found a paper stuck on his +door, saying we'd better get out peaceful-like, and let the lawful +owners have their land!" Such were some of the items of information +given to Dutton's band. + +"Let 'em come!" exclaimed Snyder, slapping his hand round the muzzle of +his gun. "This is the law of the land we'll read to them!" + +After a time Jack and Sam, having heard all there was to hear, struck +out on a line of their own. They followed the bank of the river until +they came to woods, and then skirted the forest southward. This brought +them at length to a wide trail with frozen wheel ruts. Down this road +they went, passing occasional cabins, until they came to a crossroad +where they found a man looking perplexedly about him, as if undecided +which road to take. + +"Where's Farmer Robins' place?" he asked. "The place that used to belong +to Elijah Robins." + +"We don't know," said Jack. "We're strangers here." + +"There's a maple grove back of it," said the stranger, "that's all I +know about it. I was told to stick to this road, but they didn't say +nothing about any forks in it." + +"This goes to Beaver Falls," said Sam, pointing to the one they had +taken, "and that," he added, indicating the crossroad to the right of +him, "would take you through thick woods to the river." + +"I don't reckon it's either o' those roads then," said the man, and, +bobbing his head at Sam, he stalked off to the left. + +The two boys watched until the man was almost hidden by the trees. Then +Jack turned to Sam. "You don't want to tell all you know to strangers," +he said. "Make the other man tell you what he's up to first." + +Sam's round face, not nearly so shrewd as the older boy's, looked +perplexed. "Why shouldn't I tell him about those other roads?" he asked. + +"Because I think he may be one of the Yorkers, and the less we tell them +about the lay of the land round here the better." + +"Do you really think he was?" exclaimed Sam, his tone of voice showing +that he had expected a Yorker to be a much more terrifying looking +creature than this stranger. "What did he want of Farmer Robins' place +then?" + +"I don't know," answered Jack. "But I think we might be able to find out +something more about it if we follow his tracks." + +They turned to the west, following the road where the prints of the +man's big hob-nailed boots could now and then be seen in the frozen +crust of snow. The sun was setting, and the wind was rising, and they +pulled their fur caps down over their ears and stuck their hands in +their pockets as they trudged along. It grew dark rapidly. They passed +two cabins where they looked closely for a clump of maples and then +scoured the road to find the prints of the hob-nails. The man's tracks +went on, and they followed, only speaking in whispers now lest they +should be overheard. + +At the third log house they stopped. Jack, catching Sam by the sleeve, +pointed to the back of the house, where the starlight unmistakably +showed a grove of trees. Smoke came from the chimney, and the front +door, not quite plumb in its frame, showed there was a light inside. +Jack crept round the cabin, Sam following him, each as silent as if they +were stalking moose. There were four windows, but each was securely +shuttered from the inside, and though light came through the cracks, the +boys could see nothing of what was going on inside nor catch a sound of +voices. + +Then Jack made the circuit of the house again, this time examining the +logs and the filling of clay between them with the greatest care. At +last he found a place that seemed to interest him, and he pulled out his +hunting knife from its sheath and began to pick at a knot-hole in the +wood. His knife was very sharp, and he dug into the circle round the +knot and then into the clay just below it. He worked swiftly and very +quietly. In a short time he had the wood loosened; pressing inward with +his blade he forced the knot out, and then scraped some of the plaster +away. Now he had a hole that enabled him by stooping a little to look +into the cabin. + +He put his eye to the opening and saw about a dozen men in the room. He +could hear what they said. They were, as he had suspected, Yorkers, +planning to make an attack on the people at Beaver Falls. As Jack +listened he pieced one remark to another, and caught the gist of their +plans. They meant to march down to the Falls that night, stop at each +house, rout the people out, make them prisoners in the sawmill, and take +possession of houses and farms under orders from officers of the +province of New York. + +Jack drew away from the hole, and let Sam have a chance to look into the +log-house room. When Sam had watched and listened for a few minutes he +nodded to Jack, and the two stole away from the cabin as noiselessly as +they had circled round it. + +Out on the road, as they went hurrying back by the way they had come, +they whispered to each other, telling what each had overheard. Then they +went at a dog-trot to the path along the river and came to the sawmill +at Beaver Falls. + +Peter, "Big Bill" Dutton, Snyder, and most of the other men were at the +mill, though some had been stationed on sentry-duty in the fields and +woods. Jack told his story without interruption, and then the men began +to plan how they should welcome the Yorkers. It was "Big Bill's" plan +they finally adopted, and set to work to carry it into effect at once. + +All the people at the Falls had had their supper, the women were busy +cleaning up, most of the children were in bed. The men went to the +houses, and told the women that they and the children must spend the +night in the sawmill. Children were bundled into warm clothes, and, +wondering what was happening, were hurried to the mill by their mothers. +Half a dozen men under command of Snyder were stationed at the mill, the +others were allotted to the different houses in the village. Two were +told off to each house, and it happened that Peter and Jack stood on +guard at the house nearest the Falls. + +Every house at that time had its store of firearms, its powder and +balls. Peter and Jack sat inside their cabin, muskets ready to hand. +From time to time they threw fresh wood on the fire, for the night was +cold. Jack stood at a window, looking out at the open space along the +river and the road on the opposite bank, both faintly lighted by the +stars. Midnight came, but there was no sign of the Yorkers; presently it +seemed to Jack that it must be nearly dawn. + +Peter, standing at a window on the other side of the door from Jack, +suddenly said, "Look! There, coming through the trees to the left of the +mill!" + +Jack looked and saw men coming into the road, a good many of them, more +than he thought he had seen at Farmer Robins' house. They came along the +road, crossed the wooden bridge below the Falls, passed by the mill, +evidently taking it for granted there would be no one there at this +hour, and marched into the clearing before the log houses. There they +divided into small parties, each party heading for a separate cabin. + +"Ready now!" cautioned Peter. "We've got two to handle. I'll take the +first." + +Jack stepped back from the window and laid his hand on the bolt of the +door. + +"Wait till I give the word," whispered Peter. + +From outside there came a loud voice. "Open your door in the name of the +Sheriff of New York!" There followed knocks on the door, and other +orders, all to the same intent. + +Peter waited until the owner might be supposed to rouse and get to the +door. Then he whispered, "Now!" Jack drew back the bolt and opened the +door enough for the men to enter single file. One man stepped in, the +other followed at his heels. + +Peter caught the first man in his arms, and, taking him altogether +unawares, threw him to the floor with a wrestler's trip. Jack, throwing +his arms round the second man's knees, brought him down with a crash. +Lithe and quick as an eel, Jack squirmed up to the man's chest and +gripped the Yorker's throat in his hands. In a minute or two the man +underneath was almost breathless. "Do you surrender?" panted Jack. The +Yorker tried to nod. + +Peter had wrenched his man's gun away, and was copying Jack's tactics. +His man was partly stunned by the sharpness of the fall and made little +attempt to free himself from Peter's grasp. Finding himself attacked by +a thoroughly-prepared and resolute man, he had no notion as to how many +other such men there might be in the house. It was clearly a case where +it was best to save one's skin as whole as one could. So, when Peter +said, "Keep still there, will you!" the Yorker grunted, "I will," and +made no attempt, unarmed as he was, to try further conclusions with the +sinewy hunter. + +Peter had a coil of rope ready. Now he cut two lengths of this, tossed +one over to Jack, who still kept his knee on the chest of his man, and +used the other to tie the arms of his own prisoner. Then he helped the +Yorker to his feet. Meantime Jack had followed his example with the +other, and shortly both prisoners were standing before the hearth while +their captors searched their pockets for firearms and knives. + +"I must allow," said one of the Yorkers, "you two were mighty sharp! We +figured that when you people here heard we were acting under sheriff's +orders you'd do as you were told." + +"We don't pay no more attention hereabouts to what a Yorker sheriff says +than if he was a catamount,--no, not so much as that!" returned Peter. +"What do you men mean by marching into a peaceful village an' trying to +turn people out o' their lawful homes?" + +"Well, the village certainly looked peaceful enough," said the Yorker, +"but I don't see as how we've turned many folks out o' their homes +yet." + +"And I don't think you will!" Peter assured him. "Jack, take a look +outside and see what's happened." + +Jack went out, and going from house to house, found that wherever the +Yorkers had demanded admittance the Green Mountain Boys had worked their +trick beautifully. In two or three houses it had taken some time to make +the enemy prisoners, but in each case the elements of surprise and +determination had won the day. The Yorkers had expected to meet +frightened villagers; instead they had found themselves confronting +well-prepared Green Mountain Boys. + +Under direction of "Big Bill" Dutton the prisoners, all with their arms +securely tied behind them, were marched out into the road. "You say you +came to Beaver Falls to carry out the law," said Dutton to the Yorkers; +"well, to-morrow we'll march you all down to Bennington, and see what +the law has to say about this business." Then he sent Sam to the sawmill +with word to Snyder to have the women and children return to their own +houses. When the sawmill was empty the Green Mountain Boys marched their +prisoners into it, and loosened their bonds so that they could be fairly +comfortable. + +In spite of the high feeling between the two parties, there was +practically no bad blood, for no one had been wounded in the contest, +and the Yorkers could appreciate the clever way in which their +opponents had turned the tables on them. In most respects the men were +much alike; men of the New York Grants and the New Hampshire Grants had +both gone into the wilderness and met the same problems there. Men from +both provinces had fought against the French and Indians, and this +little fight as to which province owned the land of the Green Mountains +was in a way a family affair. So prisoners and captors swapped yarns, +told hunting stories, and exchanged the news of their own neighborhoods. +Jack and Sam and the boy from Dutton's sat in a corner of the mill and +listened to the men. Dawn began to break in the east. Some women brought +hot coffee and ham and bacon from the houses, and the men, both captors +and captives, ate and drank, and then some of them stretched out on the +floor and took short naps. + +Day had come when one of the Green Mountain Boys, who had been stationed +as sentry on the road across the river, dashed into the mill with a new +alarm. He had seen some men, perhaps a dozen of them, coming down the +road toward the Falls. They might be friends or they might be enemies. +The men of the Falls must not be taken by surprise. + +"Big Bill" quickly gave his orders. Three men, armed with muskets, were +left in charge of the prisoners in the sawmill, and the rest, their guns +ready for instant use if need be, marched out into the clearing between +the mill and the bridge, ready to defend Beaver Falls from the +newcomers in case they should be Yorkers. + + +III + +The strangers had come to the head of the bridge on the opposite bank of +the river from the sawmill when they were suddenly halted by an abrupt +"Who are you--friend or foe?" They saw a big man coming round from +behind the mill, followed by about twenty others, and the light was now +sufficiently clear to show the strangers that these men were armed, and +quite prepared to use their guns if necessary. The strangers--of whom +there were ten--stopped on their side of the river. + +"Big Bill," marching his men down to his end of the bridge, so as to +prevent any attempt to cross it, now repeated his question, "Are you +Yorkers? Or are you friends? If you're looking for a fight we're the +boys as can give you one!" + +The leader of the other party saw that the big fellow who spoke for +Beaver Falls was telling the truth. There were twice as many Green +Mountain Boys as there were men of his own party, and they looked ready +for fight. In such case he instantly recognized that discretion was the +better part of valor. He grounded his musket to show that he had no +intention of using it, and smiled at the big man opposite. "We're +peaceful folks," he declared, "and not spoiling for a fight with you." + +"That's sensible talk," said Dutton, also grounding his gun, which he +had been holding ready for instant use. "All the same, I reckon you be +Yorkers, and weren't coming on any good business to the Falls." + +"We've got orders from the proper parties in New York to take possession +of this territory," admitted the other leader. + +"Well, you can go back to your proper parties and tell 'em other folks +have already taken possession here." + +"You folks haven't got the law on your side," protested the Yorker +leader. + +"That depends on what law you're talking about," retorted "Big Bill." +"We've got the law of New Hampshire, and I reckon that's as good law as +any they make in the Yorkers' country." + +The other man saw there was no more use in arguing with his opponents +than in fighting them. "You're a pretty slick lot," he said in a +conciliatory tone. "Can't catch you boys asleep, can we?" + +"Some o' your men tried to last night," said Dutton. "We've got 'em in +the sawmill now, and we're going to take 'em down to Bennington pretty +soon and see what the law there has to say about men who come around +trying to steal other folks' property." + +"Oh, you've got 'em, have you? We were wondering where they'd got to. +Well, I guess there isn't much more for us to be doing round here then." + +Dutton grinned. "No, Yorkers, I don't hardly think there is. Unless you +want to hand over those guns and join the party that's going down to +Bennington." + +"Hardly think we'd enjoy that party, neighbor," said the Yorker leader. + +"Well, some of us is going south with your friends," said "Big Bill," +"but there'll be plenty left here at the Falls to give you a pleasant +welcome any time you want to call." + +The Yorkers conferred together for a few minutes. Then the leader sang +out, "Good-bye, boys. Glad to have met you!" + +"Good-bye," Dutton called back. "Come again any time!" shouted Snyder. +The rest of the men of the Falls sent other messages flying across the +river. + +The Yorkers shouldered their muskets and marched back the road, while +the Green Mountain Boys cheered until the last of their opponents was +hidden by the trees. + +Dutton's party, including the three boys, stayed at Beaver Falls the +better part of that day, waiting to see if any more Yorkers would put in +an appearance. But no more came, and that afternoon, leaving a +sufficient number to guard the village, they set out with their +prisoners for Bennington. They spent the night at another small +settlement, where the people were only too glad to give them shelter +when they learned what the band had done. Next day they reached +Bennington, and turned their prisoners over to the sheriff there, to be +dealt with as the officers should think fit. + +In Bennington, which was a very primitive town, but the center of that +part of the country, Jack and Sam heard much about the border strife. +They heard that the governor of New York had offered rewards for the +capture of certain Green Mountain Boys, one hundred pounds apiece for +the arrest of Ethan Allen and Remember Baker, fifty pounds apiece for +Seth Warner and five others. The governor also ordered that any people +who should resist the commands of New York officers should be arrested +and taken to Albany for trial. All of "Big Bill's" party, Jack and Sam +among them, were therefore now liable to be arrested by New York +officers. + +The people of Bennington and the Green Mountain Boys, however, only +laughed at these proclamations of the New York governor. They were quite +ready to defend themselves if any came to arrest them. + +While they were at Bennington Ethan Allen and the others who had been +declared outlaws issued a proclamation of their own. They said, "We are +under the necessity of resisting even unto blood every person who may +attempt to take us as felons or rioters as aforesaid, for in this case +it is not resisting law, but only opposing force by force; therefore, +inasmuch as, by the oppressions aforesaid, the New Hampshire settlers +are reduced to the disagreeable state of anarchy and confusion; in which +state we hope for wisdom, patience, and fortitude till the happy hour +His Majesty shall graciously be pleased to restore us to the privileges +of Englishmen." + +The boys heard other gossip and rumors from the hunters and traders and +farmers who came and went in Bennington. They learned that there was a +plan on foot to settle the dispute about the Grants by joining them to +that part of the province of New York that lay to the east of the Hudson +River, and forming that whole new territory into a separate royal +province. Colonel Philip Skene, who lived in state at Skenesborough +House on his large estate at the head of Lake Champlain, was reported to +be very much interested in this new plan, and was said to be going to +England to further it, with a view to becoming the first governor of the +new province. + +The people of the New Hampshire Grants continued their defiance of the +Yorkers. When a sheriff or surveyor from the other side of the line was +caught by the people, he was, as Ethan Allen humorously put it, +"severely chastised with twigs of the wilderness." The rods used, +however, were the "blue beech" ones that the farmers used in driving +stubborn oxen, and could hardly be considered twigs. This punishment the +people of the Grants called "stamping the Yorkers with the beech seal," +and many a sheriff who tried to carry out the orders of his province in +the Green Mountain country went home with the "beech seal" on his back. + +The officers of New York protested and protested. They sent a request +to General Gage at Boston for men to aid their sheriffs in the county of +Charlotte, but General Gage declined to interfere in the border +struggle. And while the Yorkers fumed and vowed vengeance, Ethan Allen +and the Green Mountain Boys, like Rob Roy and his Highland outlaws, did +as they pleased in the debatable land. + +Peter Jones and Jack and Sam went back to their lake, ready to take the +trail to Dutton's and Beaver Falls and Bennington whenever they should +be needed. In early spring the boys left the hunter and joined their +fathers on the farms, where there was plenty of work to be done at that +time of year. There they spent the summer, planting and harvesting the +crops. + +Meantime a flame was smouldering in the country that was soon to burst +forth into fire. Some men were not satisfied with the way in which the +British government was treating its colonies in America. Conventions +were held in various parts of New York and the New Hampshire Grants. The +people of Dummerston, in the eastern part of the Grants, freed +Lieutenant Spaulding from their jail after he had been sent there on a +charge of high treason for criticizing the king of England. Troubles +grew more frequent between the more independent people, known as Whigs, +and the strict Royalists, or Tories. It flamed out when the time came +for holding the King's Court of Cumberland County at the town of +Westminster on March 14, 1775. Forty citizens of the county called on +the judge, Colonel Chandler, and asked him not to hold the court. The +judge said the court must meet. The Whigs thereupon decided to lay their +protests before the court when it was in session. Then word spread about +that the court meant to have a strong guard to prevent the citizens from +attending its meetings. About a hundred men, armed only with clubs that +they picked up from a wood-pile, marched into the court-house at +Westminster late in the afternoon of March 14th. They meant to make the +judges listen to their complaints. Meantime down the main street came +the sheriff, with a strong force of armed men and the court officers. He +halted in front of the door, and demanded admission. He got no answer +from the men inside the building. Then he read aloud the king's +proclamation, commanding all persons unlawfully gathered there to +disperse at once; and he added that if they didn't come out in fifteen +minutes he "would blow a lane through them!" + +The men in the building answered that they would not disperse, but would +let the sheriff and the court officers come in if they would lay aside +their arms. The clerk of the court drew his pistol, and swore that that +was the only way in which he would parley with such rascals. Judge +Chandler, however, found a chance when the sheriff's men were seeking +refreshments at the tavern to tell the citizens that the arms had been +brought without his consent, and added that the Whigs might stay in the +court-house until the next morning, when the officers would come in +without arms and would listen to any petitions. + +Dusk encircled the little town that lay close to the broad Connecticut +River. The Whigs stayed in the court-house, a single sentry stationed at +the door. The people shut their houses for the night, while the tavern +did a good business. Some of the Whigs fell asleep on the court-room +benches, others listened to the stories of old Indian-fighters. + +Then, about midnight, the sentry at the door saw the sheriff and his men +coming from the tavern, where they had been drinking all the evening. He +gave the word to the men in the court-house to man the doors. The +sheriff's force marched to within ten rods of the main door and halted. +The order was given to fire. Three shots answered the order. A louder +order was given, followed by a volley that killed one of the defenders, +fatally wounded another, and severely wounded a number of others. Then +the sheriff's party rushed in on the defenders, who were only armed with +clubs, and taking some of them prisoners, carried them off to jail. Some +of the Whigs escaped, fighting their way through the sheriff's force +with their clubs. + +Here, at the town of Westminster, in the Grants, the first blows were +struck that preceded the coming Revolution. + +Those of the men who escaped from the court-house carried the news of +the bloodshed to the Whigs all through the neighboring country, and so +quickly that before noon of the next day two hundred armed men reached +Westminster from the province of New Hampshire. Before that night every +one who had had a part in the shooting of the citizens at the +court-house was seized and held under a strong guard. Still more Whigs, +roused by the story of what the king's officers had done, poured into +the little town from the southern part of the county, and even from the +colony of Massachusetts, so that by the following day it was said there +were in the little village five hundred soldiers all ready for war. + +All these men met and voted to choose a committee to act for them and +see that justice was done. This committee ordered that all those who +were known to have taken part in the shooting should be put on trial at +the next court. Then the men of the Grants, and those from New Hampshire +and from Massachusetts, went back home. + +But the men of the Grants heard news later that spring of 1775 that made +them forget the affair that was called "the Westminster Massacre," and +the trial of the sheriff's soldiers was neglected in the whirl of far +more exciting events. One day in April came the word that the farmers of +Lexington and Concord had fired on the redcoats who marched out from +Boston. The spirit of revolt, smouldering so long, leaped into instant +flame at the news. All through the colonies from New Hampshire down to +Georgia men vowed to stand beside the farmers of Massachusetts and defy +His Majesty, King George the Third. The men of the Grants, who had been +resisting the orders of the royal governor of New York, the Green +Mountain Boys, who had driven Yorkers time and again from their country, +were among the first to arm for independence. And Yorker fought side by +side with Green Mountain Boy in the war of the Revolution. + +Peter Jones, and Jack and Sam, Snyder, "Big Bill" Dutton, and the others +who had made the stand at Beaver Falls, were among the men and boys who +flocked to the flag of Ethan Allen when he took the field in the Green +Mountain country. And Ethan Allen's Boys won some of the greatest +victories of the Revolution, at Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga on Lake +Champlain, and in many battles along the Canadian border. The people of +the Grants also met and declared their territory a free republic, +belonging neither to New Hampshire on the east nor to New York on the +west, and choosing for themselves the beautiful name of Vermont, which +means Green Mountain. + +Thirteen states formed the original union of the United States, and +Vermont became the fourteenth state of the Union in 1791. By that time +Green Mountain Boys had become a name of great honor, and the Yorkers +were their staunchest friends and allies. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Historic Events of Colonial Days, by +Rupert S. Holland + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42429 *** |