A few days were spent in Boston, principally in visiting places of historical interest,—Christ Church on Salem Street, where as the Captain told the children, Paul Revere's signal was hung out from the steeple, in the Revolutionary War, by Captain Pulling, a Boston merchant; and the Old South Church, about which they had already heard so much.

"In 1775," the Captain said, as the little group stood gazing about it in deep interest, "the British soldiers desecrated this place by using it for cavalry drill, having first torn out the galleries and covered the floor with earth. It is now no longer used as a church, but, as you see, is a historical museum. Now we will go to Faneuil Hall,—'the cradle of liberty.'"

They did so; and next visited the Old State House.

As the Captain told them, the Boston Massacre occurred in the street before it; and there, during the excitement in regard to the Stamp Act, the stamped clearances were burned by the mob. From the balcony the Declaration of Independence was read. Many town-meetings were held there, and many patriotic speeches made,—among them those of Otis, who foretold probable war, and urged resistance to tyranny "even unto blood" if necessary.

"Who was Otis, Papa?" asked Lulu.

"A Boston lawyer of that time, a patriot,—as evidenced by even the few words of his I have just quoted. He was advocate-general with a good salary at the time when the revenue officers in Boston took out search-warrants to look for smuggled goods, and called upon him to defend their cause; but he at once resigned his office and took the other side,—that of the merchants of Boston, who were protesting against the writs. They offered him a large fee, but he refused it, saying, 'In such a cause I despise all fees.'"

"That case was tried in this old State House; and Otis made a grand speech of such length that it took him five hours to deliver it."

"What was it all about, Papa?" asked Gracie.

"It was on the question whether Americans were bound to obey laws which they had no share in making, and all the arguments in the wonderful speech answered doggedly, 'No.'

"John Adams, who heard the speech, afterward said that on that day 'the child Independence was born;' and no doubt the argument assisted the popular leaders very much in furnishing them with weapons for their work."

"Weapons, Papa?" Grace asked with a puzzled look.

"Yes, daughter; arguments with which to show the people what the English Government was doing to take away our liberties.

"Otis afterward, when Governor Bernard called upon the General Assembly of Massachusetts to rescind the resolution it had passed against the right of the English Parliament to tax the colonies without their consent,—which they boldly disregarded,—made a powerful speech in which he said, 'When Lord Hillsborough knows that we will not rescind our acts, he should apply to Parliament to rescind theirs. Let Britons rescind their measures, or they are lost forever!' He went on speaking in that way for nearly an hour, till even the Sons of Liberty began to tremble lest he should go too far, and be charged with treason."

"And did he fight for the country, Papa?" asked Gracie.

"No, poor fellow!" replied the Captain, with a slight sigh; "before the war had fairly begun he became insane from injuries inflicted by one Robinson, a commissioner of customs, who, with several army or navy officers set upon, beat, and otherwise injured him, inflicting a sword-cut on his head from which he never recovered."

"And he didn't have the pleasure of seeing his country free and separated from England?" Lulu said, half inquiringly.

"No; he was killed by a stroke of lightning in 1778, which you will remember was several years before the war was over."

Our little party next visited Lexington and Concord.

"How far must we travel to get there, Papa?" queried Gracie, as they took their seats in the car.

"Only a few miles to Lexington, and a little farther to reach Concord," he answered.

"That won't seem very far by rail," remarked Max; "but it must have seemed quite a distance to the soldiers who marched there in Revolutionary times."

"I find we are early," the Captain said, looking at his watch; "and as we have the car nearly to ourselves, it may be well for us to talk over what occurred in 1775 at the places we are about to visit. I think it will make the visit more interesting to you."

"Oh, do tell us the whole story, Papa," requested Gracie, with a look of pleased anticipation.

The others all joined in her petition, and the Captain good-naturedly complied.

"Matters had been growing worse and worse between the British Government and the colonies," he said, "till a struggle seemed almost inevitable. General Gage discovered that the patriots were privately conveying arms out of Boston, that some brass cannon and field-pieces were at Salem; and on a Sunday in February, 1775, he sent some troops to seize them.

"An express from Marblehead arrived at Salem while the people were in church, with the news that British troops were landing from a transport at that place, and were about to march to Salem.

"The congregations were at once dismissed, and, led by Colonel Pickering, stopped the British at a drawbridge. Pickering succeeded in effecting a compromise, and the troops marched back again to Marblehead without having done the errand upon which they had been sent.

"Let me see," continued the Captain, meditatively; "I think I can recall some lines by Trumbull, referring to that incident:—

"It was some two months after this that the battles of Lexington and Concord took place. On April 18, the patriots learned that the next day British troops were to visit Concord for the purpose of destroying some military stores there, and passing through Lexington seize the persons of John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were both in that town at the house of the Rev. Jonas Clark.

"Gage had tried to keep all this a profound secret, but somehow the patriots had learned what he was attempting, and were making their preparations accordingly. Warren and his friends had gone, Paul Revere and William Dawes had just rowed across the river to Charlestown, taking a message from Warren to Adams and Hancock. They were very near being captured by the guard at Charlestown, but escaped, and reached Lexington a little after midnight.

"They went at once to Mr. Clark's house, but found a guard of eight minute-men placed about it to protect Adams and Hancock.

"These refused to let Revere and Dawes into the house, as orders had been given not to allow the inmates to be disturbed by noise.

"'Noise!' exclaimed Revere, 'you'll have noise enough before long; the regulars are coming!'

"They were quickly admitted then, roused Hancock and Adams, and knowing how unlikely to escape being taken prisoners they were, should they remain in Lexington, persuaded them to retire to Woburn.

"Then Revere and Dawes pushed on to Concord to give the alarm there.

"By two o'clock in the morning a hundred and thirty of the Lexington militia were collected at the meeting-house upon the green. The roll was called; then, as the early morning air was very chilly, they were dismissed with orders to remain within drum-beat."

"Papa, the British marched very quietly, didn't they?" asked Max.

"Yes, in perfect silence; hoping and believing that none of the Americans were aware of their movements."

"Ha, ha, how mistaken they were!" laughed Max.

"Yes," his father said, "there were vigilant eyes upon them. As they passed through West Cambridge they were seen by Lee, Gerry, and Orne,—members of the Provincial Congress,—and as I have told you, others learned the secret also.

"As the British neared Lexington their ears were greeted by the sound of bells and guns, warning them that their expedition was known."

"I s'pose they didn't like that," observed Gracie, "but what did they do about it, Papa?"

"Colonel Smith dispatched six companies of troops under Major Pitcairn, with orders to press on to Concord and secure the two bridges. He also sent a messenger to Boston for reinforcements.

"Pitcairn hastened on toward Lexington, capturing several persons on his way. One of them—a man named Bowman—escaped, hurried into Lexington on horseback, and notified Captain Parker, commander of the minute-men, that the enemy was approaching."

"And did they make a great fuss and wake up all the people, Papa?" asked Gracie.

"They rang the bells, fired guns, and beat the drum, so that doubtless everybody was soon aroused.

"It was between four and five in the morning. About one hundred of the militia were quickly collected on the green; but being raw troops, and uncertain how large a force was coming against them, they were in some confusion.

"And indeed it was an overwhelming force they presently saw marching toward them, their scarlet uniforms gleaming out through the early morning mist.

"The British halted within a few rods of the meeting-house and loaded their pieces. But the Americans stood firm and undismayed.

"Their orders were not to pull a trigger till fired upon by the enemy, and for a moment there was silence and hesitation on both sides; neither Americans nor British seemed willing to become the aggressors.

"But it was only for a moment; Pitcairn and other officers galloped forward, waving their swords over their heads, and followed by their troops in double-quick time.

"'Disperse you villains!' they shouted, 'lay down your arms and disperse. Why don't you disperse, you rebels? Disperse!' And as the patriots did not instantly obey the command, Pitcairn wheeled his horse, waved his sword, and gave orders to press forward and surround the militia.

"At that instant some random shots were fired by the British, and promptly returned by the Americans."

"Oh, Papa, was anybody killed?" asked Gracie.

"Not by those shots," replied her father; "but the next minute Pitcairn drew a pistol and discharged it, at the same time shouting 'Fire!'

"His troops instantly obeyed that order. Four of the patriots were killed, and the rest dispersed. They were fired upon again while retreating, and several of them halted and returned the shots, then concealed themselves behind buildings and stone walls.

"Eight Americans were killed, three British soldiers and Major Pitcairn's horse were wounded."

"I thought you said only four Americans were shot, Papa," said Gracie, looking up inquiringly into his face.

"Four by the first discharge of musketry, and as many more while trying to escape over the fences," he answered.

"Did the British care for having killed those poor men?" she asked, tears of sympathy shining in her eyes.

"If so they gave no evidence of it," her father replied. "They hurried on to Concord in high spirits. But the news of their approach had been communicated, and a formidable body of militia was waiting to receive them."

"Oh, yes!" said Rosie, "I remember that Dawes and Revere had hurried on to warn them after doing the Lexington people the same service."

"Yes," the Captain said, "but on the way they were taken prisoners by some British officers. They had stopped to tell the news to Dr. Samuel Prescott, who escaped over a wall, they being captured. Prescott made his way to Concord, reaching there about two o'clock in the morning, and gave the alarm. Then the bells were rung, and the people armed themselves, so that before daylight they were ready to receive the British."

"They knew what the British were after, and made haste to conceal the stores of powder, shot, and so forth,—didn't they, Papa?" asked Max.

"Yes; the whole male population and some of the women assisted in that work, and succeeded in concealing them in a safe place in the woods before the arrival of the British."

"That was good," remarked Gracie. "And didn't the British get anything at all, Papa?"

"Yes, a little. They knocked off the trunnions of three iron twenty-four-pound cannon, cut down a liberty-pole, set the Court House on fire, and burned a few barrels of wooden trenchers and spoons, and sixteen new carriage-wheels. Also they threw five hundred pounds of balls into a mill-pond, and broke open about sixty barrels of flour; but the people succeeded in saving a good deal of that, and Mrs. Moulton put out the fire in the Court House before much damage was done."

"But was there no fighting, Papa?" Gracie asked.

"There was fighting," the Captain answered. "While the British were at the mischief I have been telling you of, the American party was rapidly increasing by the coming in of minute-men from the neighbouring towns. They formed into line as fast as they came. There were nearly four hundred of them.

"From the place where they were forming they could see the fire the British had started in the centre of the town, and of course the sight greatly increased their excitement.

"Joseph Hosmer, the adjutant, made a stirring appeal, after a brief consultation with prominent citizens and members of the Committee of Safety, who were present, and ready to take part in repelling the British.

"It was agreed to dislodge them from the North Bridge. Captain Davis saying, 'I haven't a man that's afraid to go.'

"They wheeled into marching order, and joined by other companies, pushed forward to the bridge, under the command of Major John Buttrick, of Concord.

"The British guard were on the west side of the river, but crossed to the east on seeing the Americans approaching, and began taking up the planks of the bridge.

"Major Buttrick called to them to stop, and urged his men on to try to save the bridge.

"The British formed for action as the Americans drew near, and some of the regulars fired, killing Captain Davis, Abner Hosmer, and wounding another man.

"Then Buttrick shouted, 'Fire fellow soldiers! for God's sake fire!' and instantly they gave the British a full volley.

"In a few minutes the British retreated, and the Americans took possession of the bridge.

"Their volley had killed three British soldiers, two of whom were left on the ground. The Americans afterward buried them, and we shall find their graves only a few feet from the monument."

But other passengers had entered the car, and the train was now in motion.

"There, that must do for the present," the Captain said; "the story will have to be finished after we leave the train."

Their first halt was at Lexington where they viewed with much interest the ground where the skirmish took place, the monument commemorating the devotion of those who fell, and everything to be found that had any connection with the events which have made the place famous in the annals of our country.

Evelyn Leland gazed long at the inscription on the monument, then read aloud,—

"You didn't read it all, Eva," said Walter; "you skipped the names."

"Yes," she said, "because I didn't want to take time to read it all; though I'd be ever so unwilling to rob the poor, dear, brave fellows of any of the credit that belongs to them."