The Minute Boys of Boston. Otis James
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had interposed to render it possible for us lads to carry the message which had been entrusted to our keeping by Doctor Warren.
Not until they were so far in the distance that it was no longer possible to hear the sound of their oars, did we venture to draw a long breath, and then it was that Archie said in a whisper:
"Now then, Silas, pull well out into the current, and the sooner Luke gets the mast into place, the quicker we'll be heading toward Charlestown. Put a hand over your oar to prevent any creaking, and don't open your mouth save when it is necessary to breathe."
Both Silas and I understood that Archie was the one who should act as commander of our small expedition, and we obeyed in silence, the skiff darting ahead once she felt the weight of the wind, as if understanding full well the need of speed.
Not until we were well off Morton's point did either of us venture to break the silence, and then Silas asked suddenly, as if he had been stewing over the matter for some time:
"Why shouldn't there be Minute Boys as well as Minute Men, and why, since we have begun to work for the Cause in good earnest, shouldn't we raise a company?"
CHAPTER II
RAISING A COMPANY
That which Silas proposed startled and at the same time surprised me. Of course there was no good reason why we lads should not be banded together in the service of the colony, and yet it seemed a forward thing to do, thus to ape our elders.
Archie, however, was greatly taken with the idea from the start, and Silas had hardly more than finished speaking when he cried, incautiously loud as it appeared to me:
"Well, and why shouldn't we raise a company of Minute Boys? What is there to prevent, if so be we are minded to stake our lives for the Cause, even as our fathers are doing?"
"It is for them to say whether we be permitted to bind ourselves together," I replied, having a doubt as to the wisdom of Silas's scheme, and yet wishing most fervently that it might be carried out.
"Think you your father or mine, Luke Wright, would set their faces against our raising a company of Minute Boys after Doctor Joseph Warren has seen fit to intrust to us a mission of importance? If we are capable of doing Master Warren's work, then of a verity have we proven our ability, if not our right, to serve the Cause as Minute Boys."
There was much of truth in what Archie said, and yet I could not bring myself on the moment to believe we might do what seemed a most venturesome thing. Since, however, I could not well answer the arguments he brought up, I set about as if to throw cold water on the scheme, by saying with the air of a lad who knows it all:
"I fear it would be a small company we could raise, if, peradventure, we were forced to find all our recruits in Boston town. I believe truly that I can count on the fingers of one hand, all whom we could trust. Of course you would reckon on keeping the matter a secret if it so chanced that we set about enrolling lads?"
"Why?" Archie asked hotly. "What reason might we have for striving to keep secret the fact of having bound ourselves to aid the Cause as far as lays in our power?"
Again had the lad put forth an argument which I could not answer, and yet it seemed to me then as if we might better be able to aid our elders in the coming struggle if we hid our purpose from the enemy, and by the enemy, I mean such scurvy rascals as Amos Nelson, of whom we could find many in Boston town without straining ourselves overmuch in the search.
"It makes very little difference whether you keep the matter a secret or not," Silas interrupted, "if so be we can find lads who have sufficient of courage to join us. We will choose only those who are to be trusted, and, after consulting our elders, may, if so be they approve of the enterprise, hold the matter private or make it public as they advise."
I was not minded to continue the discussion just at that time, for it seemed to me we might better bring our mission to a successful end if we held our peace. Water, as one well knows, will carry sound a long distance, and we were now so near the Charlestown shore that there could have been an hundred Tories or lobster backs hiding within the shadow of the foliage without our being the wiser. It was, therefore, with some petulance, mayhap, that I said:
"Whether we are to raise a company of Minute Boys or no, there is little possibility of getting very far in the scheme until after having returned to our homes. My idea is that, instead of speaking loudly of what we would do, it is best first to finish the business upon which we are embarked."
Then it was that Archie laughed heartily, and with great good humor, as he said cheerily, but without intending to throw anything of irony into his tone:
"There are times, Luke Wright, when you speak with much of good sense. Silas is at fault, and I also, because of raising our voices when it would have been better our tongues had remained quiet; but that which he proposed was at the same time so surprising and so satisfying that I forgot we were bound to carry out Master Warren's work before doing, or even thinking of, anything else."
"I will say no more about it," Silas added with a laugh; "but at the same time am bound to maintain that we can do as I have stated, if so be the matter is gone about in proper fashion, and when we are at the ship-yard once more I will lay before you lads the plan in something approaching due order."
It was then we ceased speaking and gave all our attention to the task in hand, as indeed we had need to, for no one could say how soon we might come upon those who, mistrusting somewhat of our purpose and being enemies to the Cause, would put an end to our share of the night's work.
My comrades, as well as I, understood that we had need to gain the landing place as quickly as might be, for once on shore there remained a dozen or fourteen miles to be traveled before we were come to Lexington.
It is not needed that I should make a very long story of what ought to be told in few words, and therefore it is that instead of setting down all which we said and did from the time of beginning the journey afoot until we were come to our destination, I will content myself with saying that Doctor Warren's message was delivered before sunrise, and we lads, leg-weary and hungry, threw ourselves down upon the straw in Master Hadley's barn to wait until Colonel Barrett should say we were at liberty to depart.
Now all this had been plain sailing, and we should have found no reason to plume ourselves upon having done anything deserving of credit, for from the time we screened ourselves when the guard boat appeared, until having come to Master Hadley's house, no man had placed aught in our way. Yet I did feel somewhat of pride, thinking that we had done our first work in behalf of the Cause, all of which was folly as you may see, for surely three hulking lads need not carry their heads very high because of simply having sailed a skiff two or three miles and then walked a dozen more over a smooth highway.
I venture to say that Colonel Barrett did not hold us very high in his esteem because we had succeeded in delivering the message. He acted, as most like he felt, as if it was nothing of consequence which we had done, save for the fact that he had received the information, and a single lad a dozen years of age might have accomplished the same end.
I would have been well content to remain stretched out at full length on the straw in Master Hadley's barn until another night had come, so weary was I from walking and worn with lack of sleep; but when Colonel Barrett summoned us to the house, evidently for the purpose of sending us back, we could not well make protest.
He had prepared a written reply to Doctor Warren's message, and this he handed to me as he said:
"You may return as soon as is your pleasure; it matters little whether Master Warren receives my reply early or late."
"It will not be safe for us to make a try at getting into Boston until after nightfall, therefore we may go our way leisurely," I said to the gentleman, addressing him as I believed it was proper a soldier should address his superior officer, which shows that Silas's idea of enrolling a company of Minute Boys had found speedy lodgment in my mind.
"Set off when you will, and see to it that the paper is delivered safely, although that which it contains is so worded as to convey little of importance to an enemy," he added carelessly, and turned from us as if to say that he was done with speaking, therefore we might go when it pleased us best.
Now