Roger Davis, Loyalist

ial an

he partial darkness-he discovered me. His jaw dropped, his hands went up, and I noticed some of the warm colour slip out of his face. He d

e you been he

ee weeks,'

usin' ye bad,

e more closely than before. I

aid. 'The food is pla

face, he said,

I told him the rock was almost dry where I was, he came and stood beside me. There was a sincere, honest look in the

place outside?' I aske

ed in a voice that rose almost to a shriek. 'Wh

ard nothing since the day o

yself an' several of my neighbours had never taken any part in the disputes that were makin' so much trouble in Boston. It didn't concern us. We were poor, with families to keep, an' had no t

e o' them broke in,-he was a Boston chap, not one o' our peaceable farmers,-"Oh," says he, "is that all ye know about the affairs o'

eether," I said, an'

o' them till this mornin', when t

to every syllable. 'Were there many in your se

intin' o' the cattle an' horses; the smashin' o' windows, an' the threatenin' w

' Safety, seized the old man one night, fastened all the doors an' closed the chimney-top, and then smoked the ol' fellow so ba

o a scream, and I saw that g

cruel, it's wicked, it's persecution, an' how can it be any less wrong because it's done by the "Sons o' Liberty," as they c

f bitter scorn in

ake friends for the Kin

with emphasis; 'they'

that his great hope was to return soon to his farm and family, which he claimed never needed him more than in this spring season of t

next morning we were blindfolded and led away. After a half-hour's walk we

t they were supposed to take the place of the King's courts of justice. The committees were approved by the Provincial Congress, and given absolute power over all matters civil as well as military. Thus, during the first weeks of the war, did the control of the entire country pass into the han

ed. I concluded at once that he, and at least half of the committee of twelve, were residents of Boston. This fact I was quite sure would not increase our chances of acquittal. I had often heard my fat

e they had refused to take up arms. A few boldly declared for the King; some promised to fight; many wavered. These latter, as a rule, were given a time limit, in which to decide finally, and were let go. The Loyalists were sent back to jail. David Elton, when called, stoutly refused to declare himself. He protest

ctically all farmers of the community. As I faced the crowd of onlookers I noticed that two men suddenly and quietly left the room. The chairman of the committee follow

the first quest

my age and pla

n place in your life since the morning of April twentieth?

been positive of the face, since the light had been uncertain when I saw the man before, the first words he spoke dispelled all do

his was the man whom I had heard declare he would tell that Duncan Hale had been hanged. As

I did not care to go back to the mine, and I felt that I should proceed with the utmost caution. The mere promise to fight, I had learned from the cases of others that day, meant freedom. Would not this simplify matters? Should I not here under the circumstances be justified in making a promis

the 'Colonel' not being allowed t

seeing the old man at the graves; I referred briefly to the burial, even to the sermon-all this to stamp my story as unmistakably true-then I plunged into the scene on the road to Boston and told of Duncan's escape. 'And that man ther

AND FACING THE 'COLONEL,'

close. I had nothing stronger than this. Moved by a certai

proar. 'Traitor!' yelled several at once, as they

ed others; 'he let

urst from every part of the room. Friends and defenders crowded near the 'Colonel,' and soon the house was divide

t with so much of badly simulated dignity, the chairman

le is still at large. If he has escaped, as this lad declares, if among ourselves there are some who are unworthy of our confidence, it is well that these things be kn

d mightily. Then the man

he township of Lexington, I adjourn this meeting for one week, and order that

ight-a little after midnight-I was aroused by a low tapping on my door. As I drew near this

otioned me toward the great black wood that stretched from the ed

of the 'Colonel,' or friends of my own, who acco