Otis James
The Minute Boys of Boston

"Do as you would if we were not here," Hiram replied, "and above all, neglect not the work of the Cause in order to show your kindly disposition toward us."

Then after a few more friendly, and, as I believed, false words, Master Lord ascended the ladder; the trap-door was shut and bolted, and while this was being done Hiram clambered upon the table softly that he might approach his ear to the aperture made in the floor, motioning me to take my former station, while Archie clambered up on a stool to hear what he might from the other crevice.

Between us all we contrived to make out with reasonably certainty when our host, having moved about the room a few minutes as if searching for something, left the building, locking the door behind him, and after mayhap five minutes had passed in silence, Hiram said in a low tone as he came down from his perch:

"I'm allowing the worthy Master Lord will remain abroad, striving earnestly to aid the Cause, for at least an hour, and during such time, if you lads are so disposed, we will see what may be done with that rubbish hole, which, as I believe, points out to us the fairest road we could have for the thwarting of treacherous schemes."

You can fancy with what eagerness I set about removing the casks, believing we might speedily effect our purpose; but it was not in Hiram's mind that we should be rash.

"Fair and softly, lad, else by too much haste you spoil the whole broth. That which chokes the passage must be disposed of if we would count on opening it, and where do you reckon we may put what is taken out, so that when our host visits us again he shall see no signs of our labor?"

I had shown myself thick-headed many a time before; but never so dull as now when I would have begun pulling out the rubbish without means of hiding it, and I stepped back in despair, not understanding how we might at the same time remove and keep it hidden from view.

It seems that Hiram had already been making plans to such end, for he at once began taking out some of the larger stones, and stowing them in two of the casks from which the heads had been removed.

"We can get rid of considerable in this way, and after that much has been done it may be possible to pack the earth down so closely that we can drive a tunnel through," he said, working energetically, and we three lads, understanding what was in his mind, lost no time in bearing a hand.

CHAPTER XIV
THE SECRET PASSAGE

Fortunately for us all the casks save two were unheaded, and these we filled in short order, for it can well be supposed that every one worked with utmost speed, not knowing how soon Job Lord might take it into his head to return.

Once filled, they were placed in front of the rubbish hole very nearly in the same position, save in so far that a narrow passage was left behind them, through which we might, with some difficulty, force ourselves.

On top of these, especially in order to prevent our host from seeing what had been done, the two unheaded casks were placed, and then Job Lord must have been keen-eyed indeed to have observed any change at that portion of the room.

It was Hiram who had remained inside the passage, passing out rocks or clods of earth, and when we had come thus far in our labor he decided it would be safer to cease work a short time, lest he who was apparently holding us prisoners should succeed in returning secretly.

"How far have you got toward the outside?" I asked as Hiram came from behind the casks, brushing his clothing carefully, and washing his hands that no token of the labor could be seen when next our host visited us.

"I am of the belief that we have made what you might call a tunnel straight through, and within a dozen inches of the surface," he replied. "I had no means of guessing as to the distance, except by taking the flooring of the building as being well on the level, and from that I feel positive I had made my way upward to a point equal in height to the last rung of the ladder. The question that bothers me is, how we can break through the crust of earth without leaving behind token of what has been done?"

"Why should we care whether any person saw how we escaped?" Archie asked in bewilderment. "Once Job Lord fails to find us he will know we have gone, and it matters little how soon he discovers the tunnel."

"Aye, if so be we counted on taking to our heels at once; but there is in my mind an idea that we may play this double-faced Master Lord a reasonably neat trick. It is agreed that we want to stay in Boston until it is possible to aid Silas, or we have come to know that nothing can be done, and where could we find a better hiding-place than this?"

"But surely we can't count on going in and out at our pleasure, for the chances would be against us. Master Lord might come at any time, and when we attempted to return the jig would be up."

"As to that I am not certain," Hiram said as, having removed all traces of the work from his person, he seated himself at the table evidently ready to enter into an argument should any of us dispute his proposition. "While working in the tunnel the idea came to me that if we carried the digging through successfully, one of us might be on the outside, and Master Lord fail to discover the fact even if he paid us a visit."

"How do you make that out?" Harvey asked incredulously.

"Suppose, for instance, Luke ventured outside through the passageway, if so be we can hit upon a plan of preventing the end of the tunnel from being seen on the surface. Now then, it should not be a very difficult job for us to rig up a dummy which would have somewhat the appearance of a lad lying on the bed as if asleep. Then we will say that you, Harvey, lie down beside the figure, pretending to be asleep. Master Lord comes; finds Archie and me sitting here at the table; glances at the bed, sees Harvey's face, and also what appears to be Luke's head. Think you he would have any suspicion that matters were wrong?"

"But suppose he did?" I insisted, determined to understand all the possibilities of Hiram's scheme; but not allowing that it might be put through successfully.

"Well, we will suppose his suspicions are aroused, and he goes over to the bed to make certain Luke is there. How much worse off are we in case he discovers the trick? We know him to be our enemy, regardless of the confidence which our people may put in him, and it is also a fact that we are bound to keep our eyes open for the first move he shall make, because the end of this matter, from his point of view, is our capture by the Britishers when the time comes that all his purposes are served."

"Well, what then?" I demanded impatiently. "Once he has made the discovery that I am outside, can you prevent him raising an alarm, and thus bringing the lobster backs upon those who are inside?"

"Aye, that seems to me a very simple matter," Hiram replied. "The moment our double-faced friend went toward the dummy to make certain he had been tricked, our plan would be to fall upon him, and I'll eat my head if the three of us can't truss him up like a fowl ready for the roasting, however much of a fight he may make."

"Well, and if we have him prisoner, what then?"

"We'll simply hold him here until we get ready to leave town, and I'm thinking that won't be any difficult matter," Hiram said laughingly. "With him bound hand and foot, and one of us ready to plump a gag in his mouth if he makes too much noise in the way of calling for assistance, it seems to me he would be about as harmless as a kitten in a cage. As a matter of fact, it is very nearly what we must do finally, for I am not counting to take to my heels through yonder passage, leaving him behind free to give word to the lobster backs that we are somewhere in the town, or striving to get out of it. We are in such a box, lads, that it would be worse than useless to hesitate at anything which promises, however slightly, to aid us," and now Hiram spoke in a grave tone, as does one who speculates upon some hazardous venture. "We shall not be able to leave this place without having a tussle with Master Lord, and no one can say how soon that may be necessary, therefore I hold to it we are warranted in taking many chances, if so be we are working toward the end that we set ourselves when leaving Cambridge. Even though we may not hold this place as a refuge eight and forty hours before the trick is discovered, then have we gained just so much time."

I could think of no argument against this plan of Hiram's, ponder over it as I might. We were in desperate straits, and all of us knew full well that the danger would not be so great when Master Lord had discovered that we had a means of escape, providing we could hold him prisoner, than if he remained in ignorance of our purpose and at liberty to set the lobster backs on us whenever he chose.

"The only thing against your plan, Hiram, is that which you yourself have confessed," Archie said thoughtfully. "The difficulty of concealing the mouth of the tunnel after one of us has made his way through it."

"Aye, there's the rub, lad; but it strikes me that 'twixt the four of us, seeing's how we have all got some share of common-sense, we ought to be able to overcome that trouble in course of time. I cannot say just now what way it may be done; but we will hit upon an idea lads, we'll hit upon an idea."

It may seem that this slight change in the situation was not so favorable to our enterprise as to warrant very much in the way of rejoicing, and yet I felt more nearly light-hearted after Hiram was at an end of explaining what he had done, and how the tunnel might be made to serve us, than at any time since I left Cambridge, although I am bound to confess we were no nearer accomplishing our purpose because of this secret passage, than before. In fact, we had simply succeeded in entering the town, and then plunged ourselves into greater difficulties than ever, therefore it is possible the means of escape was simply a step toward righting the mistake that had been made.

Then it was that Harvey asked suddenly, as if it was a matter of great moment:

"Who knows whether it yet be day, or has the night come?"

As a matter of course we had lost all knowledge of time, shut up in that cellar where no ray of light penetrated, sleeping and eating as our desires prompted, and now the question had been raised I grew keen to know whether another night had come, or if we had been there as prisoners less than four and twenty hours.

"It was nearabout midnight when we came into this place," Hiram replied to Harvey's question, as if still working out a problem in his mind. "We spent much time with Master Lord; let us say until daybreak. Then we slept, and the chances are it must have been near to another night fall when we were awakened by a racket overhead. I'm allowing it was the next night after our arrival, perhaps late in the evening, when our double-faced host brought us the provisions, and that we most-like have spent one entire night eating and working on the tunnel. Therefore to my mind it is some time in the second day after our arrival. Surely it cannot be very late in the night, else would Master Lord have returned."

All this seemed good reasoning, and yet now that we had seemingly settled the matter, of what did it avail us? What mattered whether the sun was shining, or the earth shrouded in darkness, so that we dared not venture out in either case?

Hiram speedily settled this matter, as in fact he did every one we discussed, by asking:

"What say you to my making our first venture through the secret passage after that scoundrel who professes to be working in our interests, visits us the next time?"

"Meaning that you would go out whether it was night or day?" Archie asked.

"Surely not, lad; but I am allowing we can so far trust him as to take for granted what he tells us as to the time. Now if I am guessing rightly, he will come back in the evening, and there is no good reason why he should not say what is o'clock when we put the question. It ought to be possible for us to learn whether he goes to bed, or ventures out again, and if it so chances that he turns in, I will try the secret passage."

"When you made the holes in the floor for the purpose of hearing what might be going on in the room above, did you realize that they would serve to let him know what we are doing?" Harvey asked, and Hiram's reply was a cheery one:

"Aye, that I did, lad; but I'm not minded he shall get any advantage because of them, since it won't be a great exertion to plug the holes with rags."

It was evident that Hiram had given more thought to the situation, and to the possibility of turning it to our advantage, than had any of us. From that moment I was well content to do as he suggested, save in one particular, and that was as to which of us should make the first venture, therefore I demanded to know why he claimed the right.

"Because in the first place, so far as the lobster backs know, I haven't been mixed up in the doings of the Minute Boys as have the rest of you."

"How do you make that out?" Archie cried sharply. "Seth Jepson has told the Britishers all he knows, and your name has been put down with the others."

"Seeing's how I am the least known in this town of Boston, it strikes me there is nobody who can go out with less danger than myself," Hiram declared, and straightway I put an end to his pretensions by saying:

"You would not be able to effect one half as much as any of us three, because of being unacquainted with the town and the people. Besides, you would be missed more quickly by Master Lord; the chances are if he should come, and you were asleep, he would insist upon awakening you, for you have acted as spokesman all the way through this business. Now I am the one who has the right to go, and I can be of more service than any other."

As a matter of course all hands insisted on knowing upon what I based my claims, and I put the matter plainly, perhaps with some show of arrogance:

"In the first place because I was chosen captain of the Minute Boys, which gives me the right to say what shall or shall not be done; then again I am as well acquainted with the people in this town as any other, knowing who may be trusted and whom we need fear."

"What would you do in case we agreed you should be the first to venture out?" Hiram asked, and I could well understand that he was inclined to believe me in the right.

"First I would go to my own home, and it would be safe to do so because no one save Master Lord has any idea that I am in town. My mother must know somewhat of the doings hereabouts since we left, and may be able to give valuable information."

"Is that all?" Archie asked as if he considered my plan to be of little importance so far as the work of releasing Silas was concerned.

"I would take advice from her as to who among the men known to love the Cause, it would be safe for me to visit, and to such person give full information of how we are situated, and what we strive to accomplish. That I fancy is as much as any one of us can do in a single night."

Archie would have had more to say regarding the matter, as I could understand from the expression on his face; but just at that moment the outer door was heard to open noisily and close with a bang, after which it seemed as if we could hear whoever had entered barring it behind him, and Hiram whispered softly to me:

"Get you on the further side of the bed, and let Harvey lie down beside you. Keep your face turned to the wall, as if you were the dummy of which we have spoken."

I understood that now he would make an experiment of the plan which he had suggested, and as softly as might be I followed his instructions, repeating them to Harvey.

In a twinkling we two lads were disposed of, I smothering my face in the blanket while my companion lay facing the table, and in a very short time after these preparations had been made the trap-door was opened.

Master Lord came down the ladder with a noisy welcome, as if it pleased him to see us thus apparently contented, and before he had an opportunity to make any remark, Hiram asked in a tone of curiosity:

"May it be night or day, Master Lord? We have been shut in here so long without seeing a ray of light that it has come to be a matter of no little importance to us."

"It is nigh to nine of the clock, when all found loitering on the street without a pass will be taken into custody, else I would have remained abroad later, for I am hoping most earnestly to seek out some way by which you can aid your comrade."

"Was it last night that we came here?" Hiram continued, as if prompted solely by curiosity.

"Not so; nearly eight and forty hours have passed since you arrived."

"Hiram guessed rightly, as he nearly always contrives to do," I said to myself, and then Master Lord asked:

"Why are you so interested in the time of day? Since you must perforce remain here idle while I am cutting out the work for you, it is of no especial importance whether the sun or the moon is shining."

"Aye, that may be," Hiram replied reflectively; "but you see yonder sleepy heads declared they would turn in because another night had surely come, and I was trying to persuade them they would be spending the day in slumber, which as I look at the matter is wrong, even though we may not venture out."

Master Lord appeared to be content with this explanation, and at once began telling of what he had heard on the street regarding General Gage's probable plans, giving no very important news save the fact that our people were sending troops to this post and that in the work of besieging the town, and it was understood by the Britishers that they were much the same as held fast, without means of leaving Boston, save they chose to beat a retreat by water.

"It stands to reason General Gage could not do anything of that kind, however much he might desire it," our double-faced host explained. "It is true he is not advancing the king's work by staying here, yet to evacuate the town would be to admit that the Americans had beaten him by that victory which he claims at Breed's hill."

Then he went on with a lot of words intended, as I fancied, rather to keep us quiet in mind than for any other purpose, and, giving but little heed to his talk, I tried in vain to guess why he wished to hold us in this place rather than turn all four over to the Britishers immediately, as I doubted not but that he intended to do finally.

He remained mayhap half an hour talking with Hiram, for neither Harvey nor Archie ventured to take part in the conversation, and giving no heed to me. If the dummy we proposed to make had been in my place, and I on the outside, he would have remained in ignorance of the fact.

"If he could thus be deceived once, why not twice or thrice?" and I said to myself that Hiram Griffin had worked out a plan as nearly perfect as anything of the kind could be reckoned.

When Master Lord had ascended to the upper floor, and closed and bolted the door to make certain we could not give him the slip, Hiram crept like a cat upon the table, pressing his ear against one of the apertures. He stood there as it seemed to me a full hour before he came down as cautiously as before, and leaned over the bed where I lay, to whisper softly in my ear:

"After I have plugged up the holes, lad, it is time for you to get to work, if so be you are minded to make the venture as was agreed upon."

Minded? I was burning with the desire to set out, foolishly believing that once I was free in the streets of Boston town, it would not only be possible for me to avoid the patrol, but I could do very much toward that release of Silas Brownrigg's on which we had set our hearts.

Not until Hiram had filled the two small apertures with pieces of cloth torn from his shirt, did I make any move, and then it can well be fancied that I strove to rise from the bed without noise.

Hiram was already wrapping his coat around a large rock taken from one of the casks, which as I understood was intended to represent my head, and when this had been placed upon the bed, he made a roll of blankets to form the body. Over this he threw a second blanket, and if so be the light was dim, I believed, as I stood near the table where Master Lord would naturally come if he should pay us a visit during the night, that it was a fair resemblance to myself as he had just seen me.

"I'm allowing that you can make your way out after five minutes of digging," Hiram whispered to me, and then came to my mind the one important question which we had failed to settle.

"How shall I cover the hole?"

"That is for you to decide after getting out. My idea is that the turf may be thrown up in such a way that it can be replaced, and yet I question much whether it is of any very great importance to conceal the mouth of the tunnel during such time as you may be absent, for why should any person, much less Job Lord, be prowling around the rear of this building in the night?"

With this Hiram dismissed the matter as if believing it was not a vital one, and instructed me as to how the first portion of the work should be performed. He was to stand on the table, having pulled out the plug of cloth from one of the apertures, where it might be possible to hear what was going on overhead. Archie would take station a few feet distant, toward the casks, while Harvey remained close by the rubbish hole. Then if Hiram heard any suspicious sounds he would motion to the one nearest, who could in turn let the next sentinel know, and this last might warn me to keep quiet in the tunnel. If perchance Master Lord did come down into the room, because of being suspicious, or in order to hold any further converse, I must stay in the passage, and the dummy play my part the same as if I had gained the outside.

When all this had been decided upon and understood, the lads stationed themselves, and I crept into the tunnel, finding the passage so very much narrower than I had counted upon that already was I beginning to fear I might, through clumsiness, so wedge myself in that it would be impossible to advance or retreat.

That, however, was one of the chances which must be taken, if we would get about the work in the only manner that promised success, and I wriggled my way upward until having come to where the earth was seemingly solid above my head, on the alert meanwhile for a signal from Harvey which should tell of danger in the rear.

Without delay, and yet not hastily lest by too much speed a blunder be made, I scraped away the dirt from above my head, allowing it to fall wheresoever it would, until I could feel the roots of the grass, and knew I was come to the turf.

Then, feeling carefully around at the very edge, so that I might force it upward in such a manner as to form a lid that would drop back into place again, I pressed with all my strength.

The roots of the grass tore asunder; a draft of fresh air struck upon my face, and, looking upward, I could see stars twinkling in the sky in a most friendly fashion, as it seemed to me.

Within sixty seconds I was standing erect in the rear of the building which Master Lord counted to be our prison, free to go whithersoever I would, so that I kept myself clear from the patrol and did not blunder upon too many Tories.

I had in the belt by my side the knife of which I have already spoken, and it was the only weapon which I could carry while making a way through the narrow tunnel; but this I was determined to use with deadly intent if peradventure I should come upon only one, or mayhap two enemies who recognized me, and I believe of a verity that, excited and desperate as I was become, it would have been possible for me to have fought for liberty with the energy of half a dozen lads.

It can well be fancied that I did not stand many seconds in the open talking with myself as to what I would do in case of a pinch. It seemed to me the most dangerous portion of my undertaking was to slip past the building without being overheard by Master Lord, and I flattered myself that no Indian on the war path ever moved more noiselessly than I, until having gained Long lane.

Even while making my way through the tunnel I had mapped out the course to be pursued, which was that I would cross the vacant land from Long lane to the corner of Bishop's alley and Milk street, after which it would be necessary to take my chances of coming upon the patrol. I counted even on going as near the governor's house as Old South Church, and from thence boldly down Corn hill, passing dangerously near the prison until coming to Dock square. As to the rest of the journey, I said to myself it should be determined by chance.

Once at a safe distance from Master Lord's house I walked rapidly, keeping my ears wide open, as you can well suppose, for any sound of the patrol, until I was come to Milk street, and from thence on my heart was literally in my mouth, for then I was in that part of the town where I must reasonably expect to come upon enemies.

Twice I was within a hair's-breadth of being discovered by the patrol, but it seemed as if fortune favored me on this venture, for each time when the sound of their footfalls came to my ears I was nigh a convenient hiding-place, either in a garden or at the rear of some building, and although it may seem impossible that the trick could have been turned so readily, I passed through Dock square and gained Union street without having come face to face with a single person.

Then it was that I steered a course for the water mill, and thence kept on along the shore of the mill pond, where was less danger of coming in contact with a lobster back, and after that the way was, as you might say, plain sailing.

Perhaps the most difficult part of the venture thus far, was when I strove to awaken my mother without attracting the attention of the neighbors. She, dear soul, had secured every door and window lest thieves might break in and steal what little of property the Britishers had left us, and more than once did I half turn as if to depart, believing I was courting too much of danger in thus striving to have speech with her.

Fortunately, however, I continued my efforts sufficiently long to arouse the dear woman, and heard in a low, frightened tone from inside, the question as to who was demanding entrance.

It goes without saying that the door was opened very suddenly when I whispered my name, and on feeling her arms around me I was so heartened that it seemed as if I could successfully encounter any ordinary number of Tories or red-coats who might seek to make me prisoner.

She would have cried out against it when I told her for what purpose we had come to Boston town, and I knew full well that if I had explained the dangers to which we were exposed, even while under the supposed care of Job Lord, she would have begged and insisted so strenuously for us to give over that which had in it so much of hazard, that I might not have prevailed against her.

I contented myself with telling her how we had chanced to come upon this Master Lord, and repeated what had been said concerning his loyalty to the Cause, thereby giving her to believe we were in perfect security while remaining at his dwelling, all of which went far toward calming her fears. It was what you might call deceiving one's mother, and yet I believed that under the circumstances was I fully warranted in so doing, otherwise had I left her as I must, she would have eaten her heart out with anxiety and forebodings.

To her mind it was not possible we could do anything whatsoever in aid of Silas. She had heard from our friends that the prisoners taken at Breed's hill were closely guarded; that none save those who were known to be of the king's side could even so much as have a glimpse of them, and knowing I could not remain in town very long without being taken into custody, instead of pleading that I remain with her, she begged me to go with all speed to Cambridge.

Explaining that I would have speech with some man who was devoted to the Cause and yet remained in Boston, she proposed that I go to Master William Mansfield, who lived in Mackrell lane, for he was one who had proven himself a true son of the colony, having staid in town because of lameness in the leg which prevented him from serving as a soldier.

I remained with my mother not more than half an hour, although it would have pleased me right well could I have staid there until break of day; but time was exceedingly precious if I would save my own skin as well as that of my comrades, and I hastened away, counting to do no more than have a plain talk with Master Mansfield before going back to the hiding-place which was a prison, knowing full well that the lads there must be filled with apprehension and fear as the moments went by, lest I might have been taken into custody, thus bringing about discovery of the secret passage.

Now, because of having succeeded so well thus far in my mission it may be I grew careless, although even to this day it seems as if I exercised every caution while on the way from my home to Mackrell lane.

Certain it was, however, that on going up Ann street to the town dock I failed to hear the sound of footsteps behind me, until a hand was laid on my shoulder, and a disagreeably familiar voice cried in a tone as of triumph:

"After what was done at Hog island, and then at Breed's hill, have you the courage to come into this town, Luke Wright?"

I wheeled suddenly as you may fancy, and it was as if the very blood grew chill in my veins when I saw that he who had spoken was none other than the traitorous cur, Seth Jepson.