CHAPTER XXI

ALONG THE RIVER

"Paul Revere! I told you I knew him!" cried Andy. "Yes, sir, it's war. I remember--my father--Concord--fast horse--warn the country."

In an incoherent way Andy made it known to his comrades that he had seen Paul Revere at a meeting of the Sons of Liberty at his home at Concord, and that his father had intimated that the intrepid horseman was listed to act as a courier in the patriotic service.

"Hark!" ordered Phil sharply.

Horse and rider had vanished as if into a cloud. Then they had heard the swift ringing hoofs on the road. These, too, had died away, but now, echoing on the still air, came a prolonged, vibrating call.

"Hulloa--oa--oa!"

Indistinct words followed. Silence again, and then the call repeated. Shouts of others besides the dauntless night riders echoed out. Lights began to flash in the distance. More remote, a great bonfire, a veritable beacon of liberty, blazed out suddenly. Some shots were heard, and mingled with them was a wild alarm bell, summoning some little settlement to arms.

"He has important news," said Andy. "Oh, you can wager he has. He is to warn all the towns along the road. Ralph, let us get quickly to Mr. Jewett. I'm dying to find out what is going to happen next."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" pronounced a gruff voice.

Andy was suddenly seized by the nape of the neck. He was pushed forward, jerked back and whirled face to face with his challenger and captor, the man whom they had noticed at the little window in the barn.

"Hold on, there," broke in Phil, stepping forward to rescue his chum from rough treatment.

"What are you doing, sneaking around here?" demanded the man angrily.

"We are looking for Mr. Jewett," explained Ralph.

"Yes, and we know--let go--Paul Revere--let go, I say--and we're true blue--"

"Know Jewett, do you?" said the man, somewhat skeptically. "Well, we'll soon know about that, for here he comes."

All hands looked in the direction of the old mill. They saw a man running rapidly towards them. But soon he halted, seemed peering in among the bushes, and ran back a distance on his course. Then he came forward again.

"Watch out close," he called to Andy's captor, as if intent on keeping running. "Seems to me I noticed a skulker after me when I left the mill. What of Revere?"

"Gone," reported the man.

"Good! The break has come. Before morning six hundred British troops will be on the road to Lexington. Watch here a bit, then come to the settlement. We must get ready to greet those redcoats with a warm welcome."

The speaker started to hasten on his way, but Andy's captor halted him with the words:

"Hold on, Jewett."

"Eh--why, who are these boys?" exclaimed Jewett, making out for the first moment the companions of the man who had hailed him.

"They say they came to see you."

"I am from Mr. Eaton," explained Ralph. "This is Phil Warrington of Boston, and my other friend is Andy Sabine of Concord."

"Yes, yes," nodded Jewett. "Good names, all. What can I do for you, lads?"

"We want to get into Boston, where Phil's folks live," said Ralph.

"Boston!" repeated Mr. Jewett. "Why, lads, before morning, probably within an hour, you will see that river out yonder covered with boat loads of redcoats. The British are about to make a raid out into the country, Lexington first, Concord next. Look out for yourselves, fight if you can, but don't think of going to Boston. Roberts, take them up to my house till I get our men in trim for the coming fight, and keep a lookout for the man I thought I saw keeping track of me back yonder near the old mill."

The man who had grasped Andy now released him. The boys did not pay much further attention to him. Each of the trio felt that a critical moment impended, and that the situation was serious. Phil looked up and down the dark river, and then across at the city, where a good many lights showed, and which he had no doubt, was now in a state of considerable commotion.

"I'll go up to the house with you soon," said the man, turning to attend to something in the barn.

"We called there on our way here, and know where it is," explained Phil. "We hardly know what is best to do."

"As you like," said the man. "Only, you had better follow Jewett's advice. We have been waiting for a week for what you saw happen a few minutes since, and it means a good deal, all hands around, I can tell you."

"What shall we do, boys?" inquired Phil anxiously of his companions, as Andy's recent captor disappeared into the barn.

"Mr. Jewett said Lexington and Concord," observed Andy, in a reflective tone. "I don't believe that the Tories will ever get that far out, but I'd like to be in the thick of the excitement."

"Phil is pretty anxious about his folks," remarked Ralph. "We can't do much this side of the river except hang around. We have no muskets. We could learn a lot in Boston."

"Well, anyhow, we'll see how it looks along the river," said Phil, with an irresolute sigh. "If we find a boat, I have a good mind to try and get across the river, even if we came right back again."

"All right. Let's see what turns up," said Andy, and they started down the stream and past the old mill. The revelations of the past hour had stirred them up greatly. Andy talked of the boys training club at Concord, Phil of the Musket Boys of Boston, Ralph wished the provincial congress would establish a navy, and give him a chance to show what he had learned as a sailor boy.

They proceeded along the river for over a mile before they made any discovery affecting their plans. Andy had remembered what Mr. Jewett had said about being followed by some one, and had strenuously asserted that he had caught sight twice of a lurking figure in their rear since passing the old mill. Now Ralph, who was a little ahead of Phil, halted.

"Fellows, the very thing," he cried. "Here's a yawl."

All hands came to the water's edge with alacrity. There lay a yawl, the oars set. It was lapping the water unsecured, except for being grounded at the stern, and it looked as though it had been recently used. For all that, Andy leaped into the bow, and Ralph sat down in the center seat and took up the oars.

"I will keep the lookout," said Phil. "I ought to know these waters around here pretty well, and if we don't run across some craft of the enemy before we get across, I am sure we can pick out a safe place to land. There's a fog coming up from the bay. That will hide us some."

"Not yet, my young gallivanters!" suddenly spoke a gruff voice.

From behind a great log near the beach the speaker stepped into view. Advancing slowly upon them, a musket extended, the young patriots saw a redcoat soldier in full uniform.