me."

So the maidens crept to their own little room to give vent to the
sorrow that filled them. The shy fellow had endeared himself to them,
and his untimely end affected them deeply. The days that followed were
sorrowful ones. Nurse Johnson was completely prostrated, and Mrs.
Ashley added to her woe a great anxiety for her own son. It fell to
the lot of Peggy and Sally to look after the household affairs, and
they were thankful for the occupation.

The last sad rites were performed at Freehold. Wrapped in his
country's flag, Fairfax Johnson was buried with all the honors of war.
But with the firing of the last volley the indignation of Monmouth
County blazed forth. A single deed of violence and cruelty affects the
nerves more than when these are exercised upon a more extended scale,
and this act was peculiarly atrocious. The cry of Thomas Ashley
sounded upon every lip: Retaliation! The cry grew as all the details
of the inhuman murder became known.

The young man had been charged with being privy to the killing of
Edwards, even though he pointed out to his captors that the refugee's
death had occurred after his capture. The opportunity to rid
themselves of so active an adversary, however, was not one to be
neglected; so, without listening to a defense, or even going through
the form of a trial, he was hurried to Gravelly Point by a band of
sixteen loyalists under Captain Lippencott, a former Jerseyman and an
officer in a refugee regiment, The King's Rangers, and there hanged.
It was said that he met death with great firmness and composure. Upon
his breast was affixed the label:

"Up goes Johnson for Frank Edwards."

The country, a little later England and the entire civilized world,
stood aghast at the atrocity of the incident. A prisoner taken in open
warfare hanged! Such a thing was unheard of. Such execution should be
dealt a spy, an informer, a deserter. But a prisoner of war---- Even
barbarians deal not so with an honorable foe. It was therefore no
wonder that the cry of Monmouth County reached into every part of New
Jersey, growing deeper and fiercer. Retaliation! It passed on, and
spread into every state. Everywhere the cry was taken up by the press
and the people: Retaliation! What had happened to a prisoner from New
Jersey might very well happen to a prisoner from any state. The matter
must be stopped before it proceeded any further. The grievance of one
was the grievance of all. The issue was no longer