not with them were against them, and among the
stay-at-home Whigs were plenty who were willing to express the feeling.
Hence the reproaches and menaces which drove Judge Curwen from his home,
and hence the doubtful looks in Philadelphia which made him "fearful
whether, like Cain, I had not a discouraging mark upon me, or a strong
feature of toryism." Curwen crossed the water, and other moderates
slipped into Boston, to find themselves as unhappy within the town as
they had been outside, in spite of the strength which Gage was slowly
gaining.

This strength was, so far, purely defensive. Gage did not consider
himself ready to take the offensive. Those Tories who came to town
informed him of the numbers outside, and he saw very plainly the result
of sending an expedition against a militia which would melt before the
head of his column, only to attack it in flank and rear. So no action
was considered, especially as the rebels offered, so far, nothing to
strike at. Gage made himself as strong as he could, and waited
reinforcements.

His strength was partly, as we have seen, in the organization of the
Tories. Their men began at once to form themselves in companies, under
the general leadership of Timothy Ruggles, who had long been a political
tower of strength, and was now assuming military importance. The new
volunteer companies were, as we have seen, of such value to Gage that
they were able to make him break his promise to let the townspeople
leave Boston. Yet so far as is known they did nothing more in the siege
than to parade and mount guard.

Gage's chief attention was directed to fortifying. His situation was
easily defensible at certain points, and of them he first made sure. At
the south, across the passage to Roxbury, were the "lines" of which all
contemporary accounts speak. These Gage strengthened until by the 4th of
May Lieutenant Barker records that the works were almost ready for ten
twenty-four-pounders. From the Neck the western line of the peninsula of
Boston ran in a general northerly direction for about a mile and a
half; it then ran east for nearly a mile; then turning south, it finally
swept inward to the Neck. The outline had three projections, each caused
by a hill: Barton's Point at the northwest; Copp's Hill at the
northeast; and Fort Hill on the middle of the eastern side. Each of
these was fortified as soon as possible. The four points were Gage's
main defences.

[Illustration: PLAN OF THE S