but, seeing none, began to vent their fury on inanimate objects.

The market stalls were torn down that the timbers might be used as
weapons; the fire-bells rang out their brazen peals; here and there
men excited almost to the verge of frenzy discharged a musket or
pistol in the air, and constantly were the numbers of the throng
increased, until Amos and Jim thought it was as if all the male
inhabitants of the city had gathered in one place to defend the town.

The pealing of the bells brought to the tumultuous scene those who did
not sympathise with the movement, as well as those that approved of
it, and among the former class were several well-known citizens, who,
believing the greatest danger was to be apprehended from such an
uprising, endeavoured, by all their powers of persuasion, to induce
the people to return to their homes, leaving to such as Adams and
Hancock the task of ridding the city of the redcoats.

So earnestly did these peacemakers labour that the respectful
attention of the greater portion of the gathering was soon secured,
and even those who brandished weapons, calling frantically to their
comrades to follow them to the barracks, listened, half persuaded, to
the words of these temperate men.

In half an hour the shouting, yelling throng had so far been reduced
to silence that Amos believed all danger of violence was over, when
suddenly there sprang up, as if from the very ground beneath them, a
tall man dressed in a scarlet cloak, his head covered with a white,
flowing wig, and, mounting the wreck of the market stalls, he stood, a
commanding figure, illumined by the rays of the moon.

"You have come here as men determined to obtain your rights," he
cried, in a ringing voice, which could be heard distinctly by all,
"and will you depart as children? Will you listen to those who counsel
soft words when you are confronted by the muskets of your enemies?
Will you, town-born, be thrust aside by the Britishers at every corner
of the streets? Have you come here simply to shriek for your rights,
and then to disperse quietly, lest you displease the hirelings of the
King? Are you afraid of punishment which may follow, that you would
slink away now? It is the town-born who must defend the town. It is
the town-born who shall relieve the town from the burden under which
it groans, and it is the town-born who this night should appear before
the main guard as their masters, not as their servants."

"To the mai