t, and as the company did not
suspect I had the least acquaintance with him, I can't think
they meant to affront me.

However, as Mr. Hancock has an elegant house and well
situated, and this will always be a garrison town, it will
do exceedingly well for a fort, ... "I wonder how Miss ...
will stand affected? I think he defers marrying until he
returns from England." At this speech I saw a wink given,
and all was hush!--myself as hush as the grave, for reasons.
"Mr. Hancock has a number of horses. Perhaps he would be
glad to dispose of them, as the officers are buying up the
best horses in town"--Mrs. Bayard, don't look so dull! You
will be taken the greatest care of! Thought I,--if you knew
my heart, you would have the most reason to look dull.
However, a little time will decide that.

I am, you will say, wicked, but I wish the small-pox would
spread. Dolly, I could swell my letter into a balloon, but
lest I should tire you, I will beg my sincere regards to Mr.
Hancock, and beg the favor of a line from my dear Dolly,

Your affectionate Coz

HELENA BAYARD.

Dorothy's eyes flashed as she read this, and laying it down she
exclaimed: "We will see whether the British come off victorious or
not! If I mistake not, there is more ability in the finger-tip of
John Hancock than in those of all the generals in the English army.
You will be taken the greatest care of, indeed--We shall see what we
shall see!" with which sage remark pretty Dolly, head held high,
walked out of the room and gave vent to her feelings in vigorous
exercise.

The issue was to be confronted sooner than they knew, and it was
peaceful Lexington where the first alarm of war sounded.

According to advice, a messenger had been sent to Concord to warn
Hancock of his possible danger, but neither he nor Adams attached much
importance to the report, after their first alarm was over, and they
were enjoying the quiet village life of Lexington with the two women
guests at the parsonage, when on the eighteenth of April, General Gage
really did order a force to march on Concord, not so much to seize the
few military supplies stored there, as to capture the rebellious
enemies of the crown.

Just how a small group of men in Boston, calling themselves the "Sons
of Liberty," who had constituted themselves a volunteer