had
of Judge Quincy's youngest daughter, Dorothy, demurely leaving the
meeting-house. Dolly was then seventeen years of age, and as lovely in
her girlish beauty as any rose that ever bloomed, and John Hancock's
feeling of interest in her was far too keen to allow that glimpse to
be his last.

He and John Adams visited the Quincy homestead, and young Hancock
listened respectfully to the Judge's reminiscences of his father; but
at the same time he watched pretty Dorothy, who flitted in and out of
the room, giving no hint of her emotion at having an opportunity to
listen to the deep voice and note the clear-cut features and brilliant
eyes of the Hero of her dreams. She only cast her eyes down demurely,
glancing from under her long lashes now and again, when a remark was
addressed to her. She was quick to see that her father, while as
cordial to his visitor as good breeding demanded, yet wished him to
feel that he was not in sympathy with the radical views now openly
expressed by the young Boston merchant. Judge Quincy, as we have seen,
was a broad-minded, patriotic man, yet being by birth a staunch
Conservative, he felt it his duty to show the younger generation what
real loyalty to the mother country meant, and that it did not include
such rebellion against her commands as they were beginning to express.
However, he chatted pleasantly with Hancock and his friend Adams, and
when they took their leave, Hancock was invited both to call on the
family in Boston and to return to the Quincy homestead. Dorothy
seconded the invitation with a momentary lifting of her eyes to his,
then became demure, but in the glance that passed between them
something was given and taken which was to last for all time, and to
add its deepest joy to the future life of pretty Dorothy.

It was certainly love at first sight for John Hancock, and to the
young girl his love soon became the one worth-while thing in life.

Not many months after that first visit of John Hancock's to Dorothy's
home, he paid Judge Quincy a formal visit in Boston and asked for the
hand of his youngest daughter in marriage. As a matter of course, the
Judge was flattered, for who was a more eligible match than this rich
and handsome young Bostonian? On the other hand, he was sorry to
include one of England's rebellious subjects in his family, and he
declared so plainly. John Hancock was polite but positive, as he was
about everything, and let it be clearly understood that no