y the water's edge
for us to come up.

In order that we might get away the more quickly, he had the skiff
afloat, holding her by the painter, and as we approached Hiram thrust
Job Lord on board in advance, following so closely as to screen him from
view. If the lobster back had previously had any suspicions, he might
have noted something strange in the manner of our clustering around the
prisoner even after we had taken our places in the boat; but the dull
fellow believed he was aiding in what would work injury to those whom he
had come across the ocean to kill, and gave heed to nothing save his own
part in the enterprise.

As I think of the matter now, it seems almost like a fairy tale, this
story of being aided to escape by one of the king's men, with a squad of
soldiers at the guard-house nearby ready to lend a hand in case we
needed it; but such was the case, and had it not been so I believe of a
verity we had never gone out of Boston town alive, for if the tables had
been turned, Master Lord and his friends would have seen to it that we
were hanged on one pretext or another.

Whatever the dangers we had encountered, or however narrow the escape,
we were free at last, for even though one of the guard-boats overhauled
us, the pass signed by General Gage himself would have been enough to
insure safe conduct, and when the skiff had been pulled by Harvey and
Silas so far from the shore that we could see behind us nothing save the
lights that twinkled here and there, it was with difficulty I repressed
a shout of triumph.

As it was I could not hold my peace; but, leaning toward Hiram as he sat
by Master Lord's side in the stern-sheets, said gleefully:

"We have come out from among the Britishers without a scratch, and in
addition to releasing one of our own who was in prison, are taking to
Cambridge a spy who might have worked the Cause fatal harm, therefore
who shall say that the Minute Boys, if so be you still count yourself
one, have not shown themselves able to do the work of men?"

"I sure do count myself one of the Minute Boys, lad, and shall do so
till our little muss with the king has come to an end, leaving us
colonists on the top of the heap. But say, Luke Wright, this last trick
over which we have the right to do a good bit of crowing, has been a
close shave. Unless everything had worked according to our desires, we
would have been undone, and I'm thinking the shadow of the gallows was
dark over us in t