Both
Colonel and Mrs. Hare liked the boy and his parents and invited them to
come to England, although the latter took the invitation as a mere mark
of courtesy.

At Fort Stanwix, John Irons sold his farm and house and stock to Peter
Bones and decided to move his family to Albany where he could educate
his children. Both he and his wife had grown weary of the loneliness
of the back country, and the peril from which they had been delivered
was a deciding factor. So it happened that the Irons family and
Solomon went to Albany by bateaux with the Hares. It was a delightful
trip in good autumn weather in which Colonel Hare has acknowledged that
both he and his wife acquired a deep respect "for these sinewy, wise,
upright Americans, some of whom are as well learned, I should say, as
most men you would meet in London."

They stopped at Schenectady, landing in a brawl between Whigs and
Tories which soon developed into a small riot over the erection of a
liberty pole. Loud and bitter words were being hurled between the two
factions. The liberty lovers, being in much larger force, had erected
the pole without violent opposition.

"Just what does this mean?" the Colonel asked John Irons.

"It means that the whole country is in a ferment of dissatisfaction,"
said Irons. "We object to being taxed by a Parliament in which we are
not represented. The trouble should be stopped not by force but by
action that will satisfy our sense of injustice--not a very difficult
thing. A military force, quartered in Boston, has done great mischief."

"What liberty do you want?"

"Liberty to have a voice in the selection of our governors and
magistrates and in the making of the laws we are expected to obey."

"I think it is a just demand," said the Colonel.

Solomon Binkus had listened with keen interest.

"I sucked in the love o' liberty with my mother's milk," he said. "Ye
mustn't try to make me do nothin' that goes ag'in' my common sense; if
ye do, ye're goin' to have a gosh hell o' a time with the ol' man
which, you hear to me, will last as long as I do. These days there
ortn't to be no sech thing 'mong white men as bein' born into captivity
an' forced to obey a master, no argeyment bein' allowed. If your wife
an' gal had been took erway by the Injuns, that's what would 'a'
happened to 'em, which I'm sart'in they wouldn't 'a' liked it, ner you
nuther, which I mean to say it respectful, sir."

The Colonel wore a look of con