er has met Doctor Franklin who told of the night he spent at your
home and that he thought you were a noble and promising lad. What a
pleasure it was to hear him say that! We are much alarmed by events in
America. My mother and I stand up for Americans, but my father has
changed his views since we came down the Mohawk together. You must
remember that he is a friend of the King. I hope that you and your
father will be patient and take no part in the riots and house
burnings. You have English blood in your veins and old England ought
to be dear to you. She really loves America very much, indeed, if not
as much as I love you. Can you not endure the wrongs for her sake and
mine in the hope that they will soon be righted? Whatever happens I
shall not cease to love you, but the fear comes to me that, if you turn
against England, I shall love in vain. There are days when the future
looks dark and I hope that your answer will break the clouds that hang
over it."

So ran a part of the letter, colored somewhat by the diplomacy of a
shrewd mother, one would say who read it carefully. The neighbors had
heard of its arrival and many of them dropped in that evening, but they
went home none the wiser. After the company had gone, Jack showed the
letter to his father and mother.

"My boy, it is a time to stand firm," said his father.

"I think so, too," the boy answered.

"Are you still in love with her?" his mother asked.

The boy blushed as he looked down into the fire and did not answer.

"She is a pretty miss," the woman went on. "But if you have to choose
between her and liberty, what will you say?"

"I can answer for Jack," said John Irons. "He will say that we in
America will give up father and mother and home and life and everything
we hold dear for the love of liberty."

"Of course I could not be a Tory," Jack declared. The boy had
studiously read the books which Doctor Franklin had sent to
him--_Pilgrim's Progress_, _Plutarch's Lives_, and a number of the
works of Daniel Defoe. He had discussed them with his father and at
the latter's suggestion had set down his impressions. His father had
assured him that it was well done, but had said to Mrs. Irons that it
showed "a remarkable rightness of mind and temper and unexpected
aptitude in the art of expression."

It is likely that the boy wrote many letters which Miss Margaret never
saw before his arguments were set down in the firm, gentle and winning
t