army, occasionally stirred the hearts and
fired the eyes of the company with the music which had nerved the
patriots of Bunker's Hill and Bennington. Each of the veterans sat in an
arm-chair at the table, the young men being distributed among them so as
to wait upon them occasionally, and show them every attention.

Mr. Kinnison, though not the oldest man of the company, looked as if he
had seen the hardest service, and received the hardest buffets of Time.
His features bespoke a strong and energetic mind, and his eye was full
of fire and activity. His hair was grey and bushy, partly covering a
large scar on his high forehead. He had evidently been a man of powerful
frame, but was now bent with the weight of years, and service. The other
veterans appeared to be generally of the same age, and to have seen hard
toil and service. The fifer was the most remarkable of the party. In
spite of his age and white hair, his puffed cheeks and the sly twinkle
of his eyes gave him a kind of jolly, frolicsome appearance, which would
indicate that age could not chill the humor of his heart.

THE LEBANON CLUB.

When the company were fairly seated at the table, Mr. Kinnison opened
the conversation by asking the young men if they had ever heard any
account of the Lebanon Liberty Club. They replied they had heard of the
club, but never any definite account.

"Well," said Mr. Kinnison, "I can tell you something about it. Mr.
Pitts, Mr. Colson, and myself, were members of a club consisting of
seventeen men, living at Lebanon, up here in Maine. Most of us were
farmers. We knew what them folks over the river were aiming at, and we
knew that there was no use of dallying about matters. Our rights were to
be untouched, or there must be a fight. So, you see, we Lebanon men
resolved to form a club, to consider what was to be done, and to do
accordingly. We hired a room in the tavern of Colonel Gooding, and held
regular meetings at night. The colonel was an American of the right
color, but we kept our object secret, not even letting him into it."

"If it isn't too much trouble, Mr. Kinnison, we should like you to tell
us all about what the club had to do with the tea-party, and how that
affair was conducted," said one of the young men, named Hand, filling
the veteran's plate.

"He can tell you much better than any one else," remarked Mr. Pitts. "I
can vouch for the bold part he took in it, and he has a better memory
than the rest of us