ing abused, although not
to such an extent as before I heard about Elias Macomber.

It was noised around in the village, told most likely by Jim Freeman,
that we were going to Nottingham to join the commodore, and while
Darius and I stood by the canoe waiting for Jerry, we were literally
besieged by women, whose husbands or sons were with the fleet, nearly
all of whom wanted to send some message, or this or that article which
had been forgotten at the time of departure.

I believe of a verity that Darius and I charged ourselves with no less
than twenty errands by word of mouth, and as for packages, why we had
the bow piled full, until it seemed as if we were to carry something
by way of reminder for every man under Commodore Barney's command.

Near-by where we stood were also gathered four men whose sympathies
were entirely with the British, and among them, as a matter of course,
was Elias Macomber.

These worthless ones who would injure the country which had provided
them with a home, food and clothing, to say nothing of the comforts of
life, evidently counted on ruffling our feathers, believing it would
be safe to do so now that nearly all the men were gone from the
village, and they began by talking loudly of the sorry spectacle which
the commodore and his followers would present when Admiral Cochrane
and his vessels came up the river.

I feel certain that Darius would have held his peace, for he was not
naturally a quarrelsome man, had they made sport of everybody in the
American army and navy, save Joshua Barney; but a word against him was
to the old man much as a red flag is to a bull, and in a twinkling the
trouble began.

"The man who says aught against the commodore must answer to me for
his words," Darius said angrily as he strode toward the four who were
trying to bait him. "I'll not stand here and listen to such talk!"

It was Elias Macomber who showed his lack of sound sense by making
reply:

"We didn't ask you to stand here; but if you choose to do so, it's
more than likely you'll hear a good many things which may not please
you."

"Hold your tongue as to Barney, or it'll be the worse for all hands!"
Darius cried angrily, and at that moment Jerry appeared, staggering
under a bag which must have contained a full bushel and a half of
meal.

I shall always believe Elias Macomber held the idea that Darius was a
feeble old man, otherwise he would have kept his tongue between his
teeth, for he was