The Dare Boys of 1776 | Page 7

he liked Ben very much, and the idea of having him along was a pleasing one.
"That would be fine, Ben," he said. "But I wouldn't want you to do anything contrary to the wishes of your father."
"Oh, that will be all right," Ben assured him. "He won't care, I am sure."
"Goodness, what will Mary do if you go away?" said Elsie. Ben seemed to think as much of Mary Dare as Dick did of Elsie, and he flushed slightly at his sister's words, and then retorted:
"I guess she'll do about the same thing that you will when Dick goes-go up into the attic and have a good cry."
"You're a mean brother," said Elsie in pretended anger, lifting her hand as if to slap him, "and if it wasn't that I will likely soon lose you, I would box your ears soundly."
They talked awhile, and then Dick attended to the errand that had brought him there and went home.
"I guess we will have company when we go to war, Tom" he said to his brother.
"Is that so?" with an interested ear. "Who?"
"Ben Foster."
"You don't mean it, Dick?"
"Yes. He just told me he intends to accompany us."
"But-his father's a Tory!"
"Yes, but he is a reasonable man, and Ben says that he will not object."
"Well, that will be fine. I'd like to have Ben along."
"So would I. And I guess he'll go."
"I hope he will. He's such a lively, jolly fellow that he is good company, and will help keep us from getting homesick."
"I guess, Tom, that we will be kept too busy to get homesick."
"You think there will be lots of fighting, then? You feel certain that there will be war?"
"War has really existed for more than a year, Tom. You know the battle of Lexington was fought April the nineteenth of last year, and that was the first battle of the Revolution. And since that there has been more or less skirmishing between the `Minute Men' of New England and the British, the most important of all these being the battle of Bunker Hill, which took place on the seventeenth day of June of last year."
"Our soldiers defeated the British there, didn't they, Dick!"
"Yes, they got all the better of the battle, but their ammunition gave out and they had to retreat. Still, it was equivalent to a victory."
"That's what I thought."
"Yes, and then General Washington-who was appointed commander-in-chief of the army by the Second Continental Congress, at Philadelphia in May of last year, and who went to Boston and took charge of the army on July third-kept the British penned up in Boston till about the middle of last March, when he fortified Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston, the work being performed in one night, and next morning the British, seeing what had been done and realizing that they would be at the mercy of the patriot army if they remained in Boston, hurriedly boarded the ships of the British fleet, then in the harbor, and sailed to Halifax, Nova Scotia."
"And General Washington and his patriot troops went down and took possession of Boston!" said Tom, his eyes shining.
"Yes, Tom. But General Howe, the British commander-in-chief, did not keep his troops long in Halifax, but sailed to New York, where he was soon joined by the British fleet under his brother, Admiral Howe, and by General Clinton."
"And General Washington and his patriot army came to New York and took possession of that city," said Tom.
"Yes, and he's there now, and that is where we are going, Tom."
"Hurrah, Dick! Say, I'm glad of it. I want to join the army, and fight the redcoats. I want to fight for liberty and independence."
"So do I. And we will, too."
"When will we go, Dick?"
"In a few days, likely. We have to get things in shape so that mother and sister Mary can get along without us, you know."
"Yes, but that won't take long. Most of the work for the summer is done, and all there will be to do on the farm is to wait for the crops to ripen."
"True. Well, we'll go in a few days, now, likely."
"Don't be in too big a hurry to go, sons," said Mrs. Dare sadly, when they were discussing the matter, that evening at supper. "Think how lonesome Mary and I will be when you are gone."
"Mrs. Foster and the girls will come over often," said Dick. "They will keep you cheered up."
"It will help," was the reply. "But we will be lonely, just the same."
"You might try to be cheerful, mother," said Tom. "Dick and I won't want to think of you as being lonely."
"Oh, I will get along all right, sons," said the brave woman, forcing a smile. She wanted to have the boys go away feeling that she was in good spirits.
They had just