The Dare Boys of 1776 | Page 3

people on the streets. They leaped
and danced for joy. They tossed their hats in the air. They shouted and
sang. Many wept for joy. It was an exciting, a thrilling manifestation.
Dick and Tom Dare were not a whit behind any in their expressions of
delight. They shouted for joy, and then in the excess of their happiness
they threw their arms around each other in a bearlike hug.
"Oh, Dick, I'm so glad!" cried Tom. "I never was so happy in my life."
"Nor I, Tom. This is the most joyous hour of my life! How delighted

father will be when we go home and tell him that it is settled, that the
Declaration of Independence is a real and determined fact!"
"It will please him more than anything else in the world, Dick."
"Yes, yes indeed."
Then lifting up his voice the patriot youth cried out loudly, his voice
ringing clear as the notes of a bugle:
"Down with the king! Long live Liberty! Long live Washington!"
The excitement was even greater after that, and instantly the cry was
taken up on every hand. Thousands shouted aloud, in a thrilling,
triumphant roar: "Down with the king! Long live Liberty! Long live
Washington!"
People leaped and danced, and shouted till they were hoarse. They were
like crazy people, but with them it was pure joy because of the thought
that they were to be free, to be their own masters, independent of a
tyrannical king. They had reason to be joyous and happy.
It was certainly a great day for the American people-without doubt the
greatest in the history of the greatest country on the face of the Globe.
After awhile, when the people had calmed down to a considerable
extent and were beginning to disperse to their homes, Dick and Tom
Dare set their faces homeward. They were soon at the river, and
crossing on the ferry, walked swiftly along the road. They were eager
to get back and tell their father the glad, the glorious news.
Part of the way the road led through a heavy growth of timber, and as
Dick and Tom were making their way past this point, talking
enthusiastically of what they had seen in the city, and never thinking
that danger might lurk near, they were suddenly set upon by four
youths of about their own age-no others, in fact, than Zeke Boggs, Lem
Hicks and two other Tory sympathisers of the neighborhood.

"We told ye we'd git even with ye!" hissed Zeke Boggs, as they hurled
themselves upon Dick and Tom. "Ye thought ye was mighty smart,
there in Phillydelphy, with ever'buddy on yer side an' ag'in us, but heer
its different an' we'll beat ye till ye'll wish ye had never been born! Go
fur 'em, fellers!" this last to his companions.
The two patriot youths, although taken by surprise, and outnumbered
two to one, were yet not dismayed, for they were brave lads, and they
fought the Tory youths with all their might, so fiercely, in fact, that
they held their own remarkably well. They knocked down each of the
four young Tories, and gave them a thumping that they would likely
remember for some time. Of course, they got hit a number of times by
the youths, but they did not mind it, the smart of the blows only serving
to make them settle down to their work with increased vim and
determination, and the result was that the Tory ruffians presently got
enough of it, and suddenly ceasing the attack and dashing in among the
trees at the roadside, disappeared from view, leaving Dick and Tom
Dare masters of the situation.
"Phew, that was warm work, Dick!" said Tom, wiping his perspiring
face with his handkerchief.
"Yes, so it was, Tom," replied his brother. "But I believe that we made
it warmer for Zeke and his gang than they did for us."
"Yes, I think we did," with a chuckle. "Say, Dick, they are better
runners than fighters, aren't they!"
"I think they are, Tom. They did some lively sprinting, just now, at any
rate."
"I guess they won't be likely to attack us again, soon."
"Hardly."
Dick and Tom now resumed their journey homeward, and reached there
about half an hour later. It was still light enough to see their father at
work in the backyard, as they entered the front gate. They ran around

the house at the top of their speed, to halt a few moments later in front
of their father.
"They did it, father!" exclaimed Tom, pantingly. "They adopted and
signed the Declaration of Independence."
"Say you so, my son?" exclaimed Mr. Dare joyously. "Well, heaven be
praised! I am glad, my sons; yes, very, very glad! It means much to
everybody, and to