The Dare Boys of 1776 | Page 6

week past, an are goin to jine the main army on Long
Island to-night. Ye kaint do nothin to git him back, so ye needn try. An
ye two boys, Dick an Tom, had better be keerful er we'll serve ye
worsen whut we hev yer father. We don't aim ter hev any rebels in our
neighborhood. So, Dick and Tom Dare, hev a care!"
"Oh, husband is a prisoner in the hands of the British!" wailed Mrs.
Dare. "Oh, this is terrible, boys! What shall we do? Oh, what shall we
do!"
"Don't be frightened, mother," said Dick, soothingly. "I don't think
father is in any danger. He is a prisoner, true, but the British don't kill
prisoners, and sooner or later father will escape-or be rescued. That will
be work for Tom and I, mother!" his eyes lighting up. "We will make it
our object in life to rescue father and get him back home here, with you,
mother."

The poor woman was not greatly comforted, however, and she shook
her head, at the same time saying, in a hopeless tone of voice:
"What could you do, you are only a couple of boys? You could not
possibly rescue father. It is useless to think of such a thing. Oh, I
greatly fear I shall never see my husband again in this world! Oh, those
terrible, cowardly Tories!" The good woman gave way to an outburst of
uncontrollable grief.
"Yes, you shall see father again, mother," declared Dick, decidedly.
"Don't worry. He is safe from personal harm, and sooner or later we
will succeed in getting him located and will rescue him. Tom and I will
make that our object in life."
"Yes, yes, mother," said Tom eagerly. "We'll join the patriot army, if
need be, to further our ends, and while fighting for Liberty and
Independence, and aiding our country in that manner, we will at the
same time be on the lookout to find father and rescue him."
"Yes, that is what we will do," said Dick. "Father would have joined
the patriot army if he had not been captured and taken away by the
Tories, and now that he is not able to do that, we will do it in his stead.
I know it is what father would wish us to do, and as Tom says, it will
give us a better chance to find and rescue father."
"Oh, my sons, my sons! How can I spare you, too?" murmured Mrs.
Dare. "How can I let you leave me, now that I have lost your dear
father!"
"It will be only temporary, mother. You can see, when you give the
matter more thought, that it is the best thing to do."
"Perhaps so, Dick, darling," acquiesced Mrs. Dare, "but it is hard!"
Throwing their arms about their mother's neck, the youths kissed her,
and presently she grew more calm.

Chapter III
Ben Foster Brings Important News
"Oh, Dick, is it true that you and Tom are going to enter the army and
fight for liberty?"
"Yes, it is true, Elsie. Aren't you glad?"
"Y-yes, Dick," replied Elsie Foster, hesitatingly. "I'm glad you are to be
a soldier, but I-well, you might get killed you know, and-and-"
"Would you care, Elsie?"
Elsie Foster was the daughter of Robert Foster, the nearest neighbor of
the Dares. Mr. Foster was a king's man, but he was different from the
other Tories of the neighborhood, in that he was an honest, honorable
man, and was a friend of the Dares. He had had nothing to do with the
capture of Mr. Dare, and was outspoken in his denunciation of his Tory
neighbors for the deed they had committed.
Dick had gone over to the Foster home to borrow something for his
mother, and had met Elsie out in the yard, and the girl had greeted Dick
as above. The truth was that Dick and Elsie were great friends. They
were school-mates, and whenever there was anything going on in the
neighborhood, such as spelling schools, skating parties, etc., Dick was
Elsie's companion. Elsie was seventeen, and she had a brother, Ben, he
being her twin, and a sister, Lucy, aged fifteen. The three young folks
of the Dare family and the three of the Foster family often got together
of evenings and had a pleasant time, but now that Dick and Tom were
going away to the war, it would break into this arrangement.
When Dick asked Elsie if she would care if he should get killed in
battle, she blushed and looked confused at first, and then she looked
him frankly in the eyes and said, softly. "You know I would, Dick."
"I'm glad to know that, Elsie," said Dick, earnestly.

At this moment Ben Foster came running up. He