Show ma W e omir a f h DY by irvng bacheller bachelier Bache IIer copyright 1932 by irving bachellor service CHAPTER VI continued 9 there were sledges loaded with hay and cornmeal la in sacks for the he oxen and with food for the men there was also a wooden scraper set upon broad runners when not in use the drivers found water tor for their teams under the ice fee roof of it pond soon a shelter was built of poles covered with boughs of spruce and hemlock the snow beneath it was overlaid with a deep mat of balsam in a little time the woodchoppers had a fire blazing in front of the shelter and the cook had begun his work A teamster had shot ft a leer deer that morning and there was food aplenty the brawny happy men amused themselves with singing and storytelling story telling as they rested under the long shelter warmed by a fire 1 ito which the snow fell hissing lils sing colln colin got news of sirs mrs bowlby who had moved to the fort with her children for the winter find and who spent a part of every day hunting and trapping in the forest that domero Is halt half horse said a man of the mountain country lerald 0 bothin lias has killed a panther an a lynx lyns this winter an seventeen deer she can bring a buck in on her back an eat him fer supper hansome as a pleter an neat as a pin an fillice as a minister but it dont do to git her vexed the night vas avas so cold that even the oxen were bedded with boughs and some of the teamsters slept between the beasts to keep warm when the fire sank low colln colin had bad to get up and rake out the embers and stand leaning over them while he beat his sides for comfort ile he had doubled the mares cover with one of his own blankets and was feeling the need of it ue ne en vied the mountaineers sleeping with frosty beards and with no apparent sense of discomfort tie ile put wood on the fre fire and went back to his bed sr as he said to himself 1 I wonder it if the future generations will ever know about these days and nights the cattle bellowing tor for food and water were a sufficient fent reveille before daylight the teamsters began to yoke their teams and take them to the pond for water the snow had ceased the fire was rekindled the feeding had begun A corps of working with pine torches were cutting a tunnel in deep snow after breakfast four teams of oxen hitched to a scraper were wallow wallowing ing as they slowly hauled it up the hill often the patient beasts were helpless in the white depths then the began to tunnel the drift around them and ahead the sky was clear and the sun shining when the scrapers halted baited at the summit and looked down upon a broad clearing colln colin tolled toiled along behind them on his hi mare A freezing wind blew in his thee tile the white slopes sown with frost crystals which caught and held the sunlight shone with dazzling prismatic rays A fox out on a quest for supplies bad made a seam in the snow know a nalle long from the forest edge to a henhouse on a far farm 1 in the valley the road belo beloli was fairly clear tor for ft a dis distance the guns guna were coming up tip behind and halt ing ng while th the teamsters put chains on their heir runners to help in holding their loads on the long downhill down hill slant they made less than four miles that day and at night the men were housed by an accommodating farmer many of them sleeping on the floors with flaming wood in the fireplaces the cattle had bad been watered at the farmers well and turned into the stable yard where a shed sheltered them some of the men with w I 1 th poor foot cover were disqualified for work by frozen toes colln colin went to another house where men and teams were hired to work through the night as far east as possible with shovels and the scraper aided by this fo rework the train made about eight miles the next day so the guns of ticonderoga crept along over the hills and through the vallas valleys on their way to a new duty at dorchester heights hegh ts captain cabot was wont to say they seemed to have left their old home with reluctance and to be sternly resisting the strength of the oxen meanwhile in hoston pat was having in g her first gre great at adventure she had been in with revere since the time of colins colina departure mrs shipman the wife afla of a loyalist who had bad been prominent in the social life of the city was their intermediary she was from virginia where years before after washington had bad returned a hero bero from the unfortunate braddock campaign she fell in love with him although then engaged to marry a wealthy new englander visiting in alexandria the young officer was not then heart tree free according to credible reports and nothing came of it save an undying memory in the mind of the girl she married and went to live in boston her home was a romantic mansion on roxbury neek neck it was built by one corwin who was clandestinely de in love with the sister of his wife in constructing the house bouse he had made a secret passage between the walls on the second floor leading to the t he room planned for his sweetheart this passage mrs shipman had by and by discovered at heart in sympathy with uie the american cause she said nothing of this singular detail in the i structure of the mansion having conceived a use for it the young patriots had lind find secret as el stance from her and th through roligh she ithe had sent a letter to G gereral e washington reminding him of old acquaintance and assuring him of 0 her desire to assist the cause she had confided to the young coppersmith the peculiar feature of the mansion more than once he and his friends had bad found it a safe and convenient refuge shipman was then a brigadier in th the british army and not often at home being mostly in the camp at bunker hill one evening late in february revere was lying on a couch in the bedroom with a secret entrance called the chamber of 0 sin 1 awaiting the hour when the collector of refuse would call for the barrels at the back bach door and convey him to Sn yard suddenly he heard beard the signal agreed upon and arose eager to finish his errand ne he had been admitted by a trusted ne negro ro slave soon after darkness fell lie he had not yet seen mrs shipman and was awaiting her signal at the door As usual when he be occupied this room there was no light in it sud denly he heard the signal which was the flick of a handkerchief the door opened and the mistress of the mansion entered what have you to say she whis wals revere answered with like caution the chief appreciates your help but he wishes me to remind you that it Is a perilous kind bind of work and that you may even lose your life in doing it it yes I 1 I 1 know the lady exclaimed that Is war I 1 would have you remind him of quite another thing even greater than war that you will till do when you say to him and only to him that life Is not so much to me as lt t was once long ago that mine Is it a failure unless I 1 can make it in some way useful to him and that I 1 would gladly give it to the cause he lovos loves there was a note of sadness in herl tone touched by the sacred character of the message the spy who had a rl remarkable memory applied himself to the task of noting doting in his mind the ordering of its phrases there will be a bombardment he went on n at the sound of the first gun our friends are to come here anti anil keep indoors you tou are to tell pat that she and her tam fam SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS at boston in july 1775 colin cabot ardent young lover ot of liberty bids goodby good by to his ate sweetheart theart patience pat daughter of a loyalist but herself a rebel he loins joins the revolutionary army at cambridge and is id mustered into the coel company pany of capt anne amos farnsworth colin impresses washington and ho he makes make him his hia informal orinal secretary with the vard of at captain A letter from pat tells colin she tj in to visit friends outside tho the american lines imes and asks Us him to meet her he sets oat learning Lear of a british plot to capture colin farsworth F a T worth with a troop rides to the rescue A british patrol led by harry gage coun colins riv rival far or the band of pat threatens the young patriot farnsworth and his troop come coma up gage ch 11 colin to a duct bucl they fight and gaffe Is wounded colin returns to cambridge washington 0 having forbidden dueling reduces him to the ranks but mrs washington affectionately known to the army as lady washington reena remain tinia his stanch friend Rea restored to his rank I 1 or meritorious cri service colin is sent kent with col sim botts a civilian soldier Boldi cr on DD a recruiting mis sion cion in the west ho he meets a typical pioneer i i woman mrs bowlby A band of drunken indian indians Is outwitted by her bravery and shrewdness with many recruits colin froes back to cambridge ho he Is sent to olid aid he the transportation of the th guns of ticonderoga to the tha heights of dorchester to bombard boston lly fly are to come here ait other points will be in danger when will the trouble begin we cannot say but probably early in starch anything more to tell me no then you must go here are letters the litterman Is waiting i revere descended the servants stairs in the darkness to the kitchen ne ile stepped out of its door and down into an empty ash barrel on the wagon A sunken top that held a foot of ashell was shoved into the barrel above his head thus he rode in a wagon behind horses driven by an unsuspected patriot to Sn yard there it if the driver saw no danger signal revere would take a water route on his way to cambridge the barrel journey to was now rarely used mrs shipman was a kind of post mistress for the pit patriots riots in boston revere and others in the secret service brought letters to the mansion and there received a few from friends of its mistress to be taken beyond the lines pat was one of this hand band of friends she came to the mansion in her chaise next morning allm im going through the lines she said im desperate cant wait any longer ive got to see that man good lord I 1 im in love mrs shipman laughed well 1 ive had the same trouble ihnow I 1 know that restless restle qs feeling but its a arob arother her women have to look out or it will deprive them of their sanity ty even greater treasures will soon be missing I 1 to tell you the truth I 1 am fi a reckless creature I 1 am not quite respect able you risk your life trying to brenk break through the lines the apple woman Is in town I 1 have told her to come here at eleven and that I 1 will buy all her apples at a shilling each she will he be here in five minutes I 1 shall buy her costume anil and put pill it on with padding and make my face as ugly as hers it if I 1 can and go through fhe be lines tonight I 1 shall reword reward her well and I 1 have in the chaise an old gown of one of our maids that will I 1 am sure fit the woman it Is madness contain yourself well be out of our trouble soon I 1 have a good reason for saying that I 1 know things which I 1 cannot tell you 1 I am weary of that kind of talk I 1 must go you yon know how I 1 feel my illy friends in roxbury will meet me to night on the road beyond the lines the ithe girl i thresher throw threw her arms around the neck of the woman and kissed her ill see holyon loowns an ripple apple woman gaid sald Mrs hirs mean while I 1 shall think about it ale the apple aeple woman crime she was ans an eccentric harin harmless tess old widow who lived I 1 alo alone n an abandoned mill anti oo on stony brook about a mile beyond the western entrance to roxbury neck she always carried with her a gift of stockings or mittens knit by her own hands for the pickets of each army they were all her boys and they called her Bl mother other bristow she was said to be a distant relative of one of the american brigadiers whose in fluence had no doubt helped her in tile the beginning of her odd enterprise site she answered every eiery challenge with her own countersign it was my lly boy god bless youl it was sincere and had become sufficient on both lines at first the british took her to the guardhouse guard house where she was searched arched sr later all suspicion of any motive save that of earning a few shillings passed and they welcomed her glad to hae bae tier her apples and tier her blessing the girl and mrs shipman went above stairs with mother enslow pat began her negotiations with fill an otter offer of ten pounds to the old woman for cor her costume and advice it was fl A large surn sum to this poor lonely creature but she would not accept it until the girl had frankly given her motive tor for wish wishing ng to pass the lines honest sold said the old army mother love Is a caution my girl its a killin thing an a ril may the good god help yel it broke the heart in my breast years an years ago ill stay in briston boston town ter fer good an all ye cross the neck at seven if anyone stops ye soy my illy boy god cod bless ye I 1 a all good boys an it ye spy say it with the holy spirit on yer tongue give ye not a word 0 trouble so it happened that the edged belle of boston came into possession of the gown bonnet shoes and good wishes of old mother enslow who dressed dressed in cast oft garments presently left the mansion ifor fir 1 well try an experiment ex said mrs an I 1 would have licen been difficult to distinguish tIng pat from the apple woman when she walked with her friend to the ish market where mother enslow bought her supplies there there the girl personated persona ted the apple woman so successfully cess fully that her manner voice and makeup make up tip excited no suspicion in mr air or his helpers mrs shipman laid their plan before him in a whispered conference shell shelf pass I 1 1 he exclaimed danys the time ive sent the apple woman to my plaz to set down an rest tell her to go up an wait till im coln to the neck with a load 0 fish at a quarter of seven the grand young lady looking nice like the shabby old apple woman with three white hairs protruding from her chin set out for the british line on the neck in a elsh wagon sitting beside the glint gianat ebenezer CHAPTER VII in which pat has adventure and boston Is evacuated soon after she left the wagon that night the highborn high born disguised beauty was to feel the spirit of old mother enslow guiding and protecting her the apple woman hid had done much for the comfort of the rough hard minded I 1 men in both armies her gifts and prayers had smoothed her way and made a host of friends who trusted her she carried no tales coming or going the harmless kindly woman was a unique figure on the lines the defending neck had been reviewed that artel afternoon by general howe who had sua sue ceedee gage as commander of 0 the port tbt the review had been followed by a bull balting baiting and a dog fight now a great bonfire was burning in the light of which hundreds of men were gathe gathered red around two soldiers engaged in a boxing match As the apple worn an was passing an irish sergeant came and led her aside saying in a ehla per mother alother I 1 have just come oft the line orders are out to strip an search ye its a shame we know that ye are no spy they were back in the shadows pat was able to imitate successfully the voice of mother enslow when she said nod god bless ye hoy boy I 1 my clothes are arc not as clean as my soul ill spend the night with to a friend and came come hack bach in the morning Th theres pires an old maxim hoy boy the nearer the skin the prouder the woman old an young are all alike may hay ond nod love and keep yet she added as she gave tile the boy a shilling and left him she ohp walked slowly at first but bill hur bur ried when well away in the darkness men were returning from town to the camp in varying stages of tion lion some of them stopped her hilt but the look loh dress anti anil name of mother onslow gave her ample protection one of the HIP men walked |