away at a rapid pace.

"What are you going to do with it?" Charles asked.

"Place it where it cannot be found by the tyrants," said the gallant
captain. "There is a venerable oak with a hollow in it. In this cavity
we will hide the charter, and none but you and I will know where it is.
You can return to Salem, beyond reach of Governor Andros, and, as for
me, he can flay me alive before I will reveal the hiding-place."

They had reached the outskirts of the village and paused beneath the
wide-spreading branches of a great oak tree. The wind, sighing through
the branches, seemed to the liberty-adoring Wadsworth to be whispering
of freedom.

[Illustration: The Charter Oak.]

"Stand a little way off, Charles," commanded the captain. "And watch to
see that no one is observing me."

Then, while Charles stood as sentry, he went to the tree and put the
charter in the hollow. Little did the captain or his youthful assistant
dream that their simple act would make the old tree historic.

As long as American students shall study the history of their country,
will "The Charter Oak" be famous.

That same night Charles Stevens, fearing the wrath of Governor Andros,
set out for his home at Salem. The tree in which the document was hidden
was ever afterward known as the "Charter Oak." It remained vigorous,
bearing fruit every year until a little after midnight, August, 1856,
when it was prostrated by a heavy storm of wind. It stood in a vacant
lot on the south side of Charter Street, a few rods from Main Street, in
the city of Hartford.

When, in 1687, Andros demanded the surrender of the colonial charters,
the inhabitants of Rhode Island instantly yielded. When the order for
the seizure of the charters was first made known, the assembly of Rhode
Island sent a most loyal address to the king saying:

"We humbly prostrate ourselves, our privileges, our all, at the gracious
feet of your majesty, with an entire resolution to serve you with
faithful hearts."

Andros therefore found no opposition in the little colony. Within a
month after his arrival at Boston, he proceeded to Rhode Island, where
he was graciously received. He formally dissolved the assembly, broke
the seal of the colony, which bore the figure of an anchor, and the word
Hope, admitted five of the inhabitants into his legislative council, and
assumed the functions of governor; but he did not take away the
parchment on which the charter was written. The people of