t,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in its flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat."

The Porter house in Medford, at which Revere stopped long enough to
rouse the captain of the Guards, and warn him of the approach of the
regulars, is now no longer standing, but the Clark place, in Lexington,
where the proscribed fellow-patriots, Hancock and Adams, were lodging
that night, is still in a good state of preservation.

The room occupied by "King" Hancock and "Citizen" Adams is the one on
the lower floor, at the left of the entrance. Hancock was at this time
visiting this particular house because "Dorothy Q," his fiancee, was
just then a guest of the place, and martial pride, coupled, perhaps,
with the feeling that he must show himself in the presence of his
lady-love a soldier worthy of her favour, inclined him to show fight
when he heard from Revere that the regulars were expected. His widow
related, in after years, that it was with great difficulty that she and
the colonel's aunt kept him from facing the British on the day following
the midnight ride. While the bell in the green was sounding the alarm,
Hancock was cleaning his sword and his fusee, and putting his
accoutrements in order. He is said to have been a trifle of a dandy in
his military garb, and his points, sword-knot, and lace, were always of
the newest fashion. Perhaps it was the desire to show himself in all his
war-paint that made him resist so long the importunities of the ladies,
and the urgency of other friends! The astute Adams, it is recounted, was
a little annoyed at his friend's obstinacy, and, clapping him on the
shoulder, exclaimed, as he looked significantly at the weapons, "That is
not our business; we belong to the cabinet."[5]

It was Adams who threw light on the whole situation. Half an hour after
Revere reached the house, the other express arrived, and the two rebel
leaders, being now fully convinced that it was Concord which was the
threatened point, hurried the messengers on to the next town, after
allowing them barely time to swallow a few mouthfuls of food. Adams did
not believe that Gage would send an army merely to take two men
prisoners. To him,