twenty hours after
arriving in town.

I rather encouraged him in his outcry against the venture, believing his
opinion would have no little weight with Hiram; but it was much the same
as pouring water on a duck's back, to argue against what our leader had
already set his mind upon.

He listened to all the captain said, making no reply, and when the
conversation had come to an end I believe of a verity he was more
determined in his purpose than before.

"Are you still bound to find out what a British prison is like?" the
captain asked just a trifle petulantly when he was come to an end of his
remonstrances.

"We are not minded that they shall take us prisoners; but at the same
time we are going into Boston, and if in all that town, where yet remain
many who love the Cause, we cannot succeed in hiding ourselves past
reasonable danger of being found, then do we deserve to be shut up
within stone walls."

When Hiram had said this the captain looked at him pityingly, as I
thought, and made reply:

"He who is pig-headed will go his way despite all that others can say to
the contrary, therefore I but waste my breath in striving to point out
the dangers which are known better by me, than by you lads."

With this he turned on his heels, leaving us to eat our supper, and when
he was out of earshot Hiram said as if the captain's sharp words had
pleased him not a little:

"I have known many who didn't have sufficient of pig-headedness in their
nature, and we saw some of them in the battle; but, thank God! they were
mighty few!"

All of which meant, as I interpreted it, that our leader had been
strengthened in his purpose rather than weakened.

Well, we remained at the outpost all night, and by break of day set off
on the highway for Dorchester, where we came upon more of our troops,
and were forced to spend no little time explaining why we desired to
continue on to Nook's hill.

Here, as at the Roxbury outpost, we were given much advice which I
considered good, for it was to the effect that we go back to Cambridge
rather than sacrifice our liberty, perhaps our lives, in what was little
less than an act of folly.

You can fancy that these words had as little effect on Hiram as had the
advice of the captain in Roxbury, and on we tramped until coming to
where the highway ended in a pasture, when we turned sharply to the
westward. On this last course we were headed for the shore, and, having
arrived there, followed th