ture. It is
a strong stone building, with eight-sided walls and roof, which looks as
if it might stand for centuries to come. On this old magazine hinges a
Revolutionary tale, which seems to us well worth the telling. The story
begins on April 19, 1775, the day that the shots at Lexington brought on
the war for independence.

The British government did not like the look of things in America. The
clouds in the air, and the occasional lightning flash and thunder roar,
were full of threat of a coming storm. To prevent this, orders were sent
from England to the royal governors to seize all the powder and arms in
the colonies on a fixed day, This is what Governor Gage, of
Massachusetts, tried to do at Concord on April 19th. In the night of the
same day, Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, attempted the same thing
at Williamsburg.

Had this been done openly in Virginia, as in Massachusetts, the story of
Lexington would have been repeated there. Lord Dunmore took the
patriots by surprise. A British ship-of-war, the "Magdalen," some time
before, came sailing up York River, and dropped its anchor in the stream
not far from Williamsburg. On the 19th of April Lord Dunmore sent word
to Captain Collins, of the "Magdalen," that all was ready, and after
dark on that day a party of soldiers, led by the captain, landed from
the ship. About midnight they marched silently into the town. All was
quiet, the people in their beds, sleeping the sleep of the just, and not
dreaming that treachery was at their doors. The captain had the key to
the magazine and opened its door, setting his soldiers to carry out as
quietly as possible the half-barrels of gunpowder with which it was
stored. They came like ghosts, and so departed. All was done so
stealthily, that the morning of the 20th dawned before the citizens knew
that anything had been going on in their streets under the midnight
shadows.

When the news spread abroad the town was in an uproar. What right had
the governor to meddle with anything bought with the hard cash of
Virginia and belonging to the colony? In their anger they resolved to
seize the governor and make him answer to the people for his act. They
did not like Lord Dunmore, whom they knew to be a false-hearted man, and
would have liked to make him pay for some former deeds of treachery. But
the cooler heads advised them not to act in haste, saying that it was
wiser to take peaceful measures, and to send and tell Dunmore that
th