such a sudden uprising. I saw very few rebels.
There were no organized bodies of rebels to be seen,--not more than
twenty or thirty in a group; but they were all around us, firing from
fences, rocks, trees, ditches, houses. If we charged and drove them,
they were back again the moment we resumed our march. I must admit
they were brave and persistent. They were like so many wasps," said
the earl.

"I learn," said the governor, "that several thousand armed men have
already gathered at Cambridge and Roxbury. A loyal citizen informs me
they have been arriving through the night in great numbers. It seems
probable that we are to be hemmed in by the provincials for the
present, and must make preparations accordingly."

Fast and far the alarm had gone. Twenty-four hours and it was one
hundred miles away, and Robert Walden of Rumford with bullet-pouch,
powder-horn, and musket was on his way, as were Colonel John Stark,
Captain Daniel Moore of Derryfield, and hundreds of others in New
Hampshire, Israel Putnam, Thomas Knowlton of Connecticut, and their
fellow-citizens, all animated by one thought,--to resist the armed
aggressions of the myrmidons of the king. There was a brave heart
behind Rachel's quivering lips when she pressed them to Robert's.

"Roger is sure to be there. Tell him I think of him every night before
I go to sleep." Little did they know that he was being borne to his
last resting-place on the banks of the winding river.

Robert was glad to learn when he reached Medford that John Stark was
to be colonel of the New Hampshire troops.

Tom Brandon was working day and night to help people obtain passes
from General Gage and leave the town. More than five thousand closed
their houses and took their departure.[66] The governor would not
allow any one to take their guns or swords, or anything which would
in any way contribute to the success of the provincials.

[Footnote 66: For a week after the affair at Lexington and Concord,
Governor Gage refused the request of the people to leave the town, but
the growing scarcity of provisions compelled him to permit their
departure.]

The soldiers from Rumford, having unbounded confidence in Robert
Walden, elected him lieutenant. When General Artemus Ward, commanding
the troops at Cambridge, asked Colonel Stark if he had a trustworthy
young man whom he could recommend to execute an important order,
Lieutenant Walden was selected and directed to report at general
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