ld be an effective means
of defense."

"You must dine with me to-day, Lieutenant Walden. I want Colonel Knox,
who commands the artillery, and who is to be here with his estimable
wife, to hear what you have to say."

It was a pleasure to meet Colonel Henry Knox and Mrs. Knox.

"We all thought you went down in the melee at Bunker Hill, and yet
here you are," said Colonel Knox.

"Yes, and ready to do what I can to drive the redcoats into the sea."

Mrs. Knox was delighted to hear from her old-time associate, Berinthia
Brandon. She said that Tom was giving a good account of himself. There
were tears in the eyes of all when he told them how Miss Ruth Newville
had used her influence, she the daughter of a Tory, to save him.

"That is the noblest type of womanhood," said General Washington.
"Perhaps," he added, "you may wish to visit your parents for a few
days, but a little later I shall desire you to assist Colonel Knox in
executing an important trust."

"I am ready to do what I can in any capacity for which I am fitted,"
Robert replied.

* * * * *

A flag of truce went out from the headquarters; among the letters to
people in Boston was one directed to Miss Ruth Newville. The
red-coated officer who inspected the letters read but one word.

"Safe."

To her who received it the one syllable was more than a page of
foolscap.

XXII.

BRAVE OF HEART.

The king's plan to punish Boston because the East India Company's tea
had been destroyed was not working very satisfactorily. Ten thousand
troops were cooped up in the town with little to eat. They could
obtain no fresh provisions. Lord North was sending many ships, and the
ship-owners were asking high prices for the use of their vessels; for
the Yankee skippers of Marblehead, Captain Manly and Captain Mugford,
were darting out from that port in swift-sailing schooners, with long
eighteen-pounders amidships, and the decks swarming with men who had
braved the storms of the Atlantic and knew no fear, capturing the
ships dispatched from England with food and supplies for the army. The
ministers had paid twenty-two thousand pounds for cabbages, potatoes,
and turnips; as much more for hay, oats, and beans; half a million
pounds for flour, beef, and pork. They purchased five thousand oxen,
fourteen thousand sheep, and thousands of pigs, that the army three
thousand miles away might have something to eat. There were plenty of
catt