The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-08-28
'VOSWHV%OVURSUURS'W NW'VUESUVWV
alan al1ehhitrp Dan.
A Romance of Concord
and Lexington
BY L. G. Woodbury..

Well, as l was saying, this is the
way it came about: was a young
thing then, just turned IS. Your grand
father had been my playmate, hero
and protector from the time that was
old enough to go to school. had. new
er thought of marrying any one but
him, and SO when he asked me to be
his wife, why, of course, / said YES"
Well. 1t was In the spring of 1775
that we were to be married Mother
and spent the winter getting my
things made up, and | had as fine an
outfit as a girl could possibly have In
those days. The day set for the we'd
ding was the 10th of April-yes, the
very day on which the battle of Lex
ington occurred, as l have good reason
to remember.
Those were anxious days for us.
remember how serious my father and
brothers used to look as they discussed
place. Their only conversation was
about rights, stamps and taxes.
When the towns began to raise min
utemen," why, of course, we raised a
company in our town, and your grand
father and my brothers were members
of it. We girls could not stand guard,
of course, so in order to show our pa
triotism we all signed paper In which
we agreed not to have anything to do
with the men of the town who refused
to Join the company.
The 10Th Of April was a beautiful
day, though warm one for the sea
son. We were all up early that morn
ing, for there was great deal to be
done. 1t was about 8 o'clock In the
forenoon when my mother. who had
been looking over some linen, suddenly
raised her head. exclaiming as she did
SO. "Why, Mary. was that the meeting
house ,bell?"
what can 1t meanT l cried, and,
running to the window, caught sight
Of our neighbours sons, Joe and John
Eaton, running down the road with
their guns. Across the way Harry
Wright was blowing the field. The
boys called out to him as they passed,
and, without stopping to unhitch the
horse, he seized his gun and was off
across the fields.
tIt Is an alarm, motherp' cried.
1.-THE boys are down by the brook"
she said. '"The sound will not reach
them. Run and tell thcmp
Without delay l hurried to the kitch-
en-, and. selling the horn, l ran out of
the house and started for the brook,
which was some distance from the
house. | blew blast on the horn as
ran, and as the boys caught sight of
me pointed toward the road. where
several men could be seen running
with their guns. The boys understood,
and waving their hands to me, they
were off across the field to the road.
what do you suppose the matter
is?" asked mother when | returned to
the house.
81 do not know" was my reply. but
l am going to find out" And ran out
of the house and took n short cut across
the fields to the meeting house. which
was to be the gathering place If the
alarm should ever be sounded. l, for
one, had never expected to hear any
alarm, for at home we hoped for a
peaceful settlement Of the difficulties.
But when l reached the church and
saw the whole town gathered on the
green the mems stern air and the wo-
mems pale faces frightened me, and ]
began to fear that something serious
was the matter
az. hat is it? Where are they GO
ing? asked. And as spoke the men
came hurrying out of the meeting
house, where they had heard a few
words from Parson Smith, and. mount
ing their horses, rode off as fast as
they could go. looked for your grand
father, but he was not there. Catch
Ing sight Of my father. ! ran to him.
Have you seen HenryY chats your
grandfather) asked.
Henry was at the tavern when the
messenger rode through here" replied
my father, land, MS he had his horse
with him. he rode away without wait
ing for the company to assemble"
You may imagine my feelings as
turned to go home. This was my we'd
ding day, and the man who was to
marry me had ridden off without a
word, knowing. too. that he might new
err return. If all they were saying about
fights and resistance was true.
My father had reached home before
me, and as opened the door heard
mother ask, DO you think it Is any
thing serious. father?"
81 am afraid it may be, Wife" he
said. 1.-THE messenger said that Gov
ernor Gage has sent some of the kings
troops to destroy the supplies which
have been stored at Concord. If the
report is true, there will be resistance,
and If it comes to that 1t will be very
serious business for us.
My mother kept her fears to herself
and did her best to make me feel that
1t would come out all right, but those
hours were the most anxious ever
spent. So through the day we watch
ed and waited for news.
The first news that came to us from
the fight at Lexington and the other
doings Of that day arrived about q
o'clock In the afternoon, when some
minutemen from another town stopped
at the tavern on their way home. They
told the story of the day to the little
crowd of anxious women who eagerly
questioned them for news of some dear
one.
My father would not let me go down
to the tavern, but went down himself
and brought us the news. l can see
him now hurrying along the road.
Something unusual has happened,
Maryr' exclaimed my mother. Il nev-
err saw your father look so excited"
FASTENED down the path to meet
him.
bad news, my child; bad newsP' ne
exclaimed. 'There has been an en-
counter with the kings troops" And
then, reading the question in my eyes,
he continued. "But they brought no
news Of our men,"
The hour set for the wedding was 8
o'clock, but 1t began to look as If there
would be no wedding. for 1t was now
after o'clock, and none of our men
had returned home.
Mother and ! sat In silence In the
kitchen while father walked back and
forth In the room above.
At last we heard steps outside, and
then my brother Arthur. who was