The Coolidge examiner., 1933-05-19


ing ox-train. a blizzard overlook
them that day, and before nightfall
the caravan camped in deep
ravine sheltered by the primeval
forest. There were sledges loaded
with hay and cornmeal in sacks for
the oxen. and with food for the
men. There was also wooden
Scraper set upon broad runners
when not in use. The drivers found
water for their teams under the
ice roof of a pond. Soon a shelter
was built of poles covered with
boughs of spruce and hemlock.
The snow beneath ii was overlaid
with a deep mat OF balsam. In a
little time the woodchoppers had
fire blazing in front of the shell
ter and the cook had begun his
work. A teamster had shot a deer
that morning and there was food
a-plenty.
Colin got news OF Mrs. Bowlby,
who had moved to the fort with
her children for the winter and
who spent a part of every day
hunting and trapping in the forest.
THAT womern is half horse"
said a man Of the mountain coun-
try. "'Fraid o. nothin' Has killed
a panther an lynx this winter
an seventeen deer. She can bring
buck In on her back an eat him
fer supper. Han'some as picter
an neat at a pin an p'lite as a
minister, but 1t doesn't do to git
her vexed."
The night was so cold that even
the oxen were bedded with boughs
and some of the teamsters slept be
tween the beasts to keep warm.
When the fire sank low, Colin had
to get up and rake out the embers
and stand leaning over them while
he beat his sides for comfort. lie
had doubled the mares cover with
one OF his own blankets and was
feeling the need OF IL. He envied
the mountaineers sleeping with
frosty boards and with no apparent
sense of discomfort. He put wood
on the fire and went back to his
bed smiling as he said TO himself.
Il wonder IL the future generations
will ever know about these days
and nights"
The sky was clear and the SUE
shining when the scrapers halted
at the summit and looked down
upon broad clearing. Colin toiled
alcng behind them on his mare. A
freezing wind blew in his face
The road below was fairly clear for
a distance. The guns were coming
up behind and halting while the
teamsters put chains on their run
ners to help in holding their loads
on the long down-hill slant.
So the guns of Ticonderoga crept
along over the hills and through
the valleys on their way to a new
duty AT Dorchester heights. Cap
tain Cabot was wont TO say, They
seemed to have left their old home
with reluctance and to be sternly
resisting the strength of the oxen. ="
Meanwhile In Boston Pat was
having her first great adventure
She had been in communication
with Revere since the time of
Collins departure. Mrs. Shipman,
the wife OF a lOyalist, who had
been prominent in the social life
of the city, was their intermediary.
She was from Virginia, where
years before, after Washington
had returned, a hero. from the un-
fortunate Braddock campaign. she
fell in love with him although then
engaged to marry a wealthy New
Englander visiting in Alexandria.
The young officer was not then
heart free. according to credible
reports, and nothing came of it
save an undying memory in the
mind Of the girl. She married and
went to live in Boston. Her home
was q romantic mansion on ROx-
bury neck. 1t was built by one
Corwin, who was clandestinely in
love with the sister of his wife.
In constructing the house he had
made a secret passage between the
walls on the second floor leading
to the room planned for his sweet
heart. This passage Mrs. Shipman
had by and by discovered. AT
heart in sympathy with the Amer
lean cause, she said nothing of
this singular detail in the struc
ture of the mansion, having con
ceived a use for 1t. The young pa
triots had had secret assistance
from her and through Revere she
had sent a letter to General Wash
ington reminding him of old ac
quaintance and assuring him of her
desire to assist the cause. She had
confided to the young cOppersmith
the peculiar feature of the man
sion. More than once he and his
friends had found it a safe and
convenient refuge. Shipman was
then a brigadier in the British
army and not often at home, being
mostly in the camp at Bunker Hill
One evening late in February
Revere was lying on a couch in the