“You mean that some of you were a little weak in the legs,” said Robert.
“Yes, and that the streets were rather crooked,” Mr. Bushwick replied, laughing once more.
They were abreast of the tree, and Robert reined in Jenny while he admired its beautiful proportions.
“I think I must leave you at this point; my house is down here, on Cow Lane,[6] not far from the house of Sam Adams. I’m ever so much obliged to you for the lift ye’ve given me,” said Mr. Bushwick as he shook hands with Robert.
“I thank you for the information you have given me,” Robert replied.
OLD BRICK MEETINGHOUSE
Jenny walked on, past the White Horse Inn and the Lamb Tavern. A little farther, and he beheld the Province House, a building with a cupola surmounted by a spire. The weather-vane was an Indian with bow and arrow. The king’s arms, carved and gilded, were upon the balcony above the doorway. Chestnut trees shaded the green plot of ground between the building and the street. A soldier with his musket on his shoulder was standing guard. Upon the other side of the way, a few steps farther, was a meetinghouse; he thought it must be the Old South. His father had informed him he would see a brick building with an apothecary’s sign on the corner just beyond the Old South, and there it was.[7] Also, the Cromwell’s Head Tavern on a cross street, and a schoolhouse, which he concluded must be Master Lovell’s Latin School. He suddenly found Jenny quickening her pace, and understood the meaning when she plunged her nose into a watering trough by the town pump. While she was drinking Robert was startled by a bell tolling almost over his head; upon looking up he beheld the dial of a clock and remembered his father had said it was on the Old Brick Meetinghouse; that the building nearly opposite was the Town House.[8] He saw two cannon in the street and a soldier keeping guard before the door. Negro servants were filling their pails at the pump, and kindly pumped water for the mare. Looking down King Street toward the water, he saw the stocks and pillory, the Custom House, and in the distance the masts and yard-arms of ships. Up Queen Street he could see the jail.