They talked, as we may fancy, of the sons of liberty, the siege of Boston, and the outlook, and here young Knox gained strength to face the strenuous campaigns of New York and the Jerseys, and to cause the cannon of liberty to thunder as never before.
They talked of Rhode Island. Strange things were happening there.
Then the Committee of Safety came. And they considered the matter.
The Governor had a habit of saying, “Let us consider the matter”; after a time he added, “and bring it before the council.”
He walked about like a visitor to the world. He was always “considering” some matter.
He would stand before the church, considering; cross the green, considering; the public men who came to visit him usually found him considering.
Why had Knox come to Lebanon?
It was to talk of powder. How could saltpeter be found? Where could it be stored?
There might be a powder magazine at New London, or near it, or in covert in a place on the Connecticut, or right here among the rocky caves of the hills. Where?
The Governor would “consider.” He did, and the secret hiding-places of powder were known to few besides him. The Governor knew the guards of the magazines. So Connecticut stored powder.