"That is if so be we live long enough," Silas suggested, and for the instant I fancied it possible to detect a tremor in his voice. "Instead of watching yonder curious ones who can do nothing for nor against us, look around at the king's ships, and see what a force General Gage has got behind him when he sends the lobster backs to shoot us down."
Now, strange though it may seem, while saying to myself that before many hours had passed the red-coats would be upon us, I had failed to consider, even for a moment, how much of strength the enemy had; I had given no thought to the thousands upon thousands of men who could be sent across from Boston to over-run the hill we were fortifying.
Directly in front of our intrenchments was, as I have already said, the Lively, a ship of twenty guns, and, as I afterward learned, carrying an hundred and thirty men; northward, over away somewhere opposite the brick kilns, was the Falcon, which must have been as heavily manned as the Lively; nearly abreast of the town hall was the Somerset, of sixty-eight guns, and having on board five hundred and twenty men, then came the Cerberus of thirty-six guns; the Glasgow, twenty-four guns, and the transport Symetry.
Taking it all in all, as nearly as a landsman like me could figure it, there must have been among that shipping of his majesty's no less than one hundred and eighty-six guns, with somewhere about twelve to thirteen hundred men. In addition to these, General Gage could transport anywhere from five to eight thousand men, landing them upon Charlestown shore close under our noses.
Now as all this came to my mind, with the proof so distinctly before me, I am not ashamed to say that for the moment I grew timorous, believing the time was near at hand when I should fall as had fallen those two brave comrades of ours in the engagement off Hog island, and, let him laugh who will, there came into my heart a feeling of regret because I could not hope to be laid away in Mother Earth as they had been.
Those aboard the Lively must have understood that her shots were doing no damage, for after twenty minutes or more the cannonading ceased; but we continued strengthening the defense, for, as Hiram said:
"If the Britishers are fools enough to give us a chance to do as we will, it's a case of buckling to it the best we know how."
"That's what we have been doing since midnight," Archie replied grimly, "and while there is no thought of complaining in my mind, I'd almost welcome the coming of the enemy, since it would give us good excuse for throwing down these pick-axes and shovels."
"If General Gage knows on which side his bread is buttered, the lobster backs will soon be upon us," Hiram cried as if exulting in such a possibility. "I fail to understand why two or three thousand of their fancy red-coated, overly-drilled men have not been sent already to stir us up."
"It may be the king's governor is so kindly-hearted that he means to give us every opportunity to make ready for his coming," Silas suggested.