"It sounded as if three or four men were fighting to such purpose that the furniture of the room was destroyed."
"You have such a good idea of the matter that there is no need for me to make any explanation," Master Lord replied somewhat indifferently. "There were three Tories with me last evening, and but for the fact of their being well known as favoring the king, I am thinking one or more of us might have been taken into custody by the patrol."
"Then you consort with enemies of the Cause?" Hiram asked, and the old man replied:
"Aye, that I do, else how might it be possible for me to do our people a good turn here in Boston town?"
The man could have made no reply which would have disturbed me more sorely than did this, for it was in substance exactly what Seth Jepson had said when we taxed him with being traitorously inclined, and if it had been possible to get out of that cellar without leaving my comrades in the lurch, I would have taken to my heels, fleeing through the streets of Boston town at risk of being arrested by the patrol, rather than remain there at his mercy.
If Hiram remembered the excuse Seth made for having been seen in the company of Tories, and set the words alongside those just spoken by Master Lord, he failed to give proof of the fact; but asked as if believing everything had been explained:
"Did you succeed in learning aught concerning Silas Brownrigg?"
"There is a lad among the prisoners in the Bridewell, and none, so far as I can learn, in the Queen-street prison. I am of the belief your friend is the boy I have heard about, because I saw young Jepson loitering around the building as if expecting to see some one that might interest him."
"How is this Bridewell guarded?" Hiram asked after a moment's pause.
"Forty men are stationed there, twenty being kept on duty all the time, and unless you can find one of the lobster backs who would lend his aid, there is no possibility of your doing that for which you came."