He sent for his orderly and gave instructions for Allen to be placed in heavy irons and taken at once on board the Gaspee, war ship, and all the other prisoners to be ironed and placed on board the other ships in the river.
The soldiers were pleased with the order, and proceeded to carry it out to the extreme limit.
Ordinary handcuffs were used for the wrists, two prisoners being manacled together, Allen being fortunate in having Eben for his fellow.
But on the legs the irons were simply horrible.
Anklets, very tight, were locked on each leg, and attached, in the middle of the connecting chain, to a bar of iron weighing forty pounds.
The soldiers laughed as they fastened this heavy weight on Allen's legs, telling him that it was the "king's plate."
The irons were so close that it was impossible for the prisoner to lie in any position save on his back.
Allen and Eben were taken to the lowest deck of the schooner Gaspee, and a more stifling, filthy, ill-ventilated place it would be impossible to find.
A mock salute was tendered to the hero of Ticonderoga as he entered the place, and out of consideration of his rank he was accorded a tool chest on which to sit, and which was also to serve as sleeping place.
"Can I help you any?" whispered the guard, about an hour after Allen had been placed on the chest.