“Mr. Hancock and Samuel Adams are at the house of the Rev. Jonas Clark at Lexington,” said Dr. Warren to Revere. “I shall wish you to bear a letter to them at daybreak to-morrow.”
“I will be ready,” said Revere.
Nat bore the courier company on the following morning.
“The time,” said Revere, soberly, as they jogged along, “is not now far off.”
“I fear not,” replied Nat. “If Gage strikes, we must strike back. And that will mean a relentless war.”
“I had some faint foreknowledge of what you told us last night,” said Revere. “The whisper came to me that Gage intended to seize Mr. Hancock and Mr. Adams, but just how or when I did not know until you came.”
“If they were taken it would be a worse blow than the loss of the stores could well be,” said Nat, seriously. “Such an event will, of course, be especially guarded against.”
“Right,” returned the man in the same tone. “You may be sure that it will be, if I have any voice in the matter.”
The house of the Rev. Mr. Clark was a wooden one upon a shady street; as it happened both Mr. Adams and Mr. Hancock were at home, and they received the news calmly.
“We have arranged for just this emergency,” said Mr. Hancock. “There are safe places at Sudbury and Groton for the stores; within an hour they shall be on their way.”