Introduction
“The Young Continentals at Lexington” begins with that vital period of our country’s history when the great forces that made the Revolution were slowly coming together.
The port of Boston was closed; an army under Gage occupied the city; Massachusetts Bay was thronged with troop-ships and frigates, and the colonies were writhing under a series of unjust and oppressive laws.
It was at this time that the four boys who play the leading parts in the story began their experiences. Historical events that led up to the war for independence are met with in every chapter; the great personages of the time figure upon almost every page. From the meeting of the first Congress at Carpenter’s Hall to the stand of the minutemen at Lexington and Concord Bridge, every important step in the movement for national life is touched on.
The second book of the series, “The Young Continentals at Bunker Hill,” takes up the thread of history where this book leaves it. It will show the siege of Boston, and the glorious defeat on the Hill. It will tell how Washington was given command of the army; how he sent word to Ethan Allen; how the heavy guns he captured at Ticonderoga were hauled through the winter wilderness upon sledges to Boston; also how Washington mounted them upon Dorchester Heights and finally drove the army of Gage from the city.
Contents
| I. | Shows How Ben Cooper Saw the War a Long Way Off | [ 9] |
| II. | Tells Why Nat Brewster Walked Toward Cliveden in the Dark | [ 20] |
| III. | Shows How Nat Met “Grumpy Comegies” and What Came of It | [ 31] |
| IV. | Shows How Startling News Was Nat’s Reward at Chew House | [ 38] |
| V. | How Nat Brewster Met the Porcupine | [ 50] |
| VI. | Shows How Nat Brewster and the Porcupine Rode Through the Night | [ 64] |
| VII. | Shows How Nat Brewster Met With Mr. Washington | [ 81] |
| VIII. | Tells How Things Began to Look Bad for Ezra Prentiss | [ 105] |
| IX. | Nat Brewster Finds More Proof | [ 120] |
| X. | What the Porcupine Saw at Chew House | [ 130] |
| XI. | Shows How Nat Brewster Spoke to His Uncle and What Their Resolutions Were | [ 147] |
| XII. | What Happened on the North Road | [ 159] |
| XIII. | Shows How Nat Met One Stranger and How the Porcupine Met Another | [ 174] |
| XIV. | The Night Promises Well | [ 192] |
| XV. | How the Promise Was Kept | [ 203] |
| XVI. | The Tall Man Brings a Friend | [ 216] |
| XVII. | What Nat Heard at the Coffee-House in Orange Street | [ 230] |
| XVIII. | In Which Dr. Warren and Paul Revere Listen Intently | [ 238] |
| XIX. | In Which a Winter Passes, Bringing Many Things | [ 250] |
| XX. | Nat Brewster is Taken by Foes and Paul Revere Begins His Midnight Ride | [ 273] |
| XXI. | Nat Brewster Marches With Pitcairn to Lexington | [ 287] |
| XXII. | Tells How a Mystery Was Solved and How Victory Came to the Colonies | [ 306] |
Illustrations
| PAGE | |
| A Broad-shouldered Youth of Seventeen | [ Frontispiece] |
| “Who Are You?” He Demanded | [ 34] |
| “I Ask Your Pardon, Mr. Washington” | [ 103] |
| “There is Something Wrong, Then” | [ 188] |
| He Saw the Tall Stranger | [ 228] |
| He Got a Glimpse of the Newcomer | [ 270] |
| They Came Within Sight of Lexington | [ 303] |