Indeed, as he listened to the conversation going on upon all sides, young Prentiss was greatly astonished. Round about Boston, the king’s men had not dared to express themselves since Boston fight; but here they not only proclaimed their views, but the patriots listened patiently.
“It is because the matter has not progressed so rapidly here as in Boston,” he reasoned with himself. “The king’s army is not strong enough to take the initiative—and the friends of liberty have not yet abandoned hope of patching up matters with the ministers at London.”
Very near to George, one of these discussions was fast gathering volume, but, as his breakfast on board the “Nancy Breen” had been of the slimmest, he gave more attention to his dinner than to the dispute. But gradually, as the voices grew in sternness, the young fellow noticed something familiar in them; so turning his head he recognized Merchant Camp, his partner Dana, and the heavy-faced young militiaman, Camp’s nephew.
The old Tory merchant, a napkin tucked about his neck, was flourishing his fork and airing his opinions with much relish. He sat directly facing his nephew, and seemed to be scorching him with sarcasm and his private version of the facts.
“Keep to your opinions, if you style them as such,” he was saying. “You are only a lad and I will not quarrel with you because of them. But, as sure as the sun shines at this moment, there will be wreck and ruin for many because of the loose thinking of you and the like of you.”
He put down the fork carefully upon his plate and now shook his finger beneath the sullen young man’s nose, while he went on:
“Because your party has forced a handful of king’s troops to keep behind the walls of the fort—because you have taken the government’s cannon with none to prevent you, you must needs fancy yourselves great fellows, indeed. And because the king’s frigates do not open upon you, you think it is because they fear you. Bah, sir, bah! I never credited reasoning creatures with so little sense. The reason why the garrison remains quiet—the reason why Lee and Putnam were permitted to seize the guns—the reason why the frigates below there have withheld their broadsides, is because they are biding their time. The answer will yet come, never fear; and when it does, trust His Majesty’s officers to make it full and complete.”
The heavy-browed young man shook his head, stubbornly, and looked more sullen than ever.
“They are awaiting reinforcements,” said he. “We all know that. But what difference does it make? Let them come. By the time they get here, General Washington will also have arrived with the American army. He drove the British out of Boston, and he’ll drive them out of New York.”
“He drove them out of Boston—I grant you that. But it was because vigorous measures had not been taken in the first place. Gage was too lenient—too easily gulled. He did not dream that British subjects would ever take up arms against their sovereign. But here it is different. Howe knows the full measure of this treason, and he should come prepared to cope with it. He’ll be provided with fleets and armies and equipment; and no doubt he’ll have his instructions as to how to act. It’ll not be the case of Gage over again. Trust the king’s ministers for that. And another thing,” here the old man’s voice was pitched a key lower, “in the colony of New York, your brave Washington and his fellows will have a different people to deal with. The countryside will not be with him as in Massachusetts. There will be thousands of loyal gentlemen; and besides, there will be the Johnson family.”