The tea was stacked in its boxes on the ship Dartmouth, and the three, Captain Jim and the English baronets, as passengers, set sail for Boston harbor.
On the American side, Martha had found an old apple tree near the bridge, the fruit of which had lain so long on the damp ground that the apples were rotted within and soft as pulp, the skins being the only sound part of the fruit.
“Wouldn’t they make fine cannon-balls?” exulted Martha.
“Oo-oh, let’s!” cried Anne, and John, coming up just then, felt a secret joy in planning how he would fire those cannon-balls at the men on the ship.
So, without a hint of the ammunition being quickly transferred from the apple tree to the site of Boston, the three brave and eager colonists awaited the coming of the tea cargo.
[CHAPTER VI—THE BATTLE OF BOSTON]
“We’re stuck!” declared Jack, as they tried to shove off from the bank now said to be England.
“And every time I push the water comes up over my shoes,” said George, looking dolefully at his soaked shoes and stockings.
“Let’s pull them off and fling them over on the bank,” suggested Jack.
George, forgetting he was not on dry ground, instantly followed Jack’s idea and sat down on the raft to remove his shoes. At the same time, Jim tried to climb aboard from the creek where he had been pushing, and the result was that the water swept over the top surface of the raft and submerged everything under six inches of water.