“Let us hope that our good neighbor, Captain Mayo, will come out of his adventure unscathed,” said Squire Knowles.
“He’s in a close corner, squire, but if it were left to me to choose a man from our town capable of fighting the enemy inch by inch in any game they like to play, I think I couldn’t make a better choice than Hoppy.”
Peter’s words evoked loud applause from the meeting.
“Have you heard from Brewster, Mr. Chairman?” asked the Rev. Mr. Shaw.
“I have, sir. Major Elijah Cobb of that town informs me that the people are much divided on the question of offering resistance in case of a demand for tribute. Their artillery company is not in first-class condition and the gallant major is afraid that the two small pieces they have will make a poor showing against the well-armed enemy. There is much capital invested in the salt-making industry there and the proprietors of the works are naturally anxious to avoid a bombardment. They are willing to pay a reasonable sum for immunity.”
“They are in the same fix as ourselves,” remarked Captain Heman Smith.
“Conditions are practically the same in all the towns from Brewster to Provincetown. The exception, if we may so term it, is Orleans,” said the chairman. “There is a majority in that town in favor of armed resistance. I have discussed the matter with Squire Kingman and Major Henry Knowles and they tell me the die is cast—Orleans will fight to the end.”
“Orleans is showing great pluck for a young town,” said Captain Smith. “Only seventeen years ago it was the South Precinct of Eastham; now it outranks the mother town as a military centre.”
“Eastham has lost a lot of its former importance, Captain Smith, but the people of Orleans are still our own flesh and blood,” was the chairman’s comment on this.
Then Timothy Cole made a suggestion: “I think, Mr. Chairman, we had better postpone a vote until we have an opportunity to judge what the intentions of the schooner are. She will probably work her way eastward tomorrow and we can all take a hand at watching her movements.”