“That’s for the two of us to decide together,” replied Tom. “There’s no hurry, you know. We want to do it in the best way.”
“Yes; in the best way.” Snell touched his fingers lightly to his discolored eye. “In the best way,” he repeated.
CHAPTER XV
MARCH WINDS BLOW
It was clear that Snell’s idea of the “best way” to punish Don and his aunt was a way that would also punish Hawkins, with whom Snell was now on the bitterest of hostile terms; the two soldiers neither spoke nor so much as glanced at each other. But whatever Snell’s plan was, he and Tom were slow in carrying it out.
No doubt they were busy with other things, for the month of March began in a way that promised to keep the Redcoats and the Tories occupied for some little time. On the night of the second the Continental batteries opened fire on the town.
Don and his Aunt Martha were in bed when the firing began. For a long while they lay listening to the crash, crash of the shells, which seemed to be landing somewhere on the Common. They heard Snell and Hawkins descend the stairs and pass out into the street; then Aunt Martha went to her nephew’s room. “Donald, my boy,” she said, “what can it mean?”
“It means that General Washington is preparing to drive out old Howe and his men,” Don replied confidently.
Don was nearer right than his aunt supposed. The two following nights the bombardment was repeated; it seemed that every gun in all the forts, both friendly and hostile, was crashing forth and illuminating the sky every few seconds.
And on the next morning, the fifth of March and the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, the whole town—and especially the British high-command—opened their eyes wide with amazement. Strong fortifications had sprung up, as if by magic, on Dorchester Heights. Grim black guns were pointing at the town; grim black guns threatened the British fleet, which lay at anchor out in the harbor.
Later in the morning Jud came hurrying into Pudding Lane and entered the house; he was trembling with excitement. “The time’s come!” he cried. “Have you seen Dorchester Heights? The Redcoats have either got to attack the Heights the way they did Bunker’s Hill, or they’ve got to clear out. I hope they attack!”