With Force and Arms

ay, a man who was entering with every appearance of haste. We came a

n of pain on his face showing that I must have hurt him. "Could you not look whither

he prepared

sword, for he wa

ve caused you I am regretful. As for '

He was not a second behind me. The

hips, Massachusetts's 10Governor, whose r

a card game? Put them up at once, you Captain Amherst; and you, also, Sir George. You are both at f

shed, he whom the Governor called Sir George,

ilt, studded with red stones. On his face there was a haughty look, yet withal, a trace of sadness. He gazed sharply at me, seeming about to put a

our swords had come into use, that day; a time when I would have g

gland was no longer a safe place for me, 11with a relentless enemy following close on my heels at every step. My mission had succeeded better than I had dared to hope, and I was

none for the present. At any rate here I was, Captain Edward Amherst, in age not yet a score and a half, in statur

I had left London eight weeks ago, bearing letters to Governor Phips, from old comrades in arms, some of whom had sailed the seas with him. Arriving

. He extended his hand for my letters, and, when he had them, he gave me no more heed for a time, but read

sly rascal with the women. Bob Frenchard; he never could get enough of fighting. John Powell; little Nat Edwards, also. Why, man,

his welcome; and then I told him what I des

of the water, suit you?" he asked, when I had fi

nothing better

ly, and he drew out a parchment,

hile he prepared a quill. "We are about to proceed against them. You have come at a time when certain current

It was some time before he had finished, and, looking

em well, against the time when we shall unite, and smite the French Philistine and his Indian allies, with fire and with sword. We will rake them fore and aft. An expedition against Canada i

words that Admiral Sir Francis Wheeler was expected to arrive in March, with his fleet from the Caribbee Islands. Governor Phips had undertaken to raise small companies of men throughout the Colony

along the street, to where I had stabled my mare Kit. With busy thoughts of what might be before me I led Kit out of

y, piling up on the white covering of previous storms. The flakes sifted down, lazily at first, but soon began to gather more thickly as the wind rose, so I urged the mare on by spur and voice, determined to reach Salem by night, if I could. Now the snow came down ever quicker and faster. It swirled and swished, and blew in drifts, until I was fain to stop, look about me an

ck to set her going again. She lurched forward into a drift so deep that it well nigh covered my

. I did not see a single landmark in the stretch of whiteness, my only hope having been that I might keep the right way. Kit began to back, seeking to rid herself of the cutting wind, and I had hard work to force

eeling the hard road beneath her hoofs, she pulled herself forward. We had struck the right path at last, and, after hour

collar scarce kept the snow and wind from my neck, and every half mile or so I was obliged to drop the reins and, after feel

amuel Willis, who, 16as I had heard in Boston, provided refreshment for man and beast.

lifted my hat a bit, held my interlocked fingers before my eyes, and peered ahead. Dimly, like a spec

ar and well that day, I dug the spurs into Kit's flanks. She leaped through the drifts, and, at len

and the roar was somewhat subdued. I drew my sword, for I could not reach the door kn

came a woman's

st," I cried. "Open in the King

, that poor Kit whinnied in anticipation of what 17might be her share of the feed. As for myself, I threw one leg over the saddle, leaped to the ground, strode to

tines are upon us!" cried out Mistress Will

. Yet I stood not so much over six feet, when in my woolen hose, and, in girth, full many a comrade, of times past, whose body rests beneath the bogs of Sedgemoor, in Somersetshire, was

er, "but an Essex man by birth and breed. But, mark you, Mistress," I went on, "if I do not get a mug of ale, and a bit of roast beef soon, I wil

ger. "Bustle about is all I've done since sunrise. What with Willis away all day, atte

ran in that strain, "peace, and bring the ale and beef. Yo

big drink of it, and, when the flavor of it had mellowed me, and the warmth gone clear down to my toes, I did drink again, this time to the health of Mistress Willis. For, though I like not a woman's tongue when they talk over much, I know the value of being in their good graces. And so I ate and drank, and ate again, until I felt the

tress Willis walking about in the apartment overhead, and giving some orders to the servant. I rose from my chair somewhat wearied, wishing that the inn keeper would return, so that I might meet him, and seek my bed. I walked to the window, notin

as a fleecy cloud, was now as re

at top speed, three men who ran on, never onc