"What do you say?" wondered Jack.

"Jim's the lightest-he must take the soap-box and try to reach sh.o.r.e with it while we fight them for a landing out here. If they go for Jim, we can land, and if they keep up with us Jim can scramble up the bank."

Jim was willing, and Jack thought it was a fighting chance, so the captain of the _Dartmouth_ sidled off into the water and grabbed the box which he had to safely carry up on sh.o.r.e-in the face of the American cannonading.

Had the creek been clear of mud and roots, the British might have landed their sea forces, and thus the history of the American colonists might never have been written as such; but which one of the combating parties could dream of the unseen menace that took a part in this tragic fight?

The two girls and John saw Jim slide off and push the soap-box in front of him, but they felt a sympathy for him, for it was apparent that Jack and George preferred to remain on the raft and let Jim try to land. Then they would claim the right to fire three shots to one at the Americans.

But the three Americans determined to fire as many of the soft apples at the two remaining sailors as they could land, so Jack and George were kept busy ducking and objecting, and Jim had gone half the distance between the raft and the gnarled root, where he hoped to climb up, when a blood-curdling yell was heard, which seemed to rise from his very toes.

British and Yanks alike forgot their enmity and shouted out: "What's happened, Jim?"

But the little pickaninny, beating the water frantically with both hands, while continuing to howl, tried to jump up from the water.

Jack and George, too wet to mind more water, and John, with the two girls on sh.o.r.e, rushed for the captain to try and save him, for they firmly believed he was about to yell his last earthly breath.

Jack and George reached him first, and instantly caught his wildly waving arms to drag him up on sh.o.r.e. They thought that if it was his time to "climb the golden stairs" he was always singing about, he ought to begin on dry land.

But Jim's yells grew more appalling as he was half-carried and half-dragged out of the water. Just as John and his two confederates ran up, the cause of all this frenzy was found.

A huge mud-turtle had snapped onto one of Jim's brown, upcurling toes, and as resistance was brought to bear against this grip, the turtle held on the tighter.

George knew what to do, so he quickly broke its sh.e.l.l with a sharp stone, and Jim almost fainted with relief at his freedom. The girls tried to pet him and offer sympathies, but Jack and George took advantage of the situation.

"Ha! We brought meat to sh.o.r.e! We landed all right!" yelled Jack, dancing like a wild Indian.

"Three-to-one shot," added George, rushing away to find the ammunition John had plied so thickly.

But most of the apples had been fired, and Jim whispered: "Ah wan' t' go hum!"

"Ah, don't go home now! Your toe will soon feel better, and besides, mammy will ask you where the boxes went from the store-room," advised Martha.

Jim looked up at her wistfully and said: "Ah'll tell her dem British sunk 'em all!"

"That would be mixin' American history, 'cause it was us Yanks that sunk the cargo," corrected Anne.

"All but the fish!" chuckled Jack, pointing at the turtle.

"If Jim can't go home, and you girls won't let us shoot as you agreed, what shall we do, anyway?" sulked George, who felt it was an unlucky day, because no more apples could be found.

"Why not play the Battle of Lexington? That's fun!" suggested Martha.

"We can use the raft to sail up Lake Champlain, where it can be the first warship of the American navy," added Anne.

"All right-come on!" declared John, who was glad to postpone his being shot at by two good aims like George and Jack.

"Here, or on the other side?" asked George.

"Well, here's a good tree for the earthworks on the hill near Boston,"

ventured John.

"We won't need it for Lexington or Concord, but we really ought to have something that would pop like shot, or it won't seem real," replied Jack consideringly.

"Can't we skip those two first fights, and start right in with the burning of Charlestown and the fight on the hill? We can build a dandy bonfire for Charlestown," said Anne.

"Umm! Never again! We had a fire once when Washington's homestead burned down, and Jim's just raisin' a new crop of wool since then. My hair was frizzled to the roots, too, and our eyebrows were all gone. We looked awfully funny without winkers on our eyes or brows over them," laughed George, the memory of his burns too fresh to attempt a second fire even in play.

"Then we can't do it! We may as well go home and wait for the automobile to come back," said Martha resignedly.

"I don't see why. We can build earthworks and fight down the British as they come up the hill, and then the British can win the battle and fight us all the way back to Charlestown; and General Washington can come along and pat us on the back for courage and bravery, and then we can all plan together how to get back at the British," exclaimed George eagerly.

"I'm wet and soggy, and Jim's going to cry all afternoon, so I guess I'll go back and change my clothes," said Jack, suddenly feeling discouraged over the failure of his nation to win an easy battle.

"If we keep away from the store-room, and creep up the front stairs to change our clothes, we can be sitting on the lawn under the canopy when mother gets back," ventured Martha.

"What about Jim?" worried several voices.

"Let John take him home and dry his clothes, then they both can join us on the lawn, and sit quietly while the sun sets. Mother says she wants us to watch the fall sunsets, as they are always so beautiful," offered George.

The others stared in unbelief at this daring commander, who suggested quietly admiring sunsets, but each felt that it would be as well to seem meek and quiet after the raid on the boxes in the store-room.

So the good advice was followed, but Martha did not dream that Jim had dumped the washing-soda over the orange pekoe tea, so that it was impossible to sift or wash it out. Hence, the Parkes had no tea that afternoon, nor, did the cook have her fragrant beverage at each meal until the new chest came from Washington.

"Well, didn't the Yanks sacrifice tea to their patriotism that time in Boston?" asked Jack of his mother, when the story was told.

CHAPTER VII

BATTLES ABOUT NEW YORK

"What shall we play to-day?" asked Anne Davis, as the four cousins emerged from the breakfast-room.

"Anything you like," replied Martha politely.

"Did Jim come home last night?" asked Jack.

"Sure! And his mammy doesn't know he had anything to do with that tea,"

laughed George.

"Well, let's call him and decide on some game," said Jack. So Jim was whistled for, and his shining face soon appeared from the kitchen-areaway.

As the five playmates wandered across the lawn to the ever-welcome meeting-place of lilac bushes, they heard a shrill call and John soon appeared from the hedge through which he crept.

"We don't know what to play," explained Martha to John, as the latest member to the party wondered at the calm and quietness of the warriors.