friends in the New
York colony. Reese vouches for them.”
“Very well.” said Adams, nodding. In that case welcome, gentlemen. You have arrived upon a dark day, indeed. Four of our number have been foully slain and we are met to discuss how to proceed.”
He looked around to make sure he had everyone’s attention.
“There have been times.” he said. “when we have not acted nobly. Yet, hard times demand hard actions. And the mobs cannot always be controlled. Things have been done in the name of our cause that I regret, despite the fact that our cause has been advanced by them. Men have been set upon and beaten, and yet I cannot truly say that they did not well deserve a beating. There are those whose homes have been invaded and torn down, yet they were men who, by their actions, sought to invade our rights and to tear down our liberties. Men have been pressured to resign their offices, and yet it can be said that tyrants have no business holding office.”
“Hear, hear,” said someone. We must, of necessity,” said Adams. “use whatever means are open to us in order to achieve our ends, and sometimes those means are hard, indeed… but, gentlemen, we have never yet committed murder.”
“Not yet,” said Quincy, grimly, and several of the men grumbled their assent.
“Not ever.” Adams said. “Not ever.” He looked around at all of them. His hands began to tremble, so he clasped them. “We are patriots, my friends, not murderers. And if the time should ever come when blood is to be spilled, then let it be in honorable warfare, and not foul murder in the night!”
At the mention at the word “warfare,” the men began to mumble among themselves. “Yes, gentlemen, war.” said Adams. “It is the first time we have used that word among us, though I have known for some time now that war must inevitably come. It is not yet time for us to speak of war in public, but those of us present in this room must give due consideration to that eventuality. For I am certain that it must come to that. We in the colonies are not, as they call us in Parliament ‘rebellious children.’ We are grown into adulthood and the time has come for us to make our own way in the world, independent of Great Britain.”
“Amen to that!” said Edes and several voices joined him in chorus.
“But must it come to war’?” said Otis. “Gentlemen.” he said. rising to his feet, “there is no more noble society on earth than that of Britain! Why, we are all of us Englishmen! True. I will admit, we have had our disagreements with our mother country, but surely these disagreements can be settled without resort to-”
“Oh, do sit down. Jemmy,” Hancock said softly, in a weary tone.
“I have the right to speak!”
“Sit down. Jemmy.” said Bill Campbell. “Sam has the floor.
Amid a chorus of “Sit down. Jemmy! Sit down!” Otis reluctantly resumed his scat and fixed a morose gaze upon the punch bowl. He said nothing more. but his lips moved silently.
“There was a time. Jemmy,” said Adams. Sadly, “when your fire was the brightest flame among us. But now the time is past for speeches. And the time is long past for talk of reconciliation. English we may be, by law, but when we are denied our rights as Englishmen under England’s law, then that law has ceased to serve us. Englishmen we may be. but Americans we must become!”
“Well said, well said!”
“Spoken like a patriot!”
“Enough.” said Adams. As I have said, the time is past for speeches. We must free ourselves from England. but England will never willingly let us go. It is our duty, gentlemen, to prepare the populace for what must come. We must gain their sympathy and unite them to our cause. But we cannot hope to do so if we should stoop to murder. There must be no killing.’
“There has already been killing,” said John Winslow.
“And we must not add to it,” said Adams. “Tell that to Macintosh and Swift.” said Edes “They are not men to turn the other check. Sam.”
“No one asks them to turn the other cheek. Ben,” Adams said. “The murderers must be found and brought to justice. Aye, let them hang, but let them be tried for murder in a court of law and be brought to their punishment by jury! We must have no lynching by the mob! There are those in England, gentlemen, who are sympathetic to our cause. They will not long remain so if we start to murder our own citizens. Boston sets an example for all the other colonies. Their eyes are all upon us. Already, there are many who decry our methods, who condemn mob violence, as we must openly condemn it. You saw how the people at the town responded when the mob destroyed Hutchinson’s house. What will they say of us if we start to murder Tories? Governor Bernard has petitioned General Gage for troops. Would you play into his hands by giving Gage a reason to dispatch them?”
“The troops may well be sent in any case,” said Church, sourly.
“Then let them come as a further affront against our liberties.” said Adams, not as protection for the citizenry against roving killers in the night. How can we cry out, in indignation, that the Tories murder freedom-loving men if we respond in kind? I say again, the killers must be found and brought to justice. Our hands must remain clean in this affair.
“But how are we to find the murderers?” asked Cooper.
“Aye, where does a man look to find a ghost?” asked someone else.
“I have never heard of a ghost who was political,” said Adams, wryly. “Rest assured, gentlemen, this mysterious so-called ‘headless horsemen’ we’ve all heard of is made of flesh and blood. Tory flesh and blood. He is someone with the wit to hide his face so that he remains unknown and, doubtless, he has Tory confederates to help him. We must find out who they are so that they may be punished for their crime.”
“But how are we to find out who they are, Sam?” Hancock asked. “Of whom can we make our inquiries? I hardly think that the Tories shall share anything they know with us. The sympathies of every man who is present in this room are well known to all of them,”
“Not every man,” said Hunter. “They do not know my friends here.”
“Nor, for that matter, do we know them.” Paul Revere said. “No offense intended”
“None taken.” said Lucas. “We know that we are strangers here and only present because our friend. Reese Hunter, vouched for us. But we are patriots, the same as you, and there are many in New York who think as we do. We’ve come to confer with Boston’s patriot leaders, to share goodwill and seek advice, but we have also tome to offer help if needed. Now as Mr. Hancock said, if most of you are known to the Tories here in Boston, then you can hardly expect them to help you find whoever killed your friends. However, we three an: not known here. We arrived only yesterday, and except for Reese, you are the first citizens of Boston we have spoken to. We could just as easily be Tories recently arrived in Boston. We could go where the Tories gather and strike up friendships with them, then pass on anything we learn to you.”
Adams looked thoughtful. “Your idea has merit,” he said. “But you realize that you would he taking a great risk if they discovered that you were deceiving them?”
“We have already taken a great risk in coming here and meeting with known radicals,” said Delaney. “That’s the sort of thing that could tarnish a gentleman’s reputation.”
His comment provoked laughter. “You may joke, sir,” Adams said. “but spying is a very serious business.”
“So is murder,” said Andre.
“Yes, so it is,” Adams replied gravely. “How old are you, lad?”
“Eighteen, sir,” Andre said.
“Eighteen.” said Adams, with a sigh. “Eighteen is very young.”
“I see others here scarcely older than myself.” said Andre. “And seventeen is old enough to join the militia.”
“True.” said Adams. “but drilling with a rifle does not make one a man.”
“Nor does plotting in back rooms or smashing windows in the middle of the night,” said Andre
Hancock chuckled. “He has you there. Sam.”
“A man is one who is willing to stand up for his beliefs, sir.” Andre said. “I came here willing to stand up for mine.”
Adams smiled. “Well said, young man. Very well then, I accept the offer of your help. We need all the help that we can get and we could do with a spy or two among the Tories of this town. I would dearly like to find out who this ‘headless horseman’ is and who his friends are. He could scarcely have accounted for those four men alone. But for this plan to work, you must be careful not to be seen with any of us. We must devise a way for you to
