we do is taken note of by somebody we can’t place. And we think,” again fearfully nodding down the wagonway, “that it’s that man.”

Ezra studied the men carefully. That they were of a tight-fisted, timorous sort, he had already made up his mind; but he had not given them credit for so much imagination as they displayed. However, that they were sincere was not to be denied.

He remained for some time, questioning them curiously; at length he mounted his horse and prepared to move on.

“It’s more than likely,” said he, settling himself in the saddle, “that this man’s strange way of living has gradually brought you to thinking other strange things of him.” He gathered up his reins; the bay moved forward a few steps; then he was brought to a halt once more, and the boy turned, one hand resting on its flank. “Where did you say he lived?” he asked with a careless air.

“About three miles below there,” said Josiah’s brother, pointing down the road. “You come to a wood, then to a stream of water, crossed by a bridge, and just above it is the house, by the roadside. But don’t stop. Because if the dogs are loose, which they generally are, coming on night, there’s no telling what they’ll do.”

“Thanks,” replied Ezra. “I’ll look out for them.” He waved his hand. “Good-bye, and give the Committee’s circular another reading. There are truths in it that can’t be denied.”

Then with a glance at the fast lowering sun, he touched the bay with the spur and turned down the narrow road.

 CHAPTER II—SHOWS HOW EZRA MET WITH GILBERT SCARLETT, SOLDIER OF FORTUNE

“I sincerely trust,” mused Ezra Prentiss as he rode along on his way, “that there are not many men like those in the colonies. If there are, the cause is sure to be defeated. They are too cowardly and selfish to do anything but clutch what they have and cry out in fear of its being taken away from them.”

For a moment a shadow rested upon his face. Then the picture flashed across his mind of the heroic line at Lexington, of the desperate rush at Concord Bridge, the long, running fight into Boston town. These had happened only a few weeks before; and a smile banished the shadow instantly.

“The men who did those things were neither selfish nor cowardly,” he told himself. “They are as brave as any upon the earth, and would give all they possessed in the cause of freedom. They drove Earl 

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