anxious to accomplish.”

The wall was at the far side of the lawn; at first none approached it; but finally Nat[41] noticed a pair, who seemed even more impatient than the rest, gradually coming nearer and nearer as they unconsciously lengthened their course at each turn in their walk. One was a lean, stoop-shouldered man; the other was tall and burly; their arms were locked, their heads were close together and they seemed to be discussing some exasperating situation that had arisen.

[41]

Nat watched this twain expectantly.

“At the next turn they’ll get near enough for me to hear what they are saying,” he calculated. “Then, maybe, I’ll learn something worth while.”

Sure enough, the next turn brought the two within ear-shot. The first words that Nat caught were from the burly personage, and they made him catch his breath and shrink closer to the wall.

“It would have been much better if we had thought of this in time to intercept that parcel of rascals from Massachusetts Bay,” the big man said in a harsh voice that was much like the grumbling of a dissatisfied animal. “The ring-leaders of the entire movement were in that party and with them[42] safely aboard a British ship, we’d soon have them in England for trial and execution.”

[42]

As he spoke he slashed at his high boots with a riding-whip and gave every evidence of being in a towering rage. But the lean man with the stooped shoulders spoke soothingly,

“Don’t let your feelings get the better of you, my dear Royce,” said he. “We must have a beginning somewhere, and the Massachusetts members of the rebel Congress were already safely in the city when young Prentiss suggested this idea to us.”

Prentiss! Nat Brewster heard the name with a shock of recollection. But at the instant the recollection was only as to having heard it before. He mentally groped about seeking to place it; then suddenly the facts came to him like a flash.

“It’s the name of Ben’s school friend,” he thought. “Is it possible that——” but he drove the thought from him. “No, it can’t be the same. There are many others of that name, of course.”

The two men turned slowly and began to retrace their steps.

“He should have communicated with us[43] sooner,” maintained Royce in 

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