After supper Jack and Solomon went out for a walk. They heard violent talk among people gathered at the street corners. They soon overtook a noisy crowd of boys and young men carrying clubs. In front of Murray's Barracks where the Twenty-Ninth Regiment was quartered, there was a chattering crowd of men and boys. Some of them were hooting and cursing at two sentinels. The streets were lighted by oil lamps and by candles in the windows of the houses. In Cornhill they came upon a larger and more violent assemblage of the same kind. They made their way through it and saw beyond, a captain, a corporal and six private soldiers standing, face to face, with the crowd. Men were jeering at them; boys hurling abusive epithets. The boys, as they are apt to do, reflected, with some exaggeration, the passions of their elders. It was a crowd of rough fellows--mostly wharfmen and sailors. Solomon sensed the danger in the situation. He and Jack moved out of the jeering mob. Then suddenly a thing happened which may have saved one or both of their lives. The Captain drew his sword and flashed a dark light upon Solomon and called, out: "Hello, Binkus! What the hell do you want?" "Who be ye?" Solomon asked. "Preston." "Preston! Cat's blood an' gunpowder! What's the matter?" Preston, an old comrade of Solomon, said to him: "Go around to headquarters and tell them we are cut off by a mob and in a bad mess. I'm a little scared. I don't want to get hurt or do any hurting." Jack and Solomon passed through the guard and hurried on. Then there were hisses and cries of "Tories! Rotten Tories!" As the two went on they heard missiles falling behind them and among the soldiers. "They's goin' to be bad trouble thar," said Solomon. "Them lads ain't to blame. They're only doin' as they're commanded. It's the dam' King that orto be hetchelled." They were hurrying on, as he spoke, and the words were scarcely out of his mouth when they heard the command to fire and a rifle volley--then loud cries of pain and shrill curses and running feet. They turned and started back. People were rushing out of their houses, some with guns in their hands. In a moment the street was full. "The soldiers are slaying people," a man shouted. "Men of Boston, we must arm ourselves and fight." [Illustration: "The soldiers are slaying people," a man shouted.] It was a scene of wild confusion. They could get no farther on Cornhill. The crowd began to pour into side-streets. Rumors were flying about that many had been killed and wounded. An hour or so later Jack and Solomon were seized by a group of ruffians. "Here are the damn Tories!" one of them shouted. "Friends o' murderers!" was the cry of another. "Le's hang 'em!" Solomon immediately knocked the man down who had called them Tories and seized another and tossed him so far in the crowd as to give it pause.