When word of what had been done reached England, there was fury from the King down. Great rewards were offered for any one who would betray any of the party, but not a name was told. For six long months a court of inquiry sat, but it could not get evidence enough to convict a single man. The Americans were staunch and firm and stood for each other like brothers tried and true. Not until the colonies threw off the royal yoke and were battling for freedom was the secret told. Then the men of the long-boats did not hesitate to boast of what they had done. It was the first stroke of America in the cause of liberty, and the work of the men of Providence gave new heart to the patriots from Maine to Georgia. CHAPTER II A BRITISH SCHOONER CAPTURED BY FARMERS IN 1775 CAPTAIN JERRY O'BRIEN LEADS THE PATRIOTS OF 1775 HOW would any of you like to go back to the days when people had only tallow candles to light their houses, and the moon to light their streets, when they traveled on horseback or by stage, and got their news only when it happened to come? In these days of the electric light, the railroad train, and the telegraph that old way of living would not seem living at all. Yet that was the way people lived in 1775 when the Revolution began. It took weeks for news to travel then, where it takes seconds now. Thus the fight at Lexington, which began the Revolution, took place on April 19th, but it was May 9th, more than half a month later, before the news of it reached the little town of Machias, on the coast of Maine. We should hardly call that fast time. It must have taken several naps on the way. But when the news came, it found the people ready for it. A coasting schooner put into the port and brought the story of how the patriots had fought and bled at Lexington and Concord, and of how the British were shut up in Boston town, and the country was at war. The news was received with ringing cheers. If any of my readers had been at Machias that day I know they would have felt like striking a blow for liberty. At any rate, that is how the people of Machias felt, and it did not take them long to show it. They had some reason not to like the King and his men. All the tall, straight trees in their woods were kept to make masts for the King's ships, and no woodman dared set axe to one of these pine trees except at risk of going to prison. Just then there were two sloops in their harbor loading with ship-timber, and an armored schooner, the _Margaretta_, was there as a good looker-on. When the men on the wharf heard the story of Lexington, their eyes fell on the _Margaretta_. Here was a chance to let King George know what they thought about his robbing their woods. "Keep this a secret," they said to the sailors. "Not a word of it to Captain Moore or his men. Wait till to-morrow and you will see some sport."