"It is only that you deliver this into the hands of Colonel James Barrett, who may be found 'twixt now and sunrise at the home of Samuel Hadley, near Lexington," he said, taking a folded paper from the inner pocket of his coat. "In case you arrive at whatsoever point you have decided upon, in safety, it will be well for one to procure a horse and rush on in advance, otherwise you may arrive too late--" "We can trust our legs for getting us there as quickly as any farmer's nag could carry us," Archie interrupted with a laugh, and I was puffed up with pride when the doctor gave the paper into my keeping as he said gravely: "It would work ill to the Cause if this was read by our enemies, therefore it must be destroyed in case you are like to be taken by any of the king's mercenaries." "We won't be taken, sir," Archie said, speaking as if he was one who could read the future, like the witches they hanged at Salem. "Once we are under way in the skiff there is nothing in Boston harbor that can overtake us." "Do not be over-confident, young gentleman," the doctor said in a tone of mild reproof. "While I do not admit that you will be in any serious danger, it is the part of a wise man to count all the cost, and give due heed to every possibility. Come to an end of your journey at the earliest moment, and until the message has been delivered, put no trust in strangers however fair they may speak you." He stood looking at us as if everything necessary had been said, and, fortunately, I had wit enough to motion that my comrades follow me as I went toward the ship-yard without any other word to Doctor Warren, for at such times he who shows himself too ready to spend time in talking, gives proof that he may not be depended upon to work quickly. The doctor made no effort to detain us; but, looking back over my shoulder, I saw that he remained as we had left him until the gloom shut him out from my view. "I would we had been asked for a service of more importance than simply carrying a written message," Silas said in a tone that was almost one of discontent, as we made our way toward the place where my skiff was hidden, and Archie, ever cautious and wise, added in reproof: "It is not well we say anything which might show that we are bent on an errand of importance, for no one can tell how many Tory ears may be hidden hereabout. We are going out for a sail, pleasing ourselves by showing that we three can leave this town of lobster backs whenever it is our pleasure to do so, and of more than that it is not necessary to speak." I understood by the lad's tone that he looked upon this mission of ours as something which might be of vital importance to the Cause, and the fact that he deemed it dangerous for us even to discuss the business in the streets, went farther toward rendering me cautious than any words of the doctor's might have done.