THE MINUTE BOYS OF LONG ISLAND [Illustration: “LUTHER HAD A HOOK WHICH HE WAS USING AS A PIKE.”] THE MINUTE BOYS OF LONG ISLAND A STORY OF NEW YORK IN 1776 AS TOLD BY EPHRAIM LYTTLE JAMES OTIS Illustrated By L. J. BRIDGMAN [Illustration] BOSTON DANA ESTES & COMPANY PUBLISHERS _Copyright, 1908_ BY DANA ESTES & COMPANY _All rights reserved_ _COLONIAL PRESS Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co. Boston, U. S. A._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. “WE THREE” 11 II. THE “DECLARATION” 29 III. ON DUTY 48 IV. THE ENEMY 67 V. UNWELCOME VISITORS 85 VI. THE PRISONER 104 VII. MAKING READY FOR A BATTLE 122 VIII. DETECTED 141 IX. TURNING THE TABLES 159 X. IMPORTANT INFORMATION 176 XI. THE ATTACK 195 XII. THE RETREAT 214 XIII. NEWS OF ABEL 232 XIV. THE PRISON SHIP 251 XV. A RASH ADVENTURE 270 XVI. A RAY OF HOPE 289 XVII. UNDER FIRE 307 XVIII. A STRONG SWIMMER 325 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE “LUTHER HAD A BOAT HOOK WHICH HE WAS USING AS A PIKE” (_See page 25_) _Frontispiece_ “I WAS STANDING BEFORE GENERAL PUTNAM” 34 “‘NEARABOUT GOWANUS CREEK ON LONG ISLAND’” 75 “‘MOVE EVER SO LITTLE, AN’ I’LL PUT A BALL THROUGH YOUR HEAD!’” 101 “‘I’M ALLOWIN’ THAT A SINGLE VESSEL ... WILL DO THE TRICK THIS TIME’” 153 “MEN WERE MAKING AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN A FOOTHOLD ON THE SWIFTSURE’S DECK” 196 “‘THEY DO NOT DARE TO PITCH A HEAVY SHOT AT US!’” 243 “THE MISERABLE WHELP WAS SWAGGERING TO AND FRO” 273 THE MINUTE BOYS OF LONG ISLAND CHAPTER I. “WE THREE.” When you come to think it over seriously, it really seems that Abel Grant could not be blamed for laughing and saying that we were “outgrowing our clothes,” in selecting the name of Minute Boys of Long Island for three lads--Abraham Decker, Samuel Garratt and myself, neither of whom had yet passed his fifteenth year; but how else could it be shown that we were heart and soul with the Cause, or that we burned to have a hand in upsetting the king’s authority in this land which our fathers have wrested from the savages and the wilderness.