Of a verity these were startling words to come from the mouth of one who had sailed across the sea to rivet yet more firmly the fetters which oppression had bound upon us; but my astonishment was not as great as it would have been had we not already made the acquaintance of Seth Hartley. “What can you do when the orders are given?” a second voice asked, and the first speaker replied: “Do! Why obey them, of course. That’s what we’re here for; but at the same time it may not set well on an honest man’s stomach. I’m not thinkin’ that perhaps the lout we carried down to the ship wasn’t deservin’ of bein’ stowed away; but it wasn’t for any crime against the king that he went, mark you that! The snivellin’ lump who claimed such a love for his majesty, was payin’ off a personal score, else I’m much mistaken, an’ this bein’ made a cat’s-paw of by them as claim to be so bloomin’ loyal to the crown when they don’t care a farthin’s worth of silver spoons for it, ain’t to my likin’.” My heart beat fast and violently. Could it be that these men were speaking of Abel Grant, and had been sent by our lucky stars to this very point that we might get the information of which we stood in need? “In a rebellion like this, matey, it stands to reason there’ll be a lot of private quarrels settled in just such a one-sided fashion as I reckon that young brute settled his last night. I’ve got no great love for these colonists who claim that the only desire they have got in life is to serve the king. What I claim is, that if a man has come over seas to settle down in a place like this, he should hang with his neighbors--their quarrels should be his, an’ I’m looking upon this breed of cattle which the Americans call Tories, with precious little likin’; but it ain’t for you nor me to say whether such an arrest as we have just had a hand in, is right or not. It’s a case of obeyin’ orders, matey, even though it goes agin the grain, an’ I’m thinkin’ we’ll get a good many more of the same sort, especially after the town has been taken.” “Well, it’s a beastly shame, put it as you will, that men wearin’ the king’s uniform should lend themselves to such work as has just been done. That young Tory who showed us where to find the prisoner, did his best to get in a few blows, when he knew they couldn’t be returned; but I whispered to the fellow we had in charge that if he’d give me his word not to run, I’d show him a chance to use his fists, if so be the informer got too rash, an’ I’d have done it, too, with a right good will, for I hated the sneak the minute I heard he wanted to denounce one of his neighbors.”