The sun had started downward in the sultry sky when Doctor Brent reached that part of the road which trailed across the narrow Charlestown Neck. Through all of the journey he had passed many men dressed in their workaday clothes, all armed and all trudging onward toward the scene of impending hostilities with that set manner. They were young, they were old. Some walked buoyantly; others communed with themselves. And by and by, after seeing so many, the affair began to take on the cast of deadly earnestness. Brent clucked his tongue. “There will be bloodshed.” When he reached the Neck he found troops lying by, as if waiting for a call. One or two companies were marching across, and behind these Brent took his path. It was no longer peaceful. The British ships had opened fire upon the Neck, and the great balls, falling here and there, created havoc in the orderly ranks. These reinforcing troops were not accustomed to round shot. They broke and sought cover, dodging this way and that. By and by a runner popped over a slope and came onward. He passed the troops and hailed them with a word of advice. He saw Brent on the horse and stopped. “Man,” said he, wiping the sweat from his face. “I’ve no wish to discourage you, but it’s a sorry place for a mounted man beyond the brow of the hill. You’ll do better afoot and I’ll do better in the saddle, for I’ve got to reach Cambridge in short time.” “There’s action ahead, then?” queried the doctor, stroking the neck of his animal. “Within this half hour there’ll be ---- poppin’ around the corner, and don’t you forget it,” said the messenger, rolling his eyes. The doctor meditated briefly. It was not of his mind to render any aid, other than his own professional skill, to these stubborn rebels. And yet it would not do to cut off his nose to spite his face. His horse was a good horse, and he had an affectionate regard for the steed. It would be wise to act on the courier’s suggestion. He dismounted. “You’d do me a service if, after reaching Cambridge, you would bring the horse back to the Big Oak tavern and tether it there.” The courier mounted and swung around toward the mainland. “That I’ll do,” he agreed and galloped away.