"Do you dare tell me, knave, that on this night, when it seems that the entire city is doomed to destruction, you undertake to pay off old and personal reckonings?"
"Ay, an' it please you. Now is the time when such as Jacob Dean and Anthony Lamb are given into our hands, even as God gave the Midianites to the mercy of the children of Israel, and who shall prevent us from wreaking our vengeance upon them?"
"You will speedily learn, Master Ranter, that the king's officers do not permit anything of the kind. Withdraw, you and your following, or my men shall open fire, which, mayhap, will give you another cause to cry for vengeance!"
"But, good sir," Master Newcomb cried in a whining tone, and before he could say more the new-comer shouted impatiently:
"You are allowed thirty seconds in which to get out of this square, and I will not listen to your idle words. And hark ye, Master St. John Newcomb, if it was you or any of your following who started the conflagration, I advise that you leave this town without delay, for my lord Howe will make short work of those who have thus destroyed one of his cities." Then to the soldiers the command was given, "Make ready! Aim!"
The shuffling of many feet told that the precious gang of Tories were making all speed to escape
