Just prior to their coming the mob had decided that an entrance should be forced at all hazards, and a large number had raised the timber preparatory to using it as a battering-ram, when the silversmith came into view.
The children were apprised of his approach by hearing him cry angrily, while yet some distance away:
"What are you doing there, you villains?"
"We are naught but honest men and true," the spokesman near the door cried sharply. "When Sons of Liberty begin the work of ending the king's rule by harborin' spies, it is time those whom you call villains should look after the safety of the city."
"What do you mean, you rogue?" Master Dean cried, and from his tone Dorothy understood, even though no one else might have done so, that he was in a towering rage.
"We followed a British spy into the square, and he gave us the slip near about this place," another man replied with a certain degree of respect. "We have searched two dwellings, and would have done the same by this, in an orderly fashion, but that your daughter refused us admittance in your absence."
"And she was right in so doing!" Master Jacob cried. "My house has been closed since the celebration began, until an hour or more
