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Authors: Gertrude Warner
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sure lunch isn’t all eggs anyway!”
CHAPTER 15
Letter from Long Ago
M aggie did not have eggs for lunch. She had a good meal for a strong man. She had cold meat and a hot dish of macaroni and cheese. Andy ate as if he were half starved.
“I’ve had cold food for a long time,” he said. “Even raw eggs.”
“We’ll soon fix that,” said Aunt Jane. She loved to see him eat.
Benny said, “Right after lunch are you going to show us that thing you found?”
“Right! Just as soon as lunch is over. I have it right here in my pocket. Maybe you won’t think much of it. But I do.”
“I’m sure we will,” said Jessie, “if you found it in the woodshed. That’s an exciting place.”
“Yes, and so is your own cellar,” said Andrew.
At last he could not eat any more. He said, “All right. Come out in the yard again and see my treasure. This is in a bag too.”
When Aunt Jane was in her chair, Andy gave her a leather bag.
“What a funny looking bag!” said Benny. “It must be very old.”
Aunt Jane opened the bag. It was stained and ready to fall apart. Inside was another piece of leather. Inside that was an old paper covered with writing.
“The ink is brown,” said Violet.
Aunt Jane carefully unfolded the paper. “It is dated June, 1775,” she said. “Shall I read it?”
“Yes,” said Benny. “Just as quick as you can.”
Now at last the whole story would be told.
So Aunt Jane began to read. She read slowly because sometimes the writing was hard to read.
My name is Mary Cooper and my husband is called James. I am telling my true story just as it happened. When the war is over, I hope someone will find it. Then they will know why we did what we did. My husband and I love this country and we want it to be free. But we are in great danger. We are storing ammunition on our farm. A man who loves liberty came and asked my husband if we would do this, and he said yes.
Where could we hide it? We thought of two places. One was in a woodshed on the hill. The other was in our cellar in the potato pit.
One night James said to me, “Mary, the men who come here with ammunition are in danger. Perhaps we could hide them somewhere.”
“In the same place with the guns and bullets,” I said.
So we began to dig under the woodshed to make a place to hide the men. We had to work at night. I went with James and helped him dig. It was very hard, but at last we had a big hole. We put in a stool and a candle. Then we dug another hole in the potato pit. This was harder. James made a door to look like the stones. But it was very good. I could hardly see it myself.
One night there was a great knocking on our door. We got up and went to the door. There stood a Redcoat holding a poor man by the arms.
The Redcoat said, “I caught this man hiding ammunition. We want to know if there were others with him.”
James said, “I have not seen anyone.”
I said, “Bring the poor man into the kitchen. He looks half dead.”
The man laughed. “Soon he will be dead. I am taking him to Boston. He will be hanged as he deserves.”
“I have a plan,” said my husband. “Let us talk it over. You will want a horse and food. Put this man down in my cellar. There is no door to the outside, so he cannot run away.”
“How can I believe you?” asked the soldier.
“Here,” said James, “take these two chairs. You and I will sit at the head of the cellar stairs by this door. We will know if he comes up.”
When the poor man was thrown down the cellar stairs, James whispered to him “Potato pit.” How I hoped he would understand! We had planned to dig a tunnel from the cellar to the woodshed, but it was too hard.
James had to give a horse to the Redcoat. He would have been shot if he had not. I went out to the barn and got the horse out. We owned four horses. Then the Redcoat went to the cellar stairs and called, “Come up, you!” But nobody came. We all went down the cellar. The Redcoat hunted and hunted. He
CHAPTER 15
Letter from Long Ago
M aggie did not have eggs for lunch. She had a good meal for a strong man. She had cold meat and a hot dish of macaroni and cheese. Andy ate as if he were half starved.
“I’ve had cold food for a long time,” he said. “Even raw eggs.”
“We’ll soon fix that,” said Aunt Jane. She loved to see him eat.
Benny said, “Right after lunch are you going to show us that thing you found?”
“Right! Just as soon as lunch is over. I have it right here in my pocket. Maybe you won’t think much of it. But I do.”
“I’m sure we will,” said Jessie, “if you found it in the woodshed. That’s an exciting place.”
“Yes, and so is your own cellar,” said Andrew.
At last he could not eat any more. He said, “All right. Come out in the yard again and see my treasure. This is in a bag too.”
When Aunt Jane was in her chair, Andy gave her a leather bag.
“What a funny looking bag!” said Benny. “It must be very old.”
Aunt Jane opened the bag. It was stained and ready to fall apart. Inside was another piece of leather. Inside that was an old paper covered with writing.
“The ink is brown,” said Violet.
Aunt Jane carefully unfolded the paper. “It is dated June, 1775,” she said. “Shall I read it?”
“Yes,” said Benny. “Just as quick as you can.”
Now at last the whole story would be told.
So Aunt Jane began to read. She read slowly because sometimes the writing was hard to read.
My name is Mary Cooper and my husband is called James. I am telling my true story just as it happened. When the war is over, I hope someone will find it. Then they will know why we did what we did. My husband and I love this country and we want it to be free. But we are in great danger. We are storing ammunition on our farm. A man who loves liberty came and asked my husband if we would do this, and he said yes.
Where could we hide it? We thought of two places. One was in a woodshed on the hill. The other was in our cellar in the potato pit.
One night James said to me, “Mary, the men who come here with ammunition are in danger. Perhaps we could hide them somewhere.”
“In the same place with the guns and bullets,” I said.
So we began to dig under the woodshed to make a place to hide the men. We had to work at night. I went with James and helped him dig. It was very hard, but at last we had a big hole. We put in a stool and a candle. Then we dug another hole in the potato pit. This was harder. James made a door to look like the stones. But it was very good. I could hardly see it myself.
One night there was a great knocking on our door. We got up and went to the door. There stood a Redcoat holding a poor man by the arms.
The Redcoat said, “I caught this man hiding ammunition. We want to know if there were others with him.”
James said, “I have not seen anyone.”
I said, “Bring the poor man into the kitchen. He looks half dead.”
The man laughed. “Soon he will be dead. I am taking him to Boston. He will be hanged as he deserves.”
“I have a plan,” said my husband. “Let us talk it over. You will want a horse and food. Put this man down in my cellar. There is no door to the outside, so he cannot run away.”
“How can I believe you?” asked the soldier.
“Here,” said James, “take these two chairs. You and I will sit at the head of the cellar stairs by this door. We will know if he comes up.”
When the poor man was thrown down the cellar stairs, James whispered to him “Potato pit.” How I hoped he would understand! We had planned to dig a tunnel from the cellar to the woodshed, but it was too hard.
James had to give a horse to the Redcoat. He would have been shot if he had not. I went out to the barn and got the horse out. We owned four horses. Then the Redcoat went to the cellar stairs and called, “Come up, you!” But nobody came. We all went down the cellar. The Redcoat hunted and hunted. He
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