“You Needn’t Be Afraid of This Tea; Nobody’sPaid a Tax on It.”
A PATRIOT LAD
OF OLD BOSTON
BY
Russell Gordon Carter
Author of the Bob Hanson Books
Illustrated by HENRY PITZ
THE PENN PUBLISHING
COMPANY PHILADELPHIA
1923
COPYRIGHT
1923 BY
THE PENN
PUBLISHING
COMPANY
A Patriot Lad of Old Boston
Manufacturing
Plant
Camden, N. J.
Made in the U. S. A.
INTRODUCTION
The story of Don Alden is the story of Bostonduring the British occupation. Like the sturdyout-of-doors boy of to-day, Don was fond ofhunting and fishing and trapping; it is of littlewonder therefore that Glen Drake, the oldtrapper from the North, formed an instant likingfor him.
But from the moment that the Port Bill wentinto effect—yes, and before that unfortunateevent—there were other things than hunting andfishing to think about. Don’s aunt, a heroic,kindly woman of old New England, refused toleave her home in Pudding Lane, even thoughthe town seemed likely to become a battle ground.And Don was not the boy to forsake his aunt intime of need.
How he helped her during the period ofoccupation; how he acted when his best friendcast his lot with the Tories; what he did when hesuddenly found that he could save the life of oneof the hated Redcoats; and what happened at the[4]end when Crean Brush’s Tories forced their wayinto the house—those events and many othersonly go to prove that heroism is not limited byage.
There were other things also to test thecourage of a lad like Don—the Battles of Concordand Lexington and of Bunker Hill, thefelling of the Liberty Tree, and the many smallannoyances that both Tories and Redcoats committedto make life a little more miserable for thesuffering townsfolk. But he met them all insuch a way as to deserve the words of praise fromthe one man whom he admired more than anyother—General Washington.
Boston in the days of the Revolution resembledBoston of to-day in one noticeable respect:many of the streets were narrow andcrooked and bore the names that they b