Page:Dorothy's spy; a story of the first "fovrth of Jvly" celebration, New York, 1776.djvu/20

Rh It was also understood that the "Sons" were to march through the principal streets immediately before and after the reading of the Declaration, and then a huge bonfire was to be built on Bowling Green, near by the statue of King George III.

Mistress Dean had promised that Dorothy should be taken to witness this wondrous spectacle, providing there was not too great a throng in the streets, and Sarah Lamb had permission to accompany her friend.

With so much to excite the imagination, it is little wonder that the forenoon passed slowly to the children, and they partook of the noonday meal with unseemly haste, as if by so doing it would be possible to hasten the slowly moving hands of the clock.

Early in the afternoon a great noise was heard outside, as if from the direction of Dock street, and the children ran to the window just as a throng of people came into Hanover square at full speed, following a man who ran swiftly past the house into Wall street.

"It must be a spy from General Howe's army," Mistress Dean said half to herself, as she stood watching the eager men who were bent on running down the fugitive.

"Why has he come here?" Dorothy asked.

"To learn all he can concerning the defenses of the city, to the end that General Howe may