Page:Dorothy's spy; a story of the first "fovrth of Jvly" celebration, New York, 1776.djvu/38

Rh man who had dared condemn what was being done while they were celebrating the adoption of the Declaration.

Mistress Dean screamed wildly for help; but it is a question if any save Mistress Lamb heard the appeal, so great was the uproar in the immediate vicinity. Then the good woman tried to lead her daughter out from the throng; but she might as well have attempted to stem the ocean tide with a feather.

Every man and boy near at hand was pressing from all points toward a common center, and the two ladies, with their children, were hemmed in until it was literally impossible to move.

The Tory was armed only with a light walking cane; but he made every effort to use it as an effective weapon, and, in fact, did succeed in striking several blows which must have been painful to those who received them. It was not possible, however, for him to defend himself successfully when the press was so great that he could not move his arms to advantage, and to Dorothy and Sarah it seemed as if the struggle had hardly more than begun before the gentleman was lifted astride a piece of joist which had previously been brought to the Green for the work of overturning the statue.

In this shameful position he was carried on the shoulders of four men, his legs held firmly by