So Revere went into
the house and told all he knew. When they heard the news, Hancock
wanted to stay and fight, if fighting there was to be. But the
others would not hear of it, so as day dawned the two men quietly
walked away, and were soon on the road to Philadelphia.
Meanwhile the British troops were steadily marching nearer and nearer.
At first all was silent: save the clatter and jingle of their arms
and the tramp of their feet, there was no sound. No light was to
be seen far or near. Then suddenly a bell rang, a shout was heard,
lights twinkled here and there. The night was no longer silent and
dark. The country was no longer asleep.
The colonel in command of the troops grew anxious. He had expected
to take the people completely by surprise, and he had done so.
Somehow the secret had leaked out. The whole countryside was up
and awake, and fearing lest with his small company of soldiers, he
would not be able to do what he had set out to do, he sent back to
Boston for more men.
And sure enough, his fears were well founded, for when in the cold
grey of early dawn the advance party reached Lexington, they found
a little guard of sixty or seventy armed men drawn up to receive
them.
"Disperse, ye rebels, disperse," shouted the commander as he rode
towards them. But the men stood motionless and silent.
"Why don't you disperse, you villains?" he cried again.
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