the day following the return of rebecca and anna weston from their perilous and difficult undertaking to bring the much needed powder and shot to machias was sunday, the eleventh of june, 1775.
very early that morning there was an air of unusual excitement about the little settlement. it was known that the english officers from the gunboat would attend service in the meeting-house that morning; and the machias men had decided, with the approval of parson lyon, to surround the church and capture them before they had time to carry out their plans against the settlement.
rebby and danna were eating their breakfast when captain benjamin foster appeared at the kitchen door, saying that he had come to thank them for their courageous effort to aid the men in defending their rights. as he entered the206 room the girls jumped up from their seats at the table and curtseyed; and as he went on to praise their loyalty and valor, the two little girls, hand in hand, stood before him with downcast eyes, flushed and happy at his approving words.
in spite of anxious thoughts as to the result of the conflict between the men of machias and the english soldiers, mrs. weston was very proud and happy that morning as she walked to church with rebecca and anna beside her. many neighbors stopped them to praise the little girls, and all declared that the people of the settlement would always remember what they had done.
even parson lyon and his wife were waiting at the church door to speak to the two little heroines; and melvina and luretta felt as if they shared in their friends’ honors as they walked up the aisle of the church beside them.
before the english officers had landed from their boat a number of the machias men had quietly hidden their guns in the building; while captain benjamin foster, with men armed and ready for action, were concealed among the tall pines close at hand, ready to surround the church and seize the english officers; and had they taken207 london atus into their confidence this well-prepared scheme might have succeeded.
but london was entirely innocent of any trouble near at hand. from his place in a side pew he kept a watchful eye upon melvina, and perhaps wondered a little at all the attention lavished on the little weston girls.
rebby saw captain and mrs. horton and lucia, with captain jones, enter the church. lucia did not look toward the group of girls seated in the westons’ pew. the hortons were no longer trusted by their neighbors, and after that morning in church they vanished from the community and never returned.
rebby’s glance now rested on london. how queerly he looked, she thought wonderingly. he was leaning sideways peering out of an open window. as rebecca watched him he rose to his feet with a loud cry, and before any restraining word could reach him he had leaped through the open window.
in a moment all was confusion. there were loud cries of “stop him!” men rushed from the church, but the english officers, followed by captain jones and the hortons, had scrambled through the open windows and were well on their208 flight toward their boats, which they reached in safety, although numerous shots were fired after them. the gunboat at once turned her guns on the town. shot after shot echoed across the quiet waters of the harbor, but the range was too long, and no harm was done.
the women and children huddled in the pews of the church, until parson lyon, musket in hand, came up from the shore to tell them that all was quiet and to return to their homes.
melvina and anna left the church together, and luretta and rebby followed with mrs. weston. melvina said good-bye to her friends very soberly, and clasped her father’s hand very closely as they walked toward home.
“will the english soldiers shoot down our liberty pole, father?” she asked.
“the english captain has sent us word that we are to take it down before sunset, so that he may be saved that trouble,” replied parson lyon, his tone indicating that he considered the english captain’s remark as an amusing utterance, not to be seriously considered.
“but it will not be taken down,” said melvina confidently.
“indeed it will not. and had that scamp209 london but held his peace instead of mistaking captain foster’s men for an armed enemy marching upon us, the english would be our prisoners at this moment,” declared her father. “but that is but postponed,” he added quietly, “and to-morrow morning machias men will give the english captain a lesson.”
there were many anxious hearts in the settlement that night, for it had been determined that in the early dawn of the following morning the men should seize the sloop unity, and make the attempt to capture the english gunboat. neither rebecca nor anna knew of this plan; and, still tired from their journey, as well as by the excitement that morning at the church, they were glad to go early to bed and were soon sound asleep. mrs. weston, unable to sleep, waited in the kitchen for her husband’s return. for mr. weston and his neighbors were busy with their preparations for the coming battle. it was decided that captain o’brien should take command of the sloop, and before the sun rose the next morning forty machias men were on board the unity. half this number were armed with broad-axes and pitchforks; the remainder had muskets.210
it was just at sunrise when a warning shot from the gunboat reverberated along the harbor, and rebecca awakened suddenly. she realized at once that the conflict had begun. in an instant she was out of bed, slipped quickly into her clothing, and leaving danna sound asleep, she sped down the path and along the trail to the high bluff that commanded a view of the harbor.
there was a favoring wind and the unity, with her crew of untrained men, was now in full chase of a vessel well-armed and equipped. on swept the sloop, and a sudden volley of musketry from her deck astonished and confused the enemy. the gunboat swerved, and the bowsprit of the unity plunged into her mainsail, holding the two vessels together for a brief moment.
rebecca, standing on the bluff, shouted aloud. she was sure that the moment of triumph for the machias men was close at hand. but victory was not so easily achieved; the vessels suddenly parted, and now a storm of bullets rained upon the unity.
captain o’brien swung the sloop alongside the margaretta and twenty of his men armed with pitchforks sprang to the enemy’s deck. a hand-to-hand conflict ensued. surprised by the211 dauntless valor of the machias men the english were forced to yield. the english flag was pulled down amid triumphant shouts of the americans; the wounded were cared for, and english officers and crew made prisoners of war.
when rebecca saw the english flag vanish from the gunboat’s mast and heard the resounding cheers, she knew that the americans had conquered their enemy, and that the liberty tree would stand unchallenged. but she did not realize that she had been a witness to the first naval exploit in america after the battle of lexington.
all the women and children and such men as had been left behind, were now hurrying toward the wharves. cheer after cheer rang out across the harbor as the unity and the captured gunboat came slowly to their anchorage.
mrs. weston and anna came hurrying down the path and rebby ran to meet them.
“i saw the battle, mother!” she exclaimed eagerly. “i was on the bluff and saw it all.” but before mrs. weston could respond to this astonishing statement a boat-load of men from the unity had landed.
“your father is safe,” whispered mrs. weston,212 “and now let me see of what use i can be to the wounded men. rebby, take anna back to the house and stay there until i come.”
the two little girls walked silently back to the house. the battle that had been so feared was over; the enemy was conquered, and rebecca and anna knew that by their bringing the powder from chandler’s river they had helped to win the conflict. but just then they did not think of that. they could think only of the wounded men, who had been so carefully brought on shore by their companions.
on the following day the inhabitants, such as were not caring for the wounded english and american soldiers, gathered at the liberty pole. it was a quiet and reverent gathering. several men of the settlement had been wounded, and two had given their lives for america’s cause. parson lyon gave loving tribute to these heroes, as he offered thanks for the triumph of loyalty.
and then, before all the people, he praised rebecca and anna weston for their courage in undertaking the difficult and dangerous journey through the wilderness to bring aid to the settlement.
“step forward, rebecca and anna weston,”213 he said smilingly; and, a little fearfully, the sisters, hand in hand, left their mother’s side and approached the liberty pole. taking each by the hand parson lyon smiled down upon them.
there was a little murmur of approval among the people, and one by one the older members of the congregation came forward and praised the little girls.
“it is rebby who should be praised, not me,” anna insisted. “it is not fair for me to be praised.” while rebecca, in her turn, declared eagerly that she could never have brought home the powder without anna’s help.
there were many hard and troublous days ahead for the little settlement, but their courage did not falter. the valor of the machias men was speedily recognized by the provincial congress of massachusetts, who, on june 26, 1775, passed a resolution extending to them the thanks of the congress for their courageous conduct. the news of the brilliant victory was heralded throughout the land, stimulating the colonists everywhere to emulate the example of the courageous settlers of machias.
rebecca often thought of her former friend, lucia horton; but she never told the story of the night when, misled by lucia’s plausible story,214 she had tried to defeat the loyalty of the settlers by setting their liberty tree adrift. as she looked up at the tall sapling, the emblem of the loyalty of the settlement, she was proud indeed that she had been of use in its protection.
anna’s gold chain was her greatest treasure. it was shown to every little girl in the settlement, and each one knew its story. the golden sovereign given to rebecca was no less highly prized.
“that sovereign has a value beyond money. it is a medal for valor,” her father said; and on the year when peace was firmly established between england and america rebecca’s golden sovereign was smoothed, and upon it these words were engraved:
“presented
to
a brave little
maid of maine,
for loyalty,
june, 1775.”
