[Illustration: The "Boston Tea Party."]
But while, in deep suspense, the meeting waited for Rotch to come they
discussed the situation, and suddenly John Rowe asked: "Who knows how tea
will mingle with salt water?" At once a whirlwind of applause swept
through the assembly and the masses outside. A plan was soon formed.
The afternoon light of the short winter day faded, and darkness deepened;
the lights of candles sprang up here and there in the windows. It was past
six o'clock when Benjamin Rotch entered the church and, with pale face,
said: "The governor refuses to give a pass."
An angry murmur arose, but the crowd soon became silent as Samuel Adams
stood up. He said quietly: "This meeting can do nothing more to save the
country."
These words were plainly a signal. In an instant a war-whoop sounded
outside, and forty or fifty "Mohawks," or men dressed as Indians, who had
been waiting, dashed past the door and down Milk Street toward Griffin's
Wharf, where the tea ships were lying at anchor.
It was then bright moonlight, and everything could be plainly seen. Many
men stood on shore and watched the "Mohawks" as they broke open three
hundred and forty-two chests, and poured the tea into the harbor.
Pages:
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41