He went on a voyage and was lost at sea when I was quite young." "And your grandfather was--" "Philip Stevens, the friend of Captain John Smith." "I know of him.

We will go to the home of your relatives." He led Robert over the hill toward a neat looking house, one of the best in Boston.
The old man was nervous and frequently halted to look about, as if expecting pursuit.
"Surely you have no one to fear ?" said Robert.
"Whom should I fear--the man whose face I plastered with mud?
I carry a sword at my side, and he could not fight me in a single combat." "But he said something.

He called you a name." "What name ?" "Goffe." "What know you of Goffe, pray ?" "I have heard of him.

My mother's husband frequently spoke of him as a regicide." The swordsman gazed on him for a moment, and asked: "Do you know what a regicide is ?" "A king-killer." "Well, my young cavalier, when a king has been convicted of treason, should he not suffer death as the humblest peasant in the land ?" "He should," cried Robert, on whose republican soul the argument fell with a delightful sensation.

"A king is but a man and no better than the poorest in the realm." "Ha! young cavalier from Virginia, dare you utter those words in your own colony ?" "No; I left my colony because I could not abide there." "What! a fugitive ?" "I escaped prison by the aid of friends and fled to Boston." "And wherefore, pray, were you imprisoned ?" "On the charges of my mother's husband and a false friend in whom I trusted." General Goffe shook his white locks and said: "So young, and made to feel the grinding heel of the despot! Verily the suffering race of Adam will claim their rights some time." They reached the home of Mathew Stevens, a large old-fashioned New England house, and were admitted at once.
Robert was conscious of being in the presence of several strange but kindly faces.