Breakfast Serials Abby And Becky Win Praise For Bravery

Today: Chapter 7 Synopsis: Abby and Becky tell their tale. Chapter 7: Three Cheers for the Army of Two!

Abby and Becky ran out of the woods and across the rocks to the lighthouse. And there was Father, coming home from Scituate!

“Father!” they cried, and ran to meet him.

He picked up each girl in a great hug.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“We are fine, Father,” they said together.

“I came home as fast as I could,” Father told them. “When I heard the cannon shot I was afraid for you! But I see the ship has gone off-“

“Yes,” said Abby, “and do you know why it went away?”

Father smiled at her. “Can you tell me?”

“We made it go!” Abby said. “We marched like an army. We played the fife - your fife! - and drum -“

“It was really the cooking pot!” Becky said. “With spoons for drumsticks.

“We hid in the woods and played and played as loudly as we could.”

“And then the ship turned back!” Abby went on. She stopped. Now Father knew they had not stayed in the lighthouse as he had told them to. What would he say?

“We did not do as you told us,” Becky said quickly. “I am sorry, Father. We thought we must try to make the British go away.”

“You were right,” Father said. “You were brave girls to carry out such a dangerous plan.”

“It was Abby’s idea,” Becky said. “She thought of it.”

“But Becky was braver,” Abby said. “I was afraid, but Becky never stopped marching and playing.”

“You were both brave,” Father said. “You were an army of two! You saved the town of Scituate from the British.” He smiled at them. “Shall we have our supper now?”

“Oh!” said Abby. She and Becky had not thought of fixing it!

“We can have bread and cheese,” Becky said quickly.

“That will be a fine supper,” Father said.

So Abby and Becky and Father sat by the kitchen window and ate their bread and cheese. The ocean was bright in the setting sun. And there were no ships on it.

Soon, everyone in Scituate and all the towns around had heard the story of the Army of Two. And not long after, on a fine sunny day, they all turned out to cheer for Abby and Becky.

First, there was a big outdoor feast. There were lobsters and clams and fish from the ocean, chicken and hams from the farms, peas and potatoes from the gardens. There were apple pies and cherry pies and berry pies and cream pies.

Then came the parade. It went all through the town and down the road and out to Scituate Harbor. In the parade there were horses and wagons, ponies and carts, men and women and many little children waving flags. There was the fife and drum band of Scituate, playing as they marched. Father marched with them.

At the front of the parade, ahead of all the marchers, were Abby and Becky!

Abby played Father’s fife, and Becky banged the cooking pot with her spoons. Yankee Doodle! they played as they marched. Yankee Doodle went to town!

The parade stopped at Scituate Harbor. Abby and Becky were made to stand on a high rock so everyone could see them. Then all the town came round them to wave and cheer.

Hip, hip, hooray!

Hip, hip, hooray!

Hip, hip, hooray for the Army of Two!

The story of the Army of Two soon went out from Scituate to all the towns around. It went from Boston to Cape Cod and far across the country. It went down from parents to their children, and to their children’s children’s children.

So many people told the story that it began to change, as stories do. Some tell it one way; some tell it another. In the story you have just read, the part about the cooking pot is made up. But most of the story is true. Abby and Becky were real girls, who really played the fife and drum in the woods by the lighthouse and made the British ship turn away from Scituate.

If you should go to Scituate today, you will see a lighthouse by the shore.

It is the very same lighthouse (with a new top) that Abby and Becky looked out of so many years ago. You can see the real fife that Abby played.

And maybe, if you stand beside the ocean and listen hard, you can hear the girls play “Yankee Doodle,” in your mind.