Pretty soon the owner appeared in
a state of great distress; said he was a very poor man; that
he was moving his household furniture and that his beds, chairs,
and all the goods he had in the world were in the cart covered
up with the straw. The boys immediately took up a subscription
and sent the fellow off well satisfied with his sale. It
was said he got about twice as much as the value he set on
all his goods, and that about a week after he appeared with
another load of straw which he left exposed in the same place
at the same time in the afternoon. I believe that was not
molested.
The people of Cambridge in those days were a quiet folk.
The students did not go much into the society of the town
unless they happened to have some kindred there. There were
a great many old houses, some of which are standing now, built
before the Revolutionary War. Some had been occupied by old
Tories. Among them was the Craigie House still standing,
having been Washington's headquarters, and now more famous
still as the residence of Longfellow. There were a few old
gentlemen wandering about the streets who were survivors of
the generation which just followed the Revolutionary War,
among them Dr.
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