‘Is it your lamb, my brave little fellow?’ said the officer. ‘Well, they shan't have it. You'll make a fine soldier one of these days.’
So Isaac lifted his lamb from the cart, and trudged off victorious. He had always been a whig; and after this adventure, he became more decided than ever in his politics. He often used to boast that he would rather have a paper continental dollar, than a golden English guinea. The family amused themselves by exciting his zeal, and Polly made him believe he was such a famous whig, that the British would certainly carry him off to prison. He generally thought he was fully capable of defending himself; but when he saw four soldiers approaching the house one day, he concluded the force was rather too strong for him, and hastened to hide himself in the woods.
His temper partook of the general strength and vehemence of his character. Having put a small quantity of gunpowder on the stove of the schoolhouse, it exploded, and did some injury to the master. One of the boys, who was afraid of being suspected of the mischief, in order to screen himself, cried out, ‘Isaac Hopper did it!’—and Isaac was punished accordingly. Going home from school, he
