Away they went through the village street and out upon the country
road. "Up! up!" shouted Paul Revere. "The soldiers are coming! Up! up!
and defend yourselves!"

[Illustration]

The cry awoke the farmers; they sprang from their beds and looked out.
They could not see the speeding horse, but they heard the clatter of
its hoofs far down the road, and they understood the cry, "Up! up! and
defend yourselves!"

"It is the alarm! The redcoats are coming," they said to each other.
Then they took their guns, their axes, anything they could find, and
hurried out.

So, through the night, Paul Revere rode toward Concord. At every
farmhouse and every village he repeated his call.

The alarm quickly spread. Guns were fired. Bells were rung. The people
for miles around were roused as though a fire were raging.

The king's soldiers were surprised to find everybody awake along the
road. They were angry because their plans had been discovered.

When they reached Concord, they burned the courthouse there.

At Lexington, not far from Concord, there was a sharp fight in which
several men were killed. This, in history, is called the Battle of
Lexington. It was the beginning of the war called the Revolutionary