ABSTRACT
The incendiary topics that had been the spark for political excoriation and indignant diatribes were no longer fodder for his epistolary assaults. In trouble with her mistress for pilfering some wine, Colbath vowed revenge and set fire to the Woodward barn. The fire quickly consumed everything surrounding it and left much of Portsmouth in ashes. Remarkably, there were no deaths. The blaze did not interfere with the commencement of Harper's long-awaited trial. Daniel was cautiously optimistic about the outcome as there was ample reason to distrust McCall's charges. There were no other eyewitnesses whose testimony corroborated McCall's. The spring air did not bring recovery, but it did, at last, bring Enoch. Enoch insisted that Daniel remove to Worcester where he could get the care and attention he needed to convalesce. At first Daniel resisted but thanks to Enoch's “obstinate perseverance,” he relented, believing that the move would be temporary.
