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-                         A HERO OF TICONDEROGA
-
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-Title: A Hero of Ticonderoga
-
-Author: Rowland E. Robinson
-
-Release Date: January 25, 2011 [EBook #35080]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
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-                         A HERO OF TICONDEROGA
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost
-no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Title: A Hero of Ticonderoga
-
-Author: Rowland E. Robinson
-
-Release Date: January 25, 2011 [EBook #35080]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HERO OF TICONDEROGA ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Darleen Dove and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
-http://www.pgdp.net.
-
-This file was produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive.
-
-
-A HERO OF TICONDEROGA
-
-By
-
-Rowland E. Robinson
-
-Burlington, VT.
-Hobart J. Shanley & Co.
-Publishers
-1898
-
-
-
-
-Copyright, 1898, by
-HOBART J. SHANLEY & CO.
-
-
-
-
-Contents
-
-
-  - CHAPTER I--COMING INTO THE WILDERNESS
-  - CHAPTER II--THE NEW HOME
-  - CHAPTER III--A VISIT TO THE FORT
-  - CHAPTER IV--THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS
-  - CHAPTER V--THE EVERGREEN SPRIG
-  - CHAPTER VI--THE YORKERS
-  - CHAPTER VII--THE "JUDGMENT SEAT"
-  - CHAPTER VIII--A NOVEL BEAR TRAP
-  - CHAPTER IX--A FRONTIER TRAGEDY
-  - CHAPTER X--REBELLION
-  - CHAPTER XI--ESCAPE
-  - CHAPTER XII--A FREE LIFE
-  - CHAPTER XIII--FOREBODINGS OF STORM
-  - CHAPTER XIV--GABRIEL'S GOOD SERVICE
-  - CHAPTER XV--LEADERS AND GUIDE
-  - CHAPTER XVI--TICONDEROGA
-  - CHAPTER XVII--HOME COMING
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I--COMING INTO THE WILDERNESS
-
-
-The low sun of a half-spent winter afternoon streaked and splashed the
-soft undulations of the forest floor with thin, infrequent lines, and
-scattered blotches of yellow light among the thickening shadows.
-
-A solitary hunter, clad in buckskin and gray homespun, thridded his way
-among the gray trunks of the giant trees, now blended with them and
-their shadows, now briefly touched by a glint of sunlight, now casting
-up the powdery snow from the toes of his snowshoes in a pearly mist, now
-in a golden shower, yet moving as silently as the trees stood, or
-shadows brooded, or sunlight gleamed athwart them.
-
-Presently he approached a narrow road that tunnelled, rather than
-seamed, the forest, for the giant trees which closely pillared its sides
-spread their branches across it, leaving the vast forest arch unbroken.
-
-In the silence of the hour and season, which was but emphasized by the
-outcry of a suspicious jay and the gentler notes of a bevy of friendly
-chickadees, the alert ear of the hunter caught a less familiar sound.
-Faint and distant as it was, he at once recognized in it the slow tread
-of oxen and the creak of runners in the dry snow, and, standing a little
-aloof from the untrodden road, he awaited the coming of the possibly
-unwelcome invaders of the wilderness.
-
-A yoke of oxen soon appeared, swaying along at a sober pace, the breath
-jetting from their nostrils in little clouds that arose and dissolved in
-the still air with that of their driver, who stood on the front of a
-sled laden with a full cargo of household stuff. Far behind the sled
-stretched the double furrow of the runners, deep-scored lines of darker
-blue than the universal shadow of the forest, a steadfast wake to mark
-the course of the voyager till the next snow-storm or the spring thaw
-cover it or blot it out. As the oxen came opposite the motionless
-hunter, his attendant jay uttered a sudden discordant cry.
-
-"Whoa, hush! Whoa haw, there! What are you afeard of now? That's nothin'
-but a jay squallin'." The strong voice of the driver rang through the
-stillness of the woods, overbearing the monotonous tread of the oxen,
-the creak of the sled, and the responsive swish and creak of the snow
-beneath feet and runners.
-
-Unmindful of his voice, the oxen still swerved from the unbeaten track
-of the forest road and threatened to bring the off runner against one of
-the great trees that bordered it. The driver sprang from his standing
-place, and, running forward alongside the cattle, quickly brought them
-to a halt with a few reassuring words, and a touch of his long,
-blue-beech gad across their faces.
-
-Looking into the woods to see what had alarmed them, he became aware of
-the man standing a little way off, as motionless as the great tree
-trunks around him. Seeing the oxen were now under control, the latter
-advanced a little and spoke in a low, pleasant voice:
-
-"I didn't go to skeer your oxen, stranger, and was standin' still to let
-'em pass, but thet jay squalled at me, an', lookin' this way, I s'pose
-they ketched a glimpse of my fur cap an' took it for some varmint.
-Cattle is always lookin' for some sech, in the woods. Your load's all
-right, I hope," he said, coming into the road and looking at the sled,
-which, though tipped on some hidden obstruction, was yet in no danger of
-upsetting its freight.
-
-"Why, you've got women an' childern," and his face lighted up with an
-expression of pleased interest. "You're comin' in to make a pitch. How
-far might you be goin', stranger?"
-
-"A little beyond Fort Ti, on this side," the driver of the oxen
-answered. "I made a pitch there last year. My name's Seth Beeman, and I
-come from Salisbury, Connecticut, and them on the sled are my wife and
-children." Seth Beeman knew that, according to the custom of the country
-and the times, this information would presently be required of him, and
-the hunter, for such the stranger's dress, long gun and snowshoes
-proclaimed him to be, had such an honest face he did not hesitate to
-forestall the inevitable questions.
-
-"I want to know! A Beeman from ol' Salisbury," cried the other. "An' now
-I wonder if you be akin to my ol' comrade in the Rangers, 'Zekiel
-Beeman?"
-
-"My father's name was Ezekiel, and he served in Roger's Rangers."
-
-"Give me your hand, friend," cried the hunter, drawing off his mitten
-with his teeth, and extending his hand as he came near to the other.
-"Well, I never thought to meet an ol' friend here in these lonesome
-woods, to-day. Yes, an ol' friend, for that's what a son of 'Zekiel
-Beeman's is to me, though I never sot eyes on him afore. You've maybe
-hearn him speak of Job Carpenter? That's my name."
-
-"Carpenter? Yes, the name sounds familiar, but you know father wa'n't a
-man of many words and never told us much of his sojerin' days."
-
-"You're right, he wa'n't. We all larnt to keep our heads shut when we
-was a-scoutin' an' a loud word might cost a man his'n an' many another
-life."
-
-Seth wondered how long since the hunter had forgotten the lesson, yet he
-noticed the voice of the other was never high pitched and he never made
-a sudden, abrupt movement.
-
-"An' so these is your wife an' childern, be they?" said Job, passing
-toward the sled, whose occupants were so muffled in bed-quilts and
-blankets that nothing of their forms, and but little of their features,
-were visible.
-
-"How dedo, marm. How dedo, little uns. Tol'able comf'table, I hope?"
-
-Ruth Beeman answered his kind salutation as audibly as she could out of
-her mufflings, and the children, a boy of twelve and a girl of three
-years younger, stared at him with round, wondering eyes.
-
-"It's a hard life that lies afore women an' children in this
-wilderness," he said to himself, and then, in a louder tone: "Wal, I'm
-glad you're goin' to be nigh the Fort. There's always a doctor there,
-an' it's sort o' protection, if the garrison be reg'lars. Now, Seth,
-start up your team, an' I'll boost on the sled till it's square on the
-road again."
-
-So saying, he set his shoulder to one of the sled stakes, while Seth
-carefully started the oxen forward. With a heaving lurch and prolonged
-creak, the sled settled upon evener ground without disturbance of its
-passengers or its burden of house gear and provisions, which, till now,
-had hidden from view of the hunter a gentle little cow in lead close
-behind it.
-
-"How far be we from the Fort?" Seth asked.
-
-"Nigh onto five mile," the hunter answered, after considering their
-whereabouts a moment. "After a spell you'll come to a better road on the
-ice of the crik, if you take the first blazed path beyend here, to your
-left. It'll fetch you to my cabin, where you'd better stop till morning,
-for you can't no ways git to your pitch till long arter nightfall. I
-know where it is, for I come across it, last fall, when I was trappin'
-mushrat up the crik. My shanty's the first thing in the shape of a
-dwelling that you'll come to, an' can't miss it if you foller the back
-track of my snowshoes. It hain't so great, but it's better'n no shelter,
-an' you're more'n welcome to it. Rake open the fire an' build you a
-rouster, an' make yourselves to home. I've got some traps to tend to,
-but I'll be back afore dark," and, almost before they could thank him,
-he disappeared among the trees.
-
-Seth took his place upon the sled, and, as it moved forward, the forest
-again resumed its solemnity of silence, that was rather made more
-apparent than at all disturbed by the slight sounds of the party's
-progress. It was a silence that their lonely journey had long since
-accustomed them to, but had not made less depressing, for, in every
-waking moment, it reminded Seth and his wife how every foot of it
-withdrew them further from old friends and old associations, and how
-long and wearisome the days of its endurance stretched before them.
-
-The remainder of the day was made pleasanter by the chance finding of a
-friend in a strange land, and with a prospect of spending a night under
-a roof, for, however it might be, it could but be better than the almost
-shelterless bivouac that had many times been their night lodging since
-they entered the great Northern Wilderness, that, within a few years,
-had become known as the New Hampshire Grants.
-
-More than once, when they had fallen asleep with only the mesh of netted
-branches between them and the serene stars, they had been awakened by
-the long howl of the wolves answering one another, or by the appalling
-scream of a panther. Then, with frequent replenishment of the fire, they
-had watched out the weary hours till morning, alarmed by every falling
-brand or sough of the breeze, or resonant crack of frost-strained trees.
-
-Seth looked eagerly for the promised trail and was glad to discover the
-blazed trees and the netted imprint of snowshoes, that, if but briefly,
-as certainly, identified the path. He turned his oxen into the diverging
-road, which, though narrow, gave ample room for the sled. After a little
-it led to the winding channel of a creek crawling through a marsh, whose
-looped and matted sedges were in turn bordered by the primeval forest
-and its bristling abatis of great trees, prostrate and bent in every
-degree of incline.
-
-At last, as the long shadows began to thicken into the pallid gloom of
-winter twilight, a little cabin was discovered in a notch of clearing,
-as gray and silent as the gray woods around it. A thin wisp of smoke
-climbed from the low chimney against the wall of forest, and a waft of
-its pungent odor came to the travellers. Even as they drew near, its
-owner also arrived, and gave them hospitable welcome to his hearth, and
-presently the little room was aglow with light and warmth.
-
-Here Ruth and little Martha thawed away their cramps and chilliness by
-the big fireplace, while Seth and his son Nathan, with the hunter's
-help, unhitched the oxen from the sled. From this they brought the
-rations of hay and corn, and made the oxen and their comrade, the cow,
-contented with their roofless lodging behind the cabin.
-
-Then the pork and Indian meal were taken inside. Ruth mixed a
-johnny-cake with hot water and salt, and set it to bake on its board,
-tilted before the fire. The frying-pan was filled with pork, and slices
-of moose meat contributed from Job's larder.
-
-The little party, ranged on rude seats about the fireplace, so great as
-to be out of all proportion to the room, chatted of things near and
-afar, while they grew hungry with every sniff of appetizing cookery.
-
-Nathan was all agog at the peltry that hung from innumerable pegs on the
-rough log walls. There were skins of many animals that had long been
-rare, if not extinct, in the old colony where he was born.
-
-There were the broad, round shields of beaver skins, the slenderer and
-lighter-hued skins of otters, besides the similarly shaped but smaller
-and darker-colored fisher, with a bundle of the lesser martins, that Job
-called "saple," and no end of muskrats and minks. There were, also, half
-a dozen wolf skins, and, conspicuous in size and glossy blackness, were
-three bear skins, and beside them hung a tawny panther hide, the huge
-hinder paws and long tail trailing on the puncheon floor, while the
-cat-like head seemed to prowl, as stealthily as in life, among the upper
-shadows and flickerings of the firelight.
-
-Quickly noting the boy's interest in these trophies, Job made the round
-of them all, explaining the habits of each animal, the method of its
-capture, and giving brief narrations of encounters with the larger ones.
-He exhibited, with the most pride, a beautiful silver-gray foxskin, and
-an odd-looking spotted and coarse-haired skin, stuffed with moss into
-some semblance of its form in the flesh. This he brought to the
-fireside, and set on its fin-like hinder feet, for the inspection of his
-guests.
-
-"What on airth is it?" Seth Beeman asked.
-
-"'Tain't of the airth, but of the water," Job answered, with a chuckle.
-"I killed it on the ice of the lake airly in the winter. One of the
-sojers at the Fort see it, an' he says it's a seal fish belongin' to the
-sea, where he's seen no end on 'em. But them sojers to the Fort is an
-ign'ant set like all the reg'lars, that we rangers always despised as
-bad as they did us, an' it don't look no ways reasonable that sech a
-creatur' could come all the way up the St. Lawrence, an' the Iriquois
-River, an' most the len'th o' this lake. My idee is, it's a fresh-water
-maremaid, an' nat'ral to this lake."
-
-If Seth had any doubt of this theory, he gave it no expression, and the
-hunter went on:
-
-"An ol' Injin told me that there's always ben one o' these cretur's seen
-in this lake a spell afore every war that's ever ben. But I hope the
-sign'll fail this time. I've seen enough o' war an' I don't see no
-chance of another, all Canady bein' took an' the Injins in these parts
-bein' quilled."
-
-The johnny-cake, having been baking for some time in its last turn on
-the board, was now pronounced done. The mixed contents of the frying-pan
-were turned out on a wooden trencher, and conversation was suspended for
-the more important matter of supper. Not long after this was disposed
-of, the host and his guests betook themselves to sleep in quilts and
-blankets on the puncheon floor, with their feet to the blazing backlog
-and glowing bed of coals.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II--THE NEW HOME
-
-
-The light of a cloudless March morning pervaded the circumscribed
-landscape when the inmates of the cabin were astir again. Not many
-moments later, a sudden booming report broke the stillness and rolled in
-sullen echoes back and forth from mountains and forested shores.
-
-"The sunrise gun to Fort Ti," Job said, in reply to the questioning look
-of his guests. "They hain't no other use for their powder now."
-
-A fainter report, and its fainter answering echoes, boomed through the
-breathless air.
-
-"An' that's Crown P'int Fort, ten mile furder down the lake. They help
-to keep us from getting lonesome up here in the woods." And, indeed,
-there was a comfortable assurance of human neighborhood and helpful
-strength in these mighty voices that shook the primeval forest with
-their dull thunder.
-
-"I don't sca'cely ever go nigh the forts," Job continued. "I don't like
-them reg'lars an' their toppin' ways."
-
-After fortifying themselves with a breakfast, in no wise differing from
-their last meal, the travellers set forth on the last stage of their
-journey, Job volunteering to accompany them upon it, and see them
-established in their new home. They had not gone far on their way down
-the narrow channel of the creek when it brought them to the broad,
-snow-clad expanse of the lake, lying white and motionless between its
-rugged shores, bristling with the forest, save where, on their left, was
-a stretch of cleared ground, in the midst of which stood, like a grim
-sentinel, grown venerable with long years of steadfast watch, the gray
-battlements of Fort Ticonderoga.
-
-Here and there could be seen red-coated soldiers, bright dots of color
-in the colorless winter landscape, and, above them, lazily flaunting in
-the light breeze, shone the red cross of England. The old ranger gave
-the flag the tribute of a military salute, while his heart swelled with
-pride at sight of the banner for which he had fought, and which he had
-followed almost to where it now waved, in the humiliation of
-Abercrombie's defeat, and here had seen it planted in Amherst's
-triumphant advance.
-
-In Seth Beeman's breast it stirred no such thrill. It had no such
-associations with deeds in which he had borne a part, and to him, as to
-many another of his people, it was becoming a symbol of oppression
-rather than an object of pride. To Nathan's boyish eyes it was a most
-beautiful thing, without meaning, but of beauty. His heart beat quick as
-the rattling drums and the shrill notes of the fife summoned the
-garrison to parade.
-
-The oxen went at a brisker pace on the unobstructed surface of the lake,
-and the travellers soon came to a little creek not far up which was the
-clearing that Seth Beeman had made during the previous summer. In the
-midst of it stood the little log house that was henceforth to be their
-home, the shed for the cattle, and a stack of wild hay, inconspicuous
-among log heaps almost as large as they, looking anything but homelike
-with the smokeless chimney and pathless approach. Nor, when entered, was
-the bare interior much more cheerful.
-
-A fire, presently blazing on the hearth, soon enlivened it. The floor
-was neatly swept with a broom fashioned of hemlock twigs by Job's ready
-hands. The little stock of furniture was brought in. The pewter
-tableware was ranged on the rough corner shelves. Ruth added here and
-there such housewifely touches as only a woman can give. The change,
-wrought in so brief a space, seemed a magical transformation. What two
-hours ago was but a barren crib of rough, clay-chinked logs, was now a
-furnished living-room, cozy with rude, homelike comfort.
-
-Then the place was hanselled with its first regularly prepared dinner,
-the first meal beneath its roof at which a woman had presided. Job,
-loath to leave the most humanized habitation that he had seen for
-months, set forth for his own lonely cabin. Except the unneighborly
-inmates of the Fort, these were his nearest neighbors, and to them, for
-his old comrade's sake, he felt a closer friendship than had warmed his
-heart for many a year.
-
-Though it was March, winter lacked many days of being spent in this
-latitude, and, during their continuance, Seth was busy with his axe,
-widening the clearing with slow, persistent inroads upon the surrounding
-forest, and piling the huge log heaps for next spring's burning. Nathan
-gave a willing and helpful hand to the piling of the brush, and took
-practical lessons in that accomplishment so necessary to the
-pioneer--the woodsman's craft. Within doors his mother, with little
-Martha for her companion, plied cards and spinning-wheel, with the
-frugal store of wool and flax brought from the old home. So their busy
-hands kept loneliness at bay, even amid the dreariness of the wintry
-wilderness.
-
-At last the south wind blew with a tempered breath. Hitherto unseen
-stumps appeared above the settling snow, the gray haze of woods purpled
-with a tinge of spring, and the caw of returning crows pleased their
-ears, tired of the winter's silence.
-
-Seth tapped the huge old maples with a gouge, and the sap, dripping from
-spouts of sumac wood, was caught in rough-hewn troughs. From these it
-was carried in buckets on a neck-yoke to the boiling place, an
-open-fronted shanty. Before it the big potash kettle was hung on a tree
-trunk, so balanced on a stump that it could be swung over or off the
-fire at will. Sugaring brought pleasure as well as hard labor to Nathan.
-There were quiet hours spent in the shanty with his father, with little
-to do but mend the fire and watch the boiling sap walloping and
-frothing, half hidden beneath the clouds of steam that filled the woods
-with sweet odor.
-
-Sometimes Job joined them and told of his lonely scouts in the Ranger
-service, and of bush fights with Indians and their French allies, and of
-encounters with wild beasts, tales made more impressive in their
-relation by the loneliness of the campfire, with the circle of wild
-lights and shadows leaping around it in the edge of the surrounding
-darkness, out of which came, perhaps from far away, the howl of a wolf
-or the nearer hoot of the great horned owl.
-
-Sometimes Martha spent part of a day in camp with her brother, helping
-in womanly ways that girls so early acquired in the training of those
-times, when every one of the household must learn helpfulness and
-self-reliance. But the little sister enjoyed most the evenings when the
-syrup was taken to the house and sugared off. The children surfeited
-themselves with sugar "waxed" on snow, and their parents, and Job, if he
-chanced to be there, shared of this most delicious of the few backwoods
-luxuries, and the five made a jolly family party.
-
-One morning, when the surface of the coarse-grained old snow was covered
-with one of the light later falls, known as "sugar snow," as Seth and
-his son were on their way to the sugar place, the latter called his
-father's attention to a large track bearing some resemblance to the
-imprint of a naked human foot, and tending with some meandering in the
-same direction that they were going.
-
-"Why," said Seth, at the first glance, "it's a bear, an' if he's been to
-the camp, I'm afraid he's done mischief, for they're meddlesome
-creatur's. But there wa'n't much left there for him to hurt," he added,
-after taking a brief mental inventory of the camp's contents.
-
-"I can't think of nothing but the hunk of pork we had to keep the big
-kittle from b'ilin' over," said Nathan, "and a little mite of syrup that
-we left in the little kittle 'cause there was more'n we could carry home
-in the pails."
-
-"He's welcome to that if he's left the pork; we hain't no pork to feed
-bears."
-
-Now, as they drew near the camp, they heard a strange commotion in its
-neighborhood; a medley of smothered angry growls, impatient whines,
-unwieldy floundering, and a dull thud and clank of iron, the excited
-squalling of a party of jays, and the chattering jeers of a red
-squirrel. Running forward in cautious haste, they presently discovered
-the cause of this odd confusion of noises to be a large black bear.
-
-His head was concealed in the pot-bellied syrup kettle, held fast in
-that position by the bail, that, in his eagerness to lick out the last
-drop of stolen sweet, had slipped behind his ears. His frantic efforts
-to get rid of his self-imposed muzzle were so funny that, after their
-first moment of bewilderment, the two spectators could but shout with
-laughter.
-
-Now upreared, the blindfolded bear would strike wildly at the kettle
-with his forepaws; then, falling on his back, claw it furiously with his
-hinder ones; then, regaining his feet, rush headlong till brought to a
-sudden stand by an unseen tree trunk. Recovering from the shock, he
-would remain motionless for a moment, as if devising some new means of
-relief, but would presently resume the same round of unavailing devices,
-with the constant accompaniment of smothered expressions of rage and
-terror.
-
-But there was little time for laughter when a precious kettle and a fat
-bear might at any moment be lost by the fracture of one and the escape
-of the other. Seth had no weapon but his axe, but with this he essayed
-prompt attack, the happy opportunity for which was at once offered. In
-one of his blind, unguided rushes, the bear charged directly toward the
-camp, till his iron-clad head struck with a resounding clang against the
-great boiling kettle. As he reeled backward from the shock, half stunned
-by it, and bewildered by the unaccustomed sound that still rang in his
-ears, Seth was beside him with axe uplifted.
-
-Only an instant he deliberated where and how to strike; at the skull he
-dared not with the axe-head, for fear of breaking the kettle, and he
-disliked to strike with the blade further back for fear of disfiguring
-the skin. But this was the preferable stroke, and in the next instant
-the axe-blade fell with a downright blow, so strong and well aimed that
-it severed the spinal column just forward of the shoulders. The great
-brute went down, paralyzed beyond all motion, to fall in a helpless heap
-and yield up his life with a few feeble gasps.
-
-"Oh, father," cried Nathan, the first to break the sudden silence, with
-a voice tremulous in exultation, "to think we've got a bear. Won't
-mother and Marthy be proud? and won't Job think we're real hunters?"
-
-Waiting but a moment to stroke the glossy fur and lift a huge inert paw,
-but such a little while ago so terrible, he sped home to bring his
-mother and sister to see the unexpected prize, while the jays renewed
-their querulous outcry, and the squirrel vociferously scoffed the fallen
-despoiler of his stolen nuts.
-
-The flesh made a welcome addition to the settler's scanty store of meat,
-the fat furnished a medium for frying the hitherto impossible doughnut,
-and Job promised to bring them a handsome price for the skin, when he
-should sell it with his own peltry to the fur traders. But the praise he
-bestowed upon Seth's coolness in the strange encounter was sweeter to
-Nathan than all else.
-
-As the days went on the advance of spring became more rapid and more
-apparent. Already the clearing was free from snow, and even in the
-shadow of the forest the tops of the cradle knolls showed the brown mats
-of last year's leaves above the surface, that was no longer a pure
-white, but littered with the winter downfall of twigs, moss, and bits of
-bark, and everywhere it was gray with innumerable swarming mites of snow
-fleas. Great flocks of wild geese harrowed the sky. Ducks went whistling
-in swift flight just above the tree tops, or settled in the puddles
-beginning to form along the border of the marsh. Here muskrats were
-getting first sight of the sun after months of twilight spent beneath
-the ice.
-
-In the earliest April days of open water, when the blackbirds, on every
-bordering elm and water maple, were filling the air with a jangle of
-harsh and liquid notes, and the frogs, among the drift of floating
-weeds, were purring an unremitting croak, Job took Nathan out on the
-marshes, and instructed him in the art of shooting the great pickerel
-now come to spawn in the warm shallows.
-
-"Never shoot at 'em," said he, when a shot from his smooth-bore had
-turned an enormous fellow's white belly to the sun, and he quickly
-lifted the fish into the canoe; "if you do, you won't hit 'em. Always
-shoot under, a mite or more, accordin' to the depth o' water."
-
-Powder and lead were too precious to waste much of them on fish, so the
-old hunter made his pupil a hornbeam bow and arrows with spiked heads.
-With these weapons the boy soon became so skilled that he kept the table
-well supplied with this agreeable variation of its frugal fare.
-
-Song-birds came in fewer numbers in those days of wide wildernesses than
-now, but there were bluebirds and song sparrows enough to enliven the
-clearing with sweet songs, and little Martha found squirrel cups
-blooming in the warmest corners of the field. As the days grew longer
-and warmer they grew busier, for Seth was diligently getting his crops
-in among the black stumps.
-
-Job, having foreseen his friend's need of some sort of water craft when
-the lake should open, had fashioned for him a log canoe from the trunk
-of a great pine, and modelled it as gracefully as his own birch, though
-it was many times a heavier, as it was a steadier, craft.
-
-One pleasant afternoon in early May, when the lake was quite clear of
-ice, Seth and his son, with Job as their instructor in the art of canoe
-navigation, made a trip in the new boat. They paddled down the creek,
-now a broad bit of water from the spring overflow. When they came to the
-lake, rippled with a brisk northern breeze, they found their visit well
-timed, for a rare and pretty sight was before them, so rare and pretty
-that Job paddled back with all speed for the mother and daughter that
-they, too, might see it.
-
-A mile below the mouth of the creek a large vessel was coming, under all
-sail, with the British flag flying bravely above the white cloud of
-canvas. They could hear the inspiring strains of martial music, and,
-when the noble vessel swept past not half a mile away, they could see
-the gayly dressed officers and the blue-jacketed sailors swarming on her
-deck.
-
-"It's the sloop from St. Johns," said Job. "She comes two or three
-times, whilst the lake's open, with stores for the garrison to the Fort.
-It's an easier trail than the road from Albany. Pretty soon you'll hear
-her speak."
-
-Almost at his words a puff of smoke jetted out from her black side, and,
-as it drifted across her deck, it was followed by the loud, sullen roar
-of the cannon. In response a smoke cloud drifted away from the Fort, and
-a moment later a roar of welcome reinforced the failing echoes. Again
-and again the sloop and the Fort exchanged salutes, till the new
-settlers ceased to be startled by such thunder as they had never before
-heard under a cloudless sky.
-
-"They hain't nothin' to do with their powder nowadays, but to fool it
-away in sech nonsense," said the Ranger, as the sloop came to anchor in
-front of the Fort. "Arter all it's a better use for it than killin'
-folks, erless," he deliberately excepted, "it might be Injins."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III--A VISIT TO THE FORT
-
-
-The summer brought more settlers to these inviting lands of level,
-fertile soil, and when the woods were again bright with autumnal hues,
-their broad expanse of variegated color was blotched with many a square
-of unsightly new clearing. Job Carpenter looked with disfavor upon such
-infringement of the hunter's domain, but it was welcomed by the Beemans.
-Though Seth's active out-door employment and the constant companionship
-of nature made him less lonely than his wife, yet he was of a social
-nature and glad of human companionship; while Ruth, sometimes lonely in
-the isolation of her new home, rejoiced in the neighborhood of other
-women.
-
-Only a mile away were the Newtons, a large and friendly family, and
-within three miles were four more friendly households, and another at
-the falls of the turbid Lemon Fair. At this point a saw mill was being
-built and a grist mill talked of. With that convenience established so
-close at hand, there would be no more need of the long journey to the
-mill at Skeenesborough, a voyage that, in the best of weather, required
-two days to accomplish.
-
-The settlers at first pounded their corn into samp, or finer meal for
-johnny-cake, by the slow and laborious plumping mill, a huge wooden
-mortar with a spring pole pestle.
-
-"Oh, mother," said Nathan, one summer afternoon, as for a while he
-stopped the regular thump, thump of the plumping mill to wipe his hot
-face and rest his arms that ached with the weary downpull of the great
-pestle, "when do you s'pose the folks to the Fair will get the gris'
-mill done?"
-
-"Afore long, I hope, for your sake, my boy," she answered, cheerily,
-through the window. "Let me spell you awhile and you take a good rest."
-
-Laying her wool cards aside, she came out and set her strong hands to
-the pestle, while Nathan ran out to the new road to see what ox-teamster
-of unfamiliar voice was bawling his vociferous way along its
-root-entangled and miry course. Presently the boy came back, breathless
-with the haste of bearing great news.
-
-"Oh, mother, they're carryin' the stones and fixin's for the new mill,
-and the man says they'll be ready for grindin' before winter sets in.
-Then it'll be good-by to you, old 'Up-an'-down,' and good riddance to
-bad rubbage," and he brought the pestle down with energy on the
-half-pounded grist of samp.
-
-"Don' revile the plumpin' mill, Nathan. It's been a good friend in time
-o' need. Mebby you'll miss the trips to Skeenesborough with your father.
-You've always lotted on them."
-
-"Yes, but I'd rather go to the Fort and play with the boys, any day, and
-I'll have more time when samp poundin' is done and ended."
-
-He had been with his father twice to the Fort to see its wonders, and,
-brief as the visits were, they sufficed to make him acquainted with the
-boys of the garrison, and, for the time, a partner in their games.
-Before the summer was out, the little Yankee became a great favorite
-with the few English and Irish boys whose fathers were soldiers of the
-little garrison. He taught them how to shoot with his hornbeam bow and
-spiked arrows, and many another bit of woodcraft learned of his fast
-friend Job, while they taught him unheard-of games, and told him tales
-of the marvellous world beyond the sea, a world that was as a dream to
-him.
-
-His Yankee inquisitiveness made him acquainted with every nook and
-corner of the fortification, and he was even one day taken into the
-commandant's quarters, that the beautiful wife of that fine gentleman
-might see from what manner of embryo grew these Yankees, who were
-becoming so troublesome to His Majesty, King George. She was so pleased
-with his frank, simple manner and shrewd answers that she dismissed him
-with a bright, new English shilling, the largest sum that he had yet
-possessed.
-
-"Really, William," she afterwards remarked to her husband, "if this be a
-specimen of your terrible Yankees, they be very like our own people, in
-speech and actions, only sharper witted, and they surely show close
-kinship with us in spite of such long separation."
-
-"You little know them," said Captain Delaplace, laughing. "They are a
-turbulent, upstart breed. I fear only a sound drubbing, and, perhaps,
-the hanging of a score of their leaders, will teach them obedience to
-His Majesty."
-
-"I would be sorry to have this little man drubbed or hanged," said she,
-with a sigh; "surely he is not of the stuff rebels are made of."
-
-"The very stuff, my dear. Bold and self-reliant, and impatient of
-control, as you may see. If ever there comes an outbreak of these
-discontented people, I warrant you'll find this boy deserving the
-drubbing and getting it, too, for His Majesty's troops would make short
-work of such rabble."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV--THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS
-
-
-A year later, the dispute of the Governors of New York and New
-Hampshire, concerning the boundaries of the two provinces, was at its
-height, and the quarrel between claimants of grants of the same lands,
-under charters from both governors, became every day more violent. The
-disputed territory was that between the Connecticut River and Lake
-Champlain, and was for a long time known as the New Hampshire Grants.
-
-If a New York grantee found the claim which he had selected, or which
-had been allotted to him, occupied by a New Hampshire grantee, when the
-strength of his party was sufficient he would take forcible possession
-of the land, without regard to the improvements made upon it, and
-without making any compensation therefor. He was seldom left long in
-enjoyment of possession thus gained, for the friends of the New
-Hampshire grantee quickly rallied to his aid and summarily ousted the
-aggressor, who, if he proved too stubborn, was likely to be roughly
-handled, and have set upon his back the imprint of the beech seal, the
-name given to the blue-beech rod wherewith such offenders were
-chastised. The New Hampshire grantees were as unscrupulous in their
-ejectment of New York claimants who had first established themselves on
-the New Hampshire Grants. Surveyors, acting under the authority of New
-York, were especially obnoxious to settlers of the other party, and
-rough encounters of the opposing claimants were not infrequent. Seth
-Beeman and his neighbors had all taken up land under a New Hampshire
-charter, without a thought of its validity being questioned.
-
-One bright June morning, Nathan was watching the corn that, pushing its
-tender blades above the black mould in a corner of the clearing, offered
-sweet and tempting morsels to the thieving crows. It was a lazy,
-sleep-enticing occupation, when all the crows but one, who sat biding
-his opportunity on a dry tree top, had departed, cawing encouragement to
-one another, in quest of a less vigilantly guarded field. There was no
-further need for beating with his improvised drumsticks on the hollow
-topmost log of the fence, to the tune of "Uncle Dan, Uncle Dan, Uncle
-Dan, Dan, Dan," which would not scare the wise old veteran from his
-steadfast waiting.
-
-The indolent fluting of the hermit thrushes rang languidly through the
-leafy chambers of the forest, and the wood pewees sang their pensive
-song on the bordering boughs, too content with song and mere existence
-to chase the moth that wavered nearest their perch. The languor of their
-notes pervaded all the senses of the boy, and, with his body in the
-shade of the log fence and his bare feet in the sunshine, he fell into a
-doze.
-
-Suddenly he was awakened by an alarmed outcry of the crow, now sweeping
-in narrow circles above some new intruder upon his domain. Then he
-became aware of strange voices, the tramp of feet, the swish of branches
-pushed aside regaining their places, a metallic clink, and occasional
-lightly delivered axe strokes. Mounting the topmost log of the fence,
-and shading his eyes with his hands, he peered into the twilight of the
-woods. To this his eyes had hardly accustomed themselves, when he saw
-what sent flashes of anger and chills of dread chasing one another
-through his veins. But a few rods away, and coming towards him, were two
-men, one bearing the end of a surveyor's chain and a bundle of wire
-rods, the other carrying an axe and gun. A little behind these were two
-men similarly equipped, and still further in the rear, half hidden by
-the screen of undergrowth, more figures were discovered, one of whom was
-squinting through the sights of a compass, whose polished brass
-glittered in a stray sunbeam. Nathan was sure this must be the party of
-the New York surveyor of whom there had been a rumor in the settlement,
-and he felt that trouble was at hand.
-
-"Hello, here's a clearin'," the foremost man, as he ran to the fence,
-called back to the one at the other end of the chain. "Jenkins, tell Mr.
-Felton there's a fenced clearin' here,--and boy," now deigning to notice
-so insignificant an object.
-
-"Stake," cried Jenkins.
-
-As the first speaker planted one of the wire rods beside the fence,
-Jenkins pulled up the last one stuck in the woods, at the same time
-shouting the news back to the surveyor.
-
-"Hold on, boy," the first speaker said, as Nathan jumped from the fence.
-"You stay here till Mr. Felton comes up."
-
-"I'm going home," Nathan answered boldly; "if Mr. Felton wants me he can
-come there."
-
-"You sassy young rascal," cried one of the men, who carried a gun,
-bringing his weapon to a ready; "you stand where you be or I'll--" and
-he tapped the butt of his gun impressively.
-
-"You wouldn't dast to," Nathan gasped defiantly, but he went no further,
-and stood at bay, grinding the soft mold under his naked heel while he
-cast furtive glances at the intruders, till the remainder of the party
-came up. The surveyor, impressed with the dignity of his position,
-maintained a haughty bearing toward all the members of his party save
-one, a swarthy, thick-set, low-browed man, whom he addressed as Mr.
-Graves.
-
-"A fine clearing, indeed," said Mr. Felton when he came to the fence. "I
-wonder what Yankee scoundrel has dared to so seize, hold and occupy the
-lands of the Royal Colony of New York."
-
-"Mayhap this younker can tell you, sir," said the man guarding the boy,
-and lowering his gun as he spoke.
-
-"Boy, what scoundrel has dared to steal this land and establish himself
-upon it without leave or license of His Excellency, the Governor of New
-York? Yes, and cut down the pine trees, especially reserved for the
-masting of His Majesty's navy," and he tapped the top log impressively.
-
-"It's holler, Mr. Felton," Jenkins suggested, satisfying himself of the
-fact by a resonant thump of his axe.
-
-"Who stole this land? Where's your tongue, boy?" Mr. Felton demanded
-sharply.
-
-But the boy, out of mind an instant, in that instant was out of sight.
-Many a time he had heard Job recount the manner of retreat practised by
-the Rangers, and now the knowledge served him well. While the
-surveryor's party was engaged with the pine, he slipped down on the same
-side of the fence, gained the veiling of a low bush, wormed his way a
-few feet along the ground, reached the protection of a large tree trunk,
-when he leaped to his feet, and, fleet and noiseless as a Ranger
-himself, fled from tree to tree in a circuitous route to his father.
-
-Seth Beeman was hard at work on an extension of his clearing to the
-westward when Nathan came up, panting and breathless.
-
-"Oh, father, there's a whole lot of Yorkers come and they're runnin' a
-line right through our clearin'."
-
-Seth listened attentively until the men and their work had been
-described minutely, and then, without a word, resumed the trimming of
-the great hemlock he had just felled. As Nathan waited for some
-response, he knew by his father's knitted brow that his thoughts were
-busy. At length, breaking off a twig of hemlock, he came to his son and
-said, handing the evergreen to him:
-
-"Take this to Newton's and show it to the men folks, and say 'There's
-trouble to Beeman's,' and then go on and do the same at every house,
-'round to Job's, and show it to him and tell him the' same, and do
-whatever he tells you. Be spry, my boy; I must stay here and ta' care of
-mother and Sis. Keep in the woods till you get clear of the Yorkers,
-then take the road and clipper."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V--THE EVERGREEN SPRIG
-
-
-Understanding the importance of his errand and guessing its purpose,
-Nathan skulked stealthily along the heavily-wooded border of the highway
-till past all chance of discovery, when he took the easier course of the
-road. The ecstatic melody of the thrushes' song and the pensive strain
-of the pewee had not changed, yet now they were instinct with cheer and
-acceleration, as was the merry drumbeat of the flicker on a dry branch
-overhead.
-
-Presently, as he held his steady pace, splashing through puddles and
-pattering along firmer stretches, he heard sharp and loud footfalls in
-rapid approach. Before his first impulse to strike into the ready cover
-of the woods was carried into effect, a horseman galloped around the
-turn, and he was face to face with a handsome stranger, whose tall,
-well-knit figure, heightened by his seat on horseback, towered above the
-boy like a giant.
-
-"Hello," said the man, reining up his horse, "and where are you bound in
-such a hurry, and who might you be?" His clear gray eyes were fixed on
-Nathan, who noticed pistols in the holsters, a long gun across the
-saddle bow, and, in the cocked hat, a sprig of evergreen.
-
-"I'm Seth Beeman's boy," Nathan answered, pointing in the direction of
-his home, "and I'm goin' to neighbor Newton's of an arrant."
-
-"Ah,--Beeman,--a good man, I'm told. And what might take you to neighbor
-Newton's in such a hurry? Has that hemlock twig in your hand anything to
-do with your errand?" demanded the stranger, in an imperative but kindly
-voice. "Speak up. You need not be afraid of me."
-
-Nathan looked up inquiringly at the bold, handsome face smiling down on
-him.
-
-"Did you ever hear of Ethan Allen?" asked the stranger.
-
-"Oh, yes; only yesterday father told about Ethan Allen's throwing the
-Yorker's millstones over the Great Falls at New Haven."
-
-"Right and true! Well, I am Ethan Allen." As he gave his name in a
-deep-toned voice of proud assurance, it seemed in itself a strong host.
-"Your father sent you with that twig to say there's trouble at Beeman's,
-didn't he?"
-
-Nathan looked up in wonder, admiration, and gladness, and then, with the
-instinctive, unreasoned confidence that the famous chieftain of the
-Grants was wont to inspire, told unreservedly his father's troubles and
-directions. When Allen had heard it, he wheeled his horse beside the
-nearest stump and bade Nathan mount behind him.
-
-"My horse's feet will help you make your rounds quicker than yours, my
-man. We've no time to lose, for there's no telling what those scoundrels
-may be at. Eight Yorkers! Well, we'll soon raise good men enough to make
-short work of them."
-
-Nathan mounted nimbly to his assigned place, and, clasping as far as he
-could the ample waist of his new friend, was borne along the road at a
-speed that soon brought them to the log house of the Newtons. A man of
-the herculean mould so common to the early Vermonters came out of the
-house to meet the comers, with an expression of pleased surprise on his
-good-humored face.
-
-"Why, colonel, we wa'n't expectin' on you so soon, but we hain't no less
-glad to see you. 'Light and come in. Mother'll hev potluck ready to
-rights. Why, is that the Beeman boy stickin' on behind you? Anything the
-matter over to Beeman's?"
-
-"No, we can't 'light," Allen replied; and then, looking down over his
-shoulder, "Do your errand, my boy, and we'll push on."
-
-Nathan held out the carefully kept sprig of evergreen and repeated his
-message.
-
-"Trouble to Beeman's, now."
-
-"Yea, verily," said Allen to Newton, whose face flashed at the boy's
-words. "Rise up and gird on your swords, you and your sons. The
-Philistines are upon you even as it has been prophesied. Felton and his
-gang of land thieves. The son of Belial was warned to depart from the
-land of the elect, but he heeds not those who cry in the wilderness.
-Confound the rascal! He must be 'viewed'! You and your two boys take
-your guns and jog down that way, and as you go cut a goodly scourge of
-blue beech, for verily there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing
-of teeth. We'll rally the Callenders, and Jones, and Harrington, and
-North, and my friend Beeman here will tell Job. We'll gather a good
-dozen. Enough to mete out the vengeance of the Lord to eight Yorkers,
-I'll warrant!"
-
-Strange and abrupt as were the transitions from Allen's favorite
-Scriptural manner of speech to the ordinary vernacular, no one thought
-of laughing. As the boy dismounted, Allen said:
-
-"You go straight to Job and do as he tells you;" and as he rode away
-called back, "everybody lay low and keep dark till you hear the owl
-hoot."
-
-Soon Nathan turned from the road into an obscure footpath that led in
-the direction of Job Carpenter's cabin. The gloom and loneliness of the
-mysterious forest, through which the narrow footpath wound, so pervaded
-it that the song birds seemed awed to silence, and the woodpeckers
-tapped cautiously, as if afraid of being heard by some enemy. No boy,
-even of backwoods breeding, would care to loiter had his errand been
-less urgent, and he gave but a passing notice to things ordinarily of
-absorbing interest.
-
-A mother partridge fluttered along the ground in simulated crippledness
-while her callow brood vanished among the low-spread leaves. A shy wood
-bird disclosed the secret of her nest as he sped by. Against a dark pine
-gleamed the fiery flash of a tanager's plumage. A wood mouse stirred the
-dry leaves. His own foot touched a prostrate dead sapling, and the dry
-top rustled unseen in the wayside thicket. There was a sound of long,
-swift bounds, punctuating the silence with growing distinctness, and a
-hare, in his brown summer coat, wide-eyed with terror, flashed like a
-dun streak across the path just before him, and close behind the
-terrified creature a gray lynx shot past, eager with sight and scent of
-his prey, closing the distance with long leaps. Before the intermittent
-scurry of footfalls had faded out of hearing they ceased, and a wail of
-agony announced the tragical end of the race. The cry made him shiver,
-and he could but think that the lynx might have been a panther and the
-hare a boy.
-
-His heart grew lighter when he saw the sunshine showing golden green
-through the leafy screen that bordered the hunter's little clearing. He
-found Job leaning on his hoe in his patch of corn, looking wistfully on
-the creek, where the fish were breaking the surface among the weeds that
-marked the expanse of marsh with tender green, and where the sinuous
-course of the channel was defined by purple lines of lily pads. The
-message was received with a show of vexation, and the old man exclaimed:
-
-"Plague on 'em all with their pitches and surveyin' and squabblin'. Why
-can't folks let the woods alone? There's room enough in the settlements
-for sech quarrels without comin' here to disturb God's peace with
-bickerin's over these acres o' desart. I thought I'd got done wi' wars
-and fightin's, exceptin' with varmints, when the Frenchers and Injins
-was whipped. But I guess there won't never be no peace on airth and good
-will to men for all it's ben preached nigh onto eighteen hundred years.
-Plague on your Hampshire Grants and your York Grants, the hul bilin'!
-Wal, if it must come it must, and I'll be skelped if I'll see Yorkers a
-runnin' over my own Yankee kin. Yorkers is next to Reg'lars for toppin'
-ways. I never could abear 'em."
-
-While he spoke he twirled Nathan's hemlock sprig between his fingers and
-now set it carefully in the band of his hat and led the way to his
-cabin.
-
-"And Ethan Allen's in these betterments? Well, them Yorkers'll wish
-they'd stayed to home. He's hard-handed, is Ethan."
-
-The two were now in the cabin, and Job set forth a cold johnny-cake and
-some jerked venison that Nathan needed no urging to partake of. "'Tain't
-your mother's cookin', but it's better'n nothin'," Job said, as between
-mouthfuls he counted out a dozen bullets from a pouch and put them in
-his pocket. Then he held up his powder horn toward the light after
-giving it a shake, and, being satisfied of its contents, slung it over
-his shoulder. Their hunger being satisfied, he took the long smooth-bore
-from its hooks, examined the flint, and, nodding to Nathan to follow,
-went down to his canoe, that lay bottom up on the bank.
-
-"It's quicker goin' by water'n by land," said Job, as he set the canoe
-afloat and stepped into it, while Nathan took his place forward.
-Impelled by the two paddles, the light craft went swiftly gliding down
-the creek, and then northward, skirting the wooded shore of the lake.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI--THE YORKERS
-
-
-Though the presentation of claims, under the authority of the New York
-government, to the land which Seth Beeman occupied by virtue of a title
-derived from the Governor of New Hampshire, had for some time been
-expected and resistance fully determined upon, Seth's heart was as hot
-with anger and heavy with anxiety as if invasion had come without
-warning. Tenacious of his rights, he yet hated strife and contention.
-Nor could he foresee whether he must lose the home he had wrought with
-toil and privation out of the savage wilderness, or whether, after a
-sharp, brief contest, he would be left in peaceable possession of it, or
-whether he could then hold it only by continued resistance.
-
-Nathan had not been long away when he shouldered his axe and hastened
-toward the house. When it came in view, between the tall pillars of tree
-trunks that paled the verge of the clearing, the rough-walled dwelling
-had never looked more homelike nor better worth keeping. It had overcome
-the strangeness of new occupancy and settled to its place. The logs had
-begun to gather again the moss that they lost when they ceased to be
-trees. Wild vines, trained to tamer ways, clambered about the doorway
-and deep-set windows, beneath which beds of native and alien posies,
-carefully tended, alike flourished in the virgin soil. The young garden
-stuff was promising, and the broader expanse of fall-sown wheat, grown
-tall enough to toss in the wind, made a rippling green sea of the
-clearing, with islands of blackened stumps jutting here and there above
-the surface. The place had outgrown its uncouth newness and transient
-camp-like appearance and become a home to cling to and defend.
-
-"What is it, Seth?" asked Ruth, coming to greet him at the door, her
-smile fading as she saw his troubled face.
-
-"The Yorkers have come." And then he explained Nathan's mission. "Our
-folks'll come to help as soon as they can, but the Yorkers'll get here
-first. Look a there," and, following his eyes, Ruth saw the surveyor's
-party approaching the border of the clearing, just as the Beemans passed
-into the house.
-
-"It won't come to that, will it?" she asked, in a low, awed voice, as
-Seth took down his gun.
-
-"I hope not, but I want the gun out of their reach and where I can get
-it handy. There ain't a bullet or buckshot in the house," he declared,
-after examining the empty bullet pouch. "Give me some beans. They're
-good enough for Yorkers."
-
-As he spoke he measured a charge of powder into the long barrel, rammed
-a tow wad upon it, poured in a half handful of the beans that Ruth
-brought him in a gourd, rammed down another wad, put priming in the pan,
-clapped down the hammer, then mounted half way up the ladder that served
-as a stair, laid the gun on the floor of the upper room, and was down at
-the door when the surveyor led his party to it. He saluted the party
-civilly, and, upon demand, gave his name.
-
-"Well, Mr. Beeman," began the surveyor, in a pompous tone, "I sent your
-son to bring you to me, but it seems you did not please to come."
-
-"No," said Seth quietly; "it does not please me to leave my affairs at
-the beck and call of every stranger that comes this way."
-
-"Well, sir, I'd have you understand that I am Marmaduke Felton, duly
-appointed and licensed as a surveyor of His Majesty's lands within his
-province of New York. Furthermore, be it known, I have come here in the
-regular discharge of the duties of my office, to fix the bounds of land
-purchased by my client, Mr. Erastus Graves," bowing to the person, "of
-the original grantees, with patent from His Excellency the Governor, who
-alone has authority to grant these lands. I find you, sir, established
-on these same lands belonging to my client. What have you to say for
-yourself? By what pretended right have you made occupation of lands
-belonging to my client?"
-
-"I have to say for myself," Seth answered, in a steady voice, "that I
-bought this pitch of the original proprietors, and I have their deed,
-duly signed and sealed. They got their charter of His Excellency Benning
-Wentworth, His Majesty's Governor of the Province of New Hampshire."
-
-"Your title is not worth the paper it's written on," scoffed Mr. Felton.
-"Governor Wentworth has no more authority to grant lands than I have.
-Not a whit. The east bounds of New York are fixed by royal decree at the
-west bank of Connecticut River, as everybody knows, and Wentworth's
-grants this side that limit are null and void. No doubt you have acted
-in good faith, but now there's nothing for you but to vacate these
-betterments forthwith; yes, forthwith, if you will take the advice of a
-friend," and the little man regaled himself with a pinch of snuff.
-
-"I shall not go till I am forced to," Seth answered with determination.
-"When it comes to force both parties may take a hand in the game."
-
-"Very well, very well! I have given you friendly advice; if you do not
-choose to take it the consequences be on your own head. Come, Graves;
-come, men, let us go about our present affairs;" adding, after some talk
-with Graves, "We shall be back to spend the night with you, Mr. Beeman.
-You cannot refuse Mr. Graves the shelter of his own house."
-
-Seth flushed with anger, but answered steadily: "I can't help it, but
-you will not be welcome."
-
-The men who had been idling about, taking little interest in the parley,
-now followed their employers back to the woods, trampling through the
-young wheat in their course.
-
-"I wish you a pleasant night on't," said Seth under his breath, and
-turned to reassure his wife. "Don't be frightened, my girl. They won't
-get us out of here. Keep a stout heart and wait."
-
-With a quieter heart she went about her household affairs, while her
-husband busied himself nearby, weeding the garden and giving to his
-wife's posy beds the awkward care of unaccustomed hands. He often
-stopped his employment to listen and intently scan the border of the
-woods. The shadows of the trees were stretching far across the clearing
-when an owl hooted solemnly in the nearest woods on the bank of the
-creek, and, presently, another answered farther away.
-
-"Do hear the owls hootin', and it's clear as a bell," said Ruth at the
-door, looking up to the cloudless sky. "It can't be it's a-going to
-storm."
-
-"I shouldn't wonder if it did," said Seth with a mirthless laugh. "Where
-was that nighest hoot?"
-
-As he spoke the solemn hollow notes were repeated, and some crows began
-to wheel and caw above the spot, marking it plainly enough to the eye
-and ear, and he set forth in the direction at a quick pace.
-
-"Why don't Nathan come home?" little Martha asked. "I hain't seen him
-all day. I wish he'd come. He'll get ketched in the storm."
-
-"Oh, don't worry, deary," said her mother after she had watched her
-husband disappear in the thickening shadow of the woods. "We might as
-well eat, for there's no telling when father'll be back." They were not
-half through the meal before he came, and, as he took his seat at the
-table, he said with a deep sigh of relief: "I'm afeard our York friends
-won't enjoy their lodgin's overmuch. The owls are round pretty thick
-to-night."
-
-"Well, I guess they've ben talking to you," said Ruth, as her face
-lighted with a comprehension of his meaning.
-
-"Can owls talk?" Martha asked, agape with wonder.
-
-"Well, the old knowing ones. Owls are turrible knowing creatur's," her
-father said.
-
-The twilight possessing the woods had scarcely invaded the clearing when
-the surveyor and his party came to the house, bringing in blankets,
-provisions, guns, tools, and instruments, till the one small room was
-crowded with them and the uninvited guests. Felton and Graves made
-themselves offensively and officiously at home. The cook took possession
-of the fire, and set two frying-pans of pork sputtering grease upon the
-tidy hearth, to the disgust of the housewife, who sat with her husband
-and child in a dark corner. At last Felton brought forth a bottle of
-spirits from his leathern portmanteau and drank to Graves.
-
-"Here's to your speedy installment in your rightful possessions. Now,
-help yourself, and give the men their tot."
-
-Graves stood filling his measure of grog in the tin cup, grinning with
-satisfaction, when a loud knock came on the door.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII--THE "JUDGMENT SEAT"
-
-
-Without waiting to be bidden, a man of massive mould entered the room.
-He strode into the firelight, and, wheeling on the hearth, faced the
-company, his shadow filling half the room.
-
-"Good evening, gentlemen. Good evening, Mr. Felton and Graves."
-
-The latter stood with the untasted dram half way to his gaping mouth,
-the other was as motionless, save as his face expressed successively
-astonishment, anger, and exultation.
-
-"Colonel Ethan Allen," he said at last, emphasizing the title. "Most
-happy to receive a call from so distinguished a person. A very fortunate
-meeting." Then changing his tone of mock politeness to one of command:
-"You are my prisoner. Men, lay hold of him! A hundred pounds are offered
-for his head! It is Ethan Allen! Lay hold of him, I tell you!"
-
-There was a reluctant stir among the men. One advanced toward the corner
-near the fireplace where the guns were set. With deliberate celerity
-Allen drew his hands from the skirts of his coat, a cocked pistol in
-each, and, with one of them, he covered the man skulking towards the
-guns.
-
-"The first man that draws a pistol or raises a gun gets a bullet through
-his carcass," he said with authority.
-
-At Allen's first words Seth had mounted the ladder and as quickly
-reappeared with his gun. The movement was seen in the dancing shadows,
-and he was covered by the other pistol, which was lowered as he was
-distinguished to be helping a woman and child to mount to the chamber.
-
-"Down with your gun over there! Oh, it is our friend Beeman! All right!"
-Then Allen called in a voice that made the pewter dishes ring on their
-shelves:
-
-"Come in, men!"
-
-The door swung violently open, and Job Carpenter, with all the
-arms-bearing men of the wide neighborhood, to the number of a dozen,
-came marching in, in Indian file, with rifle or smooth-bore at a trail.
-In the rear was Nathan, unarmed, but eager to see all that should
-transpire.
-
-Felton and Graves lost their bold demeanor, yet held their places, while
-their men slunk to the farther side of the room in dumb affright, save
-Jenkins, the cook, who, dodging this side and that of Allen's burly
-form, hovered near his frying-pans in a divided fear for his own safety
-and that of his pork.
-
-"Keep every one of these men under close guard, my boys," Allen
-commanded, "especially these two chief offenders. Now, Mr. Felton,
-perhaps it is made plain to you that I am not your prisoner, and that
-the gods of the valleys are not the gods of the hills. Behold how riches
-take to themselves wings and fly away even before they are possessed. In
-witness whereof, consider the hundred pounds offered by your Governor
-for an honest man. No wonder he longs for the sight of one, with such a
-pack of thieves and land jobbers as he has about him."
-
-"An honest man?" cried Felton, trembling with rage. "A ruffian! A
-rioter! A defier of law!" and he poured forth a torrent of opprobrious
-names, and a full measure of curses, till out of breath.
-
-"Go on, Master Felton, go on," said Allen, smiling benignly upon him.
-"Ease yourself. Unless it be prayer, which you rarely employ, I doubt,
-there is nothing like good round cursing to relieve an overburdened
-heart. Upon occasion I avail myself of the remedy. Pray go on, or give
-your friend a chance. Mr. Graves, you have the floor," but the man
-addressed only glowered savagely.
-
-"Well, if you have offered all your burnt offerings of brimstone, let
-the men have their supper and make themselves strong for their journey.
-Dish up the pork, cook, that you have been bumping my legs to get at,
-and bring out your bread bag. Stir yourselves. We have weighty business
-pending."
-
-The men ate their meat and bread with the appetite of those whom no
-emotion can cheat of a meal, but Felton and Graves would have none of
-it. The Green Mountain Boys sat apart, chatting in low tones, till the
-smokers were filling their pipes after their meal, when Allen rapped the
-table with the butt of his pistol, and his clear, deep voice broke the
-silence that ensued.
-
-"Friends of the Grants, you all know we have come here to erect the
-'Judgment seat' this night, and mete out such punishment as doth unto
-justice appertain. Yea, verily, for wrongs done or sought to be done
-upon the people of these New Hampshire Grants. We will at once elect a
-judge. To save time, I will nominate Ethan Allen as a proper person for
-that office. You that would elect him say 'Aye.'"
-
-There was a unanimous affirmative response, even Nathan, proud of the
-opportunity of giving his first vote, made his piping treble heard among
-the deep voices of the men.
-
-"Contrary minded, make the usual sign."
-
-There was only a sullen "No" from Felton.
-
-"You are not entitled to vote in this meeting, sir. I have a clear
-majority and will take my seat." So saying, Allen seated himself upon
-the table.
-
-"The plain facts of the case are these: This Mr. Felton and this Graves,
-also, were taken by me, and certain other good men, about one month ago,
-in the act of surveying, under the pretended authority of the tyrannical
-New York government, lands already granted by His Excellency Benning
-Wentworth, His Majesty's duly appointed Governor of New Hampshire. The
-said persons were ordered to desist from such unlawful business and to
-depart from these Grants, and were duly warned not to return for a like
-purpose under pain of being 'Viewed.' Furthermore, they were suffered to
-depart without bodily harm. Here the surveyor comes again, like a bad
-penny as he is, bearing the King's mark, but a base counterfeit none the
-less. And this Graves pretends to own this pitch by right of purchase
-under York government. Other than them I do not recognize any among this
-crew who have been 'Warned.' Now, friend Beeman, tell us your story."
-
-Seth told what had passed between him and the surveyor, and then Nathan
-was called to relate his meeting the party in the woods, which he did in
-a straightforward manner, except for his boyish bashfulness.
-
-"Now, you have it all. Felton and Graves are here, as you see, in
-prosecution of their unlawful business, as the testimony of this boy and
-his father shows. In further proof whereof, see the surveyor's
-instruments here in view. What say you, men of the Grants, are they
-guilty or not guilty?"
-
-"Guilty," said the various voices.
-
-"What shall be their punishment? That they be chastised with the twigs
-of the wilderness?"
-
-There was general affirmative response, some answering loudly, others
-faintly and hesitatingly. Then Job Carpenter stepped forward, and,
-making a military salute, said:
-
-"I don't go agin these men a gittin' what they desarve, but I don't want
-to have them skinned. Their skins hain't worth a-hevin' only for their
-selves, and I hate to see white men whipped like dogs. If they was
-Injins I wouldn't say agin it. But, bein' they hain't, I move they hev
-jest nine cuts o' the Blue Beech apiece."
-
-"Forty, save one," was the customary award in such cases, and there were
-a few dissenting voices, but the milder punishment was finally agreed
-upon.
-
-If the two men under sentence felt any gratitude for the mitigation of
-the severity, they expressed none. Graves maintained a sullen silence,
-though his vengeful scowl expressed as much hatred of the prosecutors of
-the informal trial as did the storm of oaths and abuse that Felton let
-forth upon them in intermittent gusts.
-
-So the night passed, with snatches of sleep for some, with none for
-others, while the prisoners were kept under constant guard. With
-daylight came the summary infliction of the punishment awarded. It was a
-scene so cruel that Ruth and Martha could not bear to hear, much less to
-witness it, and Nathan, when an old man, said it was a horrible memory.
-Yet, severe as was the chastisement inflicted by the Green Mountain Boys
-upon their persecutors, it was no more cruel than the legal punishment
-of many light offences in those days, when the whipping post was one of
-the first adornments of every little hamlet. In conclusion, Ethan Allen
-gave to Felton and Graves a "Certificate," written by himself, to the
-effect:
-
-"This is to Certify that the Bearer has this day rec'd his Just Dues and
-is permitted to pass beyond the New Hampshire Grants. He Behaving as
-Becometh. In witness whereof, see the Beech Seal upon his back and our
-Hands set Hereunto. Signed, Ethan Allen and others."
-
-Felton cast his upon the ground and stamped upon it, but Graves folded
-and put his carefully in his pocket, glowering in silence upon his
-enemies. Then Ethan Allen broke the surveyor's compass with his own
-hands and tossed the fragments away.
-
-"Now," said he, in an awful voice, "depart, and woe be unto you,
-Marmaduke Felton and Erastus Graves, if you ever set foot in the land of
-the Green Mountain Boys. You other men, if you come in peace and on
-honest business, you shall not have a hair of your heads hurt. But if
-you ever venture to come on such an iniquitous errand as now brought
-you, by the Great Jehovah, you shall repent in sackcloth and ashes!
-Forward, march!"
-
-At the command, the surveyor and his men filed off, and the last of the
-sullen and chap-fallen crew soon disappeared among the trees. They were
-accompanied some distance by the Green Mountain Boys, when their beloved
-chieftain rode away to redress wrongs of settlers in other parts.
-
-By noon the clearing was occupied by none but its usual tenants, and,
-henceforth, though they suffered frequent apprehension of further
-trouble, they were not molested by any New York claimants.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII--A NOVEL BEAR TRAP
-
-
-"You don't know of anybody hereabouts that wants to hire a good hand, I
-s'pose?" asked a stranger one August afternoon, as, without unslinging
-his pack, he set his gun against the log wall beside the door, and
-leaned upon his axe at the threshold.
-
-By degrees Seth Beeman had enlarged his clearing so far that he already
-needed stronger hands than Nathan's to help him in the care of the land
-already in tilth and in the further extension of his betterments, but he
-scanned the man closely before he answered. Though unprepossessing,
-low-browed, and surly looking, he was evidently a stout fellow, and
-accustomed to work. At length a reply was made by asking such questions
-as were a matter of course in those days, and are not yet quite obsolete
-in Yankeeland.
-
-The stranger readily said his name was Silas Toombs, that he was from
-Jersey way, and wished, when he had earned enough, to take up a right of
-land hereabouts, in a region he had often heard extolled by his father,
-who had served here in Captain Bergen's company of Rogers's Rangers.
-Seth had previously ascertained that no grown-up son of any of his
-neighbors could be spared to help him, so he finally hired this man, who
-proved to be efficient and faithful, although not a genial companion,
-such as an old-time farmer wished to find in his hired help. Ruth
-treated him with the kindness so natural to her, though she could
-scarcely conceal her aversion. This, if he understood, he did not seem
-to notice any more than he did the undisguised dislike of Nathan.
-
-The remainder of the summer and half of the fall passed uneventfully,
-till one day, when Ruth had been called to the bedside of Mrs. Newton,
-who was ill of the fever so prevalent in new clearings, Nathan and his
-sister were left in charge of the house, while their father and hired
-man worked in a distant field.
-
-The children spent half the pleasant forenoon in alternate rounds of
-housework and out-door play, now sweeping the floor with hemlock brooms,
-now running out into the hazy October sunshine to play "Indians" with
-Nathan's bow and arrows and Martha's rag doll. This was stolen and
-carried into captivity, from which it was rescued by its heroic little
-mother. Then they threw off their assumed characters and ran into the
-house to replenish the smouldering fire, and to find that the sunshine,
-falling upon the floor through the window, was creeping towards the
-"noon mark," making it time to begin dinner.
-
-Nathan raised the heavy trap-door to the cellar and descended the
-ladder, with butcher knife and pewter plate, to get the pork, but had
-barely got the cover off the barrel when he was recalled to the upper
-world by a loud cry from his sister:
-
-"Nathan, Nathan, come here quick!"
-
-He scrambled up the ladder and ran to her, where, just outside the door,
-she was staring intently toward the creek.
-
-"Who be them?" she asked anxiously, as she pointed at two figures just
-disclosed above the rushes, as they moved swiftly up the narrow channel
-in an unseen craft.
-
-"I guess they're Injins," said Nathan, after a moment's scrutiny, "and I
-guess they're a-trappin' mushrat. Let's run over to the bank and see."
-
-So they ran to the crown of the low bank, where they could command a
-good view of the rushy level of the marsh, and the narrow belt of clear
-water that wound through it, reflecting the hazy blue of the sky, the
-tops of the scarlet water maples, the bronze and yellow weeds, and, here
-and there, the rough dome of a newly built muskrat house. At each of
-these the two men, now revealed in a birch canoe, halted for a little
-space, and then, tying a knot in the nearest tuft of sedge, passed on to
-the next. There was no mistaking the coppery hue of the faces, the
-straight black hair, though men of another race might wear the dirty,
-white blanket coats, and as skilfully manage the light craft.
-
-"Yes, they be Injins," said Nathan, "and I wish they'd let my mushrat
-alone. But I s'pose there's enough for them and me."
-
-Presently the Indians passed quite near them, and one, speaking so
-softly that the children thought his voice could never have sounded the
-terrible war-whoop, accosted them:
-
-"How do? You Beenum boy?"
-
-"Yes," Nathan answered; and then, obeying the Yankee instinct of
-inquiry, asked: "Be you gettin' many mushrat?"
-
-"No ketch um plenty," the Indian replied. "Ol' Capenteese ketch um mos'
-all moosquas," and Nathan understood that he attributed the scarcity of
-muskrats to Job, whose fame as a hunter and trapper was known to every
-Waubanakee who visited this part of the lake.
-
-"Me come back pooty soon," the Indian said, pointing up the creek with
-his paddle. "Den go house, see um Beenum. Buy um some pig eese.[1]
-S'pose he sell um lee'l bit?"
-
- [1] Pork
-
-Nathan nodded a doubtful assent, and then, reminded of dinner-getting by
-the mention of pork, caught Martha's hand and hurried homeward, while
-the Indians resumed their way upstream.
-
-When the children entered the open door, they were for a moment dumb
-with amazement at the confusion that had in so short a time usurped the
-tidiness whereof they had left the room possessed. The coverlets and
-blankets of one bed were dragged from their place, two or three chairs
-were overturned, and the meal barrel was upset and half its contents
-strewn across the floor.
-
-"What in tunket," cried Nathan, when speech came to his gaping mouth.
-"Has that old sow got outen the pen?" Then he saw in the scattered meal
-some broad tracks that a former adventure had made him familiar with,
-and he heard a sound of something moving about in the cellar.
-
-"It's a bear," he cried, "and he's down cellar."
-
-As quick as the thought and words, he sprang to the open hatch, and
-heaved it upright on the hinges, to close it. But just as it hung in
-midway poise, the bear, alarmed by the noise overhead, gave a startled
-"whoof," and came scrambling up the ladder. His tawny muzzle was above
-the floor, when Nathan, with desperate strength, slammed down the hatch,
-and its edge caught the bear fairly on the neck, pressing his throat
-against the edge of the hatchway. The trap door had scarcely fallen when
-the quick-witted boy mounted it and called to his frightened sister to
-mount beside him, and with their united weight, slight as it was, they
-kept him from forcing his way upward, till in his frantic struggles he
-dislodged the ladder and hung by the neck helpless, without foothold.
-
-The children held bravely to their post, hand in hand, while to the
-gasping moans of the angry brute succeeded cries of anger, that were in
-turn succeeded by silence and loss of all visible motion but such as was
-imparted to the head by the huge body still slowly vibrating from the
-final struggle. When this had quite ceased they ventured off the trap
-door, and, pale and panting, they stood before the ghastly head as
-frightful now in death, with grinning, foam-flecked jaws, protruding
-tongue, and staring, bloodshot eyes, as it had been in living rage.
-Nathan caught his sister in his arms and hugged her, shouting:
-
-"We've killed him. We've killed a bear," while she, in the same breath,
-laughed and cried, till they both bethought themselves of the
-dinner-getting not yet begun.
-
-"I can't get down cellar," said Nathan, "for I dasn't open that door.
-What be we goin' to do?"
-
-A grunt of surprise caught his attention, and, looking up, he saw the
-two Indians at the door, staring with puzzled faces on the strange
-scene. Then one, with a hatchet half uplifted, cautiously approached the
-grim head, which, after an instant's scrutiny, he touched with his
-hatchet and then with his finger.
-
-"He dead. You boy do dat?" And Nathan told him all the adventure. The
-Indian gave the boy an approving pat on the head that made Nathan's
-scalp shiver.
-
-"You big Nad-yal-we-no. Too much good for be Pastoniac. You come 'long
-me to Yam-as-ka, I make you Waubanakee. Den be good for sometings.
-Nawaa," he said to his companion, and the other coming in, the two
-reached down and laid hold of the bear's forelegs, and when, by their
-instructions, Nathan lifted the door, they dragged the limp, shaggy
-carcass out upon the floor.
-
-When the full proportions of the huge brute were revealed, the boy's
-rejoicings broke forth anew, just as his father and the hired man came
-hurrying in, when he received fresh praise for his deed. The dinner was
-bounteous, if late, and the Indians, Toksoose and Tahmont, had their
-full share of it, with a big chunk of pork and as much bear's meat as
-they cared to take, which was small, since they liked better the
-daintier meat of the musquash, wherewith their trapping afforded them an
-ample supply.
-
-When toward nightfall the mother returned, she was told the story by the
-victors, and with equal delight was it rehearsed when Job happened to
-come, and the unstinted praise of the old hunter was sweetest of all.
-Many a day was the tale rehearsed for the benefit of new listeners. Even
-when Nathan was an old man, and looked back on the many adventures of
-his life, not one stood forth so clearly in the haze of the past as this
-adventure with the bear, wherein he had borne the chief part.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX--A FRONTIER TRAGEDY
-
-
-One autumn day after the leaves had faded and fallen, Nathan was busy
-husking corn, with less thought upon his task and the growing pile of
-yellow ears than of a promised partridge hunt on the morrow with his
-good friend Job. His father was chopping in a new clearing. Silas had
-been sent with the oxen to take some logs to Lemon Fair Mill. His mother
-grew uneasy at her spinning, for Seth did not come home to dinner, nor
-yet when the afternoon was half spent. After many times anxiously
-looking and listening in the direction of the clearing, and as often
-saying to herself, "What does keep father so?" she called to Nathan.
-
-"I guess you'd better go and see what henders father so. I can't think
-what it is. I hope it hain't anything."
-
-"Perhaps he's gone over to Callenders or some o' the neighbors," said
-Nathan. "I hain't heard a tree fall for ever so long nor his axe a goin'
-for a long time."
-
-"Mebby he's cut his foot or something," said Martha, beginning to cry.
-
-"I can't hear nothin' of him for all the air's so holler and everything
-sounds so plain," said Ruth, listening again. "You'd better go and see
-what henders him. Mebby he can't git home."
-
-As the boy anxiously hastened to the new clearing, the intense stillness
-of the woods filled him with undefined dread. His ears ached for some
-sound, the tapping of a woodpecker, the cry of a jay, but most of all,
-for the sound of axe strokes or his father's voice. Silence pervaded the
-clearing also.
-
-There, on a stump, was his father's blue frock, one bit of color in the
-sombre scene. And yes, there was some slight flitting movement near the
-last tree that had been felled and lay untrimmed just as it had fallen,
-but it was only a bevy of chickadees peering curiously at something on
-the ground beneath them, yet voiceless as if their perennial
-cheerfulness was dumb in the pervading silence. So sick with dread he
-could scarcely move, the boy forced himself to approach the spot, and
-look upon that which he felt was awaiting him, his father lying dead
-beneath the huge, prone tree, that had crushed him in its fall.
-
-The glowing sunset sky and the glistening waters of the lake grew black,
-the earth reeled. With a piteous groan of "Father! father!" the boy sank
-down as lifeless, for a space, as the beloved form that lay beside him
-in eternal sleep.
-
-He awoke as from a terrible dream to the miserable realization that it
-was not a dream. Then walking, as still in a dream, not noting how he
-went nor by any familiar object marking his way, he bore home the woeful
-tidings.
-
-Simple as were the funeral rites in the primitive communities, they were
-not lacking in the impressiveness of heartfelt sorrow nor in the homely
-expressions of sympathy for the bereaved and respect for the dead. So
-Seth Beeman's neighbors reverently laid him to rest in the soil his own
-hand had uncovered to the sunlight. They set at his head a rough slate
-stone, whose rude lettering could be read half a century later, telling
-his name and age, and the manner of his death.
-
-Ruth was left in a sorry plight, so suddenly bereft of the strong arm
-she had leaned upon, without a thought that it could ever be taken from
-her. Now she had only her son, a sturdy lad, indeed, but of an age to be
-cared for rather than to care for others. Toombs had proved better than
-he looked, kind enough, and a good worker, and familiar with the needs
-of the farm. When his time was out she had no means to pay his wages nor
-could she well get along without him. So he staid on, taking a mortgage,
-at length, on the premises in lieu of money, and becoming more and more
-important in Ruth's estimation, though regarded with increasing dislike
-and jealousy by her son, who found himself less and less considered.
-
-Months passed, dulling sorrow and the sense of loss, and bringing many a
-bitter change. The bitterness of Nathan's life was made almost
-unbearable presently. His mother, of a weak and clinging nature,
-inevitably drifted to a fate a more self-reliant woman would have
-avoided. Worried with uncomprehended business, and assured by Toombs
-that this was the only way to retain a home for herself and children,
-yet unmoved by the kindly advice of Seth's honest friends and neighbors,
-as well as the anger and entreaties of her son, she went with Toombs
-over to the Fort, where they were married by the chaplain stationed
-there.
-
-With such a man in the place of his wise and affectionate father,
-Nathan's life was filled with misery, nor could he ever comprehend his
-mother's course. Though bestowing upon Martha and his mother indifferent
-notice or none at all, towards the boy the stepfather exercised his
-recently acquired authority with severity, giving him the hardest and
-most unpleasant work to do, and treating him always with distrust, often
-with cruelty.
-
-"I hate him," he told Ruth. "He's sassed me every day since I come here,
-and I've got a bigger job 'an that to settle, one that I'd ha' settled
-with his father, if he hadn't cheated me by gettin' killed."
-
-"Oh, what do you mean?" Ruth gasped. "I thought you and Seth was always
-good friends."
-
-"Friends!" he growled, contemptuously; "I hated the ground he walked on.
-Look here," and Silas pulled out his leather pocketbook and took from it
-a soiled paper which he held before her eyes.
-
-She read the bold, clear signature of Ethan Allen, and, with a sickening
-thrill, that of Seth Beeman under it.
-
-"Yes, Ethan Allen and Seth Beeman and his neighbors whipped a man for
-claimin' his own, and your boy went and gethered 'em in. Mebby you
-re'collect it."
-
-"I couldn't help it," she gasped. "I didn't see it. I run and hid and
-stopped my ears."
-
-"Well, 'Rastus Graves 'ould ha' settled his debts if he'd ha' lived. But
-he died afore his back got healed over, and afore he died he turned the
-job over to his brother, that's me, Silas Toombs, or Graves--they're the
-same in the end."
-
-Ruth stared at him in dumb amazement and horror, while he proceeded,
-pouring forth his long concealed wrath.
-
-"Well, I've got Seth Beeman's wife, and, what's wuth more, his farm, an'
-his childern right 'nunder my thumb. I hope he knows on't. And now,
-ma'am," lowering his voice from its passionate exultation, "you don't
-want to breathe a word o' this to your nice neighbors or to your young
-'uns. It wouldn't do no good and it might be unpleasant all round. You
-don't want folks to know what a fool you be."
-
-After this disclosure, Ruth lived, in weariness and vain regret, a life
-that seemed quite hopeless but for looking forward to the time when her
-son could assert his rights and be her champion. Her nature was one of
-those that still bend, without being broken, by whatever weight is laid
-on them.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X--REBELLION
-
-
-One day Nathan was gathering ashes from the heaps where the log piles
-had been burned and storing them in a rude shed. Close by this stood the
-empty leach-tubs awaiting filling and the busy days and nights when the
-potash-making should begin. It was hard, unpleasant work, irritating to
-skin, eyes, and temper. It was natural a boy should linger a little as
-Nathan did, when he emptied a basket, and quickly retreated with held
-breath out of the dusty cloud. He looked longingly on the shining
-channel of the creek, and wished he might follow it to the lake and fish
-in the cool shadows of the shore. He wished that Job would chance to
-come through the woods, but Job lately rarely came near them, for he was
-vexed with Ruth for mating with this stranger, and the new master gave
-no welcome to any of the friends of the old master. His hands were busy
-as his thoughts, when he was startled by his stepfather's voice close
-behind him.
-
-"You lazy whelp, what you putterin' 'bout? You spend half your time a
-gawpin. You git them ashes housed afore noon or I'll give ye a skinnin',
-and I'll settle an old score at the same time," and Toombs switched a
-blue beech rod he held in his big hand. After seeing the boy hurry
-nervously to this impossible task, he went back to his chopping.
-
-The shadows crept steadily toward the north till they marked noontime,
-and still one gray ash heap confronted Nathan. As he stood with a full
-basket of ashes poised on the edge of the ash bin, Toombs appeared, with
-his axe on his shoulder and the beech in his hand. "You know what I told
-you, and Silas Toombs doesn't go back on his words; no, sir."
-
-"I couldn't do it. I tried, but I couldn't get 'em all done!"
-
-Silas strode toward him in a fury, when Nathan hurled the basket of
-ashes full at his head, and dodging behind the shed was in rapid flight
-toward the woods, when his assailant emerged from the choking, blinding
-cloud, sputtering out mingled oaths and ashes. In a moment he caught the
-line of flight and followed in swift pursuit. The boy's nimble feet
-widened the distance between them, but he was at the start almost
-exhausted with his severe work, so that when he reached the woods his
-only hope lay in hiding.
-
-Silas, entering the woods, could neither see nor hear his intended
-victim. Listening between spasms of rushing and raging, he heard a
-slight rustling among the branches of a great hemlock that reared its
-huge, russet-gray trunk close beside him. Looking up, he saw a pair of
-dusty legs dangling twenty feet above him.
-
-"Come down, you little devil, or I'll shoot you."
-
-"I won't," said Nathan, half surprised at his own daring; "you can't
-shoot with an axe."
-
-"I'm glad you made me think on't. Then come down or I'll chop you down!"
-As an earnest of his threat he drove his axe to the eye into the boll of
-the tree.
-
-The boy only climbed the higher, and disappeared among the dark foliage
-and thick, quivering rays of branches. Parleying no more, Silas began
-chopping so vigorously that the great flakes of chips flew abroad upon
-the forest floor in a continuous shower, and soon paved it all about him
-with white blotches. When the trunk was cut to the middle, he shouted up
-another summons to surrender, but got no answer. Then his quick, strong
-strokes began to fall on the other side, steadily biting their way
-toward the centre, till the huge, ancient pillar of living wood began to
-tremble on its sapped foundation. Standing away from it, he peered up
-among the whorls of gray branches and broad shelves of leaves, but they
-disclosed nothing.
-
-"Hello! Come down! Don't be a fool! An' I won't lick you. The tree's
-comin' an' it'll kill you." Still no answer nor sound, save the solemn
-whisper of the leaves, came down from the lofty branches. "You're a
-plucky one, but down you come!"
-
-In a sudden blaze of passion at being thus scorned, he drove his axe
-deep into the tree's heart. A puff of wind stirred the topmost boughs. A
-shiver ran through every branch and twig. Fibre after fibre cracked and
-parted. The trunk tremulously swayed from its steadfast base. The
-sighing branches clung to the unstable air. A tall, lithe birch, that
-had long leaned to their embrace, sprang from it as in a flutter of
-fear, and then, with a slowly accelerating sweep, the ancient pillar,
-with all its long upheld burden of boughs and perennial greenery, went
-through its fellows to the last sullen boom of its downfall. Toombs
-breathlessly watched and listened for something besides the shortening
-vibration of the branches, some sound other than the swish of relieved
-entanglement, but no sound or motion succeeded them.
-
-"Nathan, Nathan," he called again and again.
-
-He ran along the trunk looking among the branches. He felt under the
-densest tangles, then cleared them away with quick but careful axe
-strokes, dreading, in every moment of search, that the next would reveal
-the crushed and mangled form of the boy. Not till the shadows of night
-thickened the shadows of the woods did he quit his fruitless search. He
-knew the boy was dead, and, if found, what then? Well, for the present a
-plausible lie would serve him well enough.
-
-"Your boy has run off, Mis' Toombs. You needn't worry. He'll git starved
-out 'fore long and sneak back. And he'll work all the better when he
-does come. Boys has got to have their tantrums an' git over 'em." This
-device served so well to quiet any graver apprehensions that Ruth
-entertained, he the more insisted on it. "Like's not he's over to the
-Fort. They'll make him stan' round, I tell ye."
-
-He intended in the morning to renew his search, but when it came he
-dared not go near that fallen tree, the dumb witness and concealer of
-his crime. When, from afar, he saw the crows wheeling above the spot, or
-when at night he heard from that direction the wolf's long howl, he
-shook with fear, lest they had discovered his secret and would in some
-way reveal it.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI--ESCAPE
-
-
-When the accidental shaking of the branch disclosed his refuge, Nathan
-wished he had taken the easier shelter of a hollow log or the tangle of
-a windfall. The more so, when he caught brief, swift flashes of the axe
-gleaming up through the dark foliage and felt the tree shiver at every
-sturdy stroke. But he had no thought of surrender. The trunk of the
-leaning birch, so slender that his arms and legs could clasp it, had
-given him access to this coign of vantage and now offered a retreat from
-it.
-
-Toombs was intent upon his work, with his back turned squarely toward
-the foot of the birch, though barely six paces from it. Escape, if at
-all, must be made while the chopper was on this side of the hemlock.
-Very cautiously he regained the birch where it hid trunk and lithe
-branches in the embrace of the great evergreen, and then worked
-downward, with an eye ever on his enemy underneath, making swiftest
-progress when the axe fell and its sound overbore the rustle of the
-birch's shaggy, yellow mane, that his buttons scraped along. At last his
-toes were tickled by the topmost leaves of a low, sprangling hobble
-bush, then lightly touched by the last year's fallen leaves and the soft
-mould. Then, as a flying chip struck him full on the cheek, he loosed
-his hold on the trunk and stole stealthily to the shelter of the nearest
-great tree.
-
-The axe strokes ceased, but a glance showed him that Toombs was only
-wiping his sweaty brow on his sleeve, as he looked up into the tree and
-addressed its supposed occupant. As the futile chopping was resumed,
-Nathan crept off through the undergrowth till beyond sight and hearing,
-when he ran upright so swiftly that he was a mile away when the roar of
-the tree's fall came booming through the woods.
-
-He sat down to get his breath and determine where to go, for so far he
-had only thought to escape his stepfather. Should he try for the Fort?
-How was he to cross the lake without a boat, and, if there, on what plea
-that he could offer was he likely to be harbored, for Toombs was on very
-friendly terms with the commander! Not there could he find protection.
-His old friend Job was the only one to whom he could look, and in his
-secluded cabin he might hope to escape detection.
-
-With this determination he arose and went his way, too well skilled in
-woodcraft, for all his youth, to lose it while the sun shone. Pushing
-steadily on he saw at last the slanted sunbeams shining golden green
-through the woodside leaves, then saw them glimmering on the quiet
-channel of Job's creek, and following the shore upstream, presently
-emerged in the little clearing. It was as quiet as the woods around it,
-and seemed more untenanted, for through them the songs of the thrushes
-were ringing in flute-like cadences, while here nothing was astir.
-
-Nathan made his way so silently to the open door that he stood looking
-in upon the occupants of the cabin before they became aware of his
-presence. Job was squatting before the fireplace engaged in frying meat,
-and a great, gaunt, blue-mottled hound sat close beside him, intently
-watching the progress of the cooking. Presently his keen nose caught a
-scent of the intruder, and he uttered a low, threatening growl that
-attracted his master's attention.
-
-"Be quiet, Gabriel; what is't troubles you?" Then seeing his visitor
-hesitating at the threshold, "Why, Nathan, come in my boy, come in, the
-hound won't hurt you. Ain't he a pictur'? Did you ever see such ears?
-Did you ever see such a chest and such legs? And he's as good as he is
-harnsome. I went clean to Manchester arter him and gin three prime
-beaver skins for him. He's one o' Peleg Sunderland's breed and'll foller
-anything that walks, if you tell him to, from a mushrat to a man. And as
-for his voice, good land! You hain't never heard no music till you hear
-it. That's what give him his name, Gabriel. But what's the matter with
-you, Nathan?" when, withdrawing his admiring gaze from his new
-acquisition, he noted the boy's wearied and troubled countenance. "You
-look clean beat out. There hain't nothin' the matter with your folks?"
-
-Nathan told the story of his treatment since his mother's marriage to
-Toombs, and his unpremeditated flight, and all the particulars of his
-escape.
-
-"I'd ha' gin a dozen mushrat skins to seen him when he got the tree down
-and didn't find you, and him like a fool dog a barkin' up a tree an hour
-arter the coon'd left it. You done right to come to me, for he won't
-come here to look for ye right off. And then when he's had time to cool
-off and git ashamed of himself, you can go home."
-
-"No," said the boy quickly; "I'll never go back till I'm old enough to
-lick him and make him sorry I come."
-
-"Oh, well, you think you will. But you won't never. The rough edge'll be
-wore off afore you git round to it. Once I swore I'd thrash a
-schoolmarster I hed, and when I went to do it we jes' sot down and
-talked over old times, like ol' friends. But what'll your mother and sis
-do without you?"
-
-"They'll be better off without me. I can't help mother any, nor she me,
-yet awhile. Can't you let her know I'm safe some way?"
-
-"Oh, yes, I'll happen round there some day to rights. How in tunket did
-she ever come to mate wi' that surly red-haired dog? You know I hain't
-seen her since they was married. Women is onaccountable critters,
-anyhow, an' I've been marcifully presarved from ever bein' tackled to
-one on 'em;" yet he sighed, as he looked about the littered room, that
-showed so plainly the lack of housewifely care.
-
-After the supper of fried venison and johnny-cake was eaten, they sat in
-the twilight and firelight talking over the past and plans for the
-future, till the boy, worn out with the events of the day, was given a
-nest of furs in the loft, where he would be safe from detection by any
-chance visitor, and Job, after barring the door and carefully covering
-the fire, betook himself with the hound to their accustomed couch on the
-floor.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII--A FREE LIFE
-
-
-The borders of the clearing were dimly defined in the dusk of the next
-evening, and Nathan was beginning to feel lonely, though he had the
-hound for company, when Job came in with his gun on his shoulder.
-
-"Well, what news?" Nathan asked, after a little impatient waiting for
-Job's account of his trip abroad.
-
-"Well, I happened in just arter noon. Your nice stepfather sot by the
-fireplace a smokin'. 'Where's Nate,' says I, an' he up an' answered
-mighty quick, 'Run away, but he'll be back quick enough.' Your mother
-was lookin' turrible worrited, an' it was quite a spell afore I could
-git a chance to do my arrant with Toombs right in the room. Bimeby I
-made out to have a turrible pesterin' sliver in my right hand an' got
-your mother to pick it out wi' a needle. I'd ruther have a leg took off
-'an to have a woman jabbin' at a sliver. Whilst she was at it, me wi' my
-back towards Toombs, I whispered you was at my house and all right, an'
-you'd ortu seen her face light up. Then we played the sliver was out,
-an' arter I'd wished you was to home to go fishin' with me an' wondered
-what on airth you'd run away f'm such a good home for, I come off. An' I
-tell you, boy, that ere ol' scoundrel thinks he's killed you. When I
-come off towards where he chopped that tree, he follered along to see if
-I went nigh it, an' all the time I could see he was scairter'n he was
-mad."
-
-"I don't care, I can't go back if you'll let me stay with you."
-
-"Sartainly, an' glad to have you."
-
-Nathan readily adapted himself to the ranger's way of living, helping
-him in the cabin work and that of the clearing. At intervals, through
-his friend, he sent his mother tidings of his welfare and learned of her
-own. Through the same way, and his mother's ready assistance, he gained
-possession of his other clothes--a tow shirt, a blue frock, a pair of
-gray breeches, and two pairs of thick woolen stockings, as large a
-wardrobe as most backwoods dwellers could boast of.
-
-"Your mother stuck this out of the loft winder as I come away," said Job
-one day, handing him his father's cherished gun.
-
-"Oh, I am glad to get this, and see, it is longer'n I be yet. But I'm
-growing, for I measured when Toombs put this up loft so't he could hang
-his gun on the hooks over the fireplace. See, I can hold it at arm's
-length long enough to see to shoot," and he stretched out the
-long-barrelled gun with pride.
-
-"Toombs was out a burnin' log heaps," Job went on. "She says he's
-dretful narvous an' jumps at every sound. I ruther guess he's gittin'
-his pay as he goes along, my boy."
-
-In preparation for the fall trapping, which was the ranger's chief
-dependence, the two, accompanied by Gabriel, made long ranges through
-the forest, marking their line by blazed trees, to build deadfalls for
-martens on the upland and for mink along the brook and larger streams,
-and larger traps for martens, otters, fisher, and beaver, and when the
-leaves began to fall they daily gathered their furry harvest. Day after
-day, too, the woods rang with Gabe's deep, melodious voice as he drove
-the deer to water. Many an adventure on lake or in forest spiced the
-half wild life, and the loving trust of the old man so sweetened it that
-time glided swiftly past. Many a lesson of woodcraft the boy also
-learned, as well as the priceless one of love and charity to all created
-things, if Indians and Toombs were excepted. Perhaps, in time, their
-turn for forbearance would come.
-
-One day late in the fall Nathan ventured to the Fort, as much to visit
-the garrison boys, for whose companionship he often longed in his
-isolation, as to carry some fine partridges to the commandant's lady. He
-had shot them himself with his father's gun, in the use of which he was
-becoming expert.
-
-"Whativer has coom o' your redheaded stepfather? He didn't coom here sin
-he coom marryin' your mother," said one of the English boys.
-
-After this information, visits to the Fort were more frequent, since
-there was no fear of meeting Toombs. The sentinel, who, with his musket
-shouldered high above his left hip and his clubbed queue bobbing in
-unison to his slow, measured steps, always paced before the gate, made
-but a show of challenging him, and Nathan was almost as free as the
-inmates to every part of the Fort, excepting the officers' quarters and
-the vigilantly guarded magazine. The drill and parade of the soldiers,
-in their spotless scarlet uniforms and shining arms, though there were
-less than fifty, rank and file, seemed a grand martial display, and he
-was always thrilled with the stirring notes of drum and fife.
-Occasionally he met the commandant's wife walking on the parapet, so
-refined and different from the toil-worn women he had been accustomed to
-see, that she seemed a being of another world.
-
-Once that fall Job and his young companion went far back into the
-solitude of the primeval forest to hunt moose. Even the thunder of
-Ticonderoga's guns was never echoed there, and from morning till night
-they heard the sound of no human life but their own. At night the dismal
-chorus of the wolves was heard far and near, and now and then, what was
-a pleasanter sound, the call of a moose, soft and mellow, in the
-distance. With a birch bark horn Job simulated this call, and lured a
-moose into an ambuscade, where, within short range, the huge creature
-was killed. When with much labor the meat was transported and safely
-stored in the cabin, they were in no danger of a winter famine. Soon
-winter came, with days of snowbound isolation, and its days of out-door
-work and pleasant, healthful pastime.
-
-The gloom of a blustering, snowy February day was thickening into the
-gloom of night, when a traveller and his jaded horse appeared at the
-door of the little log house.
-
-"I've somehow missed my way on the lake," said he to Job, when the door
-was opened. "I'm bound for Bennington. Can you give me and my poor beast
-shelter till morning and then set me on the right road?"
-
-"Sartainly, come in, come in," was answered, heartily. "You're welcome
-to such as I've got of bed an' board, an' your hoss'll be better off in
-the shed wi' corn fodder'n he'd be a browsin' in the woods."
-
-When the stranger had seen his jaded horse cared for and had come in,
-the firelight revealed a man in the prime of life, of fine face and
-figure and of military bearing, though he was clad in the plain dress of
-a civilian. He proved a genial guest, and amused his companions with
-stories of his recent journey to Canada, and of his home in Connecticut,
-and with relations of the stirring events in that and the other colonies
-that portended a revolt against the mother country. In turn he was
-interested in everything pertaining to the New Hampshire Grants, the
-progress of the quarrel with New York claimants, the temper of the
-inhabitants toward England, but, particularly, was he curious about the
-condition of the adjacent fortress. Concerning its garrison and the
-plans of the fortification he found Nathan well informed.
-
-"I like to remember such things about a place that has been so famous,"
-the stranger observed, as he made notes in a memorandum book.
-
-"I would like to visit the fort sometime. How many men did you count the
-last time you saw them parade, did you say?"
-
-It was well into the night when the precious embers were covered and the
-three betook themselves to sleep, with the wind roaring in the woods and
-the snow driving gustily against the oiled-paper windows of the cabin.
-When they awoke the storm was spent. Beneath the cloudless morning sky
-the forest stood silent as the army of spectres that its snow-powdered
-trunks resembled. After breakfast Job put on his snowshoes and led his
-guest to the desired road to the southward settlements. This break in
-the winter monotony was often dwelt upon by the fireside in the little
-log house. A chance visit, if aught occurs by chance, yet it proved of
-vast importance.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII--FOREBODINGS OF STORM
-
-
-After many days of fair promises tardily fulfilled, spring had come. The
-soft air was full of its sounds and odors, the medley of harsh and
-liquid notes of the myriad blackbirds that swarmed in the trees along
-the creek, the crackling croak of the frogs, the whimpering call of the
-muskrats, the booming of bitterns, the splashing and quacking of wild
-ducks, and the murmur of running waters. There were the spicy fragrance
-of pine and hemlock, and the fresh smell of warming mould and bursting
-buds, while the perfume of wild flowers added a moiety to the spring
-time odor. The shad trees shone like snowdrifts in the gray woods, and
-the yellow catkins were alive with humming bees.
-
-Amid the pleasant sights of nature's progress, Nathan and his friend sat
-near the door, taking off and stretching on pliant bows the skins of the
-last catch of muskrats.
-
-"It's about time to quit trappin' for this year," said Job, as he
-slipped a skin onto the bow that he held between his knees. "They're
-gettin' a leetle off prime, though better'n they be in the fall an' no
-kits as there is then," and he fastened the skin in place, with a cut
-near its edge, into each horn of the bow. "Good land! What's Gabe
-hullabalooin' at now, I wonder?"
-
-Nathan peered cautiously around the corner and whispered:
-
-"It's neighbor Newton. I'll go up loft." Accordingly he climbed the
-ladder and crept softly to the side of the loft above the door. Through
-the wide cracks of the loose flooring he could see a patch of the chip
-strewn, sunlit earth outside, with Job's long legs stretching across it
-and his hands idle a moment as he called in the hound, who presently
-appeared, and behind him the stout stockinged legs of neighbor Newton.
-
-"Job, have you heard the news?" Newton asked excitedly.
-
-"News? What news?" Job's knife stopped half-way in the slit it was
-making along a muskrat's throat.
-
-"There's ben a fight down in the Bay Colony 'twixt our folks and the
-king's troops and our folks whipped 'em."
-
-"Our folks a fightin' the king's troops?" said Job incredulously.
-
-The other hastily related such particulars of the momentous conflict as
-he had learned. Nathan, whose heart was beating fast at the stirring
-news, saw the muskrat drop to the ground.
-
-"I al'ys said them reg'lars, shootin' breast high at nothin', couldn't
-stan' agin our bushfighters, aimin' to kill," Job said exultantly; "but
-what next, Dan'l?"
-
-"War--it means war. The country's all a-risin'. Every man's got to
-choose the side he'll take. Which side is yourn, Job?"
-
-There was a silence, and the answer came with slow deliberation. "I
-hoped to end my days in peace. I've had enough o' fightin', the Lord
-knows. When I've fit it was for the land I was born in--if it was under
-the British flag--an' I shan't never fight for no other."
-
-"Every man in these clearin's is all right, so far as we know, exceptin'
-that aire sour-faced Toombs. He hain't no good will towards our side. A
-Tory in Seth's shoes, and him red-hot for liberty. He's got a Canuck
-a-workin' for him, and I'd livser trust a wolf'n one o' them
-pea-soupers. I hain't no patience wi' Ruth for marryin' that critter.
-Where do you s'pose her boy is?" There being no reply the speaker went
-on: "I b'lieve that devil has made way with him. He acts turrible
-cur'us, scared and startin' at every sound," and the two walked off
-towards the creek.
-
-Half an hour later when Job returned, he asked Nathan: "Well, what do
-you think o' the news, my boy?"
-
-"Oh, is it true about the fight? How I wish I could go and help our
-folks. Father'd go quick."
-
-"Well, well, stay where ye be. If it goes on, it's sure to strike the
-ol' war-path," and the old ranger swept his arm towards the lake.
-"There'll be work for us here. The sign o' that fresh water mairmaid is
-comin' true agin."
-
-They passed a week in restless, impatient waiting, when, unheralded by
-the hound, Newton again entered the cabin and chanced to come face to
-face with the boy.
-
-"Well, here you be," he said, without surprise and smiling
-good-humoredly; "I s'pected as much t'other day when I see the extry
-knife an' pile o' mushrats. Say, Job, how is't? Can I speak out afore
-him consarnin' the business we was talkin' on?"
-
-"To be sure. He's close-mouthed an' he's achin' to go an' jine our folks
-down in the ol' Bay Colony."
-
-"Good; he's the same stuff as his father." He laid his friendly hand on
-Nathan's shoulder and continued in a low, earnest voice: "There's a plan
-all fixed to take Ti and Crown P'int. It seems a Connecticut feller
-named Brown started the thing a-goin' some weeks ago. There's nigh ontu
-two hunderd and fifty men in the Grants engaged to do the job. Ethan
-Allen commands. We muster at Beeman's Crik, day after to-morrow night.
-You'll be there?" Job stretched forth his hand to his friend, who warmly
-clasped it.
-
-"Me, too; let me go, too." Nathan's heart swelled with pride, and he
-felt himself suddenly leaping to manhood and a place among men.
-
-"He's a stout lad an' he handles a gun like a man. Let him come," said
-Job. "But how be we goin' to git across the lake? There hain't boats
-enough hereabouts to take more'n thirty men to oncet."
-
-"Colonel Skeene's is goin' to be borrowed, an' there's a plan to git
-some more without askin' at Crown P'int; with them an' what we can pick
-up we'll make enough. How many'll your birch carry?"
-
-"Six men that's used to such craft, but not one lummax."
-
-"Well, bring it along. Everything of the boat kind'll be needed. Toombs
-troubles me most. He's on the fence, which means he ain't to be trusted.
-He'll see our men a musterin' an' s'pect what's up, an' let the garrison
-know some way. He and his Canuck has got to be watched."
-
-"Easy done! We can tie 'em, neck an' heels, an' leave 'em to take keer
-o' theirselves."
-
-"Well, I'll send a guard an' see to that," Newton said as he hurried
-away to warn other settlers of the projected enterprise.
-
-Those left began to clean their weapons carefully and prepare to mould
-some bullets. Job rehearsed his long disused manual of arms, in which he
-found Nathan familiar through his close observation of the soldiers'
-drill at the Fort.
-
-"You don't want to aim that way," the old man said, when, at the
-command, Nathan held his piece ready to fire with the butt end under his
-elbow. "Lord, how I've heard Major Rogers swear to see the reg'lars
-wastin' lead, shootin' int' the tree tops wi' the enemy fair afore 'em!
-Fightin' hain't no foolin'. Aim to kill, jes' as ye would at a
-pa'tridge. There--that's the talk," when Nathan, following his
-instructions, laid his cheek to the stock and flashed the priming at the
-breast of an imaginary foe.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV--GABRIEL'S GOOD SERVICE
-
-
-On the afternoon of the 9th of May, 1775, Job and Nathan laid their guns
-in the canoe and stood beside her ready to set her afloat in the brown
-water, whose ripples softly lapped the drift of dried sedges along the
-shore. Job looked anxiously about, and once more, as he had several
-times previously done, he whistled a loud shrill note through his
-fingers.
-
-"Where on airth is that dog? He mistrusted somethin' was up and run off.
-He'd ortu be tied up, but we can't wait any longer, an' he'll hafter run
-loose. Wal, le's be off."
-
-Lifting the canoe, they set her afloat, stepped lightly on board, and,
-kneeling in the bottom, sent her flying down the creek. They skirted the
-lake almost beneath the spreading branches of the maples, now already
-dappled with the tender green of budding leaves. A little back from the
-naked, western shore, with its crumbling ruins of the old French water
-battery, uprose the gray battlements and barracks of Ticonderoga, and
-the blazoned cross of England floating lazily in the breeze.
-
-"I've follered it for many a day," said Job sadly, "an' I never thought
-to go agin it. But I b'lieve I'm right," and he turned his face
-resolutely forward.
-
-The turmoil and horror of war seemed far removed from the serene sky,
-the rippled water kissing the quiet shores, and the pervading sense of
-the earth's renewing life, enforced by bursting buds and opening flowers
-and songs of birds. Even the grim fortress seemed but a memento of
-conflict long since ended forever.
-
-Sweeping into the broad mouth of the creek, they joined the motley crowd
-already gathered there. The assemblage was composed of all who were
-capable of bearing arms, from gray-headed veterans of the last war, to
-the striplings who had not yet been mustered on a training field. Job
-received hearty greetings from more than one old comrade whom he had not
-seen since they ranged this region, then an unreclaimed wilderness,
-under the leadership of the brave and wary Robert Rogers, and he was
-soon in reminiscences of scouts and ambuscades, while Nathan watched and
-noted everything, a most interested spectator of what was passing so
-unobtrusively into history.
-
-Presently there was a stir and gathering together of the detached groups
-and an expectant hush. Then he saw towering among them, in cocked hat
-and military garb of blue and buff, the stalwart figure of Ethan Allen.
-
-"Fall in, men," said the deep-toned voice of Allen, and the groups
-formed in line as best they could among the trees.
-
-As they moved forward to take their places Nathan noticed an unfamiliar
-form skulking among the tree trunks near him--a swarthy little man
-wearing a tasseled, woolen cap and gray coat unlike the Yankee garb. It
-flashed across his mind that this was the Canadian employed by his
-stepfather, and he tried to keep watch of his movements. But there was
-much else to engage him, and just then he felt a touch on his leg, and,
-turning, saw Gabriel's sorrowful face looking wistfully up to his own.
-"Down, Gabe," he said in a low tone, and the hound crouched behind. Just
-then Ethan Allen, having passed slowly down the line, accosting one and
-another, broke the silence:
-
-"Friends of the Grants, we are already enough for this business in hand,
-but there are more to come. There will be boats enough to cross us all
-in good time. Keep quiet. Cook your rations and eat your supper.
-To-morrow we'll eat our breakfast in Ticonderoga, or know the reason
-why."
-
-As Nathan's entranced gaze was for a moment withdrawn from the beloved
-commander, he caught a glimpse of the little unknown man stealing away
-among the shadows. Being more accustomed to the rigid discipline of the
-garrison than to the free and easy customs of volunteers, he did not
-dare to leave the ranks till many of his comrades had straggled away.
-Then he sought Job and told him his suspicions.
-
-"I thought Newton was goin' to tend to them critters. Newton," he called
-to his neighbor, "didn't you put a guard over Toombs and his man?"
-
-"Toombs is safe in care of a good man, but his Canuck couldn't be found.
-I guess he's too stupid to do any mischief, anyway."
-
-"Well, he's ben a sneakin' round here an' now he's gone, an' there's no
-tellin' where. Where's Toombs's boat?"
-
-"Here," and Newton pointed to the landing, where it lay among many
-others.
-
-"Gabe's round here somewheres," said Nathan inadvertently.
-
-"Jest the one I was a wishin' for," said the old man, aroused from his
-troubled pondering. "He can help when nob'dy else can." He then sent one
-of his shrill whistles into the woods, and then another, with such good
-effect that Gabriel presently appeared, loping easily along. "Good
-fellow, good fellow. Now, Newton, we'll ketch that skunk. Here, here,
-old boy," and he hurried swiftly away with the hound at heel.
-
-Arrived at the house they found Toombs unconfined, but under the
-vigilant guard of a lynx-eyed Green Mountain Boy. When Job inquired for
-the Canadian, he detected a gleam of triumph in the glowering eyes of
-the surly, half-defiant prisoner.
-
-"The fox has slipped," said Job; "but never mind. If he can fool Gabe
-he's a smart 'un. Ruth, where's somethin' that 'ere Canuck has wore?"
-
-Ruth, who stood near her idle spinning wheel, half dazed at the unwonted
-commotion and afraid of she knew not what, pointed covertly to a much
-worn pair of moccasins hanging near the fireplace to dry.
-
-"Hisn? There couldn't be nothin' better. See here, Gabe."
-
-The hound snuffed eagerly at the soiled footgear, slowly wagging his
-tail, and then looked inquiringly at his master.
-
-"Sarch him out, boy. Sarch him out," Job encouraged him, pointing along
-the ground.
-
-The hound circled about the yard a little, and then, finding the trail,
-followed it silently and steadily down to the creek to where the men
-were mustered. There, on the much trodden ground, it baffled him for a
-while. Resorting to his usual tactics, he made widening circles and
-again found the trail and went off upon it in a steady, untiring pace
-southward in the direction of Ticonderoga.
-
-"I knowed it," said Job to himself, "and I'll bet ye there'll be a
-Canuck treed afore sundown." Guided by the deep, mellow baying of the
-hound, he set off, with his gun at atrail, in rapid pursuit.
-
-The agile little Canadian had at least an hour's start, and made such
-brisk use of it that he was on the shore opposite the Fort when he was
-overtaken by the hound, who at once set furiously upon him. Being
-unarmed, he was forced to scramble up a tree, from which, when he had
-recovered his breath, he began lustily to hail the Fort, and at
-intervals to curse the hound. His shouts, and Gabriel's insistent
-deep-mouthed bayings, could scarcely fail to attract the attention of
-the garrison, and Job, pushing forward at his best pace, presently
-appeared upon the scene.
-
-"Hello de Forrt," the Canuck was shouting. "Hey! Hello de Forrt! Sacre
-chien! Go home, Ah tol' you! Hello, Carillon. Tac-con-derrrque! All de
-Bastonais was comin' for took you, Ah tol' you! Sacre chien! Stop off
-you nowse so Ah can heard me spik."
-
-"Shut yer head an' come down out o' that mighty quick," Job commanded in
-a low voice.
-
-"Me no onstan' Angleesh," and again the voice rang out over across the
-water: "Hello de Forrt!"
-
-Peering through the overhanging branches, Job saw a group of red-coated
-soldiers gathered on the other shore, and presently saw a boat putting
-out from it.
-
-"Looka here," said he sternly, as he cocked his piece and aimed upward;
-"I don't want tu be obleeged tu hurt you, but stop yer hollerin' an'
-come right down."
-
-"Me no onstan', Ah tol' you! Hello--." The lusty hail was cut short by
-the report of the long smooth-bore. The Canadian's cap went spinning
-from his head, and he came scrambling down in a haste that threatened to
-leave half his clothes behind.
-
-"Ah comin'! Ah comin'! Don't shot some more!" he cried in a voice
-trembling with fright.
-
-Job arrested his descent till his gun was reloaded; then, when his
-captive slid to the ground, he quickly tied his hands behind with a
-fathom of cord, one end of which he held. Then he removed the woolen
-sash from the Canadian's waist and bound it about his mouth.
-
-A glance upon the lake showed the boat half-way across, and approaching
-as fast as two pairs of oars could impel it. Job hurried his man into an
-evergreen thicket some twenty yards away, and, leaving him tied to a
-tree in charge of the hound, he stealthily returned to ascertain if
-possible whether the nature of the alarm had been comprehended by the
-soldiers. The boat drew rapidly toward the place where he lay concealed,
-and, at a little distance, the occupants lay upon their oars while they
-held consultation, so near that he could hear every word of it.
-
-"Well, boys," said the sergeant in command, "whathiver it was, Hi don't
-hear nothink more of it. But Hi'll 'ail the shore. 'Ello there,
-whathiver is the row?" An answer was silently awaited till the echoes
-died away.
-
-"Ah't was some o' thim Yankee divils huntin' just," said one of the
-soldiers, "and that's all about it. Divil a word could I make out but
-the dog yowlin' an' a man phillalooin', an' thin the shot. They kilt
-whativer they was at an' thin wint away."
-
-"Hi believe you're right, Murphy, an' we'll no bother to go ashore, but
-just pull back and report to the captain," and off went the boat to the
-western shore.
-
-With a sigh of relief Job sped back to his prisoner, to whom he motioned
-the homeward way, and set forth with him in front at a break-neck pace,
-which was occasionally quickened by a punch of the gun muzzle in the
-rear, and so was the captive driven to the camp.
-
-Ticonderoga's evening gun had long since boomed its vesper thunder, and
-the shadows of evening were thickening into night in the forest, when
-Job emerged from them into the glare of the camp fire with his hound and
-prisoner, and received the warm commendations of Allen and his
-associates for his promptly and skilfully performed exploit.
-
-"I don't claim no credit for't. It was all Gabe's doin's, an' if I'd
-left him tied up to hum as I laid out to, our cake would all 'a' ben
-dough."
-
-"Here, Newton, here's your man. Put him under guard with that Tory,
-Toombs," said Allen.
-
-A tall man of noble, commanding presence, but of a quiet, modest mien,
-stooped to caress the hound. "Why," he said, "it's one of Sunderland's
-dogs, that haven't their equal in New England."
-
-"You've got an eye for houn' dogs, Capt'n Warner. He sartain is one o'
-them dogs an'll foller anything he's told to, though 't ain't no gre't
-trick to track a Canuck more'n an Injin. They're both strong-scented
-critters."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV--LEADERS AND GUIDE
-
-
-Even while Nathan watched Gabe and his master depart into the forest
-southward, he became aware the assemblage was moved by some new object
-of interest. Turning, he saw Colonel Allen and another gentleman,
-eagle-eyed, eagle-beaked, in handsome military dress, talking angrily in
-the midst of an excited group. At length Allen turned his passionate
-face toward the men and called in a loud voice:
-
-"Men, fall in for a moment. Here," waving his hand toward his companion,
-as the men rapidly fell into line, "is Mr. Benedict Arnold. He bears a
-colonel's commission from the Connecticut Committee of Safety, and
-claims the right to command you to-night. Men of the Green Mountains,
-whom do you follow--Arnold or Allen?"
-
-"Allen, Allen," came in response, loud and decided.
-
-The chosen chief turned a triumphant smile upon his rival, who strode
-away in silence of restrained passion. Soon returning, however, he
-addressed Allen in a clear, steady voice:
-
-"Sir, I submit to the will of these men, but let me be a volunteer in
-this glorious enterprise. The Green Mountain Boys and their famous
-leader are too generous to refuse this."
-
-Allen, touched at a vulnerable point, grasped the speaker's hand
-heartily and answered:
-
-"Indeed, so brave a man as I well know you to be, is most welcome, and,
-by the Great Jehovah, if the men don't object, you shall be second in
-command."
-
-A shout of approval went up from the men, who gathered around their camp
-fires again, while Allen and Arnold, together with Warner, walked apart
-in amicable consultation. Soon the first called loudly for any
-information concerning a lad named Nathan Beeman. At the sound of his
-name, Nathan started, blushed, hesitated, and then stepped bashfully
-forward, and was quickly recognized by Allen in spite of his added
-stature.
-
-"Here, this is the youngster, Colonel Arnold, that Mr. John Brown tells
-of in this paper, whom he saw and conversed with last winter about
-Ticonderoga."
-
-The two colonels then asked the boy many questions about the Fort, its
-entrance, the interior, the number of the garrison, and the disposal of
-the sentinels. Evidently satisfied with his straightforward replies,
-Allen said, low and impressively:
-
-"You have such a chance to serve your country as don't often fall to a
-boy. Will you lead us into the Fort to-night? Will you do it
-faithfully?"
-
-Nathan looked steadily into the earnest, searching eyes fixed upon him,
-but did not answer.
-
-"Speak," cried Allen, sharply.
-
-"If the commandant's lady won't be hurt, I will," he said at last, his
-left hand thrust into his pocket, fumbling his cherished shilling piece.
-
-Allen laughed good-humoredly. "So the lady is a friend of yours. Well,
-never fear. We may disturb her morning nap, but she shall not be harmed.
-We are not waging war in the wilderness against women and children.
-Here, my boy, stick this twig of hemlock in your hat. Don't you see
-we've all mounted it? There, now," as he himself put the evergreen sprig
-in Nathan's hatband, "you wear the Green Mountain Boy's cockade. See
-that you never disgrace it."
-
-The boy thrilled with pride as he walked with measured step behind the
-stately chieftain and his lithely built companion. Presently the sound
-of oars was heard and a large batteau swept into the landing, navigated
-by two of Newton's sons, who gleefully related how, with a jug of rum,
-they had lured Skeene's old negro with the coveted craft into their
-toils, as he was voyaging homeward from Crown Point. It was capable of
-carrying twenty-five persons and was a welcome prize. Though one by one,
-and in little flotillas, boats continued to arrive, still, at two
-o'clock in the early May morning, there were not enough to transport
-half the men gathered. After brief consultation, it was determined that
-as many as possible should at once cross to the other shore and there
-await the coming of the others in the returning boats.
-
-Embarkation began at once under the superintendence of Allen, Arnold,
-and Warner. Nathan found himself with the first two in the leading boat,
-Warner being left in charge of the party remaining on the eastern shore.
-At a low word of command, the flotilla swept out of the flickering glare
-of the fire into the darkness. It passed down the creek and was soon
-upon the lake, heading for the other shore, being guided to the chosen
-landing by the mountain peaks that loomed black against the western sky.
-The night was windless. The shrill piping of hylas, the monotonous trill
-of toads, and the rush of running brooks filled the air. Such sounds
-faded out as the middle of the lake was reached, where nothing was heard
-but the light plash of muffled oars, to rise again in increasing volume
-from the other shore.
-
-As the last boat grounded on the shelving beach, Nathan was startled by
-the loud, hollow hoot of an owl, uttered thrice, almost in his ear. A
-few moments later there came, like an echo from the distant creek, the
-answer to this preconcerted signal of safe arrival. The men quickly
-disembarked, and the boats returned to those who, under Seth Warner,
-were eagerly awaiting their turn.
-
-Those who had made the passage tramped to and fro to stir their blood,
-for there was a creeping chill in the night air. The first light of dawn
-was stealing up the eastern sky, the woods and mountains showing in
-sharp relief against it, yet no signs came to strained eyes and ears of
-the returning boats.
-
-"The lazy-bones," growled Allen, forgetting the long distance. "What has
-gone wrong? Daylight will betray us if we wait much longer. What do you
-say, my men--shall we wait, and maybe lose our best chance of success,
-or go on with what strength we have?"
-
-There was a murmur of universal assent, and Allen commanded:
-
-"Fall in, in three ranks!"
-
-Instantly the men formed in the order of the ranger service. "I want no
-man to go against his will. You that wish to go with me, poise arms."
-Every gun was brought to the position.
-
-"Shoulder arms! Right face! Forward, march!"
-
-Before the last word was fairly given, Arnold stepped in front of the
-speaker.
-
-"I swear," he cried, shaken with his passion, "I will not yield my
-right. I planned this enterprise. My money set it on foot. I swear I
-will command, and not yield my right to Ethan Allen or the devil."
-
-There was a muttered growl of dissatisfaction among the men, and Allen
-was raging. "What shall I do with this fellow? Put him under guard?" he
-asked, turning to one of his captains.
-
-"Gentlemen," said Captain Callender, a staid and quiet man, "for the
-sake of the good cause, don't quarrel. Yield a little, both of you.
-Share the command equally, and enter the Fort side by side."
-
-Allen returned his half-drawn sword to its scabbard and said bluffly:
-"For the sake of the cause I agree to this." The Connecticut colonel
-sullenly assented, and the three columns moved briskly along the shore,
-led by the two colonels marching side by side, till, through the
-branches of the budding trees, the leaders saw close before them the
-walls of Ticonderoga, looming dark and vague in the gray of the morning.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI--TICONDEROGA
-
-
-A halt was silently signalled, and Job, the skilfullest scout of all
-this band of woodsmen, was sent forward to reconnoitre. Silently, as a
-ghost, his tall figure melted into the obscurity of dawn, and presently
-appeared, out of the blur of shadows, bearing whispered tidings that all
-was quiet within the Fort, and only one sentinel carelessly guarding the
-open wicket of the main entrance.
-
-A whispered word of command drifted back along the ranks and the troops
-moved forward. They mounted a slight declivity and advanced to the right
-toward the gate. Now the sentinel could be seen pacing his beat; now the
-white cross-belts and the facings of his uniform made out, and still he
-maintained his deliberate pace, unconscious of the enemy, while,
-perhaps, his thoughts were far away in the green fields of merry
-England, where the hawthorn was blooming and the lark singing "at
-heaven's gate."
-
-The heads of the files were close upon him when his wandering thoughts
-were suddenly recalled. Too much surprised to challenge or call an
-alarm, he levelled his fusee at Allen's towering figure and pulled the
-trigger. The life of the bold chieftain hung for an instant in the
-trembling balance of fate, but not a spark followed the stroke of the
-flint. The guard turned and fled through the open wicket with Allen and
-Arnold, side by side, close upon his heels. After them came Nathan; and
-the crowding files of men swarmed through the narrow gate in an
-impetuous rush, and, guided by the boy, onto the parade. This was
-enclosed on three sides by lofty stone barracks. Here they caught a last
-glimpse of the flying sentry dodging into a bombproof, like a woodchuck
-into a hole. Another sentinel made a bayonet thrust at Nathan, when
-Allen's sword fell quick as a thunderbolt upon the man's head in a
-downright blow that must have cleft the skull, had it not glanced on a
-metal comb that held his hair in place.
-
-The assailants quickly formed in two ranks, facing outward upon the east
-and west lines of barracks, and gave three cheers that made the gray
-walls ring with quick, rebounding echoes.
-
-"Quick, my boy, show me the commandant's quarters," said Allen, and his
-guide led to a flight of outer stairs arising to the upper story of the
-south barracks. Ascending them, Allen shouted:
-
-"Come forth, commandant, come forth." But receiving no answer he
-thundered on the door with the pommel of his sword and shouted still
-louder:
-
-"Come out of your hole, you damned old skunk," and thereupon the door
-was drawn a little ajar. Allen flung it wide open, and disclosed the
-bewildered face and undignified figure of Captain Delaplace, clad only
-in his shirt and nightcap, with his breeches in his hand. Behind him
-stood his night-gowned wife, her pretty face pale with alarm. For a
-moment the captain gaped at his unceremonious visitor.
-
-"Who are you and what do you want?"
-
-"I want the Fort and all it contains. Surrender, instantly."
-
-"Surrender? Is this a mad joke or treason?"
-
-"Neither; but honest men claiming their own. Surrender."
-
-"In whose name? By whose authority?" asked Delaplace, assured of the
-earnestness of the summons.
-
-"In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."
-
-"I know no such authority."
-
-"Sir, do you deny the authority of the King of Kings? And Congress
-seemeth to have some power here this morning. Waste no more time. We are
-four to your one. Do you surrender?"
-
-"I see no choice. But it consoles me that you rebels will hang for
-this."
-
-"You are welcome to the consolation of the hope, but it gives me no
-uneasiness and I run no new risks. I am Ethan Allen. You may have heard
-of me and have lusted for the shekels the sons of Belial offer for my
-head. But get on your clothes and parade your men without arms. Madam,"
-bowing low to the lady, "pardon the intrusion, but my business is
-urgent. Permit me to close the door." So doing he awaited the
-reappearance of the commandant.
-
-"This is a pretty kettle of fish," the chopfallen captain groaned.
-"Courage, my dear; this handsome giant has something of the manners of a
-gentleman, and will not let a lady be maltreated by his rebel band."
-
-"Oh, William, the Fort surprised, and we prisoners, and not a blow
-struck for defense."
-
-"There could be no defense with such numbers. Well, there's no use
-crying over spilt milk. Did you see that pet cub of yours with the big
-rebel? What did I tell you?" said the captain, putting the finishing
-touches to his hasty toilet.
-
-He rejoined Allen and proceeded to the parade, where, presently, he
-mustered his little force without arms and formally delivered them to
-the captors, who marched them away to their quarters under guard. Two
-days later, with an armed escort, they were on their way through the
-wilderness to Connecticut, and Nathan saw the last of the lady of the
-Fort.
-
-Warner and the remainder of the men arrived at Ticonderoga soon after
-its surrender, disappointed that they had not participated in its
-achievement.
-
-Still guided by the boy, the officers made a tour of investigation,
-which revealed a wealth of guns and ammunition--supplies greatly needed
-by the army of patriots then gathered at Boston. As the boy listened to
-the rejoicings, his heart was full of proud thankfulness that he had
-borne so important if humble a part in this service of his country.
-
-Warren and Sunderland and a hundred men set forth for the easy conquest
-of Crown Point and its insignificant garrison, while, on Lake George,
-another party took possession of Fort George and its garrison of a man,
-his wife, and a dog.
-
-Arnold hastily fitted out a schooner taken at Skeenesborough, and, with
-Allen in a batteaus filled with armed men, sailed down the lake to
-capture the British sloop at St. Johns. Job's knowledge of the lake,
-gained in years of ranger service upon it, made him valuable as pilot,
-in which capacity he accompanied Allen; and where Job went there went
-Nathan. The brisk south wind swiftly wafted Arnold's craft far in
-advance of her sluggish consort, whose crew saw their chances of glory
-lessening and fading with the white wings of the schooner.
-
-The voyage was a pleasant one to Nathan, for beyond the mouth of Otter
-Creek everything was new to him, with strange and changing shores and
-such an expanse of water as he had never seen. His old friend pointed
-out to him notable landmarks and scenes of past adventure. Here was the
-cleft promontory of So-baps-kwa and the opposite headland of
-Ko-zo-aps-kwa, there the solitary rock of Wo-ja-hose. Then they passed
-the isles of the Four Winds and Valcour, and Grand Isle's low, wooded
-shore stretching along the eastward water line. At last, as they were
-nearing the northern end of the lake and saw on their right the ruin of
-an old French windmill, the only vestige of civilized occupation they
-had seen except the ruins of Fort St. Anne on Isle la Motte, they
-descried two sail rapidly bearing down toward them from the north before
-the shifted wind.
-
-For a few moments they were in an excitement of alarm, not knowing
-whether these were friends or foes. Soon Allen, who had been watching
-through a glass, lowered it, and, waving his cocked hat above his head,
-shouted:
-
-"Hurrah, boys, it's our friends with the British sloop. Give her three
-cheers."
-
-While the last lusty cheer was scarcely uttered, an answering salute
-from the cannon of the sloop and schooner was thundered forth.
-
-"Give 'em powder for powder, boys. Fire," Allen shouted, and a rattling
-volley of muskets, rifles, and long smoothbores reawakened the echoes.
-
-The crew of the batteau was then transferred to the schooner and her
-prize--the same armed sloop Nathan so well remembered seeing when she
-brought supplies to the Fort he had just borne a part in surprising.
-While amid loud rejoicings the story of her bloodless capture was told,
-they went merrily bowling homeward with the clumsy batteau surging along
-in tow at such speed as she had never known before.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII--HOME COMING
-
-
-As the sloop swept past the massive battlements of Crown Point where
-they guard the narrowing channel of the lake, Job said to his young
-comrade:
-
-"We're getting towards home."
-
-"Yes, I've been thinking of home and mother and sis. Guess I needn't be
-afraid of ol' Toombs any longer, but I don't know as I could keep my
-hands off'n him. I always meant to give him a thrashing when I could."
-
-"Mebby you could, now, but he's a cordy critter and a soople one; but
-mind what I tell you, you never will."
-
-Nathan's answer was a short, incredulous laugh, as he helped Job make
-ready for disembarkation. As they marched in straggling ranks toward
-Fort Ticonderoga, Nathan was accosted by one of the young Newtons, who
-had remained there during the northern expedition.
-
-"Look a-here, Nate," he said, drawing him aside, "there's some trouble
-to your mother's. She's sent word for you to come right home. Old Toombs
-is dead or run off to Canerdy, or something. I don't know the rights
-on't. But, anyhow, she wants you bad."
-
-Either the death or the absconding of his stepfather was too good news
-to be true, and his first duty was to serve his mother. He and Job
-readily obtained leave of absence, though it was scarcely needed, so lax
-was the military discipline of the crudely organized forces. The two at
-once set forth, and an hour's paddling of the light birch canoe brought
-them to the landing in the creek.
-
-As they emerged from the shadow of the woods into the broad sunlight of
-the clearing, their first glance sought the house standing in the midst
-of green grass and springing grain. The scene was in such apparent peace
-and quietude as it might have been lapped, if all the turmoil of war and
-strife were a thousand miles removed. As Nathan's eyes ran over the
-familiar fields in which he had spent so many hours in the companionship
-of his father, his heart was softened with the sad and solemn memory.
-Then it hardened in a fire of wrath that flamed up at the remembrance of
-what he had suffered from his father's successor, and he felt if he
-should meet the wretch he would wreak summary vengeance upon him.
-
-Soon they were at the open door and looking in upon the homely kitchen.
-It was empty but for the figure of a man slouching inertly in an
-armchair before the fireplace. There was no mistaking the shock of
-grizzled red hair, nor the brawny shoulders, though they were stooped
-and curved together.
-
-The light tread of Nathan's moccasined feet did not disturb the
-melancholy figure, with its drooping head and vacant eyes staring into
-the fire, nor did it move till he laid his hand on its shoulder. Then
-the face turned upon him a slow, dazed stare, that as slowly kindled
-into recognition, then froze into a rigid glare of inexpressible terror.
-An inarticulate cry came from the white lips, while the helpless form
-strove to arouse itself from the living death of palsy.
-
-Nathan cast upon Job a look of appalled, beseeching inquiry. As he met
-its answer in the awed face of his friend, resentment of past injuries
-faded out of his heart, as he realized that a mighty hand had
-forestalled his revenge, and he felt nothing but pity for the abject
-being that crouched before him.
-
-"It's come out about as I told you," said Job, "but I wan't expectin'
-nothin' like this, poor critter. He thinks you're a spirit come to haunt
-him." Then he called loudly to the figure, "It's the boy. It's Nathan,
-alive and well. Don't be afeared, he won't hurt ye."
-
-There were footsteps at the threshold, and Ruth and Martha entered,
-pausing a moment with wondering faces, which presently kindled with joy,
-and Nathan was clasped in their arms. When the first flush of joyful
-meeting was spent, Ruth explained in answer to her son's whispered
-question and his nod toward the dumb figure:
-
-"He sort o' broke down after the guard went away, an' t'other day we
-found him all of a heap down by a big hemlock log that he never got
-round to cut up. He hain't seemed to sense much since. He's been
-dreadful worried about you, Nathan, all along, ever since you went
-away."
-
-She did not know the terrible cause of the speechless self-condemnation
-the wretch had suffered, nor did she ever learn it.
-
-"I wouldn't tell her," counselled Job. "She'd feel bad, an' that
-wouldn't pay any more'n it does to nurse a grudge. Vengeance don't
-belong to us, poor critters."
-
-Thenceforth, till Silas Toombs sank from his living death to eternal
-sleep not long after this, his stepson gave him thoughtful and kindly
-care.
-
-At length the young frontiersman took his place among the defenders of
-his country. By the side of his old comrade and guardian, he fought in
-the losing fight of Hubbardton and helped to win the glorious victory of
-Bennington. Yet he is best remembered by the descendants of the old
-Green Mountain Boys as the guide who led their fathers in the conquest
-of Ticonderoga.
-
-                                  ----
-
-Where once stood the pioneer's log house, spacious farm buildings now
-stretch their comfortable quarters. From it, away to the southwest,
-across meadows, thrifty homesteads, low woodlands, and the narrowed
-waters of Lake Champlain can be seen rising against the foothills of the
-Adirondacks the hoary ruins of Ticonderoga. Within the house, upon a
-pair of massive moose horns, rests the old flintlock once filled with
-beans, "good enough for Yorkers," and later loaded with a leaden death
-message for Tory and Hessian. Cherished with as fond pride by its fair
-possessor, is a worn pocket-piece--the silver shilling given her
-ancestor by the beautiful lady of Fort Ticonderoga.
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber's Note
-
-
-Spelling and punctuation inaccuracies were silently corrected.
-Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.
-The author's punctuation style is preserved.
-Hyphenation has been made consistent.
-
-
-
-
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HERO OF TICONDEROGA ***
-
-
-
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+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 35080 ***</div>
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-.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-

-

-.. meta::

-   :PG.Id: 35080

-   :PG.Title: A Hero of Ticonderoga

-   :PG.Released: 2011-01-25

-   :PG.Rights: Public Domain

-   :PG.Producer: Darleen Dove

-   :PG.Producer: the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

-   :PG.Credits: This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.

-   :DC.Creator: Rowland E. Robinson

-   :DC.Title: A Hero of Ticonderoga

-   :DC.Language: en

-   :DC.Created: 1898

-   :coverpage: images/cover.jpg

-

-=====================

-A HERO OF TICONDEROGA

-=====================

-

-.. _pg-header:

-

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-   This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

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-   re-use it under the terms of the `Project Gutenberg License`_

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-

-   

-

-   .. vspace:: 1

-

-   .. _pg-machine-header:

-

-   .. container::

-

-      Title: A Hero of Ticonderoga

-      

-      Author: Rowland E. Robinson

-      

-      Release Date: January 25, 2011 [EBook #35080]

-      

-      Language: English

-      

-      Character set encoding: UTF-8

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-      \*\*\* START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HERO OF TICONDEROGA \*\*\*

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-      Produced by Darleen Dove and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.

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-      This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.

-

-

-.. figure:: images/cover.jpg

-   :align: center

-

-.. figure:: images/illus-fpc.png

-   :align: center

-   :alt: Rowland E. Robinson

-

-.. class:: align-center larger bold

-

-A HERO OF TICONDEROGA

-

-.. class:: align-center

-

-By

-

-.. class:: align-center larger

-

-Rowland E. Robinson

-

-.. class:: align-center

-

-| Burlington, VT.

-| Hobart J. Shanley & Co.

-| Publishers

-| 1898

-|

-|

-|

-|

-| Copyright, 1898, by

-| HOBART J. SHANLEY & CO.

-

-.. contents:: Contents

-   :backlinks: entry

-   :depth: 1

-

-CHAPTER I—COMING INTO THE WILDERNESS

-====================================

-

-The low sun of a half-spent winter

-afternoon streaked and splashed the

-soft undulations of the forest floor

-with thin, infrequent lines, and scattered

-blotches of yellow light among

-the thickening shadows.

-

-A solitary hunter, clad in buckskin

-and gray homespun, thridded his way

-among the gray trunks of the giant

-trees, now blended with them and

-their shadows, now briefly touched by

-a glint of sunlight, now casting up the

-powdery snow from the toes of his

-snowshoes in a pearly mist, now in a

-golden shower, yet moving as silently

-as the trees stood, or shadows brooded,

-or sunlight gleamed athwart

-them.

-

-Presently he approached a narrow

-road that tunnelled, rather than

-seamed, the forest, for the giant trees

-which closely pillared its sides spread

-their branches across it, leaving the

-vast forest arch unbroken.

-

-In the silence of the hour and season,

-which was but emphasized by

-the outcry of a suspicious jay and the

-gentler notes of a bevy of friendly

-chickadees, the alert ear of the hunter

-caught a less familiar sound. Faint

-and distant as it was, he at once recognized

-in it the slow tread of oxen

-and the creak of runners in the dry

-snow, and, standing a little aloof from

-the untrodden road, he awaited the

-coming of the possibly unwelcome

-invaders of the wilderness.

-

-A yoke of oxen soon appeared,

-swaying along at a sober pace, the

-breath jetting from their nostrils in

-little clouds that arose and dissolved

-in the still air with that of their driver,

-who stood on the front of a sled laden

-with a full cargo of household stuff.

-Far behind the sled stretched the

-double furrow of the runners, deep-scored

-lines of darker blue than the

-universal shadow of the forest, a steadfast

-wake to mark the course of the

-voyager till the next snow-storm or

-the spring thaw cover it or blot it out.

-As the oxen came opposite the motionless

-hunter, his attendant jay uttered

-a sudden discordant cry.

-

-“Whoa, hush! Whoa haw, there!

-What are you afeard of now? That’s

-nothin’ but a jay squallin’.” The

-strong voice of the driver rang through

-the stillness of the woods, overbearing

-the monotonous tread of the oxen,

-the creak of the sled, and the responsive

-swish and creak of the snow beneath

-feet and runners.

-

-Unmindful of his voice, the oxen

-still swerved from the unbeaten track

-of the forest road and threatened to

-bring the off runner against one of

-the great trees that bordered it. The

-driver sprang from his standing place,

-and, running forward alongside the

-cattle, quickly brought them to a halt

-with a few reassuring words, and a

-touch of his long, blue-beech gad

-across their faces.

-

-Looking into the woods to see what

-had alarmed them, he became aware

-of the man standing a little way off,

-as motionless as the great tree trunks

-around him. Seeing the oxen were

-now under control, the latter advanced

-a little and spoke in a low,

-pleasant voice:

-

-“I didn’t go to skeer your oxen,

-stranger, and was standin’ still to let

-’em pass, but thet jay squalled at me,

-an’, lookin’ this way, I s’pose they

-ketched a glimpse of my fur cap an’

-took it for some varmint. Cattle is

-always lookin’ for some sech, in the

-woods. Your load’s all right, I hope,”

-he said, coming into the road and

-looking at the sled, which, though

-tipped on some hidden obstruction,

-was yet in no danger of upsetting its

-freight.

-

-“Why, you’ve got women an’ childern,”

-and his face lighted up with

-an expression of pleased interest.

-“You’re comin’ in to make a pitch.

-How far might you be goin’, stranger?”

-

-“A little beyond Fort Ti, on this

-side,” the driver of the oxen answered.

-“I made a pitch there last year. My

-name’s Seth Beeman, and I come from

-Salisbury, Connecticut, and them on

-the sled are my wife and children.”

-Seth Beeman knew that, according to

-the custom of the country and the

-times, this information would presently

-be required of him, and the

-hunter, for such the stranger’s dress,

-long gun and snowshoes proclaimed

-him to be, had such an honest face

-he did not hesitate to forestall the inevitable

-questions.

-

-“I want to know! A Beeman from

-ol’ Salisbury,” cried the other. “An’

-now I wonder if you be akin to my ol’

-comrade in the Rangers, ’Zekiel Beeman?”

-

-“My father’s name was Ezekiel,

-and he served in Roger’s Rangers.”

-

-“Give me your hand, friend,” cried

-the hunter, drawing off his mitten

-with his teeth, and extending his hand

-as he came near to the other. “Well,

-I never thought to meet an ol’ friend

-here in these lonesome woods, to-day.

-Yes, an ol’ friend, for that’s what a

-son of ’Zekiel Beeman’s is to me,

-though I never sot eyes on him afore.

-You’ve maybe hearn him speak of

-Job Carpenter? That’s my name.”

-

-“Carpenter? Yes, the name sounds

-familiar, but you know father wa’n’t a

-man of many words and never told us

-much of his sojerin’ days.”

-

-“You’re right, he wa’n’t. We all

-larnt to keep our heads shut when we

-was a-scoutin’ an’ a loud word might

-cost a man his’n an’ many another

-life.”

-

-Seth wondered how long since the

-hunter had forgotten the lesson, yet

-he noticed the voice of the other was

-never high pitched and he never made

-a sudden, abrupt movement.

-

-“An’ so these is your wife an’ childern,

-be they?” said Job, passing

-toward the sled, whose occupants

-were so muffled in bed-quilts and

-blankets that nothing of their forms,

-and but little of their features, were

-visible.

-

-“How dedo, marm. How dedo,

-little uns. Tol’able comf’table, I

-hope?”

-

-Ruth Beeman answered his kind

-salutation as audibly as she could out

-of her mufflings, and the children, a

-boy of twelve and a girl of three years

-younger, stared at him with round,

-wondering eyes.

-

-“It’s a hard life that lies afore

-women an’ children in this wilderness,”

-he said to himself, and then,

-in a louder tone: “Wal, I’m glad

-you’re goin’ to be nigh the Fort.

-There’s always a doctor there, an’ it’s

-sort o’ protection, if the garrison be

-reg’lars. Now, Seth, start up your

-team, an’ I’ll boost on the sled till it’s

-square on the road again.”

-

-So saying, he set his shoulder to

-one of the sled stakes, while Seth carefully

-started the oxen forward. With

-a heaving lurch and prolonged creak,

-the sled settled upon evener ground

-without disturbance of its passengers

-or its burden of house gear and provisions,

-which, till now, had hidden

-from view of the hunter a gentle little

-cow in lead close behind it.

-

-“How far be we from the Fort?”

-Seth asked.

-

-“Nigh onto five mile,” the hunter

-answered, after considering their

-whereabouts a moment. “After a

-spell you’ll come to a better road on

-the ice of the crik, if you take the first

-blazed path beyend here, to your left.

-It’ll fetch you to my cabin, where

-you’d better stop till morning, for you

-can’t no ways git to your pitch till

-long arter nightfall. I know where it

-is, for I come across it, last fall, when

-I was trappin’ mushrat up the crik.

-My shanty’s the first thing in the shape

-of a dwelling that you’ll come to, an’

-can’t miss it if you foller the back

-track of my snowshoes. It hain’t so

-great, but it’s better’n no shelter, an’

-you’re more’n welcome to it. Rake

-open the fire an’ build you a rouster,

-an’ make yourselves to home. I’ve

-got some traps to tend to, but I’ll be

-back afore dark,” and, almost before

-they could thank him, he disappeared

-among the trees.

-

-Seth took his place upon the sled,

-and, as it moved forward, the forest

-again resumed its solemnity of silence,

-that was rather made more apparent

-than at all disturbed by the slight

-sounds of the party’s progress. It

-was a silence that their lonely journey

-had long since accustomed them to,

-but had not made less depressing, for,

-in every waking moment, it reminded

-Seth and his wife how every foot of

-it withdrew them further from old

-friends and old associations, and how

-long and wearisome the days of its

-endurance stretched before them.

-

-The remainder of the day was made

-pleasanter by the chance finding of a

-friend in a strange land, and with a

-prospect of spending a night under a

-roof, for, however it might be, it could

-but be better than the almost shelterless

-bivouac that had many times been

-their night lodging since they entered

-the great Northern Wilderness, that,

-within a few years, had become known

-as the New Hampshire Grants.

-

-More than once, when they had

-fallen asleep with only the mesh of

-netted branches between them and

-the serene stars, they had been awakened

-by the long howl of the wolves

-answering one another, or by the appalling

-scream of a panther. Then,

-with frequent replenishment of the

-fire, they had watched out the weary

-hours till morning, alarmed by every

-falling brand or sough of the breeze, or

-resonant crack of frost-strained trees.

-

-Seth looked eagerly for the promised

-trail and was glad to discover the

-blazed trees and the netted imprint of

-snowshoes, that, if but briefly, as certainly,

-identified the path. He turned

-his oxen into the diverging road,

-which, though narrow, gave ample

-room for the sled. After a little it

-led to the winding channel of a creek

-crawling through a marsh, whose

-looped and matted sedges were in

-turn bordered by the primeval forest

-and its bristling abatis of great trees,

-prostrate and bent in every degree of

-incline.

-

-At last, as the long shadows began

-to thicken into the pallid gloom of

-winter twilight, a little cabin was discovered

-in a notch of clearing, as gray

-and silent as the gray woods around

-it. A thin wisp of smoke climbed

-from the low chimney against the wall

-of forest, and a waft of its pungent

-odor came to the travellers. Even as

-they drew near, its owner also arrived,

-and gave them hospitable welcome to

-his hearth, and presently the little

-room was aglow with light and

-warmth.

-

-Here Ruth and little Martha thawed

-away their cramps and chilliness by

-the big fireplace, while Seth and his

-son Nathan, with the hunter’s help,

-unhitched the oxen from the sled.

-From this they brought the rations of

-hay and corn, and made the oxen and

-their comrade, the cow, contented

-with their roofless lodging behind the

-cabin.

-

-Then the pork and Indian meal were

-taken inside. Ruth mixed a johnny-cake

-with hot water and salt, and set

-it to bake on its board, tilted before

-the fire. The frying-pan was filled

-with pork, and slices of moose meat

-contributed from Job’s larder.

-

-The little party, ranged on rude

-seats about the fireplace, so great as

-to be out of all proportion to the

-room, chatted of things near and afar,

-while they grew hungry with every

-sniff of appetizing cookery.

-

-Nathan was all agog at the peltry

-that hung from innumerable pegs on

-the rough log walls. There were skins

-of many animals that had long been

-rare, if not extinct, in the old colony

-where he was born.

-

-There were the broad, round shields

-of beaver skins, the slenderer and

-lighter-hued skins of otters, besides

-the similarly shaped but smaller and

-darker-colored fisher, with a bundle of

-the lesser martins, that Job called

-“saple,” and no end of muskrats and

-minks. There were, also, half a dozen

-wolf skins, and, conspicuous in size

-and glossy blackness, were three bear

-skins, and beside them hung a tawny

-panther hide, the huge hinder paws

-and long tail trailing on the puncheon

-floor, while the cat-like head seemed

-to prowl, as stealthily as in life, among

-the upper shadows and flickerings of

-the firelight.

-

-Quickly noting the boy’s interest

-in these trophies, Job made the round

-of them all, explaining the habits of

-each animal, the method of its capture,

-and giving brief narrations

-of encounters with the larger ones.

-He exhibited, with the most pride,

-a beautiful silver-gray foxskin, and

-an odd-looking spotted and coarse-haired

-skin, stuffed with moss into

-some semblance of its form in the

-flesh. This he brought to the fireside,

-and set on its fin-like hinder

-feet, for the inspection of his guests.

-

-“What on airth is it?” Seth Beeman

-asked.

-

-“’Tain’t of the airth, but of the

-water,” Job answered, with a chuckle.

-“I killed it on the ice of the lake

-airly in the winter. One of the sojers

-at the Fort see it, an’ he says it’s a

-seal fish belongin’ to the sea, where

-he’s seen no end on ’em. But them

-sojers to the Fort is an ign’ant set like

-all the reg’lars, that we rangers always

-despised as bad as they did us, an’ it

-don’t look no ways reasonable that

-sech a creatur’ could come all the way

-up the St. Lawrence, an’ the Iriquois

-River, an’ most the len’th o’ this lake.

-My idee is, it’s a fresh-water maremaid,

-an’ nat’ral to this lake.”

-

-If Seth had any doubt of this

-theory, he gave it no expression, and

-the hunter went on:

-

-“An ol’ Injin told me that there’s

-always ben one o’ these cretur’s seen

-in this lake a spell afore every war

-that’s ever ben. But I hope the sign’ll

-fail this time. I’ve seen enough

-o’ war an’ I don’t see no chance of

-another, all Canady bein’ took an’ the

-Injins in these parts bein’ quilled.”

-

-The johnny-cake, having been baking

-for some time in its last turn on

-the board, was now pronounced done.

-The mixed contents of the frying-pan

-were turned out on a wooden trencher,

-and conversation was suspended for

-the more important matter of supper.

-Not long after this was disposed of,

-the host and his guests betook themselves

-to sleep in quilts and blankets

-on the puncheon floor, with their feet

-to the blazing backlog and glowing

-bed of coals.

-

-CHAPTER II—THE NEW HOME

-=======================

-

-The light of a cloudless March morning

-pervaded the circumscribed landscape

-when the inmates of the cabin

-were astir again. Not many moments

-later, a sudden booming report broke

-the stillness and rolled in sullen echoes

-back and forth from mountains and

-forested shores.

-

-“The sunrise gun to Fort Ti,” Job

-said, in reply to the questioning look

-of his guests. “They hain’t no other

-use for their powder now.”

-

-A fainter report, and its fainter answering

-echoes, boomed through the

-breathless air.

-

-“An’ that’s Crown P’int Fort, ten

-mile furder down the lake. They

-help to keep us from getting lonesome

-up here in the woods.” And, indeed,

-there was a comfortable assurance of

-human neighborhood and helpful

-strength in these mighty voices that

-shook the primeval forest with their

-dull thunder.

-

-“I don’t sca’cely ever go nigh

-the forts,” Job continued. “I don’t

-like them reg’lars an’ their toppin’

-ways.”

-

-After fortifying themselves with a

-breakfast, in no wise differing from

-their last meal, the travellers set forth

-on the last stage of their journey, Job

-volunteering to accompany them upon

-it, and see them established in their

-new home. They had not gone far

-on their way down the narrow channel

-of the creek when it brought them to

-the broad, snow-clad expanse of the

-lake, lying white and motionless between

-its rugged shores, bristling with

-the forest, save where, on their left,

-was a stretch of cleared ground, in the

-midst of which stood, like a grim sentinel,

-grown venerable with long years

-of steadfast watch, the gray battlements

-of Fort Ticonderoga.

-

-Here and there could be seen red-coated

-soldiers, bright dots of color in

-the colorless winter landscape, and,

-above them, lazily flaunting in the

-light breeze, shone the red cross of

-England. The old ranger gave the

-flag the tribute of a military salute,

-while his heart swelled with pride at

-sight of the banner for which he had

-fought, and which he had followed

-almost to where it now waved, in the

-humiliation of Abercrombie’s defeat,

-and here had seen it planted in Amherst’s

-triumphant advance.

-

-In Seth Beeman’s breast it stirred

-no such thrill. It had no such associations

-with deeds in which he had

-borne a part, and to him, as to many

-another of his people, it was becoming

-a symbol of oppression rather than an

-object of pride. To Nathan’s boyish

-eyes it was a most beautiful thing,

-without meaning, but of beauty. His

-heart beat quick as the rattling drums

-and the shrill notes of the fife summoned

-the garrison to parade.

-

-The oxen went at a brisker pace on

-the unobstructed surface of the lake,

-and the travellers soon came to a little

-creek not far up which was the clearing

-that Seth Beeman had made during

-the previous summer. In the

-midst of it stood the little log house

-that was henceforth to be their home,

-the shed for the cattle, and a stack of

-wild hay, inconspicuous among log

-heaps almost as large as they, looking

-anything but homelike with the

-smokeless chimney and pathless approach.

-Nor, when entered, was the

-bare interior much more cheerful.

-

-A fire, presently blazing on the

-hearth, soon enlivened it. The floor

-was neatly swept with a broom fashioned

-of hemlock twigs by Job’s ready

-hands. The little stock of furniture

-was brought in. The pewter tableware

-was ranged on the rough corner

-shelves. Ruth added here and there

-such housewifely touches as only a

-woman can give. The change, wrought

-in so brief a space, seemed a magical

-transformation. What two hours ago

-was but a barren crib of rough, clay-chinked

-logs, was now a furnished

-living-room, cozy with rude, homelike

-comfort.

-

-Then the place was hanselled with

-its first regularly prepared dinner, the

-first meal beneath its roof at which a

-woman had presided. Job, loath to

-leave the most humanized habitation

-that he had seen for months, set forth

-for his own lonely cabin. Except the

-unneighborly inmates of the Fort,

-these were his nearest neighbors, and

-to them, for his old comrade’s sake,

-he felt a closer friendship than had

-warmed his heart for many a year.

-

-Though it was March, winter lacked

-many days of being spent in this latitude,

-and, during their continuance,

-Seth was busy with his axe, widening

-the clearing with slow, persistent inroads

-upon the surrounding forest, and

-piling the huge log heaps for next

-spring’s burning. Nathan gave a willing

-and helpful hand to the piling of

-the brush, and took practical lessons

-in that accomplishment so necessary

-to the pioneer—the woodsman’s craft.

-Within doors his mother, with little

-Martha for her companion, plied cards

-and spinning-wheel, with the frugal

-store of wool and flax brought from

-the old home. So their busy hands

-kept loneliness at bay, even amid the

-dreariness of the wintry wilderness.

-

-At last the south wind blew with a

-tempered breath. Hitherto unseen

-stumps appeared above the settling

-snow, the gray haze of woods purpled

-with a tinge of spring, and the caw of

-returning crows pleased their ears,

-tired of the winter’s silence.

-

-Seth tapped the huge old maples

-with a gouge, and the sap, dripping

-from spouts of sumac wood, was

-caught in rough-hewn troughs. From

-these it was carried in buckets on a

-neck-yoke to the boiling place, an

-open-fronted shanty. Before it the

-big potash kettle was hung on a tree

-trunk, so balanced on a stump that it

-could be swung over or off the fire at

-will. Sugaring brought pleasure as

-well as hard labor to Nathan. There

-were quiet hours spent in the shanty

-with his father, with little to do but

-mend the fire and watch the boiling

-sap walloping and frothing, half hidden

-beneath the clouds of steam that

-filled the woods with sweet odor.

-

-Sometimes Job joined them and

-told of his lonely scouts in the Ranger

-service, and of bush fights with Indians

-and their French allies, and of

-encounters with wild beasts, tales

-made more impressive in their relation

-by the loneliness of the campfire,

-with the circle of wild lights and

-shadows leaping around it in the edge

-of the surrounding darkness, out of

-which came, perhaps from far away,

-the howl of a wolf or the nearer hoot

-of the great horned owl.

-

-Sometimes Martha spent part of a

-day in camp with her brother, helping

-in womanly ways that girls so early

-acquired in the training of those

-times, when every one of the household

-must learn helpfulness and self-reliance.

-But the little sister enjoyed

-most the evenings when the syrup

-was taken to the house and sugared

-off. The children surfeited themselves

-with sugar “waxed” on snow,

-and their parents, and Job, if he

-chanced to be there, shared of this

-most delicious of the few backwoods

-luxuries, and the five made a jolly

-family party.

-

-One morning, when the surface of

-the coarse-grained old snow was covered

-with one of the light later falls,

-known as “sugar snow,” as Seth and

-his son were on their way to the sugar

-place, the latter called his father’s

-attention to a large track bearing

-some resemblance to the imprint of a

-naked human foot, and tending with

-some meandering in the same direction

-that they were going.

-

-“Why,” said Seth, at the first

-glance, “it’s a bear, an’ if he’s been

-to the camp, I’m afraid he’s done mischief,

-for they’re meddlesome creatur’s.

-But there wa’n’t much left

-there for him to hurt,” he added,

-after taking a brief mental inventory

-of the camp’s contents.

-

-“I can’t think of nothing but the

-hunk of pork we had to keep the big

-kittle from b’ilin’ over,” said Nathan,

-“and a little mite of syrup that we

-left in the little kittle ’cause there

-was more’n we could carry home in

-the pails.”

-

-“He’s welcome to that if he’s left the

-pork; we hain’t no pork to feed bears.”

-

-Now, as they drew near the camp,

-they heard a strange commotion in

-its neighborhood; a medley of smothered

-angry growls, impatient whines,

-unwieldy floundering, and a dull thud

-and clank of iron, the excited squalling

-of a party of jays, and the chattering

-jeers of a red squirrel. Running

-forward in cautious haste, they presently

-discovered the cause of this odd

-confusion of noises to be a large black

-bear.

-

-His head was concealed in the pot-bellied

-syrup kettle, held fast in that

-position by the bail, that, in his eagerness

-to lick out the last drop of stolen

-sweet, had slipped behind his ears.

-His frantic efforts to get rid of his

-self-imposed muzzle were so funny

-that, after their first moment of bewilderment,

-the two spectators could

-but shout with laughter.

-

-Now upreared, the blindfolded bear

-would strike wildly at the kettle with

-his forepaws; then, falling on his back,

-claw it furiously with his hinder ones;

-then, regaining his feet, rush headlong

-till brought to a sudden stand by an

-unseen tree trunk. Recovering from

-the shock, he would remain motionless

-for a moment, as if devising some

-new means of relief, but would presently

-resume the same round of unavailing

-devices, with the constant

-accompaniment of smothered expressions

-of rage and terror.

-

-But there was little time for laughter

-when a precious kettle and a fat

-bear might at any moment be lost by

-the fracture of one and the escape of

-the other. Seth had no weapon but

-his axe, but with this he essayed

-prompt attack, the happy opportunity

-for which was at once offered. In one

-of his blind, unguided rushes, the bear

-charged directly toward the camp, till

-his iron-clad head struck with a resounding

-clang against the great boiling

-kettle. As he reeled backward

-from the shock, half stunned by it,

-and bewildered by the unaccustomed

-sound that still rang in his ears, Seth

-was beside him with axe uplifted.

-

-Only an instant he deliberated where

-and how to strike; at the skull he

-dared not with the axe-head, for fear

-of breaking the kettle, and he disliked

-to strike with the blade further back

-for fear of disfiguring the skin. But

-this was the preferable stroke, and in

-the next instant the axe-blade fell with

-a downright blow, so strong and well

-aimed that it severed the spinal column

-just forward of the shoulders.

-The great brute went down, paralyzed

-beyond all motion, to fall in a helpless

-heap and yield up his life with a

-few feeble gasps.

-

-“Oh, father,” cried Nathan, the

-first to break the sudden silence, with

-a voice tremulous in exultation, “to

-think we’ve got a bear. Won’t mother

-and Marthy be proud? and won’t

-Job think we’re real hunters?”

-

-Waiting but a moment to stroke the

-glossy fur and lift a huge inert paw,

-but such a little while ago so terrible,

-he sped home to bring his mother and

-sister to see the unexpected prize,

-while the jays renewed their querulous

-outcry, and the squirrel vociferously

-scoffed the fallen despoiler of his stolen

-nuts.

-

-The flesh made a welcome addition

-to the settler’s scanty store of meat,

-the fat furnished a medium for frying

-the hitherto impossible doughnut, and

-Job promised to bring them a handsome

-price for the skin, when he

-should sell it with his own peltry to

-the fur traders. But the praise he

-bestowed upon Seth’s coolness in the

-strange encounter was sweeter to

-Nathan than all else.

-

-As the days went on the advance of

-spring became more rapid and more

-apparent. Already the clearing was

-free from snow, and even in the

-shadow of the forest the tops of the

-cradle knolls showed the brown mats

-of last year’s leaves above the surface,

-that was no longer a pure white, but

-littered with the winter downfall of

-twigs, moss, and bits of bark, and

-everywhere it was gray with innumerable

-swarming mites of snow fleas.

-Great flocks of wild geese harrowed

-the sky. Ducks went whistling in

-swift flight just above the tree tops,

-or settled in the puddles beginning to

-form along the border of the marsh.

-Here muskrats were getting first sight

-of the sun after months of twilight

-spent beneath the ice.

-

-In the earliest April days of open

-water, when the blackbirds, on every

-bordering elm and water maple, were

-filling the air with a jangle of harsh

-and liquid notes, and the frogs, among

-the drift of floating weeds, were purring

-an unremitting croak, Job took

-Nathan out on the marshes, and instructed

-him in the art of shooting

-the great pickerel now come to spawn

-in the warm shallows.

-

-“Never shoot at ’em,” said he,

-when a shot from his smooth-bore had

-turned an enormous fellow’s white

-belly to the sun, and he quickly lifted

-the fish into the canoe; “if you do,

-you won’t hit ’em. Always shoot

-under, a mite or more, accordin’ to

-the depth o’ water.”

-

-Powder and lead were too precious

-to waste much of them on fish, so the

-old hunter made his pupil a hornbeam

-bow and arrows with spiked heads.

-With these weapons the boy soon became

-so skilled that he kept the table

-well supplied with this agreeable variation

-of its frugal fare.

-

-Song-birds came in fewer numbers

-in those days of wide wildernesses

-than now, but there were bluebirds

-and song sparrows enough to enliven

-the clearing with sweet songs, and

-little Martha found squirrel cups

-blooming in the warmest corners of

-the field. As the days grew longer

-and warmer they grew busier, for Seth

-was diligently getting his crops in

-among the black stumps.

-

-Job, having foreseen his friend’s

-need of some sort of water craft when

-the lake should open, had fashioned

-for him a log canoe from the trunk of

-a great pine, and modelled it as gracefully

-as his own birch, though it was

-many times a heavier, as it was a

-steadier, craft.

-

-One pleasant afternoon in early

-May, when the lake was quite clear

-of ice, Seth and his son, with Job as

-their instructor in the art of canoe

-navigation, made a trip in the new

-boat. They paddled down the creek,

-now a broad bit of water from the

-spring overflow. When they came

-to the lake, rippled with a brisk northern

-breeze, they found their visit well

-timed, for a rare and pretty sight was

-before them, so rare and pretty that

-Job paddled back with all speed for

-the mother and daughter that they,

-too, might see it.

-

-A mile below the mouth of the

-creek a large vessel was coming, under

-all sail, with the British flag flying

-bravely above the white cloud

-of canvas. They could hear the inspiring

-strains of martial music, and,

-when the noble vessel swept past not

-half a mile away, they could see the

-gayly dressed officers and the blue-jacketed

-sailors swarming on her

-deck.

-

-“It’s the sloop from St. Johns,”

-said Job. “She comes two or three

-times, whilst the lake’s open, with

-stores for the garrison to the Fort.

-It’s an easier trail than the road from

-Albany. Pretty soon you’ll hear her

-speak.”

-

-Almost at his words a puff of smoke

-jetted out from her black side, and,

-as it drifted across her deck, it was

-followed by the loud, sullen roar of the

-cannon. In response a smoke cloud

-drifted away from the Fort, and a moment

-later a roar of welcome reinforced

-the failing echoes. Again and

-again the sloop and the Fort exchanged

-salutes, till the new settlers

-ceased to be startled by such thunder

-as they had never before heard under

-a cloudless sky.

-

-“They hain’t nothin’ to do with

-their powder nowadays, but to fool it

-away in sech nonsense,” said the

-Ranger, as the sloop came to anchor

-in front of the Fort. “Arter all it’s

-a better use for it than killin’ folks,

-erless,” he deliberately excepted, “it

-might be Injins.”

-

-CHAPTER III—A VISIT TO THE FORT

-===============================

-

-The summer brought more settlers

-to these inviting lands of level, fertile

-soil, and when the woods were again

-bright with autumnal hues, their broad

-expanse of variegated color was

-blotched with many a square of unsightly

-new clearing. Job Carpenter

-looked with disfavor upon such infringement

-of the hunter’s domain,

-but it was welcomed by the Beemans.

-Though Seth’s active out-door employment

-and the constant companionship

-of nature made him less lonely

-than his wife, yet he was of a social

-nature and glad of human companionship;

-while Ruth, sometimes lonely in

-the isolation of her new home, rejoiced

-in the neighborhood of other women.

-

-Only a mile away were the Newtons,

-a large and friendly family, and

-within three miles were four more

-friendly households, and another at

-the falls of the turbid Lemon Fair.

-At this point a saw mill was being

-built and a grist mill talked of. With

-that convenience established so close

-at hand, there would be no more need

-of the long journey to the mill at

-Skeenesborough, a voyage that, in the

-best of weather, required two days to

-accomplish.

-

-The settlers at first pounded their

-corn into samp, or finer meal for johnny-cake,

-by the slow and laborious

-plumping mill, a huge wooden mortar

-with a spring pole pestle.

-

-“Oh, mother,” said Nathan, one

-summer afternoon, as for a while he

-stopped the regular thump, thump of

-the plumping mill to wipe his hot face

-and rest his arms that ached with the

-weary downpull of the great pestle,

-“when do you s’pose the folks to the

-Fair will get the gris’ mill done?”

-

-“Afore long, I hope, for your sake,

-my boy,” she answered, cheerily,

-through the window. “Let me spell

-you awhile and you take a good rest.”

-

-Laying her wool cards aside, she

-came out and set her strong hands to

-the pestle, while Nathan ran out to

-the new road to see what ox-teamster

-of unfamiliar voice was bawling his

-vociferous way along its root-entangled

-and miry course. Presently the boy

-came back, breathless with the haste

-of bearing great news.

-

-“Oh, mother, they’re carryin’ the

-stones and fixin’s for the new mill,

-and the man says they’ll be ready for

-grindin’ before winter sets in. Then

-it’ll be good-by to you, old ’Up-an’-down,’

-and good riddance to bad rubbage,”

-and he brought the pestle

-down with energy on the half-pounded

-grist of samp.

-

-“Don’ revile the plumpin’ mill,

-Nathan. It’s been a good friend in

-time o’ need. Mebby you’ll miss the

-trips to Skeenesborough with your

-father. You’ve always lotted on

-them.”

-

-“Yes, but I’d rather go to the Fort

-and play with the boys, any day, and

-I’ll have more time when samp poundin’

-is done and ended.”

-

-He had been with his father twice

-to the Fort to see its wonders, and,

-brief as the visits were, they sufficed

-to make him acquainted with the boys

-of the garrison, and, for the time, a

-partner in their games. Before the

-summer was out, the little Yankee became

-a great favorite with the few

-English and Irish boys whose fathers

-were soldiers of the little garrison.

-He taught them how to shoot with

-his hornbeam bow and spiked arrows,

-and many another bit of woodcraft

-learned of his fast friend Job, while

-they taught him unheard-of games,

-and told him tales of the marvellous

-world beyond the sea, a world that

-was as a dream to him.

-

-His Yankee inquisitiveness made

-him acquainted with every nook and

-corner of the fortification, and he was

-even one day taken into the commandant’s

-quarters, that the beautiful

-wife of that fine gentleman might see

-from what manner of embryo grew

-these Yankees, who were becoming

-so troublesome to His Majesty, King

-George. She was so pleased with his

-frank, simple manner and shrewd answers

-that she dismissed him with a

-bright, new English shilling, the largest

-sum that he had yet possessed.

-

-“Really, William,” she afterwards

-remarked to her husband, “if this be

-a specimen of your terrible Yankees,

-they be very like our own people, in

-speech and actions, only sharper witted,

-and they surely show close kinship

-with us in spite of such long

-separation.”

-

-“You little know them,” said Captain

-Delaplace, laughing. “They are

-a turbulent, upstart breed. I fear

-only a sound drubbing, and, perhaps,

-the hanging of a score of their leaders,

-will teach them obedience to His

-Majesty.”

-

-“I would be sorry to have this little

-man drubbed or hanged,” said she,

-with a sigh; “surely he is not of the

-stuff rebels are made of.”

-

-“The very stuff, my dear. Bold

-and self-reliant, and impatient of control,

-as you may see. If ever there

-comes an outbreak of these discontented

-people, I warrant you’ll find

-this boy deserving the drubbing and

-getting it, too, for His Majesty’s

-troops would make short work of

-such rabble.”

-

-CHAPTER IV—THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS

-===================================

-

-A year later, the dispute of the Governors

-of New York and New Hampshire,

-concerning the boundaries of

-the two provinces, was at its height,

-and the quarrel between claimants of

-grants of the same lands, under charters

-from both governors, became

-every day more violent. The disputed

-territory was that between the

-Connecticut River and Lake Champlain,

-and was for a long time known

-as the New Hampshire Grants.

-

-If a New York grantee found the

-claim which he had selected, or which

-had been allotted to him, occupied by

-a New Hampshire grantee, when the

-strength of his party was sufficient he

-would take forcible possession of the

-land, without regard to the improvements

-made upon it, and without

-making any compensation therefor.

-He was seldom left long in enjoyment

-of possession thus gained, for the

-friends of the New Hampshire grantee

-quickly rallied to his aid and summarily

-ousted the aggressor, who, if

-he proved too stubborn, was likely to

-be roughly handled, and have set upon

-his back the imprint of the beech seal,

-the name given to the blue-beech rod

-wherewith such offenders were chastised.

-The New Hampshire grantees

-were as unscrupulous in their ejectment

-of New York claimants who had

-first established themselves on the New

-Hampshire Grants. Surveyors, acting

-under the authority of New York,

-were especially obnoxious to settlers

-of the other party, and rough encounters

-of the opposing claimants were

-not infrequent. Seth Beeman and

-his neighbors had all taken up land

-under a New Hampshire charter, without

-a thought of its validity being

-questioned.

-

-One bright June morning, Nathan

-was watching the corn that, pushing its

-tender blades above the black mould

-in a corner of the clearing, offered

-sweet and tempting morsels to the

-thieving crows. It was a lazy, sleep-enticing

-occupation, when all the

-crows but one, who sat biding his

-opportunity on a dry tree top, had

-departed, cawing encouragement to

-one another, in quest of a less vigilantly

-guarded field. There was no

-further need for beating with his improvised

-drumsticks on the hollow

-topmost log of the fence, to the tune

-of “Uncle Dan, Uncle Dan, Uncle

-Dan, Dan, Dan,” which would not

-scare the wise old veteran from his

-steadfast waiting.

-

-The indolent fluting of the hermit

-thrushes rang languidly through the

-leafy chambers of the forest, and the

-wood pewees sang their pensive song

-on the bordering boughs, too content

-with song and mere existence to chase

-the moth that wavered nearest their

-perch. The languor of their notes

-pervaded all the senses of the boy,

-and, with his body in the shade of the

-log fence and his bare feet in the sunshine,

-he fell into a doze.

-

-Suddenly he was awakened by an

-alarmed outcry of the crow, now

-sweeping in narrow circles above some

-new intruder upon his domain. Then

-he became aware of strange voices,

-the tramp of feet, the swish of branches

-pushed aside regaining their places, a

-metallic clink, and occasional lightly

-delivered axe strokes. Mounting the

-topmost log of the fence, and shading

-his eyes with his hands, he peered into

-the twilight of the woods. To this

-his eyes had hardly accustomed themselves,

-when he saw what sent flashes

-of anger and chills of dread chasing

-one another through his veins. But

-a few rods away, and coming towards

-him, were two men, one bearing the

-end of a surveyor’s chain and a bundle

-of wire rods, the other carrying an axe

-and gun. A little behind these were

-two men similarly equipped, and still

-further in the rear, half hidden by the

-screen of undergrowth, more figures

-were discovered, one of whom was

-squinting through the sights of a compass,

-whose polished brass glittered in

-a stray sunbeam. Nathan was sure

-this must be the party of the New

-York surveyor of whom there had

-been a rumor in the settlement, and

-he felt that trouble was at hand.

-

-“Hello, here’s a clearin’,” the foremost

-man, as he ran to the fence,

-called back to the one at the other

-end of the chain. “Jenkins, tell Mr.

-Felton there’s a fenced clearin’ here,—and

-boy,” now deigning to notice

-so insignificant an object.

-

-“Stake,” cried Jenkins.

-

-As the first speaker planted one of

-the wire rods beside the fence, Jenkins

-pulled up the last one stuck in the

-woods, at the same time shouting the

-news back to the surveyor.

-

-“Hold on, boy,” the first speaker

-said, as Nathan jumped from the

-fence. “You stay here till Mr. Felton

-comes up.”

-

-“I’m going home,” Nathan answered

-boldly; “if Mr. Felton wants

-me he can come there.”

-

-“You sassy young rascal,” cried

-one of the men, who carried a gun,

-bringing his weapon to a ready; “you

-stand where you be or I’ll—” and he

-tapped the butt of his gun impressively.

-

-“You wouldn’t dast to,” Nathan

-gasped defiantly, but he went no

-further, and stood at bay, grinding

-the soft mold under his naked heel

-while he cast furtive glances at the

-intruders, till the remainder of the

-party came up. The surveyor, impressed

-with the dignity of his position,

-maintained a haughty bearing

-toward all the members of his party

-save one, a swarthy, thick-set, low-browed

-man, whom he addressed as

-Mr. Graves.

-

-“A fine clearing, indeed,” said Mr.

-Felton when he came to the fence.

-“I wonder what Yankee scoundrel

-has dared to so seize, hold and occupy

-the lands of the Royal Colony of New

-York.”

-

-“Mayhap this younker can tell you,

-sir,” said the man guarding the boy,

-and lowering his gun as he spoke.

-

-“Boy, what scoundrel has dared to

-steal this land and establish himself

-upon it without leave or license of His

-Excellency, the Governor of New

-York? Yes, and cut down the pine

-trees, especially reserved for the masting

-of His Majesty’s navy,” and he

-tapped the top log impressively.

-

-“It’s holler, Mr. Felton,” Jenkins

-suggested, satisfying himself of the

-fact by a resonant thump of his axe.

-

-“Who stole this land? Where’s

-your tongue, boy?” Mr. Felton demanded

-sharply.

-

-But the boy, out of mind an instant,

-in that instant was out of sight.

-Many a time he had heard Job recount

-the manner of retreat practised

-by the Rangers, and now the knowledge

-served him well. While the surveryor’s

-party was engaged with the

-pine, he slipped down on the same

-side of the fence, gained the veiling of

-a low bush, wormed his way a few

-feet along the ground, reached the

-protection of a large tree trunk, when

-he leaped to his feet, and, fleet and

-noiseless as a Ranger himself, fled

-from tree to tree in a circuitous route

-to his father.

-

-Seth Beeman was hard at work on

-an extension of his clearing to the

-westward when Nathan came up,

-panting and breathless.

-

-“Oh, father, there’s a whole lot of

-Yorkers come and they’re runnin’ a

-line right through our clearin’.”

-

-Seth listened attentively until the

-men and their work had been described

-minutely, and then, without a word,

-resumed the trimming of the great

-hemlock he had just felled. As

-Nathan waited for some response, he

-knew by his father’s knitted brow that

-his thoughts were busy. At length,

-breaking off a twig of hemlock, he

-came to his son and said, handing the

-evergreen to him:

-

-“Take this to Newton’s and show

-it to the men folks, and say ‘There’s

-trouble to Beeman’s,’ and then go on

-and do the same at every house,

-’round to Job’s, and show it to him

-and tell him the‘ same, and do whatever

-he tells you. Be spry, my boy;

-I must stay here and ta’ care of mother

-and Sis. Keep in the woods till you

-get clear of the Yorkers, then take the

-road and clipper.”

-

-CHAPTER V—THE EVERGREEN SPRIG

-=============================

-

-Understanding the importance of

-his errand and guessing its purpose,

-Nathan skulked stealthily along the

-heavily-wooded border of the highway

-till past all chance of discovery,

-when he took the easier course of the

-road. The ecstatic melody of the

-thrushes’ song and the pensive strain

-of the pewee had not changed, yet

-now they were instinct with cheer and

-acceleration, as was the merry drumbeat

-of the flicker on a dry branch

-overhead.

-

-Presently, as he held his steady

-pace, splashing through puddles and

-pattering along firmer stretches, he

-heard sharp and loud footfalls in rapid

-approach. Before his first impulse to

-strike into the ready cover of the

-woods was carried into effect, a horseman

-galloped around the turn, and he

-was face to face with a handsome

-stranger, whose tall, well-knit figure,

-heightened by his seat on horseback,

-towered above the boy like a giant.

-

-“Hello,” said the man, reining up

-his horse, “and where are you bound

-in such a hurry, and who might you

-be?” His clear gray eyes were fixed

-on Nathan, who noticed pistols in the

-holsters, a long gun across the saddle

-bow, and, in the cocked hat, a sprig

-of evergreen.

-

-“I’m Seth Beeman’s boy,” Nathan

-answered, pointing in the direction of

-his home, “and I’m goin’ to neighbor

-Newton’s of an arrant.”

-

-“Ah,—Beeman,—a good man, I’m

-told. And what might take you to

-neighbor Newton’s in such a hurry?

-Has that hemlock twig in your hand

-anything to do with your errand?”

-demanded the stranger, in an imperative

-but kindly voice. “Speak up.

-You need not be afraid of me.”

-

-Nathan looked up inquiringly at

-the bold, handsome face smiling down

-on him.

-

-“Did you ever hear of Ethan Allen?”

-asked the stranger.

-

-“Oh, yes; only yesterday father

-told about Ethan Allen’s throwing the

-Yorker’s millstones over the Great

-Falls at New Haven.”

-

-“Right and true! Well, I am

-Ethan Allen.” As he gave his name

-in a deep-toned voice of proud assurance,

-it seemed in itself a strong host.

-“Your father sent you with that twig

-to say there’s trouble at Beeman’s,

-didn’t he?”

-

-Nathan looked up in wonder, admiration,

-and gladness, and then, with

-the instinctive, unreasoned confidence

-that the famous chieftain of the Grants

-was wont to inspire, told unreservedly

-his father’s troubles and directions.

-When Allen had heard it, he wheeled

-his horse beside the nearest stump

-and bade Nathan mount behind him.

-

-“My horse’s feet will help you make

-your rounds quicker than yours, my

-man. We’ve no time to lose, for

-there’s no telling what those scoundrels

-may be at. Eight Yorkers!

-Well, we’ll soon raise good men

-enough to make short work of them.”

-

-Nathan mounted nimbly to his assigned

-place, and, clasping as far as he

-could the ample waist of his new

-friend, was borne along the road at a

-speed that soon brought them to the

-log house of the Newtons. A man of

-the herculean mould so common to the

-early Vermonters came out of the

-house to meet the comers, with an

-expression of pleased surprise on his

-good-humored face.

-

-“Why, colonel, we wa’n’t expectin’

-on you so soon, but we hain’t no less

-glad to see you. ’Light and come in.

-Mother’ll hev potluck ready to rights.

-Why, is that the Beeman boy stickin’

-on behind you? Anything the matter

-over to Beeman’s?”

-

-“No, we can’t ’light,” Allen replied;

-and then, looking down over

-his shoulder, “Do your errand, my

-boy, and we’ll push on.”

-

-Nathan held out the carefully kept

-sprig of evergreen and repeated his

-message.

-

-“Trouble to Beeman’s, now.”

-

-“Yea, verily,” said Allen to Newton,

-whose face flashed at the boy’s

-words. “Rise up and gird on your

-swords, you and your sons. The

-Philistines are upon you even as it

-has been prophesied. Felton and his

-gang of land thieves. The son of

-Belial was warned to depart from the

-land of the elect, but he heeds not

-those who cry in the wilderness. Confound

-the rascal! He must be

-‘viewed’! You and your two boys

-take your guns and jog down that

-way, and as you go cut a goodly

-scourge of blue beech, for verily there

-shall be weeping and wailing and

-gnashing of teeth. We’ll rally the

-Callenders, and Jones, and Harrington,

-and North, and my friend Beeman

-here will tell Job. We’ll gather

-a good dozen. Enough to mete out

-the vengeance of the Lord to eight

-Yorkers, I’ll warrant!”

-

-Strange and abrupt as were the transitions

-from Allen’s favorite Scriptural

-manner of speech to the ordinary vernacular,

-no one thought of laughing.

-As the boy dismounted, Allen said:

-

-“You go straight to Job and do as

-he tells you;” and as he rode away

-called back, “everybody lay low and

-keep dark till you hear the owl hoot.”

-

-Soon Nathan turned from the road

-into an obscure footpath that led in

-the direction of Job Carpenter’s cabin.

-The gloom and loneliness of the mysterious

-forest, through which the narrow

-footpath wound, so pervaded it

-that the song birds seemed awed to

-silence, and the woodpeckers tapped

-cautiously, as if afraid of being heard

-by some enemy. No boy, even of

-backwoods breeding, would care to

-loiter had his errand been less urgent,

-and he gave but a passing notice to

-things ordinarily of absorbing interest.

-

-A mother partridge fluttered along

-the ground in simulated crippledness

-while her callow brood vanished among

-the low-spread leaves. A shy wood

-bird disclosed the secret of her nest

-as he sped by. Against a dark pine

-gleamed the fiery flash of a tanager’s

-plumage. A wood mouse stirred the

-dry leaves. His own foot touched a

-prostrate dead sapling, and the dry

-top rustled unseen in the wayside

-thicket. There was a sound of long,

-swift bounds, punctuating the silence

-with growing distinctness, and a hare,

-in his brown summer coat, wide-eyed

-with terror, flashed like a dun streak

-across the path just before him, and

-close behind the terrified creature a

-gray lynx shot past, eager with sight

-and scent of his prey, closing the distance

-with long leaps. Before the

-intermittent scurry of footfalls had

-faded out of hearing they ceased, and

-a wail of agony announced the tragical

-end of the race. The cry made him

-shiver, and he could but think that

-the lynx might have been a panther

-and the hare a boy.

-

-His heart grew lighter when he saw

-the sunshine showing golden green

-through the leafy screen that bordered

-the hunter’s little clearing. He found

-Job leaning on his hoe in his patch of

-corn, looking wistfully on the creek,

-where the fish were breaking the surface

-among the weeds that marked

-the expanse of marsh with tender

-green, and where the sinuous course

-of the channel was defined by purple

-lines of lily pads. The message was

-received with a show of vexation, and

-the old man exclaimed:

-

-“Plague on ’em all with their

-pitches and surveyin’ and squabblin’.

-Why can’t folks let the woods alone?

-There’s room enough in the settlements

-for sech quarrels without comin’

-here to disturb God’s peace with bickerin’s

-over these acres o’ desart. I

-thought I’d got done wi’ wars and

-fightin’s, exceptin’ with varmints,

-when the Frenchers and Injins was

-whipped. But I guess there won’t

-never be no peace on airth and good

-will to men for all it’s ben preached

-nigh onto eighteen hundred years.

-Plague on your Hampshire Grants and

-your York Grants, the hul bilin’!

-Wal, if it must come it must, and I’ll

-be skelped if I’ll see Yorkers a runnin’

-over my own Yankee kin. Yorkers

-is next to Reg’lars for toppin’

-ways. I never could abear ’em.”

-

-While he spoke he twirled Nathan’s

-hemlock sprig between his fingers and

-now set it carefully in the band of his

-hat and led the way to his cabin.

-

-“And Ethan Allen’s in these betterments?

-Well, them Yorkers’ll

-wish they’d stayed to home. He’s

-hard-handed, is Ethan.”

-

-The two were now in the cabin, and

-Job set forth a cold johnny-cake and

-some jerked venison that Nathan

-needed no urging to partake of.

-“’Tain’t your mother’s cookin’, but

-it’s better’n nothin’,” Job said, as

-between mouthfuls he counted out a

-dozen bullets from a pouch and put

-them in his pocket. Then he held up

-his powder horn toward the light after

-giving it a shake, and, being satisfied

-of its contents, slung it over his shoulder.

-Their hunger being satisfied, he

-took the long smooth-bore from its

-hooks, examined the flint, and, nodding

-to Nathan to follow, went down

-to his canoe, that lay bottom up on

-the bank.

-

-“It’s quicker goin’ by water’n by

-land,” said Job, as he set the canoe

-afloat and stepped into it, while

-Nathan took his place forward. Impelled

-by the two paddles, the light

-craft went swiftly gliding down the

-creek, and then northward, skirting

-the wooded shore of the lake.

-

-CHAPTER VI—THE YORKERS

-======================

-

-Though the presentation of claims,

-under the authority of the New York

-government, to the land which Seth

-Beeman occupied by virtue of a title

-derived from the Governor of New

-Hampshire, had for some time been

-expected and resistance fully determined

-upon, Seth’s heart was as hot

-with anger and heavy with anxiety as

-if invasion had come without warning.

-Tenacious of his rights, he yet hated

-strife and contention. Nor could he

-foresee whether he must lose the

-home he had wrought with toil and

-privation out of the savage wilderness,

-or whether, after a sharp, brief

-contest, he would be left in peaceable

-possession of it, or whether he could

-then hold it only by continued resistance.

-

-Nathan had not been long away

-when he shouldered his axe and hastened

-toward the house. When it

-came in view, between the tall pillars

-of tree trunks that paled the verge of

-the clearing, the rough-walled dwelling

-had never looked more homelike

-nor better worth keeping. It had

-overcome the strangeness of new occupancy

-and settled to its place. The

-logs had begun to gather again the

-moss that they lost when they ceased

-to be trees. Wild vines, trained to

-tamer ways, clambered about the doorway

-and deep-set windows, beneath

-which beds of native and alien posies,

-carefully tended, alike flourished in

-the virgin soil. The young garden

-stuff was promising, and the broader

-expanse of fall-sown wheat, grown

-tall enough to toss in the wind, made

-a rippling green sea of the clearing,

-with islands of blackened stumps jutting

-here and there above the surface.

-The place had outgrown its uncouth

-newness and transient camp-like appearance

-and become a home to cling

-to and defend.

-

-“What is it, Seth?” asked Ruth,

-coming to greet him at the door, her

-smile fading as she saw his troubled

-face.

-

-“The Yorkers have come.” And

-then he explained Nathan’s mission.

-“Our folks’ll come to help as soon as

-they can, but the Yorkers’ll get here

-first. Look a there,” and, following

-his eyes, Ruth saw the surveyor’s

-party approaching the border of the

-clearing, just as the Beemans passed

-into the house.

-

-“It won’t come to that, will it?”

-she asked, in a low, awed voice, as

-Seth took down his gun.

-

-“I hope not, but I want the gun

-out of their reach and where I can get

-it handy. There ain’t a bullet or

-buckshot in the house,” he declared,

-after examining the empty bullet

-pouch. “Give me some beans.

-They’re good enough for Yorkers.”

-

-As he spoke he measured a charge

-of powder into the long barrel, rammed

-a tow wad upon it, poured in a half

-handful of the beans that Ruth

-brought him in a gourd, rammed down

-another wad, put priming in the pan,

-clapped down the hammer, then

-mounted half way up the ladder that

-served as a stair, laid the gun on the

-floor of the upper room, and was

-down at the door when the surveyor

-led his party to it. He saluted the

-party civilly, and, upon demand, gave

-his name.

-

-“Well, Mr. Beeman,” began the

-surveyor, in a pompous tone, “I sent

-your son to bring you to me, but it

-seems you did not please to come.”

-

-“No,” said Seth quietly; “it does

-not please me to leave my affairs at

-the beck and call of every stranger

-that comes this way.”

-

-“Well, sir, I’d have you understand

-that I am Marmaduke Felton,

-duly appointed and licensed as a surveyor

-of His Majesty’s lands within

-his province of New York. Furthermore,

-be it known, I have come

-here in the regular discharge of the

-duties of my office, to fix the bounds

-of land purchased by my client, Mr.

-Erastus Graves,” bowing to the person,

-“of the original grantees, with

-patent from His Excellency the Governor,

-who alone has authority to

-grant these lands. I find you, sir,

-established on these same lands belonging

-to my client. What have you

-to say for yourself? By what pretended

-right have you made occupation

-of lands belonging to my client?”

-

-“I have to say for myself,” Seth

-answered, in a steady voice, “that I

-bought this pitch of the original proprietors,

-and I have their deed, duly

-signed and sealed. They got their

-charter of His Excellency Benning

-Wentworth, His Majesty’s Governor

-of the Province of New Hampshire.”

-

-“Your title is not worth the paper

-it’s written on,” scoffed Mr. Felton.

-“Governor Wentworth has no more

-authority to grant lands than I have.

-Not a whit. The east bounds of New

-York are fixed by royal decree at the

-west bank of Connecticut River, as

-everybody knows, and Wentworth’s

-grants this side that limit are null and

-void. No doubt you have acted in

-good faith, but now there’s nothing

-for you but to vacate these betterments

-forthwith; yes, forthwith, if

-you will take the advice of a friend,”

-and the little man regaled himself with

-a pinch of snuff.

-

-“I shall not go till I am forced to,”

-Seth answered with determination.

-“When it comes to force both parties

-may take a hand in the game.”

-

-“Very well, very well! I have

-given you friendly advice; if you do

-not choose to take it the consequences

-be on your own head. Come, Graves;

-come, men, let us go about our present

-affairs;” adding, after some talk

-with Graves, “We shall be back to

-spend the night with you, Mr. Beeman.

-You cannot refuse Mr. Graves

-the shelter of his own house.”

-

-Seth flushed with anger, but answered

-steadily: “I can’t help it, but

-you will not be welcome.”

-

-The men who had been idling about,

-taking little interest in the parley,

-now followed their employers back

-to the woods, trampling through the

-young wheat in their course.

-

-“I wish you a pleasant night on’t,”

-said Seth under his breath, and turned

-to reassure his wife. “Don’t be frightened,

-my girl. They won’t get us

-out of here. Keep a stout heart and

-wait.”

-

-With a quieter heart she went about

-her household affairs, while her husband

-busied himself nearby, weeding

-the garden and giving to his wife’s

-posy beds the awkward care of unaccustomed

-hands. He often stopped

-his employment to listen and intently

-scan the border of the woods. The

-shadows of the trees were stretching

-far across the clearing when an owl

-hooted solemnly in the nearest woods

-on the bank of the creek, and, presently,

-another answered farther away.

-

-“Do hear the owls hootin’, and it’s

-clear as a bell,” said Ruth at the

-door, looking up to the cloudless sky.

-“It can’t be it’s a-going to storm.”

-

-“I shouldn’t wonder if it did,” said

-Seth with a mirthless laugh. “Where

-was that nighest hoot?”

-

-As he spoke the solemn hollow

-notes were repeated, and some crows

-began to wheel and caw above the

-spot, marking it plainly enough to

-the eye and ear, and he set forth in

-the direction at a quick pace.

-

-“Why don’t Nathan come home?”

-little Martha asked. “I hain’t seen

-him all day. I wish he’d come. He’ll

-get ketched in the storm.”

-

-“Oh, don’t worry, deary,” said her

-mother after she had watched her

-husband disappear in the thickening

-shadow of the woods. “We might

-as well eat, for there’s no telling when

-father’ll be back.” They were not

-half through the meal before he came,

-and, as he took his seat at the table,

-he said with a deep sigh of relief:

-“I’m afeard our York friends won’t

-enjoy their lodgin’s overmuch. The

-owls are round pretty thick to-night.”

-

-“Well, I guess they’ve ben talking

-to you,” said Ruth, as her face lighted

-with a comprehension of his meaning.

-

-“Can owls talk?” Martha asked,

-agape with wonder.

-

-“Well, the old knowing ones. Owls

-are turrible knowing creatur’s,” her

-father said.

-

-The twilight possessing the woods

-had scarcely invaded the clearing when

-the surveyor and his party came to

-the house, bringing in blankets, provisions,

-guns, tools, and instruments,

-till the one small room was crowded

-with them and the uninvited guests.

-Felton and Graves made themselves

-offensively and officiously at home.

-The cook took possession of the fire,

-and set two frying-pans of pork sputtering

-grease upon the tidy hearth, to

-the disgust of the housewife, who sat

-with her husband and child in a dark

-corner. At last Felton brought forth

-a bottle of spirits from his leathern

-portmanteau and drank to Graves.

-

-“Here’s to your speedy installment

-in your rightful possessions. Now,

-help yourself, and give the men their

-tot.”

-

-Graves stood filling his measure of

-grog in the tin cup, grinning with

-satisfaction, when a loud knock came

-on the door.

-

-CHAPTER VII—THE “JUDGMENT SEAT”

-===============================

-

-Without waiting to be bidden, a

-man of massive mould entered the

-room. He strode into the firelight,

-and, wheeling on the hearth, faced the

-company, his shadow filling half the

-room.

-

-“Good evening, gentlemen. Good

-evening, Mr. Felton and Graves.”

-

-The latter stood with the untasted

-dram half way to his gaping mouth,

-the other was as motionless, save as

-his face expressed successively astonishment,

-anger, and exultation.

-

-“Colonel Ethan Allen,” he said at

-last, emphasizing the title. “Most

-happy to receive a call from so distinguished

-a person. A very fortunate

-meeting.” Then changing his tone

-of mock politeness to one of command:

-“You are my prisoner. Men,

-lay hold of him! A hundred pounds

-are offered for his head! It is Ethan

-Allen! Lay hold of him, I tell you!”

-

-There was a reluctant stir among

-the men. One advanced toward the

-corner near the fireplace where the

-guns were set. With deliberate celerity

-Allen drew his hands from the

-skirts of his coat, a cocked pistol in

-each, and, with one of them, he covered

-the man skulking towards the

-guns.

-

-“The first man that draws a pistol

-or raises a gun gets a bullet through

-his carcass,” he said with authority.

-

-At Allen’s first words Seth had

-mounted the ladder and as quickly

-reappeared with his gun. The movement

-was seen in the dancing shadows,

-and he was covered by the other pistol,

-which was lowered as he was distinguished

-to be helping a woman and

-child to mount to the chamber.

-

-“Down with your gun over there!

-Oh, it is our friend Beeman! All

-right!” Then Allen called in a voice

-that made the pewter dishes ring on

-their shelves:

-

-“Come in, men!”

-

-The door swung violently open, and

-Job Carpenter, with all the arms-bearing

-men of the wide neighborhood, to

-the number of a dozen, came marching

-in, in Indian file, with rifle or

-smooth-bore at a trail. In the rear

-was Nathan, unarmed, but eager to

-see all that should transpire.

-

-Felton and Graves lost their bold

-demeanor, yet held their places, while

-their men slunk to the farther side of

-the room in dumb affright, save Jenkins,

-the cook, who, dodging this side

-and that of Allen’s burly form, hovered

-near his frying-pans in a divided

-fear for his own safety and that of his pork.

-

-“Keep every one of these men

-under close guard, my boys,” Allen

-commanded, “especially these two

-chief offenders. Now, Mr. Felton,

-perhaps it is made plain to you that I

-am not your prisoner, and that the

-gods of the valleys are not the gods of

-the hills. Behold how riches take to

-themselves wings and fly away even

-before they are possessed. In witness

-whereof, consider the hundred pounds

-offered by your Governor for an honest

-man. No wonder he longs for the

-sight of one, with such a pack of

-thieves and land jobbers as he has

-about him.”

-

-“An honest man?” cried Felton,

-trembling with rage. “A ruffian! A

-rioter! A defier of law!” and he

-poured forth a torrent of opprobrious

-names, and a full measure of curses,

-till out of breath.

-

-“Go on, Master Felton, go on,”

-said Allen, smiling benignly upon

-him. “Ease yourself. Unless it be

-prayer, which you rarely employ, I

-doubt, there is nothing like good

-round cursing to relieve an overburdened

-heart. Upon occasion I avail

-myself of the remedy. Pray go on, or

-give your friend a chance. Mr. Graves,

-you have the floor,” but the man addressed

-only glowered savagely.

-

-“Well, if you have offered all your

-burnt offerings of brimstone, let the

-men have their supper and make

-themselves strong for their journey.

-Dish up the pork, cook, that you have

-been bumping my legs to get at, and

-bring out your bread bag. Stir yourselves.

-We have weighty business

-pending.”

-

-The men ate their meat and bread

-with the appetite of those whom no

-emotion can cheat of a meal, but Felton

-and Graves would have none of it.

-The Green Mountain Boys sat apart,

-chatting in low tones, till the smokers

-were filling their pipes after their

-meal, when Allen rapped the table

-with the butt of his pistol, and his

-clear, deep voice broke the silence

-that ensued.

-

-“Friends of the Grants, you all

-know we have come here to erect the

-‘Judgment seat’ this night, and mete

-out such punishment as doth unto

-justice appertain. Yea, verily, for

-wrongs done or sought to be done

-upon the people of these New Hampshire

-Grants. We will at once elect a

-judge. To save time, I will nominate

-Ethan Allen as a proper person for

-that office. You that would elect him

-say ‘Aye.’”

-

-There was a unanimous affirmative

-response, even Nathan, proud of the

-opportunity of giving his first vote,

-made his piping treble heard among

-the deep voices of the men.

-

-“Contrary minded, make the usual

-sign.”

-

-There was only a sullen “No” from

-Felton.

-

-“You are not entitled to vote in this

-meeting, sir. I have a clear majority

-and will take my seat.” So saying,

-Allen seated himself upon the table.

-

-“The plain facts of the case are

-these: This Mr. Felton and this

-Graves, also, were taken by me, and

-certain other good men, about one

-month ago, in the act of surveying,

-under the pretended authority of the

-tyrannical New York government,

-lands already granted by His Excellency

-Benning Wentworth, His Majesty’s

-duly appointed Governor of

-New Hampshire. The said persons

-were ordered to desist from such unlawful

-business and to depart from

-these Grants, and were duly warned

-not to return for a like purpose under

-pain of being ‘Viewed.’ Furthermore,

-they were suffered to depart

-without bodily harm. Here the surveyor

-comes again, like a bad penny

-as he is, bearing the King’s mark, but

-a base counterfeit none the less. And

-this Graves pretends to own this pitch

-by right of purchase under York government.

-Other than them I do not

-recognize any among this crew who

-have been ‘Warned.’ Now, friend

-Beeman, tell us your story.”

-

-Seth told what had passed between

-him and the surveyor, and then Nathan

-was called to relate his meeting the

-party in the woods, which he did in a

-straightforward manner, except for his

-boyish bashfulness.

-

-“Now, you have it all. Felton and

-Graves are here, as you see, in prosecution

-of their unlawful business, as

-the testimony of this boy and his

-father shows. In further proof whereof,

-see the surveyor’s instruments

-here in view. What say you, men of

-the Grants, are they guilty or not

-guilty?”

-

-“Guilty,” said the various voices.

-

-“What shall be their punishment?

-That they be chastised with the twigs

-of the wilderness?”

-

-There was general affirmative response,

-some answering loudly, others

-faintly and hesitatingly. Then Job

-Carpenter stepped forward, and, making

-a military salute, said:

-

-“I don’t go agin these men a gittin’

-what they desarve, but I don’t

-want to have them skinned. Their

-skins hain’t worth a-hevin’ only for

-their selves, and I hate to see white

-men whipped like dogs. If they was

-Injins I wouldn’t say agin it. But,

-bein’ they hain’t, I move they hev jest

-nine cuts o’ the Blue Beech apiece.”

-

-“Forty, save one,” was the customary

-award in such cases, and there

-were a few dissenting voices, but the

-milder punishment was finally agreed

-upon.

-

-If the two men under sentence felt

-any gratitude for the mitigation of

-the severity, they expressed none.

-Graves maintained a sullen silence,

-though his vengeful scowl expressed

-as much hatred of the prosecutors of

-the informal trial as did the storm

-of oaths and abuse that Felton let

-forth upon them in intermittent gusts.

-

-So the night passed, with snatches

-of sleep for some, with none for others,

-while the prisoners were kept under

-constant guard. With daylight came

-the summary infliction of the punishment

-awarded. It was a scene so

-cruel that Ruth and Martha could not

-bear to hear, much less to witness it,

-and Nathan, when an old man, said

-it was a horrible memory. Yet, severe

-as was the chastisement inflicted by

-the Green Mountain Boys upon their

-persecutors, it was no more cruel than

-the legal punishment of many light offences

-in those days, when the whipping

-post was one of the first adornments

-of every little hamlet. In

-conclusion, Ethan Allen gave to Felton

-and Graves a “Certificate,” written

-by himself, to the effect:

-

-“This is to Certify that the Bearer

-has this day rec’d his Just Dues and

-is permitted to pass beyond the New

-Hampshire Grants. He Behaving as

-Becometh. In witness whereof, see

-the Beech Seal upon his back and our

-Hands set Hereunto. Signed, Ethan

-Allen and others.”

-

-Felton cast his upon the ground and

-stamped upon it, but Graves folded

-and put his carefully in his pocket,

-glowering in silence upon his enemies.

-Then Ethan Allen broke the surveyor’s

-compass with his own hands and

-tossed the fragments away.

-

-“Now,” said he, in an awful voice,

-“depart, and woe be unto you, Marmaduke

-Felton and Erastus Graves,

-if you ever set foot in the land of the

-Green Mountain Boys. You other

-men, if you come in peace and on

-honest business, you shall not have a

-hair of your heads hurt. But if you

-ever venture to come on such an iniquitous

-errand as now brought you,

-by the Great Jehovah, you shall repent

-in sackcloth and ashes! Forward,

-march!”

-

-At the command, the surveyor and

-his men filed off, and the last of the

-sullen and chap-fallen crew soon disappeared

-among the trees. They

-were accompanied some distance by

-the Green Mountain Boys, when their

-beloved chieftain rode away to redress

-wrongs of settlers in other parts.

-

-By noon the clearing was occupied

-by none but its usual tenants, and,

-henceforth, though they suffered frequent

-apprehension of further trouble,

-they were not molested by any New

-York claimants.

-

-CHAPTER VIII—A NOVEL BEAR TRAP

-==============================

-

-“You don’t know of anybody hereabouts

-that wants to hire a good hand,

-I s’pose?” asked a stranger one August

-afternoon, as, without unslinging his

-pack, he set his gun against the log

-wall beside the door, and leaned upon

-his axe at the threshold.

-

-By degrees Seth Beeman had enlarged

-his clearing so far that he

-already needed stronger hands than

-Nathan’s to help him in the care of

-the land already in tilth and in the

-further extension of his betterments,

-but he scanned the man closely before

-he answered. Though unprepossessing,

-low-browed, and surly looking,

-he was evidently a stout fellow, and

-accustomed to work. At length a

-reply was made by asking such questions

-as were a matter of course in

-those days, and are not yet quite

-obsolete in Yankeeland.

-

-The stranger readily said his name

-was Silas Toombs, that he was from

-Jersey way, and wished, when he had

-earned enough, to take up a right of

-land hereabouts, in a region he had

-often heard extolled by his father,

-who had served here in Captain Bergen’s

-company of Rogers’s Rangers.

-Seth had previously ascertained that

-no grown-up son of any of his neighbors

-could be spared to help him, so

-he finally hired this man, who proved

-to be efficient and faithful, although

-not a genial companion, such as an

-old-time farmer wished to find in his

-hired help. Ruth treated him with

-the kindness so natural to her, though

-she could scarcely conceal her aversion.

-This, if he understood, he did

-not seem to notice any more than he

-did the undisguised dislike of Nathan.

-

-The remainder of the summer and

-half of the fall passed uneventfully,

-till one day, when Ruth had been

-called to the bedside of Mrs. Newton,

-who was ill of the fever so prevalent

-in new clearings, Nathan and his sister

-were left in charge of the house, while

-their father and hired man worked in

-a distant field.

-

-The children spent half the pleasant

-forenoon in alternate rounds of housework

-and out-door play, now sweeping

-the floor with hemlock brooms,

-now running out into the hazy October

-sunshine to play “Indians” with

-Nathan’s bow and arrows and Martha’s rag doll.

-This was stolen and

-carried into captivity, from which it

-was rescued by its heroic little mother.

-Then they threw off their assumed

-characters and ran into the house to

-replenish the smouldering fire, and

-to find that the sunshine, falling upon

-the floor through the window, was

-creeping towards the “noon mark,”

-making it time to begin dinner.

-

-Nathan raised the heavy trap-door

-to the cellar and descended the ladder,

-with butcher knife and pewter plate,

-to get the pork, but had barely got

-the cover off the barrel when he was

-recalled to the upper world by a loud

-cry from his sister:

-

-“Nathan, Nathan, come here

-quick!”

-

-He scrambled up the ladder and

-ran to her, where, just outside the

-door, she was staring intently toward

-the creek.

-

-“Who be them?” she asked anxiously,

-as she pointed at two figures

-just disclosed above the rushes, as

-they moved swiftly up the narrow

-channel in an unseen craft.

-

-“I guess they’re Injins,” said

-Nathan, after a moment’s scrutiny,

-“and I guess they’re a-trappin’ mushrat.

-Let’s run over to the bank and

-see.”

-

-So they ran to the crown of the low

-bank, where they could command a

-good view of the rushy level of the

-marsh, and the narrow belt of clear

-water that wound through it, reflecting

-the hazy blue of the sky, the tops

-of the scarlet water maples, the bronze

-and yellow weeds, and, here and there,

-the rough dome of a newly built muskrat

-house. At each of these the two

-men, now revealed in a birch canoe,

-halted for a little space, and then,

-tying a knot in the nearest tuft of

-sedge, passed on to the next. There

-was no mistaking the coppery hue of

-the faces, the straight black hair,

-though men of another race might

-wear the dirty, white blanket coats,

-and as skilfully manage the light

-craft.

-

-“Yes, they be Injins,” said Nathan,

-“and I wish they’d let my mushrat

-alone. But I s’pose there’s enough

-for them and me.”

-

-Presently the Indians passed quite

-near them, and one, speaking so softly

-that the children thought his voice

-could never have sounded the terrible

-war-whoop, accosted them:

-

-“How do? You Beenum boy?”

-

-“Yes,” Nathan answered; and

-then, obeying the Yankee instinct of

-inquiry, asked: “Be you gettin’ many

-mushrat?”

-

-“No ketch um plenty,” the Indian

-replied. “Ol’ Capenteese ketch um

-mos’ all moosquas,” and Nathan understood

-that he attributed the scarcity

-of muskrats to Job, whose fame as a

-hunter and trapper was known to

-every Waubanakee who visited this

-part of the lake.

-

-“Me come back pooty soon,” the

-Indian said, pointing up the creek

-with his paddle. “Den go house, see

-um Beenum. Buy um some pig eese. [1]_

-S’pose he sell um lee’l bit?”

-

-.. [1] Pork

-

-Nathan nodded a doubtful assent,

-and then, reminded of dinner-getting

-by the mention of pork, caught Martha’s

-hand and hurried homeward,

-while the Indians resumed their way

-upstream.

-

-When the children entered the open

-door, they were for a moment dumb

-with amazement at the confusion that

-had in so short a time usurped the

-tidiness whereof they had left the

-room possessed. The coverlets and

-blankets of one bed were dragged from

-their place, two or three chairs were

-overturned, and the meal barrel was

-upset and half its contents strewn

-across the floor.

-

-“What in tunket,” cried Nathan,

-when speech came to his gaping

-mouth. “Has that old sow got outen

-the pen?” Then he saw in the scattered

-meal some broad tracks that a

-former adventure had made him familiar

-with, and he heard a sound of

-something moving about in the cellar.

-

-“It’s a bear,” he cried, “and he’s

-down cellar.”

-

-As quick as the thought and words,

-he sprang to the open hatch, and

-heaved it upright on the hinges, to

-close it. But just as it hung in midway

-poise, the bear, alarmed by

-the noise overhead, gave a startled

-“whoof,” and came scrambling up

-the ladder. His tawny muzzle was

-above the floor, when Nathan, with

-desperate strength, slammed down the

-hatch, and its edge caught the bear

-fairly on the neck, pressing his throat

-against the edge of the hatchway.

-The trap door had scarcely fallen

-when the quick-witted boy mounted

-it and called to his frightened sister

-to mount beside him, and with their

-united weight, slight as it was, they

-kept him from forcing his way upward,

-till in his frantic struggles he

-dislodged the ladder and hung by the

-neck helpless, without foothold.

-

-The children held bravely to their

-post, hand in hand, while to the gasping

-moans of the angry brute succeeded

-cries of anger, that were in

-turn succeeded by silence and loss of

-all visible motion but such as was

-imparted to the head by the huge

-body still slowly vibrating from the

-final struggle. When this had quite

-ceased they ventured off the trap door,

-and, pale and panting, they stood

-before the ghastly head as frightful

-now in death, with grinning, foam-flecked

-jaws, protruding tongue, and

-staring, bloodshot eyes, as it had been

-in living rage. Nathan caught his sister

-in his arms and hugged her, shouting:

-

-“We’ve killed him. We’ve killed

-a bear,” while she, in the same breath,

-laughed and cried, till they both bethought

-themselves of the dinner-getting

-not yet begun.

-

-“I can’t get down cellar,” said

-Nathan, “for I dasn’t open that door.

-What be we goin’ to do?”

-

-A grunt of surprise caught his attention,

-and, looking up, he saw the two

-Indians at the door, staring with

-puzzled faces on the strange scene.

-Then one, with a hatchet half uplifted,

-cautiously approached the grim head,

-which, after an instant’s scrutiny, he

-touched with his hatchet and then

-with his finger.

-

-“He dead. You boy do dat?”

-And Nathan told him all the adventure.

-The Indian gave the boy an

-approving pat on the head that made

-Nathan’s scalp shiver.

-

-“You big Nad-yal-we-no. Too

-much good for be Pastoniac. You

-come ’long me to Yam-as-ka, I make

-you Waubanakee. Den be good for

-sometings. Nawaa,” he said to his

-companion, and the other coming in,

-the two reached down and laid hold

-of the bear’s forelegs, and when, by

-their instructions, Nathan lifted the

-door, they dragged the limp, shaggy

-carcass out upon the floor.

-

-When the full proportions of the

-huge brute were revealed, the boy’s

-rejoicings broke forth anew, just as

-his father and the hired man came

-hurrying in, when he received fresh

-praise for his deed. The dinner was

-bounteous, if late, and the Indians,

-Toksoose and Tahmont, had their full

-share of it, with a big chunk of pork

-and as much bear’s meat as they cared

-to take, which was small, since they

-liked better the daintier meat of the

-musquash, wherewith their trapping

-afforded them an ample supply.

-

-When toward nightfall the mother

-returned, she was told the story by

-the victors, and with equal delight

-was it rehearsed when Job happened

-to come, and the unstinted praise of

-the old hunter was sweetest of all.

-Many a day was the tale rehearsed for

-the benefit of new listeners. Even

-when Nathan was an old man, and

-looked back on the many adventures

-of his life, not one stood forth so

-clearly in the haze of the past as this

-adventure with the bear, wherein he

-had borne the chief part.

-

-CHAPTER IX—A FRONTIER TRAGEDY

-=============================

-

-One autumn day after the leaves

-had faded and fallen, Nathan was busy

-husking corn, with less thought upon

-his task and the growing pile of yellow

-ears than of a promised partridge

-hunt on the morrow with his good

-friend Job. His father was chopping

-in a new clearing. Silas had been

-sent with the oxen to take some logs

-to Lemon Fair Mill. His mother

-grew uneasy at her spinning, for Seth

-did not come home to dinner, nor yet

-when the afternoon was half spent.

-After many times anxiously looking

-and listening in the direction of the

-clearing, and as often saying to herself,

-“What does keep father so?”

-she called to Nathan.

-

-“I guess you’d better go and see

-what henders father so. I can’t think

-what it is. I hope it hain’t anything.”

-

-“Perhaps he’s gone over to Callenders

-or some o’ the neighbors,” said

-Nathan. “I hain’t heard a tree fall

-for ever so long nor his axe a goin’ for

-a long time.”

-

-“Mebby he’s cut his foot or something,”

-said Martha, beginning to cry.

-

-“I can’t hear nothin’ of him for all

-the air’s so holler and everything

-sounds so plain,” said Ruth, listening

-again. “You’d better go and see

-what henders him. Mebby he can’t

-git home.”

-

-As the boy anxiously hastened to

-the new clearing, the intense stillness

-of the woods filled him with undefined

-dread. His ears ached for some

-sound, the tapping of a woodpecker,

-the cry of a jay, but most of all, for the

-sound of axe strokes or his father’s

-voice. Silence pervaded the clearing

-also.

-

-There, on a stump, was his father’s

-blue frock, one bit of color in the

-sombre scene. And yes, there was

-some slight flitting movement near

-the last tree that had been felled and

-lay untrimmed just as it had fallen,

-but it was only a bevy of chickadees

-peering curiously at something on the

-ground beneath them, yet voiceless

-as if their perennial cheerfulness was

-dumb in the pervading silence. So

-sick with dread he could scarcely

-move, the boy forced himself to approach

-the spot, and look upon that

-which he felt was awaiting him, his

-father lying dead beneath the huge,

-prone tree, that had crushed him in

-its fall.

-

-The glowing sunset sky and the

-glistening waters of the lake grew

-black, the earth reeled. With a piteous

-groan of “Father! father!” the

-boy sank down as lifeless, for a space,

-as the beloved form that lay beside

-him in eternal sleep.

-

-He awoke as from a terrible dream

-to the miserable realization that it was

-not a dream. Then walking, as still

-in a dream, not noting how he went

-nor by any familiar object marking his

-way, he bore home the woeful tidings.

-

-Simple as were the funeral rites in

-the primitive communities, they were

-not lacking in the impressiveness of

-heartfelt sorrow nor in the homely

-expressions of sympathy for the bereaved

-and respect for the dead. So

-Seth Beeman’s neighbors reverently

-laid him to rest in the soil his own

-hand had uncovered to the sunlight.

-They set at his head a rough slate

-stone, whose rude lettering could be

-read half a century later, telling his

-name and age, and the manner of his

-death.

-

-Ruth was left in a sorry plight, so

-suddenly bereft of the strong arm she

-had leaned upon, without a thought

-that it could ever be taken from her.

-Now she had only her son, a sturdy

-lad, indeed, but of an age to be cared

-for rather than to care for others.

-Toombs had proved better than he

-looked, kind enough, and a good

-worker, and familiar with the needs

-of the farm. When his time was out

-she had no means to pay his wages

-nor could she well get along without

-him. So he staid on, taking a mortgage,

-at length, on the premises in lieu

-of money, and becoming more and

-more important in Ruth’s estimation,

-though regarded with increasing dislike

-and jealousy by her son, who

-found himself less and less considered.

-

-Months passed, dulling sorrow and

-the sense of loss, and bringing many

-a bitter change. The bitterness of

-Nathan’s life was made almost unbearable

-presently. His mother, of

-a weak and clinging nature, inevitably

-drifted to a fate a more self-reliant

-woman would have avoided. Worried

-with uncomprehended business, and

-assured by Toombs that this was the

-only way to retain a home for herself

-and children, yet unmoved by the

-kindly advice of Seth’s honest friends

-and neighbors, as well as the anger

-and entreaties of her son, she went

-with Toombs over to the Fort, where

-they were married by the chaplain

-stationed there.

-

-With such a man in the place of his

-wise and affectionate father, Nathan’s

-life was filled with misery, nor could

-he ever comprehend his mother’s

-course. Though bestowing upon

-Martha and his mother indifferent

-notice or none at all, towards the boy

-the stepfather exercised his recently

-acquired authority with severity, giving

-him the hardest and most unpleasant

-work to do, and treating him always

-with distrust, often with cruelty.

-

-“I hate him,” he told Ruth. “He’s

-sassed me every day since I come here,

-and I’ve got a bigger job ’an that to

-settle, one that I’d ha’ settled with

-his father, if he hadn’t cheated me by

-gettin’ killed.”

-

-“Oh, what do you mean?” Ruth

-gasped. “I thought you and Seth

-was always good friends.”

-

-“Friends!” he growled, contemptuously;

-“I hated the ground he walked

-on. Look here,” and Silas pulled out

-his leather pocketbook and took from

-it a soiled paper which he held before

-her eyes.

-

-She read the bold, clear signature

-of Ethan Allen, and, with a sickening

-thrill, that of Seth Beeman under it.

-

-“Yes, Ethan Allen and Seth Beeman

-and his neighbors whipped a man

-for claimin’ his own, and your boy

-went and gethered ’em in. Mebby

-you re’collect it.”

-

-“I couldn’t help it,” she gasped.

-“I didn’t see it. I run and hid and

-stopped my ears.”

-

-“Well, ’Rastus Graves ’ould ha’

-settled his debts if he’d ha’ lived. But

-he died afore his back got healed over,

-and afore he died he turned the job

-over to his brother, that’s me, Silas

-Toombs, or Graves—they’re the same

-in the end.”

-

-Ruth stared at him in dumb amazement

-and horror, while he proceeded,

-pouring forth his long concealed wrath.

-

-“Well, I’ve got Seth Beeman’s

-wife, and, what’s wuth more, his farm,

-an’ his childern right ’nunder my

-thumb. I hope he knows on’t. And

-now, ma’am,” lowering his voice from

-its passionate exultation, “you don’t

-want to breathe a word o’ this to your

-nice neighbors or to your young ’uns.

-It wouldn’t do no good and it might be

-unpleasant all round. You don’t want

-folks to know what a fool you be.”

-

-After this disclosure, Ruth lived, in

-weariness and vain regret, a life that

-seemed quite hopeless but for looking

-forward to the time when her son

-could assert his rights and be her

-champion. Her nature was one of

-those that still bend, without being

-broken, by whatever weight is laid on

-them.

-

-CHAPTER X—REBELLION

-===================

-

-One day Nathan was gathering ashes

-from the heaps where the log piles

-had been burned and storing them in

-a rude shed. Close by this stood the

-empty leach-tubs awaiting filling and

-the busy days and nights when the

-potash-making should begin. It was

-hard, unpleasant work, irritating to

-skin, eyes, and temper. It was natural

-a boy should linger a little as Nathan

-did, when he emptied a basket, and

-quickly retreated with held breath out

-of the dusty cloud. He looked longingly

-on the shining channel of the

-creek, and wished he might follow it

-to the lake and fish in the cool shadows

-of the shore. He wished that

-Job would chance to come through

-the woods, but Job lately rarely came

-near them, for he was vexed with

-Ruth for mating with this stranger,

-and the new master gave no welcome

-to any of the friends of the old master.

-His hands were busy as his

-thoughts, when he was startled by

-his stepfather’s voice close behind

-him.

-

-“You lazy whelp, what you putterin’

-’bout? You spend half your

-time a gawpin. You git them ashes

-housed afore noon or I’ll give ye a

-skinnin’, and I’ll settle an old score

-at the same time,” and Toombs

-switched a blue beech rod he held in

-his big hand. After seeing the boy

-hurry nervously to this impossible

-task, he went back to his chopping.

-

-The shadows crept steadily toward

-the north till they marked noontime,

-and still one gray ash heap confronted

-Nathan. As he stood with a full basket

-of ashes poised on the edge of the

-ash bin, Toombs appeared, with his

-axe on his shoulder and the beech in

-his hand. “You know what I told

-you, and Silas Toombs doesn’t go

-back on his words; no, sir.”

-

-“I couldn’t do it. I tried, but I

-couldn’t get ’em all done!”

-

-Silas strode toward him in a fury,

-when Nathan hurled the basket of

-ashes full at his head, and dodging

-behind the shed was in rapid flight

-toward the woods, when his assailant

-emerged from the choking, blinding

-cloud, sputtering out mingled oaths

-and ashes. In a moment he caught

-the line of flight and followed in swift

-pursuit. The boy’s nimble feet widened

-the distance between them, but

-he was at the start almost exhausted

-with his severe work, so that when he

-reached the woods his only hope lay

-in hiding.

-

-Silas, entering the woods, could

-neither see nor hear his intended victim.

-Listening between spasms of

-rushing and raging, he heard a slight

-rustling among the branches of a great

-hemlock that reared its huge, russet-gray

-trunk close beside him. Looking

-up, he saw a pair of dusty legs

-dangling twenty feet above him.

-

-“Come down, you little devil, or

-I’ll shoot you.”

-

-“I won’t,” said Nathan, half surprised

-at his own daring; “you can’t

-shoot with an axe.”

-

-“I’m glad you made me think on’t.

-Then come down or I’ll chop you

-down!” As an earnest of his threat

-he drove his axe to the eye into the

-boll of the tree.

-

-The boy only climbed the higher,

-and disappeared among the dark

-foliage and thick, quivering rays of

-branches. Parleying no more, Silas

-began chopping so vigorously that

-the great flakes of chips flew abroad

-upon the forest floor in a continuous

-shower, and soon paved it all about

-him with white blotches. When the

-trunk was cut to the middle, he

-shouted up another summons to surrender,

-but got no answer. Then his

-quick, strong strokes began to fall on

-the other side, steadily biting their

-way toward the centre, till the huge,

-ancient pillar of living wood began to

-tremble on its sapped foundation.

-Standing away from it, he peered up

-among the whorls of gray branches

-and broad shelves of leaves, but they

-disclosed nothing.

-

-“Hello! Come down! Don’t be a

-fool! An’ I won’t lick you. The tree’s

-comin’ an’ it’ll kill you.” Still no

-answer nor sound, save the solemn

-whisper of the leaves, came down from

-the lofty branches. “You’re a plucky

-one, but down you come!”

-

-In a sudden blaze of passion at being

-thus scorned, he drove his axe deep

-into the tree’s heart. A puff of wind

-stirred the topmost boughs. A shiver

-ran through every branch and twig.

-Fibre after fibre cracked and parted.

-The trunk tremulously swayed from

-its steadfast base. The sighing

-branches clung to the unstable air.

-A tall, lithe birch, that had long

-leaned to their embrace, sprang from

-it as in a flutter of fear, and then,

-with a slowly accelerating sweep, the

-ancient pillar, with all its long upheld

-burden of boughs and perennial

-greenery, went through its fellows

-to the last sullen boom of its downfall.

-Toombs breathlessly watched and

-listened for something besides the

-shortening vibration of the branches,

-some sound other than the swish of

-relieved entanglement, but no sound

-or motion succeeded them.

-

-“Nathan, Nathan,” he called again

-and again.

-

-He ran along the trunk looking

-among the branches. He felt under

-the densest tangles, then cleared them

-away with quick but careful axe

-strokes, dreading, in every moment of

-search, that the next would reveal the

-crushed and mangled form of the boy.

-Not till the shadows of night thickened

-the shadows of the woods did he quit

-his fruitless search. He knew the boy

-was dead, and, if found, what then?

-Well, for the present a plausible lie

-would serve him well enough.

-

-“Your boy has run off, Mis’

-Toombs. You needn’t worry. He’ll

-git starved out ’fore long and sneak

-back. And he’ll work all the better

-when he does come. Boys has got to

-have their tantrums an’ git over ’em.”

-This device served so well to quiet

-any graver apprehensions that Ruth

-entertained, he the more insisted on

-it. “Like’s not he’s over to the Fort.

-They’ll make him stan’ round, I tell

-ye.”

-

-He intended in the morning to renew

-his search, but when it came he

-dared not go near that fallen tree, the

-dumb witness and concealer of his

-crime. When, from afar, he saw the

-crows wheeling above the spot, or

-when at night he heard from that

-direction the wolf’s long howl, he

-shook with fear, lest they had discovered

-his secret and would in some way

-reveal it.

-

-CHAPTER XI—ESCAPE

-=================

-

-When the accidental shaking of the

-branch disclosed his refuge, Nathan

-wished he had taken the easier shelter

-of a hollow log or the tangle of a windfall.

-The more so, when he caught

-brief, swift flashes of the axe gleaming

-up through the dark foliage and felt

-the tree shiver at every sturdy stroke.

-But he had no thought of surrender.

-The trunk of the leaning birch, so

-slender that his arms and legs could

-clasp it, had given him access to this

-coign of vantage and now offered a

-retreat from it.

-

-Toombs was intent upon his work,

-with his back turned squarely toward

-the foot of the birch, though barely

-six paces from it. Escape, if at all,

-must be made while the chopper was

-on this side of the hemlock. Very

-cautiously he regained the birch where

-it hid trunk and lithe branches in the

-embrace of the great evergreen, and

-then worked downward, with an eye

-ever on his enemy underneath, making

-swiftest progress when the axe fell

-and its sound overbore the rustle of

-the birch’s shaggy, yellow mane, that

-his buttons scraped along. At last

-his toes were tickled by the topmost

-leaves of a low, sprangling hobble

-bush, then lightly touched by the last

-year’s fallen leaves and the soft mould.

-Then, as a flying chip struck him full

-on the cheek, he loosed his hold on

-the trunk and stole stealthily to the

-shelter of the nearest great tree.

-

-The axe strokes ceased, but a glance

-showed him that Toombs was only wiping

-his sweaty brow on his sleeve, as

-he looked up into the tree and addressed

-its supposed occupant. As the

-futile chopping was resumed, Nathan

-crept off through the undergrowth till

-beyond sight and hearing, when he ran

-upright so swiftly that he was a mile

-away when the roar of the tree’s fall

-came booming through the woods.

-

-He sat down to get his breath and

-determine where to go, for so far he

-had only thought to escape his stepfather.

-Should he try for the Fort?

-How was he to cross the lake without

-a boat, and, if there, on what plea that

-he could offer was he likely to be

-harbored, for Toombs was on very

-friendly terms with the commander!

-Not there could he find protection.

-His old friend Job was the only one

-to whom he could look, and in his

-secluded cabin he might hope to escape

-detection.

-

-With this determination he arose

-and went his way, too well skilled in

-woodcraft, for all his youth, to lose it

-while the sun shone. Pushing steadily

-on he saw at last the slanted sunbeams

-shining golden green through

-the woodside leaves, then saw them

-glimmering on the quiet channel of

-Job’s creek, and following the shore

-upstream, presently emerged in the

-little clearing. It was as quiet as the

-woods around it, and seemed more

-untenanted, for through them the

-songs of the thrushes were ringing in

-flute-like cadences, while here nothing

-was astir.

-

-Nathan made his way so silently to

-the open door that he stood looking

-in upon the occupants of the cabin

-before they became aware of his presence.

-Job was squatting before the

-fireplace engaged in frying meat, and

-a great, gaunt, blue-mottled hound sat

-close beside him, intently watching

-the progress of the cooking. Presently

-his keen nose caught a scent of

-the intruder, and he uttered a low,

-threatening growl that attracted his

-master’s attention.

-

-“Be quiet, Gabriel; what is’t troubles

-you?” Then seeing his visitor

-hesitating at the threshold, “Why,

-Nathan, come in my boy, come in,

-the hound won’t hurt you. Ain’t he

-a pictur’? Did you ever see such ears?

-Did you ever see such a chest and

-such legs? And he’s as good as he

-is harnsome. I went clean to Manchester

-arter him and gin three prime

-beaver skins for him. He’s one o’

-Peleg Sunderland’s breed and’ll foller

-anything that walks, if you tell him

-to, from a mushrat to a man. And

-as for his voice, good land! You

-hain’t never heard no music till you

-hear it. That’s what give him his

-name, Gabriel. But what’s the matter

-with you, Nathan?” when, withdrawing

-his admiring gaze from his

-new acquisition, he noted the boy’s

-wearied and troubled countenance.

-“You look clean beat out. There

-hain’t nothin’ the matter with your

-folks?”

-

-Nathan told the story of his treatment

-since his mother’s marriage

-to Toombs, and his unpremeditated

-flight, and all the particulars of his

-escape.

-

-“I’d ha’ gin a dozen mushrat skins

-to seen him when he got the tree down

-and didn’t find you, and him like a

-fool dog a barkin’ up a tree an hour

-arter the coon’d left it. You done

-right to come to me, for he won’t

-come here to look for ye right off.

-And then when he’s had time to cool

-off and git ashamed of himself, you

-can go home.”

-

-“No,” said the boy quickly; “I’ll

-never go back till I’m old enough to

-lick him and make him sorry I come.”

-

-“Oh, well, you think you will.

-But you won’t never. The rough

-edge’ll be wore off afore you git

-round to it. Once I swore I’d thrash

-a schoolmarster I hed, and when I

-went to do it we jes’ sot down and

-talked over old times, like ol’ friends.

-But what’ll your mother and sis do

-without you?”

-

-“They’ll be better off without me.

-I can’t help mother any, nor she me,

-yet awhile. Can’t you let her know

-I’m safe some way?”

-

-“Oh, yes, I’ll happen round there

-some day to rights. How in tunket

-did she ever come to mate wi’ that

-surly red-haired dog? You know I

-hain’t seen her since they was married.

-Women is onaccountable critters, anyhow,

-an’ I’ve been marcifully presarved

-from ever bein’ tackled to one

-on ’em;” yet he sighed, as he looked

-about the littered room, that showed

-so plainly the lack of housewifely

-care.

-

-After the supper of fried venison

-and johnny-cake was eaten, they sat

-in the twilight and firelight talking

-over the past and plans for the

-future, till the boy, worn out with the

-events of the day, was given a nest

-of furs in the loft, where he would be

-safe from detection by any chance

-visitor, and Job, after barring the door

-and carefully covering the fire, betook

-himself with the hound to their accustomed

-couch on the floor.

-

-CHAPTER XII—A FREE LIFE

-=======================

-

-The borders of the clearing were

-dimly defined in the dusk of the next

-evening, and Nathan was beginning

-to feel lonely, though he had the

-hound for company, when Job came

-in with his gun on his shoulder.

-

-“Well, what news?” Nathan asked,

-after a little impatient waiting for

-Job’s account of his trip abroad.

-

-“Well, I happened in just arter

-noon. Your nice stepfather sot by

-the fireplace a smokin’. ‘Where’s

-Nate,’ says I, an’ he up an’ answered

-mighty quick, ‘Run away, but he’ll

-be back quick enough.’ Your mother

-was lookin’ turrible worrited, an’ it

-was quite a spell afore I could git a

-chance to do my arrant with Toombs

-right in the room. Bimeby I made

-out to have a turrible pesterin’ sliver

-in my right hand an’ got your mother

-to pick it out wi’ a needle. I’d ruther

-have a leg took off ’an to have a

-woman jabbin’ at a sliver. Whilst

-she was at it, me wi’ my back towards

-Toombs, I whispered you was at my

-house and all right, an’ you’d ortu

-seen her face light up. Then we

-played the sliver was out, an’ arter

-I’d wished you was to home to go

-fishin’ with me an’ wondered what on

-airth you’d run away f’m such a good

-home for, I come off. An’ I tell you,

-boy, that ere ol’ scoundrel thinks he’s

-killed you. When I come off towards

-where he chopped that tree, he follered

-along to see if I went nigh it,

-an’ all the time I could see he was

-scairter’n he was mad.”

-

-“I don’t care, I can’t go back if

-you’ll let me stay with you.”

-

-“Sartainly, an’ glad to have you.”

-

-Nathan readily adapted himself to

-the ranger’s way of living, helping him

-in the cabin work and that of the clearing.

-At intervals, through his friend,

-he sent his mother tidings of his welfare

-and learned of her own. Through

-the same way, and his mother’s ready

-assistance, he gained possession of his

-other clothes—a tow shirt, a blue frock,

-a pair of gray breeches, and two pairs

-of thick woolen stockings, as large a

-wardrobe as most backwoods dwellers

-could boast of.

-

-“Your mother stuck this out of the

-loft winder as I come away,” said Job

-one day, handing him his father’s

-cherished gun.

-

-“Oh, I am glad to get this, and

-see, it is longer’n I be yet. But I’m

-growing, for I measured when Toombs

-put this up loft so’t he could hang his

-gun on the hooks over the fireplace.

-See, I can hold it at arm’s length long

-enough to see to shoot,” and he

-stretched out the long-barrelled gun

-with pride.

-

-“Toombs was out a burnin’ log

-heaps,” Job went on. “She says he’s

-dretful narvous an’ jumps at every

-sound. I ruther guess he’s gittin’ his

-pay as he goes along, my boy.”

-

-In preparation for the fall trapping,

-which was the ranger’s chief dependence,

-the two, accompanied by Gabriel,

-made long ranges through the

-forest, marking their line by blazed

-trees, to build deadfalls for martens

-on the upland and for mink along the

-brook and larger streams, and larger

-traps for martens, otters, fisher, and

-beaver, and when the leaves began to

-fall they daily gathered their furry

-harvest. Day after day, too, the

-woods rang with Gabe’s deep, melodious

-voice as he drove the deer to

-water. Many an adventure on lake

-or in forest spiced the half wild life,

-and the loving trust of the old man

-so sweetened it that time glided

-swiftly past. Many a lesson of woodcraft

-the boy also learned, as well as the

-priceless one of love and charity to all

-created things, if Indians and Toombs

-were excepted. Perhaps, in time,

-their turn for forbearance would come.

-

-One day late in the fall Nathan

-ventured to the Fort, as much to visit

-the garrison boys, for whose companionship

-he often longed in his

-isolation, as to carry some fine partridges

-to the commandant’s lady.

-He had shot them himself with his

-father’s gun, in the use of which he

-was becoming expert.

-

-“Whativer has coom o’ your redheaded

-stepfather? He didn’t coom

-here sin he coom marryin’ your mother,”

-said one of the English boys.

-

-After this information, visits to the

-Fort were more frequent, since there

-was no fear of meeting Toombs. The

-sentinel, who, with his musket shouldered

-high above his left hip and his

-clubbed queue bobbing in unison to

-his slow, measured steps, always paced

-before the gate, made but a show of

-challenging him, and Nathan was almost

-as free as the inmates to every

-part of the Fort, excepting the officers’

-quarters and the vigilantly guarded

-magazine. The drill and parade

-of the soldiers, in their spotless scarlet

-uniforms and shining arms, though

-there were less than fifty, rank and

-file, seemed a grand martial display,

-and he was always thrilled with the

-stirring notes of drum and fife. Occasionally

-he met the commandant’s wife

-walking on the parapet, so refined and

-different from the toil-worn women

-he had been accustomed to see, that

-she seemed a being of another world.

-

-Once that fall Job and his young

-companion went far back into the solitude

-of the primeval forest to hunt

-moose. Even the thunder of Ticonderoga’s

-guns was never echoed there,

-and from morning till night they heard

-the sound of no human life but their

-own. At night the dismal chorus of

-the wolves was heard far and near, and

-now and then, what was a pleasanter

-sound, the call of a moose, soft and

-mellow, in the distance. With a birch

-bark horn Job simulated this call, and

-lured a moose into an ambuscade,

-where, within short range, the huge

-creature was killed. When with much

-labor the meat was transported and

-safely stored in the cabin, they were

-in no danger of a winter famine. Soon

-winter came, with days of snowbound

-isolation, and its days of out-door work

-and pleasant, healthful pastime.

-

-The gloom of a blustering, snowy

-February day was thickening into the

-gloom of night, when a traveller and

-his jaded horse appeared at the door

-of the little log house.

-

-“I’ve somehow missed my way on

-the lake,” said he to Job, when the

-door was opened. “I’m bound for

-Bennington. Can you give me and my

-poor beast shelter till morning and

-then set me on the right road?”

-

-“Sartainly, come in, come in,” was

-answered, heartily. “You’re welcome

-to such as I’ve got of bed an’

-board, an’ your hoss’ll be better off

-in the shed wi’ corn fodder’n he’d be

-a browsin’ in the woods.”

-

-When the stranger had seen his

-jaded horse cared for and had come

-in, the firelight revealed a man in the

-prime of life, of fine face and figure

-and of military bearing, though he

-was clad in the plain dress of a civilian.

-He proved a genial guest, and

-amused his companions with stories

-of his recent journey to Canada, and

-of his home in Connecticut, and with

-relations of the stirring events in that

-and the other colonies that portended

-a revolt against the mother country.

-In turn he was interested in everything

-pertaining to the New Hampshire

-Grants, the progress of the

-quarrel with New York claimants,

-the temper of the inhabitants toward

-England, but, particularly, was he

-curious about the condition of the

-adjacent fortress. Concerning its garrison

-and the plans of the fortification

-he found Nathan well informed.

-

-“I like to remember such things

-about a place that has been so famous,”

-the stranger observed, as he

-made notes in a memorandum book.

-

-“I would like to visit the fort sometime.

-How many men did you count

-the last time you saw them parade,

-did you say?”

-

-It was well into the night when the

-precious embers were covered and the

-three betook themselves to sleep,

-with the wind roaring in the woods

-and the snow driving gustily against

-the oiled-paper windows of the cabin.

-When they awoke the storm was

-spent. Beneath the cloudless morning

-sky the forest stood silent as the

-army of spectres that its snow-powdered

-trunks resembled. After breakfast

-Job put on his snowshoes and

-led his guest to the desired road

-to the southward settlements. This

-break in the winter monotony was

-often dwelt upon by the fireside in

-the little log house. A chance visit,

-if aught occurs by chance, yet it

-proved of vast importance.

-

-CHAPTER XIII—FOREBODINGS OF STORM

-=================================

-

-After many days of fair promises

-tardily fulfilled, spring had come. The

-soft air was full of its sounds and

-odors, the medley of harsh and liquid

-notes of the myriad blackbirds that

-swarmed in the trees along the creek,

-the crackling croak of the frogs, the

-whimpering call of the muskrats, the

-booming of bitterns, the splashing and

-quacking of wild ducks, and the murmur

-of running waters. There were

-the spicy fragrance of pine and hemlock,

-and the fresh smell of warming

-mould and bursting buds, while the

-perfume of wild flowers added a

-moiety to the spring time odor. The

-shad trees shone like snowdrifts in the

-gray woods, and the yellow catkins

-were alive with humming bees.

-

-Amid the pleasant sights of nature’s

-progress, Nathan and his friend sat

-near the door, taking off and stretching

-on pliant bows the skins of the

-last catch of muskrats.

-

-“It’s about time to quit trappin’

-for this year,” said Job, as he slipped

-a skin onto the bow that he held between

-his knees. “They’re gettin’ a

-leetle off prime, though better’n they

-be in the fall an’ no kits as there is

-then,” and he fastened the skin in

-place, with a cut near its edge, into

-each horn of the bow. “Good land!

-What’s Gabe hullabalooin’ at now,

-I wonder?”

-

-Nathan peered cautiously around

-the corner and whispered:

-

-“It’s neighbor Newton. I’ll go up

-loft.” Accordingly he climbed the

-ladder and crept softly to the side of

-the loft above the door. Through the

-wide cracks of the loose flooring he

-could see a patch of the chip strewn,

-sunlit earth outside, with Job’s long

-legs stretching across it and his hands

-idle a moment as he called in the

-hound, who presently appeared, and

-behind him the stout stockinged legs

-of neighbor Newton.

-

-“Job, have you heard the news?”

-Newton asked excitedly.

-

-“News? What news?” Job’s

-knife stopped half-way in the slit it

-was making along a muskrat’s throat.

-

-“There’s ben a fight down in the

-Bay Colony ’twixt our folks and the

-king’s troops and our folks whipped

-’em.”

-

-“Our folks a fightin’ the king’s

-troops?” said Job incredulously.

-

-The other hastily related such particulars

-of the momentous conflict as

-he had learned. Nathan, whose heart

-was beating fast at the stirring news,

-saw the muskrat drop to the ground.

-

-“I al’ys said them reg’lars, shootin’

-breast high at nothin’, couldn’t stan’

-agin our bushfighters, aimin’ to kill,”

-Job said exultantly; “but what next,

-Dan’l?”

-

-“War—it means war. The country’s

-all a-risin’. Every man’s got to

-choose the side he’ll take. Which

-side is yourn, Job?”

-

-There was a silence, and the answer

-came with slow deliberation. “I

-hoped to end my days in peace. I’ve

-had enough o’ fightin’, the Lord

-knows. When I’ve fit it was for the

-land I was born in—if it was under the

-British flag—an’ I shan’t never fight

-for no other.”

-

-“Every man in these clearin’s is all

-right, so far as we know, exceptin’

-that aire sour-faced Toombs. He

-hain’t no good will towards our side.

-A Tory in Seth’s shoes, and him red-hot

-for liberty. He’s got a Canuck

-a-workin’ for him, and I’d livser trust

-a wolf’n one o’ them pea-soupers. I

-hain’t no patience wi’ Ruth for marryin’

-that critter. Where do you s’pose

-her boy is?” There being no reply

-the speaker went on: “I b’lieve that

-devil has made way with him. He

-acts turrible cur’us, scared and startin’

-at every sound,” and the two walked

-off towards the creek.

-

-Half an hour later when Job returned,

-he asked Nathan: “Well,

-what do you think o’ the news, my

-boy?”

-

-“Oh, is it true about the fight?

-How I wish I could go and help our

-folks. Father’d go quick.”

-

-“Well, well, stay where ye be. If

-it goes on, it’s sure to strike the ol’

-war-path,” and the old ranger swept

-his arm towards the lake. “There’ll

-be work for us here. The sign o’ that

-fresh water mairmaid is comin’ true

-agin.”

-

-They passed a week in restless, impatient

-waiting, when, unheralded by

-the hound, Newton again entered the

-cabin and chanced to come face to

-face with the boy.

-

-“Well, here you be,” he said, without

-surprise and smiling good-humoredly;

-“I s’pected as much t’other

-day when I see the extry knife an’

-pile o’ mushrats. Say, Job, how is’t?

-Can I speak out afore him consarnin’

-the business we was talkin’ on?”

-

-“To be sure. He’s close-mouthed

-an’ he’s achin’ to go an’ jine our folks

-down in the ol’ Bay Colony.”

-

-“Good; he’s the same stuff as his

-father.” He laid his friendly hand on

-Nathan’s shoulder and continued in

-a low, earnest voice: “There’s a plan

-all fixed to take Ti and Crown P’int.

-It seems a Connecticut feller named

-Brown started the thing a-goin’ some

-weeks ago. There’s nigh ontu two

-hunderd and fifty men in the Grants

-engaged to do the job. Ethan Allen

-commands. We muster at Beeman’s

-Crik, day after to-morrow night.

-You’ll be there?” Job stretched

-forth his hand to his friend, who

-warmly clasped it.

-

-“Me, too; let me go, too.” Nathan’s

-heart swelled with pride, and he

-felt himself suddenly leaping to manhood

-and a place among men.

-

-“He’s a stout lad an’ he handles a

-gun like a man. Let him come,” said

-Job. “But how be we goin’ to git

-across the lake? There hain’t boats

-enough hereabouts to take more’n

-thirty men to oncet.”

-

-“Colonel Skeene’s is goin’ to be

-borrowed, an’ there’s a plan to git

-some more without askin’ at Crown

-P’int; with them an’ what we can pick

-up we’ll make enough. How many’ll

-your birch carry?”

-

-“Six men that’s used to such craft,

-but not one lummax.”

-

-“Well, bring it along. Everything

-of the boat kind’ll be needed. Toombs

-troubles me most. He’s on the fence,

-which means he ain’t to be trusted.

-He’ll see our men a musterin’ an’

-s’pect what’s up, an’ let the garrison

-know some way. He and his Canuck

-has got to be watched.”

-

-“Easy done! We can tie ’em,

-neck an’ heels, an’ leave ’em to take

-keer o’ theirselves.”

-

-“Well, I’ll send a guard an’ see to

-that,” Newton said as he hurried

-away to warn other settlers of the

-projected enterprise.

-

-Those left began to clean their

-weapons carefully and prepare to

-mould some bullets. Job rehearsed

-his long disused manual of arms, in

-which he found Nathan familiar

-through his close observation of the

-soldiers’ drill at the Fort.

-

-“You don’t want to aim that way,”

-the old man said, when, at the command,

-Nathan held his piece ready to

-fire with the butt end under his elbow.

-“Lord, how I’ve heard Major Rogers

-swear to see the reg’lars wastin’ lead,

-shootin’ int’ the tree tops wi’ the

-enemy fair afore ’em! Fightin’ hain’t

-no foolin’. Aim to kill, jes’ as ye

-would at a pa’tridge. There—that’s

-the talk,” when Nathan, following his

-instructions, laid his cheek to the

-stock and flashed the priming at the

-breast of an imaginary foe.

-

-CHAPTER XIV—GABRIEL’S GOOD SERVICE

-==================================

-

-On the afternoon of the 9th of May,

-1775, Job and Nathan laid their guns

-in the canoe and stood beside her

-ready to set her afloat in the brown

-water, whose ripples softly lapped the

-drift of dried sedges along the shore.

-Job looked anxiously about, and once

-more, as he had several times previously

-done, he whistled a loud shrill

-note through his fingers.

-

-“Where on airth is that dog? He

-mistrusted somethin’ was up and run

-off. He’d ortu be tied up, but we

-can’t wait any longer, an’ he’ll hafter

-run loose. Wal, le’s be off.”

-

-Lifting the canoe, they set her

-afloat, stepped lightly on board, and,

-kneeling in the bottom, sent her flying

-down the creek. They skirted the

-lake almost beneath the spreading

-branches of the maples, now already

-dappled with the tender green of budding

-leaves. A little back from the

-naked, western shore, with its crumbling

-ruins of the old French water

-battery, uprose the gray battlements

-and barracks of Ticonderoga, and the

-blazoned cross of England floating

-lazily in the breeze.

-

-“I’ve follered it for many a day,”

-said Job sadly, “an’ I never thought

-to go agin it. But I b’lieve I’m

-right,” and he turned his face resolutely

-forward.

-

-The turmoil and horror of war

-seemed far removed from the serene

-sky, the rippled water kissing the

-quiet shores, and the pervading sense

-of the earth’s renewing life, enforced

-by bursting buds and opening flowers

-and songs of birds. Even the grim

-fortress seemed but a memento of

-conflict long since ended forever.

-

-Sweeping into the broad mouth of

-the creek, they joined the motley

-crowd already gathered there. The

-assemblage was composed of all who

-were capable of bearing arms, from

-gray-headed veterans of the last war,

-to the striplings who had not yet

-been mustered on a training field. Job

-received hearty greetings from more

-than one old comrade whom he had

-not seen since they ranged this region,

-then an unreclaimed wilderness, under

-the leadership of the brave and wary

-Robert Rogers, and he was soon in

-reminiscences of scouts and ambuscades,

-while Nathan watched and

-noted everything, a most interested

-spectator of what was passing so unobtrusively

-into history.

-

-Presently there was a stir and gathering

-together of the detached groups

-and an expectant hush. Then he saw

-towering among them, in cocked hat

-and military garb of blue and buff,

-the stalwart figure of Ethan Allen.

-

-“Fall in, men,” said the deep-toned

-voice of Allen, and the groups formed

-in line as best they could among the

-trees.

-

-As they moved forward to take

-their places Nathan noticed an unfamiliar

-form skulking among the tree

-trunks near him—a swarthy little man

-wearing a tasseled, woolen cap and

-gray coat unlike the Yankee garb. It

-flashed across his mind that this was

-the Canadian employed by his stepfather,

-and he tried to keep watch of

-his movements. But there was much

-else to engage him, and just then he

-felt a touch on his leg, and, turning,

-saw Gabriel’s sorrowful face looking

-wistfully up to his own. “Down,

-Gabe,” he said in a low tone, and the

-hound crouched behind. Just then

-Ethan Allen, having passed slowly

-down the line, accosting one and

-another, broke the silence:

-

-“Friends of the Grants, we are

-already enough for this business in

-hand, but there are more to come.

-There will be boats enough to cross

-us all in good time. Keep quiet.

-Cook your rations and eat your supper.

-To-morrow we’ll eat our breakfast

-in Ticonderoga, or know the

-reason why.”

-

-As Nathan’s entranced gaze was

-for a moment withdrawn from the

-beloved commander, he caught a

-glimpse of the little unknown man

-stealing away among the shadows.

-Being more accustomed to the rigid

-discipline of the garrison than to the

-free and easy customs of volunteers,

-he did not dare to leave the ranks till

-many of his comrades had straggled

-away. Then he sought Job and told

-him his suspicions.

-

-“I thought Newton was goin’ to

-tend to them critters. Newton,” he

-called to his neighbor, “didn’t you

-put a guard over Toombs and his

-man?”

-

-“Toombs is safe in care of a good

-man, but his Canuck couldn’t be

-found. I guess he’s too stupid to do

-any mischief, anyway.”

-

-“Well, he’s ben a sneakin’ round

-here an’ now he’s gone, an’ there’s

-no tellin’ where. Where’s Toombs’s

-boat?”

-

-“Here,” and Newton pointed to

-the landing, where it lay among many

-others.

-

-“Gabe’s round here somewheres,”

-said Nathan inadvertently.

-

-“Jest the one I was a wishin’ for,”

-said the old man, aroused from his

-troubled pondering. “He can help

-when nob’dy else can.” He then

-sent one of his shrill whistles into

-the woods, and then another, with

-such good effect that Gabriel presently

-appeared, loping easily along.

-“Good fellow, good fellow. Now,

-Newton, we’ll ketch that skunk.

-Here, here, old boy,” and he hurried

-swiftly away with the hound at heel.

-

-Arrived at the house they found

-Toombs unconfined, but under the

-vigilant guard of a lynx-eyed Green

-Mountain Boy. When Job inquired

-for the Canadian, he detected a gleam

-of triumph in the glowering eyes of

-the surly, half-defiant prisoner.

-

-“The fox has slipped,” said Job;

-“but never mind. If he can fool

-Gabe he’s a smart ’un. Ruth, where’s

-somethin’ that ’ere Canuck has

-wore?”

-

-Ruth, who stood near her idle spinning

-wheel, half dazed at the unwonted

-commotion and afraid of she knew not

-what, pointed covertly to a much

-worn pair of moccasins hanging near

-the fireplace to dry.

-

-“Hisn? There couldn’t be nothin’

-better. See here, Gabe.”

-

-The hound snuffed eagerly at the

-soiled footgear, slowly wagging his

-tail, and then looked inquiringly at

-his master.

-

-“Sarch him out, boy. Sarch him

-out,” Job encouraged him, pointing

-along the ground.

-

-The hound circled about the yard a

-little, and then, finding the trail, followed

-it silently and steadily down to

-the creek to where the men were mustered.

-There, on the much trodden

-ground, it baffled him for a while.

-Resorting to his usual tactics, he made

-widening circles and again found the

-trail and went off upon it in a steady,

-untiring pace southward in the direction

-of Ticonderoga.

-

-“I knowed it,” said Job to himself,

-“and I’ll bet ye there’ll be a Canuck

-treed afore sundown.” Guided by

-the deep, mellow baying of the hound,

-he set off, with his gun at atrail,

-in rapid pursuit.

-

-The agile little Canadian had at

-least an hour’s start, and made such

-brisk use of it that he was on the shore

-opposite the Fort when he was overtaken

-by the hound, who at once set

-furiously upon him. Being unarmed,

-he was forced to scramble up a tree,

-from which, when he had recovered

-his breath, he began lustily to hail the

-Fort, and at intervals to curse the

-hound. His shouts, and Gabriel’s

-insistent deep-mouthed bayings, could

-scarcely fail to attract the attention

-of the garrison, and Job, pushing forward

-at his best pace, presently appeared

-upon the scene.

-

-“Hello de Forrt,” the Canuck was

-shouting. “Hey! Hello de Forrt!

-Sacre chien! Go home, Ah tol’ you!

-Hello, Carillon. Tac-con-derrrque!

-All de Bastonais was comin’ for took

-you, Ah tol’ you! Sacre chien! Stop

-off you nowse so Ah can heard me

-spik.”

-

-“Shut yer head an’ come down out

-o’ that mighty quick,” Job commanded

-in a low voice.

-

-“Me no onstan’ Angleesh,” and

-again the voice rang out over across

-the water: “Hello de Forrt!”

-

-Peering through the overhanging

-branches, Job saw a group of red-coated

-soldiers gathered on the other

-shore, and presently saw a boat putting

-out from it.

-

-“Looka here,” said he sternly, as

-he cocked his piece and aimed upward;

-“I don’t want tu be obleeged

-tu hurt you, but stop yer hollerin’ an’

-come right down.”

-

-“Me no onstan’, Ah tol’ you!

-Hello—.” The lusty hail was cut short

-by the report of the long smooth-bore.

-The Canadian’s cap went spinning from

-his head, and he came scrambling

-down in a haste that threatened to

-leave half his clothes behind.

-

-“Ah comin’! Ah comin’! Don’t

-shot some more!” he cried in a voice

-trembling with fright.

-

-Job arrested his descent till his gun

-was reloaded; then, when his captive

-slid to the ground, he quickly tied his

-hands behind with a fathom of cord,

-one end of which he held. Then he

-removed the woolen sash from the

-Canadian’s waist and bound it about

-his mouth.

-

-A glance upon the lake showed the

-boat half-way across, and approaching

-as fast as two pairs of oars could impel

-it. Job hurried his man into an

-evergreen thicket some twenty yards

-away, and, leaving him tied to a tree

-in charge of the hound, he stealthily

-returned to ascertain if possible

-whether the nature of the alarm had

-been comprehended by the soldiers.

-The boat drew rapidly toward the

-place where he lay concealed, and, at

-a little distance, the occupants lay

-upon their oars while they held consultation,

-so near that he could hear

-every word of it.

-

-“Well, boys,” said the sergeant in

-command, “whathiver it was, Hi don’t

-hear nothink more of it. But Hi’ll

-’ail the shore. ’Ello there, whathiver

-is the row?” An answer was silently

-awaited till the echoes died away.

-

-“Ah’t was some o’ thim Yankee

-divils huntin’ just,” said one of the

-soldiers, “and that’s all about it.

-Divil a word could I make out but

-the dog yowlin’ an’ a man phillalooin’,

-an’ thin the shot. They kilt whativer

-they was at an’ thin wint away.”

-

-“Hi believe you’re right, Murphy,

-an’ we’ll no bother to go ashore, but

-just pull back and report to the captain,”

-and off went the boat to the

-western shore.

-

-With a sigh of relief Job sped back

-to his prisoner, to whom he motioned

-the homeward way, and set forth with

-him in front at a break-neck pace,

-which was occasionally quickened by

-a punch of the gun muzzle in the rear,

-and so was the captive driven to the

-camp.

-

-Ticonderoga’s evening gun had long

-since boomed its vesper thunder, and

-the shadows of evening were thickening

-into night in the forest, when Job

-emerged from them into the glare of

-the camp fire with his hound and prisoner,

-and received the warm commendations

-of Allen and his associates

-for his promptly and skilfully performed

-exploit.

-

-“I don’t claim no credit for’t. It

-was all Gabe’s doin’s, an’ if I’d left

-him tied up to hum as I laid out to,

-our cake would all ’a’ ben dough.”

-

-“Here, Newton, here’s your man.

-Put him under guard with that Tory,

-Toombs,” said Allen.

-

-A tall man of noble, commanding

-presence, but of a quiet, modest mien,

-stooped to caress the hound. “Why,”

-he said, “it’s one of Sunderland’s

-dogs, that haven’t their equal in New

-England.”

-

-“You’ve got an eye for houn’ dogs,

-Capt’n Warner. He sartain is one o’

-them dogs an’ll foller anything he’s

-told to, though ’t ain’t no gre’t trick

-to track a Canuck more’n an Injin.

-They’re both strong-scented critters.”

-

-CHAPTER XV—LEADERS AND GUIDE

-============================

-

-Even while Nathan watched Gabe

-and his master depart into the forest

-southward, he became aware the assemblage

-was moved by some new

-object of interest. Turning, he saw

-Colonel Allen and another gentleman,

-eagle-eyed, eagle-beaked, in handsome

-military dress, talking angrily in the

-midst of an excited group. At length

-Allen turned his passionate face toward

-the men and called in a loud voice:

-

-“Men, fall in for a moment. Here,”

-waving his hand toward his companion,

-as the men rapidly fell into

-line, “is Mr. Benedict Arnold. He

-bears a colonel’s commission from the

-Connecticut Committee of Safety, and

-claims the right to command you to-night.

-Men of the Green Mountains,

-whom do you follow—Arnold or

-Allen?”

-

-“Allen, Allen,” came in response,

-loud and decided.

-

-The chosen chief turned a triumphant

-smile upon his rival, who strode

-away in silence of restrained passion.

-Soon returning, however, he addressed

-Allen in a clear, steady voice:

-

-“Sir, I submit to the will of these

-men, but let me be a volunteer in this

-glorious enterprise. The Green Mountain

-Boys and their famous leader are

-too generous to refuse this.”

-

-Allen, touched at a vulnerable point,

-grasped the speaker’s hand heartily

-and answered:

-

-“Indeed, so brave a man as I well

-know you to be, is most welcome,

-and, by the Great Jehovah, if the men

-don’t object, you shall be second in

-command.”

-

-A shout of approval went up from

-the men, who gathered around their

-camp fires again, while Allen and

-Arnold, together with Warner, walked

-apart in amicable consultation. Soon

-the first called loudly for any information

-concerning a lad named Nathan

-Beeman. At the sound of his name,

-Nathan started, blushed, hesitated,

-and then stepped bashfully forward,

-and was quickly recognized by Allen

-in spite of his added stature.

-

-“Here, this is the youngster, Colonel

-Arnold, that Mr. John Brown

-tells of in this paper, whom he saw

-and conversed with last winter about

-Ticonderoga.”

-

-The two colonels then asked the

-boy many questions about the Fort,

-its entrance, the interior, the number

-of the garrison, and the disposal of the

-sentinels. Evidently satisfied with

-his straightforward replies, Allen said,

-low and impressively:

-

-“You have such a chance to serve

-your country as don’t often fall to a

-boy. Will you lead us into the Fort

-to-night? Will you do it faithfully?”

-

-Nathan looked steadily into the

-earnest, searching eyes fixed upon

-him, but did not answer.

-

-“Speak,” cried Allen, sharply.

-

-“If the commandant’s lady won’t

-be hurt, I will,” he said at last, his

-left hand thrust into his pocket, fumbling

-his cherished shilling piece.

-

-Allen laughed good-humoredly.

-“So the lady is a friend of yours.

-Well, never fear. We may disturb

-her morning nap, but she shall not be

-harmed. We are not waging war in

-the wilderness against women and

-children. Here, my boy, stick this

-twig of hemlock in your hat. Don’t

-you see we’ve all mounted it? There,

-now,” as he himself put the evergreen

-sprig in Nathan’s hatband, “you wear

-the Green Mountain Boy’s cockade.

-See that you never disgrace it.”

-

-The boy thrilled with pride as he

-walked with measured step behind the

-stately chieftain and his lithely built

-companion. Presently the sound of

-oars was heard and a large batteau

-swept into the landing, navigated by

-two of Newton’s sons, who gleefully

-related how, with a jug of rum, they

-had lured Skeene’s old negro with the

-coveted craft into their toils, as he

-was voyaging homeward from Crown

-Point. It was capable of carrying

-twenty-five persons and was a welcome

-prize. Though one by one, and

-in little flotillas, boats continued to

-arrive, still, at two o’clock in the early

-May morning, there were not enough

-to transport half the men gathered.

-After brief consultation, it was determined

-that as many as possible should

-at once cross to the other shore and

-there await the coming of the others

-in the returning boats.

-

-Embarkation began at once under

-the superintendence of Allen, Arnold,

-and Warner. Nathan found himself

-with the first two in the leading boat,

-Warner being left in charge of the

-party remaining on the eastern shore.

-At a low word of command, the flotilla

-swept out of the flickering glare

-of the fire into the darkness. It

-passed down the creek and was soon

-upon the lake, heading for the other

-shore, being guided to the chosen

-landing by the mountain peaks that

-loomed black against the western sky.

-The night was windless. The shrill

-piping of hylas, the monotonous trill

-of toads, and the rush of running brooks

-filled the air. Such sounds faded out

-as the middle of the lake was reached,

-where nothing was heard but the light

-plash of muffled oars, to rise again in

-increasing volume from the other

-shore.

-

-As the last boat grounded on the

-shelving beach, Nathan was startled

-by the loud, hollow hoot of an owl,

-uttered thrice, almost in his ear. A

-few moments later there came, like

-an echo from the distant creek, the

-answer to this preconcerted signal of

-safe arrival. The men quickly disembarked,

-and the boats returned to

-those who, under Seth Warner, were

-eagerly awaiting their turn.

-

-Those who had made the passage

-tramped to and fro to stir their blood,

-for there was a creeping chill in the

-night air. The first light of dawn

-was stealing up the eastern sky, the

-woods and mountains showing in sharp

-relief against it, yet no signs came to

-strained eyes and ears of the returning

-boats.

-

-“The lazy-bones,” growled Allen,

-forgetting the long distance. “What

-has gone wrong? Daylight will betray

-us if we wait much longer. What do

-you say, my men—shall we wait, and

-maybe lose our best chance of success,

-or go on with what strength we

-have?”

-

-There was a murmur of universal

-assent, and Allen commanded:

-

-“Fall in, in three ranks!”

-

-Instantly the men formed in the

-order of the ranger service. “I want

-no man to go against his will. You

-that wish to go with me, poise arms.”

-Every gun was brought to the position.

-

-“Shoulder arms! Right face! Forward,

-march!”

-

-Before the last word was fairly given,

-Arnold stepped in front of the speaker.

-

-“I swear,” he cried, shaken with

-his passion, “I will not yield my right.

-I planned this enterprise. My money

-set it on foot. I swear I will command,

-and not yield my right to Ethan

-Allen or the devil.”

-

-There was a muttered growl of dissatisfaction

-among the men, and Allen

-was raging. “What shall I do with

-this fellow? Put him under guard?”

-he asked, turning to one of his captains.

-

-“Gentlemen,” said Captain Callender,

-a staid and quiet man, “for

-the sake of the good cause, don’t

-quarrel. Yield a little, both of you.

-Share the command equally, and enter

-the Fort side by side.”

-

-Allen returned his half-drawn sword

-to its scabbard and said bluffly: “For

-the sake of the cause I agree to this.”

-The Connecticut colonel sullenly assented,

-and the three columns moved

-briskly along the shore, led by the

-two colonels marching side by side,

-till, through the branches of the budding

-trees, the leaders saw close before

-them the walls of Ticonderoga,

-looming dark and vague in the gray

-of the morning.

-

-CHAPTER XVI—TICONDEROGA

-=======================

-

-A halt was silently signalled, and

-Job, the skilfullest scout of all this

-band of woodsmen, was sent forward

-to reconnoitre. Silently, as a ghost,

-his tall figure melted into the obscurity

-of dawn, and presently appeared, out

-of the blur of shadows, bearing whispered

-tidings that all was quiet within

-the Fort, and only one sentinel carelessly

-guarding the open wicket of the

-main entrance.

-

-A whispered word of command

-drifted back along the ranks and the

-troops moved forward. They mounted

-a slight declivity and advanced to the

-right toward the gate. Now the sentinel

-could be seen pacing his beat;

-now the white cross-belts and the

-facings of his uniform made out, and

-still he maintained his deliberate pace,

-unconscious of the enemy, while, perhaps,

-his thoughts were far away in

-the green fields of merry England,

-where the hawthorn was blooming

-and the lark singing “at heaven’s

-gate.”

-

-The heads of the files were close

-upon him when his wandering thoughts

-were suddenly recalled. Too much

-surprised to challenge or call an alarm,

-he levelled his fusee at Allen’s towering

-figure and pulled the trigger. The

-life of the bold chieftain hung for an

-instant in the trembling balance of

-fate, but not a spark followed the

-stroke of the flint. The guard turned

-and fled through the open wicket with

-Allen and Arnold, side by side, close

-upon his heels. After them came

-Nathan; and the crowding files of men

-swarmed through the narrow gate in

-an impetuous rush, and, guided by

-the boy, onto the parade. This was

-enclosed on three sides by lofty stone

-barracks. Here they caught a last

-glimpse of the flying sentry dodging

-into a bombproof, like a woodchuck

-into a hole. Another sentinel made a

-bayonet thrust at Nathan, when Allen’s

-sword fell quick as a thunderbolt upon

-the man’s head in a downright blow

-that must have cleft the skull, had it

-not glanced on a metal comb that

-held his hair in place.

-

-The assailants quickly formed in

-two ranks, facing outward upon the

-east and west lines of barracks, and

-gave three cheers that made the gray

-walls ring with quick, rebounding

-echoes.

-

-“Quick, my boy, show me the

-commandant’s quarters,” said Allen,

-and his guide led to a flight of outer

-stairs arising to the upper story of the

-south barracks. Ascending them,

-Allen shouted:

-

-“Come forth, commandant, come

-forth.” But receiving no answer he

-thundered on the door with the pommel

-of his sword and shouted still

-louder:

-

-“Come out of your hole, you

-damned old skunk,” and thereupon

-the door was drawn a little ajar. Allen

-flung it wide open, and disclosed the

-bewildered face and undignified figure

-of Captain Delaplace, clad only in his

-shirt and nightcap, with his breeches

-in his hand. Behind him stood his

-night-gowned wife, her pretty face

-pale with alarm. For a moment the

-captain gaped at his unceremonious

-visitor.

-

-“Who are you and what do you

-want?”

-

-“I want the Fort and all it contains.

-Surrender, instantly.”

-

-“Surrender? Is this a mad joke or

-treason?”

-

-“Neither; but honest men claiming

-their own. Surrender.”

-

-“In whose name? By whose authority?”

-asked Delaplace, assured

-of the earnestness of the summons.

-

-“In the name of the Great Jehovah

-and the Continental Congress.”

-

-“I know no such authority.”

-

-“Sir, do you deny the authority of

-the King of Kings? And Congress

-seemeth to have some power here this

-morning. Waste no more time. We

-are four to your one. Do you surrender?”

-

-“I see no choice. But it consoles

-me that you rebels will hang for this.”

-

-“You are welcome to the consolation

-of the hope, but it gives me no

-uneasiness and I run no new risks.

-I am Ethan Allen. You may have

-heard of me and have lusted for the

-shekels the sons of Belial offer for my

-head. But get on your clothes and

-parade your men without arms. Madam,”

-bowing low to the lady, “pardon

-the intrusion, but my business is

-urgent. Permit me to close the door.”

-So doing he awaited the reappearance

-of the commandant.

-

-“This is a pretty kettle of fish,”

-the chopfallen captain groaned.

-“Courage, my dear; this handsome

-giant has something of the manners

-of a gentleman, and will not let a lady

-be maltreated by his rebel band.”

-

-“Oh, William, the Fort surprised,

-and we prisoners, and not a blow

-struck for defense.”

-

-“There could be no defense with

-such numbers. Well, there’s no use

-crying over spilt milk. Did you see

-that pet cub of yours with the big

-rebel? What did I tell you?” said

-the captain, putting the finishing

-touches to his hasty toilet.

-

-He rejoined Allen and proceeded

-to the parade, where, presently, he

-mustered his little force without arms

-and formally delivered them to the

-captors, who marched them away to

-their quarters under guard. Two

-days later, with an armed escort, they

-were on their way through the wilderness

-to Connecticut, and Nathan saw

-the last of the lady of the Fort.

-

-Warner and the remainder of the

-men arrived at Ticonderoga soon after

-its surrender, disappointed that they

-had not participated in its achievement.

-

-Still guided by the boy, the officers

-made a tour of investigation, which

-revealed a wealth of guns and ammunition—supplies

-greatly needed by

-the army of patriots then gathered at

-Boston. As the boy listened to the

-rejoicings, his heart was full of proud

-thankfulness that he had borne so important

-if humble a part in this service

-of his country.

-

-Warren and Sunderland and a hundred

-men set forth for the easy conquest

-of Crown Point and its insignificant

-garrison, while, on Lake George,

-another party took possession of Fort

-George and its garrison of a man, his

-wife, and a dog.

-

-Arnold hastily fitted out a schooner

-taken at Skeenesborough, and, with

-Allen in a batteaus filled with armed

-men, sailed down the lake to capture

-the British sloop at St. Johns. Job’s

-knowledge of the lake, gained in years

-of ranger service upon it, made him

-valuable as pilot, in which capacity he

-accompanied Allen; and where Job

-went there went Nathan. The brisk

-south wind swiftly wafted Arnold’s

-craft far in advance of her sluggish

-consort, whose crew saw their chances

-of glory lessening and fading with the

-white wings of the schooner.

-

-The voyage was a pleasant one to

-Nathan, for beyond the mouth of

-Otter Creek everything was new to

-him, with strange and changing shores

-and such an expanse of water as he

-had never seen. His old friend pointed

-out to him notable landmarks and

-scenes of past adventure. Here was

-the cleft promontory of So-baps-kwa

-and the opposite headland of Ko-zo-aps-kwa,

-there the solitary rock of

-Wo-ja-hose. Then they passed the

-isles of the Four Winds and Valcour,

-and Grand Isle’s low, wooded shore

-stretching along the eastward water

-line. At last, as they were nearing

-the northern end of the lake and saw

-on their right the ruin of an old French

-windmill, the only vestige of civilized

-occupation they had seen except the

-ruins of Fort St. Anne on Isle la

-Motte, they descried two sail rapidly

-bearing down toward them from the

-north before the shifted wind.

-

-For a few moments they were in

-an excitement of alarm, not knowing

-whether these were friends or foes.

-Soon Allen, who had been watching

-through a glass, lowered it, and, waving

-his cocked hat above his head,

-shouted:

-

-“Hurrah, boys, it’s our friends with

-the British sloop. Give her three

-cheers.”

-

-While the last lusty cheer was

-scarcely uttered, an answering salute

-from the cannon of the sloop and

-schooner was thundered forth.

-

-“Give ’em powder for powder, boys.

-Fire,” Allen shouted, and a rattling

-volley of muskets, rifles, and long

-smoothbores reawakened the echoes.

-

-The crew of the batteau was then

-transferred to the schooner and her

-prize—the same armed sloop Nathan

-so well remembered seeing when she

-brought supplies to the Fort he had

-just borne a part in surprising. While

-amid loud rejoicings the story of her

-bloodless capture was told, they went

-merrily bowling homeward with the

-clumsy batteau surging along in tow

-at such speed as she had never known

-before.

-

-CHAPTER XVII—HOME COMING

-========================

-

-As the sloop swept past the massive

-battlements of Crown Point where

-they guard the narrowing channel of

-the lake, Job said to his young comrade:

-

-“We’re getting towards home.”

-

-“Yes, I’ve been thinking of home

-and mother and sis. Guess I needn’t

-be afraid of ol’ Toombs any longer,

-but I don’t know as I could keep my

-hands off’n him. I always meant to

-give him a thrashing when I could.”

-

-“Mebby you could, now, but he’s

-a cordy critter and a soople one; but

-mind what I tell you, you never will.”

-

-Nathan’s answer was a short, incredulous

-laugh, as he helped Job

-make ready for disembarkation. As

-they marched in straggling ranks

-toward Fort Ticonderoga, Nathan

-was accosted by one of the young

-Newtons, who had remained there

-during the northern expedition.

-

-“Look a-here, Nate,” he said, drawing

-him aside, “there’s some trouble

-to your mother’s. She’s sent word

-for you to come right home. Old

-Toombs is dead or run off to Canerdy,

-or something. I don’t know the rights

-on’t. But, anyhow, she wants you

-bad.”

-

-Either the death or the absconding

-of his stepfather was too good news

-to be true, and his first duty was to

-serve his mother. He and Job readily

-obtained leave of absence, though it

-was scarcely needed, so lax was the

-military discipline of the crudely

-organized forces. The two at once

-set forth, and an hour’s paddling of

-the light birch canoe brought them

-to the landing in the creek.

-

-As they emerged from the shadow

-of the woods into the broad sunlight

-of the clearing, their first glance

-sought the house standing in the

-midst of green grass and springing

-grain. The scene was in such apparent

-peace and quietude as it might

-have been lapped, if all the turmoil

-of war and strife were a thousand

-miles removed. As Nathan’s eyes

-ran over the familiar fields in which

-he had spent so many hours in the

-companionship of his father, his heart

-was softened with the sad and solemn

-memory. Then it hardened in a fire

-of wrath that flamed up at the remembrance

-of what he had suffered

-from his father’s successor, and he felt

-if he should meet the wretch he would

-wreak summary vengeance upon him.

-

-Soon they were at the open door

-and looking in upon the homely kitchen.

-It was empty but for the figure

-of a man slouching inertly in an armchair

-before the fireplace. There was

-no mistaking the shock of grizzled

-red hair, nor the brawny shoulders,

-though they were stooped and curved

-together.

-

-The light tread of Nathan’s moccasined

-feet did not disturb the melancholy

-figure, with its drooping head

-and vacant eyes staring into the fire,

-nor did it move till he laid his hand

-on its shoulder. Then the face turned

-upon him a slow, dazed stare, that as

-slowly kindled into recognition, then

-froze into a rigid glare of inexpressible

-terror. An inarticulate cry came from

-the white lips, while the helpless form

-strove to arouse itself from the living

-death of palsy.

-

-Nathan cast upon Job a look of

-appalled, beseeching inquiry. As he

-met its answer in the awed face of his

-friend, resentment of past injuries

-faded out of his heart, as he realized

-that a mighty hand had forestalled

-his revenge, and he felt nothing but

-pity for the abject being that crouched

-before him.

-

-“It’s come out about as I told you,”

-said Job, “but I wan’t expectin’

-nothin’ like this, poor critter. He

-thinks you’re a spirit come to haunt

-him.” Then he called loudly to the

-figure, “It’s the boy. It’s Nathan,

-alive and well. Don’t be afeared, he

-won’t hurt ye.”

-

-There were footsteps at the threshold,

-and Ruth and Martha entered,

-pausing a moment with wondering

-faces, which presently kindled with

-joy, and Nathan was clasped in their

-arms. When the first flush of joyful

-meeting was spent, Ruth explained in

-answer to her son’s whispered question

-and his nod toward the dumb figure:

-

-“He sort o’ broke down after the

-guard went away, an’ t’other day we

-found him all of a heap down by a big

-hemlock log that he never got round

-to cut up. He hain’t seemed to sense

-much since. He’s been dreadful worried

-about you, Nathan, all along,

-ever since you went away.”

-

-She did not know the terrible cause

-of the speechless self-condemnation

-the wretch had suffered, nor did she

-ever learn it.

-

-“I wouldn’t tell her,” counselled

-Job. “She’d feel bad, an’ that

-wouldn’t pay any more’n it does to

-nurse a grudge. Vengeance don’t

-belong to us, poor critters.”

-

-Thenceforth, till Silas Toombs sank

-from his living death to eternal sleep

-not long after this, his stepson gave

-him thoughtful and kindly care.

-

-At length the young frontiersman

-took his place among the defenders of

-his country. By the side of his old

-comrade and guardian, he fought in

-the losing fight of Hubbardton and

-helped to win the glorious victory of

-Bennington. Yet he is best remembered

-by the descendants of the old

-Green Mountain Boys as the guide

-who led their fathers in the conquest

-of Ticonderoga.

-

-----

-

-Where once stood the pioneer’s log

-house, spacious farm buildings now

-stretch their comfortable quarters.

-From it, away to the southwest, across

-meadows, thrifty homesteads, low

-woodlands, and the narrowed waters

-of Lake Champlain can be seen rising

-against the foothills of the Adirondacks

-the hoary ruins of Ticonderoga.

-Within the house, upon a pair of massive

-moose horns, rests the old flintlock

-once filled with beans, “good

-enough for Yorkers,” and later loaded

-with a leaden death message for Tory

-and Hessian. Cherished with as fond

-pride by its fair possessor, is a worn

-pocket-piece—the silver shilling given

-her ancestor by the beautiful lady of

-Fort Ticonderoga.

-

-.. topic:: Transcriber’s Note

-

-  | Spelling and punctuation inaccuracies were silently corrected.

-  | Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.

-  | The author’s punctuation style is preserved.

-  | Hyphenation has been made consistent.

-

-.. vspace:: 5

-

-.. _pg_end_line:

-

-\*\*\* END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HERO OF TICONDEROGA \*\*\*

-

-.. backmatter::

-

-.. toc-entry::

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-

-.. _pg-footer:

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-                         A HERO OF TICONDEROGA
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost
-no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Title: A Hero of Ticonderoga
-
-Author: Rowland E. Robinson
-
-Release Date: January 25, 2011 [EBook #35080]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: US-ASCII
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HERO OF TICONDEROGA ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Darleen Dove and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
-http://www.pgdp.net.
-
-This file was produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive.
-
-
-A HERO OF TICONDEROGA
-
-By
-
-Rowland E. Robinson
-
-Burlington, VT.
-Hobart J. Shanley & Co.
-Publishers
-1898
-
-
-
-
-Copyright, 1898, by
-HOBART J. SHANLEY & CO.
-
-
-
-
-Contents
-
-
-  - CHAPTER I--COMING INTO THE WILDERNESS
-  - CHAPTER II--THE NEW HOME
-  - CHAPTER III--A VISIT TO THE FORT
-  - CHAPTER IV--THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS
-  - CHAPTER V--THE EVERGREEN SPRIG
-  - CHAPTER VI--THE YORKERS
-  - CHAPTER VII--THE "JUDGMENT SEAT"
-  - CHAPTER VIII--A NOVEL BEAR TRAP
-  - CHAPTER IX--A FRONTIER TRAGEDY
-  - CHAPTER X--REBELLION
-  - CHAPTER XI--ESCAPE
-  - CHAPTER XII--A FREE LIFE
-  - CHAPTER XIII--FOREBODINGS OF STORM
-  - CHAPTER XIV--GABRIEL'S GOOD SERVICE
-  - CHAPTER XV--LEADERS AND GUIDE
-  - CHAPTER XVI--TICONDEROGA
-  - CHAPTER XVII--HOME COMING
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I--COMING INTO THE WILDERNESS
-
-
-The low sun of a half-spent winter afternoon streaked and splashed the
-soft undulations of the forest floor with thin, infrequent lines, and
-scattered blotches of yellow light among the thickening shadows.
-
-A solitary hunter, clad in buckskin and gray homespun, thridded his way
-among the gray trunks of the giant trees, now blended with them and
-their shadows, now briefly touched by a glint of sunlight, now casting
-up the powdery snow from the toes of his snowshoes in a pearly mist, now
-in a golden shower, yet moving as silently as the trees stood, or
-shadows brooded, or sunlight gleamed athwart them.
-
-Presently he approached a narrow road that tunnelled, rather than
-seamed, the forest, for the giant trees which closely pillared its sides
-spread their branches across it, leaving the vast forest arch unbroken.
-
-In the silence of the hour and season, which was but emphasized by the
-outcry of a suspicious jay and the gentler notes of a bevy of friendly
-chickadees, the alert ear of the hunter caught a less familiar sound.
-Faint and distant as it was, he at once recognized in it the slow tread
-of oxen and the creak of runners in the dry snow, and, standing a little
-aloof from the untrodden road, he awaited the coming of the possibly
-unwelcome invaders of the wilderness.
-
-A yoke of oxen soon appeared, swaying along at a sober pace, the breath
-jetting from their nostrils in little clouds that arose and dissolved in
-the still air with that of their driver, who stood on the front of a
-sled laden with a full cargo of household stuff. Far behind the sled
-stretched the double furrow of the runners, deep-scored lines of darker
-blue than the universal shadow of the forest, a steadfast wake to mark
-the course of the voyager till the next snow-storm or the spring thaw
-cover it or blot it out. As the oxen came opposite the motionless
-hunter, his attendant jay uttered a sudden discordant cry.
-
-"Whoa, hush! Whoa haw, there! What are you afeard of now? That's nothin'
-but a jay squallin'." The strong voice of the driver rang through the
-stillness of the woods, overbearing the monotonous tread of the oxen,
-the creak of the sled, and the responsive swish and creak of the snow
-beneath feet and runners.
-
-Unmindful of his voice, the oxen still swerved from the unbeaten track
-of the forest road and threatened to bring the off runner against one of
-the great trees that bordered it. The driver sprang from his standing
-place, and, running forward alongside the cattle, quickly brought them
-to a halt with a few reassuring words, and a touch of his long,
-blue-beech gad across their faces.
-
-Looking into the woods to see what had alarmed them, he became aware of
-the man standing a little way off, as motionless as the great tree
-trunks around him. Seeing the oxen were now under control, the latter
-advanced a little and spoke in a low, pleasant voice:
-
-"I didn't go to skeer your oxen, stranger, and was standin' still to let
-'em pass, but thet jay squalled at me, an', lookin' this way, I s'pose
-they ketched a glimpse of my fur cap an' took it for some varmint.
-Cattle is always lookin' for some sech, in the woods. Your load's all
-right, I hope," he said, coming into the road and looking at the sled,
-which, though tipped on some hidden obstruction, was yet in no danger of
-upsetting its freight.
-
-"Why, you've got women an' childern," and his face lighted up with an
-expression of pleased interest. "You're comin' in to make a pitch. How
-far might you be goin', stranger?"
-
-"A little beyond Fort Ti, on this side," the driver of the oxen
-answered. "I made a pitch there last year. My name's Seth Beeman, and I
-come from Salisbury, Connecticut, and them on the sled are my wife and
-children." Seth Beeman knew that, according to the custom of the country
-and the times, this information would presently be required of him, and
-the hunter, for such the stranger's dress, long gun and snowshoes
-proclaimed him to be, had such an honest face he did not hesitate to
-forestall the inevitable questions.
-
-"I want to know! A Beeman from ol' Salisbury," cried the other. "An' now
-I wonder if you be akin to my ol' comrade in the Rangers, 'Zekiel
-Beeman?"
-
-"My father's name was Ezekiel, and he served in Roger's Rangers."
-
-"Give me your hand, friend," cried the hunter, drawing off his mitten
-with his teeth, and extending his hand as he came near to the other.
-"Well, I never thought to meet an ol' friend here in these lonesome
-woods, to-day. Yes, an ol' friend, for that's what a son of 'Zekiel
-Beeman's is to me, though I never sot eyes on him afore. You've maybe
-hearn him speak of Job Carpenter? That's my name."
-
-"Carpenter? Yes, the name sounds familiar, but you know father wa'n't a
-man of many words and never told us much of his sojerin' days."
-
-"You're right, he wa'n't. We all larnt to keep our heads shut when we
-was a-scoutin' an' a loud word might cost a man his'n an' many another
-life."
-
-Seth wondered how long since the hunter had forgotten the lesson, yet he
-noticed the voice of the other was never high pitched and he never made
-a sudden, abrupt movement.
-
-"An' so these is your wife an' childern, be they?" said Job, passing
-toward the sled, whose occupants were so muffled in bed-quilts and
-blankets that nothing of their forms, and but little of their features,
-were visible.
-
-"How dedo, marm. How dedo, little uns. Tol'able comf'table, I hope?"
-
-Ruth Beeman answered his kind salutation as audibly as she could out of
-her mufflings, and the children, a boy of twelve and a girl of three
-years younger, stared at him with round, wondering eyes.
-
-"It's a hard life that lies afore women an' children in this
-wilderness," he said to himself, and then, in a louder tone: "Wal, I'm
-glad you're goin' to be nigh the Fort. There's always a doctor there,
-an' it's sort o' protection, if the garrison be reg'lars. Now, Seth,
-start up your team, an' I'll boost on the sled till it's square on the
-road again."
-
-So saying, he set his shoulder to one of the sled stakes, while Seth
-carefully started the oxen forward. With a heaving lurch and prolonged
-creak, the sled settled upon evener ground without disturbance of its
-passengers or its burden of house gear and provisions, which, till now,
-had hidden from view of the hunter a gentle little cow in lead close
-behind it.
-
-"How far be we from the Fort?" Seth asked.
-
-"Nigh onto five mile," the hunter answered, after considering their
-whereabouts a moment. "After a spell you'll come to a better road on the
-ice of the crik, if you take the first blazed path beyend here, to your
-left. It'll fetch you to my cabin, where you'd better stop till morning,
-for you can't no ways git to your pitch till long arter nightfall. I
-know where it is, for I come across it, last fall, when I was trappin'
-mushrat up the crik. My shanty's the first thing in the shape of a
-dwelling that you'll come to, an' can't miss it if you foller the back
-track of my snowshoes. It hain't so great, but it's better'n no shelter,
-an' you're more'n welcome to it. Rake open the fire an' build you a
-rouster, an' make yourselves to home. I've got some traps to tend to,
-but I'll be back afore dark," and, almost before they could thank him,
-he disappeared among the trees.
-
-Seth took his place upon the sled, and, as it moved forward, the forest
-again resumed its solemnity of silence, that was rather made more
-apparent than at all disturbed by the slight sounds of the party's
-progress. It was a silence that their lonely journey had long since
-accustomed them to, but had not made less depressing, for, in every
-waking moment, it reminded Seth and his wife how every foot of it
-withdrew them further from old friends and old associations, and how
-long and wearisome the days of its endurance stretched before them.
-
-The remainder of the day was made pleasanter by the chance finding of a
-friend in a strange land, and with a prospect of spending a night under
-a roof, for, however it might be, it could but be better than the almost
-shelterless bivouac that had many times been their night lodging since
-they entered the great Northern Wilderness, that, within a few years,
-had become known as the New Hampshire Grants.
-
-More than once, when they had fallen asleep with only the mesh of netted
-branches between them and the serene stars, they had been awakened by
-the long howl of the wolves answering one another, or by the appalling
-scream of a panther. Then, with frequent replenishment of the fire, they
-had watched out the weary hours till morning, alarmed by every falling
-brand or sough of the breeze, or resonant crack of frost-strained trees.
-
-Seth looked eagerly for the promised trail and was glad to discover the
-blazed trees and the netted imprint of snowshoes, that, if but briefly,
-as certainly, identified the path. He turned his oxen into the diverging
-road, which, though narrow, gave ample room for the sled. After a little
-it led to the winding channel of a creek crawling through a marsh, whose
-looped and matted sedges were in turn bordered by the primeval forest
-and its bristling abatis of great trees, prostrate and bent in every
-degree of incline.
-
-At last, as the long shadows began to thicken into the pallid gloom of
-winter twilight, a little cabin was discovered in a notch of clearing,
-as gray and silent as the gray woods around it. A thin wisp of smoke
-climbed from the low chimney against the wall of forest, and a waft of
-its pungent odor came to the travellers. Even as they drew near, its
-owner also arrived, and gave them hospitable welcome to his hearth, and
-presently the little room was aglow with light and warmth.
-
-Here Ruth and little Martha thawed away their cramps and chilliness by
-the big fireplace, while Seth and his son Nathan, with the hunter's
-help, unhitched the oxen from the sled. From this they brought the
-rations of hay and corn, and made the oxen and their comrade, the cow,
-contented with their roofless lodging behind the cabin.
-
-Then the pork and Indian meal were taken inside. Ruth mixed a
-johnny-cake with hot water and salt, and set it to bake on its board,
-tilted before the fire. The frying-pan was filled with pork, and slices
-of moose meat contributed from Job's larder.
-
-The little party, ranged on rude seats about the fireplace, so great as
-to be out of all proportion to the room, chatted of things near and
-afar, while they grew hungry with every sniff of appetizing cookery.
-
-Nathan was all agog at the peltry that hung from innumerable pegs on the
-rough log walls. There were skins of many animals that had long been
-rare, if not extinct, in the old colony where he was born.
-
-There were the broad, round shields of beaver skins, the slenderer and
-lighter-hued skins of otters, besides the similarly shaped but smaller
-and darker-colored fisher, with a bundle of the lesser martins, that Job
-called "saple," and no end of muskrats and minks. There were, also, half
-a dozen wolf skins, and, conspicuous in size and glossy blackness, were
-three bear skins, and beside them hung a tawny panther hide, the huge
-hinder paws and long tail trailing on the puncheon floor, while the
-cat-like head seemed to prowl, as stealthily as in life, among the upper
-shadows and flickerings of the firelight.
-
-Quickly noting the boy's interest in these trophies, Job made the round
-of them all, explaining the habits of each animal, the method of its
-capture, and giving brief narrations of encounters with the larger ones.
-He exhibited, with the most pride, a beautiful silver-gray foxskin, and
-an odd-looking spotted and coarse-haired skin, stuffed with moss into
-some semblance of its form in the flesh. This he brought to the
-fireside, and set on its fin-like hinder feet, for the inspection of his
-guests.
-
-"What on airth is it?" Seth Beeman asked.
-
-"'Tain't of the airth, but of the water," Job answered, with a chuckle.
-"I killed it on the ice of the lake airly in the winter. One of the
-sojers at the Fort see it, an' he says it's a seal fish belongin' to the
-sea, where he's seen no end on 'em. But them sojers to the Fort is an
-ign'ant set like all the reg'lars, that we rangers always despised as
-bad as they did us, an' it don't look no ways reasonable that sech a
-creatur' could come all the way up the St. Lawrence, an' the Iriquois
-River, an' most the len'th o' this lake. My idee is, it's a fresh-water
-maremaid, an' nat'ral to this lake."
-
-If Seth had any doubt of this theory, he gave it no expression, and the
-hunter went on:
-
-"An ol' Injin told me that there's always ben one o' these cretur's seen
-in this lake a spell afore every war that's ever ben. But I hope the
-sign'll fail this time. I've seen enough o' war an' I don't see no
-chance of another, all Canady bein' took an' the Injins in these parts
-bein' quilled."
-
-The johnny-cake, having been baking for some time in its last turn on
-the board, was now pronounced done. The mixed contents of the frying-pan
-were turned out on a wooden trencher, and conversation was suspended for
-the more important matter of supper. Not long after this was disposed
-of, the host and his guests betook themselves to sleep in quilts and
-blankets on the puncheon floor, with their feet to the blazing backlog
-and glowing bed of coals.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II--THE NEW HOME
-
-
-The light of a cloudless March morning pervaded the circumscribed
-landscape when the inmates of the cabin were astir again. Not many
-moments later, a sudden booming report broke the stillness and rolled in
-sullen echoes back and forth from mountains and forested shores.
-
-"The sunrise gun to Fort Ti," Job said, in reply to the questioning look
-of his guests. "They hain't no other use for their powder now."
-
-A fainter report, and its fainter answering echoes, boomed through the
-breathless air.
-
-"An' that's Crown P'int Fort, ten mile furder down the lake. They help
-to keep us from getting lonesome up here in the woods." And, indeed,
-there was a comfortable assurance of human neighborhood and helpful
-strength in these mighty voices that shook the primeval forest with
-their dull thunder.
-
-"I don't sca'cely ever go nigh the forts," Job continued. "I don't like
-them reg'lars an' their toppin' ways."
-
-After fortifying themselves with a breakfast, in no wise differing from
-their last meal, the travellers set forth on the last stage of their
-journey, Job volunteering to accompany them upon it, and see them
-established in their new home. They had not gone far on their way down
-the narrow channel of the creek when it brought them to the broad,
-snow-clad expanse of the lake, lying white and motionless between its
-rugged shores, bristling with the forest, save where, on their left, was
-a stretch of cleared ground, in the midst of which stood, like a grim
-sentinel, grown venerable with long years of steadfast watch, the gray
-battlements of Fort Ticonderoga.
-
-Here and there could be seen red-coated soldiers, bright dots of color
-in the colorless winter landscape, and, above them, lazily flaunting in
-the light breeze, shone the red cross of England. The old ranger gave
-the flag the tribute of a military salute, while his heart swelled with
-pride at sight of the banner for which he had fought, and which he had
-followed almost to where it now waved, in the humiliation of
-Abercrombie's defeat, and here had seen it planted in Amherst's
-triumphant advance.
-
-In Seth Beeman's breast it stirred no such thrill. It had no such
-associations with deeds in which he had borne a part, and to him, as to
-many another of his people, it was becoming a symbol of oppression
-rather than an object of pride. To Nathan's boyish eyes it was a most
-beautiful thing, without meaning, but of beauty. His heart beat quick as
-the rattling drums and the shrill notes of the fife summoned the
-garrison to parade.
-
-The oxen went at a brisker pace on the unobstructed surface of the lake,
-and the travellers soon came to a little creek not far up which was the
-clearing that Seth Beeman had made during the previous summer. In the
-midst of it stood the little log house that was henceforth to be their
-home, the shed for the cattle, and a stack of wild hay, inconspicuous
-among log heaps almost as large as they, looking anything but homelike
-with the smokeless chimney and pathless approach. Nor, when entered, was
-the bare interior much more cheerful.
-
-A fire, presently blazing on the hearth, soon enlivened it. The floor
-was neatly swept with a broom fashioned of hemlock twigs by Job's ready
-hands. The little stock of furniture was brought in. The pewter
-tableware was ranged on the rough corner shelves. Ruth added here and
-there such housewifely touches as only a woman can give. The change,
-wrought in so brief a space, seemed a magical transformation. What two
-hours ago was but a barren crib of rough, clay-chinked logs, was now a
-furnished living-room, cozy with rude, homelike comfort.
-
-Then the place was hanselled with its first regularly prepared dinner,
-the first meal beneath its roof at which a woman had presided. Job,
-loath to leave the most humanized habitation that he had seen for
-months, set forth for his own lonely cabin. Except the unneighborly
-inmates of the Fort, these were his nearest neighbors, and to them, for
-his old comrade's sake, he felt a closer friendship than had warmed his
-heart for many a year.
-
-Though it was March, winter lacked many days of being spent in this
-latitude, and, during their continuance, Seth was busy with his axe,
-widening the clearing with slow, persistent inroads upon the surrounding
-forest, and piling the huge log heaps for next spring's burning. Nathan
-gave a willing and helpful hand to the piling of the brush, and took
-practical lessons in that accomplishment so necessary to the
-pioneer--the woodsman's craft. Within doors his mother, with little
-Martha for her companion, plied cards and spinning-wheel, with the
-frugal store of wool and flax brought from the old home. So their busy
-hands kept loneliness at bay, even amid the dreariness of the wintry
-wilderness.
-
-At last the south wind blew with a tempered breath. Hitherto unseen
-stumps appeared above the settling snow, the gray haze of woods purpled
-with a tinge of spring, and the caw of returning crows pleased their
-ears, tired of the winter's silence.
-
-Seth tapped the huge old maples with a gouge, and the sap, dripping from
-spouts of sumac wood, was caught in rough-hewn troughs. From these it
-was carried in buckets on a neck-yoke to the boiling place, an
-open-fronted shanty. Before it the big potash kettle was hung on a tree
-trunk, so balanced on a stump that it could be swung over or off the
-fire at will. Sugaring brought pleasure as well as hard labor to Nathan.
-There were quiet hours spent in the shanty with his father, with little
-to do but mend the fire and watch the boiling sap walloping and
-frothing, half hidden beneath the clouds of steam that filled the woods
-with sweet odor.
-
-Sometimes Job joined them and told of his lonely scouts in the Ranger
-service, and of bush fights with Indians and their French allies, and of
-encounters with wild beasts, tales made more impressive in their
-relation by the loneliness of the campfire, with the circle of wild
-lights and shadows leaping around it in the edge of the surrounding
-darkness, out of which came, perhaps from far away, the howl of a wolf
-or the nearer hoot of the great horned owl.
-
-Sometimes Martha spent part of a day in camp with her brother, helping
-in womanly ways that girls so early acquired in the training of those
-times, when every one of the household must learn helpfulness and
-self-reliance. But the little sister enjoyed most the evenings when the
-syrup was taken to the house and sugared off. The children surfeited
-themselves with sugar "waxed" on snow, and their parents, and Job, if he
-chanced to be there, shared of this most delicious of the few backwoods
-luxuries, and the five made a jolly family party.
-
-One morning, when the surface of the coarse-grained old snow was covered
-with one of the light later falls, known as "sugar snow," as Seth and
-his son were on their way to the sugar place, the latter called his
-father's attention to a large track bearing some resemblance to the
-imprint of a naked human foot, and tending with some meandering in the
-same direction that they were going.
-
-"Why," said Seth, at the first glance, "it's a bear, an' if he's been to
-the camp, I'm afraid he's done mischief, for they're meddlesome
-creatur's. But there wa'n't much left there for him to hurt," he added,
-after taking a brief mental inventory of the camp's contents.
-
-"I can't think of nothing but the hunk of pork we had to keep the big
-kittle from b'ilin' over," said Nathan, "and a little mite of syrup that
-we left in the little kittle 'cause there was more'n we could carry home
-in the pails."
-
-"He's welcome to that if he's left the pork; we hain't no pork to feed
-bears."
-
-Now, as they drew near the camp, they heard a strange commotion in its
-neighborhood; a medley of smothered angry growls, impatient whines,
-unwieldy floundering, and a dull thud and clank of iron, the excited
-squalling of a party of jays, and the chattering jeers of a red
-squirrel. Running forward in cautious haste, they presently discovered
-the cause of this odd confusion of noises to be a large black bear.
-
-His head was concealed in the pot-bellied syrup kettle, held fast in
-that position by the bail, that, in his eagerness to lick out the last
-drop of stolen sweet, had slipped behind his ears. His frantic efforts
-to get rid of his self-imposed muzzle were so funny that, after their
-first moment of bewilderment, the two spectators could but shout with
-laughter.
-
-Now upreared, the blindfolded bear would strike wildly at the kettle
-with his forepaws; then, falling on his back, claw it furiously with his
-hinder ones; then, regaining his feet, rush headlong till brought to a
-sudden stand by an unseen tree trunk. Recovering from the shock, he
-would remain motionless for a moment, as if devising some new means of
-relief, but would presently resume the same round of unavailing devices,
-with the constant accompaniment of smothered expressions of rage and
-terror.
-
-But there was little time for laughter when a precious kettle and a fat
-bear might at any moment be lost by the fracture of one and the escape
-of the other. Seth had no weapon but his axe, but with this he essayed
-prompt attack, the happy opportunity for which was at once offered. In
-one of his blind, unguided rushes, the bear charged directly toward the
-camp, till his iron-clad head struck with a resounding clang against the
-great boiling kettle. As he reeled backward from the shock, half stunned
-by it, and bewildered by the unaccustomed sound that still rang in his
-ears, Seth was beside him with axe uplifted.
-
-Only an instant he deliberated where and how to strike; at the skull he
-dared not with the axe-head, for fear of breaking the kettle, and he
-disliked to strike with the blade further back for fear of disfiguring
-the skin. But this was the preferable stroke, and in the next instant
-the axe-blade fell with a downright blow, so strong and well aimed that
-it severed the spinal column just forward of the shoulders. The great
-brute went down, paralyzed beyond all motion, to fall in a helpless heap
-and yield up his life with a few feeble gasps.
-
-"Oh, father," cried Nathan, the first to break the sudden silence, with
-a voice tremulous in exultation, "to think we've got a bear. Won't
-mother and Marthy be proud? and won't Job think we're real hunters?"
-
-Waiting but a moment to stroke the glossy fur and lift a huge inert paw,
-but such a little while ago so terrible, he sped home to bring his
-mother and sister to see the unexpected prize, while the jays renewed
-their querulous outcry, and the squirrel vociferously scoffed the fallen
-despoiler of his stolen nuts.
-
-The flesh made a welcome addition to the settler's scanty store of meat,
-the fat furnished a medium for frying the hitherto impossible doughnut,
-and Job promised to bring them a handsome price for the skin, when he
-should sell it with his own peltry to the fur traders. But the praise he
-bestowed upon Seth's coolness in the strange encounter was sweeter to
-Nathan than all else.
-
-As the days went on the advance of spring became more rapid and more
-apparent. Already the clearing was free from snow, and even in the
-shadow of the forest the tops of the cradle knolls showed the brown mats
-of last year's leaves above the surface, that was no longer a pure
-white, but littered with the winter downfall of twigs, moss, and bits of
-bark, and everywhere it was gray with innumerable swarming mites of snow
-fleas. Great flocks of wild geese harrowed the sky. Ducks went whistling
-in swift flight just above the tree tops, or settled in the puddles
-beginning to form along the border of the marsh. Here muskrats were
-getting first sight of the sun after months of twilight spent beneath
-the ice.
-
-In the earliest April days of open water, when the blackbirds, on every
-bordering elm and water maple, were filling the air with a jangle of
-harsh and liquid notes, and the frogs, among the drift of floating
-weeds, were purring an unremitting croak, Job took Nathan out on the
-marshes, and instructed him in the art of shooting the great pickerel
-now come to spawn in the warm shallows.
-
-"Never shoot at 'em," said he, when a shot from his smooth-bore had
-turned an enormous fellow's white belly to the sun, and he quickly
-lifted the fish into the canoe; "if you do, you won't hit 'em. Always
-shoot under, a mite or more, accordin' to the depth o' water."
-
-Powder and lead were too precious to waste much of them on fish, so the
-old hunter made his pupil a hornbeam bow and arrows with spiked heads.
-With these weapons the boy soon became so skilled that he kept the table
-well supplied with this agreeable variation of its frugal fare.
-
-Song-birds came in fewer numbers in those days of wide wildernesses than
-now, but there were bluebirds and song sparrows enough to enliven the
-clearing with sweet songs, and little Martha found squirrel cups
-blooming in the warmest corners of the field. As the days grew longer
-and warmer they grew busier, for Seth was diligently getting his crops
-in among the black stumps.
-
-Job, having foreseen his friend's need of some sort of water craft when
-the lake should open, had fashioned for him a log canoe from the trunk
-of a great pine, and modelled it as gracefully as his own birch, though
-it was many times a heavier, as it was a steadier, craft.
-
-One pleasant afternoon in early May, when the lake was quite clear of
-ice, Seth and his son, with Job as their instructor in the art of canoe
-navigation, made a trip in the new boat. They paddled down the creek,
-now a broad bit of water from the spring overflow. When they came to the
-lake, rippled with a brisk northern breeze, they found their visit well
-timed, for a rare and pretty sight was before them, so rare and pretty
-that Job paddled back with all speed for the mother and daughter that
-they, too, might see it.
-
-A mile below the mouth of the creek a large vessel was coming, under all
-sail, with the British flag flying bravely above the white cloud of
-canvas. They could hear the inspiring strains of martial music, and,
-when the noble vessel swept past not half a mile away, they could see
-the gayly dressed officers and the blue-jacketed sailors swarming on her
-deck.
-
-"It's the sloop from St. Johns," said Job. "She comes two or three
-times, whilst the lake's open, with stores for the garrison to the Fort.
-It's an easier trail than the road from Albany. Pretty soon you'll hear
-her speak."
-
-Almost at his words a puff of smoke jetted out from her black side, and,
-as it drifted across her deck, it was followed by the loud, sullen roar
-of the cannon. In response a smoke cloud drifted away from the Fort, and
-a moment later a roar of welcome reinforced the failing echoes. Again
-and again the sloop and the Fort exchanged salutes, till the new
-settlers ceased to be startled by such thunder as they had never before
-heard under a cloudless sky.
-
-"They hain't nothin' to do with their powder nowadays, but to fool it
-away in sech nonsense," said the Ranger, as the sloop came to anchor in
-front of the Fort. "Arter all it's a better use for it than killin'
-folks, erless," he deliberately excepted, "it might be Injins."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III--A VISIT TO THE FORT
-
-
-The summer brought more settlers to these inviting lands of level,
-fertile soil, and when the woods were again bright with autumnal hues,
-their broad expanse of variegated color was blotched with many a square
-of unsightly new clearing. Job Carpenter looked with disfavor upon such
-infringement of the hunter's domain, but it was welcomed by the Beemans.
-Though Seth's active out-door employment and the constant companionship
-of nature made him less lonely than his wife, yet he was of a social
-nature and glad of human companionship; while Ruth, sometimes lonely in
-the isolation of her new home, rejoiced in the neighborhood of other
-women.
-
-Only a mile away were the Newtons, a large and friendly family, and
-within three miles were four more friendly households, and another at
-the falls of the turbid Lemon Fair. At this point a saw mill was being
-built and a grist mill talked of. With that convenience established so
-close at hand, there would be no more need of the long journey to the
-mill at Skeenesborough, a voyage that, in the best of weather, required
-two days to accomplish.
-
-The settlers at first pounded their corn into samp, or finer meal for
-johnny-cake, by the slow and laborious plumping mill, a huge wooden
-mortar with a spring pole pestle.
-
-"Oh, mother," said Nathan, one summer afternoon, as for a while he
-stopped the regular thump, thump of the plumping mill to wipe his hot
-face and rest his arms that ached with the weary downpull of the great
-pestle, "when do you s'pose the folks to the Fair will get the gris'
-mill done?"
-
-"Afore long, I hope, for your sake, my boy," she answered, cheerily,
-through the window. "Let me spell you awhile and you take a good rest."
-
-Laying her wool cards aside, she came out and set her strong hands to
-the pestle, while Nathan ran out to the new road to see what ox-teamster
-of unfamiliar voice was bawling his vociferous way along its
-root-entangled and miry course. Presently the boy came back, breathless
-with the haste of bearing great news.
-
-"Oh, mother, they're carryin' the stones and fixin's for the new mill,
-and the man says they'll be ready for grindin' before winter sets in.
-Then it'll be good-by to you, old 'Up-an'-down,' and good riddance to
-bad rubbage," and he brought the pestle down with energy on the
-half-pounded grist of samp.
-
-"Don' revile the plumpin' mill, Nathan. It's been a good friend in time
-o' need. Mebby you'll miss the trips to Skeenesborough with your father.
-You've always lotted on them."
-
-"Yes, but I'd rather go to the Fort and play with the boys, any day, and
-I'll have more time when samp poundin' is done and ended."
-
-He had been with his father twice to the Fort to see its wonders, and,
-brief as the visits were, they sufficed to make him acquainted with the
-boys of the garrison, and, for the time, a partner in their games.
-Before the summer was out, the little Yankee became a great favorite
-with the few English and Irish boys whose fathers were soldiers of the
-little garrison. He taught them how to shoot with his hornbeam bow and
-spiked arrows, and many another bit of woodcraft learned of his fast
-friend Job, while they taught him unheard-of games, and told him tales
-of the marvellous world beyond the sea, a world that was as a dream to
-him.
-
-His Yankee inquisitiveness made him acquainted with every nook and
-corner of the fortification, and he was even one day taken into the
-commandant's quarters, that the beautiful wife of that fine gentleman
-might see from what manner of embryo grew these Yankees, who were
-becoming so troublesome to His Majesty, King George. She was so pleased
-with his frank, simple manner and shrewd answers that she dismissed him
-with a bright, new English shilling, the largest sum that he had yet
-possessed.
-
-"Really, William," she afterwards remarked to her husband, "if this be a
-specimen of your terrible Yankees, they be very like our own people, in
-speech and actions, only sharper witted, and they surely show close
-kinship with us in spite of such long separation."
-
-"You little know them," said Captain Delaplace, laughing. "They are a
-turbulent, upstart breed. I fear only a sound drubbing, and, perhaps,
-the hanging of a score of their leaders, will teach them obedience to
-His Majesty."
-
-"I would be sorry to have this little man drubbed or hanged," said she,
-with a sigh; "surely he is not of the stuff rebels are made of."
-
-"The very stuff, my dear. Bold and self-reliant, and impatient of
-control, as you may see. If ever there comes an outbreak of these
-discontented people, I warrant you'll find this boy deserving the
-drubbing and getting it, too, for His Majesty's troops would make short
-work of such rabble."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV--THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS
-
-
-A year later, the dispute of the Governors of New York and New
-Hampshire, concerning the boundaries of the two provinces, was at its
-height, and the quarrel between claimants of grants of the same lands,
-under charters from both governors, became every day more violent. The
-disputed territory was that between the Connecticut River and Lake
-Champlain, and was for a long time known as the New Hampshire Grants.
-
-If a New York grantee found the claim which he had selected, or which
-had been allotted to him, occupied by a New Hampshire grantee, when the
-strength of his party was sufficient he would take forcible possession
-of the land, without regard to the improvements made upon it, and
-without making any compensation therefor. He was seldom left long in
-enjoyment of possession thus gained, for the friends of the New
-Hampshire grantee quickly rallied to his aid and summarily ousted the
-aggressor, who, if he proved too stubborn, was likely to be roughly
-handled, and have set upon his back the imprint of the beech seal, the
-name given to the blue-beech rod wherewith such offenders were
-chastised. The New Hampshire grantees were as unscrupulous in their
-ejectment of New York claimants who had first established themselves on
-the New Hampshire Grants. Surveyors, acting under the authority of New
-York, were especially obnoxious to settlers of the other party, and
-rough encounters of the opposing claimants were not infrequent. Seth
-Beeman and his neighbors had all taken up land under a New Hampshire
-charter, without a thought of its validity being questioned.
-
-One bright June morning, Nathan was watching the corn that, pushing its
-tender blades above the black mould in a corner of the clearing, offered
-sweet and tempting morsels to the thieving crows. It was a lazy,
-sleep-enticing occupation, when all the crows but one, who sat biding
-his opportunity on a dry tree top, had departed, cawing encouragement to
-one another, in quest of a less vigilantly guarded field. There was no
-further need for beating with his improvised drumsticks on the hollow
-topmost log of the fence, to the tune of "Uncle Dan, Uncle Dan, Uncle
-Dan, Dan, Dan," which would not scare the wise old veteran from his
-steadfast waiting.
-
-The indolent fluting of the hermit thrushes rang languidly through the
-leafy chambers of the forest, and the wood pewees sang their pensive
-song on the bordering boughs, too content with song and mere existence
-to chase the moth that wavered nearest their perch. The languor of their
-notes pervaded all the senses of the boy, and, with his body in the
-shade of the log fence and his bare feet in the sunshine, he fell into a
-doze.
-
-Suddenly he was awakened by an alarmed outcry of the crow, now sweeping
-in narrow circles above some new intruder upon his domain. Then he
-became aware of strange voices, the tramp of feet, the swish of branches
-pushed aside regaining their places, a metallic clink, and occasional
-lightly delivered axe strokes. Mounting the topmost log of the fence,
-and shading his eyes with his hands, he peered into the twilight of the
-woods. To this his eyes had hardly accustomed themselves, when he saw
-what sent flashes of anger and chills of dread chasing one another
-through his veins. But a few rods away, and coming towards him, were two
-men, one bearing the end of a surveyor's chain and a bundle of wire
-rods, the other carrying an axe and gun. A little behind these were two
-men similarly equipped, and still further in the rear, half hidden by
-the screen of undergrowth, more figures were discovered, one of whom was
-squinting through the sights of a compass, whose polished brass
-glittered in a stray sunbeam. Nathan was sure this must be the party of
-the New York surveyor of whom there had been a rumor in the settlement,
-and he felt that trouble was at hand.
-
-"Hello, here's a clearin'," the foremost man, as he ran to the fence,
-called back to the one at the other end of the chain. "Jenkins, tell Mr.
-Felton there's a fenced clearin' here,--and boy," now deigning to notice
-so insignificant an object.
-
-"Stake," cried Jenkins.
-
-As the first speaker planted one of the wire rods beside the fence,
-Jenkins pulled up the last one stuck in the woods, at the same time
-shouting the news back to the surveyor.
-
-"Hold on, boy," the first speaker said, as Nathan jumped from the fence.
-"You stay here till Mr. Felton comes up."
-
-"I'm going home," Nathan answered boldly; "if Mr. Felton wants me he can
-come there."
-
-"You sassy young rascal," cried one of the men, who carried a gun,
-bringing his weapon to a ready; "you stand where you be or I'll--" and
-he tapped the butt of his gun impressively.
-
-"You wouldn't dast to," Nathan gasped defiantly, but he went no further,
-and stood at bay, grinding the soft mold under his naked heel while he
-cast furtive glances at the intruders, till the remainder of the party
-came up. The surveyor, impressed with the dignity of his position,
-maintained a haughty bearing toward all the members of his party save
-one, a swarthy, thick-set, low-browed man, whom he addressed as Mr.
-Graves.
-
-"A fine clearing, indeed," said Mr. Felton when he came to the fence. "I
-wonder what Yankee scoundrel has dared to so seize, hold and occupy the
-lands of the Royal Colony of New York."
-
-"Mayhap this younker can tell you, sir," said the man guarding the boy,
-and lowering his gun as he spoke.
-
-"Boy, what scoundrel has dared to steal this land and establish himself
-upon it without leave or license of His Excellency, the Governor of New
-York? Yes, and cut down the pine trees, especially reserved for the
-masting of His Majesty's navy," and he tapped the top log impressively.
-
-"It's holler, Mr. Felton," Jenkins suggested, satisfying himself of the
-fact by a resonant thump of his axe.
-
-"Who stole this land? Where's your tongue, boy?" Mr. Felton demanded
-sharply.
-
-But the boy, out of mind an instant, in that instant was out of sight.
-Many a time he had heard Job recount the manner of retreat practised by
-the Rangers, and now the knowledge served him well. While the
-surveryor's party was engaged with the pine, he slipped down on the same
-side of the fence, gained the veiling of a low bush, wormed his way a
-few feet along the ground, reached the protection of a large tree trunk,
-when he leaped to his feet, and, fleet and noiseless as a Ranger
-himself, fled from tree to tree in a circuitous route to his father.
-
-Seth Beeman was hard at work on an extension of his clearing to the
-westward when Nathan came up, panting and breathless.
-
-"Oh, father, there's a whole lot of Yorkers come and they're runnin' a
-line right through our clearin'."
-
-Seth listened attentively until the men and their work had been
-described minutely, and then, without a word, resumed the trimming of
-the great hemlock he had just felled. As Nathan waited for some
-response, he knew by his father's knitted brow that his thoughts were
-busy. At length, breaking off a twig of hemlock, he came to his son and
-said, handing the evergreen to him:
-
-"Take this to Newton's and show it to the men folks, and say 'There's
-trouble to Beeman's,' and then go on and do the same at every house,
-'round to Job's, and show it to him and tell him the' same, and do
-whatever he tells you. Be spry, my boy; I must stay here and ta' care of
-mother and Sis. Keep in the woods till you get clear of the Yorkers,
-then take the road and clipper."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V--THE EVERGREEN SPRIG
-
-
-Understanding the importance of his errand and guessing its purpose,
-Nathan skulked stealthily along the heavily-wooded border of the highway
-till past all chance of discovery, when he took the easier course of the
-road. The ecstatic melody of the thrushes' song and the pensive strain
-of the pewee had not changed, yet now they were instinct with cheer and
-acceleration, as was the merry drumbeat of the flicker on a dry branch
-overhead.
-
-Presently, as he held his steady pace, splashing through puddles and
-pattering along firmer stretches, he heard sharp and loud footfalls in
-rapid approach. Before his first impulse to strike into the ready cover
-of the woods was carried into effect, a horseman galloped around the
-turn, and he was face to face with a handsome stranger, whose tall,
-well-knit figure, heightened by his seat on horseback, towered above the
-boy like a giant.
-
-"Hello," said the man, reining up his horse, "and where are you bound in
-such a hurry, and who might you be?" His clear gray eyes were fixed on
-Nathan, who noticed pistols in the holsters, a long gun across the
-saddle bow, and, in the cocked hat, a sprig of evergreen.
-
-"I'm Seth Beeman's boy," Nathan answered, pointing in the direction of
-his home, "and I'm goin' to neighbor Newton's of an arrant."
-
-"Ah,--Beeman,--a good man, I'm told. And what might take you to neighbor
-Newton's in such a hurry? Has that hemlock twig in your hand anything to
-do with your errand?" demanded the stranger, in an imperative but kindly
-voice. "Speak up. You need not be afraid of me."
-
-Nathan looked up inquiringly at the bold, handsome face smiling down on
-him.
-
-"Did you ever hear of Ethan Allen?" asked the stranger.
-
-"Oh, yes; only yesterday father told about Ethan Allen's throwing the
-Yorker's millstones over the Great Falls at New Haven."
-
-"Right and true! Well, I am Ethan Allen." As he gave his name in a
-deep-toned voice of proud assurance, it seemed in itself a strong host.
-"Your father sent you with that twig to say there's trouble at Beeman's,
-didn't he?"
-
-Nathan looked up in wonder, admiration, and gladness, and then, with the
-instinctive, unreasoned confidence that the famous chieftain of the
-Grants was wont to inspire, told unreservedly his father's troubles and
-directions. When Allen had heard it, he wheeled his horse beside the
-nearest stump and bade Nathan mount behind him.
-
-"My horse's feet will help you make your rounds quicker than yours, my
-man. We've no time to lose, for there's no telling what those scoundrels
-may be at. Eight Yorkers! Well, we'll soon raise good men enough to make
-short work of them."
-
-Nathan mounted nimbly to his assigned place, and, clasping as far as he
-could the ample waist of his new friend, was borne along the road at a
-speed that soon brought them to the log house of the Newtons. A man of
-the herculean mould so common to the early Vermonters came out of the
-house to meet the comers, with an expression of pleased surprise on his
-good-humored face.
-
-"Why, colonel, we wa'n't expectin' on you so soon, but we hain't no less
-glad to see you. 'Light and come in. Mother'll hev potluck ready to
-rights. Why, is that the Beeman boy stickin' on behind you? Anything the
-matter over to Beeman's?"
-
-"No, we can't 'light," Allen replied; and then, looking down over his
-shoulder, "Do your errand, my boy, and we'll push on."
-
-Nathan held out the carefully kept sprig of evergreen and repeated his
-message.
-
-"Trouble to Beeman's, now."
-
-"Yea, verily," said Allen to Newton, whose face flashed at the boy's
-words. "Rise up and gird on your swords, you and your sons. The
-Philistines are upon you even as it has been prophesied. Felton and his
-gang of land thieves. The son of Belial was warned to depart from the
-land of the elect, but he heeds not those who cry in the wilderness.
-Confound the rascal! He must be 'viewed'! You and your two boys take
-your guns and jog down that way, and as you go cut a goodly scourge of
-blue beech, for verily there shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing
-of teeth. We'll rally the Callenders, and Jones, and Harrington, and
-North, and my friend Beeman here will tell Job. We'll gather a good
-dozen. Enough to mete out the vengeance of the Lord to eight Yorkers,
-I'll warrant!"
-
-Strange and abrupt as were the transitions from Allen's favorite
-Scriptural manner of speech to the ordinary vernacular, no one thought
-of laughing. As the boy dismounted, Allen said:
-
-"You go straight to Job and do as he tells you;" and as he rode away
-called back, "everybody lay low and keep dark till you hear the owl
-hoot."
-
-Soon Nathan turned from the road into an obscure footpath that led in
-the direction of Job Carpenter's cabin. The gloom and loneliness of the
-mysterious forest, through which the narrow footpath wound, so pervaded
-it that the song birds seemed awed to silence, and the woodpeckers
-tapped cautiously, as if afraid of being heard by some enemy. No boy,
-even of backwoods breeding, would care to loiter had his errand been
-less urgent, and he gave but a passing notice to things ordinarily of
-absorbing interest.
-
-A mother partridge fluttered along the ground in simulated crippledness
-while her callow brood vanished among the low-spread leaves. A shy wood
-bird disclosed the secret of her nest as he sped by. Against a dark pine
-gleamed the fiery flash of a tanager's plumage. A wood mouse stirred the
-dry leaves. His own foot touched a prostrate dead sapling, and the dry
-top rustled unseen in the wayside thicket. There was a sound of long,
-swift bounds, punctuating the silence with growing distinctness, and a
-hare, in his brown summer coat, wide-eyed with terror, flashed like a
-dun streak across the path just before him, and close behind the
-terrified creature a gray lynx shot past, eager with sight and scent of
-his prey, closing the distance with long leaps. Before the intermittent
-scurry of footfalls had faded out of hearing they ceased, and a wail of
-agony announced the tragical end of the race. The cry made him shiver,
-and he could but think that the lynx might have been a panther and the
-hare a boy.
-
-His heart grew lighter when he saw the sunshine showing golden green
-through the leafy screen that bordered the hunter's little clearing. He
-found Job leaning on his hoe in his patch of corn, looking wistfully on
-the creek, where the fish were breaking the surface among the weeds that
-marked the expanse of marsh with tender green, and where the sinuous
-course of the channel was defined by purple lines of lily pads. The
-message was received with a show of vexation, and the old man exclaimed:
-
-"Plague on 'em all with their pitches and surveyin' and squabblin'. Why
-can't folks let the woods alone? There's room enough in the settlements
-for sech quarrels without comin' here to disturb God's peace with
-bickerin's over these acres o' desart. I thought I'd got done wi' wars
-and fightin's, exceptin' with varmints, when the Frenchers and Injins
-was whipped. But I guess there won't never be no peace on airth and good
-will to men for all it's ben preached nigh onto eighteen hundred years.
-Plague on your Hampshire Grants and your York Grants, the hul bilin'!
-Wal, if it must come it must, and I'll be skelped if I'll see Yorkers a
-runnin' over my own Yankee kin. Yorkers is next to Reg'lars for toppin'
-ways. I never could abear 'em."
-
-While he spoke he twirled Nathan's hemlock sprig between his fingers and
-now set it carefully in the band of his hat and led the way to his
-cabin.
-
-"And Ethan Allen's in these betterments? Well, them Yorkers'll wish
-they'd stayed to home. He's hard-handed, is Ethan."
-
-The two were now in the cabin, and Job set forth a cold johnny-cake and
-some jerked venison that Nathan needed no urging to partake of. "'Tain't
-your mother's cookin', but it's better'n nothin'," Job said, as between
-mouthfuls he counted out a dozen bullets from a pouch and put them in
-his pocket. Then he held up his powder horn toward the light after
-giving it a shake, and, being satisfied of its contents, slung it over
-his shoulder. Their hunger being satisfied, he took the long smooth-bore
-from its hooks, examined the flint, and, nodding to Nathan to follow,
-went down to his canoe, that lay bottom up on the bank.
-
-"It's quicker goin' by water'n by land," said Job, as he set the canoe
-afloat and stepped into it, while Nathan took his place forward.
-Impelled by the two paddles, the light craft went swiftly gliding down
-the creek, and then northward, skirting the wooded shore of the lake.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI--THE YORKERS
-
-
-Though the presentation of claims, under the authority of the New York
-government, to the land which Seth Beeman occupied by virtue of a title
-derived from the Governor of New Hampshire, had for some time been
-expected and resistance fully determined upon, Seth's heart was as hot
-with anger and heavy with anxiety as if invasion had come without
-warning. Tenacious of his rights, he yet hated strife and contention.
-Nor could he foresee whether he must lose the home he had wrought with
-toil and privation out of the savage wilderness, or whether, after a
-sharp, brief contest, he would be left in peaceable possession of it, or
-whether he could then hold it only by continued resistance.
-
-Nathan had not been long away when he shouldered his axe and hastened
-toward the house. When it came in view, between the tall pillars of tree
-trunks that paled the verge of the clearing, the rough-walled dwelling
-had never looked more homelike nor better worth keeping. It had overcome
-the strangeness of new occupancy and settled to its place. The logs had
-begun to gather again the moss that they lost when they ceased to be
-trees. Wild vines, trained to tamer ways, clambered about the doorway
-and deep-set windows, beneath which beds of native and alien posies,
-carefully tended, alike flourished in the virgin soil. The young garden
-stuff was promising, and the broader expanse of fall-sown wheat, grown
-tall enough to toss in the wind, made a rippling green sea of the
-clearing, with islands of blackened stumps jutting here and there above
-the surface. The place had outgrown its uncouth newness and transient
-camp-like appearance and become a home to cling to and defend.
-
-"What is it, Seth?" asked Ruth, coming to greet him at the door, her
-smile fading as she saw his troubled face.
-
-"The Yorkers have come." And then he explained Nathan's mission. "Our
-folks'll come to help as soon as they can, but the Yorkers'll get here
-first. Look a there," and, following his eyes, Ruth saw the surveyor's
-party approaching the border of the clearing, just as the Beemans passed
-into the house.
-
-"It won't come to that, will it?" she asked, in a low, awed voice, as
-Seth took down his gun.
-
-"I hope not, but I want the gun out of their reach and where I can get
-it handy. There ain't a bullet or buckshot in the house," he declared,
-after examining the empty bullet pouch. "Give me some beans. They're
-good enough for Yorkers."
-
-As he spoke he measured a charge of powder into the long barrel, rammed
-a tow wad upon it, poured in a half handful of the beans that Ruth
-brought him in a gourd, rammed down another wad, put priming in the pan,
-clapped down the hammer, then mounted half way up the ladder that served
-as a stair, laid the gun on the floor of the upper room, and was down at
-the door when the surveyor led his party to it. He saluted the party
-civilly, and, upon demand, gave his name.
-
-"Well, Mr. Beeman," began the surveyor, in a pompous tone, "I sent your
-son to bring you to me, but it seems you did not please to come."
-
-"No," said Seth quietly; "it does not please me to leave my affairs at
-the beck and call of every stranger that comes this way."
-
-"Well, sir, I'd have you understand that I am Marmaduke Felton, duly
-appointed and licensed as a surveyor of His Majesty's lands within his
-province of New York. Furthermore, be it known, I have come here in the
-regular discharge of the duties of my office, to fix the bounds of land
-purchased by my client, Mr. Erastus Graves," bowing to the person, "of
-the original grantees, with patent from His Excellency the Governor, who
-alone has authority to grant these lands. I find you, sir, established
-on these same lands belonging to my client. What have you to say for
-yourself? By what pretended right have you made occupation of lands
-belonging to my client?"
-
-"I have to say for myself," Seth answered, in a steady voice, "that I
-bought this pitch of the original proprietors, and I have their deed,
-duly signed and sealed. They got their charter of His Excellency Benning
-Wentworth, His Majesty's Governor of the Province of New Hampshire."
-
-"Your title is not worth the paper it's written on," scoffed Mr. Felton.
-"Governor Wentworth has no more authority to grant lands than I have.
-Not a whit. The east bounds of New York are fixed by royal decree at the
-west bank of Connecticut River, as everybody knows, and Wentworth's
-grants this side that limit are null and void. No doubt you have acted
-in good faith, but now there's nothing for you but to vacate these
-betterments forthwith; yes, forthwith, if you will take the advice of a
-friend," and the little man regaled himself with a pinch of snuff.
-
-"I shall not go till I am forced to," Seth answered with determination.
-"When it comes to force both parties may take a hand in the game."
-
-"Very well, very well! I have given you friendly advice; if you do not
-choose to take it the consequences be on your own head. Come, Graves;
-come, men, let us go about our present affairs;" adding, after some talk
-with Graves, "We shall be back to spend the night with you, Mr. Beeman.
-You cannot refuse Mr. Graves the shelter of his own house."
-
-Seth flushed with anger, but answered steadily: "I can't help it, but
-you will not be welcome."
-
-The men who had been idling about, taking little interest in the parley,
-now followed their employers back to the woods, trampling through the
-young wheat in their course.
-
-"I wish you a pleasant night on't," said Seth under his breath, and
-turned to reassure his wife. "Don't be frightened, my girl. They won't
-get us out of here. Keep a stout heart and wait."
-
-With a quieter heart she went about her household affairs, while her
-husband busied himself nearby, weeding the garden and giving to his
-wife's posy beds the awkward care of unaccustomed hands. He often
-stopped his employment to listen and intently scan the border of the
-woods. The shadows of the trees were stretching far across the clearing
-when an owl hooted solemnly in the nearest woods on the bank of the
-creek, and, presently, another answered farther away.
-
-"Do hear the owls hootin', and it's clear as a bell," said Ruth at the
-door, looking up to the cloudless sky. "It can't be it's a-going to
-storm."
-
-"I shouldn't wonder if it did," said Seth with a mirthless laugh. "Where
-was that nighest hoot?"
-
-As he spoke the solemn hollow notes were repeated, and some crows began
-to wheel and caw above the spot, marking it plainly enough to the eye
-and ear, and he set forth in the direction at a quick pace.
-
-"Why don't Nathan come home?" little Martha asked. "I hain't seen him
-all day. I wish he'd come. He'll get ketched in the storm."
-
-"Oh, don't worry, deary," said her mother after she had watched her
-husband disappear in the thickening shadow of the woods. "We might as
-well eat, for there's no telling when father'll be back." They were not
-half through the meal before he came, and, as he took his seat at the
-table, he said with a deep sigh of relief: "I'm afeard our York friends
-won't enjoy their lodgin's overmuch. The owls are round pretty thick
-to-night."
-
-"Well, I guess they've ben talking to you," said Ruth, as her face
-lighted with a comprehension of his meaning.
-
-"Can owls talk?" Martha asked, agape with wonder.
-
-"Well, the old knowing ones. Owls are turrible knowing creatur's," her
-father said.
-
-The twilight possessing the woods had scarcely invaded the clearing when
-the surveyor and his party came to the house, bringing in blankets,
-provisions, guns, tools, and instruments, till the one small room was
-crowded with them and the uninvited guests. Felton and Graves made
-themselves offensively and officiously at home. The cook took possession
-of the fire, and set two frying-pans of pork sputtering grease upon the
-tidy hearth, to the disgust of the housewife, who sat with her husband
-and child in a dark corner. At last Felton brought forth a bottle of
-spirits from his leathern portmanteau and drank to Graves.
-
-"Here's to your speedy installment in your rightful possessions. Now,
-help yourself, and give the men their tot."
-
-Graves stood filling his measure of grog in the tin cup, grinning with
-satisfaction, when a loud knock came on the door.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII--THE "JUDGMENT SEAT"
-
-
-Without waiting to be bidden, a man of massive mould entered the room.
-He strode into the firelight, and, wheeling on the hearth, faced the
-company, his shadow filling half the room.
-
-"Good evening, gentlemen. Good evening, Mr. Felton and Graves."
-
-The latter stood with the untasted dram half way to his gaping mouth,
-the other was as motionless, save as his face expressed successively
-astonishment, anger, and exultation.
-
-"Colonel Ethan Allen," he said at last, emphasizing the title. "Most
-happy to receive a call from so distinguished a person. A very fortunate
-meeting." Then changing his tone of mock politeness to one of command:
-"You are my prisoner. Men, lay hold of him! A hundred pounds are offered
-for his head! It is Ethan Allen! Lay hold of him, I tell you!"
-
-There was a reluctant stir among the men. One advanced toward the corner
-near the fireplace where the guns were set. With deliberate celerity
-Allen drew his hands from the skirts of his coat, a cocked pistol in
-each, and, with one of them, he covered the man skulking towards the
-guns.
-
-"The first man that draws a pistol or raises a gun gets a bullet through
-his carcass," he said with authority.
-
-At Allen's first words Seth had mounted the ladder and as quickly
-reappeared with his gun. The movement was seen in the dancing shadows,
-and he was covered by the other pistol, which was lowered as he was
-distinguished to be helping a woman and child to mount to the chamber.
-
-"Down with your gun over there! Oh, it is our friend Beeman! All right!"
-Then Allen called in a voice that made the pewter dishes ring on their
-shelves:
-
-"Come in, men!"
-
-The door swung violently open, and Job Carpenter, with all the
-arms-bearing men of the wide neighborhood, to the number of a dozen,
-came marching in, in Indian file, with rifle or smooth-bore at a trail.
-In the rear was Nathan, unarmed, but eager to see all that should
-transpire.
-
-Felton and Graves lost their bold demeanor, yet held their places, while
-their men slunk to the farther side of the room in dumb affright, save
-Jenkins, the cook, who, dodging this side and that of Allen's burly
-form, hovered near his frying-pans in a divided fear for his own safety
-and that of his pork.
-
-"Keep every one of these men under close guard, my boys," Allen
-commanded, "especially these two chief offenders. Now, Mr. Felton,
-perhaps it is made plain to you that I am not your prisoner, and that
-the gods of the valleys are not the gods of the hills. Behold how riches
-take to themselves wings and fly away even before they are possessed. In
-witness whereof, consider the hundred pounds offered by your Governor
-for an honest man. No wonder he longs for the sight of one, with such a
-pack of thieves and land jobbers as he has about him."
-
-"An honest man?" cried Felton, trembling with rage. "A ruffian! A
-rioter! A defier of law!" and he poured forth a torrent of opprobrious
-names, and a full measure of curses, till out of breath.
-
-"Go on, Master Felton, go on," said Allen, smiling benignly upon him.
-"Ease yourself. Unless it be prayer, which you rarely employ, I doubt,
-there is nothing like good round cursing to relieve an overburdened
-heart. Upon occasion I avail myself of the remedy. Pray go on, or give
-your friend a chance. Mr. Graves, you have the floor," but the man
-addressed only glowered savagely.
-
-"Well, if you have offered all your burnt offerings of brimstone, let
-the men have their supper and make themselves strong for their journey.
-Dish up the pork, cook, that you have been bumping my legs to get at,
-and bring out your bread bag. Stir yourselves. We have weighty business
-pending."
-
-The men ate their meat and bread with the appetite of those whom no
-emotion can cheat of a meal, but Felton and Graves would have none of
-it. The Green Mountain Boys sat apart, chatting in low tones, till the
-smokers were filling their pipes after their meal, when Allen rapped the
-table with the butt of his pistol, and his clear, deep voice broke the
-silence that ensued.
-
-"Friends of the Grants, you all know we have come here to erect the
-'Judgment seat' this night, and mete out such punishment as doth unto
-justice appertain. Yea, verily, for wrongs done or sought to be done
-upon the people of these New Hampshire Grants. We will at once elect a
-judge. To save time, I will nominate Ethan Allen as a proper person for
-that office. You that would elect him say 'Aye.'"
-
-There was a unanimous affirmative response, even Nathan, proud of the
-opportunity of giving his first vote, made his piping treble heard among
-the deep voices of the men.
-
-"Contrary minded, make the usual sign."
-
-There was only a sullen "No" from Felton.
-
-"You are not entitled to vote in this meeting, sir. I have a clear
-majority and will take my seat." So saying, Allen seated himself upon
-the table.
-
-"The plain facts of the case are these: This Mr. Felton and this Graves,
-also, were taken by me, and certain other good men, about one month ago,
-in the act of surveying, under the pretended authority of the tyrannical
-New York government, lands already granted by His Excellency Benning
-Wentworth, His Majesty's duly appointed Governor of New Hampshire. The
-said persons were ordered to desist from such unlawful business and to
-depart from these Grants, and were duly warned not to return for a like
-purpose under pain of being 'Viewed.' Furthermore, they were suffered to
-depart without bodily harm. Here the surveyor comes again, like a bad
-penny as he is, bearing the King's mark, but a base counterfeit none the
-less. And this Graves pretends to own this pitch by right of purchase
-under York government. Other than them I do not recognize any among this
-crew who have been 'Warned.' Now, friend Beeman, tell us your story."
-
-Seth told what had passed between him and the surveyor, and then Nathan
-was called to relate his meeting the party in the woods, which he did in
-a straightforward manner, except for his boyish bashfulness.
-
-"Now, you have it all. Felton and Graves are here, as you see, in
-prosecution of their unlawful business, as the testimony of this boy and
-his father shows. In further proof whereof, see the surveyor's
-instruments here in view. What say you, men of the Grants, are they
-guilty or not guilty?"
-
-"Guilty," said the various voices.
-
-"What shall be their punishment? That they be chastised with the twigs
-of the wilderness?"
-
-There was general affirmative response, some answering loudly, others
-faintly and hesitatingly. Then Job Carpenter stepped forward, and,
-making a military salute, said:
-
-"I don't go agin these men a gittin' what they desarve, but I don't want
-to have them skinned. Their skins hain't worth a-hevin' only for their
-selves, and I hate to see white men whipped like dogs. If they was
-Injins I wouldn't say agin it. But, bein' they hain't, I move they hev
-jest nine cuts o' the Blue Beech apiece."
-
-"Forty, save one," was the customary award in such cases, and there were
-a few dissenting voices, but the milder punishment was finally agreed
-upon.
-
-If the two men under sentence felt any gratitude for the mitigation of
-the severity, they expressed none. Graves maintained a sullen silence,
-though his vengeful scowl expressed as much hatred of the prosecutors of
-the informal trial as did the storm of oaths and abuse that Felton let
-forth upon them in intermittent gusts.
-
-So the night passed, with snatches of sleep for some, with none for
-others, while the prisoners were kept under constant guard. With
-daylight came the summary infliction of the punishment awarded. It was a
-scene so cruel that Ruth and Martha could not bear to hear, much less to
-witness it, and Nathan, when an old man, said it was a horrible memory.
-Yet, severe as was the chastisement inflicted by the Green Mountain Boys
-upon their persecutors, it was no more cruel than the legal punishment
-of many light offences in those days, when the whipping post was one of
-the first adornments of every little hamlet. In conclusion, Ethan Allen
-gave to Felton and Graves a "Certificate," written by himself, to the
-effect:
-
-"This is to Certify that the Bearer has this day rec'd his Just Dues and
-is permitted to pass beyond the New Hampshire Grants. He Behaving as
-Becometh. In witness whereof, see the Beech Seal upon his back and our
-Hands set Hereunto. Signed, Ethan Allen and others."
-
-Felton cast his upon the ground and stamped upon it, but Graves folded
-and put his carefully in his pocket, glowering in silence upon his
-enemies. Then Ethan Allen broke the surveyor's compass with his own
-hands and tossed the fragments away.
-
-"Now," said he, in an awful voice, "depart, and woe be unto you,
-Marmaduke Felton and Erastus Graves, if you ever set foot in the land of
-the Green Mountain Boys. You other men, if you come in peace and on
-honest business, you shall not have a hair of your heads hurt. But if
-you ever venture to come on such an iniquitous errand as now brought
-you, by the Great Jehovah, you shall repent in sackcloth and ashes!
-Forward, march!"
-
-At the command, the surveyor and his men filed off, and the last of the
-sullen and chap-fallen crew soon disappeared among the trees. They were
-accompanied some distance by the Green Mountain Boys, when their beloved
-chieftain rode away to redress wrongs of settlers in other parts.
-
-By noon the clearing was occupied by none but its usual tenants, and,
-henceforth, though they suffered frequent apprehension of further
-trouble, they were not molested by any New York claimants.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII--A NOVEL BEAR TRAP
-
-
-"You don't know of anybody hereabouts that wants to hire a good hand, I
-s'pose?" asked a stranger one August afternoon, as, without unslinging
-his pack, he set his gun against the log wall beside the door, and
-leaned upon his axe at the threshold.
-
-By degrees Seth Beeman had enlarged his clearing so far that he already
-needed stronger hands than Nathan's to help him in the care of the land
-already in tilth and in the further extension of his betterments, but he
-scanned the man closely before he answered. Though unprepossessing,
-low-browed, and surly looking, he was evidently a stout fellow, and
-accustomed to work. At length a reply was made by asking such questions
-as were a matter of course in those days, and are not yet quite obsolete
-in Yankeeland.
-
-The stranger readily said his name was Silas Toombs, that he was from
-Jersey way, and wished, when he had earned enough, to take up a right of
-land hereabouts, in a region he had often heard extolled by his father,
-who had served here in Captain Bergen's company of Rogers's Rangers.
-Seth had previously ascertained that no grown-up son of any of his
-neighbors could be spared to help him, so he finally hired this man, who
-proved to be efficient and faithful, although not a genial companion,
-such as an old-time farmer wished to find in his hired help. Ruth
-treated him with the kindness so natural to her, though she could
-scarcely conceal her aversion. This, if he understood, he did not seem
-to notice any more than he did the undisguised dislike of Nathan.
-
-The remainder of the summer and half of the fall passed uneventfully,
-till one day, when Ruth had been called to the bedside of Mrs. Newton,
-who was ill of the fever so prevalent in new clearings, Nathan and his
-sister were left in charge of the house, while their father and hired
-man worked in a distant field.
-
-The children spent half the pleasant forenoon in alternate rounds of
-housework and out-door play, now sweeping the floor with hemlock brooms,
-now running out into the hazy October sunshine to play "Indians" with
-Nathan's bow and arrows and Martha's rag doll. This was stolen and
-carried into captivity, from which it was rescued by its heroic little
-mother. Then they threw off their assumed characters and ran into the
-house to replenish the smouldering fire, and to find that the sunshine,
-falling upon the floor through the window, was creeping towards the
-"noon mark," making it time to begin dinner.
-
-Nathan raised the heavy trap-door to the cellar and descended the
-ladder, with butcher knife and pewter plate, to get the pork, but had
-barely got the cover off the barrel when he was recalled to the upper
-world by a loud cry from his sister:
-
-"Nathan, Nathan, come here quick!"
-
-He scrambled up the ladder and ran to her, where, just outside the door,
-she was staring intently toward the creek.
-
-"Who be them?" she asked anxiously, as she pointed at two figures just
-disclosed above the rushes, as they moved swiftly up the narrow channel
-in an unseen craft.
-
-"I guess they're Injins," said Nathan, after a moment's scrutiny, "and I
-guess they're a-trappin' mushrat. Let's run over to the bank and see."
-
-So they ran to the crown of the low bank, where they could command a
-good view of the rushy level of the marsh, and the narrow belt of clear
-water that wound through it, reflecting the hazy blue of the sky, the
-tops of the scarlet water maples, the bronze and yellow weeds, and, here
-and there, the rough dome of a newly built muskrat house. At each of
-these the two men, now revealed in a birch canoe, halted for a little
-space, and then, tying a knot in the nearest tuft of sedge, passed on to
-the next. There was no mistaking the coppery hue of the faces, the
-straight black hair, though men of another race might wear the dirty,
-white blanket coats, and as skilfully manage the light craft.
-
-"Yes, they be Injins," said Nathan, "and I wish they'd let my mushrat
-alone. But I s'pose there's enough for them and me."
-
-Presently the Indians passed quite near them, and one, speaking so
-softly that the children thought his voice could never have sounded the
-terrible war-whoop, accosted them:
-
-"How do? You Beenum boy?"
-
-"Yes," Nathan answered; and then, obeying the Yankee instinct of
-inquiry, asked: "Be you gettin' many mushrat?"
-
-"No ketch um plenty," the Indian replied. "Ol' Capenteese ketch um mos'
-all moosquas," and Nathan understood that he attributed the scarcity of
-muskrats to Job, whose fame as a hunter and trapper was known to every
-Waubanakee who visited this part of the lake.
-
-"Me come back pooty soon," the Indian said, pointing up the creek with
-his paddle. "Den go house, see um Beenum. Buy um some pig eese.[1]
-S'pose he sell um lee'l bit?"
-
- [1] Pork
-
-Nathan nodded a doubtful assent, and then, reminded of dinner-getting by
-the mention of pork, caught Martha's hand and hurried homeward, while
-the Indians resumed their way upstream.
-
-When the children entered the open door, they were for a moment dumb
-with amazement at the confusion that had in so short a time usurped the
-tidiness whereof they had left the room possessed. The coverlets and
-blankets of one bed were dragged from their place, two or three chairs
-were overturned, and the meal barrel was upset and half its contents
-strewn across the floor.
-
-"What in tunket," cried Nathan, when speech came to his gaping mouth.
-"Has that old sow got outen the pen?" Then he saw in the scattered meal
-some broad tracks that a former adventure had made him familiar with,
-and he heard a sound of something moving about in the cellar.
-
-"It's a bear," he cried, "and he's down cellar."
-
-As quick as the thought and words, he sprang to the open hatch, and
-heaved it upright on the hinges, to close it. But just as it hung in
-midway poise, the bear, alarmed by the noise overhead, gave a startled
-"whoof," and came scrambling up the ladder. His tawny muzzle was above
-the floor, when Nathan, with desperate strength, slammed down the hatch,
-and its edge caught the bear fairly on the neck, pressing his throat
-against the edge of the hatchway. The trap door had scarcely fallen when
-the quick-witted boy mounted it and called to his frightened sister to
-mount beside him, and with their united weight, slight as it was, they
-kept him from forcing his way upward, till in his frantic struggles he
-dislodged the ladder and hung by the neck helpless, without foothold.
-
-The children held bravely to their post, hand in hand, while to the
-gasping moans of the angry brute succeeded cries of anger, that were in
-turn succeeded by silence and loss of all visible motion but such as was
-imparted to the head by the huge body still slowly vibrating from the
-final struggle. When this had quite ceased they ventured off the trap
-door, and, pale and panting, they stood before the ghastly head as
-frightful now in death, with grinning, foam-flecked jaws, protruding
-tongue, and staring, bloodshot eyes, as it had been in living rage.
-Nathan caught his sister in his arms and hugged her, shouting:
-
-"We've killed him. We've killed a bear," while she, in the same breath,
-laughed and cried, till they both bethought themselves of the
-dinner-getting not yet begun.
-
-"I can't get down cellar," said Nathan, "for I dasn't open that door.
-What be we goin' to do?"
-
-A grunt of surprise caught his attention, and, looking up, he saw the
-two Indians at the door, staring with puzzled faces on the strange
-scene. Then one, with a hatchet half uplifted, cautiously approached the
-grim head, which, after an instant's scrutiny, he touched with his
-hatchet and then with his finger.
-
-"He dead. You boy do dat?" And Nathan told him all the adventure. The
-Indian gave the boy an approving pat on the head that made Nathan's
-scalp shiver.
-
-"You big Nad-yal-we-no. Too much good for be Pastoniac. You come 'long
-me to Yam-as-ka, I make you Waubanakee. Den be good for sometings.
-Nawaa," he said to his companion, and the other coming in, the two
-reached down and laid hold of the bear's forelegs, and when, by their
-instructions, Nathan lifted the door, they dragged the limp, shaggy
-carcass out upon the floor.
-
-When the full proportions of the huge brute were revealed, the boy's
-rejoicings broke forth anew, just as his father and the hired man came
-hurrying in, when he received fresh praise for his deed. The dinner was
-bounteous, if late, and the Indians, Toksoose and Tahmont, had their
-full share of it, with a big chunk of pork and as much bear's meat as
-they cared to take, which was small, since they liked better the
-daintier meat of the musquash, wherewith their trapping afforded them an
-ample supply.
-
-When toward nightfall the mother returned, she was told the story by the
-victors, and with equal delight was it rehearsed when Job happened to
-come, and the unstinted praise of the old hunter was sweetest of all.
-Many a day was the tale rehearsed for the benefit of new listeners. Even
-when Nathan was an old man, and looked back on the many adventures of
-his life, not one stood forth so clearly in the haze of the past as this
-adventure with the bear, wherein he had borne the chief part.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX--A FRONTIER TRAGEDY
-
-
-One autumn day after the leaves had faded and fallen, Nathan was busy
-husking corn, with less thought upon his task and the growing pile of
-yellow ears than of a promised partridge hunt on the morrow with his
-good friend Job. His father was chopping in a new clearing. Silas had
-been sent with the oxen to take some logs to Lemon Fair Mill. His mother
-grew uneasy at her spinning, for Seth did not come home to dinner, nor
-yet when the afternoon was half spent. After many times anxiously
-looking and listening in the direction of the clearing, and as often
-saying to herself, "What does keep father so?" she called to Nathan.
-
-"I guess you'd better go and see what henders father so. I can't think
-what it is. I hope it hain't anything."
-
-"Perhaps he's gone over to Callenders or some o' the neighbors," said
-Nathan. "I hain't heard a tree fall for ever so long nor his axe a goin'
-for a long time."
-
-"Mebby he's cut his foot or something," said Martha, beginning to cry.
-
-"I can't hear nothin' of him for all the air's so holler and everything
-sounds so plain," said Ruth, listening again. "You'd better go and see
-what henders him. Mebby he can't git home."
-
-As the boy anxiously hastened to the new clearing, the intense stillness
-of the woods filled him with undefined dread. His ears ached for some
-sound, the tapping of a woodpecker, the cry of a jay, but most of all,
-for the sound of axe strokes or his father's voice. Silence pervaded the
-clearing also.
-
-There, on a stump, was his father's blue frock, one bit of color in the
-sombre scene. And yes, there was some slight flitting movement near the
-last tree that had been felled and lay untrimmed just as it had fallen,
-but it was only a bevy of chickadees peering curiously at something on
-the ground beneath them, yet voiceless as if their perennial
-cheerfulness was dumb in the pervading silence. So sick with dread he
-could scarcely move, the boy forced himself to approach the spot, and
-look upon that which he felt was awaiting him, his father lying dead
-beneath the huge, prone tree, that had crushed him in its fall.
-
-The glowing sunset sky and the glistening waters of the lake grew black,
-the earth reeled. With a piteous groan of "Father! father!" the boy sank
-down as lifeless, for a space, as the beloved form that lay beside him
-in eternal sleep.
-
-He awoke as from a terrible dream to the miserable realization that it
-was not a dream. Then walking, as still in a dream, not noting how he
-went nor by any familiar object marking his way, he bore home the woeful
-tidings.
-
-Simple as were the funeral rites in the primitive communities, they were
-not lacking in the impressiveness of heartfelt sorrow nor in the homely
-expressions of sympathy for the bereaved and respect for the dead. So
-Seth Beeman's neighbors reverently laid him to rest in the soil his own
-hand had uncovered to the sunlight. They set at his head a rough slate
-stone, whose rude lettering could be read half a century later, telling
-his name and age, and the manner of his death.
-
-Ruth was left in a sorry plight, so suddenly bereft of the strong arm
-she had leaned upon, without a thought that it could ever be taken from
-her. Now she had only her son, a sturdy lad, indeed, but of an age to be
-cared for rather than to care for others. Toombs had proved better than
-he looked, kind enough, and a good worker, and familiar with the needs
-of the farm. When his time was out she had no means to pay his wages nor
-could she well get along without him. So he staid on, taking a mortgage,
-at length, on the premises in lieu of money, and becoming more and more
-important in Ruth's estimation, though regarded with increasing dislike
-and jealousy by her son, who found himself less and less considered.
-
-Months passed, dulling sorrow and the sense of loss, and bringing many a
-bitter change. The bitterness of Nathan's life was made almost
-unbearable presently. His mother, of a weak and clinging nature,
-inevitably drifted to a fate a more self-reliant woman would have
-avoided. Worried with uncomprehended business, and assured by Toombs
-that this was the only way to retain a home for herself and children,
-yet unmoved by the kindly advice of Seth's honest friends and neighbors,
-as well as the anger and entreaties of her son, she went with Toombs
-over to the Fort, where they were married by the chaplain stationed
-there.
-
-With such a man in the place of his wise and affectionate father,
-Nathan's life was filled with misery, nor could he ever comprehend his
-mother's course. Though bestowing upon Martha and his mother indifferent
-notice or none at all, towards the boy the stepfather exercised his
-recently acquired authority with severity, giving him the hardest and
-most unpleasant work to do, and treating him always with distrust, often
-with cruelty.
-
-"I hate him," he told Ruth. "He's sassed me every day since I come here,
-and I've got a bigger job 'an that to settle, one that I'd ha' settled
-with his father, if he hadn't cheated me by gettin' killed."
-
-"Oh, what do you mean?" Ruth gasped. "I thought you and Seth was always
-good friends."
-
-"Friends!" he growled, contemptuously; "I hated the ground he walked on.
-Look here," and Silas pulled out his leather pocketbook and took from it
-a soiled paper which he held before her eyes.
-
-She read the bold, clear signature of Ethan Allen, and, with a sickening
-thrill, that of Seth Beeman under it.
-
-"Yes, Ethan Allen and Seth Beeman and his neighbors whipped a man for
-claimin' his own, and your boy went and gethered 'em in. Mebby you
-re'collect it."
-
-"I couldn't help it," she gasped. "I didn't see it. I run and hid and
-stopped my ears."
-
-"Well, 'Rastus Graves 'ould ha' settled his debts if he'd ha' lived. But
-he died afore his back got healed over, and afore he died he turned the
-job over to his brother, that's me, Silas Toombs, or Graves--they're the
-same in the end."
-
-Ruth stared at him in dumb amazement and horror, while he proceeded,
-pouring forth his long concealed wrath.
-
-"Well, I've got Seth Beeman's wife, and, what's wuth more, his farm, an'
-his childern right 'nunder my thumb. I hope he knows on't. And now,
-ma'am," lowering his voice from its passionate exultation, "you don't
-want to breathe a word o' this to your nice neighbors or to your young
-'uns. It wouldn't do no good and it might be unpleasant all round. You
-don't want folks to know what a fool you be."
-
-After this disclosure, Ruth lived, in weariness and vain regret, a life
-that seemed quite hopeless but for looking forward to the time when her
-son could assert his rights and be her champion. Her nature was one of
-those that still bend, without being broken, by whatever weight is laid
-on them.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X--REBELLION
-
-
-One day Nathan was gathering ashes from the heaps where the log piles
-had been burned and storing them in a rude shed. Close by this stood the
-empty leach-tubs awaiting filling and the busy days and nights when the
-potash-making should begin. It was hard, unpleasant work, irritating to
-skin, eyes, and temper. It was natural a boy should linger a little as
-Nathan did, when he emptied a basket, and quickly retreated with held
-breath out of the dusty cloud. He looked longingly on the shining
-channel of the creek, and wished he might follow it to the lake and fish
-in the cool shadows of the shore. He wished that Job would chance to
-come through the woods, but Job lately rarely came near them, for he was
-vexed with Ruth for mating with this stranger, and the new master gave
-no welcome to any of the friends of the old master. His hands were busy
-as his thoughts, when he was startled by his stepfather's voice close
-behind him.
-
-"You lazy whelp, what you putterin' 'bout? You spend half your time a
-gawpin. You git them ashes housed afore noon or I'll give ye a skinnin',
-and I'll settle an old score at the same time," and Toombs switched a
-blue beech rod he held in his big hand. After seeing the boy hurry
-nervously to this impossible task, he went back to his chopping.
-
-The shadows crept steadily toward the north till they marked noontime,
-and still one gray ash heap confronted Nathan. As he stood with a full
-basket of ashes poised on the edge of the ash bin, Toombs appeared, with
-his axe on his shoulder and the beech in his hand. "You know what I told
-you, and Silas Toombs doesn't go back on his words; no, sir."
-
-"I couldn't do it. I tried, but I couldn't get 'em all done!"
-
-Silas strode toward him in a fury, when Nathan hurled the basket of
-ashes full at his head, and dodging behind the shed was in rapid flight
-toward the woods, when his assailant emerged from the choking, blinding
-cloud, sputtering out mingled oaths and ashes. In a moment he caught the
-line of flight and followed in swift pursuit. The boy's nimble feet
-widened the distance between them, but he was at the start almost
-exhausted with his severe work, so that when he reached the woods his
-only hope lay in hiding.
-
-Silas, entering the woods, could neither see nor hear his intended
-victim. Listening between spasms of rushing and raging, he heard a
-slight rustling among the branches of a great hemlock that reared its
-huge, russet-gray trunk close beside him. Looking up, he saw a pair of
-dusty legs dangling twenty feet above him.
-
-"Come down, you little devil, or I'll shoot you."
-
-"I won't," said Nathan, half surprised at his own daring; "you can't
-shoot with an axe."
-
-"I'm glad you made me think on't. Then come down or I'll chop you down!"
-As an earnest of his threat he drove his axe to the eye into the boll of
-the tree.
-
-The boy only climbed the higher, and disappeared among the dark foliage
-and thick, quivering rays of branches. Parleying no more, Silas began
-chopping so vigorously that the great flakes of chips flew abroad upon
-the forest floor in a continuous shower, and soon paved it all about him
-with white blotches. When the trunk was cut to the middle, he shouted up
-another summons to surrender, but got no answer. Then his quick, strong
-strokes began to fall on the other side, steadily biting their way
-toward the centre, till the huge, ancient pillar of living wood began to
-tremble on its sapped foundation. Standing away from it, he peered up
-among the whorls of gray branches and broad shelves of leaves, but they
-disclosed nothing.
-
-"Hello! Come down! Don't be a fool! An' I won't lick you. The tree's
-comin' an' it'll kill you." Still no answer nor sound, save the solemn
-whisper of the leaves, came down from the lofty branches. "You're a
-plucky one, but down you come!"
-
-In a sudden blaze of passion at being thus scorned, he drove his axe
-deep into the tree's heart. A puff of wind stirred the topmost boughs. A
-shiver ran through every branch and twig. Fibre after fibre cracked and
-parted. The trunk tremulously swayed from its steadfast base. The
-sighing branches clung to the unstable air. A tall, lithe birch, that
-had long leaned to their embrace, sprang from it as in a flutter of
-fear, and then, with a slowly accelerating sweep, the ancient pillar,
-with all its long upheld burden of boughs and perennial greenery, went
-through its fellows to the last sullen boom of its downfall. Toombs
-breathlessly watched and listened for something besides the shortening
-vibration of the branches, some sound other than the swish of relieved
-entanglement, but no sound or motion succeeded them.
-
-"Nathan, Nathan," he called again and again.
-
-He ran along the trunk looking among the branches. He felt under the
-densest tangles, then cleared them away with quick but careful axe
-strokes, dreading, in every moment of search, that the next would reveal
-the crushed and mangled form of the boy. Not till the shadows of night
-thickened the shadows of the woods did he quit his fruitless search. He
-knew the boy was dead, and, if found, what then? Well, for the present a
-plausible lie would serve him well enough.
-
-"Your boy has run off, Mis' Toombs. You needn't worry. He'll git starved
-out 'fore long and sneak back. And he'll work all the better when he
-does come. Boys has got to have their tantrums an' git over 'em." This
-device served so well to quiet any graver apprehensions that Ruth
-entertained, he the more insisted on it. "Like's not he's over to the
-Fort. They'll make him stan' round, I tell ye."
-
-He intended in the morning to renew his search, but when it came he
-dared not go near that fallen tree, the dumb witness and concealer of
-his crime. When, from afar, he saw the crows wheeling above the spot, or
-when at night he heard from that direction the wolf's long howl, he
-shook with fear, lest they had discovered his secret and would in some
-way reveal it.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI--ESCAPE
-
-
-When the accidental shaking of the branch disclosed his refuge, Nathan
-wished he had taken the easier shelter of a hollow log or the tangle of
-a windfall. The more so, when he caught brief, swift flashes of the axe
-gleaming up through the dark foliage and felt the tree shiver at every
-sturdy stroke. But he had no thought of surrender. The trunk of the
-leaning birch, so slender that his arms and legs could clasp it, had
-given him access to this coign of vantage and now offered a retreat from
-it.
-
-Toombs was intent upon his work, with his back turned squarely toward
-the foot of the birch, though barely six paces from it. Escape, if at
-all, must be made while the chopper was on this side of the hemlock.
-Very cautiously he regained the birch where it hid trunk and lithe
-branches in the embrace of the great evergreen, and then worked
-downward, with an eye ever on his enemy underneath, making swiftest
-progress when the axe fell and its sound overbore the rustle of the
-birch's shaggy, yellow mane, that his buttons scraped along. At last his
-toes were tickled by the topmost leaves of a low, sprangling hobble
-bush, then lightly touched by the last year's fallen leaves and the soft
-mould. Then, as a flying chip struck him full on the cheek, he loosed
-his hold on the trunk and stole stealthily to the shelter of the nearest
-great tree.
-
-The axe strokes ceased, but a glance showed him that Toombs was only
-wiping his sweaty brow on his sleeve, as he looked up into the tree and
-addressed its supposed occupant. As the futile chopping was resumed,
-Nathan crept off through the undergrowth till beyond sight and hearing,
-when he ran upright so swiftly that he was a mile away when the roar of
-the tree's fall came booming through the woods.
-
-He sat down to get his breath and determine where to go, for so far he
-had only thought to escape his stepfather. Should he try for the Fort?
-How was he to cross the lake without a boat, and, if there, on what plea
-that he could offer was he likely to be harbored, for Toombs was on very
-friendly terms with the commander! Not there could he find protection.
-His old friend Job was the only one to whom he could look, and in his
-secluded cabin he might hope to escape detection.
-
-With this determination he arose and went his way, too well skilled in
-woodcraft, for all his youth, to lose it while the sun shone. Pushing
-steadily on he saw at last the slanted sunbeams shining golden green
-through the woodside leaves, then saw them glimmering on the quiet
-channel of Job's creek, and following the shore upstream, presently
-emerged in the little clearing. It was as quiet as the woods around it,
-and seemed more untenanted, for through them the songs of the thrushes
-were ringing in flute-like cadences, while here nothing was astir.
-
-Nathan made his way so silently to the open door that he stood looking
-in upon the occupants of the cabin before they became aware of his
-presence. Job was squatting before the fireplace engaged in frying meat,
-and a great, gaunt, blue-mottled hound sat close beside him, intently
-watching the progress of the cooking. Presently his keen nose caught a
-scent of the intruder, and he uttered a low, threatening growl that
-attracted his master's attention.
-
-"Be quiet, Gabriel; what is't troubles you?" Then seeing his visitor
-hesitating at the threshold, "Why, Nathan, come in my boy, come in, the
-hound won't hurt you. Ain't he a pictur'? Did you ever see such ears?
-Did you ever see such a chest and such legs? And he's as good as he is
-harnsome. I went clean to Manchester arter him and gin three prime
-beaver skins for him. He's one o' Peleg Sunderland's breed and'll foller
-anything that walks, if you tell him to, from a mushrat to a man. And as
-for his voice, good land! You hain't never heard no music till you hear
-it. That's what give him his name, Gabriel. But what's the matter with
-you, Nathan?" when, withdrawing his admiring gaze from his new
-acquisition, he noted the boy's wearied and troubled countenance. "You
-look clean beat out. There hain't nothin' the matter with your folks?"
-
-Nathan told the story of his treatment since his mother's marriage to
-Toombs, and his unpremeditated flight, and all the particulars of his
-escape.
-
-"I'd ha' gin a dozen mushrat skins to seen him when he got the tree down
-and didn't find you, and him like a fool dog a barkin' up a tree an hour
-arter the coon'd left it. You done right to come to me, for he won't
-come here to look for ye right off. And then when he's had time to cool
-off and git ashamed of himself, you can go home."
-
-"No," said the boy quickly; "I'll never go back till I'm old enough to
-lick him and make him sorry I come."
-
-"Oh, well, you think you will. But you won't never. The rough edge'll be
-wore off afore you git round to it. Once I swore I'd thrash a
-schoolmarster I hed, and when I went to do it we jes' sot down and
-talked over old times, like ol' friends. But what'll your mother and sis
-do without you?"
-
-"They'll be better off without me. I can't help mother any, nor she me,
-yet awhile. Can't you let her know I'm safe some way?"
-
-"Oh, yes, I'll happen round there some day to rights. How in tunket did
-she ever come to mate wi' that surly red-haired dog? You know I hain't
-seen her since they was married. Women is onaccountable critters,
-anyhow, an' I've been marcifully presarved from ever bein' tackled to
-one on 'em;" yet he sighed, as he looked about the littered room, that
-showed so plainly the lack of housewifely care.
-
-After the supper of fried venison and johnny-cake was eaten, they sat in
-the twilight and firelight talking over the past and plans for the
-future, till the boy, worn out with the events of the day, was given a
-nest of furs in the loft, where he would be safe from detection by any
-chance visitor, and Job, after barring the door and carefully covering
-the fire, betook himself with the hound to their accustomed couch on the
-floor.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII--A FREE LIFE
-
-
-The borders of the clearing were dimly defined in the dusk of the next
-evening, and Nathan was beginning to feel lonely, though he had the
-hound for company, when Job came in with his gun on his shoulder.
-
-"Well, what news?" Nathan asked, after a little impatient waiting for
-Job's account of his trip abroad.
-
-"Well, I happened in just arter noon. Your nice stepfather sot by the
-fireplace a smokin'. 'Where's Nate,' says I, an' he up an' answered
-mighty quick, 'Run away, but he'll be back quick enough.' Your mother
-was lookin' turrible worrited, an' it was quite a spell afore I could
-git a chance to do my arrant with Toombs right in the room. Bimeby I
-made out to have a turrible pesterin' sliver in my right hand an' got
-your mother to pick it out wi' a needle. I'd ruther have a leg took off
-'an to have a woman jabbin' at a sliver. Whilst she was at it, me wi' my
-back towards Toombs, I whispered you was at my house and all right, an'
-you'd ortu seen her face light up. Then we played the sliver was out,
-an' arter I'd wished you was to home to go fishin' with me an' wondered
-what on airth you'd run away f'm such a good home for, I come off. An' I
-tell you, boy, that ere ol' scoundrel thinks he's killed you. When I
-come off towards where he chopped that tree, he follered along to see if
-I went nigh it, an' all the time I could see he was scairter'n he was
-mad."
-
-"I don't care, I can't go back if you'll let me stay with you."
-
-"Sartainly, an' glad to have you."
-
-Nathan readily adapted himself to the ranger's way of living, helping
-him in the cabin work and that of the clearing. At intervals, through
-his friend, he sent his mother tidings of his welfare and learned of her
-own. Through the same way, and his mother's ready assistance, he gained
-possession of his other clothes--a tow shirt, a blue frock, a pair of
-gray breeches, and two pairs of thick woolen stockings, as large a
-wardrobe as most backwoods dwellers could boast of.
-
-"Your mother stuck this out of the loft winder as I come away," said Job
-one day, handing him his father's cherished gun.
-
-"Oh, I am glad to get this, and see, it is longer'n I be yet. But I'm
-growing, for I measured when Toombs put this up loft so't he could hang
-his gun on the hooks over the fireplace. See, I can hold it at arm's
-length long enough to see to shoot," and he stretched out the
-long-barrelled gun with pride.
-
-"Toombs was out a burnin' log heaps," Job went on. "She says he's
-dretful narvous an' jumps at every sound. I ruther guess he's gittin'
-his pay as he goes along, my boy."
-
-In preparation for the fall trapping, which was the ranger's chief
-dependence, the two, accompanied by Gabriel, made long ranges through
-the forest, marking their line by blazed trees, to build deadfalls for
-martens on the upland and for mink along the brook and larger streams,
-and larger traps for martens, otters, fisher, and beaver, and when the
-leaves began to fall they daily gathered their furry harvest. Day after
-day, too, the woods rang with Gabe's deep, melodious voice as he drove
-the deer to water. Many an adventure on lake or in forest spiced the
-half wild life, and the loving trust of the old man so sweetened it that
-time glided swiftly past. Many a lesson of woodcraft the boy also
-learned, as well as the priceless one of love and charity to all created
-things, if Indians and Toombs were excepted. Perhaps, in time, their
-turn for forbearance would come.
-
-One day late in the fall Nathan ventured to the Fort, as much to visit
-the garrison boys, for whose companionship he often longed in his
-isolation, as to carry some fine partridges to the commandant's lady. He
-had shot them himself with his father's gun, in the use of which he was
-becoming expert.
-
-"Whativer has coom o' your redheaded stepfather? He didn't coom here sin
-he coom marryin' your mother," said one of the English boys.
-
-After this information, visits to the Fort were more frequent, since
-there was no fear of meeting Toombs. The sentinel, who, with his musket
-shouldered high above his left hip and his clubbed queue bobbing in
-unison to his slow, measured steps, always paced before the gate, made
-but a show of challenging him, and Nathan was almost as free as the
-inmates to every part of the Fort, excepting the officers' quarters and
-the vigilantly guarded magazine. The drill and parade of the soldiers,
-in their spotless scarlet uniforms and shining arms, though there were
-less than fifty, rank and file, seemed a grand martial display, and he
-was always thrilled with the stirring notes of drum and fife.
-Occasionally he met the commandant's wife walking on the parapet, so
-refined and different from the toil-worn women he had been accustomed to
-see, that she seemed a being of another world.
-
-Once that fall Job and his young companion went far back into the
-solitude of the primeval forest to hunt moose. Even the thunder of
-Ticonderoga's guns was never echoed there, and from morning till night
-they heard the sound of no human life but their own. At night the dismal
-chorus of the wolves was heard far and near, and now and then, what was
-a pleasanter sound, the call of a moose, soft and mellow, in the
-distance. With a birch bark horn Job simulated this call, and lured a
-moose into an ambuscade, where, within short range, the huge creature
-was killed. When with much labor the meat was transported and safely
-stored in the cabin, they were in no danger of a winter famine. Soon
-winter came, with days of snowbound isolation, and its days of out-door
-work and pleasant, healthful pastime.
-
-The gloom of a blustering, snowy February day was thickening into the
-gloom of night, when a traveller and his jaded horse appeared at the
-door of the little log house.
-
-"I've somehow missed my way on the lake," said he to Job, when the door
-was opened. "I'm bound for Bennington. Can you give me and my poor beast
-shelter till morning and then set me on the right road?"
-
-"Sartainly, come in, come in," was answered, heartily. "You're welcome
-to such as I've got of bed an' board, an' your hoss'll be better off in
-the shed wi' corn fodder'n he'd be a browsin' in the woods."
-
-When the stranger had seen his jaded horse cared for and had come in,
-the firelight revealed a man in the prime of life, of fine face and
-figure and of military bearing, though he was clad in the plain dress of
-a civilian. He proved a genial guest, and amused his companions with
-stories of his recent journey to Canada, and of his home in Connecticut,
-and with relations of the stirring events in that and the other colonies
-that portended a revolt against the mother country. In turn he was
-interested in everything pertaining to the New Hampshire Grants, the
-progress of the quarrel with New York claimants, the temper of the
-inhabitants toward England, but, particularly, was he curious about the
-condition of the adjacent fortress. Concerning its garrison and the
-plans of the fortification he found Nathan well informed.
-
-"I like to remember such things about a place that has been so famous,"
-the stranger observed, as he made notes in a memorandum book.
-
-"I would like to visit the fort sometime. How many men did you count the
-last time you saw them parade, did you say?"
-
-It was well into the night when the precious embers were covered and the
-three betook themselves to sleep, with the wind roaring in the woods and
-the snow driving gustily against the oiled-paper windows of the cabin.
-When they awoke the storm was spent. Beneath the cloudless morning sky
-the forest stood silent as the army of spectres that its snow-powdered
-trunks resembled. After breakfast Job put on his snowshoes and led his
-guest to the desired road to the southward settlements. This break in
-the winter monotony was often dwelt upon by the fireside in the little
-log house. A chance visit, if aught occurs by chance, yet it proved of
-vast importance.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII--FOREBODINGS OF STORM
-
-
-After many days of fair promises tardily fulfilled, spring had come. The
-soft air was full of its sounds and odors, the medley of harsh and
-liquid notes of the myriad blackbirds that swarmed in the trees along
-the creek, the crackling croak of the frogs, the whimpering call of the
-muskrats, the booming of bitterns, the splashing and quacking of wild
-ducks, and the murmur of running waters. There were the spicy fragrance
-of pine and hemlock, and the fresh smell of warming mould and bursting
-buds, while the perfume of wild flowers added a moiety to the spring
-time odor. The shad trees shone like snowdrifts in the gray woods, and
-the yellow catkins were alive with humming bees.
-
-Amid the pleasant sights of nature's progress, Nathan and his friend sat
-near the door, taking off and stretching on pliant bows the skins of the
-last catch of muskrats.
-
-"It's about time to quit trappin' for this year," said Job, as he
-slipped a skin onto the bow that he held between his knees. "They're
-gettin' a leetle off prime, though better'n they be in the fall an' no
-kits as there is then," and he fastened the skin in place, with a cut
-near its edge, into each horn of the bow. "Good land! What's Gabe
-hullabalooin' at now, I wonder?"
-
-Nathan peered cautiously around the corner and whispered:
-
-"It's neighbor Newton. I'll go up loft." Accordingly he climbed the
-ladder and crept softly to the side of the loft above the door. Through
-the wide cracks of the loose flooring he could see a patch of the chip
-strewn, sunlit earth outside, with Job's long legs stretching across it
-and his hands idle a moment as he called in the hound, who presently
-appeared, and behind him the stout stockinged legs of neighbor Newton.
-
-"Job, have you heard the news?" Newton asked excitedly.
-
-"News? What news?" Job's knife stopped half-way in the slit it was
-making along a muskrat's throat.
-
-"There's ben a fight down in the Bay Colony 'twixt our folks and the
-king's troops and our folks whipped 'em."
-
-"Our folks a fightin' the king's troops?" said Job incredulously.
-
-The other hastily related such particulars of the momentous conflict as
-he had learned. Nathan, whose heart was beating fast at the stirring
-news, saw the muskrat drop to the ground.
-
-"I al'ys said them reg'lars, shootin' breast high at nothin', couldn't
-stan' agin our bushfighters, aimin' to kill," Job said exultantly; "but
-what next, Dan'l?"
-
-"War--it means war. The country's all a-risin'. Every man's got to
-choose the side he'll take. Which side is yourn, Job?"
-
-There was a silence, and the answer came with slow deliberation. "I
-hoped to end my days in peace. I've had enough o' fightin', the Lord
-knows. When I've fit it was for the land I was born in--if it was under
-the British flag--an' I shan't never fight for no other."
-
-"Every man in these clearin's is all right, so far as we know, exceptin'
-that aire sour-faced Toombs. He hain't no good will towards our side. A
-Tory in Seth's shoes, and him red-hot for liberty. He's got a Canuck
-a-workin' for him, and I'd livser trust a wolf'n one o' them
-pea-soupers. I hain't no patience wi' Ruth for marryin' that critter.
-Where do you s'pose her boy is?" There being no reply the speaker went
-on: "I b'lieve that devil has made way with him. He acts turrible
-cur'us, scared and startin' at every sound," and the two walked off
-towards the creek.
-
-Half an hour later when Job returned, he asked Nathan: "Well, what do
-you think o' the news, my boy?"
-
-"Oh, is it true about the fight? How I wish I could go and help our
-folks. Father'd go quick."
-
-"Well, well, stay where ye be. If it goes on, it's sure to strike the
-ol' war-path," and the old ranger swept his arm towards the lake.
-"There'll be work for us here. The sign o' that fresh water mairmaid is
-comin' true agin."
-
-They passed a week in restless, impatient waiting, when, unheralded by
-the hound, Newton again entered the cabin and chanced to come face to
-face with the boy.
-
-"Well, here you be," he said, without surprise and smiling
-good-humoredly; "I s'pected as much t'other day when I see the extry
-knife an' pile o' mushrats. Say, Job, how is't? Can I speak out afore
-him consarnin' the business we was talkin' on?"
-
-"To be sure. He's close-mouthed an' he's achin' to go an' jine our folks
-down in the ol' Bay Colony."
-
-"Good; he's the same stuff as his father." He laid his friendly hand on
-Nathan's shoulder and continued in a low, earnest voice: "There's a plan
-all fixed to take Ti and Crown P'int. It seems a Connecticut feller
-named Brown started the thing a-goin' some weeks ago. There's nigh ontu
-two hunderd and fifty men in the Grants engaged to do the job. Ethan
-Allen commands. We muster at Beeman's Crik, day after to-morrow night.
-You'll be there?" Job stretched forth his hand to his friend, who warmly
-clasped it.
-
-"Me, too; let me go, too." Nathan's heart swelled with pride, and he
-felt himself suddenly leaping to manhood and a place among men.
-
-"He's a stout lad an' he handles a gun like a man. Let him come," said
-Job. "But how be we goin' to git across the lake? There hain't boats
-enough hereabouts to take more'n thirty men to oncet."
-
-"Colonel Skeene's is goin' to be borrowed, an' there's a plan to git
-some more without askin' at Crown P'int; with them an' what we can pick
-up we'll make enough. How many'll your birch carry?"
-
-"Six men that's used to such craft, but not one lummax."
-
-"Well, bring it along. Everything of the boat kind'll be needed. Toombs
-troubles me most. He's on the fence, which means he ain't to be trusted.
-He'll see our men a musterin' an' s'pect what's up, an' let the garrison
-know some way. He and his Canuck has got to be watched."
-
-"Easy done! We can tie 'em, neck an' heels, an' leave 'em to take keer
-o' theirselves."
-
-"Well, I'll send a guard an' see to that," Newton said as he hurried
-away to warn other settlers of the projected enterprise.
-
-Those left began to clean their weapons carefully and prepare to mould
-some bullets. Job rehearsed his long disused manual of arms, in which he
-found Nathan familiar through his close observation of the soldiers'
-drill at the Fort.
-
-"You don't want to aim that way," the old man said, when, at the
-command, Nathan held his piece ready to fire with the butt end under his
-elbow. "Lord, how I've heard Major Rogers swear to see the reg'lars
-wastin' lead, shootin' int' the tree tops wi' the enemy fair afore 'em!
-Fightin' hain't no foolin'. Aim to kill, jes' as ye would at a
-pa'tridge. There--that's the talk," when Nathan, following his
-instructions, laid his cheek to the stock and flashed the priming at the
-breast of an imaginary foe.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV--GABRIEL'S GOOD SERVICE
-
-
-On the afternoon of the 9th of May, 1775, Job and Nathan laid their guns
-in the canoe and stood beside her ready to set her afloat in the brown
-water, whose ripples softly lapped the drift of dried sedges along the
-shore. Job looked anxiously about, and once more, as he had several
-times previously done, he whistled a loud shrill note through his
-fingers.
-
-"Where on airth is that dog? He mistrusted somethin' was up and run off.
-He'd ortu be tied up, but we can't wait any longer, an' he'll hafter run
-loose. Wal, le's be off."
-
-Lifting the canoe, they set her afloat, stepped lightly on board, and,
-kneeling in the bottom, sent her flying down the creek. They skirted the
-lake almost beneath the spreading branches of the maples, now already
-dappled with the tender green of budding leaves. A little back from the
-naked, western shore, with its crumbling ruins of the old French water
-battery, uprose the gray battlements and barracks of Ticonderoga, and
-the blazoned cross of England floating lazily in the breeze.
-
-"I've follered it for many a day," said Job sadly, "an' I never thought
-to go agin it. But I b'lieve I'm right," and he turned his face
-resolutely forward.
-
-The turmoil and horror of war seemed far removed from the serene sky,
-the rippled water kissing the quiet shores, and the pervading sense of
-the earth's renewing life, enforced by bursting buds and opening flowers
-and songs of birds. Even the grim fortress seemed but a memento of
-conflict long since ended forever.
-
-Sweeping into the broad mouth of the creek, they joined the motley crowd
-already gathered there. The assemblage was composed of all who were
-capable of bearing arms, from gray-headed veterans of the last war, to
-the striplings who had not yet been mustered on a training field. Job
-received hearty greetings from more than one old comrade whom he had not
-seen since they ranged this region, then an unreclaimed wilderness,
-under the leadership of the brave and wary Robert Rogers, and he was
-soon in reminiscences of scouts and ambuscades, while Nathan watched and
-noted everything, a most interested spectator of what was passing so
-unobtrusively into history.
-
-Presently there was a stir and gathering together of the detached groups
-and an expectant hush. Then he saw towering among them, in cocked hat
-and military garb of blue and buff, the stalwart figure of Ethan Allen.
-
-"Fall in, men," said the deep-toned voice of Allen, and the groups
-formed in line as best they could among the trees.
-
-As they moved forward to take their places Nathan noticed an unfamiliar
-form skulking among the tree trunks near him--a swarthy little man
-wearing a tasseled, woolen cap and gray coat unlike the Yankee garb. It
-flashed across his mind that this was the Canadian employed by his
-stepfather, and he tried to keep watch of his movements. But there was
-much else to engage him, and just then he felt a touch on his leg, and,
-turning, saw Gabriel's sorrowful face looking wistfully up to his own.
-"Down, Gabe," he said in a low tone, and the hound crouched behind. Just
-then Ethan Allen, having passed slowly down the line, accosting one and
-another, broke the silence:
-
-"Friends of the Grants, we are already enough for this business in hand,
-but there are more to come. There will be boats enough to cross us all
-in good time. Keep quiet. Cook your rations and eat your supper.
-To-morrow we'll eat our breakfast in Ticonderoga, or know the reason
-why."
-
-As Nathan's entranced gaze was for a moment withdrawn from the beloved
-commander, he caught a glimpse of the little unknown man stealing away
-among the shadows. Being more accustomed to the rigid discipline of the
-garrison than to the free and easy customs of volunteers, he did not
-dare to leave the ranks till many of his comrades had straggled away.
-Then he sought Job and told him his suspicions.
-
-"I thought Newton was goin' to tend to them critters. Newton," he called
-to his neighbor, "didn't you put a guard over Toombs and his man?"
-
-"Toombs is safe in care of a good man, but his Canuck couldn't be found.
-I guess he's too stupid to do any mischief, anyway."
-
-"Well, he's ben a sneakin' round here an' now he's gone, an' there's no
-tellin' where. Where's Toombs's boat?"
-
-"Here," and Newton pointed to the landing, where it lay among many
-others.
-
-"Gabe's round here somewheres," said Nathan inadvertently.
-
-"Jest the one I was a wishin' for," said the old man, aroused from his
-troubled pondering. "He can help when nob'dy else can." He then sent one
-of his shrill whistles into the woods, and then another, with such good
-effect that Gabriel presently appeared, loping easily along. "Good
-fellow, good fellow. Now, Newton, we'll ketch that skunk. Here, here,
-old boy," and he hurried swiftly away with the hound at heel.
-
-Arrived at the house they found Toombs unconfined, but under the
-vigilant guard of a lynx-eyed Green Mountain Boy. When Job inquired for
-the Canadian, he detected a gleam of triumph in the glowering eyes of
-the surly, half-defiant prisoner.
-
-"The fox has slipped," said Job; "but never mind. If he can fool Gabe
-he's a smart 'un. Ruth, where's somethin' that 'ere Canuck has wore?"
-
-Ruth, who stood near her idle spinning wheel, half dazed at the unwonted
-commotion and afraid of she knew not what, pointed covertly to a much
-worn pair of moccasins hanging near the fireplace to dry.
-
-"Hisn? There couldn't be nothin' better. See here, Gabe."
-
-The hound snuffed eagerly at the soiled footgear, slowly wagging his
-tail, and then looked inquiringly at his master.
-
-"Sarch him out, boy. Sarch him out," Job encouraged him, pointing along
-the ground.
-
-The hound circled about the yard a little, and then, finding the trail,
-followed it silently and steadily down to the creek to where the men
-were mustered. There, on the much trodden ground, it baffled him for a
-while. Resorting to his usual tactics, he made widening circles and
-again found the trail and went off upon it in a steady, untiring pace
-southward in the direction of Ticonderoga.
-
-"I knowed it," said Job to himself, "and I'll bet ye there'll be a
-Canuck treed afore sundown." Guided by the deep, mellow baying of the
-hound, he set off, with his gun at atrail, in rapid pursuit.
-
-The agile little Canadian had at least an hour's start, and made such
-brisk use of it that he was on the shore opposite the Fort when he was
-overtaken by the hound, who at once set furiously upon him. Being
-unarmed, he was forced to scramble up a tree, from which, when he had
-recovered his breath, he began lustily to hail the Fort, and at
-intervals to curse the hound. His shouts, and Gabriel's insistent
-deep-mouthed bayings, could scarcely fail to attract the attention of
-the garrison, and Job, pushing forward at his best pace, presently
-appeared upon the scene.
-
-"Hello de Forrt," the Canuck was shouting. "Hey! Hello de Forrt! Sacre
-chien! Go home, Ah tol' you! Hello, Carillon. Tac-con-derrrque! All de
-Bastonais was comin' for took you, Ah tol' you! Sacre chien! Stop off
-you nowse so Ah can heard me spik."
-
-"Shut yer head an' come down out o' that mighty quick," Job commanded in
-a low voice.
-
-"Me no onstan' Angleesh," and again the voice rang out over across the
-water: "Hello de Forrt!"
-
-Peering through the overhanging branches, Job saw a group of red-coated
-soldiers gathered on the other shore, and presently saw a boat putting
-out from it.
-
-"Looka here," said he sternly, as he cocked his piece and aimed upward;
-"I don't want tu be obleeged tu hurt you, but stop yer hollerin' an'
-come right down."
-
-"Me no onstan', Ah tol' you! Hello--." The lusty hail was cut short by
-the report of the long smooth-bore. The Canadian's cap went spinning
-from his head, and he came scrambling down in a haste that threatened to
-leave half his clothes behind.
-
-"Ah comin'! Ah comin'! Don't shot some more!" he cried in a voice
-trembling with fright.
-
-Job arrested his descent till his gun was reloaded; then, when his
-captive slid to the ground, he quickly tied his hands behind with a
-fathom of cord, one end of which he held. Then he removed the woolen
-sash from the Canadian's waist and bound it about his mouth.
-
-A glance upon the lake showed the boat half-way across, and approaching
-as fast as two pairs of oars could impel it. Job hurried his man into an
-evergreen thicket some twenty yards away, and, leaving him tied to a
-tree in charge of the hound, he stealthily returned to ascertain if
-possible whether the nature of the alarm had been comprehended by the
-soldiers. The boat drew rapidly toward the place where he lay concealed,
-and, at a little distance, the occupants lay upon their oars while they
-held consultation, so near that he could hear every word of it.
-
-"Well, boys," said the sergeant in command, "whathiver it was, Hi don't
-hear nothink more of it. But Hi'll 'ail the shore. 'Ello there,
-whathiver is the row?" An answer was silently awaited till the echoes
-died away.
-
-"Ah't was some o' thim Yankee divils huntin' just," said one of the
-soldiers, "and that's all about it. Divil a word could I make out but
-the dog yowlin' an' a man phillalooin', an' thin the shot. They kilt
-whativer they was at an' thin wint away."
-
-"Hi believe you're right, Murphy, an' we'll no bother to go ashore, but
-just pull back and report to the captain," and off went the boat to the
-western shore.
-
-With a sigh of relief Job sped back to his prisoner, to whom he motioned
-the homeward way, and set forth with him in front at a break-neck pace,
-which was occasionally quickened by a punch of the gun muzzle in the
-rear, and so was the captive driven to the camp.
-
-Ticonderoga's evening gun had long since boomed its vesper thunder, and
-the shadows of evening were thickening into night in the forest, when
-Job emerged from them into the glare of the camp fire with his hound and
-prisoner, and received the warm commendations of Allen and his
-associates for his promptly and skilfully performed exploit.
-
-"I don't claim no credit for't. It was all Gabe's doin's, an' if I'd
-left him tied up to hum as I laid out to, our cake would all 'a' ben
-dough."
-
-"Here, Newton, here's your man. Put him under guard with that Tory,
-Toombs," said Allen.
-
-A tall man of noble, commanding presence, but of a quiet, modest mien,
-stooped to caress the hound. "Why," he said, "it's one of Sunderland's
-dogs, that haven't their equal in New England."
-
-"You've got an eye for houn' dogs, Capt'n Warner. He sartain is one o'
-them dogs an'll foller anything he's told to, though 't ain't no gre't
-trick to track a Canuck more'n an Injin. They're both strong-scented
-critters."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV--LEADERS AND GUIDE
-
-
-Even while Nathan watched Gabe and his master depart into the forest
-southward, he became aware the assemblage was moved by some new object
-of interest. Turning, he saw Colonel Allen and another gentleman,
-eagle-eyed, eagle-beaked, in handsome military dress, talking angrily in
-the midst of an excited group. At length Allen turned his passionate
-face toward the men and called in a loud voice:
-
-"Men, fall in for a moment. Here," waving his hand toward his companion,
-as the men rapidly fell into line, "is Mr. Benedict Arnold. He bears a
-colonel's commission from the Connecticut Committee of Safety, and
-claims the right to command you to-night. Men of the Green Mountains,
-whom do you follow--Arnold or Allen?"
-
-"Allen, Allen," came in response, loud and decided.
-
-The chosen chief turned a triumphant smile upon his rival, who strode
-away in silence of restrained passion. Soon returning, however, he
-addressed Allen in a clear, steady voice:
-
-"Sir, I submit to the will of these men, but let me be a volunteer in
-this glorious enterprise. The Green Mountain Boys and their famous
-leader are too generous to refuse this."
-
-Allen, touched at a vulnerable point, grasped the speaker's hand
-heartily and answered:
-
-"Indeed, so brave a man as I well know you to be, is most welcome, and,
-by the Great Jehovah, if the men don't object, you shall be second in
-command."
-
-A shout of approval went up from the men, who gathered around their camp
-fires again, while Allen and Arnold, together with Warner, walked apart
-in amicable consultation. Soon the first called loudly for any
-information concerning a lad named Nathan Beeman. At the sound of his
-name, Nathan started, blushed, hesitated, and then stepped bashfully
-forward, and was quickly recognized by Allen in spite of his added
-stature.
-
-"Here, this is the youngster, Colonel Arnold, that Mr. John Brown tells
-of in this paper, whom he saw and conversed with last winter about
-Ticonderoga."
-
-The two colonels then asked the boy many questions about the Fort, its
-entrance, the interior, the number of the garrison, and the disposal of
-the sentinels. Evidently satisfied with his straightforward replies,
-Allen said, low and impressively:
-
-"You have such a chance to serve your country as don't often fall to a
-boy. Will you lead us into the Fort to-night? Will you do it
-faithfully?"
-
-Nathan looked steadily into the earnest, searching eyes fixed upon him,
-but did not answer.
-
-"Speak," cried Allen, sharply.
-
-"If the commandant's lady won't be hurt, I will," he said at last, his
-left hand thrust into his pocket, fumbling his cherished shilling piece.
-
-Allen laughed good-humoredly. "So the lady is a friend of yours. Well,
-never fear. We may disturb her morning nap, but she shall not be harmed.
-We are not waging war in the wilderness against women and children.
-Here, my boy, stick this twig of hemlock in your hat. Don't you see
-we've all mounted it? There, now," as he himself put the evergreen sprig
-in Nathan's hatband, "you wear the Green Mountain Boy's cockade. See
-that you never disgrace it."
-
-The boy thrilled with pride as he walked with measured step behind the
-stately chieftain and his lithely built companion. Presently the sound
-of oars was heard and a large batteau swept into the landing, navigated
-by two of Newton's sons, who gleefully related how, with a jug of rum,
-they had lured Skeene's old negro with the coveted craft into their
-toils, as he was voyaging homeward from Crown Point. It was capable of
-carrying twenty-five persons and was a welcome prize. Though one by one,
-and in little flotillas, boats continued to arrive, still, at two
-o'clock in the early May morning, there were not enough to transport
-half the men gathered. After brief consultation, it was determined that
-as many as possible should at once cross to the other shore and there
-await the coming of the others in the returning boats.
-
-Embarkation began at once under the superintendence of Allen, Arnold,
-and Warner. Nathan found himself with the first two in the leading boat,
-Warner being left in charge of the party remaining on the eastern shore.
-At a low word of command, the flotilla swept out of the flickering glare
-of the fire into the darkness. It passed down the creek and was soon
-upon the lake, heading for the other shore, being guided to the chosen
-landing by the mountain peaks that loomed black against the western sky.
-The night was windless. The shrill piping of hylas, the monotonous trill
-of toads, and the rush of running brooks filled the air. Such sounds
-faded out as the middle of the lake was reached, where nothing was heard
-but the light plash of muffled oars, to rise again in increasing volume
-from the other shore.
-
-As the last boat grounded on the shelving beach, Nathan was startled by
-the loud, hollow hoot of an owl, uttered thrice, almost in his ear. A
-few moments later there came, like an echo from the distant creek, the
-answer to this preconcerted signal of safe arrival. The men quickly
-disembarked, and the boats returned to those who, under Seth Warner,
-were eagerly awaiting their turn.
-
-Those who had made the passage tramped to and fro to stir their blood,
-for there was a creeping chill in the night air. The first light of dawn
-was stealing up the eastern sky, the woods and mountains showing in
-sharp relief against it, yet no signs came to strained eyes and ears of
-the returning boats.
-
-"The lazy-bones," growled Allen, forgetting the long distance. "What has
-gone wrong? Daylight will betray us if we wait much longer. What do you
-say, my men--shall we wait, and maybe lose our best chance of success,
-or go on with what strength we have?"
-
-There was a murmur of universal assent, and Allen commanded:
-
-"Fall in, in three ranks!"
-
-Instantly the men formed in the order of the ranger service. "I want no
-man to go against his will. You that wish to go with me, poise arms."
-Every gun was brought to the position.
-
-"Shoulder arms! Right face! Forward, march!"
-
-Before the last word was fairly given, Arnold stepped in front of the
-speaker.
-
-"I swear," he cried, shaken with his passion, "I will not yield my
-right. I planned this enterprise. My money set it on foot. I swear I
-will command, and not yield my right to Ethan Allen or the devil."
-
-There was a muttered growl of dissatisfaction among the men, and Allen
-was raging. "What shall I do with this fellow? Put him under guard?" he
-asked, turning to one of his captains.
-
-"Gentlemen," said Captain Callender, a staid and quiet man, "for the
-sake of the good cause, don't quarrel. Yield a little, both of you.
-Share the command equally, and enter the Fort side by side."
-
-Allen returned his half-drawn sword to its scabbard and said bluffly:
-"For the sake of the cause I agree to this." The Connecticut colonel
-sullenly assented, and the three columns moved briskly along the shore,
-led by the two colonels marching side by side, till, through the
-branches of the budding trees, the leaders saw close before them the
-walls of Ticonderoga, looming dark and vague in the gray of the morning.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI--TICONDEROGA
-
-
-A halt was silently signalled, and Job, the skilfullest scout of all
-this band of woodsmen, was sent forward to reconnoitre. Silently, as a
-ghost, his tall figure melted into the obscurity of dawn, and presently
-appeared, out of the blur of shadows, bearing whispered tidings that all
-was quiet within the Fort, and only one sentinel carelessly guarding the
-open wicket of the main entrance.
-
-A whispered word of command drifted back along the ranks and the troops
-moved forward. They mounted a slight declivity and advanced to the right
-toward the gate. Now the sentinel could be seen pacing his beat; now the
-white cross-belts and the facings of his uniform made out, and still he
-maintained his deliberate pace, unconscious of the enemy, while,
-perhaps, his thoughts were far away in the green fields of merry
-England, where the hawthorn was blooming and the lark singing "at
-heaven's gate."
-
-The heads of the files were close upon him when his wandering thoughts
-were suddenly recalled. Too much surprised to challenge or call an
-alarm, he levelled his fusee at Allen's towering figure and pulled the
-trigger. The life of the bold chieftain hung for an instant in the
-trembling balance of fate, but not a spark followed the stroke of the
-flint. The guard turned and fled through the open wicket with Allen and
-Arnold, side by side, close upon his heels. After them came Nathan; and
-the crowding files of men swarmed through the narrow gate in an
-impetuous rush, and, guided by the boy, onto the parade. This was
-enclosed on three sides by lofty stone barracks. Here they caught a last
-glimpse of the flying sentry dodging into a bombproof, like a woodchuck
-into a hole. Another sentinel made a bayonet thrust at Nathan, when
-Allen's sword fell quick as a thunderbolt upon the man's head in a
-downright blow that must have cleft the skull, had it not glanced on a
-metal comb that held his hair in place.
-
-The assailants quickly formed in two ranks, facing outward upon the east
-and west lines of barracks, and gave three cheers that made the gray
-walls ring with quick, rebounding echoes.
-
-"Quick, my boy, show me the commandant's quarters," said Allen, and his
-guide led to a flight of outer stairs arising to the upper story of the
-south barracks. Ascending them, Allen shouted:
-
-"Come forth, commandant, come forth." But receiving no answer he
-thundered on the door with the pommel of his sword and shouted still
-louder:
-
-"Come out of your hole, you damned old skunk," and thereupon the door
-was drawn a little ajar. Allen flung it wide open, and disclosed the
-bewildered face and undignified figure of Captain Delaplace, clad only
-in his shirt and nightcap, with his breeches in his hand. Behind him
-stood his night-gowned wife, her pretty face pale with alarm. For a
-moment the captain gaped at his unceremonious visitor.
-
-"Who are you and what do you want?"
-
-"I want the Fort and all it contains. Surrender, instantly."
-
-"Surrender? Is this a mad joke or treason?"
-
-"Neither; but honest men claiming their own. Surrender."
-
-"In whose name? By whose authority?" asked Delaplace, assured of the
-earnestness of the summons.
-
-"In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress."
-
-"I know no such authority."
-
-"Sir, do you deny the authority of the King of Kings? And Congress
-seemeth to have some power here this morning. Waste no more time. We are
-four to your one. Do you surrender?"
-
-"I see no choice. But it consoles me that you rebels will hang for
-this."
-
-"You are welcome to the consolation of the hope, but it gives me no
-uneasiness and I run no new risks. I am Ethan Allen. You may have heard
-of me and have lusted for the shekels the sons of Belial offer for my
-head. But get on your clothes and parade your men without arms. Madam,"
-bowing low to the lady, "pardon the intrusion, but my business is
-urgent. Permit me to close the door." So doing he awaited the
-reappearance of the commandant.
-
-"This is a pretty kettle of fish," the chopfallen captain groaned.
-"Courage, my dear; this handsome giant has something of the manners of a
-gentleman, and will not let a lady be maltreated by his rebel band."
-
-"Oh, William, the Fort surprised, and we prisoners, and not a blow
-struck for defense."
-
-"There could be no defense with such numbers. Well, there's no use
-crying over spilt milk. Did you see that pet cub of yours with the big
-rebel? What did I tell you?" said the captain, putting the finishing
-touches to his hasty toilet.
-
-He rejoined Allen and proceeded to the parade, where, presently, he
-mustered his little force without arms and formally delivered them to
-the captors, who marched them away to their quarters under guard. Two
-days later, with an armed escort, they were on their way through the
-wilderness to Connecticut, and Nathan saw the last of the lady of the
-Fort.
-
-Warner and the remainder of the men arrived at Ticonderoga soon after
-its surrender, disappointed that they had not participated in its
-achievement.
-
-Still guided by the boy, the officers made a tour of investigation,
-which revealed a wealth of guns and ammunition--supplies greatly needed
-by the army of patriots then gathered at Boston. As the boy listened to
-the rejoicings, his heart was full of proud thankfulness that he had
-borne so important if humble a part in this service of his country.
-
-Warren and Sunderland and a hundred men set forth for the easy conquest
-of Crown Point and its insignificant garrison, while, on Lake George,
-another party took possession of Fort George and its garrison of a man,
-his wife, and a dog.
-
-Arnold hastily fitted out a schooner taken at Skeenesborough, and, with
-Allen in a batteaus filled with armed men, sailed down the lake to
-capture the British sloop at St. Johns. Job's knowledge of the lake,
-gained in years of ranger service upon it, made him valuable as pilot,
-in which capacity he accompanied Allen; and where Job went there went
-Nathan. The brisk south wind swiftly wafted Arnold's craft far in
-advance of her sluggish consort, whose crew saw their chances of glory
-lessening and fading with the white wings of the schooner.
-
-The voyage was a pleasant one to Nathan, for beyond the mouth of Otter
-Creek everything was new to him, with strange and changing shores and
-such an expanse of water as he had never seen. His old friend pointed
-out to him notable landmarks and scenes of past adventure. Here was the
-cleft promontory of So-baps-kwa and the opposite headland of
-Ko-zo-aps-kwa, there the solitary rock of Wo-ja-hose. Then they passed
-the isles of the Four Winds and Valcour, and Grand Isle's low, wooded
-shore stretching along the eastward water line. At last, as they were
-nearing the northern end of the lake and saw on their right the ruin of
-an old French windmill, the only vestige of civilized occupation they
-had seen except the ruins of Fort St. Anne on Isle la Motte, they
-descried two sail rapidly bearing down toward them from the north before
-the shifted wind.
-
-For a few moments they were in an excitement of alarm, not knowing
-whether these were friends or foes. Soon Allen, who had been watching
-through a glass, lowered it, and, waving his cocked hat above his head,
-shouted:
-
-"Hurrah, boys, it's our friends with the British sloop. Give her three
-cheers."
-
-While the last lusty cheer was scarcely uttered, an answering salute
-from the cannon of the sloop and schooner was thundered forth.
-
-"Give 'em powder for powder, boys. Fire," Allen shouted, and a rattling
-volley of muskets, rifles, and long smoothbores reawakened the echoes.
-
-The crew of the batteau was then transferred to the schooner and her
-prize--the same armed sloop Nathan so well remembered seeing when she
-brought supplies to the Fort he had just borne a part in surprising.
-While amid loud rejoicings the story of her bloodless capture was told,
-they went merrily bowling homeward with the clumsy batteau surging along
-in tow at such speed as she had never known before.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII--HOME COMING
-
-
-As the sloop swept past the massive battlements of Crown Point where
-they guard the narrowing channel of the lake, Job said to his young
-comrade:
-
-"We're getting towards home."
-
-"Yes, I've been thinking of home and mother and sis. Guess I needn't be
-afraid of ol' Toombs any longer, but I don't know as I could keep my
-hands off'n him. I always meant to give him a thrashing when I could."
-
-"Mebby you could, now, but he's a cordy critter and a soople one; but
-mind what I tell you, you never will."
-
-Nathan's answer was a short, incredulous laugh, as he helped Job make
-ready for disembarkation. As they marched in straggling ranks toward
-Fort Ticonderoga, Nathan was accosted by one of the young Newtons, who
-had remained there during the northern expedition.
-
-"Look a-here, Nate," he said, drawing him aside, "there's some trouble
-to your mother's. She's sent word for you to come right home. Old Toombs
-is dead or run off to Canerdy, or something. I don't know the rights
-on't. But, anyhow, she wants you bad."
-
-Either the death or the absconding of his stepfather was too good news
-to be true, and his first duty was to serve his mother. He and Job
-readily obtained leave of absence, though it was scarcely needed, so lax
-was the military discipline of the crudely organized forces. The two at
-once set forth, and an hour's paddling of the light birch canoe brought
-them to the landing in the creek.
-
-As they emerged from the shadow of the woods into the broad sunlight of
-the clearing, their first glance sought the house standing in the midst
-of green grass and springing grain. The scene was in such apparent peace
-and quietude as it might have been lapped, if all the turmoil of war and
-strife were a thousand miles removed. As Nathan's eyes ran over the
-familiar fields in which he had spent so many hours in the companionship
-of his father, his heart was softened with the sad and solemn memory.
-Then it hardened in a fire of wrath that flamed up at the remembrance of
-what he had suffered from his father's successor, and he felt if he
-should meet the wretch he would wreak summary vengeance upon him.
-
-Soon they were at the open door and looking in upon the homely kitchen.
-It was empty but for the figure of a man slouching inertly in an
-armchair before the fireplace. There was no mistaking the shock of
-grizzled red hair, nor the brawny shoulders, though they were stooped
-and curved together.
-
-The light tread of Nathan's moccasined feet did not disturb the
-melancholy figure, with its drooping head and vacant eyes staring into
-the fire, nor did it move till he laid his hand on its shoulder. Then
-the face turned upon him a slow, dazed stare, that as slowly kindled
-into recognition, then froze into a rigid glare of inexpressible terror.
-An inarticulate cry came from the white lips, while the helpless form
-strove to arouse itself from the living death of palsy.
-
-Nathan cast upon Job a look of appalled, beseeching inquiry. As he met
-its answer in the awed face of his friend, resentment of past injuries
-faded out of his heart, as he realized that a mighty hand had
-forestalled his revenge, and he felt nothing but pity for the abject
-being that crouched before him.
-
-"It's come out about as I told you," said Job, "but I wan't expectin'
-nothin' like this, poor critter. He thinks you're a spirit come to haunt
-him." Then he called loudly to the figure, "It's the boy. It's Nathan,
-alive and well. Don't be afeared, he won't hurt ye."
-
-There were footsteps at the threshold, and Ruth and Martha entered,
-pausing a moment with wondering faces, which presently kindled with joy,
-and Nathan was clasped in their arms. When the first flush of joyful
-meeting was spent, Ruth explained in answer to her son's whispered
-question and his nod toward the dumb figure:
-
-"He sort o' broke down after the guard went away, an' t'other day we
-found him all of a heap down by a big hemlock log that he never got
-round to cut up. He hain't seemed to sense much since. He's been
-dreadful worried about you, Nathan, all along, ever since you went
-away."
-
-She did not know the terrible cause of the speechless self-condemnation
-the wretch had suffered, nor did she ever learn it.
-
-"I wouldn't tell her," counselled Job. "She'd feel bad, an' that
-wouldn't pay any more'n it does to nurse a grudge. Vengeance don't
-belong to us, poor critters."
-
-Thenceforth, till Silas Toombs sank from his living death to eternal
-sleep not long after this, his stepson gave him thoughtful and kindly
-care.
-
-At length the young frontiersman took his place among the defenders of
-his country. By the side of his old comrade and guardian, he fought in
-the losing fight of Hubbardton and helped to win the glorious victory of
-Bennington. Yet he is best remembered by the descendants of the old
-Green Mountain Boys as the guide who led their fathers in the conquest
-of Ticonderoga.
-
-                                  ----
-
-Where once stood the pioneer's log house, spacious farm buildings now
-stretch their comfortable quarters. From it, away to the southwest,
-across meadows, thrifty homesteads, low woodlands, and the narrowed
-waters of Lake Champlain can be seen rising against the foothills of the
-Adirondacks the hoary ruins of Ticonderoga. Within the house, upon a
-pair of massive moose horns, rests the old flintlock once filled with
-beans, "good enough for Yorkers," and later loaded with a leaden death
-message for Tory and Hessian. Cherished with as fond pride by its fair
-possessor, is a worn pocket-piece--the silver shilling given her
-ancestor by the beautiful lady of Fort Ticonderoga.
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber's Note
-
-
-Spelling and punctuation inaccuracies were silently corrected.
-Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.
-The author's punctuation style is preserved.
-Hyphenation has been made consistent.
-
-
-
-
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A HERO OF TICONDEROGA ***
-
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