CHAPTER I.
“And now for scenes where nature in her pride
Roar'd in rough floods, and wav'd in forests wide—
Where men were taught the desert path to trace,
And the rude pleasures of the mountain chase—
With light canoe to plough the glassy lake,
And from its depths the silvery trout to take—
Where nerves of iron grew, and souls of tone
To soft refinement's tranquil scenes unknown.”
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Those who have wandered along the banks of
the Otter Creek, in search of the beautiful and picturesque,
may have extended their rambles, perhaps,
to lake Dunmore, which lies embosomed among the
hills a few miles to the eastward of that quiet
stream. If so, their taste for natural scenery has
doubtless been amply gratified: for there is no
spot in the whole range of the Green Mountains
that combines more of the requisites for a perfect
landscape than this romantic sheet of water and its
surrounding shores. Of an oblong form, about four
miles in length and one in breadth, this lake, or
pond, as such bodies of water are more usually denominated
among us, lies extended between the
main ridge and a collateral eminence on the west, of
a height but little more than sufficient to serve as a
secure embankment to this noble reservoir of the
hills. From the eastern shore the land rises
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abruptly into a lofty mountain, which, like some mighty
giantess, sits enthroned in the mid heavens, her
head turbaned with a wreath of white mist, and
looking down with seeming fondness and care upon
the bright daughter, that reflecting back her own
rude image, lies quietly reposing in her lap, receiving
the rich supply of a thousand pearly rills that
come gushing to her opening lips. To the north
and south, open long and beautiful vistas, extending
along over the bright extremities of the lake, and
terminating among the far off peaks of the Green
Mountains; while from the western shore the
land, after a gentle rise for a short distance, falls off
rapidly toward the Otter, leaving the broad and extensive
valley of that stream open to the vision,
which now wanders unobstructed to the western
borders of the lake Champlain, where the long
chain of mountains, that rise immediately beyond,
lies sleeping in the blue distance, and bounds the
view of this magnificent scene.
It was near sunset, on one of the last days of
April, and in the same year and month which were
marked by the opening scene of our great national
drama, that four stout and hardy looking men, two
of them of about the middle age, and two considerably
younger, were seen occupying a large log
canoe near the eastern shore of the lake just described,
and engaged fishing for trout. Their success
through the day in ensnaring `the pride of the
pure waters,' as the trout has been appropriately
termed, had been ample, as was evinced by the large
strings of this beautiful fish lying on the bottom of the
boat beneath the feet of their respective captors.
Now, however, as the rapidly lengthening shadows
of the dark primeval forest, that thickly lined
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the shores, had nearly closed over the lake, the
party began to manifest a disposition to relinquish
the exciting labors of the day. One sat listless and
unemployed in his seat; another was taking in, and
winding up his line; while a third had handled the
oars, and sat patiently awaiting the movements of
the fourth, who seemed intent on securing, before
quitting the station, one more victim, as `a most severe
large one,' he said, was brushing round his
hook. At length the speckled tantalizer, after playing
warily round the bait awhile, seized it with a
desperation that seemed to imply at once his suspicions
and his determination to test them, and was
drawn flapping and floundering into the boat,
amidst a shout of exultation from the company,
who unanimously declared the fish to be a ten
pounder, and the capital prize of all that had that
day been taken. All being now in readiness, the
boat was rowed slowly toward the shore in the direction
of a spot indicated as the place of their temporary
quarters by a slight, wreathy line of blue
smoke, which had risen from their noon fiires, and
still hung undissipated along the precipitous cliffs of
the mountain above. On reaching the shore the
party, after taking out their fish and carefully concealing
their canoe in a thick clump of overhanging
bushes, proceeded to their retreat, which proved to
be a cavern in the rocks, at the foot of the mountain,
here shutting down within a dozen rods of the
lake. The front of this cave consisted of a sort of
natural porch, eight or ten feet in length, and of,
perhaps, about half that number of feet in width,
formed by a projection of the rocks above and on
each side, so as to enclose the intervening space.
From the centre of the arena thus formed
in front, an entrance, wide enough only to admit
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one person at a time, opened into the interior, or
main part of the cavern, a spacious and lofty room
branching off in several dark recesses that appeared
to extend far into the rocks. This cave had once
been a favorite lodge with the Indians, as was evident
from the flint arrow-heads, and other indications
of aboriginal life, discovered in and about the
place; and in late years it had been the usual resort
of professional hunters, and others of the
neighboring settlement, when out for more than one
day on fishing and hunting excursions on the lake
or its vicinity, as it afforded them comfortable quarters
for the night, and such as could easily be secured
from the intrusion of wild beasts, or Indians,
small parties of whom, though not generally very
hostile at this period, were still occasionally seen
skulking among these mountains. The party now
present, as before remarked, were four in number.
The two eldest of these had nothing remarkable in
their appearance to distinguish them from the ordinary
run of men, except their broad chests and
strong muscular limbs, which they possessed in common
with most of the settlers. Of the other two,
whom we will more particularly describe, one was a
young woodsman of very singular and striking appearance.
He was full seven feet high, and as
straight as an arrow. From his trunk, which,
though strongly made, and quite as large as that of
a common stout man, looked like a may-pole, rose
a long, slender neck, surmounted by a small appleshaped
head. His features might have been regular
when he slept, but in conversation, in which he
was always sure to have a part, they were made to
play such anticks, by way of acting as gesturers to
the queer conceits with which his brain was forever
teeming, that it would have been difficult to tell
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what any one of them might have been when reduced
to a state of quiescence. His mouth with a
peculiar twist seemed to move at will in a half circle
from one ear to the other; while his nose, playing
at cross-purposes with his mouth, was seemingly
wriggled up to the eyebrows, or let down to the
chin at the option of its owner. These, with the
eyes, which were no less singularly expressive, combined
to form a countenance to the last degree
comical, though, with all its predominating humor,
great good nature and considerable native intelligence
were very visibly mingled in its expression.
This man went by the name of Pete Jones, or long
legged Pete, as was his more common appellation
among his companions. The other person, the only
one of the party now remaining to be described,
was evidently far superior in every respect, except
physical powers, to the rest of the company. His
exterior exhibited a high degree of manly beauty,
both in form and feature; while a fine dark eye,
with a cleanly turned, rectilinear nose, and a high
square forehead, indicated tastes of an intellectual
character. His countenance was expressive of
keen perceptions, and manifested also, like that of
the person last described, a strong disposition to
wit and mirthfulness; though this disposition, unlike
that of his rude companion, had been evidently
chastened and trained by education and intercourse
with refined society, the advantages of both
of which his language and manners showed he had
received. His whole appearance, indeed, was such
as would induce to the probable conclusion that a
romantic turn of mind, with a love of the exciting
scenes of the forest, or still more exciting strife in
which the settlers were engaged with the neighboring
colony, had led him to a temporary adoption of
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his present course of life, and that he was rather an
amateur woodsman than one from habit or necessity.
When the party reached their quarters, the person,
whose description last occupied us, separated himself
from the rest, and, clambering up the steep, sat down
on a commanding cliff, some hundred feet above
the cave, leaving the duties of the camp to be performed
by those who remained below. The latter,
after kindling up a fire in front of the cave, proceeded
to bring from the interior a light, portable
kettle and piece of salt junk, articles with which
such parties usually went provided, and soon became
busily engaged in dressing and preparing a
portion of the fruits of their day's labors for an
evening repast.
`Smith,' said the tall woodsman, whose peculiarities
we have before noted, now turning to one of his
comrades as they were proceeding with their culinary
labors; `say, Smith, what do you suppose Mr.
Selden has perched himself on that old crazy crag
up there for? He looks as glum and hazy as a catowl
winking at the sun with one eye and watching
a tree-toad with the other.'
`Well done for you, Pete Jones!' responded the
person addressed; `I rather guess you have hit the
nail on the head this time; for Selden, I've noticed,
is fond of looking at prospects—scenery, I think he
calls it—well, while he has an eye for that, it's my
opinion he is on the look-out for mischief, which he
thinks may perhaps be brewing for us somewhere—
what say you, Brown?'
`Well, I don't know,' replied the latter, a plain,
blunt, and somewhat dogged looking man; `there
may be something in your idea—and come to think
of it, I guess it is so: You know we caught a
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glimpse or two of a fellow skulking round the shore
over yonder last evening as we were coming across
to take up our quarters here; and I remember that
Selden seemed to watch his movements as if he
had some suspicions that the fellow might be a spy
upon us.'
`That's it,' rejoined Smith; `and if Selden
named the affair to the Captain when he joined us
last night, as I'll warrant you he did, seeing they
had considerable private talk together, most likely
he got orders to keep a spare eye for breakers to-day.
I have noticed several times this afternoon
that he seemed to be looking round the lake rather
anxiously; and it was that which set me to thinking.
'
`By the way,' interposed Jones; `what in the
world can have got the Captain, that he aint in by
this time? not a single loud word has his rifle spoken
to-day, to my hearing.'
`He has doubtless taken a wide range to day,'
replied Smith, who assumed to be the best guesser
of the trio; `but an eye as keen, and an aim as
sure as the young Captain's, never need be exercised
a whole day for nothing on these mountains.
He don't come home empty to night, you'll find.'
`I wish he would come, however,' observed
Brown; `I am anxious to know what are to be the
orders for tomorrow. I hope he wont make us
wait here another day for more to join us before we
proceed on the business we came for. We have
now been nearly three days, coming and here, without
a chance of setting our seals to the back of a
single Yorker. I would'nt have volunteered and
left my work at this busy season but for Captain
Warrington's promise to let us have right at 'em,
and be off again. And I would'nt at no rate, if he
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had not fought so like a young lion for me at the
time these land sharks turned us, wife, little ones
and all, out into the snow. He did me God's service
at that time; so I thought I ought to oblige
him by coming. Though besure I was obliging my
own feelings about as much; for, so help me Heaven!
I would go fourteen miles barefoot in January
for a chance to pay off scores upon those same
York gentry.'
`So would I,' remarked Smith; `for what was
your case may soon be mine, unless we all turn out,
and drive the scoundrels from the Grants every time
they put foot within them. So we must not grudge
a little time spent in paying off our debts in this
manner, seeing we shall be doing the public a service
at the same time. Only think of Warrington!
He has spent more than half his time in this way for
the last three years; and all he has ever got by it
has been to have a price set upon his head.'
`They have set a price on my head too,' gloomily
resumed the other; `but as for the Captain, he
will have his reward in heaven; while they have
made me so savage and murderous in my feelings
that I begin to fear that heaven will be no place for
me.'
`Well, I owe the scamps nothing in particular
myself, I believe,' observed Jones; `but not knowing
how soon I might, seeing as how I had lately bought
a new lot down there near Old Ti, I thought I
might as well join you a spell to learn the way and
manner of fixing the chaps. And I calculated if
any body could show me 'twas Captain Charley,
who they say is a trifle braver than Julius Cæsar,
besides having a heart as big as a meeting-house.'
`What would you say of Ethan Allen at that rate?'
asked Smith, laughing.
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`Ethan Allen? Lordy! why, two Alexanders,
with half a dozen Turks thrown in to stiffen the upper
lip, would be used up in making the priming to
Ethan Allen! But hoo! what in the divil's name
has come among us now?' continued the speaker,
pointing to a new figure that had arrived unperceived,
and noiselessly taken a station within a few yards
of the company.
All eyes were now turned to the spot indicated
by the words and odd gesticulations of their companion.
There stood a young Indian, quietly looking
at the company, or rather, after the peculiarity of
his race, looking at every thing else but the company,
the moment they turned and confronted him.
He held a rifle in his hand, while his dress differed
but little from the ordinary garb of the settlers.
`Umph!' he at length exclaimed in the peculiar,
jerking gutteral of the native Indian; `Massa Cappen—
him no here!'
`Guessed exactly right, Tawney!' cried Jones,
awakening from the momentary surprise into which
he, as well as his companions, had been thrown by
the unexpected appearance of such a visiter; `but
what do you want with the Captain, my beauty?'
`Umph! you ask, when me tell, then you know,'
quickly replied the Indian, with the apparent object
both to evade the question and retort on the interrogator
for the manner in which it was put.
`Right, again!' exclaimed Smith, pleased at the
rebuff thus received by the professed joker of the
party; `here, Jones, let me manage him. Where
did you leave your company, friend?' he continued,
addressing the native coaxingly—`I conclude there
are more of your people somewhere hereabouts?'
`Umph!' answered the native with a sarcastic
smile; `Now you fraid—scare—why you no run?'
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`Righter than ever!' shouted Jones, laughing
heartily in turn at his baffled comrade, who had fared
even worse than himself in the rencounter.
Other methods were then taken to draw from the
Indian his name and business, but without the least
success. He either stood mute, or answered with
such odd evasions, that they soon gave over the attempt,
and called to Selden on the hill, intimating
that his presence was needed below. That person,
who proved to be second in command in the expedition,
as if partly apprized of what was going on,
immediately came down and appeared among them.
`Leftenant Selden,' said Jones, `they say you can
make poetry out of rocks and trees, if you are a
mind to—now we want to see what you can make
out of this fellow.'
`He is very evidently a domesticated Indian,'
seriously replied the person addressed, who appeared
just then to be in no humor to relish the jokes of the
other. `He probably resides with some family in
the vicinity. I think I have heard Warrington speak
of meeting one of his description in a hunting adventure
in this quarter.'
`Well, he inquired for the captain,' observed Smith.
`Then he has some business with him, I presume,'
rejoined Selden; `some friendly message, perhaps.
`Umph! that man say it,' said the subject of their
discourse, pointing to the former with an expressive
and respectful look.
`We will try then to hasten the Captain's return,'
observed Selden, and taking from his pocket a sort
of whistle, formed from the leg-bone of a deer, he
blew a blast whose loud, shrill note was capable of
being heard at a great distance.
A strict silence of several moments was now observed
by the whole party in listening for a reply
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from their leader, who, it was understood, carried
about him a crresponding instrument. At length,
instead of a reply from a whistle, the sharp report
of a rifle burst from a neighboring glen, and, echoing
wildly from cliff to cliff in the surrounding stillness,
died slowly away on the distant mountains.
`There he is!' `There goes the Captain's rifle—I
should know her voice among a thousand,' simultaneously
burst from the lips of several of the company.
`Just as I told you,' said Smith; `I knew he would
never return empty. That shot, mark me, brought
down a deer, which he had in his eye when the Leftenant
whistled, and prevented his answering the
call, which no small game would.'
The event soon proved the truth of the last speaker's
conjecture. The heavy, slow tread, as of one
carrying some weighty load, now became distinguishable
at a distance in the woods, the sounds falling
more and more distinctly on the ear every moment,
as they approached the spot where the expectant
and excited party stood, eagerly straining their
eyes to catch the first glimpse of their huntsman
leader. At length he emerged from the bushes,
bearing a noble buck upon his shoulders. Advancing,
amidst the congratulations of his followers, he
came up to the spot, and, with the air of one relieved
from a heavy burden, threw down his prize to
the ground before them. Of the probable age of
twenty-six or eight, he was a man of a very fine and
even majestic appearance. Though tall and muscular,
so compactly and finely set were his limbs, that
his contour presented nothing to the eye in the least
disproportioned or ungainly. His features seemed
to correspond in regularity of formation to the rest
of his person, while his countenance was rather of
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the cool and deliberate cast, indicative, however, of
a mild, benevolent disposition, as well as a sound,
reflecting intellect. Every developement, indeed,
whether of his shapely head or manly countenance,
went to show a strong, well balanced character, and
one capable of action beyond the scope of ordinary
men. His dress, which was that of a huntsman,
was neat—not rich—but tastefully arranged and well
fitted. A mahogany-stocked rifle, richly chased with
silver, with small arms partially concealed in his dress,
completed his equipments.
`Heaven save me from another such jaunt,' were
his first words after he had thrown down his load
and recovered himself a little; `a noble buck, indeed,
but the chase has been rather a dear one.'
`I don't see how it could well have been otherwise,
Captain,' observed Selden, now evidently in
high spirits and disposed for a little merriment—
`Your huntsmen, whenever a deer's in the race,
Like your lovers, of course, must expect a dear chase.
`Mine has been somewhat dearer, however, I think,'
replied the former with an appreciating smile, `than
was necessary to give zest to those savory trout,
which, by the way, I am right glad to see so nearly
ready for the partaking.'
`Yes,' rejoined the other, glancing round at the
Indian, who stood demure and silent in the background,
with his face partly averted from the company,
`and yet I know not, really, Captain Warrington,
but you may have other fish to fry first.'
`And just about the oddest fish, too, that we have
caught to-day, Captain,' said Jones, instantly understanding
the allusion of the last speaker: `I rather
think he must be a sort of shell-fish, from the difficulty
we found in getting his mouth open.'
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`O ho!' exclaimed Warrington, his eye now for
the first time resting on the form of the Indian, and
his countenance clearing up from the puzzled expression
that had come over it for the instant at the
enigmatical words of his friends; `a new recruit!
that explains your call, the wherefore I was about to
ask—a new recruit of doubtful credentials, eh?'
So saying he advanced to the side of the Indian
youth and attentively examined his features; while
the object of his scrutiny stood perfectly immoveable
and apparently unconscious of the examination
he was undergoing, till perceiving by the hesitation
of the other that he was not likely to be recognized,
he, without looking up, or varying the expression
of a single muscle of his face, quietly observed,
`Massa Cappen no remember Neshobee—no remember
shoot three wolf.'
`Aha?' said the other, recalled by the last allusion;
`the same poor fellow that I so providentially
came across, and relieved from that savage pack of
wolves last year, on these very mountains? You
may well remember that escape, my friend. But it
is strange I did not know you.'
`Neshobee hunt all day,' resumed the Indian, intent
on rehearsing the event, the remembrance of
which seemed to light up his countenance to something
like the indications of feeling, and incline
him to unusual loquacity; `hunt, hunt—kill no
deer—dark come fast. Now hear wolf way out
there, howl! howl! Now way out here, howl!
howl! Now um come together, howl! howl!—
Now near off, howl! howl! Now me know what
um want, and climb small tree quick. Wolf come,
five, six, hungry and lap um mouth. Me shoot; kill
one, and go to load um up again—so no think
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nothing, and drop um rifle low down—wolf jump high,
catch um away—now rifle all gone—no get um—
wolf get mad fast—bite um tree, gnaw, gnaw, wolf
no do so fore. Now tree begin shake, shake to fall
soon. Now bend, bend, slow long down—wolf
jump, jump, snap um white teeth, and most jest
catch um Neshobee. Now hoo! bang! one wolf
kick over dead—Cappen out there in the bush.—
Shoot again, two dead! Shoot again, three dead!
Now the rest two wolf begin to mistrust to run
away afore they dead too. Now Neshobee come
down—stay all night in cave with um Cappen—him
very good, no forget um.'
`Very nearly correct, I believe, Neshobee,' observed
Warrington, as the Indian closed his recital,
the longest perhaps he ever made in his life, for unluckily,
it may be, for the romance of our tale,
Neshobee was no Logan or Red Jacket, either in
length of speech, or that peculiar eloquence, which
most of our writers seem to delight in attributing to
the sons of the forest; `very nearly correct, but
are you out on another hunt in this quarter, or does
other business bring you here at this time?'
`No much hunt, me come for.'
`What then?'
`Missus Story talk um on paper for Cappen better
nor Neshobee say,' replied the Indian, handing
Warrington a small dingy scrap of paper.
The latter, after running hastily over the contents
of the billet, which caused his eye to kindle with
enthusiasm as he read, immediately turned to the
company, and, with a cheerful, animated air, observed,
`It is from our friend, widow Story, of the
Creek down here, and contains news of interest,
my boys—shall I read it to you?'
`Aye, aye, Captain,' was the eager response.
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`Listen then.'
“Capt. W.—I tear out the blank leaf of my
bible to say, the Philistines be upon thee, Sampson.
They came over the Creek somewhere north of here,
and, after a short consultation near the edge of my
clearing, from which I luckily espied them, struck off
towards the lake. Munroe, as usual, heads the party—
ten in number, as I counted. There are five of
you, at least; and that is enough, if you are of the
stuff I think you, to attend to confirming our titles in
this neighborhood. My messenger is a chance one,
but true and friendly, and may be enlisted, I think,
for the night's work, if needed.
God speed you all.
ANN STORY.”
This spirited epistle was received by the company
with a `loud hurra for the widow!' and notwithstanding
it brought them the startling intelligence
that the Sheriff of Albany county, with an armed
force of twice their own number, was on the march
to seize them, two of whom, at least, were known to
be under sentence of outlawry, for former resistance
to the New York authorities, while attempting to
execute their cruel mandates on the persons or property
of the settlers—notwithstanding this, the news
was received with the liveliest expressions of joy and
enthusiasm. An escape from their pursuers into
the forest, or on to the water in their canoe, which
was the only one in the lake, they well knew might
easily be effected. But this was no part of the plan
of this resolute little band of Green Mountain Boys;
nor was the possibility of their being overpowered
and taken deemed by them scarcely more worthy of
their consideration. Their object was the punishment
of their foes, for the accomplishment of which
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this was hailed by them all as a golden opportunity.
From the unwonted boldness with which this noted
troubler of the Grants was attempting to push so far
into the interior with so small a number of men, all
of whom were supposed to be unacquainted with the
forest in this part of the country, it was rightly conjectured
that he must have been apprized, by some
traitorous settler, not only of the exact situation of
the present rendezvous, but also of the number of
these occupying it; and for similar reasons it was
concluded that this person must now be with the approaching
enemy, acting as guide in conducting them
to the spot, where they doubtless anticipated taking
their intended victims by complete surprize, and then
hurrying with them by night over the country to the
British fort at Ticonderega, before the settlers could
be rallied for a rescue. In this opinion our band
were confirmed by the suspicious appearance of a
man, who, as before intimated, had been seen the
evening before luikirg round the shores of the lake,
and who, it was now scarcely longer to be doubted,
was a spy, dogging them to such place as they might
select for their encampment. Next to the sheriff,
therefore, and even before him, was this person,
whose offence was considered the most heinous of
the two, particularly marked for punishment; and it
was determined to identify and seize him, if possible,
and wherever he might prove, make him an example
to all future traitors. To retain their strong hold,
the cavern, however defensible it might be, was no
object with our party, as their leader had already determined
to leave it the following morning to proceed
all the main purpose of their excursion, which was
to break up an establishment of their opponents, who
had obtained a strong foothold at the lower falls of
Otter Creek, and to seize a York surveyor, locating
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lands in that vicinity—from which purpose they had
only turned aside for a day or two to give others an
opportunity to join them on the lake, the appointed
rendezvous, and a pleasant spot for employing the interim
in fishing and hunting. Accordingly it was
soon concluded to make no regular defence of the
cave, bat, using it only so far as might best favor
them in their object of discomfiring the enemy, the
modes of doing which were yet to be devised, leave
it to their possession, and quit the place that night.
Their game and such moveables as were not immediately
wanted were therefore now transferred to the
boat, which was removed to a secret landing, where
the party were ordered to repair at the signal-call of
the whistle. These brief arrangements having been
completed, and the young Indian, who seemed to enter
with great spirit into the enterprize, being employed
to stand on the look-out, the company, with
their loaded rifles by their sides, sat down to their
sylvan meal, over which they discussed, in gleeful
mood, the various and ingenious methods which were
successively proposed for the reception and chastisement
of their assailants, who were expected to make
their appearance as soon as it was fairly dark.
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CHAPTER II.
`Thus, spite of prayers her schemes pursuing,
She went on still to work our ruin;
Annul'd our charters of releases,
And tore our title-deeds to pieces;
Then sign'd her warrants of ejection,
And gallows raised to stretch our necks on;
And straitway sent, like dogs to bait us,
Munroe, with posse comitatus.'
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Leaving our little band of Green Mountain Boys
to discuss and settle the manner of receiving their
expected visitors, and to make their dispositions for
carrying such plan, as should be finally adopted, into
effect, we will now change the scene a little, and, introducing
the reader to those visitors themselves, accompany
him and them to the scene of action.
In a thickly wooded swamp, near the northern extremity
of the lake before described, were assembled
a group of ten men, awaiting the approach of darkness,
which was already begining to settle in successive
and fast increasing shades upon the low lands
and glens along the foot of the mountain. They
were all armed, though variously—some having muskets,
some large pistols, and some only oaken cudgels.
Apart from the rest stood their leader, a stern,
rough looking personage, engaged in a low, earnest
conversation with another individual, of the apparent
age of twenty-five, whose dress and general demeanor
seemed to forbid the conclusion that he was either
a common follower, or one in any command; and
yet, from the interest he manifested in the business
in hand, it was evident he was in some way connected
with the expedition. As the last named person
-- 029 --
[figure description] Page 029.[end figure description]
may occupy considerable space in our tale, we will
pause to note his personal appearance more particularly:
he was of about the middle height, well made,
though of rather slight proportions. His features,
though regular, were common-place and inexpressive,
with the exception of a pair of small, twinkling black
eyes, in which an observant spectator might often
read meaning considerably at variance with the import
of his language, his plausible manners, and the
obsequious, smirking smile, which he usually assumed
while addressing those with whom he had a point to
carry. The construction of his head seemed to be
somewhat peculiar—his forehead, which was very
tall, being nearly in the shape of a triangle with the
base resting on the eyebrows, and the sides narrowing
to an apex at the hair above; while his head, as
far back as the ears, swelling upwards into large protuberances,
might be better represented by a triangle
reversed. His dress was of a finer texture than that
of any of his present associates, or that ordinarily
worn by the settlers, and his whole appeareance, indeed,
deno'ed some connexion with the more wealthy
and fashionable classes of society.
`You say, Sherwood,' observed the former of the
two last mentioned persons, at that part of their dialogue
which it concerns us to repeat: `you say that,
from having been yourself at this cave, you know all
the surrounding localities?'
`Exactly—just as I described to you when I reached
you last night. There can be no mistaking the
place. They are still there, as is evident from the
smoke which we saw rising over the spot just now,
while passing the head of the lake. The path is now
plain, and the came sure, without further guidance;
so I think, as I began to suggest to your a few
ago, that you may now dispense with my
-- 030 --
[figure description] Page 030.[end figure description]
further attendance. If I should be seen by any of
their party I should be delicately situated here in the
settlement.'
`To the devil with your delicacy! Why, man, do
you think I am going on in the dark, stumbling over
logs and through bogs, without a guide? Even you
are none too good a one for this cursed hole; but
such as you are, in the king's name, I retain you;
so not another word about quitting us till the scoundrels
are secured.'
`I am certainly aware, Mr. Munroe, of the importance
of securing this Warrington, so great a disturber
of the public peace, but—'
`Disturber! doubly damned rebel! Why, no man
in the settlement has caused me so much trouble,
considering his audacious assault on me, and all. It
will do me more good to see him hung than to sit at
the king's banquet!'
`O, certainly—it would me; and I would by all
means aid you even to the capture, if your honor's
well known sagacity and bravery on such occasions
did not render my assistance wholly unnecessary.'
`Well, well, Jake,' replied the Sheriff, relaxing a
little from his wonted roughness at the flattering expressions
of the other; `suppose I am all that you
say, it won't serve me in finding a fox's hole in these
woods any better than the instinct of any country
booby, nor half so well. I tell you, Sherwood, you
must conduct us to the place, at least; for we shall
then have enough to do to take the fellow, and, what
is worse, to get him through the settlement to Ticonderoga.
Why, there is not an old woman in all the
Grants but will fight for the scoundrel as if he was
one of her own brats.'
`O, there can be no great trouble, the surprize
will be so great; but, as your honor desires it, I will
-- 031 --
[figure description] Page 031.[end figure description]
go so far as to point out the place, on condition that
I then be allowed to keep out of sight.'
`Yes, but your half of the reward for taking the
fellows, for you say that there is at least one outlaw
besides Warrington: you won't claim all that unless
you help us through the whole affair, will you?'
`Your honor forgets that I was only to conduct
you so far as to point out their retreat.'
`Have it your own way, then—but I hate to see
a fellow so keen on the chase, and then become so
devilish prudent the moment he approaches the
game,' grumbled Munroe, turning away to give some
orders to his men, preparatory to resuming their
march.
It having now become sufficiently dark for their
purpose, the party were put in motion for the prosecution
of their enterprise. And after striking a
light and procuring some materials for torches from
the pine knots gathered in the surrounding windfalls,
they set forward toward the place of their destination,
then about a mile distant. Keeping as far
from the shore of the lake as the nature of the
ground would permit, lest the gleams of their light,
striking across the water to the vicinity of the cave,
should betray their approach, they pursued their
way along the foot of the mountain with all possible
silence and caution; while the glare of their torches,
glittering on the points of the crags, and thrown
back on to the dark forms, and eager and flushed
visages of the party, gliding stealthily along in Indian
file beneath the over hanging cliffs, like tigers for
their prey, gave them a singularly wild and almost
unearthly appearance. At length they arrived at a
sharp knoll, which, running down from the main
ridge above to the water, had so far screened their
approach, and enabled them to advance with their
-- 032 --
[figure description] Page 032.[end figure description]
lights unseen within a few hundred yards of the
cavern. Here they made a brief halt to arrange
their forces for the onset. As soon as this was effected,
Munroe and Sherwood crept noiselessly over
the intervening rise, followed at short intervals by
the rest of the party, with the exception of one
man left behind in charge of the torches. Having
descended to the level beyond, they again paused
to listen and reconnoiter before venturing any farther.
All was dark and silent before them. And
concluding that their intended victims had retired
within the cave and were, probably, by this time, reposing
in unsuspecting slumbers, they now congratulated
themselves on a certain and easy conquest,
and, with freshened impulse, once more began to
move briskly forward; when the loud whoo! whoo!—
whoo! whoo! of the `dismal bird of night,' or of
something strikingly resembling it in note, proceeding
from some point above, came pealing through
the darkness with fearful distinctness to the ears of
the company. All gave an involuntary start.—
Even the stout-hearted Munroe, for the instant,
could scarcely avoid quaking at the strangely dismal
notes that thus broke from utter stillness so unexpectedly
upon them. The next moment, however, as
the consciousness of the insignificant cause of their
affright came over them, a half stifled giggling ran
through the company; while their leader muttering
a dry `umph! scared at a damned owl!' motioned
Sherwood to proceed. But the latter, more accustomed
to the notes of the supposed animal, and
thinking he detected something not quite natural in
the sounds they had just heard, became secretly impressed
with the fears of an ambush, and, without
imparting his suspicions, he hastily pointed out to
the sheriff the mouth of the cave, whose dim
-- 033 --
[figure description] Page 033.[end figure description]
outlines had now become discernable, and, instantly
returning to the rear, quickly retreated over the hill.
With a few muttered expressions of contempt at
the flight of the wary and timid guide, Munroe
once more set forward with the determined motions
of one who is resolved not again to be interrupted
by any slight causes. And being now promptly followed
by his men, he soon, and without further obstacle,
arrived at the mouth of the cave, and, bringing
up his forces, immediately surrounded it. Here
they all paused, standing motionless and silent, listening
long and intensely. Every thing within and
around was as still as if no living being was within
a mile of the place.
`Hallo!' at length sharply uttered the Sheriff,
after waiting till he began to doubt whether his anticipated
captives had escaped, or were all snugly
asleep in the cave, `hallo! within there!'
`Hallo, without there!' was the ready reply from
the cavern.
`Ha! ye rebel dogs!' exultingly exclaimed Munroe;
`you are there, are ye? We have kenneled
ye at last, then. Now hear me—I command ye to
surrender yourselves to the king's warrant, every
scoundrel of ye—but first of all Charles Warrington—
do you hear the summons?'
`We hear the summons, and well comprehend
its import,' coolly replied the voice from the cave,
which was evidently that of the person especially
named by the sheriff; `but touching your last demand,
mine ancient friend—for in your voice I
think I recognize the person with whom I once exchanged
civilities in the southern part of our favored
settlement—touching your last demand, I beg
leave to observe, that being somewhat personally interested
myself in the decision to be made in
-- 034 --
[figure description] Page 034.[end figure description]
regard to the requirement, I would respectfully refer
you to my friends here, who will doubtless give you
such answer as their unbiassed judgments shall dictate.
'
`Do you think to dally with me, scoundrel?'—
stormed Munroe, nettled at the provoking coolness
of his antagonist, and especially at his ironical allusion
to a personal chastisement received from his
hands the year before; `such attempts will but little
avail you, you'll find. Nor will it be of the least
use, let me tell you all, to think of contending
against our numbers: and the longer you hold out
the worse it shall be for ye. So yield yourselves instantly,
or, so help me Beelzebub, every dog of you
shall swing for it.'
`Assertions,' observed Selden, who, being Warrington's
only companion in the cave, now took up
the discourse on the hint of his superior; `assertions,
sir Sheriff, sometimes unfortunately are more
easily made than proved. You may not find us,
perhaps, so entirely unprepared for your visit as you
have expected, notwithstanding our warder thought
fit, in his owl-like wisdom, to be somewhat tardy in
announcing your approach. It may not be prudent
in us, however, to speak wholly without reserve in
this matter, as we know not how much aid your
Honor may expect from the friend you last invoked.
'
The intimations which they gathered from these
replies, together with the jeering calmness attending
them, which seemed to imply a sense of security in
the assailed from resources unknown to the assailants,
considerably dampened the ardor of the Sheriff
and his band; and they began to suspect that
their triumphs might not prove so cheaply won as
they had anticipated. The men, indeed, now began
-- 035 --
[figure description] Page 035.[end figure description]
gan to show symptoms of fear and uneasiness at
standing longer before the mouth of the cave, from
which, for aught they could see or know, a dozen
loaded rifles might be pointed against them; and
their leader shouted loudly to the man left in the
rear, directing him to come on with lights, and declaring
at the same time with a tremendous oath,
that if the stubborn rascals didn't instantly yield, he
would send a volley of balls in among them, and if
that failed, he would smoke them out like so many
burroughed foxes. He was not allowed, however,
much time to attempt the fulfilment of his menaces:
for the Green Mountain Boys, two of whom
only, as before mentioned, were in the cave, the
rest being stationed in the nearest surrounding coverts,
now deemed it time to begin their plan of operations.
Suddenly a fearful screech, something
between that of a man and a wild brute, isssuing
from the thicket above the cave, resounded through
the forest, sending its startling thrill to the very
hearts of the appalled and astonished assailants.—
All eyes were involuntarily turned upwards to the
spot from which these terrific sounds seemed to
proceed.
`A catamount! a catamount!' wildly shouted
several of the party.
`Where? where?' eagerly exclaimed others.
`There! up there in the fork of that tree!' hurriedly
replied the former, pointing to the top of a
leaning tree that projected nearly over the mouth of
the cave, in a broad fork of which the outlines of
a dark body, as if some large animal crouching for
a leap upon his prey, with great fiery eye-balls glaring
down upon them, was sufficiently discernable to
justify their alarm.
`He moves!' cried one, `hark! hear him fixing
-- 036 --
[figure description] Page 036.[end figure description]
his claws in the bark! There, he stirs again! look
out! he's going to leap down upon us—fire! quick,
all hands, fire!'
`Hold! hold!' shouted Munroe, the suspicion of
a trick now for the first time flashing across his mind.
But the command came too late; for while the
words were in his mouth, every gun and pistol in
the party, except his own, were discharged at the
object of their terror, which was seen, in the expiring
flash, to bound out from the tree directly over
the place where they stood; and all, in their eagerness
to avoid the clutches of the leaping animal,
well known to be terrible when wounded, even if
in the last agonies of death, broke away, and fled
in confusion from the spot, wholly unmindful of
their duty in guarding the mouth of the cave, and
every thing else, but their own safety, in the general
panic that had seized them. A momentary pause
followed the explosion of the fire-arms, in which
nothing was heard save the hasty scrambling of the
terrified Yorkers in their eager efforts to escape.
In an instant, however, a rushing from other quarters
was heard—dark forms were seen swiftly gliding
from the cave and the thickets above, in the
direction of the retreating party, among whom, in
a moment more, a cry of dismay rose wildly on the
air. Munroe, and three of his men, were suddenly
seized round their waists or legs, from behind, by the
iron grasp of grappling arms, and, being lifted from
the ground, were upborne with resistless force and
rapidity towards the shore of the lake; all of them
but their leader verily believing, in the fright and
confusion of the moment, that it was the catamount,
whose fearful image was still uppermost in their
minds, that had seized them and was bearing them
off in his grasp.
-- 037 --
[figure description] Page 037.[end figure description]
`Help! help, here! He has got me! for God's
sake help me!' screamed one in an agony of terror.
`Murder!' exclaimed another; `Oh! get him off—
get him off! murder! murder!'
`Oh! aw!' cried the third in a yell of despair;—
`he has got his claws in my throat—he'll kill me—
he will! he will! yah! yah!'
Munroe alone, of all the thus oddly captured party,
was mute. Rightly judging the character of the
foe into whose hands he had fallen, and boiling with
silent rage, he made the most desperate struggles to
free himself from the vice like grasp of his captor,
who, he at once concluded from his great strength,
the effects of which he had before experienced,
could be no other than Warrington. But wholly
failing in this attempt, and finding himself still carried
rapidly onward, he knew not to what destination,
he next tried to disengage his dirk from its
sheath, in which it was confined beneath the grappling
arm of his opponent. Before succeeding in
this, however, and while intent only on his murderous
design, he was borne by his intended victim to
the margin of the water, and, with a giant effort,
hurled headlong over the bank. The loud splashing
that succeeded told that he was now struggling
in the embrace of a different, though not a much
more comfortable, antagonist; while three more
heavy plunges, following in irregular succession
along the bank, still further announced that the
vanquished sheriff was not without the company of
a good share of his friends to console him in the
discomforts of the new element, into which they all
had been so suddenly and unexpectedly translated.
The shrill notes of Warrington's signal whistle now
-- 038 --
[figure description] Page 038.[end figure description]
sounded the preconcerted retreat. In a moment
more the victorious party were assembled at the appointed
landing—in another they were embarked;
while their boat, by the strong push of the last man
springing in, was sent, by the single impulse, so far
into the lake as to put a safe distance between them
and their foes, now beginning to rally, with cries of
rage, on the shore. An uncontrolable peal of laughter,
ending in three loud and lively cheers, now
burst from the Green Mountain Boys, rending the
welkin above, and startling the deep recesses of
the surrounding forests with the triumphant shout.
`The battle being over,' observed Warrington,
after the noise of their merriment and exultation
had measurably subsided; `let us now turn our attention
to the wounded and missing.'
`All whole of skin, I imagine,' said Selden;
`though here is one, Smith, I believe it is, who
comes from the fight, as near as I can discover, like
the Benjaminite of the scripture just escaped from
the Philistines, with head bare and garments rent.'
`I must leave my old otter skin cap in their hands
I 'spose,' coolly replied Smith; `I had to take it to
finish off the catamount's head with; for I could'nt
fix the fox-fire for the eyes into the end of that bundle
of dry grass, that I made the body of, so as to
look any how natural without it, and when I pushed
the thing out of the crotch, as I stood behind the
tree with my pole, I gave it such a hoist over into the
bushes among the scared devils that 'twas out of the
question to think of looking for the cap, and grabbing
one of the scamps too. But as to my coat being
tore here a little, I do'nt valley it a fraction,
seeing as how the ragamuffin I hove into the lake
got pretty well choaked to pay for it.'
-- 039 --
[figure description] Page 039.[end figure description]
`Ah, you have done well, Smith,' said the leader;
`all of you, indeed, have done nobly; but of
that hereafter—one of our number I believe is missing—
which is it?'
`It is Pete Jones,' replied Brown.
`And the Indian chap,' added Smith.
`The Indian,' resumed Warrington, `after announcing
the enemy for us by his admirable imitation
of the owl, departed by himself, I presume.—
As near as I could gather from him, he did not
wish to be known as acting against the Yorkers.—
He probably lives with some family in the vicinity
who are trying to stand neutral in this warfare, and
who have cautioned him to govern himself accordingly.
His absence therefore does not surprise
me. But what can have become of Jones? He
surely is not a fellow to be easily ensnared, or over-powered.
'
`I rather suspect,' replied Brown; `he is after
that traitor. As when the Yorkers were creeping
on toward the cave he whispered to me he thought
he saw a fellow pointing out the place, and slipping
back over the hill, who, he guessed, was the one—
and the last I saw of Pete, he was working off
that way. Suppose, Captain, that we row along so
as to stand off the shore in that direction, to be
ready to take him in, should he give the word?'
In pursuance of this prudent suggestion the boat
was immediately headed round to the north, and
rowed noislessly along the shore in the direction
supposed to be taken by their missing companion.
They had made but little progress, however, before
they were startled by the sudden flash and sharp report
of a pistol, in a thicket near the shore, about a
furlong ahead.
-- 040 --
[figure description] Page 040.[end figure description]
`There goes trouble for poor Jones, I fear,—the
dastard has attempted his life!' cried Warrington, in
the varying tones of fear for the result and indignation
for the attempt; `but if help be of any further
use to him, he shall have it. So, men, pull for it!
pull for the spot with every nerve you have got, or
the Yorkers will be there before us.'
In an instant the canoe, almost leaping from its
element at every stroke of the excited and strong
armed oarsmen, was surging through the waters,
with bird-like velocity toward the place. As Warrington
had predicted, the enemy on shore, on hearing
the report of the pistol, immediately started for
this new scene of action. And, quickly perceiving
their opponents on the lake making rapidly for the
spot, they redoubled their speed, and rushed on as
fast as the obstacles of the woods and the wet
clothes and benumbed limbs of those who had been
ducked, would permit, to arrive in time to assist, or
rescue, as the case might require, their absent guide,
whom they readily concluded to be an actor in the
fracas, and revenge themselves, if possible, on the
whole band of their foes, for the sad discomfiture
just experienced. The race between the two contending
parties was a close one. The Green Mountain
Boys, however, were again in fortune. Their
boat came whirling up to the shore, adjoining the
scene of action, while the foremost of the enemy
was yet fifty yards distant.
`You may kick till all is blue,' muttered Jones,
whose tall form at that instant came peering from
the thicket, while with irregular motions he made
toward the boat, bearing bolt upright in his arms
before him his grappled foe, who was struggling
with terrible violence, and kicking desperately
-- 041 --
[figure description] Page 041.[end figure description]
against every tree within reach of his feet, with the
hope of retarding the progress of his captor till succour
arrived; `you may kick, and be hanged! but
you have jest got to go, my sweet lad, and into a
little better company too than you hoped for, I
guess. No help for it—so in with you—there!—
now make yourself comfortable friend,' concluded
the woodsman, pitching his captive headlong into
the boat, and leaping in himself, just in time to escape
the pursuers now close at his heels.
`Escaped again, by the pains of tophet!' exclaimed
the enraged Munroe from the bank, as the
boat, previously headed round, shot out into the
lake beyond the reach of the twice baffled Yorkers:
`fire! fire! upon the damned rascals!'
The command was scarcely uttered before Jones,
having as quick as thought again grappled his captive,
and faced round toward the shore, was holding
the deprecating victim before him in the stern
so as to cover the range of the expected volley.
`Let drive there!' exclaimed Pete, with the utmost
nonchalance, `you need'nt feel any delicacy,
gentlemen, for I'll agree to take all the bullets you'll
send through this beautiful target I'm holding for
you.'
`Dont fire! for God's sake dont let'em fire, Munroe!
' screamed the struggling and terrified prisoner.
`You need not be much alarmed I think, fellow:'
said Warrington, `the sheriff's pistols must be rather
too wet to be very dangerous; and as to the
arms of the rest, which were all discharged at the
catamount, we shall have but little to fear from
them by the time they can be loaded.'
`I mistrusted as much myself,' observed Jones, releasing
the prisoner; `but I thought I would scare
the fellow a little for his scurvy treatment to me.'
-- 042 --
[figure description] Page 042.[end figure description]
`The pistol we heard, then, was meant, as we
suspected, for you?' asked the leader.
`O, yes,' replied the other carelessly; `to be sure
he showed the best good will in the world to make
a hole in me; but I should'nt have laid that up
much, seeing he missed his aim, which is a sort of
punishment of itself, you know, if he had'nt afterwards
offered me money to let him go and keep his
name and all close—why I never was so insulted in
my life!'
`His name? who is it? what is his name?' eagerly
asked several of the company.
`Mayhap, you from down south never heard of
him, and don't know him, but I did, the moment I
saw his face as he passed the fellow bringing the
torch light. His name is Sherwood, living down in
New Haven, and he is jest one of the smoothest fellows
that ever wore two faces in a day, asking his
pardon.'
`Sherwood—Sherwood,' said Warrington musingly;
`aha! I now remember to have heard of his
having been at Bennington, and also of his having
made some suspicious visits to Albany. But we
will examine his merits more particularly when we
reach the opposite shore.'
`See how wishful those fellows are looking after
us!' observed Jones, pointing back to the shore, now
about fifty rods distant, where the Yorkers, having
procured a light, were still standing in a dark group,
evidently trying to trace the course of the receding
boat; `I swan! if I was only bloody minded
enough, how I would like to take a shot into that
flock of York buzzards!'
`Hold up a little, oarsmen,' said the leader; `and
we will give them a kinder compliment than that,
-- 043 --
[figure description] Page 043.[end figure description]
before entirely parting. `So good night, Mr. Munroe,
' he continued rising in the boat, and raising his
loud clear voice to a pitch, which, in the dead stillness
of night, might have been distinctly audible to
a far greater distance; `good night! my old friend—
I hope for the pleasure of many such meetings
and partings before we die—pleasant dreams and a
good night to you!'
`Good night, sir Sheriff,' added Selden, in the
same strain of mock courtesy; `we humbly trust
you will duly appreciate our late reception of yourself
and fellows, in imitation of the much lauded
oriental custom of regaling friends with the luxury
of the cool bath, which, together with the honor
done you of being carried, like other immortal heroes,
on the shoulders of men, will make out an entertainment,
we flatter ourselves, not wholly unworthy
of our guests—good night!'
`Halloo there, Sheriff!' cried Jones determined
to have a parting shot as well as the rest; `halloo,
Sheriff, wont you jest be kind enough to tell us by
way of information, before we go, what kind of a
return you calculate to make on that warrant you
told us about. We should like grandly to see it
when you have got it fixed. That 'tother poor
bothered sheriff's non comeatibus in swampo, I guess,
would be a fool to it.'
-- 044 --
CHAPTER III.
“Ah, me! what perils do environ
The man that meddles with cold iron—
What plaguy mischiefs and mishaps
Do dog him still with afterclaps.”
[figure description] Page 044.[end figure description]
Sherwood, the person we introduced in the last
chapter, and left a prisoner in the hands of the
Green Mountain Boys, a fair candidate for the honors
of the Beech-seal, or some other of the novel
and ingenious modes of punishment, which the settlers
were accustomed to inflict on their foes with
equal promptitude, whether they were foreign or domestic,
was a resident of New Haven, in the vicinity
of the lower falls of Otter Creek, then embraced
within the limits of that town, but now forming the
site of Vergennes, the only incorporated city of Vermont.
He had here located himself, ostensively to
become a permanent settler—to share the fortunes
and identify himself with the interests of the New
Hampshire grantees; while in fact he was a secret
agent of a company of New York land-jobbers, in
their pay, and himself engaged, at the same time,
in speculating in the patents issued by the governor
of the last named province. Through the influence
of his father, a man of reputed wealth, living near
Albany, he had been taken into the employment of
this company. And they, soon finding him a person
well fitted for their purposes, induced him, by
opening to his avaricious mind the prospect of
making a fortune out of the poor settlers of the New
Hampshire Grants, in addition to the stated salary
-- 045 --
[figure description] Page 045.[end figure description]
to be allowed him, to take a secret agency, and locate
himself in some part of the settlement where
he would most effectually subserve their interests.—
In pursuance of this object it had been agreed that
he should first proceed to New Hampshire, and, taking
out a patent from that source, should enter
Vermont known only as a grantee of that province,
in order that he might thus be effectually secured
from the hostility of the settlers, and enabled to
maintain with them a free and unsuspected intercourse,
which, at the present juncture, could alone
insure him any success or safety. This had been
accordingly done something more than a year previous
to the events of our tale. A single lot of
land had been purchased and located by him near
the Otter, in the manner agreed on by the company.
And so speciously had this wily agent conducted,
beginning and carying on improvements just sufficient
to save appearances, while mainly pursuing
the objects of his residence in the settlement, that
till now he had passed wholly unsuspected of being
in the York interest, except in the slight question
that had been raised concerning his true character,
on account of his having been recognized by some
settlers from the south part of the grants, as before
intimated, while on one of his secret journeys to
Albany. With these remarks, which will apprise
the reader with all that may at present be necessary
to be known respecting the previous character
and employment of this personage, we will return
to the thread of our narrative.
Brightly rose the waning moon over the eastern
mountains, which cast their broad, wood-fringed
shadows far into the lake, while a flood of silvery
light, falling on the sleeping waters and towering
-- 046 --
[figure description] Page 046.[end figure description]
forest beyond, was gradually unfolding the bold and
magnificent outlines of this wilderness landscape,
as our victorious band of Green Mountain Boys
merrily sped their way to the western shore.
`What a glorious spectacle!' exclaimed Selden,
looking abroad over the scene, as the boat emerged
from the dark gloomy line of the mountain shadows
into the bright and cheerful tract of illumined waters,
that now met them on their course.
`Splendid! splendid, indeed!' responded Warrington,
with equal enthusiasm; `such scenes, one
would think, were enough to enamor the whole
world of a sylvan life.'
`And yet,' observed Selden, `those city smoked
exquisites, who claim all the taste and refinement
of the country, are horrified at the thought of the
life we here lead in the Green Mountains.'
`I dont think the creturs are so much to be
blamed for that,' said Pete Jones; `for bringing
them here I calculate would be putting them pretty
nearly in the plight of frogs that are dug from the
bottom of a well—always sure to shiver and die the
minute they are brought to the pure air.'
`If all this be so,' rejoined Warrington, significantly
glancing at the dress and comparatively delicate
appearance of the prisoner; `I hope that such
of this class, as are connected with a certain city to
the west of us, will be less inclined to favor our settlement
with their presence hereafter. Let them
stick to their mode of life and its luxuries, and we
will to our mountains. But I am reminded, Lieutenant,
' he continued, turning gaily to Selden, `of
the possibility of our being favored with something
on this subject in a more agreeable form, if I rightly
divined the nature of your employment, and the
-- 047 --
[figure description] Page 047.[end figure description]
rheme that occupied your mind there at the fire before
the cave last evening, after the rest of us had
retired to our stone couches for the night. Can
you oblige us with the fruits of your vigil, in the
shape of a song?'
`O, yes, such as it is—that is, if my music will
not jar upon the feelings of our friend in durance
here, and you are all willing to risk the same effect
on yourselves,' jocosely replied the other, as he pulled
from his pocket a small roll of white birch bark,
(the soft, smooth inner surface of which he had
made, as was in those times not unfrequently the
case, his papyrus in noting down his hasty effusion,)
and turning to the moonlight, commenced:
In the courts of high life, and in Fashion's domain,
Where Folly is licens'd by birth-right to reign,
Let the gay idle throng, in their old reckless measure,
Their phantoms still follow, and christen them pleasure.
But we, who disdain not to follow the plough,
And our livelihood gain by the sweat of the brow—
What have we here to do with the fashions of cities?
Their levees, theatricks and Opera ditties?
What to do with the trappings around them display'd?
Their half dress, their full dress, their dress promenade—
Their turtle-soup dinners, their port and champaign,
And knick-knacks unnumber'd that follow in train?
All these we will leave, and without one regret,
To the poor pamper'd wights of that butterfly set,
And turn to our dainties, the fruits of our mountains,
Our wines sparkling up in their health giving fonntains;
And wear with just pride, as forever we ought,
Our woollens and checks by our fire-sides wrought,
While we scout from our country those exquisite goats
Who measure their worth by the cloth of their coats.
-- 048 --
[figure description] Page 048.[end figure description]
As the clear, melodious voice of the singer, floating
free and wide over the hushed waters of the
lake, died away in the distance, and while the
shouts of applause, which greeted him at the close
of his performance, (intended as was supposed, to
hit off the York gentry, and the last couplet to apply
to the prisoner in particular,) were yet echoing
around, the boat of the elated Green Mountain
Boys reached its destined landing. And immediately
disembarking with their prisoner, they proceeded
to a rude, bark-covered shantee, built by
former visitors to the lake, and standing amidst a
group of large evergreens a few rods from the water.
There, after striking a light and kindling up a
cheerful fire, they promptly set about the business
of deciding upon the case of the supposed traitor.
For this purpose they formally resolved themselves,
as was usual in such cases where a resort could not
readily be had to a committee of safety, into a sort
of tribunal, very nearly resembling, we suppose, a
modern Lynch court, a form of dispensing justice
which, if ever justifiable, was undoubtedly so in the
acts of our early settlers in resisting that system of
legalized plunder attempted to be enforced on them
by their oppressors. And if the right of defending
their homes and possessions from unwarrantable
seizures be conceded them, it was certainly not only
justifiable but honorable in them to resort, as they
did, to such measures as they judged most effectual
in shielding from arrest and threatened punishment
those of their fellow settlers, who, by their patriotism
in the common cause, had rendered themselves
obnoxious to the arbitrary enactments of the usurping
government. For soon after the settlers had begun
openly to resist the authorities of New York in
-- 049 --
[figure description] Page 049.[end figure description]
attempting to dispossess them, a law, more despotic
perhaps than any to be found in the annals of legislation,
had been enacted by the assembly of that
province requiring some six or eight of the settlers,
who had been most conspicuous in the controversy,
to surrender themselves, on the order of the executive,
within seventy days, to a magistrate for imprisonment,
and in case of neglect to be adjudged convicted,
and, without hearing or trial, condemned to
suffer death. And not delivering themselves up, as
might well be expected, the governor issued his
proclamation proscribing them as felons, and offering
large rewards for their apprehension, which,
while it led to many secretly laid plots, and several
open, though fruitless attempts to seize them by the
Yorkers, in concert with a few traitorous settlers,
served only to endear them to an indignant and
aroused people, who publicly resolved to protect at
every hazard their proscribed leaders, and, at the
same time, prepare to defend the general interest
of the settlement even at the price of their
lives. Of this goodly company of outlaws, embracing
some of the first and most talented men of the
Grants, two, as before intimated, were among the
band whom we have introduced to the reader, and
to whom we will now return.
Pete Jones, the principal witness in the case now
to be decided, being called on for his testimony, related
at large, and in his own vein of peculiar drollery,
what he knew of the previous life and character
of the person who, it appeared, had been frequently
absent from home, though his excursions
were generally undertaken under the profesed character
of a sportsman, for the employments of which
he pretended a great liking, but for what reason
-- 050 --
[figure description] Page 050.[end figure description]
nobody could imagine, as it never could be ascertained
that he was ever successful. It also appeared that
he had been loud in his denunciations against the
Yorkers, and, as far as words could go, a great stickler
for the rights of the settlers. The witness then
related all the particulars of his detecting and capturing
the prisoner. After this, the accused was requested
to make his defence; when, to the surprise
of all, he wholly denied any hostile intention, or any
willing participation in the recent attempt of Munroe
to surprise and seize the present party at the
cave, deliberately stating, that while hunting in the
woods near the creek that afternoon, he was met,
made prisoner by the Yorkers, and compelled to accompany
them on their expedition, the object of
which they did not reveal to him. And in confirmation
of the truth of his statements and of his asserted
inocence, he cited the general character he
had always sustained as a friend of the settlers.
`Do you generally manifest your friendship for
the settlers by firing pistols at their heads, sir?'
asked Warrington, casting a look of withering contempt
on the prisoner.
`O, I was trying to escape,' replied Sherwood,
who had his ready answer to a question he had anticipated;
`I was on the point of escaping, and discharged
my pistol at this man, who beset me, to
prevent being retaken, supposing him all the while
to be one of the Yorkers.'
`Whew!' uttered Jones with a whistle, prolonged
into an exclamation; `now, honestly, friend, I must
crave leave to tell you—but that would'nt be manners,
and so I wont—though I should really like to
ask you, if there was any one Yorker there to-night
that a fellow of my short stature—only six foot
-- 051 --
[figure description] Page 051.[end figure description]
eleven, in shirt flaps—could be taken for with any
sort of conscience?'
`Yes, in the dark.'
`But you may remember, possibly, friend, that
you had to raise your pistol considerably higher
than your head to get aim at mine, which you seemed
to fancy shooting at in preference. Besides that,
we took what I call a fair measure of lengths on
the ground in the bit of grapple we had afterwards—
now most folks that I am acquainted with can
feel in the dark, if they can't see.'
`O, I was so confused and frightened, that I noticed
none of these circumstances, but really supposed
it was one of the Yorkers till you had got
with me nearly to the boat.'
`Well, now,' exclaimed Pete, dropping his head
in affected chagrin; `I vow to Jeremiah, I never
felt so mortified in my life! To be taken for a
Yorker! only think of that!'
`A sad mistake, truly,' observed Selden, addressing
his companions, while in a side glance he kept
an eye keenly fixed on the prisoner; `but still it
was scarcely a more singular one than I made as we
struck a light just now, when, turning to look at
this man, I could have sworn he was the identical
fellow we detected skulking about the shore yesterday—
the make, motion and dress of the two being
so very similar.'
`That's false!' hastily exclaimed Sherwood, completely
thrown off his guard by the round about
way, and designedly incorrect statement of the other,
made for the purpose of seeing its effect on the
prisoner; `that's false, for this was not the dress I
wore yest'—and he stopped short in visible confusion
at the thought of the admission he was
-- 052 --
[figure description] Page 052.[end figure description]
inadvertently making; while meaning and triumphant
glances were exchanged among the company. Soon
recovering in some degree his self possession, however,
and seeing how he had been entrapped, he attempted
to mend the matter by explaining that he
was about to say that this was not the dress he wore
yesterday, even had he been here, instead of a dozen
miles off, as he was, and could prove, as well as
his innocence of all the charges brought against
him, if time were but allowed him for the purpose.
And this, or his acquittal, he continued for some
time to demand, becoming, however, every moment
less assured in his tone, and more abject in
his manner, as he stealthily glanced round and read
his doom in the countenances of his judges.
`Well, gentlemen,' said the leader, breaking the
brief interval of silence, which followed the last
somewhat broken and confused remarks of the accused;
`you have heard the evidence against the
prisoner, as well as his defence and avowals of innocence.
Will you offer your individual opinions
on the question of his guilt? And we will first
hear what you may have to offer on the subject,
Mr. Jones?'
`Why, I dont know exactly about the chap, Captain,
' said the latter, with a mischievous cocking of
one eye, while screwing up his mouth nearly to the
ear on the opposite side of his face; `he says he
is innocent of the traitor, and it is a poor story if
he do'nt know. But I have two other charges
against him, which I consider rather gravus. Firstly,
according to his own story, he suffered himself,
with that clean pair of legs of his, and the woods
open for a run, if he chose that, or with gun and
pistols if he chose to stand and fight—(now while
-- 053 --
[figure description] Page 053.[end figure description]
I think on't I wonder what become of his gun)—he
suffered himself, I say, to be taken by the Yorkers
in a way and manner which is a burning shame to
a Green Mountain Boy, if so be he is one as he
pretends. And secondly he missed his aim when
he levelled at my head, for which a professed hunter
like himself ought to be ridiculous. So I think,
considering, I shall vote to have him viewed.[1]'
`And you, Smith, what is your verdict?
`My opinion is,' answered the man now addresssed,
`that the fellow's plausible palaver is all nothing
but a made up mess to bamboozle us with—I
should like to know how the Yorkers knew how we
were here on the lake, or how they happened to
find the cave without his help. The fact is, he
brought them here to seize us, and was probably
calculating to see some of us swinging on a York
gallows within a week. My verdict, therefore, will
be pretty much such a one as the king gave Haman.
'
`And what say you, Brown?'
`Guilty! guilty as a dog, and the liar knows it.'
`And lastly your opinion, Mr. Selden?'
`Briefly told—that the fellow's guilt is equalled
only by his effrontery. And yet, as this is his first
known offence, I would recommend a milder punishment
than the one which has been hinted at.'
`We are unanimous, then, in a verdict, gentlement,
' observed the chief, `if I understand your
various modes of expressing your opinions. And it
remains only to determine in what manner the prisoner
shall be punished for his offence. You are all,
including the prisoner himself, I presume, well
-- 054 --
[figure description] Page 054.[end figure description]
aware that, by a decree of our Convention, the only
source of law we feel ourselves bound to regard in
cases of this kind, the crime of aiding the enemy
to arrest one of our citizens, who may have happened
to fall under the ban of that despotic edict
by which they would terrify us into submission, is
made punishable with death. If this were to be inflicted,
however, on the prisoner, I should be inclined
to grant him a more formal trial, before a
regularly appointed committee of safety, and allow
him time for his defence, as he requests—not that I
have the least doubt of his guilt, for I believe him
to be the most precious compound of duplicity and
villany that I have seen in the settlement, but I
would grant it on the principle of allowing every
man the best means to establish his innocence
when his life is at stake. Yet, concurring with Mr.
Selden, I think we had better adopt one of the ordinary
modes of punishment, for which the evidence
is abundantly sufficient, administer it on the
spot, and dismiss him with the admonition it will
give. What this punishment shall be I will leave
to you to designate.'
`I should like to have the title of my farm confirmed,
' said Smith, `seeing the Yorkers still continue
to dispute it, and as the Beech Seal is a sort
of legal instrument to do it with, they say, I vote
that we apply it.'
`Just the thing for the double faced scoundrel, if
we have got to let him off so cheap,' bluntly remarked
Brown.
`My title to my head,' said Pete Jones; `seems
to be rather questioned, and as it is an article that
would be dreadful inconvenient for me to be without,
I motion that it be confirmed too.'
-- 055 --
[figure description] Page 055.[end figure description]
`So be it, then,' observed Selden; `I had, it is
true, thought of a ducking, that he might be enabled
to sympathise with his friends over the lake—I
also had thought of taking him up into the top of
one of these trees, and leaving him bound there for
the night; but neither of these punishments, probably,
would so nearly come up to the fellow's merits
as the beechen remedy. I will therefore agree to
its application.'
The prisoner's doom being thus unanimously settled,
preparations were immediately commenced for
carrying the sentence into effect. This was understood
to be, in the quaint phrase of the times, “a
chastisement with the twigs of the wilderness,” or the
usual number of stripes, forty, save one, faithfully
applied to the back of the offender with a green
beech rod, termed, as before mentioned, the Beech-seal.
Several rods, or shoots of that thus oddly consecrated
tree, were accordingly selected, cut and
carefully trimmed for the purpose. The prisoner
was, then, in despite of his alternate threats, and
promises of good behaviour in future, stripped of
his coat, and firmly bound to the body of a large
hemlock, with his face turned to the tree. Every
thing being now in readiness for the execution of
the sentence, the question arose who should be the
executioner. For this honor two rival candidates
now presented themselves—Brown and Pete Jones—
the former claiming it on the ground that no one
of the present company had received injuries that
so loudly demanded a personal reciprocation as his
own, and the latter, with the greatest apparent gravity,
contending that it was his peculiar right to do
the duty of punishing the fellow for the unpardonable
crime of missing his aim, since the shot was intended
for his own benefit.
-- 056 --
[figure description] Page 056.[end figure description]
The altercation, however, was settled by the interposition
of their leader, who good naturedly
awarded a division of the honors between them,
directing that the first twenty stripes should be applied
by Jones, while Brown should be allowed the
privilege of completing the task.
In accordance with this arrangement, the tall
woodsman now seized a rod of his own preparing,
of dimensions fearfully portentous to the back of
the trembling culprit, and giving it a furious flourish
in the air, he commenced, with a look of terrible
fierceness, the performance of his allotted task.
But malice and revenge formed no part of the character
of this jolly and good natured borderer. The
manner in which the blows were given, and the
comparatively slight effect they produced on their
victim, made it very evident, that, notwithstanding
all his assumed wrath and fury of countenance and
manner, his humanity, combined with a natural love
of sport, which had doubtless led him to solicit the
office, was about to govern him in its execution.
`Well, here is my respects to you, friend,' he
said, commencing and keeping up a sort of loose,
irregular discourse, and counting the blows in a parenthetical
tone, as, with mighty grins and flourishes,
he proceeded to apply the typical beech; `there
is my respects to you, (one,) miss your aim again,
you lubber, eh? (two,) I told you that you should'nt
disgrace the cloth for nothing, (three,) and then
(four,) those kicks, (five,) I thought at the time
(six,) that you was kicking against the pricks, (seven,
eight,) so here is two pricks to every kick, (eight,
nine,) scurvy business that of you, friend, (nine,
ten,) that kicking against the trees (eleven, twelve,)
you did'nt consider (seven—no, eleven,) what a
-- 057 --
[figure description] Page 057.[end figure description]
hurry I was in, (twelve, thirteen) and then again
that offering me money, zounds, sir! (thirteen, fourteen,)
I should like (fourteen) to know, sir'—
`There! there!' hastily exclaimed the prisoner,
who had not been so much hurt amidst all this parade
of cuts and flourishes as to prevent his taking
note of the true number of the stripes which had
been administered, and which the mischief loving
woodsman had wilfully miscounted; `hold—you
have already struck twenty—hold! I say.'
`You dont say so?' replied Jones with affected
surprise as he slowly lowered his uplifted arm; `why
I thought I said fourteen—only fourteen last!'
`I care not if you did, sir,' expostulated the prisoner,
now bold from the consciousness of having at
last a little truth on his side; `you miscounted on
purpose to prolong my torture—I appeal to the
company—you have gone your twenty, I tell you,
ruffian!'
`Have! well, friend, just as you say, not as I
care.'
So saying, the eccentric but kind hearted woodsman
hurled his rod into the lake, and, bounding off
into the woods, with the pretended object of procuring
some better rods for the use of his successor,
but in reality only to avoid the sight and sounds
which, from the determined character, and exasperated
feelings of the man, he rightly anticipated would
now follow, disappeared, with a finger thrust into
each ear, in a neighboring thicket.
The flagellation was now resumed. And never
was rod more effectually applied to the deserving
back of a miscreant spy or traitor than now by the
sinewey arm of Brown, doubly nerved as it was by
the keen sense he harbored of the injuries he had
-- 058 --
[figure description] Page 058.[end figure description]
already received from the hands of those with
whom the present victim of his pent vengeance
had been found leagued, to assist in dragging him to
a gallows, and thus completing, on his person, that
work of destruction which they had before commenced
on his property. With a pause at every
application of the rod, that no energy should be
lost or weakened by the exertion, slow and measured
fell the tremendous blows from his relentless
arm, till he had told out the full number assigned
him; while at every lash of the pliant and close
hugging instrument of torture, the writhing victim
sent forth a screech of agony that thrilled through
the forest for miles around him.
This painful task being performed—for painful it
was to most of the band, while the stern necessity
that required it was sincerely regretted by them all—
the prisoner was unbound, and with an earnest
but kind admonition from Warrington to profit by
the lesson he had received, set at liberty; when,
muttering many a bitter execration, and breathing
vows of deadliest revenge on his captors, he sullenly
departed from the camp, and soon disappeared
along the border of the lake in a northern direction.
eaf390v1.n1[1] A cant phrase among the settlers, signifying the punishing of offenders.
-- 059 --
CHAPTER IV.
“That strain again! it had a dying fall!
Oh, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odor.”
[figure description] Page 059.[end figure description]
After the departure of Sherwood, our band, not
deeming it prudent, without precautions which must
necessarily deprive most of them of their rest for
the night, to encamp so near an exasperated enemy
of double their own numbers, determined on an immediate
removal from the scene of their recent exploits.
Accordingly they packed up, and, without
further delay, commenced their march by the beautiful
moonlight, which, streaming brightly through
the leafless forest, enabled them to pursue their way
with as much ease and certainty as by the broadest
day light. Striking off westerly from the lake they
directed their course to the nearest part of Otter
Creek, where they proposed procuring quarters for
the remainder of the night in the log houses of the
only two families who resided on the creek in that
vicinity. These two houses were situated nearly a
mile apart, while the respective openings around
them were separated by a dense wood of evergreens
of about half that distance in extent. After proceeding
on together awhile, the company separated
into two parties, three of them bending their course
toward the lowest, or more northerly opening,
where they were to remain till joined in the morning
by their leader to conduct them on their enterprise
down the creek; while the latter, with
-- 060 --
[figure description] Page 060.[end figure description]
Selden, taking their venison and a goodly portion of
their trout, continued forward directly to the upper
clearing. This last was no other than the residence
of the fair and spirited friend, whose timely notice
had not only ensured their late escape, but enabled
them to gain such triumphant advantages over their
foes. And it was this friendly and patriotic act
which they were now proceeding to reward, not only
with suitable acknowledgment, but with the most
valuable portion of their game—an offering that
they supposed would be highly acceptable to one in
her situation: for this extraordinary woman, with
no other dependence than on her own hands, with
the slight assistance rendered her by her boys, the
eldest of whom was not a dozen years old, was
managing to support herself and her large family of
children from the products of a new lot of land,
which her husband had commenced clearing when
he lost his life by the fall of a tree, and which she
now, with unexampled fortitude, persisted in improving,
though in the heart of a wilderness infested
with wild beasts, and not wholly exempt from the
hostile, or at least predatory, incursions of the Indians.
It was nearly midnight when Warrington
and his companion reached the log tenement of this
fearless daughter of the wilds. Much to their surprise
they found the house entirely deserted. Finding
the door unfastened, however, they determined
on entering to note appearances within; when it became
evident that the desertion had taken place
but a few hours before; but whether it was intended
for a temporary, or final removal, they were unable
to determine. A bed of coals, yet alive, was raked
up on the hearth; while the beds had been taken
from the steads, and, with all the most
-- 061 --
[figure description] Page 061.[end figure description]
necessary utensils of family use, removed from the house.
What means this sudden desertion of the family,
' observed Warrington musingly; `and whither
can they have fled?'
`To their neighbor's, down the creek, probably,'
replied Selden; `the movement has been made, I
should conjecture, in anticipation of the return of
Munroe and his party, from whose visit to-night alone
woman, like this widow, would doubtless wish
to be excused.'
`It may be so,' rejoined the other; `but to quit
her home from any of the motives which you suggest
would be very little like widow Story: there
are few men in the settlement who can handle, not
only axe, but rifle, with more effect, though woman
she be. And as for fear, it is a sensation with
which, I verily believe, she is utterly unacquainted.
But whatever may have become of the occupants
of the house, we may as well, now we are here,
make free and remain for the night.'
`It will be considered no intrusion, I suppose?'
enquiringly said Selden; `I have not the honor of
an acquaintance with your heroine, you will bear in
mind.'
`Intrusion? not in the least; for you must know
that we are patriots here,—rebels, or whatever we
were, on the lake to-night,' jocosely replied Warrington.
`Patriotism,' said Selden, following up the train of
thought which the last remark suggested, `would
seem entirely a relative term, and, like beauty,
which consists of black teeth, thick lips and large
eyes, with one nation, and exactly the reverse with
another, wholly dependent on the pre-existing opinions
of those who claim it for this action, and deny
-- 062 --
[figure description] Page 062.[end figure description]
it in that. Besides this, as the world estimate actions,
success would seem to be quite as essential to
constitute the patriot as the merits of his cause or
the glory of his deeds. Here with the settlers, you
are indeed called a patriot, and surely there is no
one who better deserves from them the appellation;
while with the people of New York, you are a rebel,
outlaw, and hunted like a wild beast. And yet
if our cause prove successful, as heaven grant it
may, the world at large, coming in as umpire, will
side with the settlers in establishing your name as a
patriot, but if we fail, it will join with your foes in
declaring you a rebel and reckless factionist.'
`Names and definitions, Selden, may be sometimes
vague and varying, but principles are immutable.
The principles which actuate us in resisting
these encroachments on our rights are the same that
have animated the bosoms of all those whom the
world agree in calling patriots, from the beginning of
oppression to the present time. The disposition to
defend our homes and property, besides being implanted
in our bosoms as a law of our nature, indispensable
to our self protection, and even existence,
in the world, seems to have been ordained by providence
also as the natural means by which the rapacity
of tyrants should be punished. This, indeed,
is the only protection ensured to industry and virtue—
it constitutes the grand cement of society and
the main pillars of all government. This is the
foundation of patriotism, which consists only in the
defence of justly acquired rights against wrongful
aggressions. In our case, the opinions of the world
may indeed be various and fluctuating till our rights
become fairly understood, and the wrongs we have
received as fairly developed. But should men of
-- 063 --
[figure description] Page 063.[end figure description]
the intelligence to know, and the spirit to defend
their rights, stand tamely still, and see those rights
wrested from them, to be placed forever beyond
their recovery, while hesitating to know whether the
world will call their resistance patriotism or rebellion?
It is not the name of patriot that I seek, or
that of rebel or outlaw that I fear. It is results I
am aiming to accomplish, and I will never rest, nor
cease my exertions, till our heaven-favored cause
shall triumph, and these rapacicus intruders shall be
driven from our soil. Could you have witnessed,
as I have, the dismay, want and suffering, which
these grasping and shameless tyrants have occasioned
in this settlement—here, whole families
turned from their houses in the midst of winter,
with no human habitation within miles of them to flee
to for refuge and shelter—there, property, acquired
through the severest of toil, hardship and privation,
wantonly destroyed, houses set on fire and consumed
to prevent the return of the owners—and
then again, females abused, and even the sick
roughly ejected, and left to perish miserably in the
night air, or storm, for all these ruthless aggressors
could know—could you have witnessed all this, you
would not be surprised at the exasperated feelings
of our people, or the indomitable spirit with which
they have persevered in that cause, which brought
you, till lately a stranger to our wrongs, among us
to aid in sustaining. My personal interest, I know,
suffers in consequence of devoting so much of my
time to the service of the public. Indeed, I have,
in common with my chivalrous superior, colonel
Ethan Allen, almost wholly neglected my own concerns,
while guarding the interests of others. Even
now I am the owner of a large tract of land on the
-- 064 --
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borders of Champlain, a part of which, as I have
lately been apprised, has been for several years in
possession of one of the York patentees, while my
duties nearer home have prevented me from ever
looking after it, or taking, since making this discovery,
any steps toward dispossessing the intruder.'
`But you surely will neglect it no longer,' observed
the other; `since we are going into the vicinity,
and on similar business?'
`We will consider the case after we have righted
the wrongs of the houseless settlers at the Lower
Falls, and fulfilled the other objects of our mission
into this region. But let us drop this exciting subject
for to-night, that we may obtain a little rest to
prepare us for the duties of to-morrow,' replied
Warrington, now rising to make such scanty preparations
as might be required for their repose.
The two friends, after barricading the door, and
spreading their blankets before the small fire they
had kindled on entering the house, now laid down
to repose on the floor, which to the hardy and tired
woodsman is generally more grateful than beds of
the softest down to the pampered sons of luxury
and ease. Selden was soon lost in slumber. But
his companion, whose mind was oppressed with
more weighty cares, and whose feelings had become
somewhat excited in recounting the wrongs of
his countrymen, courted the drowsy god in vain.—
And these causes, together with his attempts to account
for the absence of the family, for whose safety
he was not wholly without apprehensions, continuing
for some time to render all his endeavors to
sleep useless, he arose, unbarred the door, and,
without waking his more fortunate companion, went
out into the open air to try the effect of the cool
-- 065 --
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breath of heaven in allaying the excitement of his
feelings and disposing him to slumber. The night
still continued bright and lovely. Abroad, nature
seemed sunk in death-like repose; while the deep
and solemn silence that pervaded the wilderness
was broken only by the low, but far sounding hoot
of the sylvan watchman of the night, or the voices
of the inhabitants of the neighboring pools,
who were straining their tiny throats in notes of
seeming joy and jubilee at their recent release from
a wintry thraldom. While contemplating the scene
around him, and indulging in the moody reverie
which the circumstances were calculated to create
in the mind, the young outlaw unconsciously wandered
nearly to the bank of the river, which was
still bordered by a strip of forest, extending from
the water back almost to the house. Here leaning
against the trunk of a large tree, which some heavy
wind had broken off about twenty feet from the
ground, he stood some minutes looking listlessly
down upon the placid waters, as, sparkling in the
moonlight that struggled through the trees above,
they moved ceaselessly along on their journey to the
deep. Now his attention would become riveted for
a moment on some light float of wood sweeping by
in the noiseless current. And now he would turn a
half listening ear to the sportive plunges of the Otter,
here once found in such numbers as to have
naturally suggested to the hunters who first visited
this stream the name which it bears. His meditations,
however, were at length interrupted by some
indistinct, and at first scarcely audible sounds, the
nature of which he was for some time wholly unable
to determine. At last, however, he became satisfied
it could be no other than the distant murmur
-- 066 --
[figure description] Page 066.[end figure description]
of human voices; but from what quarter it came
he was still unable to decide. He listened intently;
and now the sounds became more distinct. Presently
they began to swell on the air in the low, melodious
voice of a female chanting a tune, which,
though not recently heard by him, struck nevertheless
familiarly on his ear, awakening in his mind
reminiscences of persons, time and place, which
formerly occupied a prominent space among the objects
of his peculiar interest, but which, in the cares
and turmoils of the last few years, had been almost
forgotten. Starting as from a trance, he rallied his
doubting senses, and made another effort to ascertain
whence this mysterious music could proceed,
but with no better success than before. Sometimes
the sounds seemed to come from the earth, or some
subterraneous cavern far beneath his feet. At other
times the liquid notes appeared floating high in
the heavens above. He now took another position,
several paces distant from the one first occupied, to
see whether any variation would thus be produced
in the sounds. Here, however, they were scarcely
audible. Several other new positions were then
tried, but all with the same success; and he returned
to the tree where he was standing when his
attention was first arrested by these unaccountable
sounds. Here he again tasked his powers of hearing
to their utmost, when, to his increasing wonder,
the same melodious notes fell upon his ear even
more distinctly than before. Now, not only the
tune seemed familiar to him, but there was something
in the voice likewise which his bewildered
senses seemed to recognize—something that seemed
to touch a chord in his bosom that had never vibrated
save under the sweet intonations of one whose
-- 067 --
[figure description] Page 067.[end figure description]
words even were once music to his ears—but still
one, to heighten his perplexity, who, though her residence
had long been unknown to him, could not
yet be, he felt assured, within a hundred miles of
this spot. Curiosity, surprise and wonder had now
raised his feelings to a pitch of almost frantic excitement.
And, without scarcely knowing why, he
struck his clenched fist two or three times heavily
against the tree, which seemed so strangely the conductor
of the sounds in question. A deep, hollow
reverberation, indicating a large and extended cavity
within, was apparently the only effect produced
by the blows. On applying his ear once more,
however, he found that the singing had ceased;
and every sound was now hushed in silence. He
listened awhile with suspended breath, in expectation
of hearing the music resumed. But he listened
in vain. He then renewed the experiment of
listening from other positions; but being again unsuccessful,
he returned to the tree, and fell to beating
it again, in the absurd fancy that, if there had
been any connection between his blows and the
ceasing of the sounds, the same operation which
had caused them to cease might revive them,
though deeming it, at the same time, an utter impossibility
that the cavity within the trunk could contain
the invisible songstress. All his efforts, however,
to gain a clue to the mystery proved wholly
fruitless, and, after lingering some time near this
spot of seeming enchantment, he slowly wandered
back to the house, deeply pondering over the singular
and incomprehensible incident which had attended
his nocturnal ramble. Was it within the
bounds of possibility, he asked himself, that the
person, the once loved and lost one, whose voice
-- 068 --
[figure description] Page 068.[end figure description]
these mysterious notes so much resembled, could
now be in this almost uninhabited wilderness? No,
no! What other female, then, capable of such execution,
could be near at such an hour of the night?
Surely none! Was it not then a human voice that
he had heard?—was it the voice of an angel, of
`visits few and far between,' floating high in the
heavens, and hymning the stars? What had he
done to deserve such special revealment? Or was
it, as the traditions of the superstitious would inculcate,
the voice of a departing spirit, permitted to
break on the ear of a distant friend at the instant of
departure, for the purpose of apprising him of its
exit from earth, or warning him of his own dissolution?
Or was it not far more probable, he said,
with an effort to shake off these intruding fancies,
that his senses had deceived him; and that, after
all, the whole was but the work of an over-excited
imagination? It must have been so. And, as if
determined to satisfy himself with this last solution
of the subject, since he could hit upon no other
which reason would not sooner reject, he quickened
his pace, and, like one resolved to end a perplexing
enquiry by the best argument he can give, and call
it conclusive, bustled forward, now whistling a tune,
or now affecting to run over to himself the intended
business of to-morrow, till he had reached the house,
secured the door, and thrown hinself down beside
his still insensible companion, when exhausted nature
soon closed the scene in a profound slumber.
-- 069 --
CHAPTER V.
“If you had been the wife of Hercules,
Six of his labors you'd have done, and sav'd
Your husband so much sweat.”
Coriolanus.
[figure description] Page 069.[end figure description]
Real causes of excitement have frequently, and
perhaps generally, been found to produce the soundest
slumber; while those that are artificial, or imaginary,
have an equal tendency to prevent it, Doctor
Young's poetic philosophy to the contrary notwithstanding.
It was thus with Warrington: While
the images of the past and future, which fancy had
called up, were operating in his bosom, he vainly
sought the arms of `tired nature's sweet restorer.'
But after he had found a just cause for excitement,
and experienced the utmost of its legitimate effects,
that restorer came unbidden and instantly. And
the next morning was considerably advanced before
he and his companion awoke from the deep and
sense-absorbing slumbers which for many hours had
sealed their every faculty in blank oblivion. They
simultaneously arose, and went to the window to
ascertain from whom proceeded the noise of the
axe, whose heavy resounding blows in the adjoining
forest had first awakened them from their quiet repose.
At the border of the woods, a short distance
to the south of the house, and in plain sight of
their loop-hole, for the window was nothing more,
stood the amazon owner, and almost sole creator of
this little opening in the dark wilderness, plying her
axe, with masculine dexterity and effect, into the
-- 070 --
[figure description] Page 070.[end figure description]
huge trunk of a standing hemlock. In a short time
this princely tenant of the Green Mountain forest
began to tremble, totter and bow beneath the supple
arm of its life-sapping foe, and at length came
down with a thundering crash upon the ground, filling
the air around with a cloud of dust, splinters,
broken and powdered limbs, and causing the earth
and surrounding woods to rebound at the shock.—
When the obstructing cloud had cleard away from
the spot, our observant friends beheld the object of
their attention mounted on the trunk of the prostrate
tree, and proceeding to mark it off into such
lengths for chopping as suited her purpose. While
thus engaged, her attention seemed to be suddenly
arrested by something she observed about the house,
or in a line with it beyond. Hastily descending
from her stand on the trunk, and seizing her rifle,
which stood at the foot of a tree near the stump of
the one just felled, she approached with a rapid step,
and with some appearance of concern, till within a
few rods of the house, when she slackened her pace
and soon halted.
`Tall, stout and stately,' said Selden, still standing
with his friend so near the window as to have a
fair view of the person of their hostess; `tall, stout
and stately,' he repeated, running his admiring eye
over her erect and imposing figure; `face and features
even yet handsome, despite the ravages and
cares of forty! And then that queenly port!—
Heavens! what a specimen of Eve's daughters!—
Surely, Warrington, she must be the very Juno of
your Green Mountains! But why not unbar the
door and go out to meet her? We shall appear a
pretty brace of heroes, if she come here and find us
hid up like a couple of runaways! She has
-- 071 --
[figure description] Page 071.[end figure description]
perceived us, I presume, but is doubtful whether we
are friends or foes.'
`Stay a moment,' said the other, who had been
regarding the movements of the woman quite as
intensely as his friend, though for different purposes;
`I suspect you will soon see that other objects
than ourselves are engrossing her attention.'
Scarcely had the last speaker ceased, when they
caught an oblique view of the approaching forms of
a number of men, whom they instantly recognized
to be Munroe and his party. Hastily retreating
from the window, and preparing their arms for action,
should their use become necessary either for
defending themselves within the house, or protecting
their hostess without, our two friends took positions
at small apertures between the logs of the
wall, where, without revealing themselves, they
could easily observe their foes, and stood silently
watching the progress of events in the yard.—
Meanwhile the hardy widow had planted herself directly
in the path in which the Yorkers were approaching
from the main road to her door. And
now boldly advancing and confronting them, she
demanded what might be their object in turning into
a lone woman's dwelling.
`Why, my good woman,' said the sheriff, pausing
and hesitating in evident surprise at the commanding
appearance and determined tone of the person
he was addressing; `we are all as hungry as so many
kites, after the long morning's march we have
had—and now can't you contrive to work up something
in the shape of a breakfast for us?'
`I know of but two reasons, sir, why I may not
comply with your request,' replied the woman, with
an air of quiet scorn.
-- 072 --
[figure description] Page 072.[end figure description]
`And what may they be, woman?' asked Munroe;
in doubt as to the drift of her discourse.
`The lack of means, and the lack of inclination,
sir,' rejoined the other in the same calm and scornful
manner.
`Short and sweet,' said Munroe; `but I think
we can remove your objections easily enough, mistress—
my men here have a plenty of salt junk, and
some bread, which will make out the main materials
for a meal—so you will have nothing to do but
cook and serve up for us, and if we pay you well
for your trouble, this will cure both your objections
at once I suppose.'
`Think you, sir, I would be hired to serve a Yorker
of your stamp?' replied the woman, with increasing
disdain; `why, the money got in that manner
would burn through my pockets as quick as if
it came at the call of one in league with the arch
fiend, and all hissing hot from the burning mint in
the regions below! Even the very food bought
with it would stick my throat, and poison my children
to death in the eating.'
`Tut, tut! madam madcap!' exclaimed the sheriff,
resuming his wonted roughness, and now begining
to chafe under the biting sarcasms of the other;
`you show about as much of the Tartar as any
thing I have met with in my travels for a long while.
I wish the rebels much joy in their petticoat champion!
But it is time to look a little to such as you.
The authorities of the king are neither to be resisted,
nor insulted with impunity, you will do well to
bear in mind, perhaps.'
`Cowards are always allowed the privilege of
blustering before women,' tartly rejoined the other;
`your threats, valient sheriff, will hurt me about as
-- 073 --
[figure description] Page 073.[end figure description]
much, probably, as they frighten me, and if any
thing further is attempted, you will find I can defend
myself.'
`We will see, my trooper!' muttered Munroe,
making a sudden movement towards the other, apparently
to disarm or seize her.
Eluding his grasp and hastily retreating a few
steps, the fearless woman cocked her rifle and
brought it to her shoulder. `Another step towards
me, sir, and your blood be on your own head,' she
cried, in a cool, determined tone.
`Hang me!' exclaimed Munroe, after standing a
moment in mute surprise at this bold and unexpected
movement of the woman, who, he began to suspect,
could scarcely have been brought to show
such singular fearlesness, but from a knowledge that
help was near; `hang me, if I don't believe the termagant
is standing guard to some of these skulking
outlaws, whom she has concealed in the house!—
We must see to this immediately,' he continued,
moving round his opponent toward the house, and
beckoning his men to follow.
`O, is that all you want,' said the widow, taking
her piece in her hand, and moving aside with the
air of one relieved from a personal fear; `you are
welcome to all the outlaws you will find here, but
you must beware how you attempt to touch me.—
However, you had better look out for yourself, brave
sheriff,' she added in a sneering laugh; `take care,
sir, that some of those terrible Green Mountain
Boys concealed within there, don't blow you through
the head with their rifles!'
`The door is fastened, woman,' said Munroe, as,
stepping up, he tried in vain to open it; `the door
-- 074 --
[figure description] Page 074.[end figure description]
is fastened on the inside—see that it is opened, or
I will force it!'
`O, no, no! why, you would spoil my door,
man!' cried the widow, with the utmost apparent
concern for the safety of her door; `yes, ruin it entirely—
'twould cost me a hard dollar to get it mended.
I forgot to tell you it was barred up inside.—
We do not stay here nights for fear of the visits of
such strolling gentry as yourselves. But if you really
wish to handle over my greasy pots and kettles,
or crawl under my beds, you can go in as I came
out, by going up on the ends of the logs at the corner
yonder, and removing a piece of that bark
roof.'
`But honestly, woman, have you seen nothing of
Warrington and his band this way last night, or
this morning?' asked the sheriff, his suspicions
seeming to be pretty much allayed by the well managed
demeanor and conduct of the other.
`Warrington—Warrington,' said she musingly, as
if attempting to recal the name of one of whom
she might have perhaps heard; `not captain Warrington?
Yes, I have heard of him, I am sure. Is
he in this section? Where is he? I should like
to see that brave fellow. Why, he was the one that
so handsomely beeeh-sealed one of the York authorities,
down Bennington way last year—now what
was his name—I will think in a minute'—
`O, no matter, no matter,' hastily interrupted the
sheriff, unwilling that the story of his own former
discomfiture should be made known to his present
followers; `come, boys,' he continued, moving away
from the house and calling to his men; `we shan't
be able to make any thing of this crabstick of a
woman—so we may as well be on the move again,
-- 075 --
[figure description] Page 075.[end figure description]
and as we have lost our guide, instead of going
back through the woods, we will up the creek to
the ford, and then down the military road to Ticonderoga.
'
`Adroitly done, by heavens!' exclaimed Selden
to his companion, as the sounds of the retreating
footsteps of their foes died away on their ears;—
`the woman's tact has saved us, to say the least,
Captain, from a troublesome contest. But shall I
now unbar the door?'
`No—let her continue to manage in her own
way,' replied the other; `the Yorkers may take it
into their heads to stop and reconnoiter the house
awhile from the woods. And she may deem it prudent
to guard against their making any discoveries
in that way by remaining awhile without, or by entering
the house in the manner she pointed out to
Munroe.'
The woodswoman, if the term be admissible, wary
as she was fearless, immediately adopted one of the
precautions anticipated by Warrington. And the
sheriff and his posse had no sooner fairly disappeared
in the forest than our friends heard her
mounting the house, removing one of the broad
pieces of spruce bark, which constituted the rude
covering of the roof, and descending into the chamber
or garret above them. In another moment she
stood before them with a countenance animated with
a look, of triumph and a smile of congratulation.
`Now a thousand thanks to mistress Story,'
warmly exclaimed Warrington, after presenting his
friend and exchanging the ordinary salutations; `a
thousand thanks not only for yesterday's timely notice,
but for the shield which a woman's tact only
could have so successfully thrown over us this
-- 076 --
[figure description] Page 076.[end figure description]
morning! But how came you apprised that we were in
possession of your castle, as we were without the
shadow of a license from its owner?'
`Partly anticipating a visit from some of you,' replied
the widow, `I purposely left the door unfastened
when we left last night. And a peep through
the cracks when I returned this morning, and
found it barred, told me very nearly the character
of the occupants. But you do'nt know,' she added
jocosely; `how sorely I was tempted, as I saw
you lying there on the floor asleep, as helpless as
children, to creep in, bind you, deliver you over to
Munroe, and claim the reward!'
`When you was praying, “lead us not into
temptation,” at this moment of your trial,' said
Warrington, laughingly, `and thought of the next
sentence, “deliver us from evil,” you concluded it
best to take sides with the Green Mountain Boys,—
did you?'
`Why,' replied she, `it might certainly be a matter
of some consideration, who it were wisest to
make friends, and who foes, in such a case; and
especially so, since it now seems that ten Yorkers
can be put to flight by one old woman.'
`Ay, ay!' gaily responded the Captain; `and
that fact, sir,' he added, turning with an arch look
to Selden, `shows the wisdom of the doubts and
apprehensions you seemed to entertain last night in
approaching, without leave, the house of one who
might become so formidable a foe.'
`I should be sorry to spoil the Captain's joke,' replied
Selden in the same spirit; `but in taking possession
thus unceremoniously, I think we both depended
somewhat on the effect of the peace offering
we brought,' he continued, pointing to the game
-- 077 --
[figure description] Page 077.[end figure description]
suspended on the wall, `in appeasing the house-hold
gods for the outrage.'
`An ample atonement!' said the dame; `so
much so, indeed, that I suspect my nine little hungry
house-hold gods will think the obligation wholly
on their side. Yes, yes, that mark of your kindness,
gentlemen, I noticed when I took my stolen
peep in here, and my heart has been thanking you
ever since; for my larder, as you may well imagine,
is none of the fullest, considering the number depending
upon it. It makes my heart ache to put
the little kites on so short an allowance, as I am often
compelled to do here, in a place so difficult to
obtain provisions.'
`But where are your children?' asked Warrington.
`My children? all in T'other World, sir!' replied
the woman, with a sort of comic gravity.
`In the other world! what can the woman mean?'
asked Warrington, turning a puzzled look upon his
hostess. `But for the mention you have just made
of your children, and your roguish looks, which belie
your assertions, one might be startled at the import
of your words!'
`Not so much of a belieing neither,' said the woman,
`but come, we will open Sesame now,' she
continued, proceeding to unbar the door, `and after
seeing if my brood cannot be conjured back into
the world again, for the purpose of assisting me,
and quieting your apprehensions for their safety,
Captain, we will see what can be done in the way
of breakfast.'
`Let me attend you to witness the process of
conjuration,' said Warrington, who had more reasons
for making the request than were known to either
of his companions.
-- 078 --
[figure description] Page 078.[end figure description]
`No, Sir, no! keep house till I return, or, my
word for it, you get no breakfast this time,' replied
the other, in a sportive yet determined manner, as
she quitted the house on her proposed errand, leaving
her guests to indulge in such conjectures as they
chose respecting the place to which she had gone to
summon her concealed family. They were not allowed
much time, however, for discussing this curious
question: for in a short time their ears were
saluted by the mingled sounds of jabbering voices
approaching from the woods in the rear of the house.
And in a moment more the dame came up to the
door, with her nearly half score of hardy little urchins,
trooping along in noisy glee at her side.
`I will shake hands with the young Captain first!'
exclaimed one of the boys, endeavoring to outstrip
the rest, as they all made a rush at the door.
`You shan't!' vociferated another, springing forward
and eagerly elbowing his way through the
throng that was now choaking up the entrance. `I
say you shan't, now, Dick! He likes me best; Ned,
you hold him back!'
`I don't care, I will have the first kith!' cried a
lisping little image of her mother; `I will! mayn't
I, ma?' she added, throwing back her long unfettered
hair from before her laughing black eyes with a
pretty toss of the head, and entering with high glee
into the keen strife going forward for obtaining the
first notice of one, who, in former calls at the house,
seemed to have made warm friends of the whole
band of these tiny rivals for his favors.
The next moment the person of Warrington, like
that of Gulliver among the Lilliputians, was almost
literally covered by the little beings, two sitting on
each knee shaking his imprisoned hands with all
-- 079 --
[figure description] Page 079.[end figure description]
their might; the little Julia standing between, turning
up her pretty cheek invitingly for the expected
kiss, which, for all her declaration, instinctive modesty
forbade her to ask for; one or two hold of each
arm, and one, more daring and active than the rest,
having clambered aloft, was sitting astride the neck,
and crowing loud over the rest from his elevated situation;
while all were clinging, laughing and chattering
like a bevy of monkies exhibiting on an elephant
at the show of some travelling menagerie.
Those fashionable misanthropes of the Rochefacauldt
or Lacon school, who are forever moralizing
and mourning over the selfishness of man; who can
see no unadulterated benevolence, no disinterested
friendship in the moral deserts of the human heart,
might find one oasis at least to revive their jaundiced
vision, and go to refute the sweeping dictums of
their cold and cheerless philosophy, would they but
turn their eyes to the artless actions, and examine the
untutored and guileless hearts of children. How
spontaneous their affections! With what intuitive
and unerring certainty and quickness they single out
those who love them, whether kindred or stranger;
and with what confiding readiness and generous
ardour is the friendship thus bestowed upon
them forever reciprocated; and that, too, with no detracting
alloy of selfish feeling, no worldly calculating
of results, and no influencing considerations of
interest! Verily! while they go to school to us for
the improvement of the head, methinks it would
be well for us if the tables were so far turned that
they could become our only instructors in the lessons
of the heart.
The dame, now calling off such of her children
as she needed to assist her, and despatching one for
-- 080 --
[figure description] Page 080.[end figure description]
water, another for wood, and a third to go on some
whispered destination, proceeded rapidly in her preparations
for the promised repast. And in a short
space of time a tempting meal from the offering of
her guests was smoking on the table. The meal,
which was enlivened by a recital of the adventures
of the band the preceding evening, was no sooner
ended, than Selden, rising first from the table, departed,
at the suggestion of his superior, to see that
the party at the other house were in readiness to
commence their march.
`Now, Captain, where are you going with your
men?' earnestly asked the widow, as soon as Selden
was fairly gone; `I have reasons for wishing to
know.'
Warrington, after a slight hesitation, imparted the
desired information.
`Will you make me one promise,' resumed the
woman, `and at the same time receive from me in
kindness one caution?'
`On conditions, I will venture to say yes.'
`What may they be? If any thing that I can
properly comply with,'—
`I would impose no other terms, certainly—so
now for the promise you would exact?'
`Simply this, that the family, with whom the
young Indian I sent you last evening resides—no
question now about their names or residence!—that
this family, I say, shall not be molested, should you
or your men ever come across them. They hold under
a York title, besure, but turned no one off to
get possession. Will you promise?'
`For your sake, and the Indian's sake, if the facts
are as you state, I will promise my influence in their
behalf.'
-- 081 --
[figure description] Page 081.[end figure description]
`Now hear my caution—beware of that fellow
you chastised last night—beware of that Sherwood—
he will be a serpent in your path.'
`Do you know him?'
`I think I do, but must say no more. And now
let's hear your conditions.'
`Only that you shall expound my dream, or vision,
of last night.'
`A dream! vision!'
`Yes—a something, at all events, which conveyed
to my ear, as I thought, the sounds of a voice discoursing
most heavenly music.'
`A sleeping, or a waking dream?'
`The latter, I afterwards made up my mind to believe,
as the readiest way of solving the mystery;
but this morning I have begun to suspect'—
`At what time last night, and on what particular
spot, did this strange trance fall on you, sir?' interrupted
the widow in a bantering tone, which was accompanied,
however, with a look betraying considerable
curiosity and uneasiness.
`O, about the usual time of such visitations—the
witching hour of midnight. And the scene should
be laid, I think, more particularly than at any other
spot, near the foot of a certain charmed tree, or rather
the hollow trunk of one, standing not far from the
bank of the creek down here, to which, leaving my
companion asleep, I had wandered alone to shake off
a fit of watchfulness, that the spirits of the air, or
something else, had unaccountably sent me.'
`And did you relate your adventures to your companion,
on your return, or since?'
`No!'
`That settles the question with me, then, as to
what I should now do,' seriously observed the
-- 082 --
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woman; `Captain Warrington, I clearly see that you
have accidentally, and very singularly, hit upon a
clue to matters which I thought most prudent to conceal,
even from you, friend to the settlers and my
family, as you are. Follow me, and you shall know
more.'
So saying, with rapid step she led the way in silence
toward the creek, closely followed by her guest,
eager to witness the promised developement. Passing
directly by the hollow tree, to which she pointed
with a significant smile as they went along, she conducted
him to the brink of the high, steep bank,
which was here covered with a thick growth of young
evergreens, whose tangled boughs overhung the waters
below. Now grasping firmly hold of a projecting
root, she swung herself down on to a narrow shelf
or offset in the bank, a few feet above the surface of
the water. As soon as this position was gained by
them both, she proceeded along the shelf a few yards,
and, removing a small fir-tree top, which had been,
to all appearance, blown down the bank, disclosed
the mouth of a narrow passage running back horizontally
into the earth. Into this she immediately entered,
still followed by her companion. After groping
their way about a rod through the dark zigzag
windings of this passage, they emerged into a spacious
room, formed entirely by an artificial excavation
of the earth, which, from a begining at the outside,
had been removed in small parcels and thrown
into the stream, till the whole was completed. The
walls or sides, which had been cut down perpendicularly
from the solid mould and plastered over with
thin mud, now presented a hard, compact surface.
The ceiling, which was in the form of an arch, coming,
probably, at the top or centre, within a foot of
-- 083 --
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the surface above, was supported by the thickly
spreading roots of the trees, standing, many of them,
directly over the excavation, and forming a kind of
net-work, curiously, and so strongly interwoven as effectually
to prevent the earth from caving in from
above. The whole interior was divided into two
parts of unequal dimensions, by a slight willow-work
partition, the lesser of which, being designed for the
sleeping apartment, was neatly carpeted with a thick
dry moss, collected from the spruce knolls in the vicinity;
while on one side was extended, at suitable
intervals, a row of little, oblong platforms, raised about
a foot above the general level by repeated doublings
of the same light, springy substance. These, on which
were laid such beds as the occupant could furnish,
afforded, with, or without, any further additions, soft
and pleasant couches, safely protected against the
damps of a ground floor. Beside one of the walls of
the larger room was a rude fire-place, constructed of
flat stones and built up several feet high to receive
fuel and give direction to the smoke, which, ascending
through a sort of retreating flue cut into the bank,
escaped through the cavity of the identical hollow
stub that Warrington had discovered to be in some
way connected with the mysterious melody heard by
him the evening before.
`This, Captain Warrington,' said the dame, after
showing her admiring guest every part of her subterraneous
establishment, which she had lit up on entering
by throwing a few light combustibles on the fire
still remaining on the hearth; `this is my city of refuge—
my strong hold, or my `T'other World,' as I
have accustomed myself and children to call it, fancying,
in my wish to keep the secret of its existence
to ourselves, that some such name would lessen the
-- 084 --
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chances of a discovery, which might accidentally be
made, perhaps, by referring to it before others by a
proper designation. It was dug out by myself and
my little boys, who took to digging as naturally as
young foxes, and greatly assisted me. My neighbor
below, however, aided me in the most difficult parts
of the work; and in case of dangers he is to occupy
it with me.'
`But what were the immediate dangers you apprehended,
that led you to so uncommon an undertaking?
' asked the other.
`For myself I might feel, perhaps, no apprehensions,
' replied the provident mother. `For my children,
I feel differently. All parents, Captain, however
brave they may be for themselves, are always
cowards for their children. No real dangers, it is
true, might beset us here for years; and then again,
they might come like a thief in the night. To say
nothing of the heartless Yorkers, who might burn my
house, or turn us out shelterless into the snow—to
say nothing of the wolves, that have been known, in
the desperation of hunger, to attack folks in their
houses—to say nothing of these, which are sufficiently
fearful for most people, what security have we, in
these outposts of the settlement, even in times of
peace, against a hostile visit from the Indians? But
when, as now, the rumors of war come floating on
every breeze, that danger is daily increasing. The
sad experience of my father's family, who were half
slain by these hell-hounds of the wilderness at the
outbreak of the last war, has taught me the wisdom
of precaution. In peace they are even to be
distrusted; and the first rumor of war that strikes
their ears will put them to whetting their knives for
slaughter; while they are sure to anticipate the
-- 085 --
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coming contest by striking the first blow on the defenceless
families of the frontiers. Now with these
views, is it strange,' she added with a smile, `that
the mother of nine children, with but one neighbor
within miles of her, should forsee the evil and
hide herself?'
`Surely not,' replied Warrington, struck not less
by the forcible language of the woman, than by her
prudent forecast; `you are right in believing that
the storm of a new war is gathering over us; and
if you think of remaining here, these precautions
are but the part of wisdom, as we know not when,
or where, the storm may burst. But do you occupy
this retreat every night, now?'
`We do.'
`You enter, as we did, taking your children down
the bank, I suppose?'
`Sometimes but more generally by approaching
from the creek in my canoe, (which is kept hid in
the bushes a few rods below,) lest by coming down
the bank constantly, we wear a path, which might
lead to a discovery of our retreat.'
`And you all lodged here last night, of course?'
`Yes.'
`Part of the mystery, then, stands explained—why
should the rest be kept back?'
`What is there more that you do not comprehend?
'
`The singing'—
`Might have been my own, if you heard any.—
You never heard any of my lullaby performances
before, I suppose?' said the woman, with an evasive
smile.
`No, but I have once heard the performances of
another, whese voice is not easily to be forgotten,'
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replied Warrington, turning a keen, searching gaze
on the slightly confused face of the widow.
`Warrington, Warrington!' said the woman, resuming
a tone of seriousness, and intently reading
the looks of the other; `as much as I hate deception,
I wish I could have misled you. But I saw by
your disappointed looks, when you entered, and
glanced around these empty apartments, that you
expected to find here what you have not. And I
now see, that you still have certain impressions,
which I wish could have been done away. But as
you seem bent on following up your clue, I will not
attempt to mislead you. From what I have gathered
from you and others, I have for some time secretly
suspected the identity of persons yet supposed
to be different, and that I have long known
those whose present residence you have little
dreamed of: Captain Warrington, there is indeed
a rose bud in this wilderness, which I should not
have been displeased to see placed in your bosom.
But seek it not now—there is a hedge about it too
high for your leaping.'
`Where is she? I ask but to know where,' enquired
the other with impatient eagerness.
`Not here, nor near here, now,' replied the woman;
`the secret is not mine to reveal: I have said
too much already; so question me no further. But
come, let us leave for the upper world,' she added,
rapidly leading the way out, and allowing the other
no further chance to resume his importunities till
they had gained the top of the bank.
`But surely you will not leave the matter here,
after informing me so far?' said Warrington, in an
expostulating tone, as he perceived that the other
seemed to expect that he would now depart.
-- 087 --
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`For the present I surely shall,' replied the woman
decidedly; `you will urge in vain one, who
understands her duties to all. Go! your men
await you—good morning, and God speed you in
the cause of the settlers,' and imperiously waving
her hand for the departure of her reluctant and
tantalized guest, she suddenly turned away and disappeared
in the forest.
CHAPTER VI.
“The sons of our mountains will sheath not the brand
Till the last base intruder is forc'd from the land.”
One of the most considerable openings in the
wilderness in the northwestern part of the New
Hampshire Grants, at the period of our story, was
at the Lower Falls of Otter Creek, at the head of the
lake navigation of that stream, and on, and around
that fine and fertile swell of land, now occupied as
the site of the pleasant and flourishing village, to
which, as before mentioned, the more dignified
name of city has long since been legally applied;—
though not without sometimes eliciting, probably,
from the traveller, approaching the place with the
expectations which the appellation would naturally
raise, a feeling somewhat akin, perhaps, to that
which might be experienced on hearing the address
of My Lord, applied to some urchin scion of nobility,
at marbles, in his first jacket and trowsers. A
pitch had been made on this spot, some years before,
-- 088 --
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by one or more of the New Hampshire patentees, a
saw and grist mill erected, and a large piece of forest
felled, and partially cleared; when the whole
tract, embracing the falls and all the improvements,
was purchased of some of the York land jobbers by
one colonel Reed. Reed had been the commander
of a regiment of Scotch Highlanders, that came
over with general Wolf, and was engaged with his
army in that memorable battle which gave Quebec
and the Canadas to the British crown. This regiment
having been subsequently disbanded, the Colonel,
still continuing in the new world, and, in his
intercourse between Canada and New York, becoming
acquainted with the Vermont lands, entered
into the speculations then going forward, and made
the purchase as above stated. Finding his new purchase
already in the occupancy of the New Hampshire
grantees, and not inclining to be bothered with
the delays of a civil process by the York authorities
to put him in possession, what should this military
land speculator do, but repair immediately to Montreal,
and, collecting a file of his old disbanded soldiers,
go on, armed and provisioned, to conquer and
keep, and forcibly drive the occupants from the
ground, taking possession of the mills, lumber and
all other improvements? After making ample provisions
for continuing the improvement of his purchase,
he left it to be managed and defended by the
men who came on with him, placed under the command
of one of his old fear-naught Highlanders, by
the name of Donald McIntosh, formerly a brave
and trusty sargeant in his regiment, to whom he
now delivered written military instructions, setting
forth the manner in which the improvements were
to be conducted, and the post defended against any,
-- 089 --
[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]
or all, who should offer to intrude on the premises.
The Colonel, being a shrewd man, and a close observer
of character, national as well as individual,
and well knowing that the inherent respect of
Scotchmen for discipline, and the orders of a superior,
would ensure him more determined defenders
of his possessions, as well as more faithful laborers
in their improvement, than all the rewards, bribes,
or other inducements he could offer, had thrown
over the whole transaction the apperrance of a military
service. And hiring his men at the monthly
compensation they had formerly received as soldiers,
and terming it an enlistment during the war, and
conducting them to their post under the discipline
to which they had been accustomed in the army, he
had the address to make these men, not the most
intelligent certainly, honestly believe that they were
acting under their old commander in a military capacity
only, and were really in the service of the
king, to whom this settlement, they were told, was
in a state of rebellion. And right faithfully and
rigidly did the straight going Donald, ever continuing
to act under these impressions, execute the trust
committed to his charge. Immediately proceeding
to throw up a large log house, and enclose a yard
around it with a heavy, compact fence of hewn timber,
he soon gave the post such an impregnable and
threatening aspect as effectually deterred the former
occupants from attempting, with any force they
could rally in the neighborhood, to dislodge the intruders.
And after watching awhile, and seeing no
diminution of the strength of their antagonists, or
relaxation of their caution, these ejected and plundred
settlers, who happened to be among the less
spirited of their countrymen, at length pretty much
-- 090 --
[figure description] Page 090.[end figure description]
relinquished the hope of regaining their possessions,
except in a favorable termination of the negociation
still going forward at intervals between the settlers
and the government of New York.
In this manner, for nearly two years, did the minions
of Reed hold, and manage these valuable possessions,
clearing land, raising crops and exporting
lumber and other products, without being at all molested
by the settlers, or the attending circumstances
being known, indeed, to those who had exercised
any general agency in resisting the aggressions of
the Yorkers. At length, however, the tranquility of
the intruders became accidentally endangered. Ira
Allen, the Green Mountain Metternich of after times,
and one of the cabinet council of those we are describing,
coming through this section on his return to
his residence in Bennington from an excursion to
the Winooski river, sought lodgings on a stormy
December night at the quarters of Mc Intosh and
his men—a call which came near costing the former
his life at the outset: For, while he was unsuspectingly
knocking, for admission, the wary Scotchman,
who had been accustomed to consider all his foes, who
did not give the watchword, noiselessly opened the
door wide enough to protrude one arm, and made
several desperate lunges at his body, hit or miss,
with a naked sabre. Providentially, however, the
weapon, missing the body, only wounded the great
coat of the traveller, who, at last succeeding in making
the other believe that he wanted nothing more
than a shelter for the night, was now admitted, and
entertained till next morning. This singular reception,
as well as the odd and warlike appearance of
every thing connected with the establishment, awakened
the curiosity and excited the suspicions of
-- 091 --
[figure description] Page 091.[end figure description]
Allen, who, from the information he obtained by
pumping the cautious Donald, and making inquiries
of the settlers before leaving the vicinity, returned
home in possession of the full history of the case.
And the consequence was, that before many months
a small hand of Green Mountain Boys came on
from the south, and finding no one about the premises,
were proceeding to clear the house and yard of
all they contained; when the occupants, who had
been at work in the woods, returned, and after holding
a council of war a short distance from the house,
made such a furious charge with fixed bayonets on
the new comers, that they, little dreaming of so warlike
an onsent, were fairly routed from the works, and
were compelled to decamp amidst the victorious shouts
of the elated Highlanders. Chagrined and vexed at
the result of this attempt, the Green Mountain Boys,
early the next spring, set on foot another expedition
for dispersing these military tenants of the usurping
Colonel. And for this, among other objects, Warrington
and his companions were now on their way
to the spot.
It was not till an advanced hour in the afternoon
of the day which commenced by the adventures related
in the last chapter, that our band arrived at
the outskirts of the singularly guarded possession just
described. Their force, swelled by the numbers who
had joined them on the last part of their rout, now
amounted to about a dozen men. They halted in
the woods, adjoining the clearing, for the purpose of
consultation with a view to fix on the best mode of
attacking the place, which they were not without hope
of carrying by surprise. They had scarcely commenced
discussing these points, however, before
their attention was arrested by two quickly successive
-- 092 --
[figure description] Page 092.[end figure description]
reports of fire arms, proceeding from a thicket on
the opposite side of the creek.
`What will you bate I don't know the bark of
that dog, Captain?' exclaimed Jones, tipping one of
his comical winks to his superior.
`Aha! who do you suspect, Jones?' asked Warrington
with a look of interest.
`Why I shouldn't like to make bodily oath of it,
besure,' replied the other, but unless my car lies like
the mischief, one of those popping noises over there
was the voice of an old acquaintance.'
`To the point, man, if you possibly can!' rather
impatiently spoke the leader: `what acquaintance do
you mean?'
`The one that I was introduced to, up on the
lake there last night, asking your pardon, Captain,'
replied Pete, lowering his tone a little under the
slightly rebuking manner of his commander.
`You are in the right, Mr. Jones,' said the other,
kindly, though a flash of anger passed over his face
at the discovery that now burst on his mind; `I see
it all, at last. Those were the reports of a pair of
pistols, and in the hands, too, of that traitorous Sherwood,
who has been hovering round us on our march,
and now fires his pistols as a preconcerted signal, to
give notice of our approach. It is well for the fellow
that he was wise enough to put the creek between
us and himself, before taking this last step.'
`That comes of suffering the scoundrel to go unhanged
last night,' grumbled Brown. `If I had been
the Captain, I would have strung him up to the
limb of a tree like a sheep-killing dog, and left him
kicking in the air.'
`It is not always,' said Warrington, `nor often, I
think, that we find cause to repent of the mercies
-- 093 --
[figure description] Page 093.[end figure description]
we have shown; but this fellow—let him beware!'
he added, knitting his brow, `let him beware how
he is taken again!'
All hope of taking the place by surprise being
now relinquished by our band, it was soon settled,
as the most probable way of accomplishing their object
without bloodshed, which they would gladly avoid,
that a feint should be made in the open field,
with a view of drawing out the enemy from their
works, while the part of their force, not thus to be
engaged, should go round in the woods, and, approaching
in the rear, endeavor to get possession of
the house and enclosure. In pursuance of this plan,
Warrington, taking Selden and two of the men
with him, started off for the purpose of carrying the
last part of the arrangement into execution, leaving
the rest of the force under the command of Jones,
whose genius, it was thought, was calculatad to conduct
the other part of the enterprise now intrusted
to his charge, with orders to advance through the
open grounds towards the house, and adopt such
measures on the way as circumstances might suggest
for bringing about the desired results.
After waiting a sufficient time to allow the other
party to gain a post in the woods in the rear of the
works, Pete, the new commandant, put his men in
motion, and emerging from the bushes, they commenced,
in a wide-spread platoon, their ostentatious
march through the field, in order to attract the attention
of the enemy, supposed to be concealed in
their enclosures at the house. It so happened that,
directly in the course of the advancing party, there
lay a series of large log-heaps, which, either by accident
or design, had been placed, in clearing the land,
very nearly in a straight line, at intervals of about a
-- 094 --
[figure description] Page 094.[end figure description]
dozen rods, beginning near the house and extending
almost to the woods. When the party had arrived
within a few rods of the first log-heap, their attention
was arrested by the sound of a human voice,
issuing from behind it, and, in an eager, suppressed
tone, giving off some brief orders, resembling those
of military command.
`A' ready? up then, an' gie til the louns!' exclaimed
the voice of the unseen leader, in broad
Scotch, as a platoon of armed men suddenly rose from
behind the logs, and, raising their guns breast high,
discharged them full in the faces of the Green Mountain
Boys.
`Noo, right aboot face! and rin as if the deevil
was after ye, as he is, an mair too,' resumed the military
Donald, for it was no other than he and his
men, who had thus been lying in concealment behind
the log-heap, patiently awaiting the approach of their
unsuspecting assailants.
The balls, just clearing the heads of our band,
whistled through the air, and struck with a crash among
the dry limbs of the forest behind them. As
soon as they had recovered from the surprize into
which they had been thrown by the suddenness of
this unexpected attack, they all sprang forward in
the screening smoke of the enemy's fire, and gained
the cover of the log-heap, just relinquished by the
latter for the next one in the line of their defences.
`Well, this is what I should call rather a curious
how-d'ye-do, boys,' coolly said Jones, when they had
gained their shelter; `who would have guessed the
scamps were packed away behind this old log-heap?
But one thing beats my philorsophy—if the bloody
dogs really wanted to give us the lead, (and they
shot dreadful careless if they didn't,) why in natur
didn't they take aim?'
-- 095 --
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`They are all regular sarvice men,' replied a settler
from the vicinity, `and breast-high is the rule of
firing in the army.'
`Then we may thank the rule for our lives, and
not the pesky fools who used it,' replied the former.
`It would not be a great deal more than right to send
our rifle bullets through the whole tote of 'em. But
I should some rather not kill the sarpents, if we can
get along without; and I guess as how we can, seeing
they were kind enough to sound their rattles before
trying to bite, as that queer old codger did, in
giving off word before they let drive at us. And if
they will go on as they have begun, we'll just be making
our manners when they fire, so that the balls may
pass over us, and then follow 'em up as before—but
hark! the old chap is at it again! going the motions
as regular as the night-mare; there! he has got to
`cock fire-lock!' Now, down with you, boys!'
Jones and his men had scarcely thrown themselves
on to their knees behind their log-heap breast-work,
before another volley of balls, discharged with the
same military precision, whistled over them; and
again the old dry hemlocks that skirted the woods
appeared to be the only sufferers. Again retreating
to their next post, these kilted defenders of the place
were followed up as at first by their crafty assailants,
who were now becoming highly delighted with the
fun of so unique a warfare. And in this manner the
fight, if fight it be called, continued through the
whole field—one party blazing away at random from
every log-heap they reached, and then scudding on
for the next, quite satisfied with this way of doing
their duty of defending these supposed possessions
of the king, since they were conducting their defence,
as they believed, according to military rule: while the
-- 096 --
[figure description] Page 096.[end figure description]
other party, occasionally discharging their pieces into
the air, to keep up the appearance of a hostile pursuit,
and sometimes raising their hats on their ramrods
just high enough above the logs, behind which
they were ensconced, to become visible to their foes
when they fired, that they might be thus encouraged
to continue the sport, were no less content with this
fashion of fighting, as it answered all the objects in
view, without putting them to the necessity of killing
others, and, what was quite as agreeable, without
running any risk of being killed themselves.
But, leaving these belligerents for the present, we
will now follow those who departed to execute the
other part of this novel enterprise.
Keeping within the border of the woods, Warrington
and his attendants soon made the circuit
round the clearing, and arrived at the bank of the
creek, in the rear of the buildings, before the attack
was made on the other detachment. They had scarcely
gained this position, however, before they were
aroused by the rattling of McIntosh's salutatory volley
on their companions, at the other extremity of
the opening. And though the rise of land, which
intervened between them and the scene of action,
prevented them from ascertaining by sight the exact
situation of affairs, yet readily concluding that the
enemy, in full force, had taken the open field, as
had been anticipated, they made for the house with
all possible speed, to get possession of the works before
the occupants could find time to return. On
reaching the enclosure round the house, Warrington,
leaving his men in the rear, went round to the front
side, and, after a moment spent in reconnoitering,
from behind a wood-pile, the parties in the field,
crept up and made an attempt to open the gate.—
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But to his disappointment, he soon discovered that
it was securely barred on the inside; while the
noise of some slight movement within apprised him
that the place had not been left wholly unguarded.
On making these discoveries, he immediately retreated
to the rear, without being seen by the enemy.
There, standing beside the wall of the enclosure
and eagerly gazing through a small crevice between
the timbers, he found Selden, who, now turning
with an expressive look, silently beckoned him
to approach. Obeying the sign, Warrington carefully
stepped up to the spot and put his eye to the
aperture, which the other, now yielding the place,
pointed out with his finger; when all that part of
the arena within, which was in front of the house,
was opened to his view. And the object that there
met his eye struck him with scarce less surprise
than what had been just manifested by his more romantic
companion. Near the barricaded entrance
into the yard, instead of a bearded warrior, stood a
young and neatly dressed female, of striking beauty,
holding a musket, and apparently enacting the part
of a sentry to fire an alarm gun, or open the gate
on the signal of her friends. She had evidently
heard the movements of those without, and was
now standing, like a startled fawn, her bosom heaving
with suppressed alarm, her lips slightly drawn
apart, and her head turned in the attitude of intense
listening—all combining to give an air of
charming and picturesque wildness to her whole appearance.
A swarthy faced girl was timidly peeping
from the nearly shut door of the house, to
which, on hearing the noise, she had apparently just
retreated. From the dress and appearance of the
latter, Warrington was but at little loss in tracing
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between these two females the relation of mistress
and maid. And now, with a rapid survey of the
situation of the whole interior, as far as could be
seen, he hastily quitted his stand at the crevice and
turned to Selden.
`Isn't she a vision of a creature?' eagerly whispered
the latter, his fine dark eyes sparkling with
animation; `what, in the way of feminine wonders,
will you show us next, Warrington? But
who, and what can she be?'
`I am scarcely wiser than yourself, in that respect.
'
`If the other was a Juno, this, I suppose, must
be some warrior sylph of the Green Mountains.'
`Not of the Green Mountains, I suspect,' rejoined
Warrington; `but be she sylph, or satan in
heavenly guise, we must pay her a visit, and have
possession of the works, within ten minutes—the
enemy are on the retreat for the gate, and there is
no time to lose—advance, boys, and lend me your
shoulders for a stepping stone to scale this wall.'
The walls of the enclosure were about ten feet
high, exclusive of the pickets which surmounted
them, and which were formed of stakes three or
four feet long, sharply pointed at the top, and set
into large auger holes, bored in the upper layer of
timber.
Taking his men to a part of the wall in rear of
the house, which would screen them, in their attempt,
from the view of the inmates in front, and
thus afford them a better chance to get over unmolested,
and without causing an alarm to be given
too soon, the leader mounted the shoulders of one
of his men, leaped on to the top of the timbers, and
soon luckily, and without noise, succeeded in
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wrenching out pickets enough to give him a ready
ingress. And taking up his rifle from the hands of
those below, and ordering two of them to follow,
and the other, who would have no means of getting
up, to act in concert with Jones, he now swung
himself down upon the ground. In another moment,
Selden and the man he had selected, having
been equally successful, they all three stood undiscovered
on the ground, in the narrow space between
the wall and the back side of the house.
`Well, Selden,' said Warrington, with a humorous
look; `in what manner shall we proceed with
this formidable garrison—by storm or parley?'
`The latter, certainly, unless the storm is to be a
storm of kisses,' replied the other, in the same spirit;
`but seriously, lest the appearance of all of us
at once occasion unnecessary alarm, I would propose
that one of us go forward alone, for this purpose.
'
`Yours shall be the chance, then, of displaying
your bravery, gallantry or diplomacy, as the case
may require, in treating with the fair commander.'
`Thank'ee captain.'
`But have a caution, sir—remember, that other
things sometimes inflict wounds besides leaden bullets!
'
`O, borrow no trouble on my account, on either
score,' gaily responded Selden, as he disappeared
round the corner of the house, on his delicate mission.
The merry boast of the last speaker, however,
had, but for his good fortune, been a vain one: For
the next moment after he passed out of the sight
of his friends, the stunning report of a musket saluted
their ears, while a bullet whistled by them and
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buried itself in the wall of the enclosure, a few feet
from where they stood. Instantly springing forward
toward the scene of action, they found Selden
standing in mute surprise, but unhurt, a few
yards in front of the house, and as many rods
from the mad girl, who, in the suddenness of the
alarm and trepidation that seized her, as she accidentally
turned round and unexpectedly beheld an
enemy within the enclosure and approaching her,
had just committed the half involuntary, half frenzied
act of discharging at him a well loaded musket,
whose fatal contents he had but narrowly escaped.
For a moment there was a dead pause, during which
neither of the parties stirred from their respective
positions, being nearly invisible to each other in the
smoke which was rising in eddying whirls between
them. Soon, however, the light and airy form of
the warrior damsel became visible to her astonished
besiegers. There, pale, agitated, and almost frantic
with conflicting emotions, she still stood, as if
chained to the spot, holding with convulsive grasp
the yet smoking musket, and apparently scarcely
less frightened at what she had done than for her
own personal safety.
After gazing an instant with increasing consternation
and alarm as she beheld the now threbled
number of the enemy, she suddenly threw down
her gun, and made a desperate push to unbar the
gate.
`Nay, nay! lady,' exclaimed Warrington, leaping
forward to her side, and placing his hands firmly
upon the bars; `this we cannot suffer now,
though we intend you no harm,' he continued, in
a gentler tone; `but you had better retire—this is
no place for one of your sex. Mr. Selden, will
you conduct her into the house?'
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`Touch me not!' half shrieked the baffled and
maddened girl, shrinking from the touch of Selden,
who now approached, and offered to lead her to
the house; `touch me not, villain—monster!'
`Be calm—calm your fears, dear lady!' said Selden,
in a soothing and respectful tone, `will you
hear me? Will you look me in the face? There!
do I appear like a villain? now hear me: although
we may try to restore these possessions to their former,
and, as we believe, rightful owners, yet, in doing
this, we would not willingly injure a single man
of the defenders—much less a female. Be prevailed
on, then, to retire, and I pledge myself, on the honor
of a gentleman, that no hair of your head shall
be injured.'
During this address, the kind and tender manner
of which seemed to strike unexpectedly on
her ears, she turned, and looking full upon the
manly and handsome face of Selden, a change
passed over her agitated countenance. Her over-tasked
nerves gave way, and her assumed nature
melting away into its original softness, like a storm of
March dissolving into the tears of April, she burst
into a fit of hysteric weeping, and now suffered herself
to be conducted unresistingly into the house.
By this time Donald and his men who, on hearing
the report of the musket just fired, as they were
making a stand behind the last logheap of their line
of defences, hastily discharged a parting round at
the enemy and fled for the works, had reached the
enclosure; and the former was now vociferating the
watchword, and rattling away at the gate, for admittance.
Meanwhile Jones with his detachment, being
apprised that his friends were in possession of the
works by a handkerchief which the latter had, as a
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preconcerted signal, hung on a corner picket, rushed on
after the retreating Scotchmen on their way to the
gate, intending to follow them so closely that they
should have no time to reload their guns before they
could be compelled to surrender.
Looking round and seeing his foes close upon
him, McIntosh redoubled his clamor to get in.
`O, why dinna ye open the gaet?' exclaimed the
impatient and distressed Highlander, still ignorant
that any others were within than those he left there;
`thae feckfu' deevils are hard at our heels. Och!
oigh! Jessy, Jessy Reed! is it my ain colonel's
dochter that wad be doylt at sic a time? An' Zilpah,
is your mistress dead, or ye a' fear't an' fasht
thegither, that ye nae ken the coming o' us?'
`Your ladies are all safe in the house, my honest
friend,' cried out Warrington in reply, `but your
quarters are now in possession of other hands.
You had better surrender, Sir, as it will be of little
use to contend against those who are now too strong
for you, both within and without.'
The astonishment and dismay of the simple minded
Scotchman at the discovery, that his foes had
obtained a lodgment within his strong hold, was
unbounded; for having perceived nothing wrong about
his works at the time his attention was arrested
by the report of the musket within them, and soon
after seeing the man left outside by Warrington
running out into the field, he supposed the gun was
fired by the bold and wayward girl who had volunteered
for the service, only to apprise him that some one
was round the outside of the works. And he and
his men, having given a merry hurra! for the braw
lassee who frightened away the skulking tramper,
had come on and reached the gate in the confident
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expectation that in another moment they should be
safely ensconced within their works, and beyond the
reach of all pursuers.
`Gude guide us!' he ejaculated, looking hurriedly
around him while his countenance exhibited the very
picture of perplexity and distress; `Gude guide us!
gor't by the rake-hells wi' in an' wi' out! O what
wad I do! what wad I do!'
`I'll just tell you what to do, you queer old divil!'
sung out Jones, catching the last part of these exclamations,
as he brought his men to a halt within two
rods of the Scotchmen, who now, mechanically facing
about, and presenting their fixed bayonets to
their opponents, stood glumly awaiting the commands
of their leader. `I will tell you what to do,' he repeated,
`you must knuckle to, old fellow. What's
the particular use in your standing out against these
six loaded rifles, to say nothing of the Captain and
his folks inside, if they should take a notion to wake
you up a little? so I take it the cunningest thing
you can do jist now is, for you all to throw down
your guns and surrender.'
`Hoot awa' mon!' exclaimed McIntosh, aroused by
this fresh summons to surrender; `an' I rede ye'll
find wese fight an' defend til the last drap o' our
bluide! attention there!' he continued, hastily turning
to his men, `prime an' load!'
Warrington now sternly repeated his demand for
an immediate surrender; but the obstinate Highlander,
knowing no way of obeying the military instruction
of his Colonel, `to fight and defend,' but to
fight on at whatever odds, or whatever the consequences
to him and his men, deigned no other answer
to this repetition of the summons than by urging
his men to despatch in loading their pieces.
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`What is to be done, Captain,' coolly said Jones,
calling to his superior, and at the same time giving
a nod to his men, at which they all promptly cocked
their rifles and brought them to their shoulders;
`speak tolerable quick, if you've any orders, for they
are about loaded, and we some rather give than take
under all the circumstances.'
`Neither!' shouted Warrington, `do neither—
knock up their guns! disarm them! grapple with
them, and if too many for you, we will soon be
among you.'
A sudden, furious rush was now made by the
Green Mountain Boys on their astonished antagonists,
who, not dreaming of this mode of attack, and
being busily intent on loading their guns, were taken
by complete surprise, and to a great disadvantage to
themselves. And before they had recovered from
their astonishment sufficiently to put themselves in
a posture of defence, most of their guns were
wrenched from their hands, their bodies seized round
the waist, and some of them thrown to the ground;
while grappling man with man, all were instantly
involved better skelter in the tremendous scuflle that
now ensued. And although the Green Mountain
Boys were now in the exercise of their favorite athletics,
and notwithstanding their great strength and
suppleness of limb, they soon found that the entire
subjection of these brawny and resolute Highlanders
was no very easy task. Though thrown to the
ground, they had to be held there; though knocked
down, they again rose to the fight, and though beaten,
they yielded not. And the victory had perhaps,
been even doubtful, had not Warrington now thrown
open the gate, and come, with a fresh force, to the
rescue. Then, indeed, it was not till they saw their
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leader lying bound and helpless on the ground, that
the pugnacious Scotchmen could be brought to say
that they yielded themselves prisoners.
`I have na yielded yet, ye hogshoutherin rap scallions!
' roared Donald, scornfully, as he lay on the
ground with scarcely a member of his body, except
his tongue, at liberty; `I hae na yielded, an' as muckle
victory as ye think to mak it, ye sal never say that
Donald McIntosh ca'd himsel prisoner wi'out first
settling the conditions o' the surrender.'
`What conditions would you have, brave Scot,'
asked Warrington, with great show of respect, as
soon as he could be heard amidst the shouts of laughter
that followed this ludicrous declaration of the
vanquished leader.
`What conditions? Why to be allowed to march
out wi' a' the honors o' war, an' a safe pasport for
thae women an' a' the gear, an' property,' replied
McIntosh, somewhat soothed by the respectful manner
of the other.
`And will you quietly yield up the place and depart,
if we will allow you these conditions?' rejoined
Warrington, evidently disposed to humor the fallen
warrior in his laughable demand.
`We wael bide thae terms of surrender,' replied
the other, `an' ye hae the word o' Donald McIntosh
til the bargain.'
`We will let the man have his way for the bravery
he has shown,' said Warrington, turning to his
men. `Take away their ammunition, but restore
them their guns, and unbind their leader. Now
Captain McIntosh, arise—parade your men, and
conduct the surrender in such manner as suits your
pleasure.'
Deeply impressed with a sense of what he
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deemed the honor of his profession required in surrendering
so important a military post of the king, as he
considered this, McIntosh arose, formed his men,
marched into the enclosure, halted, faced about, sent
a corporal to bring out the ladies and place them in
the rear, marched out again, grounded arms, and,
with an air of great formality and consequence, pronounced
himself and followers prisoners of war, to
depart on parole, to serve no more on this coast during
the war.
Warrington, from his knowledge of the national
character of his prisoners, entertaining no doubts of
their fidelity in strictly observing all the stipulations
of their leader, now cordially invited them to remain
at the post through the night. And the invitation
being as cordially accepted, both parties within an
hour were commingling in the greatest amity and
good feeling, the Green Mountain Boys secretly elated
with their success in reducing this strong hold of
the Yorkers, and their late opponents resting satisfied
with the gallant efforts they had made in its defence.
The next day the vanquished, availing themselves
of the permission granted them by the victors, conveyed
all the moveable property of their master on
board several large batteaux, which had been kept
there for the purpose of exporting lumber or other
products of the farm, and set sail down the creek
for St. Johns, or some one of Colonel Reed's possessions
on the York side of the lake, near its northern
extremity.
Thus terminated this unique and curious contest,
which proved to be the last one of any magnitude
that occurred between the New Hampshire grantees
and the Yorkers, for the possession of the soil
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within the disputed territory. The place being thus left
in the hands of the Green Mountain Boys, they immediately
reinstated the owners and former occupants,
and soon after, strengthening and enlarging
the defences into a more regular fortress, they posted
a small, permanent force there to prevent so important
a position from falling again into the hands
of the Yorkers, or any new set of minions which the
late military aggressor might see fit to send on for a
second forcible seizure. No further attempt, however,
was made to wrest the place from their hands;
nor did any of the late offenders ever make their appearance
in the place, except the brave and honest,
though strangely mistaken McIntosh, who, indeed,
after a while returned, but with views not a little altered:
For becoming by some means undeceived as
to the nature of his late trust, and being excessively
mortified at the development, which robbed him, in
his own estimation, of nearly all the glory he had
gained in defending it, he seemed to have foresworn
the military, for a more quiet profession. And purchasing
a farm in the neighborhood, he settled down
upon it, and, in the peacable pursuits of agriculture,
spent the remainder of an unusually long life, no less
respected for scrupulous honesty, than distinguished
for the whimsical obsurdities that occasionally marked
his conduct.
But there is one of the conquered band whom we
have no notion of disposing of in so summary a
manner—we mean the heroine of the party—the
spirited, wild, wayward and beautiful Jessy Reed,
who was, indeed, no other than the daughter of the
usurping Colonel. The singularity of the position
which our band found her occupying at this place, and
the attending circumstances, we will give her an
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opportunity of hereafter explaining, and content ourselves
for the present with a few words respecting
her destination, and the manner of her departure
from the scene where she was introduced to the reader.
Instead of going with McIntosh and his men
to the north, she had expressed a wish to proceed
to the residence of a family with whom her father
was intimate, living near the south end of the lake.
But the large boats being all required to transport
the effects, and the hands needed to man them, an
open skiff, and one man to row it, were the only accommodations
that could well be afforded her. Still
she persisted in her determination. But should she
be permitted to embark with no more attendants?
The air of extreme novelty attending this singular
girl, together with her personal attractions, had from
the first made a strong impression on the mind of Selden.
He began with playing the soother—suceeded,
and became her attendant, the evening after
the affray, in a twilight walk along the banks of
the Otter, during which he was as much surprised at
the exhibition of intelligence and wit, into which he
had artfully drawn her, as charmed and interested
with her beauty, and a certain piquancy and dash
of romance which nature and a semi-military education
had thrown into her character. But how far
this interest was reciprocated, he had no means of
judging. And should he now offer to become her
attendant on her proposed voyage through the lake,
would the offer be received? Would she suffer to
attend her one of those who had wrested away her
father's possessions; one from whom she yesterday
recoiled as from the touch of a viper, branding him
with the epithets of villain and monster? Sudden
metamorphoses are no miracles in this changing
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world, thought Selden, and a failure in this case
shall not happen from the want of an attempt. He
delicately made the proposal. She hesitated, blushed
a little, and accepted.
“Was ever woman in such humour woo'd!”
CHAPTER VII.
“And I methinks, till I am old,
A fairer maid shall ne'er be hold—
The sloping lawn, the cottage small,
The outspread lake, the water fall,
And thou, the spirit of them all!”
A few miles from the eastern side of Lake Champlain,
and nearly opposite to Crown Point, where
now moulder the ruins of one of the oldest fortresses
in North America, a bald, jagged and desolate
looking peak, known by the ungracious appellation
of Snake Mountain, stands frowning over the surrounding
levels in solitary and repulsive grandeur.
This detached and lofty mountain, being the highest
and indeed the only eminence of any magnitude,
in all that extensive and beautiful tract of country
lying between the lake and Otter Creek for the last
thirty miles of its course, served among the settlers,
before roads were much opened in this part of
the wilderness, as a guide, or land mark, for all
those who had occasion to travel the woodlands in
this vicinity. And Warrington, after safely establishing
his friends in their possessions at the Lower
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Falls, and despatching a small band of his forces in
pursuit of the York Surveyor, repaired, with the remainder
of his men, to the western brow of this
mountain, as a rendezvous to which his whole party
were to assemble when the surveyor was secured,
proposing to employ the interim in making observations
preparatory to some contemplated operations
in the neighborhood of the place. He was, as the
reader has already been apprised, the owner, under
a New Hampshire Grant, of a considerable body of
wild land, lying along the shore of the lake, upon a
part of which, he had been informed, some one had
entered under color of a York title. And as the
tract of land in question was situated between this
mountain and the lake, it was now his intention to
ascertain whether the information he had received
was correct, and, if found to be so, to take measures
for ejecting the intruder, whose name even was unknown
to him. With this object in view, our leader,
leaving his men to prepare a shelter for their temporary
quarters, took his rifle, and set off alone through
the woods in the direction in which the improvements
of the supposed intruder were said to be located.
After travelling some miles in this direction,
he arrived at the top of the last offset, in the lakeward
slope of the country, before reaching the
shore, which now appeared a short distance in front,
while an opening of considerable extent became visible
on the left. Approaching the skirt of this opening,
and carefully noticing the natural land marks
around it, he soon became convinced that the whole
clearing, with all the improvements, was embraced
within the boundaries described in his own patent.
Having satisfied himself in this respect, he now turned
his attention more particularly to the
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improvements themselves, and felt a degree of surprise on
witnessing their comparative extent and superiority
over the rest of those of this recently settled country.
The house was uncommonly neat and comfortable
in its appearance, and very pleasantly situated
on the green and graduated margin of a beautiful
little brook, that meandered, with many a glittering
cascade, through a smooth meadow, and entered
the woods a few rods below the spot where he
stood. The out-house, barn, garden, and every
thing around, were in good keeping—all going to furnish
unequivocal indication that enterprise, taste and
some degree of wealth, had here been employed.
Much did Warrington wonder who could be the enterprising
occupant, who had accomplished all this
in so short a time, and still more, that it could have
been done without more particular intelligence reaching
him respecting it. But whoever he might be, it
was not probable that he would part with such fair
possessions without a struggle; and as a garrison
was near, the troops of which were understood to
be in the York interest, and stood ready, doubtless,
to protect the intruder, Warrington at once saw that
a considerable force might be necessary to dispossess
him, and even should the attempt be successfully
made, the same force might be required to be permanently
stationed there to defend it. After revolving
this subject in his mind awhile, he concluded to defer
it for further consideration, and perhaps for a
consultation with his companions; and now dismissing
the matter from his mind, he again gave his
attention to the inviting prospect around him. The
day was bright and tranquil; the balmy breath of
spring, wafted over flowering field and budding
forest, was dallying with the whispering pines above,
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thus gratifying one sense with delicious odours, and
soothing another with the soft and dying murmurs
of æolian melody. The long tract of the far stretching
waters of the lake, sleeping in the rays of the
descending sun, shone with dazzling brightness,
which, at intervals, was beautifully relieved by the
dark green islands which studded the glittering expanse.
The sloping uplands beyond, which reanimating
nature was just beginning to clothe in the
green vesture of summer, rose up from the long line
of nodding pines that lined the western margin of
the lake, in beautiful perspective, each individual
feature of the landscape becoming more and more
indistinct in the mellowing distance, till the view
was terminated by the last long ridge of climacteric
mountains, whose tall ice-clad peaks, fiercely flashing
in the sun, were marked in bold outlines against
the cloudless blue of the heavens. A solitary flag
was waving over the massy and frowning walls of
the opposite fortress, on which the Mene Tekel had
already been traced by the unseen hand that writes
the destines of nations: for the emblem lion, that
there now proudly floated on the breeze, and glorying
in his strength and prowess, seemed bidding defiance
to the world, was doomed, before many revolving
suns had finished their daily course, to be
plucked down by those, who were alike fearless in
their resistance to oppression, whether coming from
a sister colony or a parent country.
While Warrington, who was an enthusiastic admirer
of nature, with whom he particularly loved to
commune in the solitudes of the forest where her
empire was undisturbed by the works of art, was
giving his soul to the magnificent prospect before
him, he was recalled from his reverie by the light
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plashing of oars in the waters below. And turning
his eyes in the direction of the sound, he indistinctly
discerned through the trees a small skiff approaching
the shore of the lake, rowed by a single
person, who, on reaching his landing, drew up his
boat, and, after taking out of it a gun, ascended
the bank. As he emerged from the thick underwood
that skirted the shore into the more open forest,
and advanced into the higher grounds, Warrington
soon discovered, from his uniform, that he
was a soldier, or some subaltern, from the fort, who
had come over, he concluded, in search of the partridge,
or other light game, with which the woods
here very plentifully abounded. The man still continued
leisurly to advance into the forest till he had
reached the runlet before mentioned; when something
on his right, in the direction of the clearing,
seemed suddenly to attract his notice. And, after
pausing awhile in apparent doubt and indecision, he
began somewhat cautiously, and with an air of hesitation,
to move forward towards the object which
had arrested his attention, and which he still appeared
to keep anxiously in view. Our leader, who
in the meanwhile kept his stand unobserved, supposing
the other had sprung some game at which
he was endeavoring to obtain a favorable shot, continued,
with a sort of listless curiosity, to watch his
motions, till he had passed out of sight behind an
intervening copswood of low firs, that thickly extended
along the slope, some half dozen rods from
the clearing. In a few moments, and as the former
yet stood patiently listening for the report of the
expected shot, the voice of a female, coming from
the quarter to which his attention was directed, and
uttering a slight cry, as of mingled surprise and
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alarm, reached his ear. The voice of the man was
next heard in the earnest, though flurried tones of
seeming entreaty, which appeared to be followed by
a hasty movement towards the object addressed,—
and in a moment more a piercing shriek rose wildly
from the spot. Grasping his rifle, and plunging
into the thicket, Warrington bounded down the hill
with the speed of a wild deer towards the scene;
and in another instant the parties were revealed to
his sight—a young lady of the most interesting exterior,
with her hair loosened and falling in disorder
over her neck and shoulders, and her flushed
countenance eloquent with indignation and alarm,
as with half averted face she struggled to free herself
from the fellow, who, by a grasp of one hand
on her garment, was endeavoring to detain her in
her attempted flight. One glance at the victim of
this rude assault sufficed to tell the unexpecting and
astonished Warrington that the fair original of that
picture, which had been so long engraven on his
heart, was before him, requiring his instant aid and
protection.
`Back! ruffian, back!' exclaimed he, as with levelled
piece he rushed upon the soldier, who stood
mute and confounded before so unlooked for an apparition;
`back! I say—unhand the lady, or you
die on the spot!'
Quailing beneath the stern and withering glances
of the other, the abashed aggressor immediately relinquished
his hold on the girl, and muttering a denial
of any intentional wrong and a few curses at
the interference of Warrington, shrunk away and
disappeared in the woods.
`I am much indebted to you, sir,' said the still
agitated maiden, scarce audibly, her eyes timidly
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bent on the ground, as her protector now gently advanced
to her side.
`Miss Hendee'—said Warrington, hesitatingly,
after an awkward silence of a moment; `do I not
behold my former acquaintance, Miss Alma Hendee?
'
`Mr. Howard!' exclaimed the girl, as with deep
surprise she now for the first time lifted her eyes to
scan the features of her before unrecognized deliverer.
A slight flush passed over the face of the other,
on hearing himself addressed by that name, and he
opened his lips as if to correct his fair friend, but a
second thought seemed to repress the expression of
the first, and, quickly recovering from his hesitation,
he observed, `I little thought to have met you here,
Miss Hendee. I could almost forgive the wretch
who caused you this fright, since he has been the
means of my meeting again with one whom I have
never ceased to remember with pleasure. But you
have companions near, surely?'
`No nearer than the house, from which I wandered
down the run just now, and, tempted by
these flowrets peeping up along the banks, extended
my ramble, perhaps imprudently, thus far into the
woods.'
`And is this fair situation, then, your home—the
residence of your father?'
`Certainly, it is,' replied Miss Hendee, resuming
her natural cheerfulness; `why, surely, Mr. Howard,
you did not suppose I had turned wood-nymph
to wander in the forests, and house in the caves—
did you?'
`I hardly knew what to think, for it never
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occurred to me that the father of Alma Hendee could
be in possession of this beautiful opening.'
`And why not, my dear sir? Why, we have
been here these three years. And if we have not
made the wilderness blossom like the rose, we have
at least got so far as to make the rose blossom in the
wilderness—come, you shall attend me home, and
see what a pretty flower garden I have in progress.'
`To the opening, at least,' responded Warrington,
obeying the motions of his fair companion.
`And now, sir,' resumed the latter gaily, as they
proceeded on their way, `having answered your-questions,
let me be the catechist awhile, will you?
And in the first place, from what cloud so opportunely
dropped my gallant deliverer, just at the particular
moment he was wanted?'
`I, too, am an inhabitant of the Green Mountain
settlement, though not of this vicinity,' answered
the other: `and you see,' he continued, smilingly pointting
to his rifle, `that my old propensities still hang about
me; and for the present you must take this as an
explanation of my wandering into this section of the
country. I had just arrived at the border of the
woods up yonder, and was viewing your delightful
situation, when your cries brought me to your side.'
`I am half ashamed of the noise I made,' rejoined
the lady, `and I presume it was unnecessary.
He has occasionally been at our house; and how
far he considered himself warranted on such an acquaintance
to obtrude himself as he did, I know
not. But being started by the fellow's unexpected
appearance, and uncertain, from his hesitating and
equivocal manner, what might be the nature of
the proposals, which he said he wished to make, and
which at last he seemed determined I should stop to
hear, I became much alarmed, I will confess; though
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I should feel excessively mortified to have any stir
made about it. I hope you will not mention the affair
to my father when we get home?'
`Certainly not, if it is your wish—that is, I would
not, if I were to see him,' replied Warrington, pausing,
as they now came into the open field.
`But surely, sir, you will go to the house? My
father will be very much pleased to renew his acquaintance
with his Doctor Hunter, as he would always
persist in calling you.'
`Your kind invitation, believe me, Miss Hendee,
is most gratefully received; but I think it would
hardly be advisable for me at this time to accept it.'
`And why not?—so near, and not visit us? I
know my father will be delighted to see you, and
have you spend several days with us—particularly
so, I imagine, at the present time, when he is not
without apprehensions of an attack from the Green
Mountain Boys, as they call them. Why, did you
know that a band of these men have, for several
days past, been ravaging the settlement along Otter
Creek, headed by that terrible fellow, Captain Warrington?
'
`I heard,' replied the other, confused and stammering
at this unexpected question, and the commentary
on his own character which he perceived it
involved in the mind of his fair companion, `I
heard—that is, I was aware that the person you
mention had come into this part of the country.
But your father need be under no apprehensions on
that account;' he continued, regaining his composure,
`for I think I can very safely answer for Warrington,
that neither he, nor any of his followers,
shall ever disturb the father of Alma Hendee.'
`You can! can you? But why couple my name
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so very oddly with that of this fearful man?—I do
not fully comprehend—I know there are two parties
in this settlement, and I suppose he and his company
pretend to be acting for the New Hampshire party.
Perhaps you belong to this party, and know
him, and can influence him in our behalf? Oh! if
you would!—But come, do go to the house with me,
and assure my father of this.'
`Not now—another time—perhaps to-morrow, I
may visit you—that is if'—and Warrington paused
and hesitated, as if doubtful whether to proceed,
while, with a waiting and wondering expression, the
girl stood earnestly looking him in the face. `Miss
Hendee,' he at length resumed, somewhat pensively,
`you left the place, which afforded me the pleasure
of your acquaintance, unexpectedly,—quite so to me.
On my return, a day or two after our last interview,
to my great disappointment, I found you were gone—
whither, I was never able to discover.'
`We intended you no disrespect, however. Mr.
Howard, in leaving thus unceremoniously,' replied
the girl, exchanging the free and cordial, for a more
guarded and distant manner, as if she instinctively
anticipated what was to follow. `My father, who,
as you was aware, had then become able to resume
his journey, gained some information from a traveller,
who called in your absence, which led him to
determine on leaving the place the next morning. I
certainly should have been happy at that time to see
you again and apprise you of our departure.'
`At that time,' rejoined the other, catching the
emphasis, and slowly, and with a tone of disappointment,
repeating the expression, `at that time,'—and
have Miss Hendee's feelings, then, changed since I
last saw her?'
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`I then esteemed you, Mr. Howard, much—very
much, indeed,' she evasively replied, looking down,
while her fingers were busy in tearing a little flower
that she had plucked by the way: `I thought highly
of you—very; and I still know not why I should
not regard you with the same respect.'
`Respect, my dear Miss Hendee, is a term that
falls coldly on the ears of those who are looking, or
at least hoping, for a warmer expression. You were
sensible, were you not, that, at the time to which
we have been alluding, I was cherishing for you a
tenderer sentiment?'
`I had no right to understand so,' tremulously replied
the lovely listener, the quick heavings of whose
bosom plainly told the tumult that had been awakened
within; `you certainly made no professions
that would warrant me in such a belief.'
`Miss Hendee,' resumed the other after a pause,
`you were, if I rightly understood your character, as
I presume you are now, a frank and ingenuous girl.
May I then not hope, that, in kindness to me, you
will give a frank answer to a question which I would
ask you?'
`If a proper one.'
`If then a profession, which I intended to have
made you, had opportunity been allowed, were to
be made now, are there more obstacles now, than
then, to prevent it being favorably received?'
She made no reply, and Werrington, stealing a
glance at her averted face, perceived that her eyes
were suffused with tears.
`There is indeed, then, one between us,' at length
said the other sadly.
`There is,' was the reply in a tone of regret,
which should have satisfied even the monopolizing
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heart of a lover. But love with men, oftener than
otherwise wholly blind to policy, is rarely content
to rest satisfied with those indirect expressions and
delicate intimations, which are a surer proof of its
existence in the female heart than the most open
declarations, and, absurdly craving more, is not unfrequently
compelled to put up with less. It was
thus with our lover as he rejoined—
`May I not have the happiness to hear those lips
declare that my affection has been in some measure
reciprocated?'
Still there was no reply.
`Am I to understand,' resumed Warrington,
`that Miss Hendee has pledged her hand irrevocably?
And can it be that she has pledged herself
too for a union into which her heart can never enter?
'
`What have I said, Mr. Howard,' replied the
girl, looking up with the air of offended pride, `to
warrant such questions? With some, perhaps, I
might not be slow to resent your intimation. And
as it is,' she continued with great dignity, `you will
hold me excused, I trust, for declining to commune
further on a subject, which should now be as uninteresting
to you, as it is embarrassing, and even
painful to me.'
`Surely, surely! dearest lady, you cannot believe
that I would intentionally offend?' said the disconcerted
lover. `We will, however, dismiss this subject
for the present, if so unpleasant.'
`For the present, and forever!'
`If it must be so—and yet'—
`No more, no more—I know not even that I have
done right in listening to what you have already
said, or remaining here so long. You will now
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receive my adieu, and excuse my immediate return.'
`One moment yet—you will not deny me another
interview?'
`At my father's house, and in my father's presence,
most certainly not.'
`Even on these hard conditions, I will, then, soon
seek it—cruel one, adieu.'
`Adieu!' responded the beauteous girl, as, triping
lightly away, she looked back with a smile so
eloquently sweet, that it erased in an instant the
effect of every frown she had given, and every negative
she had uttered, from the mind of her repulsed,
but not despairing lover.
The progress we have now made in our story
makes it necessary to recur to some incidents of an
earlier date, connected with several of our leading
personages, and having a bearing on the events yet
to follow:—
Some three or four years previous to the events
just related, and when the settlers were first meditating
an open resistance to the authorities of New
York, it became an object with the former to ascertain
how far the government of that province was
there sustained in its attempted aggression on the
Grants, by the feelings and opinions of the people
at large—whether, indeed, there did not exist
among that people, especially those living near the
disputed territory, a considerable degree of sympathy
for the settlers in their unrighteous persecutions:
For in the event of such a sympathy, the latter believed
that the meditated resistance might be ventured
upon with safety, or with safety, at least, when compared
with a case where the feelings of the people
were enlisted on the side of the government. It
was therefore determined that an emissary should be
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sent into the part of New York lying contiguous to
the Grants, who, travelling in disguise, or with disguised
objects, should endeavor to ascertain the true
sentiments and feelings of the people on this subject;
and Warrington was the person selected for
this delicate, though important enterprise. Accordingly
setting out alone with his rifle, and travelling
on foot under the assumed name of Howard, and
in the character of a hunter and herbalist, he travelled
all that section of the country into which he had
been particularly sent, calling at almost every house
in his course and mingling with all companies and
classes in pursuing the objects of his secret mission.
And it was while on this excursion, that he accidentally
formed the interesting acquaintance, of which
the reader has already been apprised. Happening
on one of the main roads leading from the east to
Albany, he was overtaken by a gentleman and lady
in a carriage, travelling towards the last mentioned
place. They had passed by him but a few rods,
however, before the horse suddenly took fright and
overturned the carriage, by which the man was seriously
hurt, though the lady fortunately escaped
with little injury. Springing forward to their aid,
Warrington, after securing the horse with no little
difficulty and danger, turned his attention to the
travellers, who proved to be a father and daughter.
of the name of Hendee. Assisting the wounded
man into his vehicle, and placing his daughter by
his side to support him, he attended them, leading the
horse, to the nearest habitation, which was a poor
inn not far from the place of the accident. And having
formerly been placed in circumstances in which
he had gained considerable practical knowledge of
medicine, he, in the absence of a regular physician
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in that thinly settled country, undertook the cure of
the invalid himself, closely attending him till he became
convalescent, and repeating his visits, at short
intervals, during the two or three weeks that elapsed
before the patient was able to resume his journey.
And it was during these vists, in which he
had evidently found great favor in the eyes of both
father and daughter, by the kindness and delicacy
of his attentions, that he had contracted an intimacy
with latter, which soon passed the ordinary boundaries
of friendship, and ripened into that blissful
state of the affections, which constitutes, perhaps, the
most purely happy period in the course of love—when
the feelings of parties are tacitly understood and appreciated
by each other, before an open avowal occurs
to throw with its business like aspect, the first shade
of earth over this paradise of the heart. It was at
this interesting stage of the intimacy that Warrington
returned one day, after a longer absence than
usual, and found, to his great disappointment and
regret, that Hendee and his daughter had departed
the day before, without leaving any note or message,
as he then could learn, explanatory of their unannounced,
and, to him unexpected departure. Believing
from this, that he might have been perhaps
deceived in regard to the nature and extent of the
interest, which he had flattered himself he had created
in the bosom of Miss Hendee, and feeling a little
piqued at this appearance of neglect on the part
of both father and daughter, he soon ceased his unavailing
enquiries concerning the family. And he
had never heard any thing further respecting them,
or received the slightest information of the place of
their subsequent residence, except the vague and uncertain
information which he gathered in his
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adventure at the subteraneous abode before described,
from that time to the present hour, when, to his utter
surprise, he found them located on his own land.
And now having no suspicion that they were conscious
of intruding on the rights of another, and last
of all, his own, in taking up this place under a York
patent, and still cherishing all his former sentiments
for the daughter, whose heart he believed he still retained
notwithstanding the claims of another to her
hand, he resolved to relinquish his right to the land,
and even keep his ownership, if possible, a secret
from the family, while he should prosecute his suit
with the girl, at least till he had unravelled the mystery
that now seemed to hang over her, and become
better satisfied of the hopelessness of his case.
Revolving this subject in his mind, he returned to
his encampment, and announced to his wondering
companions, that he should have no occasion to employ
them in the affair which, as they were apprised,
he had been to investigate.
CHAPTER VIII.
“Let us be conjunctive in our revenge.”
“'Tis lucky! I can work my purposes,
While seeming but to do the state a service.”
Perhaps there is no kind of hatred, that finds
harbor in the human breast, more deadly and inveterate
than that which is entertained by the perpetrators
of base actions against those who have
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detected them in guilt. Nor does the degree of inveteracy,
with which this fiendish feeling is secretly
cherished by the former, appear to be very often
lessened by any forbearance which may be exercised
by the latter in not exposing their baseness,
or bringing them to punishment. We will not detain
the reader, however, with any speculations of
our own on this dark and somewhat singular leaf in
the history of the human passions, but leave the
subject to be illustrated by those incidents of our
story, by which these remarks were here suggested.
When the discomfitted soldier retreated from the
presence of Warrington and the rescued maiden,
he concealed himself in a thicket, from which he
could espy the movements of the couple till they
separated. And when this had taken place, he
proceeded directly to his boat, and, entering it,
pushed for the opposite shore, plying his oars with
a sort of nervous and spiteful energy, as if impelled
by the commingling feelings of chagrin and revenge,
that were working within him at the thoughts
of his defeat, and the conscionsness that he had
disgraced himself forever in the eyes of the girl, as
well as exposed himself to the contempt and abhorrence
of her deliverer.
`Fool! fool!' he angrily muttered to himself, as
he urged his skiff through the waters, which, as if
in mockery at the dark turmoil of his breast, were
now sparkling in cheerful brightness in the rays of
the setting sun; `stupid fool, to think a timid girl
would listen to me in such a place! And more fool
still to manage so blunderingly as to alarm her,
when, if I had begun right, I might have told her
all, or at least found out whether she would have
made it to my advantage to do it. And then to
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mend the matter, I must try, in my eagerness, to
stop her! which brought down that cursed interloper
upon me, as if the old boy sent him just at
that moment to make an affair out of the trifle!
I wonder what they supposed I wanted to do?—
that is plain, however, what they thought; but they
are mistaken: Bill Darrow for once is accused of
what he is not guilty! ha! ha! aint that a curiosity!
Well, the plan, like every woman plan I ever
laid, is all blown to the devil now, I suppose:
though I can yet bring it about with the old man,
if I choose. But that scoundrel, d—n him! whoever
he may be, I'll dog him to the death, but I'll
pay him for his rascally interference!'
While thus reasoning and raving by turns, in the
way of soothing his smarting feelings, he had nearly
reached his destined landing, a small cove about
a furlong north of the fort, when he caught a
glimpse of a man standing among the bushes on
the shore, apparently awaiting the approach of the
boat.
`Ah! who have we here?' resumed the desperado,
as, shading his eyes with his hand from the
blinding rays of reflected light that fell in his face,
he threw a scrutinizing glance at the person of the
other; `why! can it be?—it is—Jake Sherwood
himself! What in the devil's name brought him
here just at this time? Ah! my dear fellow, you
may thank your good stars, and evil ones, that you
are not by this time pretty devilishly well dished!—
But can he have mistrusted my good will? No,
no!—the secret is still my own, and for the present
shall remain so, as my best stock in trade. Yet
what can he want with me? Some beelzebub errand
to be done, I'll warrant me! Well, he shall
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pay roundly for doing it, besides shelling out something
more than promises on the old score, or I'll
yet put him in a spot he will little relish, I am thinking.
'
`Well, Darrow,' said Sherwood, as the former
now reached the shore, and, pulling up his boat,
mounted the bank; `sporting a little over yonder
this afternoon, eh? What luck? None!—
Well, that is the way sometimes. But come, take a
seat on this old log here, in the bushes. I should
like a little talk with you; so lay aside that grim
scowl of yours, and be sociable once, if you can.'
`Sociable! hum! I should like to know who in
hell could feel sociable, or wear a decent face while
his conscience is loaded down with such soul-damning
secrets as these of yours.'
`My secrets! ha! ha!—as if they were not
yours, too!
`And they may be somebody's else, too, unless you
mend your manners, and show yourself a little more
liberal than you have been lately, Jake Sherwood.
But what brings you here now, and what would you
have with me?'
`O, nothing very special—nothing of any great
consequence'—
`Nothing very special, hey? When did Jake
Sherwood, or his father before him, ever call on
Bill Darrow without a special object, I should like
to know?'
`Well, well, supposing I have an errand, what
then?—what is there so out of the way in that, you
surly one?'
`Why, nothing out of the way, but exactly in the
way, as I said. But what is the use of puttering
with your round-about moonshine?—out with it!'
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`Darrow,' said the other, after glancing about him
as if to make sure that there was no one within
hearing; `there are several of the York outlaws
prowling about Otter Creek. We came near seizing
them a few days ago at lake Dunmore, though
they escaped us, and that was not all—but no matter—
they, day before yesterday, went down the
Creek to the Lower Falls, and took, and laid waste
colonel Reed's plantation there. And their leader,
one Warrington, with part of his gang, has since
moved off somewhere in this direction. Now there
is a reward of about two hundred crowns to be had
for taking this fellow. I have had my eye on him
some time, and now I have some particular reasons
for wishing him secured.'
`What a kind of a looking fellow is he?' asked
Darrow, with considerable interest. `Do you know
him by sight?'
`Yes—a tall, square built, and rather good looking
fellow—that is, he might appear so to one who
did not know him for a scoundrel.'
`The same, by heavens!' exclaimed Darrow after
musing a moment. `Yes, he must be the very
fellow I saw not two hours ago, as I was skirting
along Captain Hendee's clearing over yonder. He
was walking with a woman near the woods.'
`How! what woman?—not Alma Hendee?'
`Can't say.'
`No, no, it must have been the maid—and yet—
but confound the audacious scoundrel, how came
he there, and so soon acquainted with either maid
or mistress, unless my suspicions are right?'
`All that you can answer as well as I—though
come to think more about the woman's make and
gear, I'll be hanged if I dont believe that it was the
old man's daughter.'
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`Fire and furies! it must be so.'
`Why, what are you so wrathy about?' said Darrow,
with a malicious smile. `You are not afraid the
fellow will run away with your girl, are you, Jake?'
`My girl! who told you so? Not mine, unless I
please, I would have you to know! No, no, sir, no
fear of this poltroon in that. But still I can't exactly
comprehend the movement. If he was reconnoitering
with a view to ousting the old man, would
he be walking out so familiarly with his daughter?
It don't look like it—no, it means something else,
which must the sooner be seen to. And thanks to
the rascal's boldness, he has put his fate in my power
quicker than I expected.'
`How—in what way?'
`Why, don't you see, Bill?' said Sherwood, turning
with a familiar and coaxing air to the minion,
`dont you see how easily he can be entrapped, if
he remains at Hendee's to night, or repeats his visit?
'
`Ay, but how would you manage the business?'
`You are a sergeant—take a file of men, go over,
surround the house and take him. Your superior
won't object.'
`But how am I to know when he is to be found
there?'
`I will go over myself, reconnoiter as soon as dark,
without showing myself to alarm him, and if I find
the game, be there, I will make a torch signal at the
landing. You must keep watch, and as soon as you
see the light, come over with your men. If he is
not there to night, he will be soon: Alma Hendee is
not a girl to be once seen and draw no second visit.
Yes, by the powers of darkness, I have him at last!
But supposing he does not come into this trap, he
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certainly is prowling somewhere near; and you can
prowl too, Bill. And—and at the last pinch—you
are a good rifle shot, I think, Darrow?'
`Ha! ha! out at last then! I thought it would finally
come to that. Jake Sherwood, you are a book
that I can read by looking on the cover.'
`Then you know what I would have you do.'
`Yes, but where would be the reward in that
case? The Yorkers don't pay for heads that have
been bored, do they?'
`The governor's proclamation dont say delivered
alive, but only delivered. But whatever question
there might be about that in some cases, there shall
be no failure in this. I have influence enough at
head quarters to see that your bill is footed, if you
bring this about, in any shape.'
`And you will do it?'
`Upon honor.'
`Upon interest, you mean.'
`Upon both, if you please.'
`That will do, and for this d—n'd good reason—
if the security is weak, I know of that which can
easily be made to enforce the bargain. Jake Sherwood,
I am your man.'
`Now that looks like a cheerful good will, without
your usual drawback of grumbling. Well, we understand
each other, do we?'
`Hum! a d—n'd sight too well, Jake!'
`Why, we part friends, don't we?'
`Yes, and it rests with you whether we remain
so. But I must be back to the fort. And, as it is
getting dusk, you go directly over, I suppose?'
`Soon—but you understand that we are to try
to cage him at Hendee's, first. Remember to look
out for the signal!'
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`Ay, ay!'
`Yes, my suspicions were right about him and the
girl,' soliloquized the plotting agent, after the departure
of his reckless minion., But never mind, I
have put the blood-hound on the scent; and if the
animal don't forget his own nature, in addition to
putting a stop to this business, I shall soon have the
pleasure of seeing that haughty leader of these savage
rebels atone for every blow which he caused to
be inflicted on me at that accursed lake! And that
jeering lieutenant and all the rest, reward or no reward,
shall have their turn next. And then their
executioner, if I can contrive to make the hated
scoundrel such, must be made in some shape to follow
them. Perhaps, however, he may be disposed
of in the war, said to be brewing. At all events, he
is too dangerous a fellow to my interests to be suffered
to remain here long, to say nothing of the insults,
which I am compelled to bear, and seem to
take in good part, from his devil's tongue. I wonder,
though, what made him undertake this dangerous
business so readily?—the reward, I suppose;—
well let him have it—revenge is dearer to me than
money. But perhaps I can contrive it to get both—
if I could but manage, after securing this renegade
Captain, to make Darrow and some of the
rest mutual executioners—ha! that would be gloririous!
But of that hereafter, now for the first object.
'
So saying, and partially arousing himself from his
reverie, he proceeded along the shore a few rods to
a point where he had left his skiff, and, entering it,
began to pull slowly for the residence, on the opposite
shore, already described, to which we will next
take the reader, for the purpose of introducing some
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new characters, and making the place the future
scene of a large portion of the incidents to follow.
CHAPTER IX.
“I prythee daughter, do not make me mad.”
It was on the second evening after the incidents
related in the two preceding chapters occurred, that
an elderly gentleman sat at the door of the pleasantly
situated cottage before described, quietly indulging
in the habit-made luxury of puffing the Indian
weed, as, enjoying the bland breezes of the evening,
he caimly looked out upon the broad expanse
of the lake, and the diversified objects of the landscape
around, over which the shades of night were
now rapidly gathering. Now his eye-lids would
droop, and his head sink, slightly, towards his breast,
under the sedative influence of the narcotic fumes
he was imbibing, aided by the cesaeless croakings of
the frogs, whose evening choruses rose from the
marshy shores of the lake in drowsy monotony on
the ear. And now he would partially arouse, and
his eye would light up, for an instant, with returning
consciousness, as his ear caught the new note of
some bird of passage just returned from his hibernal
flight to the warm south, and now for the first time
heard, marking the progress of the season. The
man might have been sixty, though his appearance
indicated a greater number of years; for his head
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was nearly white with the frosts that the fatigues
and privations of the camp, in which the vigor of
his manhood had been spent, had prematurely sprinkled
on his head. And yet, his erect figure, and
keenly flashing eye, as his attention became aroused
to objects around him, betokened a spirit still unbroken,
and intellects still unimpaired, in despite
of a shattered constitution, and the ravages which
hardship and time had depicted on his thin, and
war-worn visage. Though at the same time, the
rapid play of the muscles of his face, and the combined
expression of every feature of his countenance,
evidently denoted that, with fine sensibilities, and
much that was generous and noble, he naturally
possessed a sanguine temperament and a firey disposition,
which his growing infirmities had rendered
still more erascible. And such was indeed the case
with Captain Hendee, the person whose appearance
we have been endeavoring to describe. His life had
been one which had been checkered with no ordinary
vicissitudes. He had been an officer in the colonial
army, and out in most of that fearful struggle
with the French and Indians, that, with little intermission,
spread death and desolation through all the
borders of the English colonies in America from
1744 to 1760; and he had suffered imprisonment,
sickness, and all but death, in that terrible warfare.
He had also known the extremes of affluence and
poverty in his pecuniary affairs; while great felicity,
and uncommon bereavements, had marked his domestic
relations. He had buried two wives—each,
while she was spared him, the charm of his existence.
And to add still more to his cup of sorrows, a darling
son, who had been entrusted to the care of an
uncle in his father's absence, soon unaccountably
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disappeared, having been abducted and murdered, it
was supposed, by some lurking band of Indians.
One daughter, the child of his last wife, was now
all that remained to him to smoothe the pillow of
age, and prop his declining years. And well did
that beloved and truly lovely daughter fulfil the filial
trust thus imposed. Aware of her parent's infirmities,
as well of temper as of body, she became
the gentle soother of the one, and the watchful nurse
of the other. And ever manifesting the most affectionate
solicitude for his welfare, and always assiduously
attentive to his slightest wants and wishes,
while readily overlooking the harshness, which, in
his fits of petulance, he occasionally showed her,
and which she generally answered only with a tear,
she gained over him, by this, and the super-added
influence of his affection for her, and his sense of
dependance on her for happiness, a control for his
good, that the whole world united would have failed
in attempting to obtain.
A discreet and demure maiden of about thirty,
an old servant, who lived with them in more prosperous
days, still remained with them, and, with one
more person scarcely less regarded, completed all
the permanent members of the family. That other
person was no other than Neshobee, the young Indian,
with whom the reader has already had a partial
acquaintance, without having been before apprised,
however, we believe, of his residence. He was
one of Captain Hendee's trophies of war, having
been captured in an onset on an Indian lodge, to
which a band of murderers had been traced after
one of their masacres on the frontier settlement.
The Indians being taken wholly by surprise, and
nearly all slain by the first fire, this lad was found
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burrowed unhurt in a pile of dry leaves in one of
their haunts, and secured by the victors; when the
Captain declared, with a sort of melancholly jest,
that as the hell-hounds, a year or two before, had
deprived him of a son of about the same age, he
would for once follow their custom of supplying the
place of the slain by adopting one captured from
the enemy. And accordingly he took the boy, then
six or eight years old, back with him to his post,
and finally to his family, with whom the captive
had ever since resided.
The domicil of this strikingly contrasted family
was a common cottage, constructed after the fashion
of the better sort of houses in the settlement, of
hewn timber, so exactly squared and laid together,
in the present instance, as to make smooth, compact
walls, neatly white-washed without, and tightly ceiled
with boards within. The interior, which was divided
into two principal rooms, parlor and kitchen,
with a range of bed rooms and other small apartments
abreast, exhibited an odd mingling of the relics
of refined life with the crude substitutes for furniture,
and the various articles usually found in the
houses of a border settlement. On the high mantle-piece
of the best room stood the wide-spreading
antlers of some noble buck, the tips of the various
branches being ornamented with curious sea-shells,
the egg-shells of rare birds, and other devices of
the tasteful young mistress of the establishment.—
Rich mahogany chairs were cushioned with the
feathered skins of the loon, a large water-fowl
abounding in our northern lakes, and remarkable
for the thickness and tenacity of its skin, as well as
for the downy softness of its feathers. A light
stand, of exquisite workmanship, was supplied with a
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[figure description] Page 136.[end figure description]
curiously beaded miniature Indian canoe for a tray,
containing a pair of small clam shells for snuffers.
On wooden pegs in the wall were suspended the remains
of a once superb mirror, the broken parts of
which were artfully concealed by festoons of the
creeping evergreen; while, on one side, a small,
but well selected assortment of books, arranged on
broad shelves, completed the list of all the prominent
articles by which the room was furnished. The furniture
of the kitchen was mostly of the roughest
kind; and the whole room abounded with evidences
of the woodman's life, the walls and ceiling
above being hung with implements of hunting, furs,
pieces of drying venison, and other trophies of the
chase, taken by Neshobee, the young Esau, or red
Nimrod, if the reader please, of the family.
`Come, father,' said Miss Hendee, with a look of
affectionate solicitude, as, rolling up her needlework,
she rose from her seat by his side: `had you
not better take a seat within; I fear you are exposing
yourself too much to the night air to expect
quiet from your rheumatic shoulders to-morrow.'
`No, Alma,' replied the old gentleman, knocking
the ashes from his pipe, `I know just what I can
bear: Old Fahrenheit himself could not make an
instrument that would indicate the state of the air,
whether hot or cold, dry or humid, more exactly
than these sensitive fluids in my old shattered frame.
No, the atmosphere is peculiarly soft and warm this
evening. I think old Boreas has nearly lost his
claws for this season. I just heard a whippoorwill,
or muckawis, as the Indians call it, which they say
never appears here in the spring till winter has got so
far towards the big ice-pond on his return to the
north, that he will no more come back.'
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`I knew it was very mild to night, father, but I
thought, perhaps, you were not aware how late you
were remaining in the open air, since you appeared
so deeply engaged in cogitation.'
`True, girl, I have been thinking over matters a
little.'
`What matters, father—may I know?'
`Yes,' replied the other, now rising and following
his daughter into the room we first described,
`yes, Alma, you shall know, for you are, yourself,
one of the parties concerned.'
`I, father?'
`Yes, you are, girl; but in the first place let me
ask you, if you did not think your cousin Sherwood's
manner, in his visit last night, rather singular?
'
`I might have thought so, perhaps—in what respect
did you imagine his manner was singular, however?
'
`In several—what was it that he seemed to be
hinting about so mysteriously? And did he not
have the air of one who is secretly suspicious of
something?'
`Does my father,' replied the other, evading a
direct answer, `does my father think that any thing
very singular in Mr. Sherwood?'
`Why—why'—said the Captain surprised and
staggered at the question: `Why yes, I had hoped
so; for these secretly suspecting characters I dislike,
Alma, you know. Confound them, yes, I detest
them!'
`And I,' rejoined the girl with a smile, in which
the jocose and serious were significantly blended,
`I am too much my father's daughter, I confess, to
think otherwise, myself.'
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`Why! what? how?' hastily exclaimed the Captain,
puzzled and uneasy at the remark of the other.
`Why, what on earth can this all mean. No rupture
brewing between you and Jake, is there?'
`Not that I am aware of, as far as there are any
ties to sever—or, at least, none that I, as yet, have
been the just cause of, though'—
`Though what?' sharply demanded the father,
with increasing irritation: `Zounds! you don't think
the fellow is trying to claw off do you? Curse the
hollow hearted—humph,' what was I going to say?'
`Nothing but the truth, father, I presume,' answered
Alma, looking up with a faint smile and a sort of
cool desperation in her manner.
`Yes, I was!' quickly rejoined the other, hitching
about in his chair. `Blast it! girl, why didn't you
tell me I lied?'
`What, tell my father he lied!' said the girl,
roguishly: `no, no! that would have been the worst
of manners.'
`Yes, yes,' pettishly returned the Captain, `but
why don't you stand up for him? I don't like this
don't care a fig sort of way you have about the business.
Hang me, if I don't believe you are the one,
after all, who wishes to be off?'
`And would you object to my trying to get the
start of him?' again evasively replied the girl, `if I
believed he was intending to desert me?'
`Why, no'—answered the other, `not that I know
of; no, that would be, perhaps, a decent finesse, if
that was the case; but it is not. Then what is all
this bothering and teasing me for?'—he continued,
in a vexed and expostulating tone; `this supposing
things that are not so? You will work me up to a
fever; make me mad, march mad, without letting me
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know which of you to be mad at. 'Tis provoking;
insufferable, girl! Why not tell me in your usual
direct off-hand way, at once, how the matter stands
between you and Jake?'
`Father,' said Alma seriously, `I most certainly
would tell you, if I knew myself.'
`Well, if that don't cap the whole, now!' said
the Captain, eyeing his daughter with an incredulous
and somewhat contemptous expression, `a
courted girl know nothing of her own courtship!
Your caged squirrel, that hangs in the kitchen yonder,
knows nothing of nuts, does he?'
`Now, father you wrong me,' said the other, a
little piqued at the taunt, and now perceiving the
necessity of being more explicit on a subject, which
she felt reluctant to discuss, lest she should, by such
frankness as she could wish to use, displease her
sensitive parent. `Mr. Sherwood once certainly
made me proposals; and I, knowing how much you
had the project at heart, acquiesced, or rather, I did
not reject him; since that time he has not often reminded
me of the subject. His own affairs he
keeps to himself; and a few silly compliments on his
part completes the whole story of what you call our
courtship.'
`Beggarly account!' muttered the Captain, with
an air of disappointment, `beggarly account, as the
fellow says in the play: cold business this, for a love
affair, or I am no judge, I'll be shot if I am! But
zounds!' he continued, again kindling up, `Why, I
thought it was all a settled business! And it was
settled—and would be now, if your powers of winning
were exerted to have it so! What will become
of us the Lord only knows, if this falls
through.'
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`O, I would borrow no trouble on that score, Sir,'
observed Alma.
`But I shall though'—rejoined the other. `The
truth is, Alma, we are poor—poor as Job, when the
devil had done his damnedest! We owe Jake's father,
which, as he is sole heir, is the same as Jake
himself, for nearly all we have. If my little Edward
could have been spared me—but the noble boy is
gone; and that family have been the vortex in which
all my property and expectations have been swallowed
up: I do not say that the property went wrongfully;
but it went. Even before Jake came here, I
had thought of the possibility, that you might become
the channel by which this property would be
diverted back again into my family. And when he
made proposals to you, and I understood you accepted
them, I confess I was gratified. It gladdened
my old desolate and despairing heart with the thought
that it would ensure my comfort in my decripit and
helpless old age, while it would give you the home
and wealth which I never could furnish you; and
now to have the only bright streak I have seen for
years in my dark future, suddenly blotted out—to
have the only pleasant cup that has been presented
to me for so long, thus dashed from my very lips!—
And by whose hand?' he added, with startling
fierceness, as, trembling with rising passion, he shook
his clenched fist before the face of his unoffending
daughter. `By whose hand, I say? Girl, girl, if I
really thought'—
`I will marry him, father,' replied the girl bursting
into tears, which were drawn forth more, however,
by the picture he had drawn of his hopes and
sorrows, than by his menaces; `O, I will—I will
marry him, for your sake, dear father, if it breaks
my heart!'
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`Hang it! no, you shant!' exclaimed the excited
old man, touched to the quick at the sight of his
daughter's tears, and his whole feelings undergoing
a revulsion as sudden as rose the tempest of his
passion; `no, you sha'nt! Brand me for a brute,
if you shall! No—no—no'—he repeated till his
increasing emotion fairly choked his utterance, and
he could articulate no more.
The tide of passion, having risen to its height,
was now left to subside in the pause that followed.
`Let us now dismiss this painful subject from our
thoughts,' at length said the daughter, the first to
recover her composure; `and do not let the matter
further disturb your feelings, my dear and generoushearted
father: For whatever be the final result,
rest assured, that I will never marry without your
full consent.'
`Dutiful—noble girl!' sobbed the old man, dashing
away a tear; `God has left me a consolation in
you, my dear daughter, which I ought to be thankful
for, and which, but for my accursed temper, I
should repay with better treatment.'
`O, do not name it, father, do not name it,' replied
the daughter with a sweet and cheering smile;
`if we should go upon faults, I may have scores of
them, any of which, perhaps, would outweigh the
solitary one you tax yourself with.'
Miss Hendee had never before ventured so far in
manifesting a disposition to thwart the known feelings
and wishes of her irritable father. But her late
accidental interview with Warrington, whom she
never expected again to see, had forced upon her
mind a comparison between her two lovers, which
made her more painfully sensible than ever how
much she must sacrifice in becoming the wife of
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[figure description] Page 142.[end figure description]
Sherwood, whose true character, as deeply veiled as
he had endeavored to keep it with this family, she
had in some measure penetrated, and she could not
forego this opportunity of letting her father see how
heavy upon her heart hung the chain, that she was
wearing only out of regard to his happiness; and
yet scarcely more now than before, did she meditate
on throwing off this chain, by which she had
passively suffered herself to be bound. But determining
to defer any consummation, which might,
for the present, be urged upon her, she suffered herself
only to hope the event of circumstances more
auspicious for reconciling the now conflicting duties,
which she owed herself, and, with all his faults,
her still loved parent.
After the conversation just detailed, the parties
soon repaired to the kitchen, where, in his great
arm-chair before the cheerful fire, the Captain was
accustomed to spend his evenings, sometimes listening
to the silver-toned voice of his daughter as she
sung some favorite song, or read some favorite author,
and sometimes recounting the thrilling incidents,
that had marked his adventures while battling
the subtle foe of the wilderness. One of his
most attentive auditors, when engaged in the latter
employment, was Neshobee, with whom the veteran
also often amused himself in conversation, either
imparting information to the native, or listening to
the shrewd and original remarks made by the latter
in answer to the various questions by which he was
purposely interrogated. Perceiving now, however,
that the place of this almost necessary adjunct to
his happiness was vacant, the Captain immediately
inquired of Ruth, the servant maid before mentioned,
if she knew whither the Indian had gone.
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`He is out in the field, Captain,' replied the person
addressed, with some signs of uneasiness in her
looks, `and I wonder what strange thing he sees or
hears to-night, that makes him act so oddly? I
have been out, and called to him; but he paid no
attention to me, and kept on his pranks, sometimes
listening with his ear to the ground, and then dodging
or crawling from one stump to another.'
`Aha?' said the Captain, with a look of interest;
`those are generally pranks that mean something
with an Indian. I wonder who can be prowling
about us now?'
`Mercy!' exclaimed Ruth in alarm; `if it should
be the Green Mountain Boys!—
`The worst would be their own, I think,' coolly
observed the Captain; `that is, if they come to
show us such play as it is said they have shown
some on Otter Creek.'
`What would you do, father, in case they should
come on such an errand?' asked Alma, with an air
of mingled curiosity and concern.
`What would I do, child? Why, I would put a
rifle bullet through the first one who should attempt
to enter, even if it should be Warrington himself.
Besure, I know but little of this cursed dispute
about titles. They may have as much right to
lands that they have bought, and first improved, as
the Yorkers, for aught that I know; and I was never
for hanging them for fighting in such a case. But
here—why, zounds! do you think when I have got
the first possession, and done so much upon the
place, that I am a going to give it up to the greedy
dogs? No! not if their great devil and all generalissamo,
Ethan Allen, should come on with all his
forces, would I give it up without a fight! Hoo!—
they shall have my heart's blood first!'
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[figure description] Page 144.[end figure description]
`I trust there will be no necessity for bloodshed
any where, father, rejoined the daughter quite composedly;
`I have reason to—that is, I do not believe
the Green Mountain Boys will make the least
attempt to molest us.'
`Well—well, girl,' said the Captain, scanning the
other closely, and at first with rather a puzzled air,
which soon, however, gave way to a look of approbation;
`I must say that does not seem much like
borrowing trouble, as most of you women do in
such cases. However, I have been taught by the
Indians, and sometimes have paid dear for my
schooling too, that this borrowing trouble is not always
so bad a thing after all; as it generally keeps
us well guarded against a surprise. But here comes
our scout; so let us hear his report. Well, Neshobee,
they say you are scouting to-night—what is in
the wind?'
`Me hark um, but no tell um,' replied the Indian,
quietly taking his place by the fire.
The dog in the yard now gave one of those faint,
indecisive sort of yelps, usual with the animal when
doubtful whether he has heard something that
should require his notice.
`Beagle thinks pretty much as you do, Neshobee,
' said the Captain, comprehending the tone of
the dog: `But hark!' he added, as the animal
barked again, and in a more decided manner; `I
can't read that so easily. What do you make of it,
boy?'
`Beag say that no four foot coming, Cappen,' said
the native unconcernedly.
`Is the rifle well loaded Neshobee?' asked the
Captain, glancing at the firearms suspended by hooks
on the wall.
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[figure description] Page 145.[end figure description]
`Yas!'
`And the fowling piece?'
`Me spose um.'
`Very well, down with them then! Alma, step
and bring me my pistols! and in the mean time we
will bar the door—Ruth lend a hand! If these fellows,
' continued the Captain, coolly assissting to exto
execute the several commands he had so rapidly
given to his household—`if these fellows had any
honest errand, they would come up to the house at
once, like men, instead of skulking around at a distance,
as they evidently are. We may as well be
prepared for them.'
`Father,' said Alma returning with the required
pistols, and now manifesting the most lively concern.
`Father, I do beg of you not to think of firing on
any one rashly—ascertain what they want, at all
events. Your apprehensions, I think, are wholly
groundless—I cannot think—indeed I am very
sure'—
A gentle rap, rap, rap! on the outside of the door
caused the speaker suddenly to suspend. All now
stood hushed in silence, till the rapping was repeated,
in several louder and more distinct knocks.
-- 146 --
CHAPTER X.
“But who was he, that on his hunting spear
Lean'd with a prouder and more fiery bearing?
His was a brow for tyrant-hearts to fear,
Within the shadow of its dark locks wearing
That which they may not tame—a soul declaring
War against earth's oppressors.”
[figure description] Page 146.[end figure description]
`Hallo, there'! called out Captain Hendee, in no
very gentle tones, as he cocked his pistols, and threw
himself into an attitude of defence. `Hallo! who
comes?'
`No enemy, to say the least,' answered the voice
without.
`Let him in, father, do let him in!' said Miss
Hendee in a low beseeching tone.
`What, without giving his name!' said the Captain.
`Why, child, I don't know that voice from
Adam's! No, no, friend or foe, he shall undergo
that ceremony.'
`Well, father, you can just ask him, without being
so rough, can't you?' interposed the daughter,
in an earnest half whisper, quietly placing her hand
on the arm of the other.
`Friend,' said Captain Hendee, softening down at
the entreaties of his daughter, and as it occurred to
him that the tones of the voice he had just heard
were entirely of a pacific character; `friend, will
you favor us with your name?'
`Captain Hendee,' said the man, seeming to hesitate
about complying, `I am wholly unattended,
your dog here seems to acknowledge my
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[figure description] Page 147.[end figure description]
acquaintance, and if you will not do the same, when I am
admitted,' he added in rather a jocose tone, `I will
agree to depart as peacibly as I came.'
`Humph! me know that man talk! Him no bad!'
said the Indian, with a low chuckle.
The Captain, now, evidently a little chagrined at
the suspicions he had entertained, and the parade
he had made, immediately drew out the bar, and
opened the door; when the visitor entered, but
quickly paused, after entering the threshold to receive
the scrutinizing look of the other.
`What! no—yes, 'tis!' exclaimed Hendee, between
perplexity and surprise, after looking a few
seconds into the face of the new-comer. `Well,
now, by the great Jupiter! if I am not absolutely
ashamed of myself! Mr. Howard!' he continued,
advancing, and cordially shaking the other by the
hand, `Mr, Howard, God bless you, sir, how do you
do? Apologies by the dozen are yours!—or should
be, if such moon-shine concerns were ever worth
offering. But walk in, walk in, sir. Here are my
family—all together now—they were not when
you saw us, I think. Alma, you are acquainted
with—Miss Ruth, this is Mr. Howard. And here is
another, Neshobee, we call him, a native, as you
perceive, but for all that an adopted member of our
family.'
Miss Hendee, though much embarrassed at this
meeting, in spite of all her attempts to appear composed,
managed nevertheless to exchange the customary
salutations in such a manner as to conceal
her embarrassment from all except her lover; between
whom and herself it seemed to be tacitly understood
that they should meet each other as for the
first time, without making the slightest allusion to
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[figure description] Page 148.[end figure description]
their late interview. There was nother of the family
group also, that came in for his share of surprise,
at least, at some of the circumstances attending this
meeting. And that was the Indian. Not expecting
to see Warrington here till he heard his voice at the
door, and never dreaming till this moment but that
the latter and his master's family were entire strangers,
the poor fellow, when he saw them meet as old
acquaintances, and above all, when he heard Captain
Hendee address the other by the name of Howard,
looked perfectly confounded, and expressed as
much unfeigned astonishment as an Indian countenance,
perhaps, ever exhibited. The instinctive prudence
of his race, howeverer, prevented him from
betraying, by words, his surprise and perplexity, or
exposing Warrington in the disguise which he supposed
was for some good reasons assumed.
`Well, Mr. Howard,' resumed the Captain, after
the usual salutations were over, `I am right happy
to renew my acquaintance with you, and have the
opportunity to express personally, my obligations to
you for your many kindnesses to us at the time of
my accident on the road. You probably thought
our departure rather abrupt on your return. But
you received my note, did you not?'
`No, sir, neither note nor message.'
`What! then that old heedless poodle of a landlady
forgot it, or more probably lost it, and to mend
the matter, thought she would conceal from you that
I gave her one. Well, well, you must have thought
us rather singular beings, as well for that as for some
other things you perhaps noticed in us. For I remember,
we kept you pretty much in the dark about
our affairs. The fact was, Mr. Howard, and I care
not now who knows it, that I was then under the
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[figure description] Page 149.[end figure description]
apprehension of being pursued and taken back by creditors,
before I could reach my connexions in Albany,
where I expected to obtain the means of satisfying
them, as I did, before making this purchase.'
`You did not return then?'
`No! When I arrived there, finding that sales
were making in these lands, I concluded on a life in
the woods—made a purchase—came on here the first
season with hired men, and then sent for Alma from
Albany, and the rest of the family and goods from
Connecticut.'
`And what directed you particularly to this location?
'
`My own knowledge of the country, obtained in
the wars when I was campaigning with Put and
Rogers along the borders of this then bloody lake.
I remembered this spot well. A pitch had been
made here by some Frenchmen, who cleared up seval
acres, lived here a few years, and then deserted
the place. This was the first opening made this side
of the Connecticut river, all the rest of the country
being, at the time I first saw the spot, one broad, unbroken
wilderness. Many a weary march, and many
a cold, wet bed, have I had on these dark and
tangled shores. I have often wondered how we
could have outlived such hardships. With the constitution
and spirits I then possessed, however, I
had but little dread of the woods, or the red imps
that infested them. But my days of fighting are
now over, Mr. Howard.'
`Some, in my situation, with these evidences
around, might feel disposed to doubt that, Captain,'
smilingly observed Warrington motioning to the fire-arms,
which had not been yet replaced.
`Ah, you have me there,' gaily responded the
-- 150 --
[figure description] Page 150.[end figure description]
other; `but honestly, we were expecting visits of a
different character. If those rough dealing devils,
the Green Mountain Boys, had beset us, instead of
our peaceable old friend, Dr. Hunter, there is no
telling but even so broken down an old Trojan, as I
am, might have shown some fight on the occasion.'
`Perhaps, sir,' replied the guest in the same spirit;
`I should tender my condolence at your disappointment
in not being allowed the chance to exercise
your old vocation.'
`Not a whit, not a whit, sir: For I should extremely
regret to be forced into a quarrel with my
countrymen in defence of what I consider my rightful
possessions. And I hope it may never be the
case. But we have had some reasons to believe
otherwise within a day or two past. A friend apprised
me, that a band of these fellows was abroad,
and probably on their way to this part of the lake
shore; and our two scouts here, Neshobee and Beagle,
having successively made their reports, in their
respective fashions, to-night, that there were skulkers
in the bush, I, for one, began really to expect that
we had got to do battle for our home. Alma here,
however, I am half ashamed to own, was less apprehensive,
and bore herself more coolly than any
of the garrison, not excepting the old soldier of forty
battles at their head! Hang me! if I do'nt believe
the girl, like old Falstaf, knew by instinct who
was coming! Come, child, now be honest, was it
not so?'
But Alma, whose head suddenly dropped at the
remark, and whose fair cheek glowed like the fire
before which she was sitting, was quite too busy
with her pretty fingers in tumbling over the contents
of her work-basket for a thimble, or some other
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[figure description] Page 151.[end figure description]
article, that became just at that moment unaccountably
missing, to heed the question, or think of answering
it. Even Warrington appeared to be a little
discomposed at this close, though random shot
of the old Captain; but he did not forget to throw
a glance of gratitude towards his fair friend for the
confidence, which the Captain's statement seemed
to imply that she had placed in his assurances at
their late interview.
Captain Hendee, without seeming to notice the
sensation which his last remarks, intended only for
a passing joke, produced on some of his auditors,
at length resumed;
`You wandered roand the borders of the woods
some time before you found us, I conclude, sir, from
the noises that Neshobee heard previous to your arrival?
'
`O, no, sir, I came direct, and without stopping.'
`I do'nt see, then, but we have as much reason
now, as before, to expect a visit from the enemy to-night,
' musingly observed the Captain.
`Me guess um what I hear no Mountain Boys,'
said Neshobee, looking significantly at Warrington,
as if he considered the latter to have the most interest
in the information thus imparted.
Neither the remark of the Indian, nor the meaning
look that accompanied it, was lost on Warrington,
as was evident from the expression of uneasiness,
that, for an instant, became visible on his countenance;
but he remained silent.
`Which way did you come, Mr. Howard?' resumed
the Captain; `I believe you have not told
us, nor, indeed, how you became apprised of our
present residence?'
Warrington, catching a forbidding glance from
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[figure description] Page 152.[end figure description]
Miss Hendee, was hesitating, on her account as
well as his own, what answer he should frame to
the embarrassing question, when he was suddenly
relieved from his dilemma by a bold, heavy rap at
the door.
Captain Hendee feeling more assured this time
from the reinforcement received in his friend Howard,
who as usual had his rifle with him, immediately
rose, and, with but a slight hesitation, opened the
door; when he suddenly paused, and stood a moment
gazing in mute surprise at the figure before
him. Soon recovering, however, he, in a sort of
hesitating and doubtful tone, invited the man to enter.
Acknowledging the proffered courtesy with a
stately bow, the stranger advanced, with a bold,
free step, and a fearless air, into the middle of the
room, where he paused, and bowed slightly to each
of the assembled group, most of whom, however,
were too much surprised, and over-awed at the singular
and formidable appearance of the man to return
his salutations. And indeed his appearance
was of so unique and striking a character as well
to warrant the sensation which his presence seemed
to produce. Of an uncommon height, and with
an extraordinary breadth of chest, supplied with
large brawny limbs, his whole frame constituted a
figure of the most Herculean cast; while his large,
darkly bright eyes, and the air of inteligence that
marked the general expression of his coarse, lionlike
features, gave evidence, that his intellectual
powers were not, as frequently occurs in such instances,
wholly incommensurate with his physical
proportions. A modern phrenologist, indeed, while
comparing his high, and remarkably expansive
-- 153 --
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forehead, with the vast volume which composed the
back part of his head, might be much puzzled to
decide whether his intellectual or animal nature
would most predominate in his character. His
dress, which was likewise somewhat singular for the
times, consisted of high, heavy boots, buff breeches
and doublet, with a high collared, white shag
coat of the frock kind, all of which was surmounted
by a fine, though much worn beaver, slouched,
except the front part, which was turned up so as to
give an additional boldness to his large features, and
to impart somewhat of a bandit aspect to his appearance.
This, to ordinary observation, completed
his outward equipment; though a closer inspection
might have revealed the shape of a stout pistol
swelling the smooth and snugly s tting leather over
each of his breeches pockets, while the buck-horn
handle of a large war-knife might occasionally be
seen protruding from its sheath attached to the side
lining of his coat.
Placing the heavy rifle which he bore in his hand
in a corner, the stranger now advanced, and, with
an air of easy unconcern, seated himself by the side
of his host in the family circle round the fire.
`My name is Hendee,' at length said the Captain,
evidently not wholly at case in the presence
of his bold and fearful looking visitor, `my name is
Hendee, and being no great stickler for ceremony,
I hope I shall be excused, Sir, in saying that it always
affords me pleasure to know by what name I
may address my guests.'
That's right?' bluntly commenced the stranger in
reply, `and you got at it ingeniously too, by George!'
`I meant no offence, Sir.'
`O, no, but let me see—it is now May, is it not?'
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`Yes, Sir.'
`Well, then, for the month of May, my name is
Smith.'
`Sir?—did I rightly understand you, Sir?'
`I presume so—I said Smith, because there are
more of that name than any other.'
`Yes Sir, but what follows from that?'
`Why, of course Sir, that you stand a better
chance to get my right name: men will lie like the
devil, sometimes, you know!
`Really, Sir! said the Captain,' his eyes beginning
to shoot fire at this apparently intended insult, `really,
Sir, I cannot understand your drift, if you do
not mean to offer us an affront.'
`Ha! ha! ha! roared the stranger in a voice that
shook the house, `well, now, if that ain't a good
one! ha! ha! ha! Why, no, friend,' he continued
familiarly turning towards the other, and giving him
a rough slap on the shoulder, `no, no, friend; but
you just said you was no great stickler for ceremony—
no ain't I, as you see. So let us be honest and
live up to our professions.'
`Agreed to that. And yet'—rejoined the Captain,
perfectly at a loss what to make of his strange guest,
and though still veved, yet now half ashamed of the
feeling he had shown—`and yet, Sir, I have met, in
the course of my life, but with few honest men, who
were afraid to tell their names.'
`Why, the truth is,' replied the other with an air
of much seriousness, `that you are all such quarrelsome
curses, down here in the Grants, that a stranger,
like myself, can't safely travel among you by
any other name than Smith, if he had one. As to
myself I don't exactly know, in the strictly legal
sense of the thing, that I have any name—to speak
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of, except Smith; for I still stick to Smith, mind ye—
that is, for the month of May.'
`Well, well, have it as you will, man,' observed
Hendee, now softening down, and beginning to be
amused in spite of himself at the blunt drollery of
the other. `But I must say you are the greatest oddity
I have met with, for many a day.'
`That may be friend,' said the stranger, his countenance
assuming the cast of sincerity; `but as you,
like a wise man, have concluded not be offended at
nonsense, let us talk sense a little: Captain Hendee,
a man of your intelligence and observation cannot but
have long since noticed the quarrel that has been
brewing between us colonists, and the mother country?
'
`I have, Sir; and with the most painful regret,'
was the guarded reply.
`And those Bostonians and Virginians, who have
taken the lead in the resistance to the King's authority,
' resumed the stranger again assuming an
equivocal look, and fixing his eyes keenly on the
countenance of the other, `those fellows are a set of
Chritless knaves, for their rebellion, you agree?'
`Knaves! How so, Sir?' replied the Captain hastily,
and with a look that betrayed more of his feelings
than he intended should have been revealed to
a stranger, and especially to one who apparently entertained
sentiments on this subject so different from
those which he had long privately cherished.
`Aha!' eagerly exclaimed the stranger with eviident
delight, `sits the wind in that quarter, really,
and truly?' Well, I am not disappointed in you,
after all, thank God!'
Yes, but you, Sir?'—said the Captain, again confounded
at the seemingly contradictory language
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and manner of the other, `what did you say but a
moment since?'
`What did I say?' O, pooh! that is nothing!'
replied the stranger. `But again, and seriously,
Captain Hendee, (for I am now satisfied that it will
do to ask you the question) should matters proceed
to open hostilities in an attempt to burst these accursed
fetters, how far could your countenance and
support be depended on?'
`Stranger,' said Captatn Hendee, looking the other
full in the face `as singular a man as you appear,
you nevertheless have an honest countenance, and
would not, I think, try, in my own house, to lead me
into a snare. But granting that your sentiments
and mine coincide on this subject, what could you
ask, or expect, from an infirm, old man, whose only
home and property lie under the very mouths of the
guns of Fort Frederick?'[2]
`I see, I see!' answered the stranger. `But it
may be worth much to us to know that your heart
is in the right spot: For the times are coming when
even what such as you can do, may be of incalculable
importance to the cause. Indeed, Sir,' he continued
with increasing carnestness, and with deep
and startling emphasis, `indeedSir, those times are
already at the door: Blood—American blood has been
shed!'
`Where? where?' simultaneously burst from the
lips of Hendee and Warrington.
`At Lexington,' resumed the stranger with clenched
fist and eye of fire. `Fifty American citizens
have been shot down like wild cattle by a foreign
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soldiery! and their blood has gone up to the great
God, in cries of vengeance! All Massachusetts are
in arms! And are we here of the Green Mountains
to remain idle?' he added, with a look and a tone of
almost frightful energy; `by all the thrones of heaven
and hell, no, no!
`O, for the renovation of one year of my manhood's
vigor!' exclaimed the Captain, springing from
his chair, and hastily striding round the room.
`All that is well enough, but useless, my friend,'
observed the stranger, after a silence among the
company of a few moments, in which he seemed to
have brought his feelings back to their usual current:
`so instead of calling on Hercules, like the man of
the fable, in prayers that never can be answered, be
thinking what you can do. This Indian'—he continued,
in an under tone, approaching close to the
Captain—`he is domesticated in your family?'
`Yes, brought up by us, mostly; a cunning, prudent
and faithful fellow,' replied the Captain, in a
voice too low to be heard, as he supposed, by the rest
of the company.
`And may be made a useful friend for some emergencies,
with your permission, Captain?'
`You have it, that is for an occasional runner,
scout, or the like—I should not like to part with
him for any great length of time, however.'
`Here my friend,' said the stranger, approaching the
native, and presenting him with a valuable pocket
knife, `will you take this as a gift to remember
me by? Now look me in the face.'
`Yas—umph! Ah, him good—one very good!'
said the Indian, quickly pocketing the knife.
`Now Captain,' said the stranger, putting on his
hat, and giving other indications of his intention
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to depart, `I have only to say, that I am sorry I
could not have been more frank with you in some
particulars; but circumstances forbade it. Now I
must be off; `and I have some notion,' he continued,
looking at Warrington, `of inviting your
guest here to accompany me as a guide.'
`Mr. Howard is an old acquaintance, Sir, just
called after a long separation,' said the Captain.
`We should be sorry to part with him so soon.'
`Mr. Howard will remain through the night with
us, surely?' interposed the musical voice of Miss
Hendee.
The stranger gave a scrutinizing look at the father
and the daughter, and ended by exchanging
with Warrington looks of intelligence, which very
clearly showed that the two were by no means
strangers to each other. Seeming to satisfy himself,
he was about to remark further, when the tramp of
men, now heard approaching the door, arrested the
attention of the company. The rattling of guns
announced them to be armed men, among whose
voices the quick ears of Miss Hendee recognized
that of Darrow. Instantly rising, she hastily invited
Warrington to take a seat in the other room; and
the latter complying, the lovers disappeared through
one door, just as new comers entered another.
eaf390v1.n2[2] The Fort at Crown Point was, in the old French wars, denominated
Fort Frederick.
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CHAPTER XI.
“Ha! here come those we counted not on meeting!”
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The company, whose arrival was announced at
the close of the last chapter, proved to be a small
detachment of soldiers from the opposite Fort.
They were seven or eight in number, under the command
of their sergeant, Darrow, who, with three others,
after knocking, though scarcely waiting for a
bidding, unceremoniously entered the kitchen, the
remainder of the force having been posted at the
doors and windows without, to prevent all escape
from the house. As an ostensible reason for calling
at this time, Darrow carelessly observed that being
out in pursuit of a deserter, a part of their company
had gone up the lake with their boat, thus depriving
them of the means of recrossing, and leaving them
no other resort but to crave a shelter of Captain
Hendee for the night, or, at least, till their boat returned.
Calls of this kind by the officers and soldiers
of the garrison being of no very unfrequent
occurrence at the house, the present visit, therefore,
occasioned the Captain little or no surprise, and
being of a hospitable turn, and fond, as might be
supposed, of having those for company, who belonged
to a profession, in which a great portion of his
own life had been spent, he appeared to feel quite
at case with his new guests. Not so, however, with
all the company assembled. The meeting between
the soldiers, and the stout stranger before described,
seemed to be mutually unexpected, and evidently
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but little relished by the latter: For, though they
were all personally unknown to him; yet he was
aware that he might not be so to them: and, should
the last supposition be true, as, from certain sly
looks, which he saw exchanged between the soldiers,
he thought highly probable, he was sensible that he
had a part to play for himself, and Warrington, of
whose co-operation he felt assured, that would require
all his tact, and perhaps put to the severest
test the powers of both to extricate them from the
threatened difficulty.
Nor were the stranger's suspicions by any means
groundless. Darrow had before seen the man, and
at once recognized him as one, who, if taken, would
prove a far greater prize than the person whose seizure
constituted the particular object of the present
visit; but one, at the same time, well known to be
the most formidable, and difficult of capture, of all
the Green Mountain outlaws.
`That ain't the fellow we came for,' whispered
Darrow to the soldier nearest him, the first opportunity
that occurred for so doing unobserved. `He
must be with the girl in the other room, I think.
But this big chap is one of the same kidney, only
worth two of him if taken; secure him, as well as the
other, and your pay shall be doubled. So keep
your eyes on him for the present, and we will wait
till they go to bed, and get to sleep: For the other
is no baby for a tussle; and this one,' he continued,
with a significant look, as he east a fearful glance at
the giantlike person of the stranger; `and this one,
to say nothing of the ugly instruments they say he carries
under his clothes, he is—he's the devil and all—
he's thunder!'
This information, with the orders accompanying
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it, being soon passed around to all the band, every
movement of the stranger was regarded with the
most suspicious vigilance. But he, contrary to their
expectation, made not the slightest movement, which
indicated that he was meditating any attempt to escape.
On the contrary, the more he was watched,
the more unconscious did he seem, that he was an object
of suspicion or vigilance with any of the company;
and with the utmost unconcern, he soon began
to mingle in the conversation, commencing with
those blunt, cordial kind of advances to Darrow,
and as many of his men as he could find excuse for
addressing individually, which are generally the surest,
if not the only road to the soldier's heart. Nor
was it long before he had succeeded in putting himself
on a familiar footing with the whole band, whose
feelings and senses, in spite of the distant restraint,
and guarded watchfulness, they had imposed on
themselves, were fairly captivated by his bold sallies
of wit, and the irresistable drollery of his manner.
Captain Hendee, with his war-stories, was completely
thrown into the shade by the extraordinary convivial
powers of the stranger, who, having now fairly become
the hero of the company, continued to pour
forth, from his seemingly inexaustible resources, sally
upon sally, with increasing brilliancy, and anecdote
upon anecdote, each of which was more ludicrous
or striking than the preceding one, till the
whole party became convulsed with merriment, and
the house shook with the din of laughter. And not
satisfied with the success that had so well crowned
his efforts, in this respect, he called on Captain
Hendee to bring on glasses, and a gallon of spirits
at his expense, declaring that `of all God's cattle,
he preferred soldiers for companions. It was not
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every day that a hunter, whose next door neighbors
and common acquaintances were bears and wolves,
and whose sweet-hearts and select friends were wolverines
and catamounts, had the rare luck to fall into
such glorious company. He could well afford to
treat, and he should hold it a privilege to have a
bout with his military friends, helping them, while
he could, to drink health to the King, confusion to
all enemies, and shame to the devil.'
Leaving this bold, sagacious and singularly gifted
outlaw and his companions to the merriment he had
infused into them, and the boisterous and drunken
revelry that followed, we will now repair to the other
room, where a far different, though no less interesting
scene was in progress.
When Miss Hendee, on recognizing the voice of
Darrow among those of others about to enter the
house, so abruptly invited Warrington to take a seat
with her in the other room, she did so from a sudden
impulse, arising out of her secret dread of encountering
one whose recent conduct had filled her
with the deepest dislike, coupled with a sort of
vague apprehension, that the visits of these soldiers
with Darrow at their head, at this particular time,
was in some way to affect the safety of her friend,
whom she thought thus to shield from the impending
danger. And it was not till they become seated in
the room by themselves, that it occurred to her, that
she had voluntarily affored her lover the very opportunity
which, at their recent interview, he had earnestly
requested, but which she had so promptly and
pointedly refused him. Blushing deeply at the
thought of her apparent inconsistency, and fearful
that this act would be misconstrued by the other,
she suddenly commenced uttering an apology, or
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[figure description] Page 163.[end figure description]
explantion, but perceiving some worse dilemma from
so doing, she stopped short in the midst of a sentence,
blushing more deeply than a first, while an
embarrassing silence ensued, which neither party, for
some moments, was able to break. Warrington,
however, comprehending the cause of her embarrassment
at a glance, and anxious to relieve it, soon
rallied and observed,
`Fear not, Miss Hendee, that I shall misinterpet
this act of yours in inviting me to a seat with you
here: I believe I can appreciate the motives that
led to it; and I certainly feel very grateful for the
deed.'
`You were ever generous, Mr. Howard,' replied
Alma, with a grateful smile, `but do you comprehend
all the motives that might have influenced me in
this?'
`I may not all, but will Miss Hendee state wherein
she supposes I may not understand them?'
`Did you recognize any of the voices of these
last visitors, while they were at the door, or have you
since?'
`I can scarcely say I have, though I conclude
them to be soldiers from yonder garrison.'
`They are—all that will appear, at least, I presume,
and among them is that suspicious fellow,
from whose intrusion you so kindly relieved me the
other day. He went away at that time, I think,
harboring revengeful feelings towards you, and does
not this visit involve some design against your safety?—
Though I confess I can hardly see how you
should be sought here with any purpose of revenge.'
`You may be right, Miss Hendee,' said the other,
thoughtfully, after a silence of a moment; `you may
be right in supposing me the object of their visit.
-- 164 --
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I have had some suspicions from the first that it was
so; and I have noticed some indications, indeed,
since we have been in this room, which go to confirm
me. Yes, you may be right in this, but wrong,
I think, in judging of the motives that have led to
the visit.'
`What other motive can there be but the one I
assigned?' at length asked Alma, with an air of perplexity
mingled with some uneasiness.
`Miss Hendee,' resumed Warrington, with considerable
embarrassment at the effort, `your question
leads me to a declaration, which my painfully conflicting
obligations, as a citizen, and as gentleman who
has received much kindness from your family, will
be some excuse, I hope, for withholding till now;
but which my feelings will allow me to withhold no
longer. Miss Hendee, my name is not Howard!'
`Not Howard!' exclaimed Miss Hendee, with a
look of unfeigned surprise. `Not Howard!' she repeated,
the tall arches of her beautiful brows slightly
contracting with an incipient frown. `Surely, surely,
Sir!'
`Nor is that, I fear you will think,' resumed the
other seriouely, and now with perfect composure,
`the worst of the avowal; I am aware what I risk—
what, indeed, I shall probably forever lose in your
esteem, fair lady. But duty to you, and respect to
my own character, compels me to the disclosure—I
am Charles Warrington!'
A sharp, inarticulate exclamation burst from the
lips of the astonished and recoiling girl, at the announcement
of the name.
`What is the matter there, Alma?' asked Captain
Hendee, in a tone modulated somewhere between
the jocose and anxious, as he thrust his head
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partly through the door, beside which he was sitting,
on the opposite side of the partition in the other
room, `what is the case there, girl?—Doctor Hunter
is not pulling a tooth for you, is he?'
Perceiving, however, nothing but dumb shows going
on between the parties, and satisfied with the
shot he had given them, he left them to another
embarrassing silence, which for many minutes was
broken by neither.
`I am so surprised at this strange and unexpected
developement, 'at length observed Miss Hendee,
though with mind and feelings still unsettled and
balancing between the former high opinion she had
entertained of her companion as Howard, and the
preconceived picture of the ruffian-like character
with which she had been accustomed to associate
Warrington: `so surprised that I hardly know what
I should say, or how I should act towards you, Sir,
in the new character in which you now stand before
me. Am I to understand that our quiet home here
is now to be made the theatre of contention in a
dispute for a possession?'
`Heaven forbid!' replied Warrington, eagerly,
`You have, Miss Hendee, my pledge already in this
respect, given to you at our last interview—can you
doubt my will to redeem it? And you now perceive
with what authority I could make the assurance.
But though you can have no apprehensions of this
kind of me, or my people, for whom I can safely
answer, yet what will be your opinion of one who
made, and has since sought your acquaintance under
a disguised name? It is that which troubles me,
dear lady. And in that you have an apparent right,
at least, to condemn me, though not acting for
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[figure description] Page 166.[end figure description]
myself, but for those who assigned me the part in
which disguise was deemed necessary.'
`You need not forestall your sentence, Sir,' said
the other, something very like a smile again lighting
up her sweetly expressive countenance, `I know too
little of the merits of this unhappy controversy, I
freely confess, to feel sure of doing justice to either
party in any opinion I might now express. I believe
I can still put trust in you—at least, I will for
the present believe so: For it would indeed be humiliating
to us all, to find ourselves so much mistaken
in one, whose character we had so highly estimated.
Yes, in you,' she repeated with emphasis,
`but in your party'—and she paused, but soon, and
without finishing the sentence, resumed `can you
inform me who is that fearful looking, and singular
stranger in the other room?—or was I mistaken in
judging from some appearances I noticed, that you
and be were acquainted?'
`Your conjectures were true. His name, however,
I cannot disclose. But this I may say, that he
is not all that he may have appeared here to night;
and yet he is far more—a man of many high and
noble qualities, combined with extraordinary powers
of body and mind, though now placed here in circumstances
as inauspicious as my own. These circumstances,
as they will make up an answer to the
question you asked before I announced my true
name, I will now, with your permission, briefly explain.
'
His fair auditor signifying a willingness, at least,
to listen to the explanation, Warrington, taking a
comprehensive glance at the true grounds of the controversy
between the settlers and their opponents,
drew a vivid picture of the wrongs and consequent
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[figure description] Page 167.[end figure description]
sufferings which the latter had endured, and which
led to the part he had taken in their behalf—explained
the necessity of the disguise he had assumed, related
his subsequent career, and the consequences to himself
and all those who had taken a conspicuous part
in attempting to defend the poor settlers against the
rapacity of their oppressors.
`Is this, Mr. Howard—excuse me, Mr. Warrington,
I should say,' observed the other, evidently interested,
and even touched by the recital she had
just heard: `is this, indeed, an impartial account of
this hapless contest? And are these armed men here
to drag you to prison, and an ignominious death,
for acting a part like this? Why, O, why, did you
venture here into the very jaws of the lion? and
now, why do you a moment linger? why not escape
while they are at their noisy carousals in the other
room?—that door—these windows'—
`Have all been guarded; each by a soldier with a
loaded musket, from the moment we entered this
room. An ear, practised in the forest, has not failed
to catch the sound of their cautious and stealthy
tread, the occasional rubbing of their muskets against
their buttons, and indications of their presence and
object not to be mistaken.'
`Oh! I do wonder how you can be so calm.
What hope—what resource is there left you, in
which you can now trust for escape?'
`Many! be not concerned. They probably think
we shall remain through the night, and will deem it
safest to defer any attempt to seize us till they suppose
us asleep. I trust much in my friend, ever fruitful
in expedients, and now acting a part in the other
room, as nigh as I can judge from what occasionally
reaches my ear, with reference to effecting this
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object. Neshobee is a friend; and may I not hope
an acquiesence, at least, from you?'
`Most certainly the latter, and if I could—but
what could I do?'
`Perhaps nothing—perhaps much. We must act
on circumstances. But had we now not better part:
I feel anxious to be co-operating with my friend,'
said Warrington, rising and moving towards the
door.
`One moment longer—that is, if you are not too
anxious to go,' observed Alma, motioning him to remain.
`What would my fair friend say?' asked the other,
perceiving her to hesitate.
`Should you escape this danger, as I hope you
may,' at length replied Alma, `I trust—I pray, that
you will not be so thoughtless as to venture here
again. There may be other hazards in repeating
your visits here, besides the fearful one you have already
incurred of being seized in behalf of the public
authorities.'
`Indeed! but in what way, lady?'
`There may be those,' she answered with evident
reluctance and with severely conflicting feelings,
`who would look on your visits here with—with suspicion;
and who, I fear—who, perhaps, I would
say, might have a disposition—that is, he may'—
`I did not understand the name,' said Warrington,
with the appearance of wishing to relieve the
embarrassment of the other, and assist her to proceed.
`I did not name him, and I would gladly avoid
doing so,' replied she, still hesitating.
`But of what avail will be your caution, unless I
know against whom to be on my guard?” asked he,
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[figure description] Page 169.[end figure description]
with a little spice of the lawyer in the question, he
being more anxious to learn the name of his unknown
rival, to whom he rightly conjectured she alluded,
than concerned on account of any danger he
apprehended from his jealousy or malice.
`But if you kept entirely away?—unless, perhaps,
you should be sought out for the crimes you have
already committed,' said the girl half playfully. `I
much wish you could have received this intimation
from others,' she continued, after a pause; `but as
you might not; and as I have ventured, perhaps unadvisedly,
to give it, I know not but you have a just
right to require the name. It is Sherwood—one
Jacob Sherwood.'
`Sherwood!' said Warrington in utter surprise,
`Sherwood. That then explains several things that
to me were mysteries. `Sherwood!' he repeated,
muttering, and speaking as if to himself, `yes I
know the man, and the heart of the man. But is it
possible, with Sherwood for a rival, and Alma Hendee
the object, that she for him would'—
`Trespasser!' exclaimed the other, shaking her
head with a look in which menance and roguishness
were queerly blended, `trespasser, beware!'
`Cruel! cruel! I must not then even ask if
there is hope, even one ray of hope, in the future!'
rejoined Warrington with the air of tender reproach.
`O, how can you ask'—replied Alma, her countenance
now changing to a serious, even a sad expression,
`how can you ask, or expect this, when I
see no hope for myself? And how can you think
of entering into a discussion so useless, at such a
moment as this? Go, go!'
When Warrington, at the close of the interview
above described, entered the room of the revelers,
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he found them at the height of their boisterous carousals.
The health of every known potentate on
the earth, and some under it, was proposed and
drank, by the huge stranger, now the undisputed
master of the ceremonies, who, at each rapidly succeeding
toast tossed off his glass with as little apparent
regard to its effect on himself, as if the beverage
had been water—such, at least was there every
appearance of his doing: For he always lifted a full
glass to his lips, and returned it empty to the table,
while he made this his boast in urging the same on
his companions of the revel, all of whom, with the
exception of Darrow, seemed little disposed to refuse
a compliance. The latter, however, after drinking
a few stinted glasses, contrived constantly to
evade a repetition which would unfit him for the enterprise,
that he, at least, had by no means lost sight
of; while it was with increasing uneasiness, that he
perceived the fearful inroads which the liquor was
making on the faculties of his men. This, however,
might not have alarmed the wary sergeant, had
not both of his intended victims been in the same
condition: Since so long as they drank as freely as
the rest, the difficulty of their seizure, he knew,
would be diminished in the same proportion with
the powers of the men, upon whom he depended
for its accomplishment. But Warrington, he soon
noticed, though mingling gaily with the rest at the
board, seemed inclined, like himself, to drink but
lightly, making the excuse, when urged to take
more, that he wished to keep sober in order to take
care of his brother hunter, who seemed in a fair
way to require his assistance. And the appearance
of the stranger, indeed, soon well confirmed the
truth of the observation. His wit fast grew vapid;
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and some of his remarks were so silly, that none but
the very drunkest of the soldiers would join him in
the maudlin roar of laughter, which he raised at
each of his efforts to be witty. He began to
sway to and fro, and his huge frame to totter at every
step, like a sapped tower about to fall to the
earth,—all of which was observed by Darrow with
a look of malicious satisfaction.
Warrington now proposed that the company
should break up, and all retire for the night. This
proposal was seconded, though from far different
motives, both by the Captain and Darrow. A
question, however, now arose in regard to the accommodations
which could be furnished for sleeping;
the Captain stated that he had but two spare beds,
which might be made to answer for four of the
company. He should have been extremely happy
to be able to accommodate all his guests with beds;
but as it was, they must agree among themselves,
who should occupy those he could furnish. The
sergeant immediately proposed, that Warrington and
his drunken friend should take one of the beds, and
himself, and one of his men, would occupy the other,
while the rest should seek lodgings in the barn.
At this moment the drunken outlaw, roused from
the stupor, into which he seemed to have fallen during
the discussion, so far as to appear conscious of
the point of debate, and hiccuping at every word,
swore with a big oath, that his military friends
should have the best—they should have both the
beds, or he would fight them like h—l. And that
other scurvy hunter, who was not man enough to
drink like a gentleman, should go to the barn with
him, and sleep on the hay, or he would fight him
too, and be d—d to him.'
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To this, Darrow, for some reasons of his own,
strenuously objected; and the debate was growing
warm, when Miss Hendee entered the room, and
after asking the cause of their dispute, and looking
a moment with an air of disgust at the now helpless
stranger, earnestly begged of her father to let the
creature have his way, and by no means suffer him
to occupy a bed in the house.
`I think, Captain Hendee,' remarked Warrington,
now for the first time offering an opinion, `that the
man's notions, as bad off as he appears to be, are
correct. He will probably keep the house in an uproar
half the night, if he remains. It is more suitable,
I think, that he should be taken to the barn.
And it is my duty, I suppose, to attend him.'
`I by no means intended to exclude you in my
prohibition, Sir,' said Alma, addressing Warrington.
`O, no, certainly not, I presume. But I think I
ought to go with him,' rejoined Warrington. `And
a bed of hay,' he added gaily,' `is far better than
has sometimes fallen to my lot.'
`Hoy! there, Cap—Cap—Capting!' stammered
out the stranger, lifting his head, though nearly
falling out of his chair at the effort, `say, you
Cap—Capting Handy, Hindy—dev—divil knows
what, take good care—care my rifle—cost ten pounds—
king's lawful cur—cur—curren—cyation,—God
d—n—bless him!'
`And of mine, too, Captain, if you will. We
will leave them in the house till morning, with your
permission,' observed Warrington, exchanging a
significant glance with Miss Hendee.
Darrow, who till now had manifested a determination
that our two outlaws should remain in the
house with him, on hearing that the valuable rifles
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were to be left behind, seemed no longer to entertain
any suspicion of the arrangement last proposed,
and conceeded the point without further objection.
Captain Hendee, then ordering Neshobee to take
the rifles into the next room, and pointing out the
beds to be occupied by Darrow and his men, took
leave of his guests for the night, and with his daughter
retired to the other part of the house. Every thing
being now settled to the apparent satisfaction of all
parties, it only remained to get the helpless and unwieldy
outlaw to his lodgings in the barn. And
Darrow and his men all declaring that they would by
no means consent to quit their generous entertainer
till they had seem him safely disposed of for the
night, Warrington and the soberest soldiers to be
found in the company, now assisted him in getting
on his feet, and bracing out his legs so that he could
be kept from dropping on the floor. When this,
with considerable difficulty, and no little noise and
merriment, had been effected, they planted themselves
firmly under each arm, and at the word of
command, sportively given by one of the company,
trundled, or rather pushed his huge and staggering
carcase, forward toward the barn, attended by the
whole company, reeling, jostling and shouting
along by his side. After they had arrived there,
and succeeded in getting their charge over the
threshold, they unceremoniously tumbled him on a
pile of hay on the barn floor; when, after exchanging
mock ceremonies of parting politeness, Darrow
and all his men, now feeling sure of an easy and
safe capture as soon as their intended victims were
asleep, departed for the house.
`Charles!' said the big outlaw, raising himself on
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his elbow, as soon as the sounds of the receeding
footsteps of the soldiers had died away, `Charles!'
he repeated, in a low, though perfectly sober tone,
`you creep carefully round to those side windows,
and see if some of these curses ain't still lurking
round the barn to watch us.'
The other, silently complying, soon returned, and
reported that no one was visible.
`Well now, Charles,' resumed the first speaker,
`you get down there at my feet, and see if you can
pull off my plaguey old boots. There is more than
a quart of rum in them. I can neither run nor fight
worth a copper with my feet in such a devil's pickle.'
`Upon my word, Colonel!' said Warrington,
while complying with the request just made, `you
would make no slouch of a juggler. I saw no chance
of succeeding in any way short of drinking or openly
refusing. And I was not a little puzzled to decide
whether you were stark mad in taking such quantities
of liquor, or whether you had some way of
otherwise disposing of it, which I could not detect.
Indeed, for the last half hour, I have been perfectly
at a loss to know whether you were drunk or sober.
How did you contrive to cheat them so cleverly?'
`Buttoned up my high collared coat, so as to
come up over my chin, at the onset. Then minding
to stand so as to admit no side views to that
hawk-eyed sergeant, or to the others, till they were
too far gone to see straight, I dashed every glass
down my bosom.—Not a spoonful has gone down
my throat to night! so help me Peter! who never
lied but three times, as I recollect. But come, we
must be thinking of something else now. And the
first question to be settled is, whether we shall go
off without our rifles, and perhaps lose them
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entirely, or whether we shall hatch up some scheme to
get them out of the house?'
`I have strong hope, though I may be disappointed,
' said the other in reply, `that we shall soon get
hold of them through other agency than our own.
I think we had better venture on remaining here a
few moments longer to wait the result of an effort,
which, I feel quite confident, will be made for this
purpose.'
`Aha, Charley?—been ploughing with the Captain's
heifer, hey? Well, we will wait a little. Yes,
yes, I see now what the sly jade was at, when she
set in so plausibly to have `the loathsome creature,'
carried off to the barn. And, indeed, Charles, I
suspected, soon after I arrived, that you was in for
it, there. But how in the name of Cupid, and Hymen,
and Venus, and all that sort of heathen cattle,
did you happen to pounce upon such a superb piece
of housel stuff? I thought you never strayed so far
down here to the land's end?'
Warrington then related to his companion all the
circumstances connected with his acquaintance with
the diffent members of the Hendee family, his late
discovery relative to his ownership of the land, and
the course which he had, and still intended to pursue
in that respect, without revealing, however, the uncertain
and somewhat peculiar attitude in which he
stood with the daughter.
`Right nobly said and done!' exclaimed the other,
who had listened with the appearance of much
interest to the recital, and who seemed highly to appreciate
the delicate generosity of Warrington, `nobly,
indeed, though with a higher touch of the chivalrous,
I fear, my dear fellow, than you would often
find reciprocated in this wooden age and country.
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However, you will one of these days be rewarded, I
suppose, by receiving the same lands, and an article
with them that will richly pay you for your forbearance:
For by all the saints, from St. Paul down to
ragged St. Patrick, I swear, that if there be any
angels of clay—that, though, is nonsense for a married
man. But seriously, Charles, I don't know
when I have seen the like of that girl! A form and
face, the mould of which, I think, must have been
broken with but one cast—eyes with the rich and
lustrous hue of good old indigo, though pure and
clear as the mudless crystal to the very depths of
the soul beyond them. And then her smile, Charles—
enough to craze an anchorite, by heavens!'
`Really, Colonel,' rejoined Warrington jocosely,
`you would make me jealous, if I had but a tithe
of the title to the girl that you seem to suppose.
She is engaged, man, to one Sherwood, the very fellow,
as I this night ascertained from her own lips,
whom we caught and beech-sealed for a spy and traitor,
on our way down the creek, and to whom,
doubtless, we are indebted for this concerted plan
for our seizure.'
`I heard of your doings with that scoundrel, as I
came along a day or two after. And the only fault
I find about is, that you did not string him up, according
to decree of convention, in such case made
and provided. But can it be possible, Charles, that
God ever made this girl for such a fellow? I swear,
I don't believe it! And if there is not enough of
you to set him aside'—
`Well, what then?'
`Why, you don't deserve her, that's all—but
whist! I thought I heard a footstep. See to your
pistols, Charles!'
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`All handy, Colonel. But what is your plan if
they beset us here?'
`Why, fight 'em, most likely, I think,—a d—n
poor story, if we two an't a match for those four
half fuddled devils!'
`Certainly, but there were nearly, or quite, as many
more, posted round the house in ambush, or my
ears deceived me sadly.'
`No? were there?'
`Yes, I am positive, colonel.'
`Well, well, Charles, the trifling addition of three
or four more of them, an't worth standing about.
But hush again!' continued the speaker, his voice
sinking to a whisper, `I was right: I just caught the
glimpse of a head peering in at that side door.'
The senses of the big outlaw had not deceived
him. And the object of his suspicion now appeared
several times before the partly opened door;
thought at each time suddenly, and for a moment
withdrawn. At length the door was cautiously opened
considerably wider, and the questionable head
thrust fairly in, where it remained stationary as a
block for a full minute.
`Umph!' at length uttered the object in a low, but
distinct tone.
“All right,' said Warrington, `it is Neshobee, as
I expected.'
`Umph! me come—got um your rifles,' said the
latter, noiselessly advancing, and handing the guns
to each of their respective owners.
`You have done us no fool of a favor, my fine
fellow,' said the elder Green Mountain Boy. `How
did you get the guns out of the house?'
`Missus Alma contrive um all,' replied the Indian.
`She put um out her sleep-room window—then say
it—so me go bring um.'
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`A glorious girl, that, by Jupiter!' resumed the
former. `You and she both, my red friend, deserve
a pension at our hands. Here, take hold of this
crown piece, to begin upon.'
`Him good! Cappen, him good afore,' said the
native, taking the proffered coin.
`And I will try to continue so,' said Warrington,
thrusting another crown into the Indian's ready hand
`But any thing more, Neshobee?' he continued,
judging from the other's manner, that he had something
further to impart.
`Missus Alma say me tell um go—say the rest sogers
come in house now, drink rum more again—
say, go straight, quick, better—no stay minute.'
`Good advice, too,' said the big outlaw, `and let
us lose no time in following it. Charles, lead the
way!'
Cautiously emerging from the barn, and clearing
the yard fence, our two friends now proceeded, with
silent but rapid steps, through the open field, till
they gained a knoll about sixty rods from the house,
when the nameless outlaw paused, and looked back.
`Clear of the rascals at last, I believe,' observed
Warrington.
The other made no reply, but stood as if debating
some point in his mind, which he was unable
to decide.
`Well, which way now, Colonel?' resumed the
former, thinking his companion might be hesitating
about the rout they should take.
`Get thee behind me, Satan!' at length exclaimed
the other, violently dashing back both his hands,
`Give me joy, Charles,' he added, without paying
the least attention to the question that had just been
asked him, `give me joy, for I have conquered.'
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`Indeed, sir, it is quite impossible for me to comprehend
you.'
`Not comprehend me! O, true, how should you?
It only passed through my mind. Well, Charles, I
have been sorely tempted—never so tempted in my
life.'
`About what, pray?'
`Why, about going over and taking yonder fort
to night. According to your account of the numbers
now on this side, there cannot be over ten or a
dozen left in the garrison. You and I could have
taken their boat here, while they were waiting for
us to get to sleep, slipped over and made the attempt.
I think we could carry it. And ah!'
continued the speaker, rubbing his hands in extacy,
`there would have been glory, glory in it, Charles!
But duty forbade; for a failure certainly, and success,
probably, would have defeated an object of two
fold importance to the country. And conscience
told me I should forego my private wishes for public
good. That object, as stone walls have ears, they
say, I will not name here. But it was that which
brought me into this section. Hendee's situation
here, so near one of the enemy's strong holds, made
it important that his feelings should be known. And
it was for that purpose I called to night, when I unexpectedly
found you. I intended to have been at
a half a dozen other places before this, and I should,
but for this cursed bother with these minions of hell
and New York. We will now on to your encampment.
I called there at sunset. Your lieutenant
had returned. The party sent to seize the surveyor
had just been heard from, and were expected to arrive
with their prisoner to night. He must be tried
and disposed of in a hurry. But have you made
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any further discoveries about the York justice, in
this section?'
`I have ascertained his residence, and discovered
the bearing of his feeling towards the enemy—nothing
further.'
`Enough! I have received, since we parted, papers
which settles the case. We must have him up,
and do off all this York business in a batch in the
morning; for there is much to be done to-morrow,
in preparation of a general meeting of the trusty
to-morrow night, in the vicinity of the Middle Falls.
Ah! Charles, there is something afoot, to which this
petty warfare we have been engaged in with New
York, is as a rush light to the meridian sun! I burn
to be in it; for it will be great, daring and glorious!'
Leaving our two Green Mountain Boys to proceed
to their present destination, with hearts swelling
at the thought of the future, and somewhat elated
withal at their fortunate escape from a danger of
certainly no small magnitude, when the vicinage of
the fort, and small chance for a rescue, are considered,
we will return for a moment to the company
we left at the house. It would be difficult to describe
the rage and chagrin of Darrow, and his
men, when, after waiting till they supposed their
two intended victims were helpless in sleep, they
proceeded stealthily, and with undoubting assurance
of an easy victory, to the barn, and discovered that
their birds were both flown. They saw at once that
they had been fairly outwitted by the wily outlaws.
Solacing themselves, however, with a promise of
seizing the fugitives another day, they gave up the
project for the present, well knowing that any attempt
at pursuit would now be utterly useless. And
at the command of Darrow, who kept his future
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purposes, whatever they might be, to himself, they
all silently withdrew from the house, and immediately
crossed over to the fort.
CHAPTER XII.
“They came not from the head, it was the heart that wrote them.”
The next morning after the affair at the Lower
Falls, between our Green Mountain Boys and the
hired minions of Colonel Reed, a separation, as the
reader will readily remember, took place among the
former, the several individuals who had occupied a
conspicuous place in our story, departing in different
directions, and with objects as diverse as their various
destinations. Some of these individuals, still
designed to sustain a close connection with the
events we have undertaken to delineate, have been
neglected through several of our last chapters, in order
to preserve, as unbroken as possible, the chain of
the leading part of the narrative, in several scenes
we had commenced so nearly connected as to render
a break alike disagreeable to both reader and
writer. But being allowed a short respite before following
those, with whom we have just parted, we
now hasten to bestow, in the first place, some attention
on our friend Selden and his new charge, the
volatile, but not ungifted, Jessy Reed, by following
them to the destination, for which they were on the
point of embarking when we left them. This was
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at Skenesboro', near the south end of the lake, so called
from the name of the proprietor of a large body of
land at this place,—Colonel Skeen, who, being not
only a wealthy land holder, but the commander of
one of the king's regiments, had here constructed a
large, strong stone house, and made it a sort of military
post, as well as the residence of his family and
various dependents. The whole of this curious establishment,
not a little resembling that of one of
the ancient feudal lords, was at this time, under the
command of Major Skene, a son of the proprietor,
the father having been some months absent, engaged
in negociations for his own aggrandizement at the
British court. It was to this place that Miss Reed
had so fearlessly undertaken a voyage in an open
skiff, with one oarsman and Selden, her volunteer
knight attendant. But a description of this voyage,
together with many circumstances which preceded
it, we will now, agreeably to a previous intimation,
allow the fair voyager to give in her own language.
And for this purpose we present the following letter,
sent by her a few days after her arrival at Skenesboro',
and received on the morning following the
events recorded in the last chapter:—
To Miss Alma Hendee,—
`I have most serious doubts, my dear Alma, whether
I am exactly myself. And should you be equally
dubious, as I expect you will, when you have perused
all that I shall now, under the rose, impart,
you may set it down, if you please, as the relation
of a pretty dream, which has passed through the
brain of Philip Skene's half courted high-flyer,
while dozing under the soporific thoughts of a matter
of course, all very suitable sort of a match, with
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his grave and calculating majorship. One thing,
however, I imagine, is certain; and that is, that I
am here at Skenesboro', snugly immured in the Major's
stone castle. And why I am so positive of this
is, that I feel so sleepy, and have felt so ever since
he left us. He! who? Ah! that sets me afloat
again! But I will begin at the beginning; and
dream or no dream, you shall have the whole of my
adventures with (now be making up your mouth for
interjections!) those horrid, brave, dear ugly Green
Mountain Boys.
Accompanying my father from Montreal, with my
half Indian girl, Zilpah Wampum, under the arrangement
that we should be left, and stationed at
Skenesboro' during his contemplated sojourn of
some time in the city of New York, I besought him
right earnestly on the way, to let me go with him to
visit his possessions up Otter Creek, to which he intended
to return for a day after landing us at the
Major's. After a few of those not very alarming
affairs, pshaws! pishes! &c., I carried my point, as
I generally do, with my, I fear, too indulgent parent.
And what was a still greater victory, and certainly
much harder to be won, I prevailed upon him at
last to let us remain there for a few days after he
had proceeded on his journey, under the condition
that I should take a very fair, warm, and very calm
day, within a week at farthest, and, with our best
boat, and two of our most careful men there, proceed
to our original destination.
Well, there we remained at that wild, romantic
place, happy as larks; by day rambling round the
fields for flowers, skirting the woods for spruce gum,
boxberries and birds' nests, and at night, listening to
the adventures of the men, or quizzing the honest
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old McIntosh, the commander of the post, as he
calls himself—there we remained, I say, till the
fourth day after father had left us, when, who should
make his appearance, but that plausible and oily
tongued beau of yours, Jacob Sherwood, announcing
that a band of Green Mountain Boys, headed
by Warrington, the outlaw, was in full march to lay
waste, burn and destroy our possessions, and murder
every soul to be found on the premises, or at least
to carry us off as captives to their dens in the mountains!
My heart beat like a young drummer! And
as for Zilpah, though mute as a fish, her complexion
wonderfully improved about that time, I assure
you. However, being a soldier's daughter, as well
as yourself, I soon made up my mind not to die of
fright, at least; so I flew round, helped the men to
make cartridges, and whatever else I could do, in
preparation for the expected visit. Sherwood was
invited to aid in putting the garrison in a state of
defence, and remain with us through the coming
siege. But O, no! he couldn't possibly! He must
be off to the woods to watch the enemy's approach,
and give us signal guns when they arrived at the
clearing. Well, after the whole establishment had
resounded with the din of preparation about an hour,
and every thing was prepared for their reception, M'Intosh
called us together, women and all, for a council
of war, to hear the different plans that might be
offered as to the best mode of conducting the defence,
though doggedly determined, all the while,
that none but his own should be adopted. And what
think you that was? Why, that all the men should
take the field against the enemy, and fight their way
back, under cover of log-heaps, to the works, leaving
us, poor women, entirely alone, to unbar the
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gate to receive them when they should reach it and
give the watch-word. This sage plan of operations,
as you may well suppose, did not at all strike my
fancy. But finding opposition useless, I submitted
with the best grace I could, demanding, however, as
the terms of my compliance, that they should leave
me a good musket, (a Major's wife at one of our
stations, some years ago, having taught me how to
load and fire one,) for our defence, in case I should
have occasion to use it. This settled, McIntosh
marshalled his men, sallied out and lay in ambush
till the enemy appeared, when a battle commenced,
in which powder enough was burnt to have slain a
regiment, though, strange to tell, not one drop of
blood was spilled on either side.
Now comes my part of this queer drama. While
I stood at the gate listening, with palpitating heart,
to the thunders of the musketry in the field, and
anxiously awaiting the signal to open to our men, I
heard steps outside the enclosure, which I knew
could not proceed from any of our party. Almost
desperate with fear, I seized the loaded gun which
had been left for me, and stood on the defensive,
while poor Zilpah, still worse frightened, fled into
the house. All for a few moments was quiet, when
happening to look round, I beheld, to my utter surprise
and consternation, one of the enemy approaching
me, three of them, it seems, having already scaled
the walls behind the house. Heaven forgive me!
in the desperation of the moment I fired my gun at
him, though thanks to the same Heaven, without
hitting him. He proved to be the Lieutenant of
Warrington, who now, with the other man, rushed
forward from behind the house, when all stood confronting
me. But what do you think they did?
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Seize me like ruffians, as from Sherwood's tale of
the horribles, I expected? No, they came forward,
and, in the most mild, and gentlemanly manner, advised,
nay, entreated me to retire into the house, to
which I now suffered myself to be conducted by
Lieutenant Selden, who had just providentially escaped
death by my hand! I think I must have appeared
like a fool. I certainly felt like one.
I need not inform you that our men now soon
surrendered to the Green Mountain Boys, who took
possession, claiming, however, none of the moveables,
and asking only that the men should leave the place
the next day. The treatment I received, and the explanations
given me by Warrington (who by the way
is a noble looking fellow; Alma, I wish you could
see him,) in regard to this war about titles, soon
overset all my preconceived opinions of the Green
Mountain Boys. Indeed, if we can rely on their
statements, I hardly know how our people can be
justified in driving these poor settlers from their
farms.
But what shall I say of him—Mr. Selden, I mean?
Who would credit it,—I would not a week ago, I am
sure—that, after having called him a ruffian and
monster to his face, as I did when he first approached
me, I was found in the twilight of the same evening,
rambling, arm in arm, with the handsome, quizzical,
audacious rogue, along the freshly flowered
banks of the Otter, quoting poetry with him, or listening
to the better poetry of his own brilliant conceptions,
which sometimes flowed from his lips in
bursts of surpassing eloquence, and sometimes in
sallies of wit, so original and irresistibly humorous,
that I would defy the gravest puritan in the land to
keep his risibles from breaking loose on the
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occasion. He volunteered to attend me to Skenesboro',
the next day, and I—now don't suspect me of being
captivated with the fellow, Alma—I accepted his
offer—how could I do less? Well, the next morning,
with Zilpah, bag and baggage—the bag, you
will say, perhaps, should have been given to him—
and with one of father's trusty and strong armed
Highlanders for an oarsman, we shipped aboard boat,
and proceeded down the creek. The day was most
serenely fair. And our voyage to the mouth of the
stream, as we glided along with the gently flowing
current in its meandering course, was indeed delightful.
The forest-lined banks were beautifully frosted
with the white wood violet, or blushing with beds of
wild tulips; while the budding branches of the over-hanging
trees above seemed fairly vivified by the
thousand melodious duets that were joyously bursting
from the happy little hearts of these minstrel
lovers of the grove.
After we had reached the open lake, we found a
pretty breeze blowing freshly from the westward.
And the gentleman, fixing up a blanket for a sail,
our little craft swept through the lake right merrily,
I assure you. We were soon abreast of your charming
situation. And I could hardly consent to pass
you without hauling up for a short morning call;
but the men urging that by improving the breeze
we could easily reach our destination by night,
when otherwise we might fail of so doing, I reluctantly
agreed to forego the pleasure of seeing you,
and introducing my Green Mountain Phœnix—not
that I am particularly charmed with him myself, but
I think you would have been gratified in beholding
so rare an avis, as a gentleman, as he really is, from
so wild and savage a region as this Green Mountain
country.
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At noon we dined quite romantically from off the
middle seat of our boat, on edibles furnished from
our store-basket, and neatly arranged by Zilpah. I
never partook with greater zest; and what with the
keenness of our appetites, the novelty of the affair,
and the thousand spicy things said on the occasion,
I don't believe I should have enjoyed the banquet of
a princess with half the pleasure that I did this
meal.
After we had taken our refreshment and again
got under weigh, for we had run into a little cove
beautifully over arched by a cluster of whispering
pines, the saucy rogue so managed as to get Zilpah
and the oarsman into one part of the boat, and
himself and your humble servant into the other,
with our blanket sail forming an impenetrable
screen between. Here, after sentimentalizing, and
poetizing awhile over the ever changing views of
scenery, alternating with the majestic and beautiful,
as we rapidly glided by them, he began a set of
compliments so very pointed, and squinting loveward,
but at the same time so oddly framed, that I
knew not whether to laugh or be angry. I should
have severely chided so much boldness in a stranger,
however, on one or two occasions, had not the
provoking creature, carefully watching my countenance,
thrown in some remark that gave an entire different
turn to the whole meaning of what he had begun
to say. So you see, Alma, how far I am from
any thing like the tender passion in this strangely begun,
and no less strangely maintained acquaintance.
The remainder of our voyage was now mostly
occupied by him in giving me a history of his life
as far as he knew it himself, relating the singular
and certainly very romantic adventures through
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which he passed, from his childhood to the present
hour. Having neither time nor space to detail them
now, I will only say briefly, that he was horn somewhere
in New England, as he supposes; for he neither
knows his birth place, nor the name of his parents.
But by some means or other falling into
mercenary hands when a mere child, he was sold as
a slave,—passed through several hands, and at length
carried over the waters,—taken into the protection
of a philanthropie nobleman in England, by whom
he was liberally educated and furnished with a
handsome outfit to purchase a commission in the
army, or seek his fortune wherever he could find it.
He then after wandering awhile in Europe, obeyed
the impulse of his own heart, and came to visit his
own country; when, being enamoured of a sylvan
life, and thinking he should enjoy the excitements
usually to be found in a border settlement, he soon
found his way to the New Hampshire Grants, and
enlisted in the controversy, which he here found
going on between the settlers and the New Yorkers.
By the time he had closed this very interesting,
and delightfully told autobiography, we hove in sight
of the castellated establishment of the Skenes'. It
was then, almost for the first time, that it occurred
to me, that, attended as I was, my meeting with the
family must be an extremely awkward one, since
the feelings of the major, as well as those of his father,
the colonel, are known to be hostile to the
Green Mountain boys, and I could not forbear hinting
this to Selden, and suggesting, at the same time,
the expediency of withholding from the family, till
he had gone, all knowledge of the late affair at the
Falls, or his passing incog, among them.
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`O, no,' was his prompt reply, `mince no matters
on my account, fair lady. Having made my peace
with her who is most interested, and obtained an
absolution for my offences—have I not? at least,'
he continued with a tone and smile so sweet, so
tender and yet so imploring, that I found my head
nodding an assent before I knew it, `at least, may I
not be permitted to hope I shall, my dear Miss Reed—
having done this, they must be singularly disposed
indeed to espouse the quarrels of others if they offer
me any personal disrespect. No, no, fear it not,
and should you feel disposed to countenance my remaining
at this place through the night, I shall gladly
risk all consequences to myself from so doing.'
We had now reached the landing, and in a moment
the inmates of the house, who were expecting
me about these days, and had conjectured who we
were, all rushed out, and Marge and Mary Skene
with their brother, came flying like two paper kites
with a lubberly boy at their tails, down to the boat
to receive us. I don't know how I made my tongue
do its office in returning their salutations, for my
heart certainly leaped right up plump into my mouth,
and I cannot conceive how that poor little member,
so shamefully belied in our sex, could have possibly
found room to wag! It did, however, and I introduced
Mr. Selden, by name, to them all. The girls,
I thought, seemed rather pleased that I had brought
them a new candidate for their toils, and so fine a
looking fellow into the bargain. But the major,
reckoning on the possibility, I suppose, that the other
might become a candidate for the toils of somebody
besides sisters, looked rather askew at my gentleman,
nevertheless not knowing exactly what
might be a safe conclusion on such uncertain
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premises, he soon brought himself to behave quite decently,
and escorted us all to the house without further
ado. But further trials were in store for me:
For Mr. Selden, as soon as we all had got comfortably
seated, to my surprise, broke the ice at once:—
and, after craving their attention a moment while
he relieved Miss Reed, as he said, of a task which
he could readily conceive would be an unpleasant
one for her to perform, very coolly related the whole
transaction which led to his acquaintance with me,
and the consequent responsibility that devolved on
him of seeing me safe to my friends.
I felt, though I can scarcely tell why I should,
like a criminal while Mr. Selden was making this
developement, which, I had many fears, would involve
his personal safety; notwithstanding he has
done nothing as yet, he tells me, that the York government
consider worthy of death or bonds. All
seemed much surprised at what they heard, and in
the major's face—that is, as soon as he could comprehend
the matter, for it takes an idea some time,
you know, to get through his cranium, and no great
wonder neither considering how far it has to go—
in the major's face I saw evident signs of a gathering
storm. But knowing, that, on a resonable calculation,
Mr. S. might count on two days at least
before a cloud engendering in so cold a climate
would become sufficiently charged to be dangerous,
I did not feel greatly alarmed, and especially so as
the girls seemed disposed to laugh at the affair.
And Marge, on Mr. Selden's playfully proposing to
submit himself to us ladies to pass sentence for his
crimes, quite smartly observed, that we would sentence
him to an imprisonment of a week in their
stone jug, as she termed their house, and be let out
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to attend us on horseback or in a boat ride each
day.
We now passed the remainder of the evening
very pleasantly. And for the next two days we almost
literally inflicted on Mr. Selden the sentence
which had been so queerly imposed. We read,
walked, sailed and rode, alternately; and a right
merry time we had of it, I assure you—Mr. Selden
in the mean time becoming a great favorite with the
girls, especially with Marge, to whom, I thought, he
was rather more particular than he should have
been in strict politeness to the rest of us. He had
an object however, I presume, in conciliating the
girls by his attentions. Do you think, Alma, that
Marge Skene is so very handsome as some pretend
to think her?
`But where was my doughty Major in the meanwhile?
' you will ask. Why he was so unacountably
busy with the workmen in the field just about those
days, that he could not, on any account, attend us on
any of our delightful excursions. And when he
joined us at our meals, he was as grave as a Turk.
Mr. S. however, I thought, was less alarmed than
amused at his awefulness of countenance.
After two days thus spent, and on the morning of
the third after our arrival, Mr. S. suddenly announced
to us his intention of an immediate departure.
The girls were evidently touched with regret and
disappointment at this unexpected announcement,
thinking, perhaps, that their work was but half
complete. But if ever Margery, or Mary Skene, is
selected by him for a cynosure I have mistaken his
taste; and yet, I confess, his conduct has sometimes
not a little puzzled me. He thanked me for the consideration
I had shown him under unpleasant
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circumstances of our first acquaintance in a manner so
handsome and feeling, that it made me feel like a
condemned and guilty one, when I thought of that
mad act of mine, which marked the introduction to
which he alluded. He then very politely thanked
the girls for their kindness and hospitality, and was
about to depart, when Marge found tongue to invite
him to renew his visit.
`I know not,' he answered, somewhat pensively,
`that circumstances will ever permit me that pleasure
in person, but if you know of any way, fair ladies.'—
he continued glancing quite meaningly at somebody,
as the girls in their jokes would afterwards
have it—`any way of receiving the visits I may pay
you in dreams, I doubt not that you will often be
favored with the repetition you have so kindly invited.—
Adieu, ladies, adieu.'
I do not certainly know the reason of Mr. Selden's
abrupt departure, but from what I can gather,
I suspect the major had that morning despatched
an express to the authorities at Albany, with a
view to get the former arrested. This I presume,
he, by some means or other, got wind of, and I am
glad of it, if for no other reason than that it defeated
Philip's jealous meanness. He gave us all quite
a lecture that night for being so familiar with one
who was so much a stranger, and threw out many
ill-natured remarks about Mr. S. that helped his
own cause, perhaps, less than he imagined, I wish
heaven had made him such a man.
I must now close this long, and, I fear, very foolish
letter. I dare not read it over for fear I should
burn it. I shall remain here for the present—I
must I suppose, till father returns. O, what will he
say, when he hears what they have done with his
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possessions! For myself, I care little, or nothing
about it. He loses only what he paid for the land—
a mere trifle. As for the labor and improvements
bestowed there, he has been more than twice paid,
by the profits received. Besides, he is wealthy
enough without this property, which, I really suspect,
he cruelly took from the poor settlers, who had as
good a right to it as himself—perhaps better.
P. S. I said I must stay here till father's return,
but should he tarry some months, I might contrive,
perhaps, to come and spend a few weeks with you.
If I should, as Mr. S. will be somewhere in your vicinity,
probably, and may claim me as an acquaintance,
you might possibly have an opportunity of
being introduced to him—that is, if he knew that I
was there. Now, my dear girl, I must bid you good
bye, with the charge—now lift up your hand and
swear—that you will neither show this, nor breathe
aught of its contents to mortal ear! Remember!!
Write soon—adieu.
Jessy.
-- 195 --
CHAPTER XIII.
“You shall be viceroys here, 'tis true,
But we'll be viceroys over you.”
“Wait not till things grow desperate,
For hanging is no laughing matter.”
[figure description] Page 195.[end figure description]
A few miles to the southward of the encampment
of the Green Mountain Boys before described, stood
the tenement of a settler whose improvements were
somewhat in advance of the rough beginnings of
those who resided in the immediate vicinity. And
the owner and occupant, having gained that point of
comparative thrift from which he could look down
upon his less fortunate neighbors, had lately begun
to manifest an ambition to outshine them also in the
civil distinctions to which he beleived himself now
entitled. But his solicitude for preferment not allowing
him to await the tardy honors which his fellow
settlers of the New Hampshire party might be inclined
to bestow, he had lately turned his longing
eye to other dispensers of these coveted favors. And
the prayer of his heart, being secretly made known
in the right quarter, was soon answered in the shape
of an offer of the office of justice of the peace
from the government of New York. Though aware
of the dangerous nature of such an honor to an inhabitant
of the Grants, yet the temptation, which
was now set before him, and which, indeed, he had
indirectly sought, was altogether too great to be resisted;
and, in an evil hour, he privately accepted
the office, in defiance of a decree of the Convention
-- 196 --
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of his countrymen, which had placed the acceptance
of such an office, from such a source, by a settler,
high in the calender of punishable offences.
To the tenement of this aspiring dignitary we will
now take the reader in anticipation of other visitors.
It was the next morning after the adventure of Warrington
and his friend, the stout stranger, at Captain
Hendee's; and the dawning light was just beginning
to appear in the dapple east. The freshly made
squire was already awake, reflecting with peculiar
inward satisfaction on the honors of his new station
as he lay beside his loving rib in a small bed-room
adjoining the kitchen. He had only the night before
received his commission, and his heart was full
of the pleasing subject. He not only dwelt on the
present consequence which the office would confer,
but his expanding thoughts began to stretch forward
to the future; and he counted over the probabilities
of his advancing, on a stepping stone like this, to
much higher distinctions under a government, which,
he was now ready to believe—nay, secretly to wish—
would soon exercise the entire control in the settlement.
`They will call me squire now,' he soliloquized
half aloud, `and once squire, always squire: so I
shall get the title, let what will come of it.'
`Come of what, Mr. Prouty?' asked his help
meet with a yawn, awakening just in time to catch
the last part of the sentence.
`Why! why, I thought you was asleep, Polly.—
Come of what, did you say? O, nothing in particular;
only I have been thinking over things a little.
And I'll tell you what it is;—there will shortly be a
great overturn in this settlement. There will, you
may depend on't.'
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`What, the Yorkers get the upper hand?'
`Sartain as you live, Polly!'
`Then where will go the title to our farm? That
was what you was talking to yourself about, wa'nt it,
now?'
`No it wa'nt. And that an't a thing, neither, that
troubles me a might:'
`Why not?'
`Because the office I have just got under the York
government I consider amounts to a security against
that. And if the Green Mountain Boys will let me
alone—but I don't intend they shall know about my
office yet awhile.'
`Yes, but what good will it do you to be a justice,
if you can't be squire?'
`Why, what does the woman mean?'
`I mean if you darsent let folks know, so as to
call you squire.'
`O, I can do some business, even now, among the
York party, without much danger. And it won't be
long before all that trouble will be over: For, as I
told you, there is about to be a complete overturn
here. The Yorkers are preparing to come on with
a strong, armed force. Now don't say any thing to
the neighbors about this, Polly, as I had it in confidence
from Mr. Sherwood.'
`O, did you? Well that Mr. Sherwood is a complete
gentleman—how perlite he is! Don't you think
so, Mr. Prouty?'
`Yes, perlite enough, forzino. Well, as I was
going to say, if they come on, Ethan Allen, Warrington
and Member Baker, with all they can raise,
will stand no fag at all with a regular York army. And
all who stand out then will be indicted and informationed
against. There will be plenty of warrants
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called for about those days, you may depend on't.
And I, being the only government justice in this
part of the Grants, shall have the making of them.
It will be money in my pocket, I tell you, Polly!
And then, when'—
`Well I hope you will then feel like getting me a
new silk gownd. You know, Mr. Prouty, that my
white dimoty is now the only dress that I have fit to
see company in.'
`O fudge!'
`I say there is no fudge about it, now! The
neighbors call us rich, and still it is a solemn fact,
Mr. Prouty, and I don't care who knows it, that you
dress your wife a great deal worse than'—
`Well, well, don't bother me now; but hear what
I was coming at: When the York government gets
well established here, as it will be, they will want
two or three judges in this quarter, I guess. And I,
being the only one in all this section that had courage
to accept the office of justice of peace, should n't
you think, Polly, they would kind o' naturally hit on
me for one of them?'
`Why, bless me! will they? So they will, wont
they? And then, certainly, Mr. Prouty'—
`Hush! hush! I hear some body coming up to the
door. Who on earth can they be, I wonder, that's
started out so early?'
A smart rapping being now heard at the door,
Justice Prouty leaped from his bed, seized his—inexpressibles,
modern dandyism would term them,
we suppose, but finding no authority for believing
our fathers made use of any garment, the appropriate
appellation of which they considered it indecent
to express, we will venture to call things by their
right names—seized his breeches, hurried them on,
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[figure description] Page 199.[end figure description]
together with the other parts of his outward equipment,
and emerged into the kitchen, after having
twice gone back, at his wife's hasty and imperious
call, to close, and more tightly close, the door behind
him. After the customary `walk in,' distinctly pronounced
by the squire, the door was opened, and
two men entered, both unknown to the former,
though not so to those, who have followed us through
all the different scenes of the preceding pages: for,
in the striking attitude of one of the visitants, which
compelled the civility of bowing, nolens volens, as he
entered the door, like a boy coming into a country
school, and in the comical leer of his countenance,
as with one eye he seemed to be measuring the
affectedly dignified person of his host, while the other
was busily employed in taking an inventory of the
various articles about the room, the reader will find
no difficulty in recognizing our jovial friend, Pete
Jones. The other, whose dress, and gentlemanly
bearing, formed a striking contrast with that of his
rustic companion, was no other than Selden, who,
as before intimated, having arrived the previous evening,
had volunteered with the former to make this
early call on the justice to procure his immediate
attendance at their encampment in the woods.
`Be seated, gentlemen, pray be seated,' said the
squire, bustling about, and setting chairs for his
guests with one hand, and finishing the buttoning up
of his vest with the other, `make yourselves comfortable—
no ceremony here—just turned out, you
see. Called on business, I take it, gentlemen?' he
added, meaning official business, on which his mind
was still running, and `the wish,' in this case, as
often happens, `proving father to the thought.'
`We have, Sir,' answered Selden, bowing with
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well assumed respect. `You are a justice of the
peace we are told?'
`Why, as to that, Sir,' replied Prouty hesitating,
and glancing, with a doubtful air, alternately at Selden
and his companion, `perhaps I may have heard—
that is, I can't sartainly say but I have heard, that
I was appointed to the office; though as to accepting—
You are of the right party, I trust, gentlemen?'
`We certainly think we are, at least, sir,' rejoined
the former gravely.
`That's as true as preaching, squire,' said Pete;
`for if we ain't on the right side, I would give my
old jack-knife to know who are.'
`All right, I presume, gentlemen; but rather ticklish
times, you know—thought it no hurt to be a little
particular. But what business did you want done?
No harm in asking that, I spose, gentlemen?' said
the squire, adding the last question by way of opening
a door for a retreat, should one be necessary.
`O, no,' replied Selden, `but I know not that I
can state precisely the nature of the business which
those, who sent us for you, wish done, but it is something,
I believe, that they think requires your presence.
'
`O, ho, not to be done here, then, gentlemen?'
observed the squire, a little doubtingly, again.
`No, sir, the place is several miles from here, I
should think,' responded Selden with an air of indifference.
`Is Mr. Sherwood there?' asked the squire rather
anxiously.
`I believe not, squire,' answered Selden, with the
same indifference, `but they are anxious he should
be, and hope he will come before closing the business.
'
-- 201 --
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`I'll swear to that, squire,' said Jones, with a ludicrous
effort to keep mischief from showing itself
in his countenance.
`Aye, all right, then, gentlemen,' rejoined the
squire, still stupidly determined to understand the
indefinite and evasive language of his visitors, in the
way that his wishes pointed. `But I thought I would
make sure. You, sir,' he continued, addressing Selden,
`I thought from the first glance, must belong
to the right party. This other gentleman, here, I
didn't know so well about, but it makes no difference
what I thought, as I see you agree. I will attend
you, gentlemen. But hadn't we better stop and
get some breakfast first?'
`O no,' replied Selden, `they expressly told us
to come on immediately, and the folks would have
a good breakfast prepared for us all, by the time we
could arrive there.'
Esquire Prouty, after notifying his wife of his intended
absence, now signified his readines to depart;
when all three set forward towards the encampment
of the Green Mountain Boys, the former without
further question, or any apparent distrust, putting
himself under the guidance of his attendants. And
wrapt up in self consequence, and dreaming only of
the important figure he was shortly to make in the
first exercise of his new vocation, he unhesitatingly
followed his guides, as with rapid steps they silently
led the way, sometimes proceeding in the road, sometimes
through a piece of woods, and sometimes
through open fields. At length they reached the
border of the dark, continuous forest, within which,
at the distance of about a half mile, was the encampment
to which they were destined; when the
squire, now for the first time hesitating, or seeming
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[figure description] Page 202.[end figure description]
to entertain any suspicion that they were taking him
to a less agreeable destination than he had anticipated,
paused in his steps, and threw a doubtful and
apprehensive glance around him.
`Never mind, squire,' cried Jones, who, having
with difficulty restrained himself from giving vent,
in some shape or other, to the secret merriment he
had been indulging on the way at the squire's credulity
in suffering himself to be so foolishly lured from
home, thought it would now do to begin to banter
the obtuse justice a little, `never mind, squire! You
needn't look so streaked—we belong to the right
party, you know.'
`Yes, but if you would but jest inform me, gentlemen'—
said the other imploringly, and with visible
purturbation—`only jest inform me'—
`O push ahead man!' interrupted Jones, who
purposely dropping in the rear, now urged on the
reluctant squire with a show of pettish impatience,
as if detained by excuses too frivolous to merit a reply,
`push ahead!' My stomach is getting fairly wolfish
for that breakfast. I'll be blest, if I don't almost
think I begin to smell it at this distance!'
Somewhat assured by the other's manner of treating
his scruples, and, though not quite satisfied, yet
feeling a little ashamed of his fears, the squire now
passively suffered himself to be conducted forward
till, reaching the foot of the mountain, and turning
closely round a projecting ledge of rocks, he suddenly,
and to his utter dismay, found himself in the
midst of a group of sturdy men, whom from their
appearance, he at once knew to be a band of Green
Mountain Boys. Instantly comprehending the nature
of their business with him, he stopped short,
and stood confused, and trembling in mute alarm
-- 203 --
[figure description] Page 203.[end figure description]
before them. Nor were his fears at all diminished
by the array of well known names, which his conductor
the next moment announced by way of introduction,
the ceremonies of which the latter now
commenced performing very formally with these
nearest at hand.
`Esquire Prouty, allow to present you to Captain
Remember Baker,' began Selden, pompously waving
his hand towards a keen-eyed, determined looking
man, who stood in front of the others.
The confused squire nodded his head mechanically,
but his tongue refused to do its office, except by
a half articulated `How'd do, sir,' as he heard the
name of one of that famous trio, who had so long
been the terror of the New York authorities.
`Again, Esquire Prouty, will you permit the pleasure
of presenting you to Captain Charles Warrington,
' proceeded Selden, as the latter advanced to
favor the introduction.
`Warrington!' gasped the squire with increasing
trepidation, `Warrington too'!
`And yet once more,' continued the imperturbable
lieutenant, beckoning to our Herculean hero of
the shag coat, who figured so conspicuously at Captain
Hendee's in his adventure with the soldiers the
night previous, and who was now here and came forward
at the intimation, `once more, Esquire Prouty,
shall I have the very great honor of introducing to
Colonel Ethan Allen?'
`God have mercy on me!' involuntarily burst from
the lips of the affrighted justice, as the announcement
of the last name capped the climax of his terror
and despair, `O, God, have mercy! I am a lost
man!'
`Pooh! you cowardly fool!' exclaimed Allen with
-- 204 --
[figure description] Page 204.[end figure description]
a look of mingled pity and contempt, `rouse up, and
bear it like a man, and if you promise no more to
betray your injured and bleeding country by becoming
the tool of tyrants, it shall go the lighter with
you. At all events, you need not fear that you will
be punished to the extent of half your deserts. But
come, boys, set on the breakfast. It might be hazzardous
to our prisoners, the squire and surveyor here,
to proceed with them, with the inward man in so ravenous
a flight: for Hunger and Mercy never got
near enough to each other to shake hands, since the
fall of Adam. And even the awards of Justice, herself,
might be of questionable rectitude, if made under
the irritations of an empty stomach.'
The breakfast, which consisted of a plentiful supply
of roasted venison, partriges, and other small
game, with such trimmings as the settlers living near,
and in the secret of the encampment, had sent in,
was served up on a rude kind of platform, composed
of smooth white pieces cleft from the freely rifting
bass-wood, and supported on cross pieces laid
upon forked stakes, or crotches, as they are usually
denominated in the woodman's phrase. Around this
temporary table, benches of an equally rude construction
were placed sufficient for the accommodation
of all the company including the prisoners, now
consisting of the squire, the surveyor, and his assistant,
all of whom were respectfully shown places at
the table. The meal was generally partaken in silence,
the officers seeming to fear that too much sociability
might have a tendency to unnerve them for
the task on hand, and the men respectfully following
the example of their superiors, with the exception of
Pete Jones, who could not forbear occasionally throwing
a sly joke at the chop-fallen squire.
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`Now, gentlemen, for business,' said Allen, rising
from the table the moment their meal was finished,
as ominously knitting his dark heavy brows, he pulled
from his pocket, and, in a loud, commanding
voice, commenced reading a decree of the Convention,
forbidding “Each, and all, of the inhabitants of
the New Hampshire Grants, to hold, take, or accept,
any office of honor or profit under the colony of New
York”—and requiring “All officers, and others, acting
under the Governor or legislature of that province,
to suspend their functions on pain of being viewed.”
He then produced a letter from a secret agent of the
settlers at Albany, giving the date of Prouty's commission,
and enclosing a letter from the squire himself,
accepting the office in question. He also presented
a copy of a notice sent some weeks previous to the
surveyor, warning him to quit the Grants without delay.
`And now what have ye to say,' sternly demanded
Allen, turning to the prisoners as soon as he had
finished reading the documents: `what have ye to
say, ye minions of York, why ye should not be viewed,
to the full extent and meaning of the decree, made
and provided for the like of ye?'
Quailing under the withering gaze of Allen, the
justice could not muster courage to lift his head, or
utter a single word in reply. But the surveyor, who
was a man of more firmness, and bore himself quite
collectedly on the occasion, attempted an argument
with the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, denying
all right of the settlers to arrest him, protesting
against being tried by any but a court acting under
the authority of New York, and appealing to that
authority for his justification.
`The authority of New York!' scornfully
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exclaimed the other, `appeal to the authority of New
York! Why not appeal, at once, to the chancery of
hell, the fountain head of that stream of corruption,
which comes to us under the name of New York
law and justice? We, sir, we, the poor, and insufferably
abused settlers of these Grants, have often
appealed to that source of justice—appealed for protection
against the lawless aggressions of your cormorant
speculators, who have attempted to wrest
from us our rightful possessions, to seize, with the
grasp of plunderers, our hard earned pittances, and
turn us out houseless and destitute into the wilderness.
But we have appealed in vain, and only to
learn our own folly in expecting that sin would ever
be rebuked by Satan. No, sir, we will suffer no
such appeal, but will ourselves give you a conclusive
judgment in the premises; and such an one, too, as
shall give you the wages of your iniquities. What
say you, my merry mountaineers?'
As soon as the hearty, but variously expressed responses,
by which the men testified their approbation
of the remarks of their leader, were over, Baker,
Warrington and Selden, who, during the discussion,
had been engaged in a low conversation
apart from the rest, beckoned Allen to approach
them. The latter, obeying the intimation, advanced,
and, after listening attentively awhile to some proposal
or plan, which the others appeared to be imparting
to him, snapped his fingers with delight, and exclaimed,
`Capital! Capital, by Jupiter!' he repeated, bringing
down his huge palm upon the snugly fitting buckskin,
covering his broad thigh, with a slap that echoed
through the woods like the report of a pistol.
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`'Member, you shall announce it to them, and I will
see that it is carried into execution.'
Baker, accordingly stepping forward and addressing
the surveyor, gravely informed him, that it had
been determined to accede to the wish he had expressed
of being tried, if he was to be tried at all,
by a court of his own colony. And that Justice
Prouty, who had lately been commissioned by the
government of New York, would therefore now immediately
proceed with the trial.
`O gentlemen, O sir!' began Prouty beseechingly,
as Allen now came forward to attend to the part
he had proposed to assume in the business.
`Now don't, Justice Prouty,' interrupted Selden
with provoking irony, `don't, I beg of you, suffer
your diffidence to deprive us of the aid of your acknowledged
abilities in this important case. Having
had the honor of introducing you to this company,
I am very anxious that you should acquit
yourself creditably on the occasion.'
`Yes, sir, but then my situation'—again began to
expostulate the troubled justice.
`Come, your worship,' interrupted Allen, with a
spice of the comic mingled with the determined expression
of his countenance, `You are to try, and to
sentence this York interloper, and no two ways about
it, neither, I will swear to you. There!' he continued,
seizing the reluctant and trembling squire, with
one hand grasping the seat of his breeches, and the
other his collar, and lifting and placing him on the
side of the platform, with the apparent ease of one
handling an infant: `There! sit on the edge of this
table, for a King's Bench. You did not think to arrive
to that honor so soon, did you Squire?'
`Now, Squire,' said Peter Jones, with one of his
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mischievous looks, `May I be eternally happy, if I
don't think you a considerable dabster of a prophet!
Don't you see how cute it is all coming to pass what
you told your old woman this morning about your
getting to be a judge soon? Though I must axe
your pardon, Squire, for listening under your bed-room
window a little, before we rapped to come in.'
`Well, is the court ready to proceed?' said Allen:
`now for my opening, as the lawyers say—I am
for the prosecution, recollect.'
`Now I do protest,—I beseech you, sir'—once
more began to stammer the confused and dreadfully
perplexed Justice.
`Shut up, Sir!' fiercely exclaimed Allen. `Hell
and Furies! who ever heard of a court before so
despotic as to refuse to hear the statements of counsel?
No, no, Mr. Court, that will never do; so
now hear me.'
The Squire, thus awed into silence, hung his
head, and sat as still as his agitation would permit,
while the other produced, and again read the documents
by which he had first introduced the subject;
and, after briefly summing up the evidence, demanded
that a sentence be imposed upon the surveyor
of forty lashes of the beach rod.
`I dispute the authority of your pretended Convention,
and I protest against the whole of these
proceedings as illegal and riotous,' exclaimed the
surveyor with considerable spirit.
`Well, very well, sir,' said Allen, with the utmost
composure: `you have had your say, and made your
defence, as you had an undoubted right to do. I
am always for liberty of speech when a man has really
any thing to say, and also for allowing a fair
hearing in all cases, though that is more than your
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infernal York tribunals will permit, in nine cases out
of ten. But let us now attend to the decision of
the court. Boys, you may as well be getting a brace
of genteel beech-sealers; for I feel very confident
of a decision in my favor. Now, Mr. Justice, proceed
with your sentence. Forty stripes, with a green
beech rod, is all I claim, recollect—quite moderate,
certainly; but it is always best to loan towards the
side of mercy. Proceed, sir!'
`Any thing else, gentlemen,' groaned the distressed
Squire, `I will do any thing else you say. But
this, now, I cannot, and dare not do.'
`Hark'ee, Mr. Court,' rejoined the other, placing
his arms akimbo, and looking at the Justice with the
air of one resolved to have no more words on the
subject, `A sentence out of you, I will have, as sure
as the devil delays his coming for your soul long
enough for you to pronounce it. Will you proceed,
sir? No answer, oh? Well, we will soon see
whether Ethan Allen has got to eat his own words,
or not. Jones, bring me that sarveyor's chain in the
camp there.'
Allen, taking out his pocket handkerchief, very
deliberately made a slip noose, and adjusted it round
the neck of the trembling squire. He next carefully
tied the tail of this noose to one end of the chain,
throwing the other end, at the same time, over the
large limb of a tree, which projected directly over
their heads, at the height of twelve or fifteen feet
from the ground.
`There, Jones, catch that end, and just straighten
her out a little,' he observed, with a cool, businesslike
air, `I have heard say that hanging was intended
to bring about justice. Let us see if a little of
it won't have that effect in the present instance.'
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Obeying with mischievous alacrity, Pete, now running
the chain rapidly over the limb, brought it up
just `taut enough,' to use a sea phrase, to make the
noose sensibly felt by the Squire; upon which the
latter, starting and glaring wildly around, as a slight
sense of suffocation came over him, leaped upon
his feet, and stood upright. This shift, however,
afforded him but a momentary relief: For Jones,
quickly following up the movement, straightened the
chain with a jerk that brought the victim on to his
toes; in which position, grappling the chain above
his head with both hands, and begging, like a half
whipped school boy, for mercy, he was suffered to
remain a moment to give him one more opportunity
of complying with the requisition which had been
made upon him.
`Your last chance of salvation'! exclaimed the
leader in a tone that testified his growing impatience
at the man's obstinacy. `You will comply in one
moment more, or, by the horned Lucifer, the next
shall find you dangling within a yard of yonder limb!'
`Now I would, gentlemen, sartainly would, if'—
again began to sputter the struggling, though yet unconquered
Squire.
`String him up, Jones!' cried Allen with startling
energy.
The next instant the body of the poor justice was
spinning round on one toe, with the tip of which he
was barely able to touch the platform.
`Oh! I'm choking!' screeched the now really
suffering wretch, `Oh! ugh! ugh! ugh! I will—
will—I'll do it!'
`Ease away there, Jones!' said Allen, `he has come
to his senses, at last, and I think there will be no
further trouble; so you may give him full play now.'
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After being again questioned as to the reality of
his intentions to proceed with the required task, the
subdued squire was let fully down, and permitted to
stand at ease on the platform; when, as soon as he
had recovered his breath and composure sufficiently
to allow him to speak, he mumbled off the sentence,
which he had run such risks to avoid pronouncing.
`Now, Mr. Court,' said Allen, with a slightly roguish
curl of the lip, `as you have been brought to
a sense of your duty, and given the sentence which
justice required of you, it is no doubt incumbent on
you, sir, to see it executed. And, as all my men
here stand sworn never to execute any sentence of a
York magistrate, it follows, of course, that you must
be the executioner yourself, in the present case: so
now dismount, sir, if you please, take this rod, and,
after I have un-noosed you of this marvelous prompter
of justice,' he continued, taking off the noose
and placing a beechen rod in the hands of the other,
`you will proceed to apply it in a way that shall show
the sincerity of what you have just said and done.
Boys, you may now take off the surveyor's coat, and
then form a ring, with a few switches in your hands,
if you will, to see that justice is duly administered
on the occasion. There! that will do. Well, squire,
we are now ready to proceed—what! hesitating
again! Jones, seize the end of that chain, there,
and be ready while I replace the noose.'
But Prouty, having had quite as many of such
promptings as he felt willing to receive, did not wait
to be noosed again, but lifting the rod, moved forward,
as if ready to perform the required task without
further resistance. Allen then advanced and
threw another rod down at the feet of the surveyor,
gravely observing—
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`There, Mr. Surveyor, supposing from what you
have thrown out here, that you think the court have
sentenced you unjustly, we have concluded that,
while he is executing the sentence on you, we will
give you a chance to avenge the injury. You have
therefore our free and full permission to return blow
for blow through the whole of it. Indeed, Sir, I
should rather advise you to do it; for our boys here,
who are great sticklers for fair play, may take it into
their heads, perhaps, to say that it would be unjust
for one Yorker to receive all the honors of the day,
without imparting an equitable share to his fellow.
And in case you should neglect to do what they
think is about right, I know not what may happen
to you. And now, Mr. Justice,' he continued, turning
sternly to Prouty, `Now, Mr. Justice, be lively,
and, with the fear of God and Ethan Allen before
your eyes, lay on, sir!'
It would be very difficult to conceive any thing
more strangely ludierous than the scene that followed.
The reluctant Squire, daring no longer to delay,
now gave two or three faint and harmless blows
across the legs of the Surveyor; when he was admonished
by Allen, in a tone which experience had
taught him pretty well how to interpret, to lay on
more seriously. Spurred up by his fears, the Justice
then began to administer the applications of his rod
with about that medium degree of violence which,
producing all the smart of heavier blows without the
benumbing antidote of bruising, is always far more
irritating, and is generally, perhaps, even more intensely
painful to the victim than blows of double
the severity. At all events, the Squire's applications
soon produced a very visible effect on the surveyor,
who, till this stage of the business, had stood eying
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the proceedings in dogged silence. But now leaping
about, and being no longer able to stand the pain
which the squire's applications began to impart, he
hastily caught up the rod at his feet, and, swearing
with spiteful bitterness, that he would put it on, to
punish the other for suffering himself to become the
tool of a mob, gave back the blows with so much interest
that it soon roused in turn the ire of the Justice,
who, now beginning to dance to the same tune,
and from the same cause which had put his opponent
in motion, fell to, and laid on in good earnest.
Becoming thus mutually incensed, and the anger of
each rapidly kindling at the increased pain of his
adversary's applications, every blow of the one was
followed by a heavier blow from the other. And,
the blows falling heavier and thicker every instant,
it soon grew into one of the most severe and furious
flagellations ever witnessed in the settlement, and
one that was amply satisfactory to our band of Green
Mountain Boys, who stood by, sending forth shout
after shout, and peal after peal of laughter, that fairly
shook the slumbering wilderness with the deafening
reverberations. And so deeply engaged had become
these antagonist dignitaries in administering to
each other this whimsically conceived, and queerly
conducted punishment, that it was not till they had
exceeded the prescribed number of stripes by nearly
a dozen, that either of them thought of yielding.
Prouty, however, being of a less obstinate disposition,
and possessing less nerve than the other, at
length gave over, and cried lustily for quarter, which,
even then, so implacable had the surveyor become,
was only granted him on the interposition of the
Green Mountain Boys.
`Well, Squire,' said Jones, the only man who
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seemed disposed to make any comments at the close
of this curious scene, `don't you think these Yorkers
most cruel bloody fellows? Ah! jest as I told
you, Squire, we belong to the right party.'
The business of the morning having been thus
brought to a close, Justice Prouty, with an admonition
to go and learn wisdom from folly, was released
and sent home. The surveyor's instruments were
next broken to pieces by Allen, and the fragments
hurled into the bushes. The Surveyor himself, with
his assistant, who had not been considered of public
consequence enough to be punished, was then put in
charge of Jones and Brown, who were ordered to escort
them to the New York line, and there leave
them.
Within half an hour from the departure of the
prisoners, the encampment of the Green Mountain
Boys under Snake Mountain was broken up, and
the place deserted, the different individuals composing
the band, after a brief consultation, having been
dispatched by their enterprising and impetuous leader,
in various directions on secret business connected
with the important events which were in train,
and the new and untried scenes which were now
soon to follow.
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CHAPTER XIV.
“Strong hands in harvest, daring feet in chase,
True hearts in fight, were gathered in that place
Of secret council.”
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If there is a town in Vermont whose first set of
inhabitants deserved the appellation of high-minded
and worthy, it was the early settlers of Middlebury.
Distinguished, from their first pitch on the fertile
banks of the Otter, for enterprise, firmness and intelligence,
they were among the foremost to resist
the aggressions of a government, which, unwittingly,
perhaps, had lent itself to aid the unprincipled
schemes of a few rapacious land speculators; while the
opening scenes of our revolution found them ready
to engage, with the same alacrity, and with the best
of their means, in the greater work of achieving the
independence of their whole country. And scarcely
had the storm of war passed over, and the sunlight
of peace begun to break in on their infant settlement,
before they united, with a zeal as extraordinary,
considering their circumstances and means,
as it was commendable, in rearing, by private munificence
alone, a collegiate institution, which for many
succeeding years did more, probably, towards elevating
the moral and literary character of Vermont,
than any one cause operating within her borders.
And her alumni, now many of them in eminence at
the bar, and in the pulpit, and found gracing not only
every station in their own favored country, from
the humble school room, to the senate chamber of
the nation, but nobly dispensing her light among the
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people of every clime upon the face of the broad
earth, whither, in the fearless and enterprising spirit
of their fathers, they have scattered themselves,—
now to teach the arts to the boorish Russ, or besotted
Turk, now to assist the enslaved Greek, or South
American, in his struggles for freedom, and now to
rear the standard of the Cross among the degraded
pagans of the East—her grateful alumni, often, often,
turn back, in fancy, to their beloved Alma mater,
`To linger delighted o'er scenes recall'd there,'
and admire, and bless the noble and self sacrificing
spirit of Painter, Chipman, Storrs, and others of her
munificent founders, who made themselves poor in
pecuniary estate, that the children of their country
might become rich in knowledge.
With these remarks, suggested by the location of
the scene about to be described, and their expression
here promted by the personal interest which
the writer of these unworthy pages must ever feel in
that institution, in which he was taught at once his
weakness and his strength, and to which he is mainly
indebted for the schooling and chastening of a
wild and untutored imagination, and for the formation
of whatever mental character he may possess;
with these remarks, we say, let us now proceed in
the narration of our story.
Could one of the fabled scenes drawn by the immortal
Homer have been so far realized, on the 4th
of May 1775, that Mars, the supposed supervisor of
every military enterprise, had sat in his cloud-begirt
chariot over that tract of country lying between
lake Champlain and the Green mountains, to take
note of whatever in his line of business might be on
foot below, he might have perceived, on looking
down from his lofty car, near the close of that day,
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[figure description] Page 217.[end figure description]
movements among the inhabitants of the particular
section just named, so simultaneous, and yet so apparently
unconcerted, that even his Godship, himself,
unless previously in the secret, would have
been sadly puzzled to decide in what manner to account
for them. Nearly every man could have been
seen leaving his home for some point not far to the
south of those falls on Otter Creek, around which
the flourishing village of Middlebury now stands.
Though all would have seemed gradually centering
to this spot, yet this would have been the only point
of agreement discoverable in their movements, or apparent
objects. Some carried axes on their shoulders,
some hoes, or other implements of husbandry,
and some had guns, with which they appeared to be
amusing themselves, as they passed along, by shooting
squirrels, or whatever small game might fall in
their way. And, in no instance, were two men seen
travelling together; and, if by chance, any two happened
to come across each other, they immediately
separated, one stopping till the other had passed out
of sight, or both diverging into different, though parallel
routes. The exact point of their concentration
was at length seen to be an opening in the wilderness,
on a gentle swell of land, commanding a view
of the devious Otter from its western side. Near the
centre of this opening stood a log house tenanted by
a hardy and enterprising settler, a confidential friend
of the master spirit of this clandestine gathering.
A barn also of the same construction, and of dimensions
ample enough to hold half a regiment within
its walls, was standing some rods in the rear of
the house. This huge fabric, as it finally appeared,
had been selected, both on account of its size, and
the cental position which it occupied in the
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northern part of the Grants, for the approaching meeting
of the Green Mountain Boys. And as the shades
of evening began to gather over the wilderness, and
individual objects grew indistinct to the view, many
a dark form might be discovered emerging, one by
one, from every point of the surrounding woods, and
stealthily taking their way in silence towards the
building appointed for their rendezvous.
But leaving this company to finish their noiseless
gathering, we will now recur a little to note the adventures
of one of our heroes on his way to the
scene of action. We speak in the plural here, as
we do not pretend to fix on any one of the several
leading personages of our story as the particular hero
of the work. But should the reader deem such
an one to be essential in the performance, we leave
him to make his own selection from all the characters
we have introduced—a privilege to the reader,
which, we trust, will prevent any question in his
mind whether the author has himself selected the
one for this honor who is the most worthy of the
appellation: and a privilege too, that we the more
freely accord, since we have often wished for the
same favor ourselves, while reading works of this
kind, and bored with the everlasting recurrence of
`our hero,' applied, not unfrequently, to the worst
drawn, and by far the most spiritless character in the
book.
After the separation of our band in the morning,
the leaders, as before intimated, were actively engaged
through a good part of the day in calling upon
the settlers to sound their views and feelings in regard
to the approaching struggle between the colonies
and mother country, and to apprise them, if
found right in sentiments, and ripe for action, as
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[figure description] Page 219.[end figure description]
was generally the case, of the contemplated meeting,
and the precautions deemed important to be
observed in conducting it.
Warrington, having performed the task allotted him
as his share of this delicate, and some times difficult
duty, set out, late in the afternoon, for the appointed
rendezvous of the evening. After leaving
the vicinity of the lake, to the borders of which his
duties had been principally confined, he soon entered
the woods, and, having decided on the course to
be taken, proceeded onward with a rapid step several
miles towards his destination, without pausing.
But at length feeling somewhat wearied with the exertions
of the day, he sat down to rest him, for a
few moments, on the trunk of a fallen tree, and
was dreamily running over in his mind the singular
events of the few past days, when his attention was
arrested by a clicking sound, resembling that which
attends the cocking of a musket. While looking
around him in doubt whether his senses had not deceived
him, in respect to the impression they conveyed
of the sound, he distinctly heard the snapping
of a fire lock in a thicket at no great distance
from the spot he occupied. Springing upon his
feet, he brought his own rifle to his shoulder, and,
stepping behind a tree, awaited in silence the result,
which, he supposed, whatever the cause of the
movement, would soon be disclosed. But hearing
nothing further, and concluding that the sound came
from some hunter, who, having gained sight of game,
and snapping his piece at it, had noiselessly crept
off after it in another direction, he thought but little
more on the subject at this time, and soon leisurely
proceeded on his way. The walk of half a mile now
brought him to that dead and desolate stream, whose
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[figure description] Page 220.[end figure description]
name, at the present day, `Lemon Fair,' has so often
proved a puzzler to the stranger traversing this section
of the country, and led him to ask the cause of
so singular an appellation. The explanation that
follows, however, reconciles the apparent incongruity
in a way as simple and curious as it is generally
unexpected. And the enquirer is soon enabled to
trace this before unaccountable name, from `Lemon
Fair,' through `Lamen Fair,' to the lamentable affair!
which is said to have burst from the agonized bosom
of a traveller, who once, in attempting to ford the
stream, was doomed to the pain of witnessing his
noble steed become inextricably mired, and, sinking
deeper and deeper at every effort to clear himself,
finally disappear with fearful death-struggles, in the
bottomless quags of this Styx of Vermontane rivers.
Warrington here paused to note the air of peculiar
dreariness and gloom, which, even at this day, seems
to brood over this paradise of eels and owls—the
former finding their Elysium in the stagnant, muddy,
and root-tangled pools of the stream, and the
latter on the decayed limbs of the long colonade of
dead and leafless tress lining the banks, where they
sit moping and gloating over their inexaustible storehouse
of countless reptiles swarming in the dark and
turbid waters beneath. And while standing upon
the banks of this stream, with his mind thus engrossed,
he was startled by the sharp report of a rifle,
bursting from a fallen tree top on a knoll at the distance
of some eight or ten rods behind him; while
at the same instant, a bullet, passing through his
coat between his arm and body, struck and burried
itself on the dry and barkless surface of a tree,
standing a few yards before him. Whirling suddenly
round towards the covert from which the shot
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[figure description] Page 221.[end figure description]
issued, as now plainly indicated by a light cloud of
diffusing smoke, he again quickly brought his rifle to
his shoulder, and stood for a few seconds straining
his vision for a sight of the invisible foe. But being
unable to discover any object with such certainty
as would justify his returning the fire, he suddenly
changed his purpose, and leaped forward with all
possible speed towards the place. In one moment
he stood on the spot just occupied by his dastard
assailant; when he succeeded in catching a glimpse
of a dark form rapidly retreating over another swell
into a thick and tangled swamp. His first impulse
was to recommence the pursuit; but a second thought
told him that it would probably be in vain, while it
uselessly exposed him to the hazard of another shot
of his enemy from some concealment, which he
would have time to gain unperceived. He therefore
reluctantly turned and retraced his steps to the
stream he had just left.
From the form and motions of the assassin, although
in a disguised dress, Warrington was but little at
loss in identifying him with Darrow, whom he had
twice met and as often frustrated in his base, or, to
say the least very questionable, designs. And coupling
the improbability that the fellow was acting from
his own promptings in his murderous attempt, with
the friendly hints of Miss Hendee, he no longer
doubted that Sherwood was indeed bent on his destruction,
and finding a willing instrument in Darrow,
had instigated this method of accomplishing it.
But abandoning all thoughts of any measures to
punish, or circumvent, either the base tool, or his
still more dastard employer, till his public duties
should allow him more leisure, he now hastily
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crossed the stream, and proceeded with rapid steps towards
the rendezvous of his assembling companions,
which he only reached just as the last glimmerings of
departing daylight were fading in the western horizon.
`Charles, how is this!' exclaimed Colonel Allen,
breaking away, as soon as he noticed Warrington's
arrival, from a group of several of the most influential
settlers in the vicinity, with whom he appeared
to have been engaged in a low, confidential conversation,
`how is this, that you are the last man to
come on the ground? Why, I thought the devil
had got you, or, what is the same thing in Dutch,
that you had gone over to the British, to apprise
them of our project. But, come, Sir, as I suppose
we must allow you the credit of having done rather
better than that, I have concluded to make you my
right hand man for the evening.—So now for business.
'
`In that case, colonel,' replied the other, `let me suggest
to you the precaution of placing a few sentinels
around us, while in convention. There may be those
abroad to night, who, if permitted to look in upon
us here, would render our enterprise as vain as the
crusades. Were it not too dark I would show you a
hole in my coat, through which one of these prowlers
a few miles back, by a small mistake, put a bullet,
instead of through my heart as evidently intended.
'
`God bless you, Charles, what do you mean?'
asked Allen, with surprise and emotion.
`I mean as I say.'
`But who could it be.'
`That despicable Sergeant, instigated by Sherwood,
I suspect.'
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`And what was you about not to return the compliment
on the spot?'
`He escaped me in a thicket, and I had no time
to spend in the cautious pursuit which would be safe
or successful—would to heaven I could have had
more leisure!'
`Well, by the blessing of God, Charles, within a
week, we will have our heels on that nest of rattle
snakes. But it is time to organize. You were
right about a guard—will you attend to placing it,
while I assemble the company in the barn, and see
that each has the watchword?'
Allen now ordered lights to be brought, and placing
himself at the door of the building, he called to the
company to advance and enter singly. Each man
as he presented himself, and before suffered to pass
in, was strictly required to give the watchword,
which, as a precautionary measure to prevent any
one being present whose views had not been previously
ascertained, had been confidentially imparted
by Allen and his associate leaders since the meeting
was in agitation. The word chosen for this purpose
was Carillon, an appellation by which fort Ticonderoga
was designated by the French while in the
possession of their government. After every man
had passed this test of admittance, and thus proved
himself entitled to mingle in the deliberations of
the assembly, Col. Allen called the meeting to order,
and, after stating that important business was in
contemplation, the successful result of which might
depend on the secrecy with which it was conducted,
proposed a sort of oath of affirmation, binding all
present by a solemn promise not to divulge the proceedings
of this meeting, and its consequent measures,
till the reasons, which made secrecy necessary,
-- 224 --
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should cease to exist. This proposition was acceded
to; the oath was taken by rising. Allen then, as
the acting chairman of the assemblage, declared the
meeting open for remarks on the subject which they
had met to discuss.
The dead silence, which was now for a few moments
observed by the expectant assembly, was broked
by Warrington, who, calmly rising, proceeded,
after a few preliminary observations, to give a brief
history of the commencement and progress of the
quarrel between the colonies and mother country.
He then enumerated the wrongs and aggressions
which the former had suffered, while meekly and
vainly petitioning for redress, and closed by a vivid
picture of the recent massacre at Lexington, and
with an eloquent appeal to the settlers to join the
inhabitants of the sister colonies in avenging the
death of their slaughtered countrymen.
As he closed his harangue, which had been listend
to with the most profound attention, a visible
excitement ran through the assembly. And the
hasty changing of positions, as they sat upon their
rude plank seats, ranged in rows round a small table,
on which dimly burned a solitary taper, the glistening
eye, the indignant glance, the firmly compressed
lip, and the silent working of the muscles of the
faces of these hardy mountaineers, plainly told the
speaker that he had been addressing men who neither
lacked the intelligence to comprehend, nor the
spirit to act, as soon as definite action was set before
them.
Remember Baker, one of the most shrewd, sagacious
and coolly calculating man of the settlement,
next arose and addressed the meeting. With a
few observations, for he was not a man of many
-- 225 --
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words, going to confirm the statements, and fortify
the positions of Warrington, he told them, that although
he doubted not in the least, that principle
alone with them would be sufficient to excite them
to action in the coming contest, yet their policy, as
settlers engaged in a controversy with New York
for their homes and property, demanded that they
should take a bold and decided stand against the
British: for by doing this they would at once enlist
the sympathies of the other colonies in regard to
their wrongs, draw upon themselves the attention
and respect of Congress, to which, if backed by the
considerations of a meritorious service in the common
cause of the country, they could successfully
appeal for protection against the aggressions of New
York, and thus place themselves in an attitude in
which they could not only command justice, but
finally secure the privilege of becoming an independent
State.
`'Member is right!' exclaimed one of that class
with whom this artful, and as the event afterwards
proved, by no means ill-grounded argument, was calculated
to operate with particular force.
`Ay, ay!' responded another, `give me Member
Baker for foresight! The more birds we can kill
with one stone the better.'
Although the argument of Baker was not probably
without its effect on the minds of all, situated as
the settlers were with respect to their controverted
rights, and, when added to the manly appeal of
Warrington to their patriotism and principles, had
wrought up the assembly to a high pitch of feeling,
yet Allen, conceiving that something more was
needed to ripen them for action, and raise their
minds, as he was desirous of doing, to a level with
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his own high-toned enthusiasm, now rose, and, after
looking for a moment fearlessly and confidently
around him, as he stood towering with his giant
form, like Saul among the people, began,—
`Men of the Green Mountains,
In the struggle in which you have been for many
years engaged, you have won among the people of
these colonies a name for valor and patriotism. But
have you gained this proud distinction in surmounting
the difficulties of the past, to lose it now by inaction
in the more important stake of the present?
Have you so long, so nobly, so triumphantly, resisted
arbitrary power in the shape of little tyrants near
home, to submit now to the lawless dictations of
great ones from abroad? Are you, who have just
saved your homes and possessions from the grasp of
these, now willing to yield them tamely to those?—
to those whose despotic dominion would soon render
them but possessions in name, to be transmitted to
whom? to whom I say?—To slaves, in the person
of your own children! Yes, your own children,
who, if suffered to retain their inheritance at all,
must retain it with a foot of a lord on their necks,
and the hand of a priest in their pockets! Green
Mountain Boys! could you, who have drank in liberty
from the very air of your green hills, never yet
contaminated by the breath of a tyrant, could you
witness this, and live? And above all, can you now
look idly on, and see a hireling soldiery swarming
your country, enforcing the accursed requisitions of
their masters at the point of the bayonet, shooting
down your countrymen and brothers by scores, as if
they were wild beasts, for exercising but the rights
which God and nature have given them—can you
look upon a scene like this, and lift no hand for your
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rights?—strike no blow to avenge the cold blooded
murder of your countrymen at Lexington? Great
God, forbid! No! no! my brave mountaineers,
you were never born to be cringing slaves! Your
bold hearts and sinewy arms were never made to be
listless and idle at a time like this! Come, then,
come on! follow me, whose heart is laboring and
leaping for the work of vengeance, and whose arm
is nerved and aching for the blow! Follow me, and
I will lead you to deeds, which shall cover the Green
Mountain Boys with imperishable glory, and make
their name the watchword of liberty while a tyrant
shall remain to disgrace the image of his God, or
pollute the earth with his presence.'
During the delivery of this brief and exciting appeal,
the expectant audience at first sat in their seats
as silent and motionless as a group of statues. Before
the speaker had proceeded through many sentences,
however, the whole company had noiselessly risen in
their places, where they stood as if spell bound in
their tracks, every head eagerly bent forward, and
every eye, gleaming with the kindling fire within,
riveted upon their idolized leader, to catch the bold
and inspiriting thoughts that fell burning from his
lips, now with looks of fire and scorn, and now with
the intonations of thunder. And as he went on, rising
in energy and power at every sentence, eyes
were seen to flash brighter and brighter with indignation,
tears of excited and overflowing feeling to
gush over many a rough cheek, while many a clenched
and brawny fist was brandished aloft, in mute
response to the heart-stirring words of the speaker.
And when he closed, `Ethan Allen, forever! Ethan
Allen, forever!' rose in one loud, convulsed shout to
heaven.
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All being now ripe for action, and many loudly
demanding the object which might immediately require
their services, Allen laid before them the
project of marching at once upon the British forts at
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, with the object of
surprising and capturing these two important though
now weakly garrisoned fortresses. The settlers being
in general well apprised of the state of these
garrisons, and entering with great zeal into the views
of their leaders respecting the importance and feasibility
of the proposed plan, the latter now made a
call for volunteers, and immediately commenced an
enrolment of names, which, when completed, was
found, to the joy and surprise of Allen and his collegues,
to embrace more than three fourths of the assemblage
now present; while even the rest expressed
an earnest wish to aid in the enterprise so far as
it could be done without leaving the neighborhood
of their homes, where their presence was demanded.
All necessary measures preparatory to the expedition,
as far as regarded the forces raised in this section
of the Grants, were then discussed and settled,
and a sufficient number of men were selected to guard
every road by which any information of the contemplated
movement could be conveyed to the enemy.
These were ordered to enter upon their duties
the next day; while the main body were to equip,
and otherwise prepare themselves in the best manner
the circumstances would admit, and assemble at
Castleton on the fourth day from the present time.
After these arrangements were completed, Allen ordered
his horse to be brought to the door, and announced
his intention of departing that night for the
south part of the settlement, to superintend the
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mustering of the forces enlisting, or enlisted, in that
quarter.
`Well, my brave boys,' said the Colonel, mounting
his horse, while his devoted followers were crowding
around him, `remember to meet me at Castleton
on the 8th. Captain Warrington and Lieutenant
Selden will muster and take charge of you. Captain
Baker goes to Winooski river to raise what force
he can there, and come in boats to join us on the
lake. As to myself, before to-morrow's sunset I
must be at Holy Hill.[3] And now, my fine fellows,
go home, and prepare yourselves, without letting
your left hands know what your right are doing, and
may the Lord bless you all till I see you again.'
So saying, and putting spurs to his horse, he
dashed down the road to the south and disappeared.
eaf390v1.n3[3] An appellation by which Ethan Allen was in the habit of calling Bennington
CHAPTER XV.
“Now be thou strong! Oh! knew we not
Our path must lead to this?
A shadow and a trembling still
Were mingled with our bliss!”
The following epistle from Miss Hendee to Miss
Reed, in answer to the one from the latter, inserted
in a previous chapter, was written in the interval between
the meeting of the Green Mountain Boys
last described, and the general mustering of their
forces for their contemplated enterprise.
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`Forgive me, dear Jessy, but really I could not
help laughing, on the receipt and perusal of your vivacious,
and very interesting letter, to see the desperate
attempts you there repeatedly make to conceal
from me, and yourself, by naked, unasked assertions,
and inferences without premises, the hearthidden
secret which your every third sentence, at
least, most palpably discloses. Yes, my lady, whether
you believe it or not, yourself, you are but little
better than a gone girl, and your doughty major
will find it out, too, as sure as Jealousy has eyes,
and Love none. But never mind it, my dear girl,
nor turn up that pretty, slender nose in a miff at
what I say, since the same letter that gives you
cause of displeasure, if cause there be, will furnish
you also with the means of an ample revenge: for
I, too, have adventures to relate, of the past week's
occurrence, scarcely less extraordinary than your own.
When you said, Jessy, in that little parenthesis
which you threw into your letter concerning Warrington,
`A noble looking fellow, I wish you could see
him,' you little thought that your wish had been
granted ere expressed; and far less did yor dream,
when you added, `I think you would like him,' how
much of a prophetess you was likely to become:
for Charles Warrington I have seen, Warrington
the Green Mountain Boy, Warrington the York outlaw,
and Warrington the generous, high-minded,
and, as you truly say, noble looking fellow! And in
what estimation I secretly hold him, you will better
understand, when I inform you, that my old acquaintance
Howard, of whom you have often heard me
speak, and Warrington are one, and the same person!
You cannot be more surprised at this news
than I was, myself, at the discovery. And not small
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was the confusion of thought and feeling, I experienced
at first, I confess, in reconciling the warring
conceptions I had previously entertained of these
two, as I supposed them, different, and almost diametrically
opposite characters. In this, however, I
have at length succeeded, and even to that degree
that I cannot but feel, that the character of Howard,
pure and exalted as I ever thought it, receives
an additional lustre from the noble and disinterested
part he has taken in behalf of these poor, and
as I am now satisfied, unjustly treated settlers.
And with this avowal of opinion, you will of
course understand that I think none the worse of
him for being a New York outlaw.
We have had three interviews. The two first I
must pass over lightly, as I have much of a more
interesting character to communicate. I first encountered
Warrington in the border of the woods
adjoining our opening, where I wandered, a fatalist
would think, but to be frightened by the questionable
appearance of a sergeant from the fort, and
to be relieved by the opportune arrival of my knight
errant Green Mountain boy. Our next meeting was
at our house, where, in the course of the evening,
he made known to me for the first time the identity
of which I have spoken, and where also he came
near being seized by this same sergeant and his soldiers,
who, I feel sure, came here for no other purpose,
being prompted by the reward, and instigated,
as I cannot but suspect, by one who shall be nameless.
But Warrington, and another of the leaders
of the Green Mountan Boys, who happened here
that evening, and who, by the way, was a most extraordinary
man, fairly out-generaled their mercenary
enemies, and, by a little favoring from a quarter
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which you are at liberty to guess at, both luckily
made their escape. Our last interview has been to
day, and a most important one, too, I fear it may
prove, to the destinies of your perplexed, and in
some respects, truly unhappy friend. But before entering
upon particulars, I must recur to some events
which transpired in the interim. The next day
after W's visit and fortunate escape, Sherwood came
here and raised a storm in our quiet family, which
has not yet wholly ceased raging. It seems this sagacious
lover of mine, who had often heard my father
recount the Samaritan kindness of Howard,
and perhaps suspected my own secret partialities,
had discovered, by worming himself into the confidence
of the settlers, that Howard and Warrington
were the same, but, for reasons of his own, had
kept the discovery entirely to himself, though he
had been for several months in possession of the secret.
It appears also, that he had been apprised of
each of my interviews with Warrington. And coming
armed with all this annihilating array of facts, as
he believed it, he, without saying a word to me, called
my father aside, and poured the whole story into
his ears, with such additions and embellishments as
he conceived would best subserve his purpose,—the
amount of which was, as near as I could gather,
that my father had been harboring a branded villain,
who, in the guise of a gentleman, had been aiming
at the seduction of his daughter, and the eventual
seizure of his possessions. Trembling from head to
foot with uncontrollable rage, my father immediately
hastened to my apartment. I will not, I cannot,
even attempt a description of the painful scene
that followed. You are not unacquainted with my
father's unfortunate infirmities of temper. You can
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[figure description] Page 233.[end figure description]
therefore, in some measure, fancy, perhaps, how he
would feel and act under such a representation of
things, so nearly affecting his wishes and interests—
a representation, in which fact and falsehood were
so artfully blended, that a much cooler temperament,
under the circumstances, might have been thus
wrought up to anger. He swore and wept alternately.
I wept freely also, but only at witnessing his
distress, and at the thought of my own luckless destiny,
which had placed me in a situation where I
must sacrifice my own happiness for life, or probably
be the means of destroying that of a parent,
who, with all his faults, is still dear to my heart. I
said but little, however. Delicacy, as well as prudence,
forbade my disclosing the state of my feelings.
And as to all other charges, I could only assert
my innocence, for I had then given Mr. W.
scarce a word of encouragement.
After my father had exhausted his store of reproaches
upon my poor head and left me, Sherwood
entered and took up the discourse. I could not but
feel amused, in spite of my indignation and contempt
at his dispicable course, to see all the doubling and
shiftings he went through in his desperate attempts
to regain my favor, which my manner probably pretty
plainly told him he had put in considerable hazard.
After protesting, flattering, apologizing, and
arguing, with the sycophancy of a Frenchman and
the sophistry of a Jesuit, he finally departed, leaving
me to myself, and that negative happiness which
his absence has not very lately failed to afford me.
The next morning I reminded my father, whose
madness seemed to have something more of method
in it than the day before, of a visit which had a few
days previous been projected at his own suggestion.
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This was a ride, on horseback, to Otter Creek to carry
a few necessaries to a distant relative of ours,
Aunt Story, as we call her, whose curious subterraneous
abode I have before described to you, I believe.
No serious objection being made to the proposal,
I accordingly set out with Neshobee, my usual
attendant on these excursions, who, on another
horse, accompanied me in capacity of baggage man
and squire. We had a pleasant ride, and arrived
without any particular adventure at the Creek, opposite
her wood-begirt residence. O how delightful is
a morning ride at this season of the year through
these flowering forests! How fragrant the viewless
odours that regale your senses at almost every step!
And, in the present instance, as you near the Green
Mountains, how pure and invigorating the breezes
that, seemingly uncontaminated by a contact with
earth, come wafting down their dark sides fresh
from the mid-heavens! I never approach these
green hilled monuments of sylvan magnificence, but
my physical powers receive an impulse, and my moral
nature becomes sensibly exalted. No wonder
the Green Mountain Boys should be men of such
high-toned character!
On reaching the banks of the Creek, Neshobee
set up his shrill whoop (not war whoop) to make
known our arrival to this fearless woman of the
woods. This being heard and understood by her,
she quickly made her appearance, came across with
her boat, and ferried us all safe over the stream, our
horses having been left tied to saplings on the bank
behind.
I must not stop to describe the cordial reception
I met with, as I always do in this singular, yet interesting
family; nor my romp with the curly headed
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brood of children that thronged around me, capering
in wild glee at my arrival, and their eyes fairly
sparkling with joy and gratitude at the sight of the
titbits I had brought them. After the rumpus and
romping with the joyous little creatures had somewhat
subsided, I took the bright-eyed and lisping little
Julia, in my lap; when the pretty rogue immediately
clambering up, and putting her arms round my
neck, in the sweet, pleading, and playful tones of
infantile eloquence exclaimed,
`Now, Couthin Alma, mayn't I kith you again?—
there, I did! I will again! There! ha! ha! Now
I have kithed you ath many timeth ath I did the
Young Captain.'
`And who, pray, my pretty one,' said I quite innocently,
`who is this Young Captain with whom you
appear to have been so familiar?'
`O, he ith the Young Captain,' replied she, hesitating
in her childish simplicity how to define her favorite
by any other appellation than the one by
which she had been accustomed to hear him called:
`he ith—he ith a good Young Captain. I kithed
him three timeth. And wouldn't you kith him too,
Couthin Alma, if he'd let you? Wouldn't the
Young Captain let Couthin Alma kith him, ma?'
Puzzled and confused, at I scarcely knew what, I
turned to the mother for an explanation; when, to
my still greater confusion, I beheld her holding her
sides, while her eyes were fairly dancing in the
bright tears of suppressed risibility, to which she
now gave way in a right hearty fit of laughter.
`Excuse me, Alma,' said she, as soon as she could
command her merry emotions sufficiently to speak
`excuse me for laughing at the child's ludicrous introduction
of a subject, which I was at the very
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moment thinking how I could myself break to you.
The Young Captain, as some of the settlers call
him, is no other than the well known leader of one
of the bands of the Green Mountain Boys, Charles
Warrington. Why, bless me!' she continued, with
a look of surprise, as she now lifted her eyes from
her work to my features, `What ails you, Alma?
Why your face is as red as—Oh!—ah!—aha!—
you knew all this before, did you? And you have
seen him yourself, you rogue?' she added mischievously,
shaking her finger at me, and fixing her keen
eyes on my face; `You have, Alma, and you need
not attempt to deny it.'
`I have not denied it, aunt,—have I?' I replied,
rallying as well as I could.
`Well, now, Alma Hendee,' she rejoined, with a
gratified and serious air, `I have not heard any
thing this long while that has done me more good
than this news. Indeed, for the past week in particular,
I have actually prayed that you might meet
him, though I dared not be the means of bringing it
about. And the reason why I wished it is, because
I think so much of the man, and feel such an interest
in the cause which he has done so much to sustain;
and, also, because I knew that you, from your
intercourse and connection with the York party, and
from your hearing, as you naturally would, nothing
but slander and misrepresentation of the man, and
curses on the cause in which he has been so nobly
engaged, that you, I say, must have almost necessarily
imbibed wholly erroneous opinions of both him
and his cause—now, has it not been so?'
`Such,' I answered, `was once, I confess, too
much the case.'
`I thought so,' she resumed, `and but for the fear,
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that I might displease you,—for I never knew how
to hold up when I begin,—and, perhaps, be led into
a quarrel with your fiery old father, who has been
so good to me, I should, before this, have spoken to
you on these matters. Why, this same Warrington
and a party of his followers were up on Lake
Dunmore the very day you were last here, and while
you were here in the house playing with the children,
I discovered, as I was out to the edge of the
woods to get cedar boughs for a broom, a gang of
Yorkers going in pursuit of them. Don't you reccollect
I came in and proposed sending Neshobee
out to kill us a partridge?'
I remembered it, and assented.
`Well,' she continued, `it was for no other purpose
than to despatch him to Warrington with a
note that I scribbled in that closet. Neshobee, I
knew, was a friend to the Captain.'
`Neshobee!' said I, in surprise, `why, I never
heard him so much as utter the name!'
`It is true for all that,' she rejoined; `Warrington
once did him a service when they happened to meet
on a hunt, and Neshobee, being made acquainted
with the other's situation, and knowing yours, has
been as prudent as he is faithful.'
`But what became of the Yorkers?' I asked.
`The Green Mountain Boys threw them into the
lake and returned to this neighborhood,' she answered.
`The Captain and his Lieutenant came
and slept that very night in this house, and were
here asleep on the floor, when I came up to the
house, after helping you off the next morning. Do
you remember singing us a song that night, just before
going to bed, and how you were interrupted by
a noise in the woods above us?'
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`I do, but what of that?' said I, somewhat startled.
`Why, nothing,' she replied, smiling, `only Warrington,
who rambled out, after his friend fell asleep,
heard your performance.'
`You astonish me, aunt Story,' I replied; `but
surely he could not have distinguished my voice in
that under-ground abode?'
`Not exactly,' answered she, `and yet he was
strangely puzzled, and seemed, when telling me of
the affair the next morning, to have some suspicions
of the truth.'
`But did you tell him who it was?' I eagerly demanded.
`No, Alma,' she said, `I kept your secret for reasons
which I have before named, and sent him off
worse puzzled than before. But how did he introduce
himself—as Howard, or as Warrington? for
that the two were one and the same, is a riddle that
I guessed out long ago.'
I told her the circumstances; after which she resumed,
`So you have had a hurricane at your house.
Well, Alma, let it blow on, and overturn, till it levels
falsehood and corruption to the ground, and
brings truth and justice uppermost. And when that
takes place, if you will believe me, Jake Sherwood
will be swept into the gulph of infamy, where he
ought to be now, instead of being here among men,
with the pretensions of a man, but with the real
character of a spy and hypocrite!'
`You are very severe, aunt,' I remarked, not so
much offended, however, as I might have been.
`I hold, Alma,' she rejoined, `that the boldness
of a truth is no reason for suppressing its utterance.
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Why, Alma Hendee, whether you know it or not,—
whether you will believe it or not, it is God's truth,
that with all his smooth manners and gentlemanly
appearance, the heart of that same Jacob Sherwood
is as black as the outside of my dinner pot!'
I began to say something which she took for a
qualified assent, when cutting me short, she went
on,—
`You know that it is so, Alma. And now, that
you have again met with Warrington, I know where
your heart is, or I should not venture to say so much.
Far be it from me ever to interfere with matches—
matches that are truly such. But mis-matches, patched
up on earth, and accursed of heaven, I should
feel myself honored in being the instrument of breaking.
And knowing, as I think I do, all the motives
and circumstances which led you to acquiesce in this
entanglement with Sherwood, and knowing, also,
that a match between you would be yoking darkness
to light, I stand prepared, as your friend, acting in
the place of your sainted mother, now in heaven, to
advise you to say, even in despite of the favorite
schemes of your mistaken and blinded father, to say
to Sherwood, as Peter said to Simon Magus, who
would buy the sacred gift with money, 'Thy gold
perish with thee!'
A long conversation then ensued between us, in
which all the information possessed by either, relative
to the York controversy, and the part taken in
the same by Warrington, Sherwood, and others,
was mutually imparted and received, and our opinions
and feelings on these subjects freely exchanged.
While still engaged on this engrossing theme, one
of the children came running into the house with
the cry, `The Young Captain is coming! the Young
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Captain is coming!' I was struck dumb by this unexpected
announcement, and so surprised and fluttered,
that, had I been a bird, I believe I should
have instantly clapped my wings and flown away.
But as it was, I had nothing to do but prepare to
meet the half dreaded, half courted danger, as unconcernedly
as possible. We had little time allowed
us for preparation, however; for scarce had the
announcement been made, before Warrington entered
the door attended by—whom think you, Jessey?
I wish you could have been there! In that
case, to follow up that odd comparison of yours, the
brisk little drummer in your heart would have found
his match, I think, to keep up the accompaniment
with the lively performer at work in my own: for
Captain Warrington's attendant was no other than
your favored knight, the gay, witty, and handsome
Selden. An hour spent in his company was sufficient
to make me feel that these flattering epithets,
and even more, might be justly applied to him. Now
don't be jealous, girl, for though peculiarly pleased
with him, I certainly was, yet my feelings were any
thing but those constituting, what we define to be
that undefinable concern, called love—no, no, not
that, but a singular sort of a flowing away of the
heart towards him, which I can neither describe nor
account for, unless the solution be found in the prepossessions
of him that your letter had implanted.
We were now summoned to a dinner, which our
free-hearted hostess had done her best in preparing
for us. The meal itself, as you know it must have
been, considering the limited store from which it had
to be prepared, was certainly a plain one. But partaken
in such company, how could it be other than
a delightful one! With me, it forcibly exemplified
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the proverb of the wise man, `Better is a dinner of
herbs, where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred
therewith.'
After dinner, Warrington, with his peculiar delicacy
of manner, proposed a ramble. My tongue
would have declined the proposal, but my heart, rising
in rebellion, suppressed the utterance, and I, silently,
and with a palpitating bosom, assented. All
seemed to understand the object of our walk, and
no one, not even a child, offered to accompany us.
I felt, indeed, myself, that my destiny for life hung
on the events of that hour. We proceeded in almost
unbroken silence to the bank of the river;
when I soon found myself seated, I scarcely know
how, by his side, upon a flowery hillock. The quiet
waters, sparkling in the rays of the meridian sun,
were gently gliding along in soft murmurs at our
feet; while a spreading thorn tree, loaded with blosoms
of snowy whiteness, and filling the air with delicious
fragrance, formed the canopy for our heads.
I cannot describe what now passed. My heart soon
overflowed with contending emotions. I found myself
able to prevail against its stronger dictates no
longer; and my feelings found vent in a flood of
tears. My head involuntarily rested on his shoulder,
while he advocated his cause with all the tender pathos
of love, which found a chord in my own bosom
so powerfully responsive to its eloquent pleadings
that,
`Then our hearts together run;
And like kindred drops of water,
Met, and mingled into one.'
The winged moments flew by unheeded; and
when, at the end of an hour, which, in this sweet
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trance of the affections, seemed as a moment, we
rose to return, our mutual vows of unchanging love
and eternal constancy, had ascended to the registry
of Heaven.
Soon after our return to the house, the gentlemen
apprised us of the necessity of their immediate departure;
when, after an affectionate adieu, they proceeded
on their destination. This destination I am
not at liberty to unfold, and shall consequently be
debarred from some particulars connected with my
parting with W. which awakened a solicitude alike
new and painful to my feelings. I did not tarry long
after they left us. But after a shower of thanks,
praises and blessings from our hostess, for the step,
which I apprised her I had taken, I soon set out for
home, where I arrived before sunset.
On another page of this letter I styled myself
your perplexed friend. I am so, though not because
I regret the step I have taken, but on account of
the difficulties which must soon beset me. I have
also many painful apprehensions of the effect which
my engagement may have, when it becomes known,
as ere long it necessarily must, on, not only my father's
happiness, but his property, owing to the peculiarities
of our situation. As these cannot be understood
without a knowledge of some former events
connected with our family, I will, in confidence,
briefly relate to you the leading particulars of our
family history. My paternal grandfather's family
consisted of my uncle Gabriel Hendee, and my father
James Hendee, with their half sister Mary, who married
John Sherwood, father of Jacob Sherwood. To
these three was left a considerably extensive property,
which was increased, as far as regarded the shares
of Gabriel, and his brother in law, Sherwood, who,
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becoming partners, engaged in the lucrative trade
and commerce of the Connecticut river, on the banks
of which, within the borders of Massachusetts, you
are already aware, we all once resided. But my
father, who was of a different disposition and less
inclined to confine himself to the details of business,
entered into uncertain speculations, which, instead
of increasing, diminished his original inheritance, involved
him in some pecuniary embarrassments, and
finally led him to abandon trade, for which he seemed
to have neither much tact nor inclination, and seek
a commission in the army, destined for the French
and Indian wars, then beginning to rage along our
borders. Obtaining the commission he sought, he
was soon called into active service, having entrusted
Sherwood to arrange his affairs and take charge of
his property; while uncle Gabriel, having no family,
and becoming an invalid, retired from business, and
came to reside with our family in father's absence.
Several years thus passed away, father at intervals
returning home to see his wife and son, the darling
little Edward, and spend such time with them as his
public duties would permit, scarcely troubling himself
to look into the state of his property, which he
believed to be in hands where it would be husbanded
to the best advantage. My uncle Gabriel in the
meanwhile still continuing to live in the family, and
appearing much attached to it, especially to his little
nephew, made his will, bequeathing his whole property
to the child, when of age, and all the income till
that time, and certain portions of it after, to my
father. But it so happened not long after this that
Mr. Sherwood, who had taken a temporary residence
further up the river, paid our family a long visit, at
the end of which he took my uncle home with him,
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where he soon grew worse and died; not however,
as it soon appeared, till he had added a codicil to his
will, making, in case of Edward's death, Mr. Sherwood's
son, Jacob, legatee, and placing that family
where the will placed ours. From that time misfortunes
seemed to fall fast and heavy on our devoted
family. My mother soon sickened and died, leaving
me, her youngest child, about a year old. Our family
establishment was then broken up. Edward was
placed in the family of Mr. Sherwood; and I was
sent to a relation of my mother in Hartford. But
father, already borne down with sorrow at the loss
of two wives, (for my mother was a second wife by
whom he had no other child,) was doomed to another
blow scarcely less fatal to his happiness, and more
so to his future prospects, in the further loss of that
son, on whom all his hopes and dependance had been
placed. The boy had been allowed, as the story was
told, to accompany a reckless young man, then in
Sherwood's employ, many miles into the interior, and
there strayed away, and never could be found. There
was a rapid river running through the woods, in
which he might have been drowned, and swept down
into the Connecticut. But it was considered more
probable, that he had been seized by some small,
lurking band of Indians, (traces of whom were discovered
in the vain search for the boy,) and by them
murdered, as it was supposed, since no tidings of
him ever reached us. My father, when he returned,
and learned the fate of his son, was inconsolable.
And Mr. Sherwood seemed deeply to sympathize
with him, and moreover to manifest great regret that
uncle had so altered his will as to take all his property
from our family, assuring my father that he
would make such provision for us as would be a
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recompence. After this visit my father remained
abroad to the close of the war, when, being discharged
from the service, he began to bethink him
about the means of a future livelihood, and called on
Sherwood to account for his property, which, to his
dismay, had dwindled to a mere pittance. And receiving
it, he commenced a small business in Hartford,
where he resided till I was about seventeen,
living in good style, and bestowing on me the best
education the place afforded. But again becoming
embarrassed by expenses beyond his income, and
his pride revolting at the thought of being a bankrupt
in this place, he took me, and secretly left town
for Albany, to avail himself of the many promises of
Mr. Sherwood, who had removed to the latter place
many years before. We were kindly received by
Mr. S., who furnished father with money to pay off
his creditors in Hartford, and subsequently to purchase
our present residence, though most of the improvements
have been made through the means of
the half pay which he receives from government.
You will now, Jessy, be able to appreciate the
difficulties of my situation, and perceive the reasons
which actuate my father in the strenuous course which
he has pursued, and will be likely still to pursue, in
urging a connection between me and Jacob Sherwood.
Jessy, adieu. A. H.
P. S. When I closed as above, last night, I expected
the letter would have been taken early this
morning by Major Skeen's colored man, Jack, who
said he should go up with his boat to-day; but he
has just called and says he shall not go till to-morrow
morning. The main object of this postcript is, however,
to say, that if you thought it so important that
I should keep your secret, you cannot but see how
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much more so it is that you keep mine. I know not
but Mr. Warrington's life may depend on it—I did
not mean to say this, but my fears and forebodings
have compelled me. You do not know Mr. S.—would
to heaven I had never known him.—Farewell.
Alma.
END OF VOLUME ONE.
Back matter
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Thompson, Daniel P. (Daniel Pierce), 1795-1868 [1839], The green mountain boys: a historical tale of the early settlement of Vermont, volume 1 (E. P. Walton & Sons, Montpelier) [word count] [eaf390v1].
