[figure description] Page 003.[end figure description]

It seems to be universally conceded that the first
settlers of Vermont were men of an iron mould, and
of an indomitable spirit. And it is no less true, we
apprehend, that with corporeal frames, unusually
large and muscular, and constitutions peculiarly robust
and enduring, they possessed, also, intelligence
and mental energies, which, considering what might
naturally be expected of men of their condition in
life, and in their situation in a wilderness affording
none of the ordinary means of intellectual culture,
were equally remarkable. The proof of these assertions
is to be abundantly found, we think, in the unequalled
stand taken by them for their rights, in their
memorable controversy with New York, and in the
multiplied documents that grew out of it, in the
shape of resolves and decrees of conventions, addresses
to the people, memorials and remonstrances
to the governor of that province, and to the British

[figure description] Page 004.[end figure description]

throne itself, all drawn up with great clearness and
cogency of reasoning, and evincing a knowledge of
natural and constitutional rights in a people, among
whom law as a profession was then entirely unknown,
which are generally to be found only in the
courts and councils of old and highly civilized countries.
And even were these testimonials to their
character wholly wanting, ample evidence, that they
were a generation of no ordinary men, may still be
seen in the scattered remnant of this noble band of
heroes yet lingering among us, like the few and aged
pines on their evergreen mountains, and, though
now bowed down by the weight of nearly a century
of years, exhibiting frames, which would almost
seem to indicate them as men belonging to another
race, and which are still animated by the light of
wisdom and intelligence, and warmed by the unconquerable
spirit of freedom yet burning unwasted
within them.

Those who have treated on this subject, when alluding
to the facts we have stated, have generally
coupled them with observations upon the invigorating
effects of mountain air, &c., leaving us to infer
that these peculiarities of the early settlers were attributable
only to such causes. It is, indeed, doubtless
the case, that the wild scenery, and the pure
elastic air of mountainous countries, are the most
favorable, under the same degree of culture, to the
formation of the highest grade of physical, as well
as moral and intellectual character—imparting, in
the one instance, that health and peculiar vigor
which brings the human system to all the perfection
that it is capable of attaining, and, in the other, engendering,
with firmness of nerves, and firmness of
purpose, the usual attendants of great bodily

[figure description] Page 005.[end figure description]

powers, a healthy and high-toned imagination, and the
lofty aspirations that exalt the character, and prompt
to great and noble actions. But whatever influence
the peculiar climate and scenery of this Switzerland
of America, as Vermont may, perhaps, be appropriately
termed, may have had, in this respect, on the
descendants of these hardy settlers, little of this influence,
probably, would have been perceptible to
the settlers themselves: they, it must be recollected,
were not natives of these mountains, but recent immigrants
from other New England colonies. And whatever
peculiarities they possessed must mainly be
originated in other causes—from the very nature
of the enterprise, probably, which brought them together,
that of settling a wild and rough frontier
country, known to be attended by a thousand difficulties
and hardships, and beset by a thousand dangers,
in which men of ordinary stamina would not
think of engaging. They, indeed, may be looked
upon in the light of picked men, or more properly
perhaps, in that of volunteers, stepping boldly and
confidently forth for some extraordinary enterprise
of which the hazard and difficulty are so great, that
nothing but an uncommon union of courage and
strength ean accomplish it, and of which the success,
or even the attempt, it may be, furnishes the
best evidence of these qualities in those who voluntarily
enlist in the undertaking. And as regards
intelligence and mental character of these settlers,
their educations were generally equal to those usually
received among the better classes of the old settlements
where they were obtained, and superior
probably, to what the same men were able to furnish
to their immediate descendants. And this fact,
together with the emergencies, which not only

[figure description] Page 006.[end figure description]

led all the energies of their minds into action, but
constantly improved them, and enlarged their information
by the investigations they were induced to
make for the successful prosecution of their cause in
the New York controversy, will sufficiently account
for their intellectual superiority over the ordinary
settlers of other new countries.

With these observations, here thrown in by way
of showing our warrant for many of the descriptions
of character which we have introduced, and which,
we thought it not impossible, might otherwise subject
us to the charge of indulging in improbabilities,
we will now proceed with the incidents of our story.

The morning of the ninth of May broke brightly
upon the encampment of our troops at Castleton,
disclosing to the view, now for the first time, an organized
band of about three hundred as brave and
hardy men as ever assembled for deeds of daring
and danger. Of this number more than three fourths
were Green Mountain Boys. The remainder were
men collected from the nearest parts of Massachusetts
and Connecticut, and led on by several enterprising
militia officers of those colonies, who had actively
co-operated in getting up the expedition. A
council had been held the night previous, for the
purpose of organizing these united forces, which had
been dropping in irregularly through the day and a
greater part of the night, and also for making all
other necessary arrangements to march for their destination
on the following morning. At this council
Ethan Allen had been unanimously appointed the
commander in chief of the expedition. Colonel Easton,
one of the Massachusetts officers, was placed
second in command. And the third grade was assigned
to Warrington; while Selden, in making the

[figure description] Page 007.[end figure description]

subordinate appointments, was raised to the post of
captain to supply the place left vacant by the promotion
of his superior. Even our friend, Pete Jones,
though now absent, was not forgotten in the distribution
of honors, but named to take charge of the
scouts, provided he joined the expedition. All these
arrangements having been made the night before, as
just stated, the troops by sunrise had breakfasted,
and were now under arms, and undergoing a review
preparatory to marching. All were in high spirits,
and animated at the thought of being immediately
led to the important object of their enterprise.
Their gallant leader, now dressed and equipped in
a manner appropriate to his rank, and mounted on
his own noble charger, was riding proudly along
their imposing front—now pausing to give some directions
to an officer, now to inspect the equipments
of a company, and now backing his curvetting steed
to take a view of the whole; while his towering
form seemed to dilate, and rise still higher to the
view, his bosom heave with pride, and his eyes glisten
with delight, as they ran along the lines of his
stout and broad-chested Green Mountain Boys, and
read in their hardy features, lit up with enthusiasm,
and eagerness for action in a cause which every man
had made his own, the same high resolves, the same
burning desires to signalize themselves that animated
his own bosom.

At this moment a stranger, who, with a single attendant
in the capacity of a servant, had but a short
time before arrived, came on to the ground, and
took a conspicuous stand in front of the troops. He
was of about the middle age, stout, well made, and
handsomely featured, while a Roman nose, a thin
curling lip, and a black flashing eye, with the

[figure description] Page 008.[end figure description]

peculiarly contemptuous, and even sinister expression,
and reckless air, which they combined to give his
countenance, denoted no ordinary degree of self esteem,
and a fiery and impetuous disposition. He
was richly and fashionably dressed, and wore a
sword, epaulett, and other insignia usually worn by
field officers of the times.

`Captain Blagden,' said Selden, turning to a Connecticut
officer near him, and pointing to the stranger
just described, `can you inform me who that
proud and scornful looking fellow yonder may be?
He belongs not to us of the Green Mountains; nor
does he appear to have any connection with the
troops from Massachusetts, or with those from your
own colony; and yet his demeanor, and showy military
appendages, would lead one to suppose that he
came here to take command of the whole of us.'

`I have been looking at the man myself,' replied
the person addressed, `and, though not quite certain,
yet I believe I know him. I think he must be
one whom I well knew when we were boys, and of
whose singular career I have since been often informed.
And, if my conjectures are right, his name is
Arnold, Benedict Arnold of New Haven.'

`But what do you imagine has brought him here,
with these apparent assumptions?'

`Well, now I bethink me, sir, I remember, that
the day I left home, a townsman of mine, who had
just returned from New Haven, reported that, when
the news of the battle of Lexington arrived at that
place, Captain Arnold, who is the commander of an
independent company there, started, with several
other military men, post haste for the scene of action.
And as he is said to be a good officer, having
been a soldier in the army (into which he run

[figure description] Page 009.[end figure description]

away and enlisted in his youth,) I should not be surprised
to learn he had received a commission from
the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. And further,
as he was stationed, while a boy-soldier, at Ticonderoga,
and knows, doubtless, considerable of
its situation, I will hazard a bottle with you, Captain
Selden, that he has craved, and obtained, permission
of that committee, to take charge of the
troops which they probably heard were collecting
for this expedition.'

`Aha? Colonel Allen, I imagine, will have a
word to say to that bargain. It would fairly break
his heart to be deprived of the chance of receiving
the first charge of grape or canister that shall salute
us from the wide-mouthed war-dogs of Old Ti. And
if your surmises are correct, a collision, I fear, is unavoidable,
unless Mr. Arnold should, as I think he
certainly ought, waive his pretensions to the command.
'

`A collision it will be then: for Arnold, it is said,
was never yet known to yield to any thing, when
his purposes were fixed. A more reckless dare-devil,
I suppose, never trod the foot-stool. Why, sir,
when we were but boys, I have known him spring
upon a large water-wheel in full motion, grasp one
of its arms, with his head towards the circumference,
and there remain till he had been dashed
through the back-water beneath, during forty revolutions!
I have known him, single handed, seize
and overcome a mad ox, which had broke away
from, and nearly killed a dozen men. One or more
duels he has fought abroad; while scores of bullies
have been cudgeled and conquered by him, about
home. Indeed, if one half that is told of him is true,
the wild bulls of Bashan had not a spirit more

[figure description] Page 010.[end figure description]

untameable, nor scarcely more bodily strength to back
it.'

`All that may be, sir, but those who know Ethan
Allen will laugh at the very idea of there being
found a man in New England who can outdo him
in feats of either strength or courage. And when
they tell you, as they truly may, that they have seen
him bite off the heads of board nails by dozens,—
seize by his teeth, and throw over his head, bags
containing each a bushel of salt, as fast as two men
could bring them round to him,—grasp two opponents
who had beset him, one in each hand, and lifting
them clear of the ground, hold them out at
arms length, and beat them together till they cried
for mercy,—engage alone with a York Sheriff and
his posse of six common men, rout the whole, and
leave them sprawling on the ground—you will probably
allow, that such a man will not be very likely
to succumb to your hero. Let this Arnold but offer
to assume the command, and, unless I am sadly
mistaken, you will see what kind of stuff our old
Green Mountain lion is made off. But see! the fellow
is beckoning the officers to approach him. Let
us move up to the spot, and hear what he has to offer
on the occasion.'

Understanding and heeding the intimation of the
stranger officer, who was indeed no other than Benedict
Arnold, afterwards so infamously conspicuous
in the annals of our revolution, most of the officers,
including Allen, who had dismounted for the purpose,
immediately advanced, and formed an irregular
line before him.

`Gentlemen,' said he, with a perfectly assured
and confident air, after waiting till all had approached
and assumed a listening attitude, `I am

[figure description] Page 011.[end figure description]

personally unknown, I presume, to most, or all of you, but
having been clothed with the proper authority, and
directed to proceed to this place for the purpose, I
have the honor to announce myself to you as the
commander of this expedition,—consequently it is
now my duty to take charge of these troops.'

`Sir?' said Allen, taking a step in advance of his
fellow officers, placing his arms akimbo, and turning
up his ear, as if the better to catch the words of
the speaker, whom he eyed askance with a look of
queerly blended doubt and scorn: `Sir? Did I hear
aright? Did you say that you thought it your duty
to take charge of these troops?'

`I did, sir, and still so consider it,' replied Arnold,
rather restively.

`Do you, indeed, sir,' rejoined Allen, with a look
of cool derision. `Then it was altogether a mistake
of mine in supposing that the reverse of your
proposition would have made out a more probable
case?'

`I know not what you mean,' said Arnold, his
voice trembling with stifled anger at the biting
significance of the other's remark. `You may
learn, however, that I am not a person to be trifled
with, sir.'

`Well, I can't pretend to say what, or who, you
are not,' replied Allen, waxing warm, and giving
token of a direct onset, `but I should like to know
who the devil you are, that come here from another
colony to take the control of men who now own allegiance
to no power short of that of the God of
Heaven?'

`My name is Arnold,' replied the other, biting his
lips in suppressed rage, `and I hold a commission
of Colonel, with the orders I named, from the

[figure description] Page 012.[end figure description]

Massachusetts Committee of Safety. There! examine
it for yourselves!' he added, pulling out a parchment,
and disdainfully hurling it at their feet.

The roll was instantly picked up, and attentively
examined by several of the officers; while Arnold
stood aloof in contemptuous silence, scarcely deigning
to bestow a glance on the company thus engaged.
It indeeed proved, as he had stated, a colonel's
commission, from the source above mentioned,
enclosing another document, signed by the same
committee, authorizing Arnold to raise troops in
Massachusetts, or elsewhere, to the number of four
hundred, and march them for the reduction of Ticonderoga.

`Now, sir, where is your commission? I should
like to see it in turn,' said Arnold, addressing Allen,
and advancing with an air of triumph, as soon as
the examination of his credentials, which he supposed
must silence all further question of the right he
had assumed, was completed.

`My commission?' promptly replied Allen, by no
means disturbed by this unexpected demand, though
in fact he had no paper commission to show, as the
council appointing him had not deemed such an instrument
essential: `where is my commission, do you
ask? There, sir!' he continued, pointing to his
troops, who, understanding Arnold's claim to take
command of them, already began to exhibit visible
tokens of displeasure at the thought of having their
idolized leader superceded by a stranger, `there,
sir! there it is, engraven on the hearts of these
two hundred and thirty Green Mountain Boys!
Trace it out there for yourself! Read it in their
eyes, in every lineament of their countenances! and
if that is not enough for you, then ask them

[figure description] Page 013.[end figure description]

whether Ethan Allen, who is getting gray in their service,
is to be thrust aside for a commander whom they
have never before seen?'

`Never! no, never!' fiercely burst from a hundred
lips along the the lines, while many indignantly
threw down their arms, and all, either by word,
look or gesture, gave unequivocal indication of their
determination to allow no man to usurp the place of
their chosen leader.

The countenance of Arnold, with all his assurance,
instantly fell at so decided, and to him, so unexpected
a manifestation of the disposition of the
troops; and he bit his lips in vexation and mortified
pride at his defeat.

At this crisis of the affair, Warrington, fearing, in
common with the other officers, that the altercation
might prove ruinous to the enterprise, stepped forward
and interposed. He first, respectfully, and in
a manner calculated to soothe the irritated feelings
of Arnold, set forth the doubtfulness of his right,
even under the instructions and commission he had
received, to assume the command of troops who had
not been enlisted by him, but who had volunteered,
without any knowledge of him or his instructions,
and with the implied condition that they should be
left to the choice of their own leaders. He then
appealed to him as a gentleman, a patriot, and friend
to the common cause, whether he would do well to
insist on his claim, since doing so, as he must see,
would prove destructive of their expedition. This
courteous and well-timed appeal, which opened a
door by which Arnold might honorably retreat from
his awkward position, seemed to produce on his
mind an instantaneous effect. The dark and angry
frown, which had settled on his countenance, gave

[figure description] Page 014.[end figure description]

way to a bright and cheerful look. With one hand
he instantly tore the epauletts from his shoulders,
while with the other he drew his sword and threw it
on the ground, gallantly exclaiming,

`Gentlemen, I most cheerfully waive all pretensions
to the command, which of right, I am now convinced,
belongs to the brave leader of the far-famed
Green Mountain Boys. But as to going with you
on this glorious enterprise, it is a privilege which,
by — I wont relinquish! Gentlemen, will you
furnish me with a common musket, and accept me
as a volunteer soldier of your gallant band?'

Allen appeared to be taken completely aback by
this sudden declaration of Arnold. His naturally
forgiving and noble disposition, and quick feelings,
were instantly touched with this mark of magnanimity,
as unexpected to him, as it was remarkable
in the man, being the most striking, and perhaps the
only instance of the kind, ever displayed by this
brave, but unprincipled officer in his whole public
career.

`Done like a man, by Jove!' exclaimed the chivalrous
leader of the Green Mountain Boys, advancing
and cordially proffering the other his hand, while
the tears of admiring and grateful emotion fairly
started out on to his brawny cheeks. `Done like a
man and a hero! Here, God bless you, give us your
fist! There is about the right kind of stuff in you
after all, my friend. Will you accept the post of my
aidecamp, with the rank your commission gives you?'

`Most cheerfully, sir,' replied the flattered Arnold,
waving his hand with easy and grateful courtesy.

`Pick up your sword and badges, then, sir,' resumed
Allen. `Call for your horse, and we will now
on together, like brothers, in the cause of God and

[figure description] Page 015.[end figure description]

the people. Officers and soldiers!' he continued,
in a loud and cheering voice, that rung like a deeptoned
trumpet far and wide over field and forest
around, while he sprang upon his impatient charger,
and waved his sword on high; `prepare to march!
Ethan Allen still commands you. Peace is in the
camp, the Lord on our side, and victory before us!
Forward march!'

Three loud and lively cheers told the satisfaction
of the men at this double announcement; and, in
another moment, the whole corps, wheeling off to
the brisk and stirring notes of shrieking fife and rattling
drum, were sweeping down the road in full
march towards the object of their destination.

The rout of the troops was along the old military
road, which, in the French war of 1759, had been
opened from Charleston on Connecticut river across
the Green Mountains to lake Champlain, by a New
Hampshire regiment, acting under the orders of
General Amherst. This road, leading directly through
Castleton, and taking a northerly direction, branched
off within a few miles of the lake, one fork running
down to the shore opposite to Ticonderoga, and the
other proceeding onward to Crown Point. Although
this, at the period, was perhaps the best road in the
settlement, still it was little more than a roughly cut
path through the wilderness, abounding, at this season,
with deep sloughs, fallen trees and other obstacles
calculated to prevent much expedition in travelling.
But such was the spirit and constitutional
vigor of the men, that a march of four or five hours
brought them over half the distance from their late
rendezvous to their destined landing on the lake,
the former place being about thirty miles from the
latter. They had now, for several miles, been

[figure description] Page 016.[end figure description]

passing through a heavy unbroken forest, and the mounted
officers, riding a short distance in advance of the
men, were anxiously looking forward for a clearing,
or some suitable place to halt for a mid-day refreshment.

`There!' said Allen, turning to his companions,
as the sound of a falling tree came booming through
the forest from a distance, `did you hear that? We
are nearly through these endless woods at last, it
seems.'

`Is that so clearly proved by the falling of a tree?'
asked Arnold, who was but little of a woodsman.
`Old trees, I thought, like old men, often fell without
human agency.'

`True sir,' rejoined Allen, `but human agency
brought that tree to the ground; and it stood beside
some opening, too, or I will agree to be reckoned,
like the prophets of old, without honor in my own
country.'

`Colonel Allen is right,' observed Warrington:
`The falling of a green tree always produces a dull,
heavy, lumbering sound, such as we just heard, occasioned
by the air it gathers, or more properly, perhaps,
disturbs in its course; while the sound of a
dry tree in falling is sharper, and comes with a single
jar to the ear. That this tree stood near an
opening, is sufficiently evident from the echoes that
followed the first sound, which, in this flat land, could
only be produced by the reverberating woods-wall
of an opening. Yes, the Colonel is correct: I can
now hear the chopper's blows quite distinctly.'

The falling of another tree in the same direction
here interrupted the conversation; while the axeman's
blows, sounding, in the distance, and in the
tranquil medium through which they were conveyed

[figure description] Page 017.[end figure description]

to the ear, like the ticking of a clock in the stillness
of night, could now plainly be heard by all. In two
or three moments a third tree came thundering to
the earth. Another, and yet another followed at
equally brief intervals,—the noise attending each
successive fall, as well as that of the fast repeating
blows of the chopper, who was causing such destruction
among the sturdy tenants of the forest, all
growing more loud and distinct as the party approached.

`There must be more than one of them,' observed
Colonel Easton, `to level so large trees at that
rapid rate.'

`No, sir,' replied Warrington; `the regular, and
non-interfering sounds of those blows indicate but
one axe-man. You have not witnessed so much of
the execution of which our Green Mountain Boys
are capable, as I trust you will within twenty-four
hours, Colonel. At all events, the fate of a tree, under
the sinewy arms of one of them, is very soon
decided.'

`This fellow, however,' remarked Allen, `does, indeed,
lay to it, with a will. I think he must make
a good soldier; and as such, he shall go with us, if
of the right way of thinking—if not, as a prisoner:
for it behoves us now, to know pretty well the character
of every man who is permitted to remain behind.
'

The party now soon came in sight of the man
who had been the subject of their conversation. He
had made an opening in the forest of about two
acres, which he was rapidly enlarging. Having just
leveled one large tree, he was now bending his tall
frame in an attack upon another, a giant hemlock,
standing near the road, and had struck two or three

[figure description] Page 018.[end figure description]

blows, sending the blade of his axe into the huge
circumference up to the helve at every stroke; when
the tramp of the approaching party reached his ear,
causing him to suspend and look around him.

`As I live, it is Pete Jones!' exclaimed Warrington,
`just begining upon his new pitch, which he
mentioned to us.'

`Good!' said Allen, `I am glad we have come
across the droll devil. But we will furnish him with
business a notch or two above that: the Red Coats
need leveling a cursed sight more than the trees, at
this crisis. If nothing more, he shall lend us that
everlasting long body of his for a ladder to scale the
walls of Old Ti! Jupiter! if Frederick of Prussia
had a regiment of such chaps, how the fellow
would brag! Hallo, there!' he added, dashing forward
towards the woodsman, who stood gazing with
an expression of quizzical wonder, now at the approaching
cavalcade of officers near by, and now
straining forward his long neck to get a view of the
lengthened columns of the men, just beginning to
make their appearance in the distance.

`Well, hallo it is, then, Colonel, if there's nothing
better to be said,' responded Jones, after waiting
an instant to see if the other was going to proceed.
`But now I think on't, Colonel, where did you get
so much folks? By Jehu! how they string along
yonder! Why, there's more than a hundred slew
of men coming! And then what pokerish looking
tools they've all got! Now I wonder if they an't a
going a visiting over to Old Ti, or somewheres?'

`I should not be surprised if something of that
kind should prove the case,' replied Allen, laughing.
`But what are you about, that you have not joined
as in the proposed visit?'

[figure description] Page 019.[end figure description]

`Why, I calculate to be about this old hemlock
till I get it down, Colonel.'

`Nonsense, you ninny! Why were you not up
to Castleton last night?'

`Now, don't fret, Colonel,—I did think of it,
honestly; but knowing you must all come this way,
I thought I might as well be making a small beginning
here till you got on. And so I put in yesterday
a little, and have now let in heaven's light on
something over two acres, I calculate. But if you
are expecting to have pretty funny times of it over
there, I don't much care if I—that is, I'll think of
it, after I have brought the top of this old hemlock
a little lower'—

`Your most obedient, Captain Jones,' gaily exclaimed
Warrington, now riding up.

`Captain of what?' asked Jones, a little puzzled
to know whether he was to receive this address as a
joke, and let off one of his own in return, or whether
something seriouswas intended by it: `Captain of
what?—of the Surveyor, that I sent over the York
line, a day or two ago, by a gentle touch with my
foot on his northerly parts?'

`No, seriously Jones,' said Allen, `in organizing,
last night, we deemed it best to have a small band of
scouts, of whom you was fairly voted in the Captain,
or Scout-master, if you like the name better. No
man in the settlement can go before you in performing
the duties of this post. Will you, without more
words, accept it, and join us?'

`Can't you let me stop to cut this tree down first?
'Twon't take scarce a minute, Colonel.'

`No, the men are at hand. We did think to
find a spot to halt and dine here, but as I see

[figure description] Page 020.[end figure description]

neither place nor water, we must on till we find them.
How soon shall we meet with such a place?'

`Let me see, as the blind man said—Oh! there
is a cute little beauty of a brook, with smooth banks,
that's jest your sorts, not half a mile ahead.'

`Fall in here with the troops then. But where is
your rifle?'

`Hard by there, under a log,' replied Pete. `I'll
warrant, you never catch me far seperated from old
Trusty, with a good store of bullets to go on such
errands, as she and I have a mind to send them.
Well, old axe,' he added, in an under tone, as he
took up the implement to which he seemed to be addressing
himself, and carried it round to the back
side of the tree, `the Colonel thinks it best, that
you and I should bid each other good-bye, for a short
time; and there! you may sit in that nook between
those two roots till I come back again.'

And thus, in the prompt spirit of the times, and
with the characteristic sang froid of the man, this
jolly and fearless woodsman, drawing out his rifle
from under an old log, and cheerily troulling the
above quoted catch of some homely old song, with
a chorus of his own making, fell into the ranks of the
troops then passing, having left his favorite axe, for
which he seemed to have contracted a sort of fellow-feeling,
standing behind the tree, on which we
found him engaged, where it was destined to remain
unregarded by its owner, during a great part
of the revolutionary war;—and where, on returning,
after many years of hardship and danger, spent in

[figure description] Page 021.[end figure description]

bravely battling for his country's freedom, he found
it, in the same place and position, safe and uninjured,
except in the thick coat of rust that had gathered
over it—an incident of olden times, well known
as a historical fact by many in that section of the
country where it occurred.

The spot described by Jones being found and appropriated,
the troops partook of a dinner from the
provisions of their packs, after which they were allowed
an hour's rest, which was enlivened, as they
were seated along the mossy banks of the gurgling
rivulet, with song, tale and jest, till the deep recesses
of the forest rang with the sounds of their merriment.
While the officers, who were seated in a
group by themselves, were consulting their watches,
and awaiting the moment set by them for resuming
their march, a horseman, approaching from the west,
suddenly rode up, dismounted, and stood before
them.

`Ah! Phelps!' exclaimed Colonel Allen, springing
up and shaking the new comer heartily by the
hand, `is it possible?—a spy returned unhung from
a British fort? Well, sir, what news from the camp
of the Philistines?'

`Almost every thing we could wish, gentlemen,'
replied the person addressed, a Connecticut gentleman
of considerable shrewdness and address, who
had been dispatched a day or two previous to go
over to the fort, enter it on some feigned errand, and
gain the best knowledge of its situation the circumstances
would permit. `I have been within the fort—
mostly over the works—staid there last night, and
came away ususpected this morning.'

Phelps then proceeded to give an account of the
manner he had effected his discoveries at the fort,

[figure description] Page 022.[end figure description]

without exciting the suspicions of the garrison, relative
to the object of his visit—how, in the assumed
character of a green country bumpkin, he made it
his ostensible errand to see a war-cannon, and also
the strange man what shaved other men, called a
barber—how the soldiers laughed at his pretended
ignorance, and the officers coming to see the green
Yankee, amused themselves by questioning him, and
listening to his replies, at which they were amazingly
tickled, and then ordered a twenty-four pounder
to be fired, for the fun of witnessing the prodigious
fright, into which the report appeared to throw him.
And finally, having induced him, after many intreaties,
to permit the barber to shave him, how they all
stood by to see the performance, laughing heartily
at the wincing and woful countenance he assumed,
and the fears he pretended of having his throat
cut.

After finishing his diverting description of this
part of his adventures, he detailed with great accuracy,
the situation of the fortress, the names and
grades of the officers, and the number of the garrison.

`But, gentlemen,' said he, in conclusion, `there is
one question, which I will no longer delay to ask
you. Have you made provision for boats to transport
the troops across the lake? There is not a single
craft larger than a skiff on this side, just now,
within ten miles of the fort.'

`God forgive me the oversight!' exclaimed Allen.
`We must instantly set measures on foot for repairing
it. Douglass, Lieutenant Douglass, step forward
here a moment! What boats are there this side the
take to the north of this?'

`An excellent scow for our purpose is owned by

[figure description] Page 023.[end figure description]

the Smiths, a few miles this side of Crown Point,'
replied the blue eyed and broad shouldered descendant
of his Caledonian namesakes, stepping promptly
forward, and comprehending at a glance the emergency
that produced the question.

`The Smiths? Good! They are with us, too, in
heart, and should be also in person,' rejoined the
Colonel. `Well, their scow we must have, at all
events. And you, Douglass, are the very man to go
and get it. Will you do it?'

`I am the very man who is willing to try, Colonel
Allen,' answered the other.

`And can you reach the landing against Ti with
it by nine o'clock this evening?'

`Hardly, I fear. It is nearly a dozen miles; but
I'll do my best, Colonel.'

`Go, then, as if the devil kicked you an end. The
salvation of our project may depend upon your getting
back in season. But stay! we must have more
boats than one. To the South, I know of none.
Perhaps you may meet with some going up or down
the lake, which might be pressed into the service;
or, as the last resort, one might possibly be got away
from Crown Point, without a discovery which would
endanger us. Another man, however, will be wanted
for any of these purposes, besides the oarsmen
you will pick up on your way. And—Jones! this
way! Have you heard what we are at? Very well.
You are just the chap to go on this haphazard errand.
What say you?—Can you bring any thing to
pass, if we send you?'

`Why, I can't exactly say, Colonel,' replied Jones,
placing his feet astride, and looking up with one eye
queerly cocked on his interrogator, while the other
was tightly closed: `I an't so much of a water fowl

[figure description] Page 024.[end figure description]

as some; but, perhaps, I mought make fetch come a
little.'

`Pack up, then, and be off with Douglass in two
minutes; and remember, both of you, if you fail
us'—

`Then what?' asked Jones, suddenly stopping and
looking back, `I don't calculate to be over particular,
Colonel, but if it wouldn't be too much trouble,
I should like to know that, before we start.'

`You shall be doomed to sit forty days and nights
in sackcloth and ashes,' humorously said Allen.

`By Jonah!' exclaimed Pete, `the boats shall be
there by the time, Colonel!'

While the latter part of this dialogue was going
on, Warrington stood with his back to the company,
with one foot on a log, busily engaged in writing
with his pencil on a blank leaf, torn from his pocket
book and placed on his knee.

`Aha? my lad,' said Allen, in a playful undertone
as he approached the former, and significantly
placed one finger on his shoulder, `more faith now,
than when we two were lying on the hay in the Captain's
barn, waiting for our rifles, eh?'

`I really wish you would mind your own business,
Colonel,' replied Warrington, with affected anger.

`Well, well,' resumed Allen, laughing, `send it,
my boy. Mars, they say, never prospers so well as
when he has Cupid in his train, in any case. But
with such a piece of God's handy work, as yours, to
incite to action—heavens! if the knights of old had
been blest with such lady-loves, they would never
have needed to carry a half a hundred weight of old
iron on their lubberly carcasses to make them heroes?
'

Stripping off their coats to fit them for a rapid

[figure description] Page 025.[end figure description]

march, these athletic and resolute woodsmen now
seized their rifles, took a glance at the sun for a hasty
calculation of the bearing of the course to be taken
to lead them to their proposed destination, and,
plunging into the woods, were soon lost to the sight
of their companions.

A small guard was then sent on in advance, with
orders to pick up and detain every man on the road,
not in the secret of the expedition. Scouts, to range
the woods on the right and left, were also dispatched
for the same purpose; after which the main body
of the forces quietly resumed their march for the
lake.