With Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga Part 22

"I'm--I'm all right," the youth declared, finally shaking off the feeling which had numbed him. "Let me get a grip on your boat--there!

Now you can paddle ash.o.r.e. I'll not lose my hold this time."

"Right it is, then." The rescuer paddled slowly toward the bateaus. When he came to the sh.o.r.e with the boy dragging behind him, Bolderwood and several other members of the company had arrived in answer to the expiring scream of the drowned Yorker. Upon hearing the explanation of the affair the chief scout's face became grave indeed. "The poor wretch has gone to his just desarts, I don't doubt," he said. "But so sudden--so sudden! It seems a turrible thing, friends, for a man to live the life he lived and then to go before his Maker without no preparation. He murdered poor Jonas Harding as sure as aigs is aigs, an'

he tried twice ter kill the boy here, an' burned the widder's home. Yet I'd wished him time to make his peace with G.o.d. It's an awful affair....

But come!" he added, recovering himself, "there's something else to do now. We've got word from Colonel Allen. The troops are almost here. An'

as good as we've done, there ain't ha'f enough boats to transport our boys across the lake."

"There may be more comin' from the north, 'Siah," suggested Brown. "Y'

know ye sent some of the boys up that way this arternoon."

"Small hope o' their gettin' anything----"

The chief scout's words were interrupted by a shout from one of the others. Around the point which defended the little cove a boat was appearing--or, rather, a lantern which betrayed the approach of a boat.

"Here's another!" was the cry. "Here's Major Skeene's big bateau--an'

Major Skeene's n.i.g.g.e.r, too!" as the loud and angry voice of a black man was heard across the calm water.

"The boys are having a hard time with our black-and-tan friend," said Bolderwood with a chuckle. Then he held up his hand for silence. "Hark!

there's the ring of a horse's hoof--and the tramp of feet. The troops are coming."

With a rattle of accoutrements a cavalcade of hors.e.m.e.n descended the bluff to the tiny cove. Enoch recognized Colonel Allen, Major Warner, the stranger, Arnold, and Colonel Easton, the commander of the Ma.s.sachusetts and Connecticut forces. "Praise the Lord, 'Siah!" cried the hearty voice of the Green Mountain leader. "We're arrived at last.

'Twas like a task of Hercules to get here. And the night is already far gone. Where are your boats, man?"

"The bulk of 'em are right here, Colonel. We ain't got what I wished; but we've taken 'em from friend and foe, and here comes the last of my boys with Major Skeene's big raft and, if I ain't mighty mistaken, with a bag o' charcoal aboard that must ha' caused 'em consider'ble trouble."

The voice of the negro, who was the property of one of the wealthiest royalists on the lake, became more and more vociferous as the bateau approached the sh.o.r.e. "Wot de goodness youse shakaroons doin' yere? We ain't goin' land yere--no, sir! Dis ain't no place fur us. Who yo' t'ink capen ob dis craft, anyway?"

"Oh, come along, old man! we wanter see ye!" shouted Bolderwood from the sh.o.r.e. "We won't eat ye up."

"Dis ain' no place for us, I tells yo'!" cried the darky, and as the outline of the bateau and the objects upon it were now visible, they could see the whites of his rolling eyes. "I ain' got nuttin' ter do wid yo' shakaroons."

"Come on, there!" shouted Allen. "Gag that black rascal if he doesn't talk less and use his sweeps well."

"Who dat say fur ter gag me?" demanded the black, his teeth chattering.

"D'you knows who I is, sah? I'se Major Skeene's n.i.g.g.e.r, an' dis Major Skeene's bateau, an' we gotter load o' freight fo' de castle."

"We've got another sort of freight for you, my man," said the Green Mountain leader. "So come ash.o.r.e here and have no more words about it."

"But dese yere gemmen say dey goin' fis.h.i.+n' an' git me ter lend 'em pa.s.sage!" cried the darky, in despair.

"And so we are going fis.h.i.+ng," cried Ethan Allen. "And you shall go, too, my black friend. But it will be different fis.h.i.+ng from any that you've experienced before. Out with you, now!" he added, as the bateau grounded on the sh.o.r.e. "Get that freight off, men. What boats we have we must use at once. Perhaps they can be returned for another party to cross after us. I'll never forgive myself if this oversight makes a wreck of our expedition."

At that moment the man who, earlier in the evening, had crossed the lake from the fort, came and spoke to Ethan Allen. The leader of the Americans listened attentively, slapping his thigh now and again with evident satisfaction as he heard the report of this faithful patriot who, as Allen had previously said, dared enter the lion's jaws. He had gone to Ticonderoga as a trader, had spent parts of two days in the fort, learning much that encouraged Allen in this desperate game he was playing. Although expecting additions to the garrison, Captain De la Place had not yet received the reinforcements. The b.u.t.tresses of the fort, too, were in a sad state of repair. Indeed, since the British had swept the French from the lake, and with them driven the Hurons and Algonquins into the northern wilderness, few if any repairs had been made upon Ticonderoga. The British had simply held it as a storehouse and the garrison was small. If the American troops now gathering upon the eastern sh.o.r.e of Lake Champlain could once cross the water and approach the fort unperceived, there was hope in the hearts of all that the stronghold would be captured and the garrison overcome without any great loss of life.

"The G.o.d of Battles has been with ye!" exclaimed Allen, when the man had finished his report. "And if He is with us, as I believe, yonder fort and all it contains shall be ours before sunrise.... But hasten! Tell Baker to bring up his troops. Bolderwood, you and your scouts must go over first with us. Colonel Arnold, you will come in my boat if you wish. Major Warner, I leave you to a.s.sist our good friend Easton. The boats shall return as soon as we have landed. Count the men who enter these boats, gentlemen. The lake is calm; but do not overload the craft.

We desire no accident to delay our landing on the other side."

Enoch Harding kept close to his friend, the old ranger, and was therefore in one of the foremost boats. He was near Colonel Allen when word was pa.s.sed to that brave leader that those in the boats numbered but eighty-three. "Eighty-three!" exclaimed the Green Mountain hero.

"And every man worth three red-coats. Once we get within those walls and I'll answer for them. Yet, sirs, I would that we had not been so long delayed on the road, or that there were more bateaus to our hand."

"Shall the attack be given up--postponed till a more fitting occasion--if we cannot get more across?" asked Arnold.

"Postponed!" cried Allen, his face darkening. "And pray tell me, sir, how can it be postponed? With the dawn our troops will be observed upon both sides of the lake by those in the fort, or by Tories who will gladly run with warning to the red-coats. A blind kitten could see what we are about. Nay, Colonel Arnold; we have put our hands to the plough and we'll cut a deep furrow or none at all!"

The bold courage of their leader inspired the handful of men with actual belief in the successful outcome of the attack. There were no doubts expressed during the voyage across the lake. But when the landing was made, at the foot of the bluff on which the fort was built, the east was already streaked with pink. The dawn of the tenth of May, 1775--a day as marked in American history as any which we celebrate--was at hand. Less than a hundred patriotic Green Mountain Boys had disembarked from the boats under the shadow of Ticonderoga. With the rising of the sun their presence would be discovered by the garrison of the fort, and once warned of their approach, the British could easily defend the works from any attack of infantry. Circ.u.mstances seemed to presage at that moment the defeat of the cause and utter humiliation of the partic.i.p.ators in the proposed attack.

The boats had left the sh.o.r.e and were no longer to be descried, for a light fog covered the water. There was no retreat. To hide this party on the New York sh.o.r.e of the lake would be impossible. There were too many Tories about. Allen turned to his men. His voice was low, but intense, so that not only those around him, of which Enoch was one, but those at a distance heard every word uttered.

"Friends! we have come here for a single purpose. It is to advance upon yonder fortifications and capture them. We already outnumber the garrison; I have certain information upon this point. But our companions await on the other sh.o.r.e to be transported to this spot and join in our glorious work. In the east, however, is a warning we can all read.

Before our friends can join us it will be day. We shall be observed here; the garrison will be called to arms; our opportunity be lost. So, my brave companions, we cannot wait.

"I shall attack the fort at once. I force no man to an act which caution forbids. If any of you doubt, fall out of the ranks and make good your escape. But I am going forward and those who trust in G.o.d and to my leaders.h.i.+p will advance at once!" He drew his sword and advanced a long stride before the column of anxious patriots. "Forward!" he cried, and inspired by the same spirit which animated their gallant leader, every Green Mountain Boy obeyed the command. They would have cheered, but the moment for anything of that kind was not opportune. The rising mist scarcely concealed the fortress above them.

With Colonel Arnold by his side the indomitable Allen climbed the slope and approached the covered way which led into the fort. Not a word was spoken. The sullen tramp of the column was all that broke the stillness of the dawn. The sentinel placed here to guard the entrance--a matter of military rule rather than of precaution--leaned half asleep upon his musket. Had he been alert the approach of the troops must have been discovered ere they were visible. But Providence willed that he, together with all the garrison, should be totally unsuspicious of the planned attack of the provincials.

Suddenly, through the curling mist, appeared the head of the column. The sentinel started from his dream and, scarce understanding what he saw, advanced his musket, crying: "Halt! who goes there?"

The Americans accelerated their pace while Ethan Allen, whirling his sword above his head, shouted: "Forward!" The attacking force reached the mouth of the covered way at a double-quick. Repeating the command to halt the sentinel darted back, raised his weapon to his shoulder, and aiming full at the head of the commander of the Green Mountain Boys, pressed the trigger!

CHAPTER XXIV

THE GUNS OF OLD TI SPEAK

The fate of more than a brave man hung in the balance at that moment.

The ultimate happiness and secure footing of a state was at stake when the sentinel pressed the trigger of his weapon. Had the ball reached its mark, the establishment of Vermont as a free state might have been postponed for many years. Ethan Allen's diplomacy in later dealing with the British agents who sought to wean Vermont from her federation with the struggling colonies, doubtless saved the Green Mountains from being overrun by a horde of Hessians and Indians who would have brought death and disaster to the patriotic settlers.

But Providence had other work for the leader of the Green Mountain Boys to do. The musket missed fire and flinging down the piece the sentinel turned and ran through the pa.s.sage into the fort, shrieking that the enemy was at hand. With a cheer the little band of patriots followed, and before the garrison was awake to its situation, the Green Mountain Boys had reached the parade. Instructed by their captains what to do, the men ran hither and thither to seize the guns whose threatening muzzles peered through the embrasures of the walls, and to guard the entrances to the barracks where the garrison slept.

'Siah Bolderwood, seizing an axe, attacked the door of the ammunition cellar; for the American spy who had spent the previous day within the works had explained to the ranger the situation of this important compartment. The ringing blows of the woodman's axe doubtless awakened many of the sleeping soldiery. In half a minute the stout oak door was down. "There, Nuck Harding!" cried the long ranger, "I leave you to guard that 'ere. If they show fight, fire your rifle into the place. If so be, we'll all go up together; but Old Ti is ourn and if we're driven forth we'll wreck the fortifications as we go."

Meanwhile Ethan Allen, knowing well the sleeping quarters of Captain De la Place, having received his information from the same source as Bolderwood, leaped up the stairway to the apartment of the commander of the fort. His shoulder burst in the door without the loss of an instant, and he found the astounded captain sitting up in bed. "What is this, sir? Who are you?" cried the British officer.

"I call on ye to surrender, Captain De la Place!" cried the Green Mountain leader.

"In whose name do ye make this demand, sir?"

"In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!" replied Allen, sternly. Then, describing a circle about his head with his sword, he added in a tone not to be mistaken: "I demand the surrender of your fort and all the stores and goods it may contain; and, sir, unless you comply with my demand and parade your men without arms at once, I'll send your head, sir, spinning across this floor!" and the whistling steel blade was advanced until the British officer shrank in fear.

"I surrender! I surrender!" he cried, and word was pa.s.sed at once to both the garrison and the Americans on the parade below. And thus the strongest British fortress within the borders of the disaffected colonies, capitulated to the American arms without a gun being fired.

What if, when the news of the remarkable feat reached Philadelphia where the Continental Congress was in session, the act of Ethan Allen and his brave Green Mountain Boys was deplored, and a considerable party was for returning the stronghold to the king, while others wished to withdraw the American garrison, believing that the Champlain forts were too far on the frontier to be held successfully against the enemy? These suggestions were but the result of over-cautiousness on the part of some members of Congress. Happily their wishes were overborne and Ticonderoga remained an American fort until the cowardly St. Clair abandoned it before the advance of Burgoyne.

At the moment, however, the satisfaction of Ethan Allen and his brave companions was unbounded. While the British soldiers were being paraded without their weapons before their conquerors, a second body of Green Mountain Boys under Major Warner entered the fort. The tall Connecticut man came to Allen with considerable chagrin expressed in his countenance. "Colonel, you have selfishly seized all the honors this time!" he cried, yet congratulating his friend with a warm handclasp.

"You are a regular Achilles; there is nothing heroic for the rest of us to do."

"Nonsense--nonsense, Seth!" cried Ethan Allen, yet unable to hide his delight at the outcome of the attack. "There is glory enough for every officer and every man Jack in the ranks. There is yet Crown Point to capture and you, Major, shall command that expedition. Take Bolderwood and some of his scouts with you and approach the other fortress by water--and good fortune and my blessing go with you!"