



Produced by Al Haines










[Frontispiece: "Almost silently, with his stick drew the
wallet toward him."]






THE HERO OF TICONDEROGA


OR

ETHAN ALLEN AND HIS GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS


BY

JOHN DE MORGAN



AUTHOR OF

  "Paul Revere,"
  "The Young Ambassador,"
  "The First Shot for Liberty."
  "The Young Guardsman," etc.




PHILADELPHIA

DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER

610 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE




Copyright, 1896

By NORMAN L. MUNRO


The Hero of Ticonderoga




Table of Contents


Chapter

      I.  At the Courthouse
     II.  The Green Mountain Boys
    III.  A Child of Nature
     IV.  "The Rising of the Moon"
      V.  Defiance
     VI.  Before the Governor
    VII.  An Ambuscade
   VIII.  The Convention
     IX.  Treachery
      X.  Zeb's Double Dealing
     XI.  The Tables Turned
    XII.  The Opening of the War
   XIII.  Benedict Arnold
    XIV.  Arnold's Powers of Fascination
     XV.  The Hero of Ticonderoga
    XVI.  The Temptation
   XVII.  Crown Point
  XVIII.  "Who is Commander?"
    XIX.  News from Boston
     XX.  A Roadside Adventure
    XXI.  The Continental Progress
   XXII.  Eben's Adventures
  XXIII.  Foraging
   XXIV.  Secret Service
    XXV.  Diplomacy
   XXVI.  An Interesting Experiment
  XXVII.  A Prisoner
 XXVIII.  On the Gaspee
   XXIX.  Arrival in England
    XXX.  Irish Hospitality
   XXXI.  A Daring Swim
  XXXII.  How England Treated Prisoners of War
 XXXIII.  Beverly Robinson's Offer




THE HERO OF TICONDEROGA.


CHAPTER I.

AT THE COURTHOUSE.

It was a cold, bleak and freezing day, was that second day of the year
1764, in the good town of Bennington.

The first day of the year had been celebrated in a devout fashion by
nearly all the inhabitants of the district.  Truly, some stayed away
from the meeting-house, and especially was the absence of one family
noticed.

"It seems to me kind of strange and creepy-like that those Allen boys
will never come to meeting," good old Elder Baker had said, and the
people shook their heads, and were quite ready to believe that the
Allen boys were uncanny.

But after meeting, when the social celebration was at its height, the
absence from the meeting-house was not thought of, and Ethan Allen and
his brothers were welcomed as among the best farmers of the district.

When the farmers separated on that New Year's Day they had no thought
of trouble, and each and all were planning what crops they should plant
that year, and how much land they should reserve for pasture.

The snow was falling fast, and the Green Mountains looked grandly
glorious as they, capped with the white snow, reflected into the
valleys the feeble rays of the sun which were struggling through the
clouds.

The hour of noon had arrived, and the good farmers were sitting down to
good boiled dinners, which were as seasonable as the weather, when the
ringing of the crier's bell caused every man and woman and child to
leave the hot dinner and hurry to the door to hear the news.

All public and important events were announced in that manner, and it
would not do to miss an announcement.

"Wonder what is in the wind now, eh, master?"

"Cannot say, but it's likely to be important, for Faithful Quincy has
on his best coat."

Faithful Quincy was the official crier, or announcer of events, and was
a most important character.

He never spoke one word, though everyone asked him what he had to
announce, but he stood as silent as a statue, and as rigid until he
thought the people had time to assemble.

Then he rang his bell once more, and followed the last sound of the
brass with a most solemn appeal for attention:

"Oyez!  Oyez!  Oyez!"

Three times the phrase had to be repeated.  Faithful would not have
done his duty if he had only repeated it twice.

"This is to give notice, in the name of his majesty and of his
excellency, the governor, that all true and faithful residents of the
Green Mountain district must assemble at the courthouse at two hours
after noon, on this second day of January.  So let it be!"

That was all, but it was enough to set all the people wondering what
was to be heard at the courthouse.

They returned to their homes, and finished their dinners, scarcely
noticing that the dumplings were cold or that the boiled carrots had
got sog