The Hero of Ticonderoga Part 31

He returned quickly and said that there was no sign of an ambush, but the snake fence was there and the vine-covered house also.

"Go forward, Letsom, and find out all you can about the farmer and his household."

The man was an excellent fellow for such a purpose, though Seth Warner expressed a wish that Eben had been there, so that he might have gone.

Letsom returned an hour later.

"Farmer Mervale is a bitter Britisher," he reported, "and told me that if any of the rebels came to his house he would know how to deal with them. I asked him what he would do, and he replied that he would ask them to dine and would poison their soup."

"The villain!"

"He further said that every rebel, as he called us, should be shot like a rat."

"He is quite strong in his views."

"Yes, and one of his farm hands told me that a mad monk had been there, and it would be a wonder if he were alive on the morrow."

"A mad monk, said he?"

"Yes, those were his words--a mad monk."

"Boys, you have heard the report; shall we beard this Britisher in his home and find out if any maiden is imprisoned by him?"

A loud shout of a.s.sent rose from the Mountain Boys, and almost before it died away the men were on the march.

Farmer Mervale was at the door, an old musket in his hand, waiting for the "rebels."

"In the name of the king, what do you want here?"

Seth Warner answered:

"In the name of the Colonial Congress I demand the surrender of this house for the purpose of a search."

"Search! for what?"

"Guns, ammunition or anything that may be useful to the cause of liberty."

"Thieves! Whoever pa.s.ses this door will have to do it over my dead body."

"Farmer Mervale, we mean you no harm if you are innocent, but if you are guilty then you must bear the punishment."

"Of what do you accuse me?"

Warner was about to equivocate and say that he believed arms were secreted on the premises, but he was too open for subterfuge, so he replied:

"We charge you with abducting and imprisoning a young maiden----"

"Ah! you have seen the mad monk?"

"Answer. Have you any maiden imprisoned on your premises?"

"If I had I should deny it, and if I have not I should still say that you are impertinent and a rebel who ought to be shot down."

The farmer had his weapon pointed at Warner and was about to shoot him, when his arm was knocked up from behind and the ball pa.s.sed over his intended victim's head.

Instantly the man was seized and bound.

The musket had been seized by the hired hand, who had been the cause of the farmer's intention being frustrated.

"If you will let me join you I will fight for the cause of liberty,"

the man said, very earnestly.

"You must report to Col. Allen at Ticonderoga."

"I will go at once."

"Better stay with us and return when we do; we can vouch for your good act."

The farmer changed his tone when he was bound and therefore helpless.

He cried out for mercy, declared that all he had said was in a joking sense, and that he hoped the Provincials would win in their fight against England.

"You coward!" hissed Warner. "I have a great mind to shoot you as an example and a warning to others."

"Spare me! I am old and----"

"Old? Why, man, you cannot be forty. Search the house!"

In a few minutes the searchers returned, leading Martha Baker, who was almost too weak to stand unsupported.

"Oh, Master Warner, I am so glad you came. I think I should have died if I had stayed another day in this horrid house."

"Tell me your story, Martha."

"I was sent by my aunt to Farmer Mervale to arrange for an exchange of eggs. You see, aunt had a lot of hen's eggs and Farmer Mervale had a lot of duck's eggs, and the two wanted to exchange. When I reached here the farmer asked me my name, and then if I was any relation of Remember Baker, and I told him that I was his sister. Then he asked me to go upstairs to help count the eggs. I did so, and the farmer told me that he was going to keep me there, because if my brother attempted to do anything to his brother, who was a soldier in Ticonderoga, he would kill me. Then he tortured me by saying that he would poison some soup and invite the rebels to dinner with him, and that when they had all eaten heartily he would kill me before their eyes."

The farmer heard the girl's statement, and, instead of denying it, declared it was all a joke, which, perhaps, it was, but it was cruel, and the perpetrator of such a joke deserved punishment.

Warner ordered his men to strip the farmer to the waist and introduce him to the "birch dance," as summary punishment was called.

Fifty good, sharp strokes across the bare back with strong beechen sticks made Farmer Mervale wish he had been less fond of joking and illegally imprisoning a girl.

Martha told how she had seen the monk, and had called to him through the open window, telling him how she had been served, and also asking him to let the Mountain Boys know of her detention.

How well the eccentric monk had fulfilled his mission we have seen.

It was rather late in the afternoon when the strong fort at Crown Point was reached.

Seth Warner called to the sentinel who stood guard at the gate.