The Hero of Ticonderoga Part 35

Arnold contrived to send a letter to New Hampshire and one to New Haven, in which he reported the "treachery and tyranny of the man Ethan Allen."

There is no proof that either of the recipients did anything save throw the letters into the fire.

On the following day Baker and Forest returned from New Haven, bearing with them the thanks of the colony to Col. Ethan Allen and Col.

Benedict Arnold. The latter containing the thanks of the a.s.sembly, engrossed on parchment and sealed with the seal of the colony, placed Allen in the first place, and only mentioned Arnold as a coadjutor.

The two emissaries were escorted to Ticonderoga by Col. Hinman and a regiment of Connecticut soldiers.

Hinman was commissioned to aid Allen in any way that he could, and to act under his direction.

Allen, however, determined on a wider field for himself and men than merely remaining as a garrison of a fort, with the mild excitement of an occasional scrimmage with the enemy when out on a foraging expedition, so he handed over the forts to Col. Hinman, taking a receipt for the same.

That curious old doc.u.ment is perhaps the only one in existence of the kind, for it is a receipt for the delivery of the forts of Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Skenesburgh, and is made out much in the same way as a receipt for a few dollars would be.

Arnold was to remain with Hinman for a time, but with the lower rank of major.

With only a small number of followers, including Seth Warner, Remember Baker, Eben Pike and twenty trusty mountaineers, Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga, left the fort and proceeded to Albany.

CHAPTER XX.

A ROADSIDE ADVENTURE.

It was a daring thing to do, but Ethan Allen thought only of his country, and how to benefit the national cause.

The proclamation offering a large reward for him, dead or alive, was still to be seen on the public buildings of the towns and villages through which he pa.s.sed.

Though every one knew him, for his ident.i.ty could not be concealed, he was as safe as in his mountain home.

The people of New York were ready to cast in their lot with the colonies which had declared their independence, and, though nominally loyal to England, the Yorkers were only waiting an opportunity to openly throw off the yoke and declare themselves independent.

"The Hero of Ticonderoga," as Allen was called everywhere, was lionized by the people, though those in authority were compelled to appear as though they did not recognize him.

When Allen reached Albany he at once went to the a.s.sembly Hall.

Marching up to the speaker's desk he said, in a loud voice:

"I am Ethan Allen, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, and I have come, not to surrender to you or to lower my claims to the lands in the New Hampshire grants, which we now call Vermont, but to ask you to listen to a plan by which our country may become a nation, free and independent."

"I propose that the a.s.sembly go into secret session to hear the Hero of Ticonderoga."

The speaker was one who had been most bitter against Allen when he had appeared there sometime before to argue in favor of the men of Vermont.

"Let it be understood that New York, in listening to Ethan Allen, does not relinquish its claims to the lands which he culls Vermont."

"That matter can well be left in abeyance," said Allen. "There is a greater one--that of our independence as a nation."

"On that subject we will hear you!"

"I ask that the proceedings shall be secret."

"That is understood."

Ethan Allen, with a natural eloquence and rugged fervor, laid before the representatives of the people a plan for the invasion of Canada.

He showed how, with daring and quickness, the country north of the St.

Lawrence could be captured, thereby inflicting an injury on the British, and taking from them a large tract of country, which could be made so valuable an adjunct of the colonies south of the St. Lawrence when they became independent.

He had gathered information which showed how easily all Canada could be captured, save, perhaps, the citadel of Quebec.

He was listened to patiently. He was cheered when he spoke of the gallant attack on Quebec by Wolfe and the heroic defense of the French general, Montcalm; and tears rolled down many cheeks when he recalled how the French hero, wounded unto death, expressed a pleasure that he should not live to witness the surrender of Quebec.

Then, with solemn voice, he told how the English had but a small garrison at the citadel, and how it could be taken unawares and maybe captured as easily as Ticonderoga.

In one thing did Ethan Allen fail.

He hinted that perhaps the French Canadians would help the Yorkers and partic.i.p.ate in the driving out of the British from North America.

We say that was a mistake, because the people still remember the great struggle against the French, and the fierce war between the colonies acknowledging England and France.

One man, afterward one of the foremost to welcome Lafayette to New York, declared that it would be better to be the slaves of England than the friends of France.

"Better serfdom, degradation, death under England's flag than liberty if obtained by the a.s.sistance of France."

His fiery speech turned the tide of feeling against Ethan Allen and the invasion of Canada, and the a.s.sembly absolutely refused to listen any further to Allen.

Some were ungenerous enough to taunt him with suggesting the plan on purpose to save himself from arrest.

Others wanted to know if he expected to be the general commanding.

"No, I should have asked permission to join as a private soldier, for I have no ambition to command even a squad."

"What, then, was your object?"

"I live to serve my country; I hope to see her free and independent."

Saying which, he left the hall, and his Mountain Boys were downhearted at the treatment he had received.

"Shall we return to our mountains?" asked Baker.

"No; at least I shall not. I shall journey to Philadelphia and see what the Continental Congress is doing."

"We will go with you."

"I shall be glad of your company, though maybe you have more urgent matters at home to attend to."

"That was unkind, colonel," Seth Warner murmured.