The Hero of Ticonderoga Part 57

When he came to the surface and floated, he looked round and saw that the boat's crew had given him up for lost.

The boat was circling round and round, and every eye was strained to find his dead body.

Eben leisurely swam to the sh.o.r.e, and was glad when he reached land, for he was nigh exhausted.

He had to be very cautious, for many tories resided on the sh.o.r.e, and he knew that he would be treated as a suspicious character.

He found a wood which afforded him shelter.

Undressing, he hung his clothes out to dry, while he climbed into a tree, with the double object of not being found in a state of undress and be the better able to see if anyone approached.

There was a warm breeze blowing, and his clothes soon dried, and once again he felt like a human being.

A new trouble arose. He found his limbs so weak that he could not stand.

His flesh was hot and dry, his mouth parched, and his eyes were like burning coals.

He had fever.

The fact was appalling enough at ordinary times, but how much more so under the circ.u.mstances?

He dare not seek a house, even if he could crawl as far, for he knew that fever meant delirium, and in his delirium he might betray himself and so injure the cause he loved so well.

He had not lived in the mountains without knowing the value of herbs, so he looked around to find those natural medicines which at home had been used by the Indians and most of the white folks of the Green Mountains.

He wanted agrimony, but did not see any; but he did find yarrow in abundance.

Now, the leaves and flowers of the common yarrow, or the _achillea milefolium_ of botanists, are an excellent thing in fevers, producing perspiration and cleansing the blood at the same time; but Eben knew that it should be macerated in boiling water.

Boiling water was out of the question, and, in fact, there seemed to be no water save sea water near, so he gathered a quant.i.ty of the leaves and chewed them. The taste was bitter and aromatic, but refreshing to the fever-stricken boy.

After a time he felt a nausea, and stopped eating.

He turned over on his back and fell asleep.

When he awoke the sun was high in the heavens and he fancied he had slept four or five hours; in reality he had slept nearly thirty hours.

His body was covered with a cold perspiration and his mouth seemed less parched.

As he raised himself to look around he saw that he was not alone.

A man, evidently poor, if judged by his dress, stood some distance away, watching him closely.

"So you did wake, eh? I reckon'd that you were going to sleep till Gabriel blew his trump."

"Have I slept long?" asked Eben.

"Well, now, I can't say 'zactly, for I reckon you had been asleep a long time when I found you, and I've been here nigh on to ten hours."

"You have been watching me that long? Why?"

"Mebbe I took a fancy to you, and mebbe I know you."

"You know me?"

"Well, now, I reckon if I were to call you Ebenezer Pike----"

"If you did?"

"Yes, I was saying I reckon that you would have to say that was your name."

"What gave you that idea? And who is Ebenezer Pike?"

"I am no tory. Yesterday I heard that a prisoner had escaped from the war ship out there, and that the one who had got away was at the bottom of the sea. I was curious, and I asked all about it. Then I was asked if a body wouldn't float into land; and I said mebbe; and then the bluejacket told me he would give me ten shillings if I found the body and gave it up to him. So I searched and found--you."

"And discovered that I was not worth ten shillings?"

"Never mind what I found; I tell you I ain't no tory, and ten pounds, nor ten hundred pounds, would make me give up a live American hero.

His dead body wouldn't be of no account to him, so I might give up that."

"And you think I am this escaped prisoner! Well, what do you want to do with me? for I am too weak to oppose your silly whim."

"I am going to take you to my house, and when you get strong you shall go just where you please."

"You mean this?"

"I do; and I tell you that if we could liberate Col. Ethan Allen we would, for he is wanted just now; Carolina means to be free and independent, so it does."

Eben did not attempt any resistance; in fact, he was too weak to oppose his discoverer, so he allowed himself to be lifted on the man's shoulder and be carried to a cabin on the other side of the wood.

Here he was tended as well as if he had been among relatives or his friends of the Green Mountains.

After a few days he was strong enough to go out, and he walked down to the beach and saw the vessel from which he had escaped lying at anchor.

But he saw something more--something which made his blood run cold.

As he was returning he saw five trees growing on the banks of the river near the cape, and from each tree there dangled a human body.

On closer inspection he found--what he had dreaded to find--that the bodies were those of some of his fellow prisoners.

"Come away, my boy," said his new friend. "Those men gave their lives for a sacred cause, and I wish every Carolinian could see and know them. It is a good thing for us that the cowardly tories hanged them, for every one hanged means a surer vengeance."

"It is horrible! Will they dare to serve Col. Allen so?"

"I don't think so, but they may. What are your plans?"

"I want to find the army of America and get the men to liberate Col.

Allen."