The Hero of Ticonderoga Part 59

"Colonel, don't you know me?"

A tall, bearded young man stood before him with extended hand.

"Eben!"

"Ah! then I have not changed so much."

It was Eben Pike, dressed in the uniform of a lieutenant of the American army.

"What brings you here? You are not a prisoner?"

"No; at this moment I am a guest of His Majesty the King of England, and am acting on behalf of the United States of America, and more especially the commander-in-chief, Gen. Washington, and----"

"I am so glad to see you, Eben, that I do not know what you have been saying. I feared you were dead."

"No, colonel, I had a work to do, and I have done it. You see, we, that is, the American army, took a certain English colonel prisoner, and England wanted him very badly, so Gen. Washington said: 'You shall have him in exchange for Col. Ethan Allen,' and at last the order for the exchange was made and you are free."

What did it mean?

Allen heard the word "free," but it seemed like an echo of fairyland, having nothing in common with this matter-of-fact, cruel world.

"Yes, Col. Allen, you are free."

This time the word was spoken by an English officer.

Allen staggered like a drunken man, and would have fallen had not Eben caught him.

"Come, colonel, we must not trespa.s.s on the hospitality of the King of England any longer; I have promised to escort you with all due diligence to the headquarters of the commander-in-chief."

Allen stood still, looking, with gla.s.sy eyes, at the speaker.

In a few moments he asked;

"Am I dreaming?"

"It looked very like it, colonel, for you acted as though you were asleep; but come now, we must be going."

"Do you mean it? Are you really Eben Pike?"

"Ask the captain here. He will vouch for that. The doc.u.ment reads: 'The bearer, Lieut. Pike, of the Army of the United States of America,'

does it not?"

"Yes, Col. Allen, the whole thing means that you are exchanged. We have got our man, and we pay for his liberty by giving you yours.

Good-day, and may I never see you again--at least under recent conditions."

Allen entered a small boat with Eben, and two stout seamen pulled the boat to the dock, where a carriage was in waiting.

Eben almost pushed the astonished and half-dazed Green Mountain hero into the carriage, and soon the waterside was left far behind and the carriage rolled along the roads to the place where Gen. Washington had made his headquarters.

By that time Allen had begun to realize that he was really free.

Washington met him at the door and grasped his hand warmly.

"For over a year we have been trying to secure your release, but could not get the English to consent. You have to thank Lieut. Eben Pike for your release. He is a real hero."

"General, I only did my duty."

"I wish every soldier did his duty as well. I must tell Col. Allen; I am sure he will be prouder than ever."

"No, general, it was a mere nothing."

"I am the best judge of that. You must understand, colonel, that Pike enlisted in the cavalry and did excellent service as a private soldier; he was speedily promoted, for he deserved it. But it was at the battle of White Plains that he distinguished himself. Almost single-handed he fought a company of cavalry when most of our men had retreated. He was surrounded and refused to surrender. 'I have been a prisoner of England once,' he said, and that was enough for him. He cut his way through the enemy, and even that enemy has borne testimony to his great bravery. I am proud of him."

"I am sure that a braver man than my young friend, Pike, never drew sword," added Allen, proudly.

"After he had gallantly cut his way through the enemy, he says he thought he could have done better, so he turned his horse and rode after the British. They evidently thought that he was the advance guard of a regiment, for they stuck their rowels into the horses and rode for life. Pike followed up closely and overtook Col. Jameson; he demanded his surrender, and Jameson had to submit, for Pike had the advantage."

"Yes, he could not help himself and live," Eben said, with a smile.

"Pike took his captive into camp, and the affair was reported to me.

Sergt. Pike became lieutenant, but he was not satisfied. He knew that Jameson was a most important personage, almost as valuable as Cornwallis himself, so what does the young lieutenant do but ask me to refuse to exchange Jameson unless you were the captive given up by the British. The difficulty had been that you had no commission; I did not know it until I heard it from Montgomery and Schuyler, and so the British looked upon you as an outsider; but they wanted Jameson, and they got him, and you owe your freedom to Pike's pertinacity."

We can easily imagine Allen's feelings as he listened to the account given by Washington.

The pride he had felt in Eben's career was intensified, and he felt that the young Green Mountain scout would become one of the great heroes of the Revolution.

Allen was so broken down by his long and cruel imprisonment that he took a vacation and retired to Bennington to recuperate.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII.

BEVERLY ROBINSON'S OFFER.

As though the colonies had not enough work on hand in fighting the great power of Britain, they must needs quarrel among themselves, or at least New York picked a quarrel with New Hampshire over the t.i.tle to Vermont.

Vermont was more than ever determined to remain independent of either New Hampshire or New York, and Ethan Allen admired the st.u.r.dy spirit of his mountaineers.

He was urged to take command of the Green Mountain forces, and he consented, writing Gen. Washington and telling him how he regretted the necessity of staying at home instead of entering the army of emanc.i.p.ation.

Washington replied in a friendly letter, reminding him that he deserved a rest after his trials, and also telling him that a man's first duty was to his own people and country.

Acting on this letter, Allen applied to the Congress for the admission of Vermont into the Confederation of States; but the rivals of New York and New Hampshire were too powerful in the councils of the new nation for Allen, and Vermont remained outside, a debatable territory.

Ethan Allen was sitting by the great, open fireplace in his house one evening in the early fall, when a visitor was announced.

"You have forgotten me, Col. Allen?"