The Hero of Ticonderoga Part 14

"You are rather previous, Sunderland."

"Not a bit of it. I say that the king has never done anything for us, and New Hamps.h.i.+re has betrayed us into the hands of the Yorkers."

"We will call ourselves the Green Mountain Colony."

"I think, if you will let me suggest, that if we are going to have a new name it should be a pretty one."

"Is not the Green Mountain Colony pretty?"

"Yes; but I have thought that Vermont--it means Green Mountains--would sound good."

"Nothing could be better," a.s.sented Allen, "so we will commence our deliberations with the declaration: 'We, the men of Vermont, in convention a.s.sembled'; that will place our name above controversy."

"I propose that Ethan Allen be our governor."

"Stay, that will never do. The king must appoint a governor, so we can only declare our desire to be independent of New Hamps.h.i.+re, and until the king accepts our independence we must nominally recognize Gov.

Wentworth as our governor."

It is not our purpose to give the proceeding of that convention _in extenso_, but this much we have given, in order that the whole country may know that the st.u.r.dy mountain boys talked of independence and liberty with spirit even before the Revolution began.

Warner stood on a chair and waved his hand for attention.

"I have heard," he said, "that Gen. Gates is pressing the people of Boston so hard that the English are getting themselves disliked in that city, and I should not be surprised if a rebellion was talked of."

"The sooner the better, say I."

"Yes; why should England govern us?"

"We are too far away. The king----"

"Leave his name out of the question. We can be loyal to him, even if we become independent as a new nation."

"We want no kings----"

"Silence!" shouted Allen; "I will not listen to treason to the king."

Warner continued:

"If the people of Boston talk of rebellion, so will the people of New Hamps.h.i.+re, and we Green--I beg pardon, Vermonters--we, too, can govern ourselves. Then, when two or three colonies show some spirit, New York will have to tackle us all, instead of a few mountaineers."

"That is for the future, Capt. Warner; what we have to think of is, are we going to protect our farms?"

"Ay, to the death!"

The sentiment was the occasion for such cheering as Bennington had never heard before.

"We will hold our lands, even if every man has to carry a musket when he plows the ground or sows the seed or reaps the harvest."

"Good for you, Warner! Now, then, let us have a good militia."

Every man present enrolled his name on the list, and a very excellent start was made to form an army to defend the farms.

The district was divided into two parts, the northern part of the New Hamps.h.i.+re grants being under the command of Allen, the southern under the guidance of Warner.

Rules were laid down for the guidance of the mountaineers, and as good a system of government was inaugurated as existed in New Hamps.h.i.+re itself.

The strongest contingent of militia was sent with Allen to the north, for it was thought that the next attempt of New York would come from the Champlain section instead of Albany.

Everywhere Ethan Allan was received with open arms.

The farmers had reclaimed the lands from the mountain sides, and made them fruitful, and it was extremely hard that they should be turned from their farms without receiving compensation.

Resistance was popular, and the men who had taken the lead in organizing the farmers were looked upon as heroes.

Allen had taken Eben with him, and the young lad was the most useful member of his staff.

Eben had all the faithfulness of a hound, with the sagacity of a trained scout.

He was invaluable.

In some of the districts it was necessary to conceal their ident.i.ty, for until the sentiment of the people was known treachery might be expected.

The reward offered for Allen was a large one for those days, and was a great temptation to the poor, struggling farmers.

So the leader had to be on the alert all the time, and Eben proved his usefulness by finding out all about the men before Allen made himself known.

The Green Mountain Boys camped on the sh.o.r.e of Lake Dunmore, and made the place their headquarters for the district.

Eben was returning to the camp one night when he was accosted by a lad about his own age.

"You're a stranger about here, eh?" said the lad.

"Yes; just looking about."

"Oh, from New York?"

"No, I come from New Hamps.h.i.+re."

"So did I. I used to live in Concord. Ever in Concord?"

"Many times," answered Eben.

"Then we ought to be friends. Looking for work?"

"Partly. My folks want a good grant somewhere, and I'm looking about for one."

"There aren't many good places now; most have been taken. They do say that a man called Ethan Allen is round stirring up the people so that he may get them their lands free."