The Hero of Ticonderoga Part 39

"Nay, my dear Allen, do not let that irritate you. We shall soon make common cause, and instead of the colonies we shall have a nation, and we shall be citizens, not subjects."

"Citizens!" Allen repeated.

"Yes, mark me. If the colonies become a nation there will be a free government based on equal rights, and none will be subject to another, but all be equal before the law."

Montgomery saw more clearly into the future than did even Was.h.i.+ngton.

When the Congress was over, and Was.h.i.+ngton commenced his work of creating an army, Allen returned home, somewhat disappointed.

He had expected a commission in the new army, but his name was pa.s.sed over by Congress.

It was afterward proved that the omission was the result of inadvertence, for it was supposed that he had a commission from the general in command of the Colonials at Boston, and the order was made confirming all such commissions.

The summer was pa.s.sing, and no action had been taken.

Allen was getting weary of the delay.

He could not understand why Boston had not been taken and the English driven out. Then he heard that Benedict Arnold had received a commission, and was leading an army into Canada to attack Quebec.

In despair Allen left his home and crossed to Ticonderoga, determined to offer his services to the Connecticut captain who was in command of the little garrison.

He was sitting on a gun on the day of his arrival on the scene of his great exploit, when a boy, dirty, ragged and half starved, entered the fort and stood opposite Allen.

"Don't you know me, colonel?"

"Is that you, Eben?"

"Yes. I am Eben Pike, and right glad I am to see you."

"How did you enter? Where have you been?"

Eben did not answer. He was too weak. His body swayed, his limbs trembled, and he would have fallen had not Allen caught him.

As gently as a mother carries her child, the hero of Ticonderoga bore the half-famished boy into the barracks and asked that he should receive attention.

The boy was undressed and washed, then little sips of beef tea were given him.

In an hour he showed signs of returning vitality, and they knew that he would live.

"He left here a month ago," explained the captain; "I sent him on a delicate mission, knowing that he could be trusted. When he did not return I thought him dead."

"You knew I should be true to the cause then?" whispered Eben.

"Yes, my boy; no one would ever doubt your loyalty. You shall tell your adventures later. You must rest and get stronger."

"But I have news I must tell. Gen. Montgomery is on his way to Ticonderoga to join Arnold in his invasion of Canada. He will be here to-morrow."

The speech was long for him, and his flushed cheek and quivering voice told how the message had shaken his frame.

Late that night he woke from a good sleep, and seeing Allen by his bed, he put out one hand.

"I am so glad to see you, colonel. I feel all right now. I thought I should die without seeing you."

"Where have you been?"

"I cannot tell you all, but when I left here I fell into the hands of a tory, and he knew me. He called me a spy, and wanted to hang me, but before he could get a rope a new idea came to him. He called some more tories together and they laughed at his suggestion. He wanted to cover me with tar and then set light to it."

"His name? I will serve him that way."

"The tar was poured all over me, and my clothes were saturated with it.

But when he went for a light to set me on fire, his little boy, a sweet little fellow, ran from the house and called 'fire,' and just then a flame did break out through the windows. The tory thought more of his house than he did of me, so I ran away as fast as I could."

Eben rested after telling that adventure, and it was more than an hour before he could resume his narrative.

"I ran as fast as I ever did in my life, and, as bad luck would have it, I fell into the hands of some English soldiers. They did not know me, and thought I was some ignorant country lad, so I fared pretty well, and only stayed with them two days. When they broke camp they insisted that I should go with them, and as I had told them I was going in the very direction they intended going, I could not help myself."

"You were in hard luck."

"Yes, but that was not the last of my adventures, for I was recognized by another tory, who had been birched by some of our men for his treachery. He claimed me as his prisoner, and to get me had to swear that I was his apprentice, who had run away."

"And of course the soldiers gave you to him?"

"Yes, and a nice time I had of it. The farmer stripped me and then gave me fifty strokes with a strong cane----"

"The villain!"

"But that was not the worst. He threw me naked into a cellar and kept me without food until I began to lose my senses, and then he gave me these old clothes and some food. I managed after a long time to escape, and for a week I wandered about the woods, living on what I could pick up, until I managed to reach here. I dare not go to a house, for the tories were searching for me, and I was afraid to even jump into the river for fear that I might be seen and have no chance of escape."

"Poor fellow. So you failed in obtaining the information for which you set out."

"Failed? No, I got it, and though it is a trifle late, I find it is in time."

Col. Hinman was so pleased with the thoroughness of Eben in everything he undertook that he sent a special dispatch to Gen. Was.h.i.+ngton, commending Pike as one of the best scouts and secret service officers any country could produce.

Hinman tried to persuade Ethan Allen to join him, but the Green Mountain hero wanted more stirring work than could be found in a fort which might never be attacked.

The news that Montgomery was near the fort was sweetest music to him, and he resolved to unite with his army, even as a private soldier.

CHAPTER XXIII.

FORAGING.

Eben's news was in every point correct. Gen. Schuyler had been stricken down by sickness, and Montgomery a.s.sumed command of one of the armies of invasion.

Allen went out to meet the Irish general and received a warm welcome.