Enoch went back to Bennington with some of Robert Cochran"s company.
News of the Westminster affair had preceded him and the Catamount Inn was thronged with earnest men discussing the matter and various other news-packets which had lately come from other colonies. War with the mother country seemed inevitable and Ethan Allen and men of his stamp looked forward to it not without some eagerness. It was not that they were reckless and irresponsible, or did not understand the terrible situation in which the colonies might find themselves should the mother country send across the sea a great army. But in the coming struggle they beheld the salvation of their own people and of the Hampshire Grants.
Therefore, perhaps even previous to this time, immediately following the Westminster Ma.s.sacre, these leaders had earnestly discussed the possibilities of war and what the Green Mountain Boys could do to further the cause of the colonies. On the sh.o.r.es of the beautiful lake which was the colonists" boast, were two of the strongest fortresses--or two which had been and could be made again the strongest--of the New World, Ticonderoga and Crown Point. At Old Ti were many stores and munitions of war and the place was held by a comparatively small guard of red-coats who had a great contempt for, and therefore small appreciation of, the valor of the colonials.
With these circ.u.mstances in mind Old Ti was already an object of the conferences of Vermont"s leading men. Possessing that fortress, Crown Point, and Skenesboro, the lake would be free of British and the way to Canada open; and at that early date it was strongly believed by the patriots that the French descendants of the early settlers of Canada would join the Colonies in their fight for freedom.
Young Enoch Harding did not see the leaders as he pa.s.sed through Bennington; but he was waylaid there a dozen times, and upon his road home, to satisfy the curiosity and interest of his neighbors in the Westminster trouble. Letters from Boston had roused them to the highest pitch, too. Nor were his mother and Bryce any less anxious to hear and discuss the news. Mistress Harding had lived within a few miles of Boston and felt a deep interest still in the people and the affairs of the Ma.s.sachusetts Colony. That a foreign soldiery should have been landed on her sh.o.r.es fired even this good and gentle woman with anger, and when Bryce said he"d go to Boston, too, along with Lot Breckenridge, if there was war, she did not say him nay.
But the Hardings had little time to waste upon politics. The boys had to drop the drilling soon, too, for it came ploughing and seed time. "Siah Bolderwood remained about the settlement rather later than usual that year; and mainly for the reason that public affairs were so strained. He said his own crop of corn which he intended putting into the lot near Old Ti upon which he "had let the light of day" could wait a bit, under the circ.u.mstances, for there might be occasion to "beat his ploughshare into a sword" before corn-planting time.
Therefore he was still with the Hardings that day late in April when Ethan Allen, riding out of Bennington into the north to carry a torch which should fire every farm and hamlet with patriotic fervor, reined in his steed at the door of the farmhouse. The children saw the great man coming and ran from the fields with Bolderwood, while the widow appeared at her door and welcomed Colonel Allen.
"Will you "light, sir?" she asked him. "It has been long since you favored us with a visit."
"And long will it be ere I come again, perhaps, Mistress Harding. I am like Sampson--I have taken an oath. And mine is not to rest, nor to give this critter rest, until I have spoken to as many true men in these Grants as may be seen in a week. The time has come to act!"
"Reckon I"d better be joggin" erlong toward Old Ti, heh, Colonel?"
remarked the ranger, leaning an elbow on the pommel of the saddle.
"You had, "Siah, you had. We can depend upon you, and those red-coated rascals there must be kept unsuspicious and their fears--if they have any--lulled to sleep. I have one man already who proposes to put his head in the Lion"s mouth and return--providing the jaws do not close on him--to tell us in what state the old pile of stone is kept."
"But what has started you out so suddenly, Colonel Allen?" demanded the widow.
"What! have ye not heard? There was a packet came from Boston yesterday."
"We have seen n.o.body this week," declared Enoch.
"There has been blood shed, friends," said the giant, earnestly, his eyes flashing and the color in his cheek deepening. "American freemen have been shot down like sheep in the slaughter!"
"Where? Who were killed? What was the cause? Who did it?" were some of the queries hurled at their informant by the little group.
"Fifty men, they say, were murdered. At Lexington, in Ma.s.sachusetts.
There were munitions stored there belonging to the militia. The British got word of it and marched from Boston to destroy the goods. They fired on our people at the bridge and when the poor fellows broke and ran they followed and potted them like rabbits! War has begun, friends. Nothing under the blue canopy can stop it now. American blood has been shed and I tell you it is but the beginning of the flood which must pour from our veins until these colonies are free!"
"Oh, Colonel! you do not believe that?" cried the widow. "Surely this trouble can be averted. Calmer and more honest men will gain control and prevail. War is an awful thing."
"True, Widow Harding. And well may you say it who have two sons to give for freedom. But mark my words, madam! Those two boys of yours will be needed, and if the Almighty spares them they will be some years older before either side in this controversy gives in.... Now friends, I must away. You know what is expected of you, "Siah. Young Nuck, you"ll be wanted at Bennington to-morrow."
"Oh, shall our people really attack Ticonderoga?" cried Kate. "The schoolmaster says that is the strongest fortress in the Colonies."
"Your schoolmaster is a bit of a Tory, I fear, miss," said Allen, smiling down upon her. "We shall have to "view" him if he tells such tales in school," and waving his gauntleted hand he rode swiftly away from the homestead.
"I am off at once, folks," said "Siah, beginning to make his pack for the journey. "I"ll see you up near Old Ti, Nuck, for the Colonel means business sure! We may have some such doin"s up there as your father and I had under Rogers and Old Put years ago."
He went away shortly and there was little the Hardings could do that day but talk over the wonderful news and let their fancy run upon the future. The widow saw that coming which she had feared for months, but she was cheerful. Nuck must go on this expedition to Lake Champlain, and she said it with unshaken voice. Bryce was to remain to guard the home, for there was no knowing what the result of the attack on Old Ti might be.
The alarming intelligence brought by Colonel Allen had its effect upon the younger members of the family as well as on the older, for late in the afternoon Harry came running to his mother with the information that there was a man lurking in the forest across the creek. The child had seen the stranger twice and being fearful that the man was there for no good purpose was much troubled. The older boys were in the field at work, but when the widow blew the horn Enoch came up to learn the cause, for it was not yet supper time. Hearing Harry"s report he seized his rifle and went to the creek bank, approaching the spot very carefully, for he feared at once that their enemy, Simon Halpen, might have dared follow him from Westminster.
He had scarcely reached the creek, however, when he was apprised of the ident.i.ty of the visitor. A head, in the black locks of which a tuft of eagle feathers was fastened, appeared above the bushes, and the next moment the person thus betrayed came out into full view and beckoned him. It was Crow Wing who had approached the Harding place through the forest. Enoch leaped into his own boat and paddled across, remembering the Indian"s promise the year before to visit him at some time for the purpose of examining the vicinity of the spot where Jonas Harding had been slain.
CHAPTER XVII
THE CLOVEN HOOF
The grave face of the young Indian brave was undisturbed by a smile as he greeted the white youth whom he had not seen for more than a year.
But he shook Enoch"s hand with an emphatic "Umph!" when the latter sprang ash.o.r.e.
"Crow Wing!" exclaimed young Harding. "I thought you had forgotten us in these parts. You"ve been away a long time."
"Umph! Injin no forget friends," remarked Crow Wing, sententiously.
"And you"ve come here to see me--"way from Lake George?"
"Umph!" was again the non-committal answer. "Harding and Crow Wing go hunt,--shoot deer? Crow Wing need new moccasins," and he thrust forward one foot on which was a ragged covering. But Nuck knew well enough the Indian had not traveled through the wilderness from Lake George merely for the pleasure of going on a deer hunt with him. But he said, doubtfully: "We"re pretty busy just now, Crow Wing. Can"t go far with you."
"Not go far. Plenty deer yonder," and he pointed in the direction of the lick where Jonas Harding had been killed. Nuck understood. "I"ll go with you. Will you come across and eat supper with us?"
But the Indian shook his head vigorously. "Will eat yonder. Have meat.
Harding get rifle and blanket. Will make fire."
He turned about instantly and plunged into the forest. Enoch was astonished by his manner and words, familiar as he was with the peculiarities of the red race. Crow Wing had never refused to eat with them before; he had always seemed to enjoy the "white squaw"s" cooking.
But Enoch had no fear that his one-time enemy was playing him a trick.
He paddled across the creek for his blanket, told his mother that he was going on a torchlight hunt, with whom he was going, and without further explanation returned to follow his red friend. He had noted the direction the young brave had taken. The way led directly to that little glade where, nearly four years before, he had spied upon Simon Halpen, the Yorker, and Crow Wing had driven him so ignominiously home. There was a fire here now, but the Indian was alone.
An appetizing odor of broiling flesh greeted the white youth, for it was already growing dark in the forest and Crow Wing was preparing supper.
Enoch did not open the conversation, but busied himself with making a couple of bark platters out of which they might eat the meat when it was cooked. He was anxious enough to broach the subject uppermost in his mind; but he knew Crow Wing better than to do that. Anxiety, or curiosity, were emotions which only squaws gave way to, and Enoch would not exhibit his feelings and so disgust his red brother.
Crow Wing was evidently a man of importance in his tribe now, and his gravity was far beyond his years. While they ate Enoch asked a question or two about his people, and if the decimated tribe, which had never recovered numerically from a scourge of smallpox, still resided near Lake George. He learned then that the Indians had struck their lodges and were journeying toward the northern wilderness. The old chief, Crow Wing"s father, was dead, and the youth himself aspired to be the leader of his people. From a word or two he let drop and from his manner of speaking, Enoch judged that the older men of the tribe had some doubt of Crow Wing"s ability to govern the braves; but evidently the youth had strong hopes of gaining their confidence--and that by some act in the near future. What his plan for advancement was, Enoch could not get his friend to tell.
"Why do your people leave the sh.o.r.es of the pleasant water?" asked the white boy.
"Injin not "lone there now. Red-coat come; then white farmer. Push, push; crowd, crowd; no game. Injin starve."
"And where are you going?"
"To the hunting grounds of the Hurons."
"But then there will be war between your people and the Hurons."
"No; no war. Hurons be squaws--children; Iroquois master "em. Then, war-hatchet buried between Hurons and Six Nations. Buried when French and Yenghese bury hatchet--long time "go."
Enoch, with more than curiosity, yet speaking in a careless manner, continued his questioning: "What would the people of Crow Wing do if there was another war?"
The Indian flashed a sudden sharp glance at him. "How could be?" he asked, craftily. "Yenghese got many red-coats--much gun. French no fight more."