THE END OF SIMON HALPEN
As they are to-day, the surroundings of Fort Ticonderoga were most
picturesque. Nor is the country about the fortifications, and across the
lake where the camp of Bolderwood's scouts was established at the time
of our story, and later where the Grenadier Battery was raised, much
more thickly settled to-day than it was then. Mt. Defiance, south of the
Lake George outlet on the west side of Champlain was a heavily wooded
eminence. Behind the scouts' camp a rugged shoulder of ground, later
called Mount Independence, raised its bulk out of the surrounding
forest. The formidable promontory on which the French had built
Ticonderoga twenty years before, commanded a great sweep of the lake.
For mere foot-soldiers, without artillery or explosives, to attack these
fortifications seemed utterly preposterous.
Where Bolderwood and his companions were waiting they had an excellent
view of the fort. At sunset the garrison was paraded and one gun boomed
resonantly across the calm lake. Just before it became too dark to see
the other shore, the Americans observed a man come out of the covered
way by which the fortifications were entered and approach the shore.
There was a light canoe moored there and into this he stepped and
paddled out into the lake, evidently aiming his craft for a cove near
the scouts' position. Bolderwood and his comrades were so deeply
interested in the maneuvres of this man that Simon Halpen was for the
time forgotten.
"We'll have to take that feller in and hold him for the Colonel to talk
to," suggested one of the scouts when it became apparent that the
stranger from the fort was coming ashore near at hand. "He'll see them
boats an' suspicion something."
"We'll meet him," said Bolderwood; "but I'm reck'ning that he'll be as
glad to see the Colonel as the Colonel is ter see him. I know that
somebody was over there in the fort to find out how the land lies and
what sort o' shape them red-coats is in, an' 'twouldn't s'prise me if
this was the chap."
They all followed 'Siah down to the cove--even Enoch--and met the
stranger as he came ashore. The latter seemed in nowise troubled by
seeing so many armed men and after mooring his canoe came at once to the
group of Americans. "Friends, I presume, sirs?" he asked, glancing
keenly from man to man.
"Reckon so," admitted Bolderwood.
"Where is Colonel Allen?"
"If you don't mind waitin' with us I shouldn't be s'prised if ye see him
'fore long," declared the long-legged scout. "Wanter see him
pertic'lar?"
"I do," the stranger admitted. "You are the advance guard of our boys, I
presume?"
"Well, as you don't know us, an' we don't know you, we'd better not
discuss private matters till we're interduced, as ye might say. I
sh'dn't be astonished ter see the Colonel come along here 'most any time
now."
"Very well, sir. I am at your service," was the response, and the
newcomer walked back to the camp with them. But Enoch had gone on ahead,
remembering that the captive had been left alone for nearly half an
hour. Suddenly his voice rose in a shout of anger and surprise. "He has
escaped!" cried Bolderwood, the instant he heard his young friend, and
plunged at once into the wood toward the spot where Halpen had been
tied. Truly, the spy was gone.
"The rascal was sharper than I thought," gasped the ranger. "And--and
what will Colonel Allen say?"
"That isn't the worst of it," declared the youth.
"Yes; you think it is worse that a villain like him should escape
without punishment. I doubt not that Ethan Allen would have hung him."
"He may have deserved hanging," Enoch returned, with a shudder. "But I
am not thinking of that. I fear that he will yet do us harm. If he gets
across the lake and warns the folks at Old Ti, I'll never forgive myself
for not sitting down here and watching him all the time."
"He sartainly should have been watched," admitted 'Siah. "But I didn't
b'lieve he had the pluck to git away. See here! The thongs are wet with
the man's blood. He must ha' cut himself badly."
"We must find him, 'Siah! If he secures a boat and crosses the lake the
expedition will be ruined. This man who has just come across declares
Captain De la Place knows nothing about our army as yet. But if Simon
Halpen reaches the fortifications----"
'Siah rushed back to his company and sent them to search the bank of the
lake. He ordered, too, one man to remain with each group of boats so
that the escaped spy might not secure one and get such a start across
the lake that he could not be overtaken. But it had now grown quite dark
and the scouts were unable to find Halpen in the vicinity of the camp.
'Siah was confident that he and his men had obtained every craft on this
eastern shore for miles up and down the lake, so he did not believe
Halpen could really get across to the fort in time to warn the garrison.
He was naturally too tender-hearted to wish to see the fellow hung to
the nearest tree, which might be his fate had Ethan Allen examined him
and found him guilty of spying upon the patriotic settlers.
Now that night had come and the darkness would have covered the
movements of the American troops, as the head of the column did not
appear, Bolderwood and his comrades began to fear that something had
detained their friends and that the attack upon Ticonderoga might be
postponed until the night of the tenth. How the fleet of bateaus and
canoes could be held in the vicinity for many hours without suspicions
being aroused as to their proposed use, was a question hard to answer.
The captain of the scouts sent two of his men out upon the trail by
which they expected Ethan Allen and the troops under him to advance.
Meanwhile Enoch Harding had not given up the search for the escaped spy.
He feared what the fellow might yet do to weaken or utterly ruin the
hopes of the American troops. Halpen was not armed, so the youth had no
fear of being attacked by him; but he spent his time creeping through
the brushwood up and down the lake shore, hoping to stumble upon the
Yorker. He did not believe that Halpen had gone far from the encampment.
Finally, in his wanderings, he came to the cove where the scout who had
spent the day inside the fort, had landed. The bateaus were on the other
side of the cove; the canoe the scout had used was alone in the shadow
of a big oak, although a sentinel watched the bateaus. This sentinel had
neglected to remove the canoe to his side of the cove and as Enoch came
down the hillside he observed something moving in the shadow of the oak.
A moment later, before he was really sure whether this something was a
man or an animal, the canoe left the bank. The trees threw their shadows
upon the water and it was almost impossible to observe the moving craft
clearly; yet he was pretty sure that there was a figure in it and that
it had been unmoored.
The youth was too far away to risk a shot; the sentinel was much farther
from the point of embarkation. If Simon Halpen had found and seized this
canoe it looked for a moment as though he would surely escape.
Enoch ran down to the edge of the water, but when he reached the point
at which the canoe had been moored it was almost out of sight. He could
not see the figure in the boat clearly enough to shoot. Indeed, he
shrank from committing what seemed like murder. Simon Halpen was
defenseless. "But he must not escape!" the boy exclaimed and started
around the shore of the cove. The fugitive kept the canoe within the
deep shadow of the trees which bordered the inlet. He did not paddle out
into the centre; there he might have been seen by the sentinel on the
other side.
The boy ran along the edge of the cove, stumbling over the tree roots
and fallen logs, yet endeavoring to follow the course of the canoe as
quietly as possible. There was a chance of his passing the fugitive and
reaching the mouth of the cove first. Then, he thought, Halpen would be
at his mercy. The better to do this unobserved he made a detour into the
woods and finally, after ten minutes of rapid work, came out upon the
extreme point which guarded the inlet. As he reached this place his
quick ear distinguished the splash of a paddle not far away. Straining
his eyes he soon observed through the gloom the canoe moving amid the
shadows. The spy had very nearly escaped from the cove. Once out in the
open lake it would be impossible to overtake him.
Then Enoch wished he had aroused his comrades; at least the sentinel
guarding the bateaus would have heard his cry and come to his
assistance. But now if the spy was to be stopped it must be by his
individual effort. Throwing down his rifle and removing his outside
garments, he slid into the water with scarcely a ripple of its surface
and finding the lake deep at this point, began to swim at once. The
canoe was almost upon him when suddenly, with a muttered exclamation,
the fugitive turned the craft by one swift stroke of the paddle and sent
it darting away from the shore. Enoch had been seen or heard, and Halpen
feared what was the fact--that one of his enemies was striving to
overtake him.
Enoch flung himself forward in the water and with a strong overhand
stroke took a diagonal course to intercept the canoe. He could see the
man bending to his paddle. Every stroke of the blade sent the
phosphorescent water flying about the frail bark. The next few moments
were of vital importance to both pursued and pursuer.
Enoch's plunge into the water had driven Halpen to paddle away from the
shore. Now he was heading the craft across the cove and therefore toward
the station of the sentinel. If he pursued this course for many rods he
would be within rifle shot. And once out of the shadow of the trees the
light on the water would make him an easy mark. To pass Enoch before the
latter reached the edge of the line of shadow was therefore Simon
Halpen's object.
But the American youth was determined that Halpen should not do this. He
was a strong swimmer and spurred by both the desire to recapture his
enemy and to save the cause to which he was bound--the capture of
Ticonderoga--he put forth every atom of his strength to overtake the
canoe. The paddle flashed first upon one side, then on the other of the
craft, which fairly darted through the water. But suddenly a hand and
arm rose from the lake and seized the paddle just back of the blade.
Enoch had dived under the surface and come up beside the canoe as Halpen
was speeding past.
"Ha! would you do it?" gasped the spy, striving to tear the paddle from
the youth's grasp. The canoe rocked dangerously. The man flung himself
to the other side and his superior strength wrenched the paddle away.
Not contented to use the instrument in an attempt to escape, however, he
tried to strike the youth with it. The canoe was all but overturned,
although its momentum carried it on, and once out of Enoch's grasp the
spy could have easily gotten away. Whether he recognized his enemy or
not, Halpen was inclined to deliver a second blow. He rose to do this
and Enoch, fairly leaping forward, seized the stern of the canoe with
both hands.
"Throw down your paddle, Simon Halpen!" he commanded.
"It is you, then?" cried the spy, now sure of the identity of the youth.
He aimed a fearful stroke at the boy's head. But instantly the latter
tipped the canoe first one way, then the other, and the spy, losing his
balance, plunged with a resounding splash into the lake!
The canoe turned completely over. This was not what Enoch wished, but
the shock of Halpen's fall was so great that he could not help it. The
boy's desire had been to pitch the man out, get in himself, and then
have the spy at his mercy. But chance--nay, Providence, for the man's
sins had deserved death--willed otherwise.
Simon Halpen could not swim. In falling into the lake he even lost his
grip upon the paddle. So, when he rose to the surface, he had nothing to
cling to, but struggled wildly and cried out in fear. "Help! I am
choking! I will drown!" His voice rose to a screech. An answering shout
came from the distant shore where the sentinel was stationed. But the
latter was too far away to render aid. If the spy was to be saved it
depended upon the efforts of the youth whose father had died under
Halpen's hand, and whose own life the scoundrel had twice sought.
At that fearful cry, however, Enoch launched himself at the sinking man.
His head was already under water when the boy reached down and seized
his collar. He brought him to the surface. The water gurgled from his
throat and he breathed again. Had he been content to abandon himself to
his rescuer then he would have been saved.
But terror rode him like a nightmare. He feared drowning; he feared,
too, the enemy whom he would have killed had he been able the instant
before. He could not appreciate the generous spirit which had prompted
Enoch to come to his assistance. He thought the boy strove only to force
him beneath the lake and he fought and screamed with passion and horror
of imminent death.
"Be still! be still!" cried Enoch, well-nigh overcome himself by the mad
actions of the man. "Lie quiet or I cannot save you. Be still!"
Halpen did not hear him; or, if he heard, he would not believe. He tore
himself from Enoch's grasp, and as the youth tried to seize him again he
struck out wildly and his fist found lodgment against Enoch's jaw. The
blow stunned the latter and he sank. Halpen strove to reach the
overturned canoe. It was too far away. He felt himself going down for a
third time and his lungs were already half filled with water. A fearful
scream rent the night--the last cry of a terrified soul going to its
end--and he sank. He never rose to the surface after that third plunge
beneath the lake.