DEFIANCE.
"We will soon settle that. Men of New York, in the King's name I call
on you to arrest Ethan Allen, rebel and traitor. Kill him if he will
not submit."
The sheriff's posse rushed forward, and Ethan stood in the doorway,
unarmed, and calmly said:
"The moon is at the full."
Instantly the Green Mountain Boys filled the room.
They came from all sorts of hiding places and all were armed.
The sheriff fell back, but only for a moment.
Advancing again, he asked:
"Do you intend to resist by force?"
"I do. I shall fight for my home against the governor of New York--ay,
against the king himself. Stand back! You have no warrant for my
arrest and no writ of dispossession."
"I had, but I have been robbed,"
"A likely story that. If it is as you say, then you are not a fit
person to be a sheriff."
"I own I was careless, but that will not help you."
"I shall not surrender without a writ."
"But you will be a prisoner, anyway, for there is a warrant out for
your arrest as a rebel and a traitor."
"Was that stolen, also?"
"Mine was but a duplicate; the original has been sent by the hand of
Sheriff Alston."
"Where is he?"
A man stepped forward and announced himself as Alston, a sheriff duly
appointed by Gov. Tryon, of the Colony of New York.
"It is enough."
"You surrender?"
"No, by heaven, no! The Yorkers have no power over me. I hold my farm
from New Hampshire, and only to the governor of New Hampshire will I
relinquish it."
"Then we shall use force."
"So shall we."
"It is treason."
"It is loyalty to my country. Boys, these men are crazy; they are so
because the moon is at the full."
Instantly the Green Mountain Boys were ready to resist any attack.
The sheriff gave the order to fire.
Both sides obeyed the sheriff, and a blinding smoke rose from the old
muskets.
No one was hurt, for neither side liked to be the first to shed blood.
Another volley was fired, and one of the defenders was wounded.
At the word they rushed out and threw themselves on the sheriff's
posse, and, with muskets clubbed, they drove the Yorkers back, breaking
many a head and inflicting more damage than they received.
The Yorkers rallied and loaded their muskets.
Sheriff Merrit, with a courage worthy of a better cause, addressed his
men.
"Yorkers, we must have the body of Ethan Allen, dead or alive. We must
quell this revolt against lawful authority. Will you follow me?"
"Ay, to the death!"
"The courts have decided that the land belongs to New York; the king,
God bless him! has confirmed the decree, and opposition to it is
treason. Ay, treason, which our king has called upon us to stamp out.
Are you ready?"
"Ay, we will give our lives for the king."
Ethan Allen knew that the very name of the king was sufficient to
strike awe into the minds of the people.
At that time the king was looked upon as the anointed of Heaven, and
only the boldest would dare to say a word against him.
Allen was too democratic to look upon George as infallible, and to him
he was only the head of the nation, and no better than any other man.
But the mass of the people had not shaken off their Old World ideas of
royalty.
"Boys, it may be that his majesty has confirmed the decree," said
Allen, "but he was misinformed, and when he hears from our own
governor, the governor from whom we hold our lands, he will change his
opinion and secure us in our titles. Until then shall we defend them
ourselves?"
"Ay, to the death," answered Seth Warner.
"Then load your guns, and let us drive back these Yorkers into their
own colony."
The Green Mountain Boys fell into line, Ethan Allen and Seth Warner in
front, and in that order they marched against the sheriff's posse.
Volley after volley was fired, and several on each side fell wounded,
some fatally.
Back fell the Yorkers, and still onward went the gallant boys under
Allen's lead.
Allen thought the march too slow, and he gave the order to go at double
quick.
The Yorkers had but little time to load their muskets, and they had not
the quickness possessed by the mountaineers.
The unfortunate Sheriff Merrit many times tried to halt his men so that
they might pour a volley into the ranks of the mountain boys, but they
had become too demoralized to make any determined stand.
Merrit, with the courage which almost ennobled him, snatched a musket
from the hands of one of his men and, standing in the middle of the
road, took deliberate aim at Ethan Allen and fired.
The ball went wide of its mark, but the intrepid sheriff loaded quickly
and again attempted to fire, but he spilled the powder from his pan,
and the spark did not fire the musket.
Then he clubbed the weapon and rushed forward to meet the brave leader
of the Mountain Boys, and was within a few feet of Allen when he
tripped and fell.
His musket fell under him, and by some unaccountable chance was fired,
blowing off the top of Merrit's head.
The Yorkers were thrown in a panic by the sight, and ran faster than
they had ever thought possible until they were over the border and
considered themselves safe from pursuit.
The victory was with the Mountain Boys, but Allen feared that it would
prove dearly bought, for the laws were so strict at that time, and all
his party might be held responsible for the death of the sheriff, who,
being a king's officer, was sacred.
He gave the order to march back to their homes and see to the wounded.
Only one man died from the effects of his wounds, though others were in
a bad way.
Save for the attendance upon the wounded, the farmers of Bennington
might have thought the fight with and pursuit of the Yorkers only a
dream, so readily did they settle down to their farm duties.
Several weeks passed and no sign of any move was made by the Yorkers.
Ethan Allen had sent a full account of the affair to the Governor of
New Hampshire, by the hands of his brother Ira, but save for saying
that the account should be read carefully, the governor had taken no
further notice.
Seth Warner had a cousin in Albany, and he induced him to send regular
reports of the doings in New York, in so far as they effected the New
Hampshire grants.
And during all those weeks the news came that nothing was being done.
Ethan believed in the old adage that a quiet always preceded a storm,
and he held himself in readiness to meet it.
The Green Mountain Boys were drilled regularly, and the watchword was
looked for whenever any met the chosen messengers of the colonel.
Eben had proved himself very useful, but for several days he had been
away, and Ethan was getting uneasy about him.
July had come, with all its heat and unpleasantness, and still Eben was
absent.
That something had happened to him all believed, for he had never been
known to absent himself from his friends for so long a time before.
It was on the tenth of July that Eben craved entrance to the residence
of Ethan Allen.
"Where have you been?" asked the colonel.
"Do not be cross with me. I have only been doing what I thought ought
to be done. I have been in Concord."
"What have you been doing there?"
"Keeping my mouth shut and my ears open."
"And what have you heard?"
"Much that you ought to know, and I will tell you if you are not cross
with me."
"I am never cross with you, Eben."
"Then you are to be sent for to Concord, and will be sent as a prisoner
to Albany. Gov. Tryon says he will hang you as soon as you reach that
city."
"How learned you this?"
"Nay, should I tell you I might never learn anything more."
"When am I to be sent for?"
"The messenger is on his way. If you do as we would like you would not
go."
"Why?"
"Because the governor will purchase peace for himself by having you
hanged."
"Hush! there is some one even now at the door."
"Welcome, most worthy Talbot!" exclaimed Allen, when Assistant District
Attorney Talbot entered. "What brings you so far from Concord?"
"A message to you, Ethan Allen."
"To me?"
"Yes, from the governor."
"A message from Gov. Wentworth is always welcome."
"It may not be so in this case. I will explain. An application has
been made for your extradition by the governor of New York."
"Indeed! And what have I done?"
"You are charged with killing a king's officer and robbing him of
certain documents which bore the seal of the Colony of New York."
"Of both of which crimes I am innocent."
"And so the governor thinks, but he has commanded me to explain that it
is necessary that you return with me to Concord, there to satisfy the
court of your innocence."
Ethan looked at Eben, and the youth made a sign to convey that the
information he had given was correct and that treachery was intended.
"And if I decline to go?"
"You will not decline."
"I may."
"You must not."
"I may do so; what then?"
"Then I shall order you into arrest."
"And take me by force to Concord, and from thence to Albany?"
"If the governor so orders."
"Then go straight back to the governor and tell him that, with all due
respect to him and his authority, I will not go until I am ready, and
that if you attempt to arrest me I shall resist by force. I am a free
man, and by the grant signed by the governor I am free from arrest
unless the local tribunal so orders, and you cannot get any justice in
all the Green Mountains to order me into arrest. So go back and learn
that Ethan Allen can take care of himself."
"But that is treason."
"Call it what you like. I shall defend myself when the time comes, and
will never submit to tyranny, even from the governor of New Hampshire,
nor the king himself."
"But I must do as I am bade."
"Try to do so, you mean. Let me tell you that Ethan Allen is in the
right, and the governor is in the wrong, and I defy you and all the
power at your back."