CROWN POINT.
"Colonel, an army is approaching."
Ethan Allen at once thought that a regiment of English was about to try
and wrest the fort from him.
He was agreeably disappointed when he saw that the men were his own
Green Mountain Boys, led by Seth Warner.
Warner had been doing good work in Vermont, and, finding it
advantageous to join his chief, he had marched his men to Ticonderoga.
A warm welcome was accorded the captain and his men, and Allen at once
gave the command of the operations against Crown Point to Seth Warner.
The fortifications at Crown Point were erected at a cost of ten million
dollars, and up to that time had never a shot been fired from them.
Trusting to the strength of the stone barracks and the extensive
earthworks, England had kept only a small force at the fort, and at the
time of the capture of Ticonderoga only a sergeant and twelve men
composed the garrison.
Seth Warner was delighted at the honor conferred upon him by his chief.
Ethan Allen had a reason for keeping as strong a garrison at
Ticonderoga as possible, for he feared that Delaplace might try to
escape and perhaps recapture the fort.
Arnold was surly. He thought that Allen had lost confidence in him,
but Allen reasoned the matter with his Connecticut hero, and satisfied
him that no insult was intended.
Crown Point is about eleven miles north of Ticonderoga. The town
itself lies six miles away from the fort.
Seth Warner started on his march, his men highly elated at the prospect
of winning renown.
When about halfway they were met by a man dressed in the garb of a monk.
He carried a crucifix and a long staff.
His hair was white, and a long beard, which reached nearly to his
waist, was as white as driven snow.
Waving his staff above his head, he called to the soldiers to stop.
Warner had no great liking for monks, though he was honest enough to
respect every man's religion.
"What is it you would have, good father?" asked Warner.
"In the name of the ever true and good, I crave your assistance, and,
if you will grant it, I will give you my blessing, which is better than
rubies and more valuable than gold."
"In what way can we assist you, good father?"
"You are soldiers of liberty. Heaven will bless your swords, and you
will live to see the flag of the tyrant go down in the dust, and a flag
of a free nation will float over a free people. I am not allowed to
fight, or I would gird on a sword and smite me right and left until the
friends of the tyrant were all beneath the sod!"
"We thank you for your patriotic exhortation, but we have a mission to
fulfill and we must not loiter."
"The mission is one which will not fail; I know that you have captured
the strong fort at Ticonderoga, and that you will enter within the
fortifications of Crown Point, but will you assist me?"
"What would you have us do?"
"To the east of you, one mile and one hundred yards, stands a house.
It is a farmhouse. Its owner is no friend of the Provincials, and has
a captive whom he holds for ransom."
"A captive? Held for ransom? Explain yourself!"
"This farmer, fearing that the English might be driven out of the
country and that he would lose his possessions, because he is a great
worker for the enemy, did find a young girl, who was related to one of
the leaders of your holy cause, and he lured her into his house and
holds her as a hostage. Should the Provincials take possession of his
farm, he will kill the girl, so he says, and a man's word should be
believed, and therefore I did make a vow to rescue this maiden from the
grasp of the ungodly and restore her to her friends."
"Where did you say the farm was?"
"Tarry not, I beseech you, but travel to the east one mile and one
hundred yards, and you will come to a snake fence; cross the field and
you will see a house with a number of vines growing up its sides. Then
ask for Farmer Mervale, and you have the man who dares to imprison one
of the maidens the Lord loves."
Warner consulted with his friends, and they agreed that it would be
well to rescue the maiden.
"You will go with us?" asked Warner.
"Nay, my duty lies in another direction."
The monk started away in an opposite direction to that which he had
directed the army to take, and was soon lost to sight.
Then the men began to discuss his appearance and story.
"I do not believe him," said one.
"Yet he is a religious man, and therefore his word should be believed."
"He may be a spy."
"But why should he direct us to the farm?"
"The English may be in ambush."
"Then we must go, for, being forewarned we are forearmed, and shall
gain a victory."
This idea prevailed, and the Mountain Boys commenced their march to the
east.
When a mile had been traversed, as near as they could guess, Warner
sent a scout forward to reconnoiter.
He returned quickly and said that there was no sign of an ambush, but
the snake fence was there and the vine-covered house also.
"Go forward, Letsom, and find out all you can about the farmer and his
household."
The man was an excellent fellow for such a purpose, though Seth Warner
expressed a wish that Eben had been there, so that he might have gone.
Letsom returned an hour later.
"Farmer Mervale is a bitter Britisher," he reported, "and told me that
if any of the rebels came to his house he would know how to deal with
them. I asked him what he would do, and he replied that he would ask
them to dine and would poison their soup."
"The villain!"
"He further said that every rebel, as he called us, should be shot like
a rat."
"He is quite strong in his views."
"Yes, and one of his farm hands told me that a mad monk had been there,
and it would be a wonder if he were alive on the morrow."
"A mad monk, said he?"
"Yes, those were his words--a mad monk."
"Boys, you have heard the report; shall we beard this Britisher in his
home and find out if any maiden is imprisoned by him?"
A loud shout of assent rose from the Mountain Boys, and almost before
it died away the men were on the march.
Farmer Mervale was at the door, an old musket in his hand, waiting for
the "rebels."
"In the name of the king, what do you want here?"
Seth Warner answered:
"In the name of the Colonial Congress I demand the surrender of this
house for the purpose of a search."
"Search! for what?"
"Guns, ammunition or anything that may be useful to the cause of
liberty."
"Thieves! Whoever passes this door will have to do it over my dead
body."
"Farmer Mervale, we mean you no harm if you are innocent, but if you
are guilty then you must bear the punishment."
"Of what do you accuse me?"
Warner was about to equivocate and say that he believed arms were
secreted on the premises, but he was too open for subterfuge, so he
replied:
"We charge you with abducting and imprisoning a young maiden----"
"Ah! you have seen the mad monk?"
"Answer. Have you any maiden imprisoned on your premises?"
"If I had I should deny it, and if I have not I should still say that
you are impertinent and a rebel who ought to be shot down."
The farmer had his weapon pointed at Warner and was about to shoot him,
when his arm was knocked up from behind and the ball passed over his
intended victim's head.
Instantly the man was seized and bound.
The musket had been seized by the hired hand, who had been the cause of
the farmer's intention being frustrated.
"If you will let me join you I will fight for the cause of liberty,"
the man said, very earnestly.
"You must report to Col. Allen at Ticonderoga."
"I will go at once."
"Better stay with us and return when we do; we can vouch for your good
act."
The farmer changed his tone when he was bound and therefore helpless.
He cried out for mercy, declared that all he had said was in a joking
sense, and that he hoped the Provincials would win in their fight
against England.
"You coward!" hissed Warner. "I have a great mind to shoot you as an
example and a warning to others."
"Spare me! I am old and----"
"Old? Why, man, you cannot be forty. Search the house!"
In a few minutes the searchers returned, leading Martha Baker, who was
almost too weak to stand unsupported.
"Oh, Master Warner, I am so glad you came. I think I should have died
if I had stayed another day in this horrid house."
"Tell me your story, Martha."
"I was sent by my aunt to Farmer Mervale to arrange for an exchange of
eggs. You see, aunt had a lot of hen's eggs and Farmer Mervale had a
lot of duck's eggs, and the two wanted to exchange. When I reached
here the farmer asked me my name, and then if I was any relation of
Remember Baker, and I told him that I was his sister. Then he asked me
to go upstairs to help count the eggs. I did so, and the farmer told
me that he was going to keep me there, because if my brother attempted
to do anything to his brother, who was a soldier in Ticonderoga, he
would kill me. Then he tortured me by saying that he would poison some
soup and invite the rebels to dinner with him, and that when they had
all eaten heartily he would kill me before their eyes."
The farmer heard the girl's statement, and, instead of denying it,
declared it was all a joke, which, perhaps, it was, but it was cruel,
and the perpetrator of such a joke deserved punishment.
Warner ordered his men to strip the farmer to the waist and introduce
him to the "birch dance," as summary punishment was called.
Fifty good, sharp strokes across the bare back with strong beechen
sticks made Farmer Mervale wish he had been less fond of joking and
illegally imprisoning a girl.
Martha told how she had seen the monk, and had called to him through
the open window, telling him how she had been served, and also asking
him to let the Mountain Boys know of her detention.
How well the eccentric monk had fulfilled his mission we have seen.
It was rather late in the afternoon when the strong fort at Crown Point
was reached.
Seth Warner called to the sentinel who stood guard at the gate.
"Tell your commander that I must see him at once."
"I cannot leave my post."
"Spoken like a brave soldier. Surrender!"
"To whom?"
"To the army of the Continental Congress."
"I am a soldier of the king, and to no one else will I surrender my
gun, except my superior so wills it."
"Brave soldier. I shall be under the necessity of taking the gun away
from you by force."
The man fired the musket in the air.
That was a signal for the garrison to assemble.
Seeing a hundred men with Warner, the sergeant quickly raised the white
flag, and so, without the shedding of a drop of blood, two of the
strongest forts on Lake Champlain passed into the hands of the brave
men who were fighting for the liberty of their native land.
A garrison was left in charge of Crown Point, and then Warner marched
back to Ticonderoga.
Remember Baker was full of gratitude for the rescue of his sister, and
would have liked to meet Farmer Mervale at that hour, for the farmer
had got off too easily, he thought.