name would lessen the chances of a discovery, which might accidentally be made, perhaps, by referring to it before others by a proper designation. It was dug out by myself and my little boys, who took to digging as naturally as young foxes, and greatly assisted me. My neighbor below, however, aided me in the most difficult parts of the work; and in case of danger he is to occupy it with me." "But what were the immediate dangers you apprehended, that led you to so uncommon an undertaking?" asked the other. "For myself I might feel, perhaps, no apprehensions," replied the provident mother. "For my children, I feel differently. All parents, Captain, however brave they may be for themselves, are always cowards for their children. No real dangers, it is true, might beset us here for years; and then again, they might come like a thief in the night. To say nothing of the heartless Yorkers, who might burn my house, or turn us out shelterless into the snow to say nothing of the wolves that have been known, in the desperation of hunger, to attack folks in their houses to say nothing of these, which are sufficiently fearful for most people, what security have we, in these outposts of the settlement, even in times of peace, against a hostile visit from the Indians? But when, as now, the rumors of war come floating on every breeze, that danger is daily increasing. The sad experience of my father's family, who were half slain by these hellhounds of the wilderness at the outbreak of the last war, has taught me the wisdom of precaution. In peace they are even to be distrusted; and the first rumor of war that strikes their ears will put them to whetting their knives for slaughter; while they are sure to anticipate the coming contest by striking the first blow on the defenceless families of the frontiers. Now with these views, is it strange," she added with a smile, "that the mother of nine children, with but one neighbor within miles of her, should foresee the evil and hide herself ? ” "Surely not," replied Warrington, struck not less by the forcible language of the woman, than by her prudent forecast; you are right in believing that the storm of a new war is gathering over us; and if you think of remaining here, these precautions are but the part of wisdom, as we know not when or where the storm may burst. But do you occupy this retreat every night, now?" "We do." "You enter as we did, taking your children down the bank, I suppose ?” "Sometimes, but more generally by approaching from the Creek in my canoe, (which is kept hid in the bushes a few rods below,) lest by coming down the bank constantly, we wear a path, which might lead to a discovery of our retreat." "And you all lodged here last night, of course?” “Yes.” "Part of the mystery, then, stands explained - why should the rest be kept back?" "What is there more that you do not comprehend?" "The singing “Might have been my own, if you heard any. You never heard any of my lullaby performances before, I suppose?" said the woman, with an evasive smile. No, but I have once heard the performances of another, whose voice is not easily to be forgotten," replied Warrington, turning a keen, searching gaze on the slightly confused face of the widow. 66 as But "Warrington, Warrington!" said the woman, resuming a tone of seriousness, and intently reading the looks of the other; much as I hate deception, I wish I could have misled you. I saw by your disappointed looks, when you entered, and glanced around these empty apartments, that you expected to find here what you have not. And I now see, that you still have certain impressions, which I wish could have been done away. But as you seem bent on following up your clue, I will not attempt to mislead you. From what I have gathered from you and others, I have for some time secretly suspected the identity of persons yet supposed to be different, and that I have long known those whose present residence you have little dreamed of: Captain Warrington, there is indeed a rose-bud in this wilderness, which I should not have been displeased to see placed in your bosom. But seek it not now - there is a hedge about it too high for your leaping." "Where is she? I ask but to know where," enquired the other with impatient eagerness. "Not here, nor near here, now,” replied the woman; the secret is not mine to reveal: I have said too much already; so question me no further. But come, let us leave for the upper world," she added, rapidly leading the way out, and allowing the other no further chance to resume his importunities till they had gained the top of the bank. "But surely you will not leave the matter here, after informing me so far?" said Warrington, in an expostulating tone, as he perceived that the other seemed to expect that he would now depart. "For the present, I surely shall," replied the woman, decidedly; "you will urge in vain one who understands her duties to all! Go! your men await you-good morning, and God speed you in the cause of the settlers," and, imperiously waving her hand for the departure of her reluctant and tantalized guest, she suddenly turned away and disappeared in the forest. CHAPTER VI. "The sons of our mountains will sheath not the brand ONE of the most considerable openings in the wilderness in the northwestern part of the New Hampshire Grants, at the period of our story, was at the Lower Falls of Otter Creek, at the head of the lake navigation of that stream, and on, and around that fine and fertile swell of land, now occupied as the site of a pleasant and flourishing village, to which, as before mentioned, the more dignified name of city has long since been legally applied; though not without sometimes eliciting, probably, from the traveller, approaching the place with the expectations which the appellation would naturally raise, a feeling, somewhat akin, perhaps, to that which might be experienced on hearing the address of My Lord, applied to some urchin scion of nobility, at marbles, in his first jacket and trowsers. A pitch had been made on this spot, some years before, by one or more of the New Hampshire patentees, a saw and grist mill erected, and a large piece of forest felled, and partially cleared; when the whole tract, embracing the Falls and all the improvements, was purchased of some of the York land jobbers by one Colonel Reed. Reed had been the commander of a regiment of Scotch Highlanders, that came over with General Wolfe, and was engaged with his army in that memorable battle which gave Quebec and the Canadas to the British This regiment, having been subsequently disbanded, the Colonel, still continuing in the new world, and, in his intercourse between Canada and New York, becoming acquainted with the Vermont lands, entered into the speculations then going forward, crown. and made the purchase, as above stated. Finding his new purchase already in the occupancy of the New Hampshire grantees, and not inclining to be bothered with the delays of a civil process by the York authorities to put him in possession, what should this military land speculator do, but repair immediately to Montreal, and, collecting a file of his old disbanded soldiers, go on, armed and provisioned, to conquer and keep, and forcibly drive the occupants from the ground, taking possession of the mills, lumber, and all other improvements? After making ample provisions for continuing the improvement of his purchase, he left it to be managed and defended by the men who came on with him, placed under the command of one of his old fear-naught Highlanders, by the name of Donald McIntosh, formerly a brave and trusty sergeant in his regiment, to whom he now delivered written military instructions, setting forth the manner in which the improvements were to be conducted, and the post defended against any, or all, who should offer to intrude on the premises. The Colonel, being a shrewd man, and a close observer of character, national as well as individual, and well knowing that the inherent respect of Scotchmen for discipline, and the orders of a superior, would ensure him more determined defenders of his possessions, as well as more faithful laborers in their improvement, than all the rewards, bribes, or other inducements he could offer, had thrown over the whole transaction the appearance of a military service. And, hiring his men at the monthly compensation they had formerly received as soldiers, and terming it an enlistment during the war, and conducting them to their post under the discipline to which they had been accustomed in the army, he had the address to make these men, not the most intelligent, certainly, honestly believe that they were acting under their old commander, in a military capacity only, and were really in the service of the king, to whom this settlement, they were told, was in a state of rebellion. And right faithfully and rigidly did the straight-going Donald, ever continuing to act under these impressions, execute the trust committed to his charge. Immediately proceeding to throw up a large log-house, and enclose a yard around it with a heavy, compact fence of hewn timber, he soon gave the post such an impregnable and threatening aspect as effectually deterred the former occupants from attempting, with any force they could rally in the neighborhood, to dislodge the intruders. And, after watching awhile, and seeing no diminution of the strength of their antagonists, or relaxation of their caution, these ejected and plundered settlers, who happened to be among the less spirited of their countrymen, at length pretty much relinquished the hope of regaining their possessions, except in a favorable termination of the negociation still going forward at intervals between the settlers and the government of New York. In this manner, for nearly two years, did the minions of Reed hold and manage these valuable possessions, clearing land, raising crops, and exporting lumber and other products, without being at all molested by the settlers, or the attending circumstances being known, indeed, to those who had exercised any general agency in resisting the aggressions of the Yorkers. At length, however, the tranquility of the intruders became accidentally endangered. Ira Allen, the Green Mountain Metternich of after times, and one of the cabinet council of those we are describing, coming through this section, on his return to his residence in Bennington from an excursion to the Winooski river, sought lodgings on a stormy December night at the quarters of McIntosh and his men a call which came near costing the former his life at the outset for, while he was unsuspectingly knocking for admission, the wary Scotchman, who had been accustomed to consider all his foes, who did not give the watchword, noiselessly opened the door wide enough to protrude one arm, and made several desperate lunges at his body, hit or miss, with a naked sabre. Providentially, however, the weapon, missing the body, only wounded the great coat of the traveller, who, at last succeeding in making the other believe that he wanted nothing more than a shelter for the night, was now admitted, and entertained till next morning. This singular reception, as well as the odd and warlike appearance of every thing connected with the establishment, awakened the curiosity and excited the suspicions of Allen, who, from the information he obtained by pumping the cautious Donald, and making inquiries of the settlers before leaving the vicinity, returned home in possession of the full history of the case. And the consequence was, that before many months, a small band of Green Mountain Boys came on from the south, and finding no one about the premises, were proceeding to clear the house and yard of all they contained; when the occupants, who had been at work in the woods, returned, and after holding a council of war a short distance from the house, made such a furious charge with fixed bayonets on the new comers, that they, little dreaming of so warlike an onset, were fairly routed from the works, and were compelled to decamp amidst the victorious shouts of the elated Highlanders. Chagrined and vexed an the result of this attempt, the Green Mountain Boys, early the next spring, set on foot |