el Easton,
stick to him; the Green Mountain Boys shall hang to the tail of Colonel
Allen's coat, and the Stockbridge men may follow Colonel Arnold. That
makes three bands of us. Now, mark you, lads, there are three sides to
that 'ere fort--one apiece. Let us meet here at whatever hour you will,
and then start on the minute, each troop taking a different course, an'
them who arrive first an' capture the fortification, gets the credit."

"But we are needing what Colonel Arnold brought with him," someone
cried.

"Ay, and you would have heard me fix that if you'd waited. Where did
this 'ere Massachusetts Committee of Safety get these munitions of war
an' this money? Why, they got it out of the province, of course. And
where did we come from? Why, we come from the province of Massachusetts,
of course. Then who does this money and these munitions of war belong
to? Why, they belong to us, of course. Now, as near as I have heard,
there are only fourteen following Colonel Arnold. How long will it take
us to lay our hands on all that stuff? Then I guarantee that Colonel
Easton--for if he wants me to do it I'll help him in conducting the
campaign--will march straight through an' take Ticonderoga before you've
had time to say Jack Robinson. Never mind what the Green-Mountain Boys
do, an' as for the Stockbridge men, they ain't enough for the countin'."

The advice which Corporal 'Lige had given met with the unqualified
approval of all whom he addressed, and instantly shouts were raised in
his honor until those recruits who were not in the secret looked about
them in alarm and dismay as if fearing an attack.

Isaac was frightened, of that there could be no mistake.

It seemed to him as if an immediate and unquestionably dangerous
encounter could not be prevented, for already were the men hanging about
Corporal 'Lige in a dense body as bees hang about their queen when
swarming, all urging that he lead them on to wrest from the Stockbridge
men the property which he had proven did not belong to them.

Isaac glanced this way and then as if trying to determine in which
direction it would be safest to flee, but at this moment his eyes fell
upon a lad of about his own age, who had come in from the highway and
was staring about him in perplexity.

CHAPTER V.

NATHAN BEMAN.

In his fear and trouble it seemed to Isaac as if this stranger might
render him some valuable assistance.

It was as if he stood alone amid the recrui