ood-sled to Dobbin. He spent one night at a farmer's on the road, and
was welcomed at supper time the next evening at the Lewis house.

"Zuckers!" exclaimed Lot, running out to drag his friend off his horse,
"I tell ye, I'm glad to see ye! And so'll marm be--if the young uns
don't bother her too much. There's three Lewis young uns, too, besides
the baby, and I tell ye, they're a wild lot. I'd rayther tackle them
wolves that you'n Crow Wing got mixed up with last winter. Seen the
Injin since?"

"Not since I sent him home with more money than he had ever seen before
in his life," replied Enoch.

"Very foolish of you! We might have had some of his pelts just as well's
not."

"You don't mean that, Lot," said Enoch, who knew that young Breckenridge
talked a deal more recklessly than he really felt.

"Well, never mind all that," said Lot. "Tell me the news. What's goin'
on 'tother side the mountings? Did ye know that lots more red-coats had
come to Boston? And they say--leastways, a pedlar that come through here
told us so last week--that the Boston folks have got a lot of guns and
ammunition stored in the country towns and the minute men are drilling
day and night. Do you s'pose there'll be war there, Nuck?"

"If the Massachusetts people feel like we do here in the Grants,
there'll be fighting," said Enoch, his eyes flashing. "What d'you
suppose would happen if troops were quartered on us?"

"I'm goin' to Boston if there's a fight," declared his friend. "Mr.
Lewis says I can. He's a nice man--marm's second husband--and he's
strong for the Grants, too. He's got a Hampshire title. But there's lots
of Tories around here. The court's goin' to sit next week an' there'll
be trouble then, mark my word. Lots of the cases these Tories have
hatched up against our people are goin' to be tried, an' the Whigs ain't
goin' to stand it. Judge Chandler ain't so bad a man; but Judge Sabin
and the others are dead set ag'in all our folks. They say the sheriff
has sworn in a big lot of deperties. Mebbe you'll see some fun before
you go back to Bennington, Nuck."

As Lot's idea of "fun" was pretty sure to be a scrimmage of some kind,
it can be easily seen how strained the relations were then between the
Whigs and the Tory court of the district. Whereas Tories and Whigs had
lived at peace before, now they became bitter in controversy and even
families were divided upon the questions of the hour.

Enoch found Lot's stepfather to be a very