inous had Allen but known it.

Jacques was telling a hunting story and raised his voice at a most
exciting point, when the door was quickly opened and a dozen soldiers
from the neighboring garrison sprang into the room and demanded the
surrender of the party.

It was impossible to decline the unpleasant invitation, for at each
head was a pistol.

As Allen raised his head and looked at the door, he saw the pseudo
guide, grinning like a hyena, and in a voice which was very English the
man emphasized his laugh by saying:

"Ha, ha, ha! trapped! I have followed Ethan Allen all the way from
Ticonderoga, and waited until I could be sure he would be hanged. Now
I denounce him as a spy!"

CHAPTER XXV.

DIPLOMACY.

"You denounce me?"

"Yes, I say that you are Ethan Allen, the man who surprised the
garrison at Ticonderoga."

"Am I to understand that these soldiers have listened to the ravings of
a creature like you?"

The sergeant in command of the squad saluted Allen, and replied:

"I am compelled to obey orders. This man reported that he could lead
into ambush one Ethan Allen, and I was detailed to effect his arrest."

"Sergeant, I acknowledge that you have a duty to perform, but cannot a
merchant pass through Canada without being suspected of being a spy?"

"With that I have nothing to do; I must ask you to surrender."

"The asking is compulsion. With a pistol at each head, how can we do
anything else but surrender?"

Allen wished to delay surrender as long as possible, for he was a firm
believer in the doctrines of possibility, and a chance of escape might
present itself.

The sergeant laughed at Allen's question.

"It does look like surrender or death, but my orders were to take Ethan
Allen, dead or alive."

"Is he then so much feared?"

"If you are Ethan Allen it may be some consolation to know that he is
hated by the British authorities more than any man who has joined the
American rebels; and if you are not Ethan Allen, as I hope you are not,
then you may know that it is a great honor to be mistaken for such a
rebel."

"Logical, very. We are merchants in search of skins of a very peculiar
shade of color. We work for a customer who is willing to pay largely
for such skins--dyed ones will not do--and this fellow pretended that
he was French, could not speak English, and told my trapper that he
knew where we could get the skins. In all trust we followed. Now I
ask you: Is it likely th