is party were over the hill and had disappeared. The boy
dared not urge his horse up the ascent too rapidly and he lost much
precious time before reaching the summit. But once here he had a broad
outlook over the slope and plain beyond and if he could not be present,
at least he had an unobstructed view of the end of the chase. The Green
Mountain Boys had spurred down the hill madly and gained upon the sledge
so rapidly that the faint-hearted Yorkers were thrown into a panic. The
horses attached to the sledge gave out and one of them slipped and fell
in the harness. Instead of stopping to help Munro get the animal on its
feet, the horsemen, with the fear of punishment from the angry pursuers
before their eyes, rode on and scattered in the thick woods beyond,
leaving the doughty justice to meet the posse alone. Munro was not a
physical coward and he felt that with the majesty of the law--New York
law--behind him, he could face Baker's friends.

They bore down upon him with threatening cries, but he stood his ground
and warned them at the top of his voice neither to shoot nor to try to
rescue his prisoner. There was no need of firearms, of course, for they
were ten to one now. But they laughed his authority to scorn. What!
allow him to carry 'Member Baker to Albany to be tried by a judge who
was himself interested in land speculations, and by a jury antagonistic
to the settlers of the Grants? It was preposterous!

Baker, who suffered sorely from his wounds, was untied and placed upon
one of the horses which could carry double. The posse felt ugly, but
they did not harm the justice and after some wordy warfare rode away
again, leaving Munro to get his horse up and harnessed again to the
sledge without their help. His threats of future punishment for the
entire party were unnoticed. Their wild ride had been crowned with
success, for they had recovered their wounded comrade within a mile of
the Hudson River, and they took him home without any molestation.

But Captain Baker was weak from the loss of blood and terribly shaken by
the experience and was in bed and under the care of a surgeon for some
days. The news of the Yorkers' raid spread throughout the Grants and the
settlers whose fears had been lulled to sleep by the peace of the
winter, were roused to a realization of the fact that the land grabbers
intended to be quite as active in the future as they had been in the
past. The next training day the conversation of the