ep the court from sittin'. They'll
sure be trouble if the Tories bring our people before the court. We
can't git no fair trial, so we won't be tried at all."

Enoch was very silent on the way back to Lot's house. The shock of
seeing Simon Halpen again after all this time, had stirred the youth
greatly. Despite the fact that the villain was so far away from the
Walloomscoik, and would probably not dare go near Bennington, Enoch
could not help feeling troubled by the circumstance of his presence
within the borders of the Grants. And he was glad that 'Siah Bolderwood
had promised to remain at or near the Hardings' home while he, Enoch,
was at Westminster.

Under Lot's advice the two boys said nothing of the little scene at the
inn and the next morning Mr. Lewis went with other stable men of the
town to call upon the justices who would preside at the court when it
met. The feeling between Whigs and Tories was so strong that all
peace-loving men feared bloodshed. At the first blow a terrible civil
war might begin--a war in which neighbor would engage with neighbor and
the community be utterly ruined. And if the court sat and tried the
cases against those settlers who refused to purchase New York titles to
their lands, or to leave their homes at the order of the sheriff and his
deputies, the battle would begin. Nobody could doubt that.

Despite the fact that the offices were held by the Tories, the Whigs
were greatly in the majority. And this majority declared the will of the
people should be upheld, and that will was that no court should sit
until matters quieted down and the heat had gone out of the political
veins of the community. They presented this matter strongly to the
judges and warned them of what might be expected if the court undertook
to sit at Westminster. Although staunch Tories, the judges were
impressed by what was told them by the committee; Justice Chandler,
indeed, gave his word that nothing should be done toward convening the
court until time had been given the people to cool down. It was
promised, too, that the sheriff and his men should not be given a free
hand in the town.

With these assurances from Judge Chandler the committee of Whigs
returned. To make sure that the sheriff, who with his men were spending
every day and night at the Royal Inn, did not seize the court-house in
defiance of the people's will, the Whigs sent a guard to that building
on the evening of the 13th--the day before that set