reen Mountain leader. "We're arrived at last.
'Twas like a task of Hercules to get here. And the night is already far
gone. Where are your boats, man?"

"The bulk of 'em are right here, Colonel. We ain't got what I wished;
but we've taken 'em from friend and foe, and here comes the last of my
boys with Major Skeene's big raft and, if I ain't mighty mistaken, with
a bag o' charcoal aboard that must ha' caused 'em consider'ble trouble."

The voice of the negro, who was the property of one of the wealthiest
royalists on the lake, became more and more vociferous as the bateau
approached the shore. "Wot de goodness youse shakaroons doin' yere? We
ain't goin' land yere--no, sir! Dis ain't no place fur us. Who yo' t'ink
capen ob dis craft, anyway?"

"Oh, come along, old man! we wanter see ye!" shouted Bolderwood from the
shore. "We won't eat ye up."

"Dis ain' no place for us, I tells yo'!" cried the darky, and as the
outline of the bateau and the objects upon it were now visible, they
could see the whites of his rolling eyes. "I ain' got nuttin' ter do wid
yo' shakaroons."

"Come on, there!" shouted Allen. "Gag that black rascal if he doesn't
talk less and use his sweeps well."

"Who dat say fur ter gag me?" demanded the black, his teeth chattering.
"D'you knows who I is, sah? I'se Major Skeene's nigger, an' dis Major
Skeene's bateau, an' we gotter load o' freight fo' de castle."

"We've got another sort of freight for you, my man," said the Green
Mountain leader. "So come ashore here and have no more words about it."

"But dese yere gemmen say dey goin' fishin' an' git me ter lend 'em
passage!" cried the darky, in despair.

"And so we are going fishing," cried Ethan Allen. "And you shall go,
too, my black friend. But it will be different fishing from any that
you've experienced before. Out with you, now!" he added, as the bateau
grounded on the shore. "Get that freight off, men. What boats we have we
must use at once. Perhaps they can be returned for another party to
cross after us. I'll never forgive myself if this oversight makes a
wreck of our expedition."

At that moment the man who, earlier in the evening, had crossed the lake
from the fort, came and spoke to Ethan Allen. The leader of the
Americans listened attentively, slapping his thigh now and again with
evident satisfaction as he heard the report of this faithful patriot
who, as Allen had previously said, dared enter the lion's jaws. He had
gone to Tico