Corporal 'Lige's Recruit: A Story of Crown Point and Ticonderoga

“I’m not willing to play the part of a savage,” he said, speaking slowly in order to give his words due weight. “Neither do I propose that they shall carry the message. We’ll take them with us.”

“And thus we shall be caused much delay,” Ezra Jones muttered.

“If they are wise we will travel as rapidly as when alone, and in case of a refusal to obey orders they can be shot, or left to starve, as easily half an hour hence as now. Besides, there will be much work at the oars ’twixt here and Crown Point, and they can do a little more than their share of it.”

Perhaps it was this last suggestion which caused the other two men to agree to the proposition.

At all events, no further objection was made, and Master Wentworth took it upon himself to direct the march of the prisoners.

“You are to keep half a dozen paces in advance, and take good care there is no loitering, or any attempt at giving us the slip,” he said to the boys, who yet lay upon the ground. “I do not propose that you shall be starved to death; but at the same time I would put a musket-ball into one or both of you without compunction, rather than suffer delay or escape. Now get on your feet, and move lively, for only by obedience can you save your lives.”

There was no disposition on the part of Colonel Allen’s messengers to run counter to the command which had been given.

Each knew full well that two of their three captors were in favor of leaving them to a most cruel death, which could be escaped only by prompt acquiescence to all the orders given.

Therefore it was they leaped to their feet quickly, and set forward at a sharp pace, when Jason Wentworth pointed out the direction to be pursued.

At this moment it was Isaac who suffered most in mind, for he knew full well that Corporal ’Lige would condemn him for not having the courage to face death rather than give information to the enemy.

Even though it was Nathan who had divulged what should have been kept a secret, the raw recruit knew in his own heart he had agreed that the information should be given, because of having made no protest.

If Seth Warner failed in his purpose, it would be owing in a certain degree to what had been told these men, and Isaac, who had hoped to win renown, if not glory, by enlisting, could charge himself with what was worse than a blunder.

On the other hand Nathan was not sore in mind because of the possibility that Crown Point might still be held by the king’s troops; but he had sufficient sense to understand that if he had retraced his steps along the shore to the trail, as Isaac proposed, this capture might not have been made.

Therefore, but in a different fashion, was his mental trouble as great as that of his comrade.

To the chagrin of both the boys they came upon the trail leading from the lake to Sudbury, after not more than two or three minutes’ traveling, and thus knew that if their halt had been delayed a very short time it might have been possible to have given these enemies the slip.

Once on the trail word was given to halt, and the three men held a brief consultation as to the course they should pursue.

One was in favor of going directly to the shore, where it appeared they believed a boat could be found; but the others insisted on keeping within the thicket until they were arrived a mile or more above the fort, lest, being seen, pursuit should be made by those who had captured Ticonderoga.

This last proposition prevailed, although there were many chances they might not find a boat further up the lake; but Jason Wentworth persisted it would be better if they make the journey entirely on foot, than take the risk of being captured before word could be carried to Crown Point.

On being commanded to push forward once more the boys obeyed readily, if not willingly, and during the hour which elapsed before they gained the desired point, Nathan and Isaac had ample opportunity for conversation, since their captors did not seem to be averse to their talking one with the other.

“Of course, we shall be held prisoners by the king’s troops once we are arrived at Crown Point,” Isaac ventured to say after they had traveled steadily, although slowly, onward for nearly half an hour, and young Beman replied in a petulant tone:

“That goes without saying, and it shows what a fool I’ve been in running around with those who would oppose the king’s will. If father is eager to ruin himself, that’s no reason I should be a fool, and I’d better have listened to mother.”

“Why speak of what has been done?” Corporal ’Lige’s recruit asked in what he intended should be a soothing tone. “I am not acquainted with the country as you are, neither am I so brave; but yet it seems as if we should be on the alert for a chance to escape.”

“Now you talk like a fool! How may we escape with these three men on watch, all of whom are willing to shoot us at the first chance we give them. I’m not minded to have a bullet put through my body; but would rather trust to the king’s troops, in the hope that after a time we may be set free.”

“Yet if we could give these men the slip?”

“You may be certain we shan’t have a chance.”

“Yet, suppose we did?”

“Why will you be so weak-headed, Isaac Rice? If this is really war between the king and the colonies, the lives of boys like us count for but little, especially since two of these men are eager to be rid of us.”

Isaac understood that it was useless just at this time to make any attempt at arousing his companion from the petulant despondency into which he had fallen, wherefore wisely kept silent; but at the same time was firmly resolved to be on the lookout for any opportunity of gaining his freedom.

His timorousness had fled before the thought that there might yet be a chance, he knew not how, of preventing the information of the fall of Ticonderoga from being carried to Crown Point.

The boy had in his heart just then what is commonly called courage, and his will was good, at whatever cost to himself, to repair the mischief which had been done.

He had hoped to animate his companion to the same pitch, but the failure to do this did not discourage him, and while obeying strictly the orders given, he was keenly aware of everything which might be of benefit.

He heard the men discussing what they would do in case of a failure to find a boat near by where they gained the shore, and learned that in such an event one of them would return to the landing-place to get the craft of which they knew, with the idea that a single oarsman would not be molested while pulling leisurely up stream as if bent on business of his own.

He also understood that it was the purpose of his captors, after warning the garrison at Crown Point, to muster a force of Loyalists from the immediate vicinity, and march into Sudbury with the idea of taking Captain Baker and his men prisoners before a second messenger should be sent from Ticonderoga.

There seemed little hope that such information could avail him, and yet he was in a certain degree elated because of having gained it.

On arriving at the shore of the lake, where the men had thought it possible a boat might be found, no craft of any kind was to be seen.

The wind still held strongly from the north, and Jason Wentworth announced in a tone of satisfaction:

“The rebels won’t get very far on their journey toward Crown Point this day, and I am mistaken if the wind doesn’t freshen after sunset.”

“It will be precious hard work for us to make our way against such a breeze,” Ezra Jones grumbled.

“Ay; but we can do it with four oars out, and even though we pull at them twenty-four hours, the labor should count as nothing so that we arrive in good time.”

“But the garrison there is weak?”

“They should be able to hold out until assistance can arrive. We can muster fifty men for them within two hours; but standing here talking isn’t doing the work, and it’s important we set off without unnecessary delay. Ezra, you go down the shore, and Matthew up, each searching for a boat, and when one has been found pull to this point, where I will stay with the prisoners.”

“Is it to your mind that I shall take the craft from opposite the fort, running the risk of being overhauled?”

“Better that than remain here wasting time in talk.”

Matthew White was of the opinion that it would be wisest to make the journey afoot rather than take the risk of being overhauled by the “rebels;” but to this Master Wentworth would not listen, and, he evidently being the leader of the party, carried his point.

The two men set out, and immediately after their departure Jason Wentworth ordered his prisoners back into the underbrush a short distance from the shore, where he stood guard over them, and at the same time could keep close watch for the return of his companions.

CHAPTER IX. A BOLD STROKE

Isaac’s heart beat hard and fast when he and Nathan were thus left with but a single man to guard them, for he believed the time had come when they might succeed in turning the tables, because surely it would be easier to overpower one than three.

In this, however, he soon came to understand that he was mistaken.

Had either of the others been left on guard it is possible something might have been done; but Jason Wentworth was not a man to be caught napping, and while he seemingly directed his gaze out over the waters, at the slightest movement of either of the prisoners he was on the alert against an attempt at escape.

Twice had Isaac changed his position in order to make certain the man was keeping close watch upon them when his attention was apparently directed elsewhere, and each time he saw Master Wentworth’s musket raised that it might be ready in case a bullet was needed to check the flight of his captives.

“You had better not try that again,” the man said warningly when Isaac shifted his position the third time for no other reason than to make himself more comfortable. “In a case like this your lives count as nothing, and while I am unwilling to leave you to starve in the woods, I shall not hesitate to kill either or both, therefore do not make any feint at giving me the slip lest my patience should become exhausted.”

After that Isaac was exceedingly careful, as was young Beman, to remain silent and motionless.

While Corporal ’Lige’s recruit was ready to encounter serious danger in order to accomplish his ends, there was no idea in his mind of risking life needlessly when there was nothing to be gained.

Young Beman lay face downward, as he had thrown himself when the halt was called, giving no heed to the conversation between his comrade and Master Wentworth, and Isaac believed young Beman intended for him to understand that he would take no part in an effort to effect their release.

An hour passed and nothing had been heard from the two who had gone in search of a boat.

It surely seemed as if they must have met with some mishap, and a great hope sprang up in Isaac’s breast.

When thirty minutes more had passed Master Wentworth’s face gave evidence of the anxiety which had come upon him, and he looked toward his prisoners with such an odd expression that Isaac Rice trembled, fearing the man was beginning to believe it would be better to do with them as his friends had suggested.

Then, when it seemed impossible for Jason Wentworth longer to control his impatience, Master White returned as when he departed, and having the appearance of one who had walked far and rapidly.

“You found no boat?” Master Wentworth said interrogatively, and the man replied, as he seated himself wearily near by the prisoners:

“I do not believe there is one this side of Crown Point. Most likely the rebels took good care to gather in every craft that was to be found within half a dozen miles of here.”

For the first time since the little party came to a halt did Nathan evince any interest in what was going on around him, and now he partially turned as if to speak.

Isaac, believing he was on the point of telling what he knew regarding the seizure of boats, covered the boy’s mouth with his hand, for he was not minded to give the enemy any information.

Master Wentworth observed the movement, and evidently would have demanded an explanation, but for the fact that at this moment Ezra Jones came up through the thicket, instead of along the shore.

His report was much like Master White’s.

The boat he had expected to find near the trail leading to Sudbury was missing, and he had continued on nearly two miles further, but without avail.

Again did hope come into Isaac’s desponding breast.

The boy had believed Master Jones would surely find the craft in which he and Nathan had crossed the lake; but fortune favored the “rebel” cause in that respect at least, for the man must have turned about, when, by continuing on a very short distance further, he would have come upon that for which he was searching.

“We must go on foot,” Master Wentworth said after a short pause, “and the sooner we set out the better.”

“It’s all very well for you, who have been resting here, to say that,” Jones replied petulantly. “I’ve been making a road through the thicket for a matter of five miles or more, and don’t propose to move again until after I’ve had a breathing spell.”

“Why didn’t you come back by the shore, as you went?”

“Because there are a hundred pair of eyes watching this side of the lake. I could see the rebels on the opposite shore before I gained the trail, and then it was necessary to keep well hidden in the bushes. Even though I had found a boat, it is doubtful if I should have been allowed to pull up this way, for Seth Warner and Ethan Allen are much too keen to let any one pass who is headed in the direction of Crown Point.”

“They are waiting for the wind to die away before setting out to take the fort, and if we would save it to the king it is time to be about the work,” Master Wentworth said half to himself, but his comrades gave no heed to the words.

Then ensued a long time of silence, and Isaac was well content, for each moment of delay lessened the danger, as he believed.

Thanks to the indolence of Masters White and Jones, it was nearly nightfall before they were ready to begin the journey, and then the latter intimated that he had recovered from his fatigue.

“If we fail to give the warning in time, you and White can take the fault to yourselves,” Master Wentworth said angrily, after which he ordered the prisoners on in advance once more.

“They have begun to quarrel among themselves, and perhaps our time will come before morning,” Isaac whispered to Nathan as they pushed on in advance, and young Beman appeared more willing to listen than when the subject was first broached; but yet he made no reply.

An hour later night had fully come, and the flying clouds so completely obscured the sky that it was difficult for the travelers to make their way even along the shore where was nothing, save here and there a point of rocks, to impede the progress.

More than once did the boys walk directly into the water, and twice Master White fell headlong over a fallen tree, despite all efforts to the contrary, and then it was Jason Wentworth who proposed a halt.

“We are not making two miles an hour at this rate,” he said in the tone of one who is offended with his companions. “We may as well stop where we are until it is light enough for us to see the way.”

Nathan and Isaac came to a halt immediately, and, ordering them to keep close by his side, the leader of the party sought for a camping-place amid the shrubbery.

It was not possible to make any choice selection while it was so dark that one could not distinguish objects a dozen paces in advance, and at the first cleared space sufficiently large to admit of the men stretching out at full length, Master Wentworth made his preparations for the night.

He ordered the boys to lie down; covered them with four or five saplings, and on the ends of these he and Master White laid themselves in such manner that the first movement made by the prisoners must awaken the captors.

It was the Indian method of guarding captives; but, owing to the absence of robes or blankets with which to cover the ends of the saplings, those who lay on the outside had a most uncomfortable bed.

Isaac, still on the alert for any advantage, observed, rather by sense of hearing than of sight, that Master Wentworth kept his musket close beside him, while the other two leaned their weapons against the bushes.

It seemed to Corporal ’Lige’s recruit as if Nathan Beman had finally come to understand that escape might yet be possible, for the latter prodded his comrade with his elbow from time to time, as if to prevent him from falling asleep, and Isaac returned the pressure with vigor.

Then, when it appeared as if fully an hour had passed, the heavy breathing of the men told that they were fast asleep, and Nathan whispered cautiously:

“These fellows ain’t so smart as I’d counted on. I’ve heard father tell how he outwitted the savages when they had him in the same kind of a trap, an’ I can work this if you’re ready.”

“Begin at once; there is no time to lose.”

Then it was that young Beman breathed loudly as if wrapped in profound slumber, and tossed about restlessly, all the while pressing against Master White.

Isaac did not understand the purpose of such maneuver, but he was content with knowing that his comrade had at last consented to make an effort toward escape.

More than once Master White partially awakened, and grumbled because of Nathan’s restlessness; but at the same moment he unconsciously moved aside slightly, and each time he did this the prisoners were so much nearer liberty.

Then came the time when Nathan whispered:

“He has at last rolled off the saplings, and I can crawl away without disturbing him. Are you ready to follow?”

“Yes. Can’t you get the muskets? Two are near our feet, and the other is by the side of Wentworth.”

“It is enough if we give them the slip.”

“If we get possession of the muskets they cannot send a bullet after us in case one awakens before we are well off.”

“I’ll try it,” Nathan replied as he began wriggling his body out from under the saplings, not daring to move in the direction of where Master White lay.

Isaac, literally trembling with excitement, followed his example, and it seemed to him as if half an hour had been consumed in the task, when really no more than five minutes were thus spent before the boys were on their feet and the men apparently still wrapped in slumber.

Even now Nathan would have made good his escape without an effort to secure the weapons, and pressed his comrade’s arm to intimate that there was no time to be lost; but Isaac, dropping to his hands and knees, crept toward Master Wentworth.

When the plan had so far succeeded that they were on their feet, a bold scheme came into Isaac’s head, and he believed now was come the time for him to gain the good opinion of Corporal ’Lige, if he should be so fortunate as to see the old soldier again.

Moving with infinite care, and giving no heed to what Nathan might be doing, the boy crept to Master Wentworth’s side, and it was with difficulty he repressed a cry of exultation as his fingers closed over the musket.

Cautiously rising to his feet, and at the same instant assuring himself the flint was in place, but forgetting that he had no powder with which to prime the weapon, Isaac stepped back to where he had left his comrade.

Nathan was no longer there, but from a short distance away came a slight rustling of the foliage, and Isaac waited, his heart beating so violently that it seemed positive the thumping must awaken their enemies.

Before Corporal ’Lige’s recruit could have counted twenty, Nathan stood by his side, and it needed but one touch of the hand to tell the former that all the weapons had been secured.

Young Beman had done his work well, for he not only held the two muskets, but a powder-horn well filled, and a shot pouch heavy with bullets.

Now it was that, having all the advantage, Nathan began to be sensible of a glow of patriotism, and he whispered to his comrade as he carefully primed one of the muskets:

“It wouldn’t be a hard task to take these fellows into Sudbury, if we had something with which to fetter their hands.”

“My mother made the cloth of this coat I am wearing, and I promise that it’s as strong as a rope.”

Without waiting for a reply Isaac began stripping the garment into narrow bands, by aid of his teeth, and the noise caused Master Wentworth to half rise as he cried:

“Hey! White! Jones!”

“Stay where you are!” Nathan shouted. “We’ve got all the muskets, and are in the mood to shoot if you make any trouble. It won’t go much against the grain to put a couple of bullets into the two who wanted to leave us trussed up in the thicket, where we would starve to death!”

Master Wentworth sank back upon the ground very quickly, and at the same instant must have discovered that his ammunition had not been seized, for he cried to his companions:

“They can’t prime the muskets, and it is the same – ”

“You’ll know whether we can or not if you make any move! Don’t think we were such fools as to forget that part of the business! I’ve got all the powder and balls that’ll be needed to give you three a solid dose. Tie Master Wentworth’s hands behind his back, Isaac, and if he so much as winks while you are doing it I’ll quiet him. Lie down!” he added fiercely as in the dim light he saw one of the others attempting to rise. “If you make any fuss we’ll shoot first an’ talk afterward!”

It was more than probable one of the men might, because of the darkness, have gotten off without injury; but each knew that should such an attempt be made Nathan could shoot down perhaps two of the party, and each probably feared it might be himself who would receive the bullet.

Therefore it was that they obeyed young Beman’s orders strictly, and as soon as might be Master Wentworth was lying on his face with both hands tied securely behind his back.

To fetter the others in the same fashion was neither a long nor a difficult task, because, like the bullies they were, both showed the white feather when danger threatened their precious selves, and no more than fifteen minutes had elapsed from the time Nathan first set about making the attempt at escape before the prisoners were powerless for harm.

With their hands thus securely lashed behind them, it was impossible for the men to rise without assistance, and while Nathan stood with the musket raised that he might shoot at the first show of resistance, Isaac helped the prisoners to their feet.

“Now it is you three who will obey our orders, instead of knocking us about,” young Beman said gleefully, “and I’ll make the same threat Master Wentworth did: At the first show of trying to escape, I’ll shoot, an’ even though it is dark, there’s little chance of missing aim, for we shall keep close in the rear. Take one musket, Isaac, and the other we’ll leave here, rather than hamper ourselves by too much of a burden.”

“Do you count on trying to make your way through the thicket while it is so dark?” Ezra Jones asked in a surly tone.

“That’s what we shall do.”

“Then you may as well shoot us offhand, for if it was hard work when we were free, what chance have we with our hands tied?”

“If you think that is the best plan I’ll follow your advice, and never so much as wince in the doing of it, for you was one who would have left us to starve,” Nathan said so promptly that the man involuntarily ducked his head as if fearing a bullet might follow the words.

“Where are you bent on taking us?” Jason Wentworth asked, after he had somewhat recovered his composure.

“Our orders were to go to Sudbury, and I think we’d better keep on in that direction, rather than lose time by carrying you to Ticonderoga. We could do that last if we pleased, for our boat is hidden among the bushes nearabout where Master Jones turned back. What say you, Isaac Rice? Is it to be Sudbury, or the fort?”

“It is best we see Captain Baker as soon as may be, and if you think we can find our way through the woods, I’ll say nothing against a short cut, for time presses.”

The prisoners were driven like sheep, both boys marching directly behind them with leveled muskets, and, as may be expected, the advance was exceedingly slow.