Page 24 - A Hero of Ticonderoga

CHAPTER V

--THE EVERGREEN SPRIG

Understanding the importance of his errand and guessing its purpose,
Nathan skulked stealthily along the heavily-wooded border of the highway

till past all chance of discovery, when he took the easier course of the road.
The ecstatic melody of the thrushes’ song and the pensive strain of the

pewee had not changed, yet now they were instinct with cheer and
acceleration, as was the merry drumbeat of the flicker on a dry branch
overhead.

Presently, as he held his steady pace, splashing through puddles and

pattering along firmer stretches, he heard sharp and loud footfalls in rapid
approach. Before his first impulse to strike into the ready cover of the
woods was carried into effect, a horseman galloped around the turn, and he

was face to face with a handsome stranger, whose tall, well-knit figure,
heightened by his seat on horseback, towered above the boy like a giant.

"Hello," said the man, reining up his horse, "and where are you bound in
such a hurry, and who might you be?" His clear gray eyes were fixed on

Nathan, who noticed pistols in the holsters, a long gun across the saddle
bow, and, in the cocked hat, a sprig of evergreen.

"I’m Seth Beeman’s boy," Nathan answered, pointing in the direction of his
home, "and I’m goin’ to neighbor Newton’s of an arrant."

"Ah,--Beeman,--a good man, I’m told. And what might take you to

neighbor Newton’s in such a hurry? Has that hemlock twig in your hand
anything to do with your errand?" demanded the stranger, in an imperative
but kindly voice. "Speak up. You need not be afraid of me."

Nathan looked up inquiringly at the bold, handsome face smiling down on

him.

"Did you ever hear of Ethan Allen?" asked the stranger.