Page 3 - A Hero of Ticonderoga

"Whoa, hush! Whoa haw, there! What are you afeard of now? That’s nothin’
but a jay squallin’." The strong voice of the driver rang through the stillness

of the woods, overbearing the monotonous tread of the oxen, the creak of
the sled, and the responsive swish and creak of the snow beneath feet and

runners.

Unmindful of his voice, the oxen still swerved from the unbeaten track of

the forest road and threatened to bring the off runner against one of the
great trees that bordered it. The driver sprang from his standing place, and,

running forward alongside the cattle, quickly brought them to a halt with a
few reassuring words, and a touch of his long, blue-beech gad across their
faces.

Looking into the woods to see what had alarmed them, he became aware of

the man standing a little way off, as motionless as the great tree trunks
around him. Seeing the oxen were now under control, the latter advanced a
little and spoke in a low, pleasant voice:

"I didn’t go to skeer your oxen, stranger, and was standin’ still to let ’em

pass, but thet jay squalled at me, an’, lookin’ this way, I s’pose they ketched
a glimpse of my fur cap an’ took it for some varmint. Cattle is always
lookin’ for some sech, in the woods. Your load’s all right, I hope," he said,

coming into the road and looking at the sled, which, though tipped on some
hidden obstruction, was yet in no danger of upsetting its freight.

"Why, you’ve got women an’ childern," and his face lighted up with an
expression of pleased interest. "You’re comin’ in to make a pitch. How far

might you be goin’, stranger?"

"A little beyond Fort Ti, on this side," the driver of the oxen answered. "I
made a pitch there last year. My name’s Seth Beeman, and I come from
Salisbury, Connecticut, and them on the sled are my wife and children."

Seth Beeman knew that, according to the custom of the country and the
times, this information would presently be required of him, and the hunter,

for such the stranger’s dress, long gun and snowshoes proclaimed him to be,
had such an honest face he did not hesitate to forestall the inevitable