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"Might I ask who I am speaking with?"
"I have the honor to be lieutenant of the Connecticut Guards. I am EliForest."
"Tell Col. Arnold that I shall be pleased to see him, and, believe me,I am proud to have met Lieut. Forest."
When Forest returned to Arnold he found the New Haven colonel veryanxious.
"Well, what says the farmer?"
"He may be a farmer, but he is a well-educated gentleman."
"You don't mean----"
"We have been deceived. You will find that he is our--my equal."
"So much the better; I shall win the surer."
In the camp of the mountaineers the center of attraction was MarthaBaker. Many of the Bennington boys knew her, though she had greatlyimproved during her stay at New Haven.
She sought the presence of Col. Allen and besought him to be careful ofhis treatment of the guardsman of New Haven.
"If it is Benedict Arnold who is coming, he means you no good," shesaid, very earnestly; "my friend in New Haven knew him well, and shewas certain that he was in favor of England."
"Thank you, Martha; I will know how to deal with him. I am glad thatyou have told me."
Benedict Arnold lost no time in seeking an audience with Ethan Allen.
"I have come from Cambridge," he said, "with but one object in view."
"I shall be very pleased to hear your project, if you care to confideit to me."
"I heard of your fame"--Ethan bowed--"and I felt that if there was tobe any great work accomplished, Col. Ethan Allen was the man to make itapparent."
Arnold had spoken with great deference. "I was appointed colonel bythe Provincial Council; but when I heard that Ethan Allen and his GreenMountain Boys were about to attack Fort Ticonderoga, I thought that Icould serve my country best by offering myself and my guards to him,and I ask no other favor than to be allowed to enlist under your banneras a private soldier."
"My dear colonel, I cannot think of such a thing."
"On no other terms would I consent. My men are all well drilled andare ready to join you under the same conditions."
"Let us meet on equal terms; we will jointly command."
"No, Col. Allen; in military matters there should be no dividedauthority. I will serve under you, and if you wish my advice I shallbe ready to give it, but I will not accept a share in the command."
The interview was a long one.
Ethan Allen was completely fascinated with Arnold. He believed that ifthere was a genuine patriot in the colony it was he.
Arnold, having recovered from his surprise at finding Allen an educatedman, conceived a liking for him and resolved to act squarely in all hisdealings with him.
Arnold was better read in history than the mountaineer, and he knew thehistory of Ticonderoga as well as he knew the later history of NewHaven.
"The French knew what they were doing when they fortified Ticonderoga,"Arnold remarked, when the strength of the fort was being discussed.
"Tell me all you know about it, will you not?"
"My dear Allen, I am always at your service. You remember--but no, youwould be too young; we were but boys then--but in 1755 Gen. WilliamJohnson was ordered by the British to drive the French from the shoresof Lake Champlain. Johnson had a fine body of men, three thousand fourhundred in number, including a body of friendly Mohawks. Oh, thoseMohawks! They are fighters, every one of them. I wish we had athousand of them with us."
"We do not need them."
