"And of course the soldiers gave you to him?"
"Yes, and a nice time I had of it. The farmer stripped me and then gave me fifty strokes with a strong cane——"
"The villain!"
"But that was not the worst. He threw me naked into a cellar and kept me without food until I began to lose my senses, and then he gave me these old clothes and some food. I managed after a long time to escape, and for a week I wandered about the woods, living on what I could pick up, until I managed to reach here. I dare not go to a house, for the tories were searching for me, and I was afraid to even jump into the river for fear that I might be seen and have no chance of escape."
"Poor fellow. So you failed in obtaining the information for which you set out."
"Failed? No, I got it, and though it is a trifle late, I find it is in time."
Col. Hinman was so pleased with the thoroughness of Eben in everything he undertook that he sent a special dispatch to Gen. Washington, commending Pike as one of the best scouts and secret service officers any country could produce.
Hinman tried to persuade Ethan Allen to join him, but the Green Mountain hero wanted more stirring work than could be found in a fort which might never be attacked.
The news that Montgomery was near the fort was sweetest music to him, and he resolved to unite with his army, even as a private soldier.