CHAPTER VI.
BEFORE THE GOVERNOR.
Mr. Talbot knew not what to do.
Had he lived in the days of the electric telegraph he would have used the wire to obtain instructions. But in those days only a horse was at his disposal, and that was a slow means of travel.
He knew that he must act as he thought best.
If he offended the governor he might be removed from his position and disgraced.
If he offended the mountaineers they might make terms with New York, and New Hampshire might lose all the debatable land.
There was a degree of sturdy independence shown by the mountaineers which, while commendable, was slightly awkward at times.
It is in the mountains that freemen are born, and, as Ethan Allen often told the people of the valleys, the men of the hills were a race of free men, who could never be enslaved.
Talbot thought over the difficulty and resolved to try diplomacy.