"We are too far away. The king——"
"Leave his name out of the question. We can be loyal to him, even if we become independent as a new nation."
"We want no kings——"
"Silence!" shouted Allen; "I will not listen to treason to the king."
Warner continued:
"If the people of Boston talk of rebellion, so will the people of New Hampshire, and we Green—I beg pardon, Vermonters—we, too, can govern ourselves. Then, when two or three colonies show some spirit, New York will have to tackle us all, instead of a few mountaineers."
"That is for the future, Capt. Warner; what we have to think of is, are we going to protect our farms?"
"Ay, to the death!"
The sentiment was the occasion for such cheering as Bennington had never heard before.
"We will hold our lands, even if every man has to carry a musket when he plows the ground or sows the seed or reaps the harvest."