There was no disputing the point. The garrison, like the commander, had been startled from sleep, and made prisoners as they rushed forth in their confusion. A surrender accordingly took place.
THE CAPTURE OF THE HENNEPIN GUN[J]
By Margaret Emma Ditto
The Fourth of July pranks of a young Ethan Allen and his friends—descendants of the Green Mountain Boys of Revolutionary days.
ON THE evening of the third of July, somewhat more than fifty years ago, a number of boys were gathered in secret council at a deserted house on Otter Creek. The boys had come one by one in the gathering gloom of the early darkness, creeping along from bush to copse or hugging the shady side of the stone fences. They had come silently—no lilt of merry whistle or song, no wanton hoot or random stone-fling, had betrayed their presence on the road.
“There are nine of us already,� whispered a tall boy of fifteen as he shoved aside the hingeless door and peered out. “That is Seneca Goodyear coming across the meadow. He is strong if he does limp. Come in, Senk, and shut the door quick, hang your coat over the crack, and I’ll stand against the lower part. Now, Martin, let out your lantern—just a narrow slit of light and throw it on the floor—not in our faces. Go on, Ethan, and tell them about it.�
A heavy-shouldered boy with Saxon hair and eyes straightened himself up from the cobwebby wall against which he had been leaning and settled himself stolidly on his feet. This boy’s name was Ethan Allen and he was a descendant of the Revolutionary hero of the same name.
“There isn’t much to tell,� he began. “The Ogden County boys have stolen our cannon—old ‘Ticonderoga’ that belongs to Hennepin County, that we have fired off every Fourth of July, or our folks have, ever since there was a Fourth of July. It has been stolen and carried across the county line, and in less than four hours they will be banging it in our faces from the top of Horncliffe. And we’ve got to get that gun between this and midnight.�
“How are we going to do it?� asked Seneca Goodyear.
“That is what we have got to find out,� said Ethan.