Peter waited until the owner might be supposed to rouse and get to the door. Then he whispered, "Now!" Jack drew back the bolt and opened the door enough for the men to enter single file. One man stepped in, the other followed at his heels. Peter caught the first man in his arms, and, taking him altogether unawares, threw him to the floor with a wrestler's trip. Jack, throwing his arms round the second man's knees, brought him down with a crash. Lithe and quick as an eel, Jack squirmed up to the man's chest and gripped the Yorker's throat in his hands. In a minute or two the man underneath was almost breathless. "Do you surrender?" panted Jack. The Yorker tried to nod. Peter had wrenched his man's gun away, and was copying Jack's tactics. His man was partly stunned by the sharpness of the fall and made little attempt to free himself from Peter's grasp. Finding himself attacked by a thoroughly-prepared and resolute man, he had no notion as to how many other such men there might be in the house. It was clearly a case where it was best to save one's skin as whole as one could. So, when Peter said, "Keep still there, will you!" the Yorker grunted, "I will," and made no attempt, unarmed as he was, to try further conclusions with the sinewy hunter. Peter had a coil of rope ready. Now he cut two lengths of this, tossed one over to Jack, who still kept his knee on the chest of his man, and used the other to tie the arms of his own prisoner. Then he helped the Yorker to his feet. Meantime Jack had followed his example with the other, and shortly both prisoners were standing before the hearth while their captors searched their pockets for firearms and knives. "I must allow," said one of the Yorkers, "you two were mighty sharp! We figured that when you people here heard we were acting under sheriff's orders you'd do as you were told." "We don't pay no more attention hereabouts to what a Yorker sheriff says than if he was a catamount,--no, not so much as that!" returned Peter. "What do you men mean by marching into a peaceful village an' trying to turn people out o' their lawful homes?" "Well, the village certainly looked peaceful enough," said the Yorker, "but I don't see as how we've turned many folks out o' their homes yet." "And I don't think you will!" Peter assured him. "Jack, take a look outside and see what's happened." Jack went out, and going from house to house, found that wherever the Yorkers had demanded admittance the Green Mountain Boys had worked their trick beautifully. In two or three houses it had taken some time to make the enemy prisoners, but in each case the elements of surprise and determination had won the day. The Yorkers had expected to meet frightened villagers; instead they had found themselves confronting well-prepared Green Mountain Boys.