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. "You hold your farm under a grant from Gov. Wentworth?" "I do?" "You owe allegiance to him?" "Certainly." "You ought to obey his commands." "Stay! I am a freeborn man. I willingly give service where service is needed, I willingly obey laws which are for the good of all, but I never yet agreed to obey any one man, whether he be governor or even king." "And yet you have no right to the farm, save such as you received from the governor." "You mistake the position. The original grant was for a tract of mountain land. That land is now mine because I have improved it, made it of value, and all I owe to the governor is the value of the unreclaimed lands. "Will you not go to Concord and obey the governor's mandate?" "Not until the governor himself asks me. When he invites me I will go; when he only commands I refuse to obey. Return and tell him so." "I dare not." "Then stay here and you will learn what freemen think, and see how they act." "I dare not stay." "What a sorry specimen of a man you are. You dare not, forsooth! is that the expression of a free man?" "You taunt me." "Taunt you? No, I only say that I dare do aught that does become a man." Seth Warner entered the house and was welcomed by Ethan. The colonel told the farmer of the order received. "Will you go?" "No." "I should say not, indeed. Let the governor come here if he wants to talk with you." Talbot could make no headway, so he left the house in disgust. He went to Faithful Quincy, the town crier, and bade him summon the men to assemble at the courthouse at once. Quincy looked at the attorney and waited until the order was given. "In whose name am I to give the notice?" "That of the governor." "Then, please your honor, you must go to the sheriff and get his order." "Is that necessary?" "It is, if you want to have the people assemble." Talbot wished himself back at Concord. With Quincy he went to the house of the sheriff and obtained his permission to call the men together. Every man, it seemed, was at the meeting. Talbot told them that he was sent by the governor of New Hampshire with a message for Ethan Allen. "Then why don't you give him the message?" asked Remember Baker. "I have done so and he refuses to accede to the governor's request." "Then you may be sure that the governor is in the wrong."