"You are right." "When can you be ready to leave?" "I do not know." "What do you say to the first of June?" "It depends." "On what? I will give you an escort." "When I leave I will arrange for my own escort, should I need one. But it was not of that I was thinking." "Of what, then?" "The return of the messengers from New Haven." "That need not bother you. The report will be made to me, as commanding officer." "Will it?" "Certainly, so you can arrange to leave on the first of the month." "Thank you." "That is settled, then?" "Is it?" "Yes. I am very glad, for I have had a very unpleasant task." Allen had remained so calm that Arnold was deceived. He staggered like a drunken man when Allen turned on him, and, in tones which could not be misunderstood, said: "I have heard all you have to say, and I now tell you that in the name of the Great Jehovah I shall remain here as long as I please, or until the general of the Continental Congress removes me, and, what is more, I shall remain in command, and if you dare to interfere with me or my command, by the Great Jehovah I will send you to Philadelphia in irons! You are removed from all responsibility until further orders. Go, or I may forget myself!" CHAPTER XIX. NEWS FROM BOSTON. Benedict Arnold had found his master. This man, whose ambition was colossal, had imagined that the Green Mountain farmer would quail before him and surrender the command. Arnold's ambition was plausible. What could a farmer know of military affairs? True, Arnold had been a merchant, but then he had studied at Yale and had made military subjects his special forte, and he had been complimented by soldiers of high repute. Then, had not the English Capt. Delaplace told him he should be a general, and if he remained with the colonies he should have the command of all the forces the young nation could put into the field? All this had made him believe himself a great man. But he had encountered a greater. Ethan Allen, mountaineer, farmer, amateur soldier, as Arnold had called him, proved to be the superior of the polished Yale graduate. Arnold retired to his quarters, feeling very glum. Allen sent for Seth Warner. He wanted some one on whom he could rely. He told Warner what had happened, and the honest Vermonter suggested that Arnold should be placed under arrest and tried by court-martial. But such a course Allen would not countenance. He felt that Arnold was not dangerous, and that he could afford to leave him to his own conscience. "I hear that cannon and ammunition was about to be shipped to New Haven?" "Yes, colonel; most of the spoil was to be sent there. We all thought that it was by your order." "Zounds, man! I never heard of it until young Eben told me just now." "We all thought that he was obeying your instructions, and, therefore, why should we come and tell you?" "That is so. Do not allow one gun to leave the fort." Eben entered the room, and was out of breath.