The Rangers; or, The Tory's Daughter: A Tale Illustrative of the Revolutionary History of Vermont and the Northern Campaign of 1777Thompson, Daniel P. (Daniel Pierce)
History
The Rangers; or, The Tory's Daughter: A Tale Illustrative of the Revolutionary History of Vermont and the Northern Campaign of 1777
Thompson, Daniel P. (Daniel Pierce)
Vermont -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Fiction
“Amen to all that,” responded Clark. “And as the hour for adjournment
has now arrived, I move that our young colleague, who offered this
proposition with so much confidence in the discovery of a way to carry
it into execution, and who is said to be very fertile in expedients,
be appointed a committee to devise the ways and means of paying the
bounties and wages of the regiment he proposes to raise; and that he
make his report to the council by sunrise to-morrow morning.”
“Second that motion, Mr. President,” cried Lyon, in his usual full,
determined tone of voice and strong Irish accent. “I go for the whole of
Mr. Allen's proposition, means or no means. But the means can, must, and
shall be found, sir! We will put the gentleman's brains under the screws
to-night,” he continued, jocosely turning to Allen; “and if he appears
here in the morning empty-handed, he ought to be expelled from the
council. Ay, and I'll move it, too, by the two bulls that redeemed me!”
[Footnote: Matthew Lyon, who very soon became much noted as a leading
partisan in the legislature of Vermont, and subsequently more so as
member of congress from Kentucky, having, as before intimated, been sold
to pay his passage from Ireland to Connecticut, where he landed, was
afterwards redeemed by the payment of a pair of bulls to the purchaser,
by a gentleman of that state, for whom he was permitted to labor, at
liberal wages, till this novel kind of indebtedness was cancelled.
And as this bold and singular man entered upon the scenes of life as a
successful freeman, he was fond of boasting of the romantic manner
in which he became one, while the expression, “By the two bulls that
redeemed me,” became his favorite oath on all occasions.]
“I accept the terms,” replied Allen, bowing pleasantly to the former.
“Give me a room by myself, pen, ink, paper, and a lamp, and I will abide
the condition.”
“For your lamp, Mr. Allen, as your task is to discover money where there
is none, I advise you to borrow the wonderful lamp of Aladin,” gayly
added Rowley, as the question was put, and carried; and the council,
in a half-serious, half-sportive mood, broke up, and separated for the
night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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