From this spot they reconnoitred the fortress for several
anxious, and to Ellen, interminable minutes. Then one advanced singly,
and apparently more in the character of a herald than of an assailant.
"Phoebe, do you fire," and "no, Hetty, you," were beginning to be
heard between the half-frightened and yet eager daughters of the
squatter, when Ellen probably saved the advancing stranger from some
imminent alarm, if from no greater danger, by exclaiming--
"Lay down the muskets; it is Dr. Battius!"
Her subordinates so far complied, as to withdraw their hands from the
locks, though the threatening barrels still maintained the portentous
levels. The naturalist, who had advanced with sufficient deliberation
to note the smallest hostile demonstration of the garrison, now raised
a white handkerchief on the end of his fusee, and came within speaking
distance of the fortress. Then, assuming what he intended should be an
imposing and dignified semblance of authority, he blustered forth, in
a voice that might have been heard at a much greater distance--
"What, ho! I summon ye all, in the name of the Confederacy of the
United Sovereign States of North America, to submit yourselves to the
laws.
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