his journey at a gallop. [Pg 21] [Pg 21] CHAPTER IV. THE YOUNG CAPTAIN’S CAPTURE. The sun was within about an hour of setting behind the western ridges of the Green Mountains, as a tall, heavily-built man, with strong, sullen face, sat at the door of a log cabin, within a few miles of the settlement of Derryfield, looking across a lonely valley. The attire of this individual was that of a farmer, and a little patch, of about half an acre, behind his cabin, showed by its ripening corn, that his occupation was not wholly a fiction. Still, a certain air of neglect about cabin and owner, and the presence of a long rifle that lay across his knees, announced that his farming was at least eked out by hunting, if not subordinated thereto. Although only a few miles from a settlement, the scene around the seated man was completely wild and lonely, so much so that the people had christened the owner the “Mountain Hermit.” His solitary habits and sullen manner repelled strangers from forming his acquaintance, and even his name was unknown to any one in the country side. He had first made his appearance there about three years before, had built his own cabin in that solitary place, and resided there ever since. The only occasions he was ever seen away, were when some hunter caught sight of him in the woods on the same errand as himself, and it remained a mystery where he procured powder and lead, for he never entered Derryfield to buy any. Since the advance of Burgoyne’s army, people ceased to watch him. It was well known that hordes of Indians were prowling about in the vicinity of every settlement, and no one dared to venture away alone. Still, the Mountain Hermit remained in his cabin, as if insensible to danger, although “Indian sign” had been seen more than once near his little clearing. On the evening in question he sat gazing at the sunset and soliloquizing, according to the habit of most lonely men.
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