council, in a half-serious, half-sportive mood, broke up, and
separated for the night.

At sunrise, the next morning, as had been proposed, the council
punctually assembled to receive the promised report of their
committee. Most of them, from having lodged in the same house, were
aware that Allen had spent the whole of the intervening time on the
business which had been committed to his charge; for, hour after hour,
during that important night, they had heard the sound of his
footsteps, as he continued to walk his solitary chamber, intensely
revolving in his teeming mind the vexed question, upon the decision of
which he felt the last chance of making a successful stand against the
invaders of the state would probably depend. And this and the
expectation, which had somehow been generally raised, that he would
present some feasible plan for carrying out his proposals, the
character of which no one could conjecture, caused his appearance to
be awaited with no little curiosity and solicitude. They were not left
long in suspense; for scarcely had the president called the council to
order, before Allen came in, holding in his hand an open sheet of
paper, to which, as the yet undried ink showed, he had just committed
the result of his night's labor.

"Is the committee, appointed at adjournment last evening prepared to
make his report?" asked the president.

"Fully, your honor," promptly responded Allen, who accordingly then
rose and said,--

"My report, Mr. President, consists of two parts. The first comprises
the nomination of a list of officers, from colonel to subaltern, for a