one o'clock
Kneel and receive my blessing . '' Hand in hand , and side by side , with the fair sharers of their gushing sympathies , the young men now reverently knelt around the dying patriot , and bowed their faces beneath his outspread hands to receive the proffered blessing , which was then pronounced with much fervor , but with the last words he was destined ever to utter ; for after waiting a while after he had ceased to speak , the tearful group gently removed his hands from their heads , and arose to be greeted by a face pale in death . On a summer afternoon , nearly a year after the occurrence of the events last described , there was an unusual gathering in the village of Bennington . As early as one o'clock , multitudes of people were seen pouring in by every road leading into the place from the surrounding country , and filling up the streets with a promiscuous crowd of all ages , sexes , and conditions . And as the hour of two approached , the commotion increased to a degree which plainly showed that some crisis was at hand ; and soon the dense throng , gathered in the vicinity of the Green Mountain Tavern , then the principal place of public resort , broke away into groups and companies , and began to flock towards a newly-erected gallows , standing , at no great distance , on the neighboring common . Here arranging themselves , as they came up , in a circle round the ill-omened structure , they assumed the attitude of spectators awaiting the advent of some promised spectacle . Presently a clamor rose from the outer part of the crowd , as , with the exclamations , `` _ There comes the new Overseer of the Tories !