hey paid.

Whilst the terrified inhabitants and the angry soldiers were
striving to extinguish the flames, and vituperating Rogers and his
company, these bold Rangers themselves were fleeing down the lake
as fast as snowshoes could take them, full of satisfaction at the
havoc they had wrought, and intent upon leaving their mark at
Ticonderoga before they passed on to Fort William Henry.

Guarded as it was by fortifications and surrounded by Indian spies,
Rogers and his men approached it cautiously, yet without fear; for
they knew every inch of the ground, and they were so expert in all
woodcraft and strategic arts that they could lie hidden in
brushwood within speaking distance of the foe, yet not betray their
presence by so much as the crackle of a twig.

It was night when they neared the silent fort. A dying moon gave
faint light. The advancing party glided like ghosts along the
opposite bank. A sentry here and there tramped steadily. The
Rangers could hear the exchange of salute and the rattle of a
grounded musket. But no sign did they make of their presence. They
kept close in the black shadow, and halted in a cavern-like spot
well known to them from intimate acquaintance.

Richard Rogers had been sent scouting by his brother, and came in
with news.

"There will be marching on the morrow. Some soldiers will leave the
fort for the nearest camp; I could not gather how many, but there
will be some marching through the forest. If we post ourselves near
to the road by which they will pass, we may do some havoc ere they
know our whereabouts."

This was work entirely to the liking of the Rangers. Before dawn
they were posted in their ambush, and allowed themselves a few
hours of repose, but lighted no fire. They must not draw attention
to themselves.

They were awake and astir with the first light of the tardy dawn,
eagerly listening whilst they looked to the priming of their arms,
and exchanged whispered prognostications.

Then came the expected sound--the tramp, tramp, tramp of a number
of men on the march.

"Hist!" whispered Rogers, "lie low, and reserve your fire. These
sound too many for us."

The men kept watch, and saw the soldiers file by. There were close
upon two hundred. It would have been madness to attack them, and
the Rangers looked at one another in disappointment.

"Cheer up! there may be more to come," suggested Rogers; and before
another hour had passed, their listening ears were rewarded