his children were at school, captain Willoughby determined not to
take his family immediately to the Hutted Knoll, as the place soon came
to be called, from the circumstance of the original bivouack. This name
was conferred by sergeant Joyce, who had a taste in that way, and as it
got to be confirmed by the condescension of the proprietor and his
family, we have chosen it to designate our present labours. From time
to time, a messenger arrived with news from the place; and twice, in
the course of the winter, the same individual went back with supplies,
and encouraging messages to the different persons left in the clearing.
As spring approached, however, the captain began to make his
preparations for the coming campaign, in which he was to be accompanied
by his wife; Mrs. Willoughby, a mild, affectionate, true-hearted New
York woman, having decided not to let her husband pass another summer
in that solitude without feeling the cheering influence of her
presence.

In March, before the snow began to melt, several sleigh-loads of
different necessaries were sent up the valley of the Mohawk, to a point
opposite the head of the Otsego, where a thriving village called
Fortplain now stands. Thence men were employed in transporting the
articles, partly by means of "jumpers" _improvised_ for the
occasion, and partly on pack-horses, to the lake, which was found this
time, instead of its neighbour the Canaderaiga. This necessary and
laborious service occupied six weeks, the captain having been up as far
as the lake once himself; returning to Albany, however, ere the snow
was gone.

Chapter II.

All things are new--the buds, the leaves,
That gild the elm-tree's nodding crest,
And even the nest beneath the eaves--
There are no birds in last year's nest.

Longfellow.

"I have good news for you, Wilhelmina," cried the captain, coming into
the parlour where his wife used to sit and knit or sew quite half the
day, and speaking with a bright face, and in a cheerful voice--"Here is
a letter from my excellent old colonel; and Bob's affair is all settled
and agreed on. He is to leave school next week, and to put on His
Majesty's livery the week after."

Mrs. Willoughby smiled, and yet two or three tears followed each other
down her cheeks, even while she smiled. The first was produced by
pleasure at hearing that her son had got an ensigncy in the 60th, or
Royal Americans; and the last was a tribute paid to nature;