id not flag. The young
officer recovered full possession of his senses and the two rode briskly
homeward in the roseate twilight which to them seemed the harbinger of a
happy dawn flushed with the glories of an Eastern sunrise.

XVI.

AN EPIC MARCH.

The next day Cary Singleton sat with Zulma and her father in a room of
the Sarpy mansion. A great fire glowed in front of them, and at their
side was a little table bearing cakes and wine. Cary sat at one angle of
the chimney, Sieur Sarpy at the other, and Zulma occupied a low chair in
the apex of the semi-circle. After many topics of conversation had been
exhausted, and the young officer had been made to feel quite at home,
Sieur Sarpy demanded an account of Cary's march with Arnold through the
forests of Maine.

"I have heard something about the hardships of that expedition," said
he, "and I know enough about the nature of our woods and prairies to
understand that yours must have been a particularly trying fate."

"We have a great deal of wood country in Maryland," replied Cary, "but
nothing like this in your Northern climates. I am strong and healthy,
but there were many times when I almost despaired of reaching Quebec in
safety."

"Where did your army organize?"

"In Cambridge, at the headquarters of General Washington."

"When?"

"In the middle of August."

"What was your definite object?"

"Well, when war against Great Britain became inevitable, we had to
prepare ourselves for the worse. The battles of Lexington, Concord and
Breed's Hill threw us on the defensive. But we could not be satisfied
with that. We must act on the offensive. Congress then resolved to
attack the English in Canada."

"The English?" exclaimed Sieur Sarpy.

"Yes, the English," said Zulma, turning towards her father with
animation of look and gesture. "The English, not the French."

"Precisely, mademoiselle," resumed Cary, with a smile and a profound
bow. "The French in Canada are our brothers and have as much reason as
we to detest the British yoke."

"Alas!" murmured Sieur Sarpy, raising his eyes to the ceiling and
striking the arm of his chair with his palm.

A look from Zulma caused Cary to pass rapidly over this part of his
narrative. He continued to say in general terms that Congress, having
determined to invade Canada by way of the Northern lakes, judged it
expedient to send a second expedition by way of the South, along the
Kennebec river.

"It was a beautif