forest stretched bluish and misty, set with
flecks of scarlet maple and the darker patches of the pine.

On that early morning, just after sunrise, I sensed a hint of snow in
the wind that blew out of the purple north; and the premonition
sickened me, for it meant the campaign ended.

In an ugly and sullen mood I sat glowering at the blackened weeds cut
by the frost, when, hearing the sound of horses' feet on the hill, I
rose and stood on tiptoe to see who might be coming at such a pace.

People ran out to the rear to look; nearer and nearer came the dull,
battering gallop, then a rider rushed into view, leaning far forward,
waving his arm; and a far cry sounded: "Express, ho! News for Captain
Renault!"

An express! I sprang to the edge of the road as the horse thundered by;
and the red-faced rider, plastered with mud, twisted in his saddle and
hurled a packet at me, shouting: "Butler is in the Valley! Turn out!
Turn out!" sweeping past in a whirlwind of dust and flying stones.

As I caught up the packet from the grass Farris ran out and fired his
musket, then set the conch-horn to his mouth and sent a long-drawn,
melancholy warning booming through the forest.

"Close up those shutters!" I said, "and fill the water-casks!"

Men came running from barn and mill, shouting for the women and
children; men ran to the hill to look for signs of the enemy, to drive
in cattle, to close and latch the doors of their wretched dwellings, as
though bolt and bar could keep out the red fury now at last unloosened.

I saw a woman, to whose ragged skirts three children clung, toiling
across a stump-field, staggering under a flour-sack full of humble
household goods. One of the babies carried a gray kitten clasped to her
breast.

Pell-mell into the tavern they hurried, white-faced, panting, pushing
their terrified children into dark corners and under tables.

"Tell that woman to let her cow go!" I shouted, as a frightened heifer
dashed up the road, followed by its owner, jerked almost off her feet
by the tether-rope. Old Wemple seized the distracted woman by the
shoulder and dragged her back to the tavern, she weeping and turning
her head at every step.

In the midst of this howling hubbub I ripped open my despatches and
read:

"JOHNSTOWN,
October 25, 1781.

"CAPT. RENAULT:

"_Sir_--Pursuant to urgent orders this instant arrived by express
from Col. Willett at Fort Rensselaer, I have the honor to infor