, and the far hills
rising abruptly were a green border for the gold. But Henry was not
seeking either beauty or grandeur. He was looking for the black dots
that he had seen the night before. They were not on the surface of the
river, but he believed that he could detect them against the bank,
hidden partly in the foliage. Yet he was not sure.

"Good morning, my young friend, I trust that you slept well and are
refreshed," said a cheery voice behind him.

It was Major Braithwaite, dressed now in the buff and blue of a colonial
officer, who saluted him, his fine, tall figure upright and military,
and his face expressing confidence. He noticed Henry's eyes on his buff
and blue and he said:

"I brought with me the new uniform of our army and I put it on. It is
the first time that I have ever worn in battle the uniform of what I
trust will prove to be a new nation. I serve in the deep wilderness, but
still I serve."

Henry might have smiled at such precision of speech and a certain
formality of manner, but he knew it to be the result of a military
training, and it did not decrease his liking for the Major.

"I've slept well and I'm rested," he replied. "What damage did they do
to us last night?"

"Two of our men were slain--brave fellows--and we have already buried
them. Five more were wounded, but none severely. Do you think, Mr. Ware,
that having had a taste of our mettle, they have withdrawn?"

"No," replied Henry emphatically. "They wouldn't think of leaving. They,
too, must have suffered little loss. You see, sir, the darkness
protected both sides, and they are in the woods there now, trying to
think of the easiest way to take Fort Prescott."

But Henry, as he spoke, turned his eyes from the woods toward the river,
and Major Braithwaite, impressed even more in the daylight than in the
night by his manner and appearance, noticed it. The Major, although not
a skilled forest fighter, despite his experience in the great French and
Indian war, was a shrewd observer and judge of mankind.

"Why do you look so often and with so much anxiety toward the Ohio?" he
asked. "What do you expect there?"

"I believe it's our greatest source of danger."

"In what way?"

"I don't know, I may be mistaken," replied Henry, not wishing to cause
an alarm that might prove groundless. "We must pay attention to the
forest just now. Something is moving there."

He was looking again toward the green wall, upon which a white spot
s