budget at once. It was good news, but not conclusive.
Everything depended now on MacDonough. In the morning all available
troops should hurry to the defence of Plattsburg; not less than fifteen
hundred men were ready to embark at daylight.

That night Rolf slept with Skookum in the barracks. At daybreak, much
to the latter's disgust, he was locked up in a cellar, and the troops
embarked for the front.

It was a brisk north wind they had to face in crossing and passing down
the lake. There were many sturdy oarsmen at the sweeps, but they could
not hope to reach their goal in less than five hours.

When they were half way over, they heard the cannon roar; the booming
became incessant; without question, a great naval battle was on, for
this north wind was what the British had been awaiting. The rowers bent
to their task and added to the speed. Their brothers were hard pressed;
they knew it, they must make haste. The long boats flew. In an hour they
could see the masts, the sails, the smoke of the battle, but nothing
gather of the portentous result. Albany and New York, as well as
Plattsburg, were in the balance, and the oarsmen rowed and rowed and
rowed.

The cannon roared louder and louder, though less continuously, as
another hour passed. Now they could see the vessels only four miles
away. The jets of smoke were intermittent from the guns; masts went
down. They could see it plainly. The rowers only set their lips and
rowed and rowed and rowed.

Sir George had reckoned on but one obstacle in his march to Albany, an
obstruction named MacDonough; but he now found there was another called
Macomb.

It was obviously a waste of men to take Plattsburg by front assault,
when he could easily force a passage of the river higher up and take it
on the rear; and it was equally clear that when his fleet arrived and
crushed the American fleet, it would be a simple matter for the war
vessels to blow the town to pieces, without risking a man.

Already a favouring wind had made it possible for Downie to leave Isle
au Noix and sail down the lake with his gallant crew, under gallant
canvas clouds.

Tried men and true in control of every ship, outnumbering MacDonough,
outweighing him, outpointing him in everything but seamanship, they came
on, sure of success.

Three chief moves were in MacDonough's strategy. He anchored to the
northward of the bay, so that any fleet coming down the lake would have
to beat up against the wind to