lay. Then there came towards
him an officer, who said quietly, "The tide has turned, sir." For reply
the general made a swift motion towards the maintop shrouds, and almost
instantly lanterns showed in them. In response the crowded boats began
to cast away, and, immediately descending, the General passed into his
own boat, drew to the front, and drifted in the current ahead of his
gallant men, the ships following after.

It was two by the clock when the boats began to move, and slowly we
ranged down the stream, silently steered, carried by the current. No
paddle, no creaking oarlock, broke the stillness. I was in the next boat
to the General's, for, with Clark and twenty-two other volunteers to the
forlorn hope, I was to show the way up the heights, and we were near
to his person for over two hours that night. No moon was shining, but I
could see the General plainly; and once, when our boats almost touched,
he saw me, and said graciously, "If they get up, Mr. Moray, you are free
to serve yourself."

My heart was full of love of country then, and I answered, "I hope, sir,
to serve you till your flag is hoisted in the citadel."

He turned to a young midshipman beside him, and said, "How old are you,
sir?"

"Seventeen, sir," was the reply.

"It is the most lasting passion," he said, musing.

It seemed to me then, and I still think it, that the passion he meant
was love of country. A moment afterwards I heard him recite to the
officers about him, in a low clear tone, some verses by Mr. Gray, the
poet, which I had never then read, though I have prized them
since. Under those frowning heights, and the smell from our roaring
thirty-two-pounders in the air, I heard him say:

"The curfew tolls, the knell of parting day;
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea;
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me."

I have heard finer voices than his--it was as tin beside Doltaire's--but
something in it pierced me that night, and I felt the man, the perfect
hero, when he said:

"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour--
The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

Soon afterwards we neared the end of our quest, the tide carrying us
in to shore; and down from the dark heights there came a challenge,
satisfied by an officer who said in French that we were provision-boats
for Mon