ouths as
we watched him make his way slowly along, at imminent danger each second
of being fired upon by the sentinels inside the fort.

Chapter XII.

In the Fort

Everything was in our favor on this night, otherwise Sergeant Corney's
attempt would not have been the simple matter which it appears as set down
by me.

True it is we had previously visited the fort, and that while many of the
enemy's sentinels were on the alert; but because a task has once been done
is no proof that it may be accomplished a second time. In fact, it is by
trying a hazardous venture again and again that it becomes yet more
dangerous, or, in other words, "The pitcher that goes often to the well
will one day return broken."

I question if there could have been found in the entire Mohawk Valley a
man who would have performed the task better than did Sergeant Corney. The
night was not particularly dark, and we who were watching from the
undergrowth knew exactly where to look for him, but yet there were many
times when I failed utterly to distinguish his form, although, as I have
already said, there was nothing in the way of vegetation to screen his
movements.

Only when he half-raised himself to make certain he was advancing in a
direct course could we see him, and when, after perhaps twenty minutes of
such stealthy approach, the deeper shadow cast by the fortification itself
had been gained, he was entirely lost to our view.

Then was come the time when I feared most for his safety, although, if the
sentinel had failed to see him making his way across the open space, we
might have reasonable hope that the remainder of his scheme, less
dangerous, could be worked without mishap.

It seemed to me as if an hour elapsed from the time he disappeared before
we saw any sign of him again. The minutes passed laggingly, although while
there was no outcry we knew full well he had come to no harm; but yet I
trembled with anxiety until we finally saw a figure upon the wall waving
its arms, and I said to Jacob:

"That is the signal for us to advance."

"Advance where?" he asked, in perplexity. "Surely it is not possible for
us to get in at any point."

"We can at least hold communication with those inside if we creep to the
new portion of the fort, which as yet is only a stockade--the same place
where the sergeant and I had converse with Colonel Gansevoort."

It appears, as I finally learned, that the sergeant believed I would have
su