olved upon flight, and
told St. Leger so. He sent for and questioned Yan Yost, who told him that
Arnold, with two thousand men, would be upon him in twenty-four hours.

"At that moment, according to arrangements, the friendly Oneida who had
taken a circuitous route approached the camp from another direction with a
belt. On his way he met two or three straggling Indians of his tribe, who
joined him, and they all confirmed the story of Yan Yost. They pretended
that a bird had brought them the news that the valley below was swarming
with warriors.

"One said that the army of Burgoyne was cut in pieces, and another told
St. Leger that Arnold had three thousand men near at hand. They shook
their heads mysteriously when questioned about the numbers of the enemy,
and pointed, like Yan Yost, upward to the leaves.

"The savages, now thoroughly alarmed, prepared to flee. St. Leger tried
every means, by offers of bribes and promises, to induce them to remain,
but the panic and suspicion of foul play had determined them to go. He
tried to make them drunk, but they refused to drink. He then besought them
to take the rear of his army in retreating; this they refused, and
indignantly said:

"'You mean to sacrifice us. When you marched down, you said there would be
no fighting for us Indians; we might go down and smoke our pipes; whereas
numbers of our warriors have been killed, and you mean to sacrifice us
also.'

"Nothing more was needed to complete the panic. It was in vain that Sir
John and St. Leger coaxed and threatened the savages. They were already
filled with fear, and while a certain number deliberately ran away, taking
their squaws with them, others drank rum until they were drunk, and began
to assault the officers."

That is the story as has been set down by others, and I have already told
what we ourselves saw. All which seemed so unaccountable to us at that
time, would have been as plain as the sun at noon-day had we possessed the
key to the seeming riddle.

Chapter XX

Enlisted Men

On the morning after General Arnold's arrival, when we learned that the
reinforcements which had been sent to us at Fort Schuyler were to be
marched directly back to the main army then at Stillwater, the Minute Boys
held a conference to decide what should be done, for it was in my mind
that each member of the company had a right to discuss freely the question
that must be settled without delay.

We knew that Peter Sitz