back there, and it will be
all the more delightful to me, and to those who wait, if I can bring
with me such a welcome guest."

"Lead on, mynheer," said Cornelius Heemskerk sententiously.

He received an equally emphatic welcome from the others, and then they
ate and talked. Heemskerk was sanguine.

"Something will be done this time," he said. "Word has come from the
great commander that the Iroquois must be crushed. The thousands who
have fallen must be avenged, and this great fire along our border must
be stopped. If it cannot be done, then we perish. We have old tales in
my own country of the cruel deeds that the Spaniards did long, long ago,
but they were not worse than have been done here."

The five made no response, but the mind of every one of them traveled
back to Wyoming and all that they had seen there, and the scars and
traces of many more tragedies.

They reached the camp on Lake Otsego the next day, and Henry saw that
all they had heard was true. The most formidable force that they had
ever seen was gathering. There were many companies in the Continental
buff and blue, epauletted officers, bayonets and cannon. The camp was
full of life, energy, and hope, and the five at once felt the influence
of it. They found here old friends whom they had known in the march on
Oghwaga, William Gray, young Taylor, and others, and they were made very
welcome. They were presented to General James Clinton, then in charge,
received roving commissions as scouts and hunters, and with Heemskerk
and the two celebrated borderers, Timothy Murphy and David Elerson,
they roamed the forest in a great circle about the lake, bringing much
valuable information about the movements of the enemy, who in their turn
were gathering in force, while the royal authorities were dispatching
both Indians and white men from Canada to help them.

These great scouting expeditions saved the five from much impatience. It
takes a long time for an army to gather and then to equip itself for the
march, and they were so used to swift motion that it was now a part of
their nature. At last the army was ready, and it left the lake. Then it
proceeded in boats down the Tioga flooded to a sufficient depth by an
artificial dam built with immense labor, to its confluence with the
larger river. Here were more men, and the five saw a new commander,
General James Sullivan, take charge of the united force. Then the army,
late in August, began its march upon the