bulldogs. No men could have been braver. All of a sudden the idea
strikes them that they are beaten, and they run away in a panic. It's
strange. It's mighty strange, but it's human nature."

Rogers shouted: "Stay where you are, boys. Hold your ground and keep on
firing."

The Rangers and provincials remained among the fallen trees, exchanging
shots with the enemy till dusk. Then we went up to the abattis and
picked out some of the wounded from among the heaps of dead men. This
was the hardest part of the day for me, stumbling over the dead, picking
up the poor wounded fellows and hearing them moan and cry as we carried
them off.

CHAPTER XII

THE FIGHT AT FORT ANNE, AND THE ESCAPE OF AMOS

When night came on, we retreated with the wounded we had saved. The next
morning the whole army reembarked and rowed up Lake George to the ruins
of Fort William Henry and landed. This time we were not admiring the
beauty of the scene. We were filled with sorrow and dismay at the
failure of the expedition and our terrible disaster. We lost nearly two
thousand men. The French lost only about three hundred.

The whole army, regulars and provincials, were indignant with our
cowardly and incompetent general, Abercrombie, or Mrs. Nabby Crombie, as
the soldiers nicknamed him. We knew that the battle had been badly
conducted. We wished to have the cannon brought to the front to batter
down the breastworks, and were willing and eager to fight again. But
Abercrombie began to entrench, and sent most of his artillery to Albany,
lest it should fall into the hands of the enemy.

[Sidenote: THE RANGERS SENT AGAINST THE ENEMY]

The Rangers heard little of this grumbling and dissatisfaction; for as
soon as we returned from Ticonderoga we were sent out scouting near the
south end of Lake Champlain, and very nearly fell into the hands of a
large force of French and Indians. Fortunately we saw them in time to
escape.

A few days later, a wagon-train was attacked and one hundred and
seventy-six men were killed, of whom sixteen were Rangers. The news of
this disaster came in the night, and at two in the morning Rogers
started out with a large party of regulars, provincials, and Rangers to
head off the enemy. We rowed down Lake George at the top of our speed,
and then marched over the mountain to the narrow waters of Lake
Champlain. But though we made all possible haste, so did the enemy, and
we missed them by a couple of hours.

We res