“I did not think that these pipe-clayed soldiers could have been so spry,” Nat said to James.  “They have picked up wonderfully, and I wouldn’t mind going into an Indian fight with them.  They are improving with their muskets.  Their shooting yesterday wasn’t bad, by no means.  In three months’ time, they will be as good a lot to handle as any of the companies of scouts.”

Besides the daily exercises, the company did scouting work at night, ten men being out, by turns, in the woods bordering the lake.  At one o’clock in the morning, on the 19th of March, Nat came into the officers’ tent.

“Captain,” he said, “get up.  There’s something afoot.”

“What is it, Nat?” James asked, as he threw off his rugs.

“It’s the French, at least I don’t see who else it can be.  It was my turn tonight to go round and look after our sentries.  When I came to Jim Bryan, who was stationed just at the edge of the lake, I said to him, ‘Anything new, Jim?’ and he says, ’Yes; seems to me as I can hear a hammering in the woods.’  I listens, and sure enough axes were going.  It may be some three miles down.  The night is still, and the ice brought the sound.

“‘That’s one for you, Jim,’ says I.  ‘Them’s axes sure enough.’  I stands and looks, and then a long way down the lake on the left I sees a faint glare.  They had had the sense to light the fires where we couldn’t see them; but there were the lights, sure enough.  It’s the French, captain, the redskins would never have made fires like that, and if it had been a party of our scouts, they would have come on here, and not halted an hour’s tramp away.

“You had best get the troops under arms, captain.  Who would have thought they would have been such fools as to light their fires within sight of the fort!”

James at once went to Major Eyre’s quarters, and aroused him, and in a few minutes the garrison were all under arms.  Their strength, including James Walsham’s corps, and some scouts of the company of John Stark, numbered three hundred and forty-six men, besides which there were a hundred and twenty-eight invalids in hospital.

Two hours passed, and then a confused sound, as of a great body of men moving on the ice, was heard.  The ice was bare of snow, and nothing could be seen, but the cannon on the side facing the lake at once opened fire, with grape and round shot, in the direction of the sound.

After firing for a few minutes, they were silent.  The sound on the ice could no longer be heard.

“They have taken to the woods,” Nat, who had taken up his station next to James Walsham, said.  “It ain’t likely they would stop on the ice with the balls pounding it up.”

“Do you think they will attack before morning?” James asked.

“It ain’t likely,” Nat replied.  “They won’t know the positions, and, such a dark night as this, they wouldn’t be able to make out anything about them.  If they could have come straight along the ice to the head of the lake here, they would have made a dash, no doubt; but now they find we ain’t to be caught asleep, I expect they will wait till morning.”