Again the sound of axes was heard in the wood, and the glare of light appeared above the trees.

“There must be a tidy lot of ’em,” Nat said.

“Do you think it will be any use to go out and try to surprise them?”

“Not a bit, captain.  They are sure to have a lot of redskins with them, and they will be lurking in the woods, in hopes that we may try such a move.  No; we have got a strong position here, and can lick them three to one; but in the woods, except Stark’s men, and perhaps yours, none of the others wouldn’t be no good at all.”

Mayor Eyre, shortly afterwards, sent for James, who gave him the opinion of the scout, and the major then ordered the troops to get under shelter again, leaving Stark’s men to act as sentries, for the night was bitterly cold.

It was not until ten o’clock next day that the French appeared, and, surrounding the fort on all sides, except on that of the lake, opened heavy musketry fire upon it.  They were a formidable body.  Vaudreuil, the governor of Canada, had spared no pains to make the blow a successful one.  The force had been assembled at Crown Point, and numbered sixteen hundred regulars, Canadians, and Indians.  Everything needful for their comfort had been provided—­overcoats, blankets, bear skins to sleep on, and tarpaulins to cover them.  They had been provided with twelve days’ provisions, which were placed on hand sledges and drawn by the troops.

They marched, over the ice of Lake Champlain, down to Ticonderoga, where they rested a week, and constructed three hundred scaling ladders.  Three days’ further march, up Lake George, brought them to the English fort.

The weak point of the expedition was its leader, for Vaudreuil, who was himself a Canadian, had the greatest jealousy of the French officers, and had intrusted the command of the expedition to his brother, Rigaud.

The fire did no damage, as the garrison lay sheltered behind their entrenchments, replying occasionally whenever the enemy mustered in force, as if with an intention of attacking.

“I don’t think they mean business, this time, captain,” Nat said in a tone of disgust.  “Why, there are enough of them to eat us, if they could but make up their minds to come on.  They don’t suppose they are going to take William Henry by blazing a way at it half a mile off!”

“Perhaps they are going to make a night attack,” James said.  “They will have learned all about the position of our works.”

“Maybe so,” Nat replied; “but I don’t think so.  When chaps don’t attack at once, when there are four or five to one, I reckon that they ain’t likely to attack at all.  They meant to surprise us, and they haven’t, and it seems to me as it has taken all the heart out of them.”

As evening approached, the fire ceased.  At nightfall, strong guards were placed round the entrenchments, and the troops retired to their quarters, ready to turn out at a minute’s notice.