“If they had been close under the bushes, as they ought to have been, we should have been in for a fight; for we mightn’t have seen each other till the boats touched.  Let that be a lesson to you, captain.  When you are on the lookout for a canoe, at night, lie in among the bushes.  It must pass between you and the light, then, and as they can’t see you, you can either grapple or shoot, just as you like.

“If they had a seen us, we should have had a hot time, for I could hear by their calls, right along the other side, that they were looking out for us in earnest, and, if a rifle had been fired, we should have had half a dozen canoes down upon us in no time; and, like enough, should have had to leave the boat, and take to the woods.”

“How far is Crown Point away?”

“Not more than ten miles,” Nat said.  “It is thirty miles from Ticonderoga.  It lies out on a point, just where Champlain widens out.  I reckon our safest way, tonight, will be to scout along this side, till we are well past the point; then to paddle out well across the lake, and come up again, and land to the left of Crown Point.  We shall then be in the track of boats coming up from the lower end of the lake, and can paddle boldly on.  No one would be keeping any lookout that way.  Our danger won’t begin until we get ashore; in course, then we must act according to sarcumstances.”

This manoeuvre was carried out.  They started as soon as it became dark, and, after paddling along the eastern shore for nearly three hours, struck out into the wide lake till they approached the opposite shore, and then, heading south again, paddled boldly down towards the spot where, at the end of a sweep of land, which seemed to close in the lake, stood the French fort of Crown Point.

Before starting, the two scouts had stripped to the waist, had laid aside their caps, and, fastening a strip of leather round their heads, had stuck some feathers into it.  They then painted their faces and bodies.

“You needn’t be particular about the flourishes, Jonathan.  It’s only the redskin outline as one wants to get.  If we run against any other canoes coming up the lake, or they get sight of us as we near the shore; so as we look something like redskins, that’s near enough.  Of course, we can both speak Mohawk well enough to pass muster, and the captain will lay himself down in the bottom.

“Captain, you will do well enough for a Canadian when we have once landed.  There ain’t much difference between a hunter one side of the frontier and the other, but it’s as well that you shouldn’t be seen till we land.  The less questions asked, the better.  Our Mohawk’s good enough with any of the other tribes, but it wouldn’t pass with a Mohawk, if we got into a long talk with him.”