straightway set about seeking the leader, which was no difficult task,
since his camp was a lean-to of fir boughs standing hardly more than fifty
feet from where we were sitting.

After the old man had left us, one of the soldiers asked if we had seen
any Tories with Thayendanega's band, and I told him that, so far as I had
been able to learn, the only white man among them was Peter Sitz, although
we had not been so fortunate as to see him.

"Why did you want to know?" Jacob asked, with mild curiosity, and the man
replied:

"It struck me that if any of the Mohawk Valley Tories were with Brant,
General Herkimer would stand little chance of doing anything to aid the
prisoner."

"Why do you say that the general would hardly be able to do anythin' of
the kind?" I asked. "Surely to one so high in command Brant would listen,
when he might refuse even to speak with one of less rank."

"The thought was not in my mind that Thayendanega himself would be opposed
to our commander; but if you know what was done last year, it is easy to
understand my meaning."

To me the soldier was speaking in riddles, and I asked for an explanation,
whereupon he told us that more than a year ago, when the Johnsons had
collected a large force of men nearabout Johnson Hall, and among them
fully three hundred well-drilled Scotch soldiers, General Schuyler marched
with nearly three thousand militia to within four miles of the settlement,
demanding that Sir John surrender all arms, ammunition, and warlike stores