the enemy," he said, speaking in a kindly tone, and looking at us, as I
fancied, pityingly, much as one would at those who had been selected as
sacrifices. "It is in the highest degree necessary you get speech with
Colonel Gansevoort, and to such end make disposal of yourselves so that
should one, or even two, be taken or killed, the second or third may press
on. Having arrived, say to the commandant that I shall leave this camp
to-morrow morning, marching slowly toward the fort, and immediately after
he has received the information he is to fire three cannon in rapid
succession, thus notifying me that he understands the situation. You will
not, under the most favorable circumstances, finish the journey in less
than four and twenty hours, and by that time I shall be where the reports
of the guns can be heard. Once the signal has been given, it is my purpose
to attack the enemy, and Colonel Gansevoort is to make a sortie at the
same time, when it is to be hoped our forces can be united."

Having said this, the general insisted that each of us repeat the
instructions so that he might know we understood them thoroughly, and
then, clasping us by hand in turn, he bade us "Godspeed."

I wish I might be able to say that my heart was stout when we left the
encampment and were swallowed up by the shadows of the thicket; but such
was not the case.

I realized only too well all the dangers which were before us, and the
odds against our being able to obey the general's orders. At the same time
I knew that in event of failure there would be no possibility of retreat;
but we would find ourselves in the hands of an enemy whose greatest
delight consists in the most fiendish murder.

As I figured it, out of a hundred chances we had no more than one of