speaking of it to this day. These very hostile movements towards
England are all part and parcel of the old plan. She still desires
to hold the whole territory by this chain of forts, and shut
England in between the sea and those mountains yonder. You have
heard, I doubt not, how England is resolved not to be thus held in
check. Major George Washington and General Braddock have both made
attacks upon Fort Duquesne, and though both have suffered defeat
owing to untoward causes and bad generalship, the spirit within
them is still unquenched. Fort Duquesne, Fort Niagara, Fort
Ticonderoga--these are the three northern links of the chain, and I
think that England will never rest until she has floated her flag
over these three forts.

"We have come from far to the heart of that great struggle which
all men know must come. The day of rest for us seemed ended. We
have been travelling all through the long, hot summer months, to
find and to be with our countrymen when the hour of battle should
come."

Humphrey looked from one to the other, and said:

"There are only two of you. Where are all the rest from your
smiling valley of the south? Were you the only twain that desired
to join the fight?"

"A dozen of us started, but two turned back quickly, discouraged by
the hardness of the way, and a few died of fever in the great
swamps and jungles: Others turned aside when we neared the great
lakes, thinking to find an easier way. But Fritz and I had our own
plan of making our way to New England, and after long toil and