success and the courage of
the garrison grew. Several of the houses had been struck by cannon
balls, but they were not damaged, and three or four small boys were
already playing with a ball that they had dug from the earth.

"I wish we had cannon with which to reply to them," said Major
Braithwaite. "Every fort in this wilderness should have at least one.
You have driven away the boat with its guns, but it will come back, and
when it returns it will be on guard against your sharpshooting."

"It will certainly come back if it has a chance," said Henry.

There was significance in his tone, and the Major looked at him.

"If it has a chance? What do you mean by those words?" he asked.

"We've got to put that boat out of action."

"Sink it?"

"No, if we sank it they might raise it again and have the cannon ready
for action again in a few hours. We've got to burn the boat and then the
cannon will be warped and twisted so they can't fix it short of a
foundry."

"But we can't get at the boat."

"It must be done or this fort will surely be taken to-morrow. You know
what that means."

Major Braithwaite groaned. He had a vision of his own wife and children,
but he thought of the others, too.

"How?" he asked.

Henry talked to him earnestly, but the Major shook his head.

"Too dangerous!" he said. "You would all be lost. I cannot sanction such
an enterprise. The fort cannot spare good men, nor could I let you go in
this way to your death."

Henry talked more earnestly. He urged the necessity, the cruel
necessity, of such an attempt, and the Major yielded at last, although
with great reluctance.

"You want volunteers, I suppose?" he said.

"Yes. I know that Seth Cole will go, and I'm sure that others, too, will
be willing to do so."

The remainder of the day passed without any demonstration from the
besiegers, and Henry noticed with pleasure that the coming night
promised to be dark. Already he had selected his assistants, Seth Cole
and four others, all powerful swimmers, but the enterprise was kept a
secret among the six and Major Braithwaite.

He ate a hearty supper, lay down and slept a while. When he awoke, he
found that the promise of the night was fulfilled. It was quite dark,
with clouds and light flurries of rain. There was no moon.

It was past midnight, and the Indian encampment, both on land and water,
showed no sign of movement. The woods were without camp fires, but at
the far bank of the river