to his home; he was forced to
pass through the entire length of the village, stopping here and there
to acquaint a friend with what he believed to be a most important fact.

Among all the lads in Pittsfield of about his own age he was the only
one who proposed to enlist, and from all he heard and saw there could be
no question but that he was envied by his companions.

From the youngest boy to the oldest man, the citizens were in such a
ferment of excitement as gave recruits the idea that to enlist was
simply providing amusement for themselves during a certain number of
days, and, with the exception of those experienced in such matters, no
person believed for a moment that the brave ones who were rallying at
their country's call would suffer hardships or privations.

In fact, this going forth to capture the fort at Ticonderoga was to be a
pleasure excursion rather than anything else, and Isaac Rice believed he
was the most fortunate lad in the province of Massachusetts.

His outfit did not require that his mother should spend very much time
upon it.

The clothes he wore comprised the only suit he owned, and when two
shirts and three pairs of stockings had been made into a parcel of the
smallest possible size, and he had borrowed his father's gun, powder
horn and shot pouch, the equipment was complete.

Then came the most important of the preparations, to Isaac's mind, for
he knew the corporal would criticize it closely--the store of
provisions.

Had he been allowed his own bent the remainder of the Rice family might
have been put on short allowance, for, with a view to pleasing the
corporal, he urged that this article of food, and then that, should be
put into the bag which served him as a haversack, until the larder must
have been completely emptied but for his mother's emphatic refusal to
follow such suggestions.

If Mrs. Rice did not shed bitter tears over Isaac when he left her to
join the recruits, it was because she shared the opinion of many others
in Pittsfield, and felt positive the lad would soon return, none the
worse for his short time of soldiering.

It was but natural she should take a most affectionate farewell of him,
however, even though believing he would be in no especial danger, and a
glimpse of the tears which his mother could not restrain caused an
uncomfortable swelling in the would-be soldier's throat.

This leaving home, even to march away by the side of Corporal 'Lige, was
not as pl