ted manner. Tents and rude brush
shacks dotted the hillside, before which people were standing, while
bundles and household effects were scattered about on every side.

Never had Dane been so greatly puzzled. Why had the Fort guns roared?
What were those ships doing there in the harbour? That they did not
belong to the pirates he felt certain, for they bore the English flag,
and he could see red-coated soldiers mingling with the people on the
shore. In his intense interest he forgot for the moment his important
mission, and he was upon the point of hastening down the hill to find
out for himself the meaning of the strange scene when Pete touched his
arm.

"What all dat beeg fuss, eh?" he asked.

The Indian's question startled him, and brought him to himself.

"Blamed if I know, Pete," he replied. "It's beyond me, for I never saw
anything like it before. Anyway, I'm going to find out. You take my
pack and gun and go back to the lake. Get a duck for supper, a good
big fat fellow. I'll be there as soon as I can, and tell you what I
can learn at the Fort. We've run across something to-day, Pete, more
than we expected."

CHAPTER II

"COME AND TAKE IT"

Fort Howe occupied an important position at the mouth of the St. John
River when the present Province of New Brunswick was a part of Nova
Scotia. It was well situated, and from the summit of a high hill
commanded the harbour, a large stretch of the river, and the entire
surrounding country for miles in extent. It looked down upon the ruins
of Fort Frederick, which it replaced, and across to the site of another
old Fort where the brave and noble Lady LaTour and her little band of
men made their gallant resistance to a treacherous foe.

Fort Howe proved a great comfort to the trading post at Portland Point,
and to the thirty or more families settled in the vicinity. Scarcely
had it been erected, and its guns mounted, when the rapacious pirate
from Machias, A. Greene Crabtree by name, appeared upon the scene, as
he had done before with disastrous results. But this time he received
the surprise of his life. He viewed with astonishment the new Fort
upon the hill, and the flag of England floating from the ramparts. So
great was his astonishment that he beat a hasty retreat, and troubled
no more the little settlement at Portland Point.

Fort Howe was not a large place, containing in all two blockhouses
and barracks, with twelve rooms for the officers,