le the terms of the capitulation. He was seen to
re-enter the works during the first watches of the night, and
immediately after a private conference with the commandant, to leave
them again, It was then openly announced, that hostilities must
cease--Munro having signed a treaty, by which the place was to be
yielded to the enemy, with the morning; the garrison to retain their
arms, their colors, and their baggage, and consequently, according to
military opinion, their honor.

CHAPTER XVII

"Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.
The web is wove. The work is done."

GRAY.

The hostile armies, which lay in the wilds of the Horican, passed the
night of the 9th of August, 1757, much in the manner they would had they
encountered on the fairest fields of Europe. While the conquered were
still, sullen, and dejected, the victors triumphed. But there are limits
alike to grief and joy; and long before the watches of the morning came,
the stillness of those boundless woods was only broken by a gay call
from some exulting young Frenchman of the advanced pickets, or a
menacing challenge from the fort, which sternly forbade the approach of
any hostile footsteps before the stipulated moment. Even these
occasional threatening sounds ceased to be heard in that dull hour which
precedes the day, at which period a listener might have sought in vain
any evidence of the presence of those armed powers that then slumbered
on the shores of the "holy lake."

It was during these moments of deep silence, that the canvas which
concealed the entrance to a spacious marquee in the French encampment
was shoved aside, and a man issued from beneath the drapery into the
open air. He was enveloped in a cloak that might have been intended as a
protection from the chilling damps of the woods, but which served
equally well as a mantle, to conceal his person. He was permitted to
pass the grenadier, who watched over the slumbers of the French
commander, without interruption, the man making the usual salute which
betokens military deference, as the other passed swiftly through the
little city of tents, in the direction of William Henry. Whenever this
unknown individual encountered one of the numberless sentinels who
crossed his path, his answer was prompt, and as it appeared
satisfactory; for he was uniformly allowed to proceed, without further
interrogation.

With the exception of such repeated, but brief interruptions, he had
moved, sile