ood hoped, when he saw the meagre provision he
was able to make for transportation, that the army would arrive early
enough to allow of two, and even three, voyages to be made from shore to
shore, that the entire force might take part in the attack.

To Enoch, however, there was another matter of grave interest to be
attended to when he and his tall friend arrived at the temporary camp.
He wished to see the spy whom Bolderwood had mentioned to Ethan Allen.
The ranger, too, looked sharply about the camp for the man. "Where's
that slippery critter we captured the other night?" he asked. "If he
gits away before Colonel Allen comes there'll be trouble for some of
us."

"We'd better have hung him up and so saved his food," grunted Brown,
who, because the Yorkers had burned his house and driven his wife and
children into the forest, had no love for anybody from the west side of
the lake.

"You haven't let him go?" demanded Bolderwood.

"Nay, 'Siah. He's safe enough," returned Smith. "He's yonder behind the
camp. He'd be an eel or a sarpint to wriggle out of them thongs."

"A sarpint he is," declared Bolderwood, and strode away to look at the
prisoner. Enoch followed him. There, sitting with his back against a
tree, his ankles fastened together and a strong deer thong wrapped about
his body and about the tree itself, was Simon Halpen. When he saw the
ranger he scowled. When he observed the boy, however, his eyes flashed
and the blood rushed to his face. "I reckon he knows ye, Nuck," said the
ranger.

"What are you going to do with me?" demanded the Yorker, with bravado.
"You'll all suffer for this outrage, I promise ye! Wait until I get to
Albany----"

"And you ever see Albany again you're a lucky man," said Bolderwood,
satisfying himself that the bonds were tight. "The Colonel will see to
ye, my fine bird."

Enoch still remained before his enemy when the ranger went back to the
camp. The villain returned his glance boldly. "You are satisfied now, I
suppose?" he muttered.

"Not yet," replied young Harding.

"I shall be avenged!" declared Halpen, with a burst of wrath. "If I am
injured I have powerful friends who will punish you. I care nothing for
Ethan Allen----"

"A power higher than Colonel Allen will punish you," Enoch said,
gravely.

"Pooh! I care nothing for your Whig courts. You had best do what you can
for me, Master Harding."

"I will leave you to the punishment you deserve. And you will receive
it.