etour into the
woods and finally, after ten minutes of rapid work, came out upon the
extreme point which guarded the inlet. As he reached this place his
quick ear distinguished the splash of a paddle not far away. Straining
his eyes he soon observed through the gloom the canoe moving amid the
shadows. The spy had very nearly escaped from the cove. Once out in the
open lake it would be impossible to overtake him.

Then Enoch wished he had aroused his comrades; at least the sentinel
guarding the bateaus would have heard his cry and come to his
assistance. But now if the spy was to be stopped it must be by his
individual effort. Throwing down his rifle and removing his outside
garments, he slid into the water with scarcely a ripple of its surface
and finding the lake deep at this point, began to swim at once. The
canoe was almost upon him when suddenly, with a muttered exclamation,
the fugitive turned the craft by one swift stroke of the paddle and sent
it darting away from the shore. Enoch had been seen or heard, and Halpen
feared what was the fact--that one of his enemies was striving to
overtake him.

Enoch flung himself forward in the water and with a strong overhand
stroke took a diagonal course to intercept the canoe. He could see the
man bending to his paddle. Every stroke of the blade sent the
phosphorescent water flying about the frail bark. The next few moments
were of vital importance to both pursued and pursuer.

Enoch's plunge into the water had driven Halpen to paddle away from the
shore. Now he was heading the craft across the cove and therefore toward
the station of the sentinel. If he pursued this course for many rods he
would be within rifle shot. And once out of the shadow of the trees the
light on the water would make him an easy mark. To pass Enoch before the
latter reached the edge of the line of shadow was therefore Simon
Halpen's object.

But the American youth was determined that Halpen should not do this. He
was a strong swimmer and spurred by both the desire to recapture his
enemy and to save the cause to which he was bound--the capture of
Ticonderoga--he put forth every atom of his strength to overtake the
canoe. The paddle flashed first upon one side, then on the other of the
craft, which fairly darted through the water. But suddenly a hand and
arm rose from the lake and seized the paddle just back of the blade.
Enoch had dived under the surface and come up beside the canoe as Halpen
was s