wont to give their confidence in a hurry, and
around great bowls of lemon punch they talked of the campaign. The
Mohawks, as of old, told him all their grievances, which he remedied
when just, and persuaded them into forgetting when unjust.

Robert, Tayoga and Willet, in their capacity of scouts and skirmishers,
could go about practically as they pleased. Colonel Johnson trusted them
absolutely and they talked of striking out into the wilderness on a new
expedition to see what lay ahead of the army. Adrian Van Zoon, they
learned definitely, had started for New York on the _Dirkhoeven_, and
Robert felt relief. Yet the lank lad, Peter, still followed him, and, as
had been predicted truly, was his second self, although his first self
did not know it.

He had been at Albany several days when he returned alone from the flats
to the town late one evening. At a dark turn in the road he heard a
report, and a bullet whistled very near him. It was followed quickly by
a second report, but not by the whistling of any bullet. He had a pair
of pistols in his belt, and, taking out one and cocking it, he searched
the woods, though he found nothing. He concluded then that it was a
random bullet fired by some returning hunter, and that the second shot
was doubtless of the same character. But the first hunter had been
uncommonly careless and he hastened his steps from a locality which had
been so dangerous, even accidentally.

Inured, however, as he was to risks, the incident soon passed entirely
out of his mind. Yet an hour or two later the lad, Peter, sat in a back
room with Mynheer Jacobus Huysman, and told him with relish of the
occurrence at the dark turn of the road.

"I was fifty or sixty yards behind in the shadow of the trees," he said.
"I could see Master Lennox very well, though he could not see me. The
figure of a man appeared in the woods near me and aimed a pistol at
Master Lennox. I could not see his face well, but I knew it was the man
on the boat who was talking to Mynheer Van Zoon. I uttered a cry which
did not reach Master Lennox, but which did reach the man with the
pistol. It disturbed his aim, and his bullet flew wide. Then I fired at
him, but if I touched him at all it was but lightly. He made off through
the woods and I followed, but his speed was so great I could not
overtake him."

"You haf done well, Peter. Doubtless you haf saved the life of young
Master Lennox, which was the task set for you to do. But i