lunteers were requested.
Upwards of a hundred men stepped forward, and, being formed in line,
James selected from them fifty who appeared to him the most hardy,
active, and intelligent looking. He himself had, that morning, been put
in orders as captain of the new corps, and had assumed the insignia of
his temporary rank. The colonel had placed at his disposal two
intelligent young non-commissioned officers.

The next morning, he marched with his command for Fort William Henry.
No sooner had he left the open country, and entered the woods, than he
began to instruct the men in their new duties. The whole of them were
thrown out as skirmishers, and taught to advance in Indian fashion,
each man sheltering himself behind a tree, scanning the woods carefully
ahead, and then, fixing his eyes on another tree ahead, to advance to
it at a sharp run, and shelter there.

All this was new to the soldiers, hitherto drilled only in solid
formation, or in skirmishing in the open, and when, at the end of ten
miles skirmishing through the wood, they were halted and ordered to
bivouac for the night, James felt that his men were beginning to have
some idea of forest fighting. The men themselves were greatly pleased
with their day's work. It was a welcome change after the long monotony
of life in a standing camp, and the day's work had given them a high
opinion of the fitness of their young officer for command.

But the work and instruction was not over for the day. Hitherto, none
of the men had had any experience in camping in the open. James now
showed them how to make comfortable shelters against the cold, with two
forked sticks and one laid across them, and with a few boughs and a
blanket laid over them, with dead leaves heaped round the bottom and
ends; and how best to arrange their fires and cook their food.

During the following days, the same work was repeated, and when, after
a week's marching, the force issued from the forest into the clearing
around Fort William Henry, James felt confident that his men would be
able to hold their own in a brush with the Indians. Major Eyre, to whom
James reported himself, and showed his appointment defining his
authority and duties, expressed much satisfaction at the arrival of the
reinforcement.

"There are rumours, brought here by the scouts," he said, "that a
strong force will, ere long, come down from Crown Point to Ticonderoga,
and that we shall be attacked. Now that the lake is frozen