“First the rain swelled the creek,” he said, “an’ poured over the dam with a noise like thunder. Then trees, uprooted by the wind, came down, and went agin the timbers with a deafenin’ crash. They piled up for a while, and then, all at once, the strain became too great. The dam gave way, an’ water, trees an’ timbers went down the gorge together. I took the liberty to scurry off to the fort as soon as it happened, an’ told the general. He said ’twas all right. Let the army come ’long as fast as they could, he was ready for them.”
“It will be some days before they reach there,” Ira said, curtly.
In this he was correct. It was more than a week before the British army reached Fort Edward, and then they found it, as they had the fort at Ticonderoga, abandoned. General Schuyler, with all his forces, stores, and guns, had crossed the Hudson to Bemis Heights.
On the river bank that night Dan and Ira had a brief interview.
“We are here at last,” Ira began.
“Yes, but it took you twenty-four days to come twenty-six miles,” the other retorted drily. “I reckon it is the most remarkable journey on record.”
A few days after General Burgoyne had established his head-quarters in the abandoned fort, he sent for his young scout.
“Here is some one you will be glad to meet, Master Le Geyt,” was his greeting. “A relative of yours, I believe.”
Ira’s face blanched as he turned to meet a man he had never seen before. At a loss for words, he could only gaze at the fellow, a tall, gaunt man of sixty years or more, who promptly asked:
“Be you Ira Le Geyt?”