“What do you know of Washington?” questioned Silvers.
“I used to work for him—when he was a surveyor for old Lord Fairfax—and I served under him when we marched against Fort Duquesne, at the time Braddock was defeated. It was Washington who saved what was left of us from being shot down like so many rabbits, when the redskins surrounded us in the forest.”
“Well, I know little of Washington, lad. But I do know it is going to take a plucky commander to capture Quebec, which is set up on high rocks like a regular fort,” returned the leader of the expedition.
For the first two hours of their journey they kept fairly close to the shore of the lake, gliding past long stretches of forest which have long since fallen before the axes of the pioneer and the lumberman. Here and there was a rocky cove backed up by sweet-scented shrubs and berry bushes, loaded down with tempting fruit. The morning calls of the birds could be heard, and the occasional howl of a lonely wolf, or the sharp bark of a fox.
“No use in talking,” was Henry’s comment, as he cast a longing eye shoreward. “It’s a regular paradise for game.”
“Then you like hunting, lad?” came from Shamer. “So do I, and nothing would please me better than to land and spend a day running down something big. But duty is duty, and we haven’t even a right to linger here,” and the tall sharpshooter bent his back to the blade he was working, and Henry, who was opposite, did the same.
The sun was now flooding the surface of the lake with a golden sheen and the day promised to be a hot one. Several of the soldiers had laid aside their coats, and now they took off other garments, in order that they might not perspire too freely.
By noon several of the party calculated that they had traveled twenty-four miles, and by a vote it was decided to pull into an inviting cove, where the shade was dense, and rest for half an hour and dispose of the midday meal.
“There is no use of our killing ourselves at the very start,” said Raymond. “We want to save ourselves a little, in case we get into some tight corner and have to row to save our lives.” And the others agreed with him.
The rest and meal on the grassy bank, overhung by the branches of some trees which had likely stood there for a century, came to an end all too soon, and once again they placed their traps in the rowboats and took up the oars. As they glided out onto the lake Silvers gave a look around.