"Ay, ay, sir!" was the subdued yet resolute response of the men as they grasped the guns tightly, and gazed at the nearing shore.
A moment later the wind dropped as suddenly as it had risen, and a brief period of calm followed, after which the wind rose again, but now it blew from a different quarter; and the raft, instead of continuing on the same course, began to move northward.
Major Rogers instantly saw his opportunity. Calling upon his men to paddle with all their might, he directed their efforts so that the raft veered toward the land at a point some distance above the camp, where the trees came close to the water's edge.
"If we can only get there without being seen we'll give them the slip after all," he said to Seth, and there was an accent of hope in his tone.
Yard by yard the clumsy craft glided in the desired direction, and the men's spirits revived as the shore drew nearer without any sign that the enemy suspected their proximity.
At last the raft grounded, and one by one its passengers, moving as silently as shadows, made their way to land and disappeared in the dense obscurity of the woods with lightened hearts; for although they were not yet out of danger, they had certainly bettered their chances of seeing Fort William Henry again.
Following their leader in Indian file they glided noiselessly through the forest, not knowing at what moment they might be discovered by some outlying sentinel or vigilant scout.
But again fortune favored them, and, without being challenged or opposed, they left the encampment a safe distance behind ere the Major would call a halt that they might rest for the remainder of the night.
Two days later they reached the fort wellnigh spent with hunger and fatigue, and quite content to take it easy for a while ere setting forth on another expedition.
In the following June Major Rogers' heart was made glad by General Shirley sending him six light whale-boats from Albany, accompanied by instructions to proceed immediately to Lake Champlain and do what he might in the way of intercepting the parties coming down from Canada by water with supplies for Crown Point.