Having once got clear of the fort and its vicinity, as we believed to be the fact, the only thing which might prove the undoing of the venture was that the general had gone to some other section of the country, and they would not succeed in finding him until St. Leger had accomplished his purpose.
Well, we settled down to garrison duty, taking our turn with the squads of from fifty to an hundred men who remained constantly on the alert to shoot such of the enemy as might be sufficiently obliging as to show themselves, and ready to give warning of any signs of an attack.
This last was not believed probable. The officers of the garrison argued that neither the Indians nor the Tories could be depended upon to make a direct assault on such a fortification as Fort Schuyler, and that all St. Leger's efforts would be directed toward advancing his parallels until he was sufficiently near to mine.
And yet how true is the old maxim that "it is always the unexpected which happens!"
On the third morning after we had entered the fort Sergeant Corney and I were on duty as sharpshooters, and, before we had been upon the walls many moments, I called his attention to what seemed like an unusual hurrying to and fro on the part of the enemy. It was as if they were making ready for some important movement, and, according to my way of thinking, that could only mean an assault, improbable as our officers believed it to be.
As a matter of course, we gave immediate information to the officer of the day of what we fancied had been discovered, and within half an hour more there could no longer be any doubt but that St. Leger had made up his mind to see what might be accomplished by a direct attack.
I was disposed to make light of the matter, not believing it possible the enemy could effect anything of importance, but lost somewhat of my confidence on observing the grave expression on the faces of the officers.
"What is it?" I asked of Sergeant Corney. "Do they fancy for a moment that, even though the Indians should be willing to take part in the assault, the fort could be carried?"
"No, lad, I reckon they're not sich fools as that; but it has come to my ears that ammunition for the cannon is runnin' mighty low, an' to repel an attack, even though there be no danger come from it, will be a serious matter."
Even then I failed to understand what the old soldier meant, and asked him to explain more fully, which he did.