The English in St. John watched the preparations and laughed at the absurdity of the affair.
"Those rebels think they can fight," said the colonel in command. "Let them make all their preparations, and we will blow them all into smithereens in no time."
But as he watched the works proceed he was not quite so sanguine.
"Who is leading the rebels?" he asked.
"Gen. Richard Montgomery."
"Montgomery? Not the Irish general who was with the British at Martinique?"
"The same, Colonel."
"By Jove! by Jupiter! he knows what he is doing. Who is second in command?"
"Ethan Allen."
"By Jove! we have blundered. We ought never to have allowed them to come so near. I thought that they were an undisciplined lot of peasants, who knew nothing about war, and would flee as soon as we opened fire on them."