“Good!” said the ranger. “With Smith and Brown I won’t need but eight or ten more. And I’ll begin by taking young Nuck here. He’s a good oar.”
“Take whom you wish. We depend on you,” replied Allen, and within the hour the ranger and his party, including Enoch Harding, set off on their mission ahead of the more slowly moving army.
CHAPTER XXI
THE ESCAPE OF THE SPY
In sixteen hours ’Siah Bolderwood had traveled from his camp on the shore of Lake Champlain opposite the frowning walls of Fort Ticonderoga; when the long ranger was in a hurry he did not spare himself. Perhaps no other man in the Vermont wilderness could have covered so much ground afoot as he, within the time. But he set off now on his return journey, with nearly a dozen men at his heels, as fresh as though he had rested for a night instead of for an hour. His muscles were seemingly of steel and his limbs of iron. He led at such a pace that Enoch Harding, who came first behind him, could scarcely keep up with his stride and place his feet, Indian fashion, in the prints of his friend’s moccasins.
The company of scouts traveled in single file and, having no need to follow the wood-road on which the army was marching, they soon left that out of view. ’Siah found an Indian path which suited him far better than the broader trail, for it would bring them much sooner to the lake, and for hour after hour he strode on with scarce a look behind him to see how his companions kept up. The men he had chosen, save Enoch, were tried and trained woodsmen, with powers of endurance second only to his own. And as for the lad whom he loved, he knew his high spirit and pride. Enoch Harding would not fall behind until the last ounce of his strength had been expended.
Finally the party reached a little stream and here the leader gave the signal to halt. Enoch flung himself down on the short sward and fell asleep almost instantly. ’Siah looked down upon him in some pride. “That’s the stuff we make men of in this country,” he said aloud. “I knew his father as well as I know myself. The lad will be another Jonas Harding.”
“He’ll hold us back if we’ve to keep up this pace, ’Siah,” said one of the others, doubtfully.
“Nay, you’re mistaken there, neighbor. You and I will travel until we feel that it ain’t best for us to go any furder. Enoch’ll keep up till he drops. He won’t hold us back.”
And it was true. Others of the party cried “enough!” before the afternoon was over; but the youth, his lips pale and compressed and the perspiration fairly pouring from his limbs, would have died before he acknowledged that the pace was too great for him. At night ’Siah called another halt and they ate heartily of such provisions as they carried and then lay down to rest. But ’Siah arranged for a guard. They were nearing the lake now and some ill-affected settler (there were several families of Tories near Champlain) might see them and wonder what such a large party of armed men was doing here. If the news of the approach of the main army did not travel ahead, it would be more because of good fortune than good management.