the king, assuring him that his majesty must certainly conquer in the end, in which case the rebels would lose all their property, and many of them be hanged into the bargain. But to such a proposition he of course would not listen. Finding all her efforts to convert a rebel into a royalist fruitless, she then told him that if he would secrete himself two days longer in the woods, she would furnish

supply of which her husband was going to the fort the next day, and she would likewise endeavour to provide him with a pair of shoes. Disinclined to linger so long in the country of the enemy, and in the neighbourhood of a British outpost, however, he took his departure forthwith. But such had been the kindness of the good woman, that he had it not in his heart to seize upon her husband's arms, and he left this wild scene of rustic hospitality without supplies, or the means of

and resumed his work, while his more compassionate wife gave Jacob a bowl of bread and milk, which he ate sitting on the threshold of the door, to guard against surprise. While in the house he saw a musket, powder-horn, and bullet-pouch hanging against the wall, of which he determined if possible to possess himself, that he might be able to procure food during the long and solitary march before him. On retiring, there-him with some provisions, for a fore, he travelled only far enough into the woods for concealment, returning to the woodman's house in the evening, for the purpose of obtaining the musket and ammunition. But he was again beset by imminent peril. Very soon after he entered the house the sound of approaching voices was heard, and he took to the rude chamber for security, where he lay flat upon the irregular floor; and looking through the interstices, saw eleven soldiers enter, who it soon appeared came for milk. His situation was now exceed-procuring them. ingly critical. The churlish proprietor might inform against him, or a single movement betray him. But neither circumstance occurred. The unwelcome visitors departed in due time, and the family all retired to bed, excepting the wife, who, as Jacob descended from the chamber, refreshed him with another bowl of bread and milk. The good woman now earnestly entreated her guest to surrender himself and join the ranks of

Arriving once more at the water's edge, at the lower end of Lake Champlain, he came upon a hut, within which, on cautiously approaching it for reconnaissance, he discovered a party of soldiers all sound asleep. Their canoe was moored by the shore, into which he sprang, and paddled himself up the lake, under the most encouraging prospect of a speedy and comparatively easy voyage to its head, whence his return

in catching a few of these; but having no means of striking a fire, after devouring one of them raw, the others were thrown away. His feet were by this time cruelly cut, bruised, and torn by thorns, briars, and stones; and while he could scarcely proceed by reason of their soreness, hunger and fatigue united to retard his cheerless march. On the fifth day his miseries were augmented by the hungry swarms of musquitoes, which settled upon him in clouds while traversing a swamp. On the same day he fell upon the nest of a black duck, the duck sitting quietly upon her eggs until he came up and caught her. The bird was no sooner deprived of her life and her feathers, than he devoured the whole, including the head and feet. The eggs were

home would be unattended with either difficulty or danger. But his pleasing anticipations were extinguished on the night following, as he approached the Ile aux Noix, where he descried a fortification, and the glitter of bayonets bristling in the air, as the moonbeams played upon the burnished arms of the sentinels, who were pacing their tedious rounds. The lake being very narrow at this point, and perceiving that both sides were fortified, he thought the attempt to shoot his canoe through between them, rather too hazardous an experiment. His only course, therefore, was to run ashore and resume his travels on foot. Nor on landing was his case in any respect enviable. Without shoes, without food, and without the means of obtaining either, a long journey before him through a deep and track-nine in number, which Sammons less wilderness, it may well be imagined that his mind was not cheered by the most agreeable anticipations. But without pausing to indulge unnecessarily his thick-coming fancies, he commenced his solitary journey, directing his course along the eastern lake shore toward Albany.

During the first four days of his progress he subsisted entirely upon the bark of the birch, chewing the twigs as he went. On the fourth day, while resting by a brook, he heard a rippling of the water, caused by the fish as they were stemming its current. He succeeded

took with him; but on opening one, he found a little half-developed duckling already alive. Against such food his stomach revolted, and he was obliged to throw the eggs away. On the tenth day he came to a small lake. His feet were now in such horrible state that he could scarcely crawl along. Finding a mitigation of pain by bathing them in water, he plunged his feet into the lake, and lay down upon its margin. For a time it seemed as though he could never rise upon his feet again. Worn down by hunger and fatigue, bruised in body and wounded in spirit, in a lone

At

powers had been taxed.
the time appointed he also had
repaired to the point which, at

morning, and in the afternoon, it being the 28th of June, he reached a house in the town of Pittsford, in the New Hamp-his separation from Jacob, had shire grants, now forming the been agreed upon as the place State of Vermont. He remained of meeting. The moon shone there for several days, both to brightly, and he called loud recruit his health, and if pos- and often for his brother,-so sible, to gain intelligence of his loud, indeed, that the guard was brother. But no tidings came; turned out in consequence. His and as he knew Frederick to anxiety was very great for his be a capital woodsman, he of brother's safety; but in ignorcourse concluded that sickness, ance of his situation, he was death, or re-capture must have obliged to attend to his own. interrupted his journey. Pro- He determined, however, to apcuring a conveyance at Pitts-proach the fort,-as near to it, at ford, Jacob travelled to Albany, least, as he could venture; and and thence to Schenectady, in the event of meeting any one, where he had the happiness of disguise his own character by finding his wife and family. inquiring whether the rebels had been taken. But a flash from the sentinel's musket, the report and the noise of a second pursuit, compelled him to change the direction of his march, and proceed again with all possible speed. It had been determined by the brothers to cross the Sorel, and return to the east side of the river and lake; but there was a misunderstanding between them as to the point of crossing the river-whether above or below the fort. Hence their failure of meeting. Frederick repaired to what he supposed to be the designated place of crossing, below the fort, where he lingered for his brother until near morning. At length, having found a boat, he crossed over to the eastern shore, and landed just at the cock-crowing. He proceeded directly to the barn where he supposed the

Not less interesting, ormarked by fewer vicissitudes, were the adventures of Jacob's brother Frederick. The flight from the fort at Chamblee was made just before sunset, which accounts for the chase having been abandoned so soon. On entering the edge of the woods, Frederick encountered a party of Indians returning to the fort from fatigue duty. Perceiving that he was a fugitive, they fired, and called out, 'We have got him!' In this opinion, however, they were mistaken; for although he had run close upon them before perceiving them, yet, being swift of foot, by turning a short corner and increasing his speed, in ten minutes he was entirely clear of the party. He then sat down to rest, the blood gushing from his nose in consequence of the extent to which his physical

Thus

chanticleer had raised his voice, by the same process. but found not a fowl on the pre-prepared, he proceeded onward mises. The sheep looked too poor by the dim twilight to serve his purpose of food; but a bullock presenting a more favourable appearance, Frederick succeeded in cutting the unsuspecting animal's throat, and severing one of the hindquarters from the carcase, he shouldered and marched off with it directly into the forest. Having proceeded to a safe and convenient distance, he stopped to dress his beef, cutting off what he supposed would be sufficient for the journey, and forming a knapsack from the skin by the aid of bark peeled from the moose-wood.

Resuming his journey, he arrived at the house of a French family, within the distance of five or six miles. Here he made bold to enter, for the purpose of procuring bread and salt, and in the hope also of obtaining a gun and`ammunition. But he could neither obtain provisions, nor make the people understand a word he uttered. He found means, however, to prepare some tinder, with which he re-entered the woods, and hastened forward in a southern direction until he ascertained, by the firing of the evening guns, that he had passed St. John's. Halting for the night, he struck a light; and having kindled a fire, occupied himself until morning in drying and smoking his beef, cutting it into slices for that purpose. His knapsack of raw hide was cured

without interruption or adventure until the third day, when he killed a fawn and secured the venison. He crossed the Winooski, or Onion river, on the next day; and having discovered a man's name carved upon a tree, together with the distance from the lake (Champlain), eight miles, he bent his course for its shores, where he found a canoe with paddles. There was now a prospect of lessening the fatigue of his journey; but his canoe had scarce begun to dance upon the waters ere it parted asunder, and he was compelled to hasten ashore and continue his march by land.

A

At the close of the seventh day, and when, as he supposed, he was within two days' travel of a settlement, he kindled his fire, and lay down to rest in fine health and spirits; but ere the dawn of day he awoke with racking pains, which proved to be an attack of pleurisy. drenching rain came on, continuing three days, during which time he lay helpless, in dreadful agony, without fire or shelter, or sustenance of any kind. On the fourth day, his pain having abated, he attempted to eat a morsel, but his provisions had become too offensive to be swallowed. His thirst being intense, he fortunately discovered a pond of water near by, to which he crawled. It was a stagnant pool, swarming with frogs, another providential