132 JUSTIN MORGAN 



one breathe deeply. There's no cHmate hke it. No 

 wonder these Vermonters are giants morally and physic- 

 ally. No wonder the Green ]\Iountain Boys could take 

 Ticonderoga! A handful of men bred in this air are 

 worth all the city-bred officers in the British Army. 

 And forsooth, they proved it! Ha! Ha! If it comes 

 to an attack by water from Canada on the lake, here, we 

 have a superabundance of trained officers and men." 



He dismounted and spread a map on the ground, 

 weighting the corners with pink and red fragments of 

 stones picked up at random. Had he known it, these 

 were pieces of marble, later to make that locality fa- 

 mous, when the quarries were discovered. 



In silence he studied the map, the bridle rein hanging 

 across his arm. Then he folded it, sprang suddenly into 

 the saddle and continued his thinking aloud as they 

 started ofif : 



"Now if we could be sure of the Vermonters in this 

 war, but they seem to think fighting foolish — and in this 

 they may be right, eh, Morgan? New England is in a 

 ferment, but we've got to stick by the President and 

 fight it out. Although they call it 'Mr. Madison's War,' 

 that poor man is the most unwilling participant in it ! 

 The thing is to find which way the cat will jump here; 

 that's my business. These secret emissaries from Eng- 

 land and Canada may be right here now, rousing the 

 Vermonters to join Canada. But may be the sight of 

 a good old Continental uniform — God bless it ! — may 

 bring them our way !" 



The lake glinted blue in the sunshine, the birds twit- 

 tered in the forest, as they passed on slowly. 



Suddenly Captain Dulaney addressed the horse gaily : 



''Look at that view, Morgan. Shall we let a king 

 wrest it from us ? No, I swear it ! This air is like 

 wine. Who would live in towns, say I, with houses 



