136 JUSTIN MORGAN 



Captain Dulaney rode Morg-an daily and taught him 

 to be a true cavalry horse and to obey bugle calls. So 

 obedient did he become and so conscientious was he, 

 that, one day when he was attached to a ''shay" at the 

 foot of the hill, he heard the bugle sound "Charge." 

 He obeyed instantly on the impulse, snapping his hitch 

 rein sharply. Up the hill he "charged" at full speed, the 

 shay rattling on behind! 'Twas not his fault that it 

 was not shaken into bits ! From a colt it had been his 

 instinct to obey without question, and certainly, at last, 

 in the service of his country he did not hesitate ! 



Soldiers, of¥ duty, lounging idly in the shade, roused 

 themselves with a great roar of laughter as the old horse 

 charged toward them. An orderly sprang forward and 

 caught the bit. Not a strap, not a tug was broken ! 

 Every one cheered heartily, for "Old Justin Morgan" 

 had come to be a character at the post and was loved 

 by all, men as well as officers. 



Time passed and still Mistress Dulaney did not come, 

 though every day Morgan looked for the one great, hu- 

 man love of his life. He wondered if she remembered 

 him — if she recalled the part he had played in freeing 

 her from the Coxcomb, and winning her the man she 

 loved. 



In the spring of 1813, when the ice broke up, a fleet 

 was fitted out. Oak timbers, cut on the Winooski, were 

 sawed at the mills, nails and bolts were fashioned out of 

 hot iron at the forges where even the bellows breathed 

 patriotism. Masts and spars were tapered and sails 

 made. Liberty poles were set up on eminences — the 

 higher the pole the stronger the patriotism. Everything 

 indicated war. 



Commodore Macdonough took command of the lake 

 and naval stores and ammunition arrived from the 

 South. All seemed waiting for the call to arms when 



