Once that fall Job and his young companion went far back into the solitude of the primeval forest to hunt moose. Even the thunder of Ticonderoga’s guns was never echoed there, and from morning till night they heard the sound of no human life but their own. At night the dismal chorus of the wolves was heard far and near, and now and then, what was a pleasanter sound, the call of a moose, soft and mellow, in the distance. With a birch bark horn Job simulated this call, and lured a moose into an ambuscade, where, within short range, the huge creature was killed. When with much labor the meat was transported and safely stored in the cabin, they were in no danger of a winter famine. Soon winter came, with days of snowbound isolation, and its days of out-door work and pleasant, healthful pastime. The gloom of a blustering, snowy February day was thickening into the gloom of night, when a traveller and his jaded horse appeared at the door of the little log house. “I’ve somehow missed my way on the lake,” said he to Job, when the door was opened. “I’m bound for Bennington. Can you give me and my poor beast shelter till morning and then set me on the right road?” “Sartainly, come in, come in,” was answered, heartily. “You’re welcome to such as I’ve got of bed an’ board, an’ your hoss’ll be better off in the shed wi’ corn fodder’n he’d be a browsin’ in the woods.” When the stranger had seen his jaded horse cared for and had come in, the firelight revealed a man in the prime of life, of fine face and figure and of military bearing, though he was clad in the plain dress of a civilian. He proved a genial guest, and amused his companions with stories of his recent journey to Canada, and of his home in Connecticut, and with relations of the stirring events in that and the other colonies that portended a revolt against the mother country. In turn he was interested in everything pertaining to the New Hampshire Grants, the progress of the quarrel with New York claimants, the temper of the inhabitants toward England, but, particularly, was he curious about the condition of the adjacent fortress. Concerning its garrison and the plans of the fortification he found Nathan well informed. “I like to remember such things about a place that has been so famous,” the stranger observed, as he made notes in a memorandum book. “I would like to visit the fort sometime. How many men did you count the last time you saw them parade, did you say?”