Ethan Allen was completely fascinated with Arnold. He believed that if there was a genuine patriot in the colony it was he. Arnold, having recovered from his surprise at finding Allen an educated man, conceived a liking for him and resolved to act squarely in all his dealings with him. Arnold was better read in history than the mountaineer, and he knew the history of Ticonderoga as well as he knew the later history of New Haven. "The French knew what they were doing when they fortified Ticonderoga," Arnold remarked, when the strength of the fort was being discussed. "Tell me all you know about it, will you not?" "My dear Allen, I am always at your service. You remember--but no, you would be too young; we were but boys then--but in 1755 Gen. William Johnson was ordered by the British to drive the French from the shores of Lake Champlain. Johnson had a fine body of men, three thousand four hundred in number, including a body of friendly Mohawks. Oh, those Mohawks! They are fighters, every one of them. I wish we had a thousand of them with us." "We do not need them." "No, but we shall before the English are taught the lesson we intend to teach them--that is, to mind their own business. The French general, Dieskau, who was commandant at Crown Point, was one of the most daring men of whom I have ever heard. He had only fourteen hundred men, French, Indians and Canadians, all told, but with this force he made up his mind he would anticipate the movements of the English and drive them back to Albany. He sailed up the lake to South Bay. From there he marched to the upper springs of Wood Creek, intending to pass the English army and capture Fort Edward before the alarm could be given. But the news was carried to Gen. Johnson. A natural, a boy, half an idiot, ran into the general's presence and cried out: 'The French are marching like mad!' A scout was sent out and the truth learned. Col. Williams, with a force of a thousand men, accompanied by Mohawk Chief Hendrick, with two hundred warriors, set out to relieve the threatened fort." "Hendrick was a very old man, was he not?" "Yes, he was gray-headed, and though very old he was as stalwart as any of the younger men of the tribe. Dieskau had been misled as to the route, and found himself four miles to the north of Fort Edward, when he should have been there. His scouts reported that Williams and Hendrick were marching to the fort, and the daring Frenchman quickly ordered his forces into ambush, and the English were entrapped. Both Williams and Hendrick fell dead, and the English were badly routed. Johnson heard the noise of battle and quickly extemporized breastworks by felling trees; the cannon were brought into position and then the English awaited the triumphant French. It must have been a glorious fight.