Immediately the unwilling permission for them to do as they pleased had been given, the men set about making ready for the advance as if each moment was of the greatest value, and in an incredibly short time after General Herkimer had been bullied into agreeing to that which his better judgment told him to be wrong, the company was ready for the march. "Are we to go with them?" I asked of the sergeant, believing for the moment that it would be wiser for us to form an independent command of two. "Ay, lad, I'm thinkin' that we had best stand by the general, for he may be needin' us before this mornin's work is done, an' we sha'n't be takin' a great deal of time from Jacob, because, in case of arrivin' before Colonel Gansevoort is ready for us, the scrimmage will soon be over." The two colonels, who were responsible for this unsoldierly method of conducting a campaign, busied themselves with getting the men into lines, and all the while telling what it was possible for them to do to St. Leger and his force, as if anything of value could be done when the idiots did not have sufficient sense to make inquiries of those who could give them full information regarding the strength of the enemy whom they were so soon to meet. Even had Sergeant Corney not decided to follow the commander before the line of march had been arranged, he would have done so later, because General Herkimer beckoned us to approach when he took his place at the head of the column. "Are you counting on coming with me, despite the unnecessary danger which we know will be encountered?" he asked, and Sergeant Corney replied, promptly: "Ay, sir, that we are, and had already settled it in our own minds." "Which portion of the besieging troops are we likely to meet first, if we follow the trail?" the general asked. "Thayendanega's camp lies southeasterly from the fort; but how far it may be from the trail, I cannot say." At this moment the report of a rifle from the direction of where the outermost sentinels were stationed startled every one, including those bloodthirsty colonels, and for a moment all stood silent and motionless, waiting to learn the cause of the alarm. Then it was that the sentinel with whom the sergeant and I had already spoken, came running into camp, for it seemed a favorite trick of his to desert a post of duty whenever inclination prompted. It was Colonel Cox who asked, advancing: "Did you fire that gun?" "Ay, sir; I saw two Indians in the thicket, coming as if from the direction of this camp." "Did you kill either of them?" "I do not think I even scratched 'em. The wood is too dense for much good shooting." Colonel Cox wheeled around as if the information was of no especial importance, when even a boy like me understood somewhat of its import, and, carelessly saluting the commander, reported that the troops were ready for the word to march.