Arnold granted the mother's request on condition that the young fellow should take some friendly Indians with him and hasten to the British camp and so alarm St. Leger as to induce him to raise the siege and retreat! The frightened Tory set out on his perilous errand, his brother being held by Arnold as a hostage, and reached the British camp just as the Indians were holding a "pow-wow" over the dubious enterprise in which they were engaged. As the savages saw the Tory's coat full of bullet holes, and listened to his wonderful story of his own narrow escape, and heard that Arnold was close on their heels with two thousand regulars, the savages said, "The pow-wow said we must go"; and go they did in utmost haste. In vain the British officers stormed and swore. The troops were seized with a panic. St. Leger and all his army retreated in disorder, broken and beaten, to Oswego, and afterwards to Montreal. The valley of the Mohawk was safe. St. Leger's defeat dealt a severe blow to the plans and prospects of Burgoyne. Arnold was now able to rejoin Schuyler. =191. Burgoyne plans a Raid into the Country to secure Supplies.=--All this time Burgoyne was hard pushed for food. Every pound of bread and meat had to be brought from Canada. Nobody but Tories would sell him an ounce of beef or an ear of corn. The British general was also anxious to strike a blow at the good people of New England. He knew that the supplies of the patriots were stored at Bennington. Supplies he must have. On August 11 he sent off Colonel Baum with about five hundred Hessians, Indians, and Tories on a plundering trip to this little village. Four days later a second division of about six hundred men was sent under Colonel Breymann to help Baum, for it was evident that the situation was looking ugly. Instead of raiding the country, Baum, learning that the militia were gathering in all directions, entrenched himself on a hill about four miles from Bennington and waited for reinforcements. =192. The Men of New England rally to defend their Homes.=--The men of New England, instead of waiting till their houses were burnt, their crops destroyed, and their wives and children scalped, were rapidly arriving from far and near to meet their hated foe. The instant the Hessians and Indians threatened to come over the line, the men of New England knew there was only one thing to do and it must be done at once. That was to kill as many of the enemy as they could and drive the rest back. They had already prepared for this. Not every man was able to act as did staunch old John Langdon, who kept a store in Portsmouth. He said to the New Hampshire Assembly: "I have three thousand dollars in hard money. I will pledge my plate for as much more. I have seventy hogsheads of rum, which shall be sold. Our old friend John Stark, who defended the rail fence at Bunker Hill, will work like a beaver to stop Burgoyne."