Even now, after so long a time has passed, it seems to me that I might profitably fill many pages with an account of our journey down the river, the halt at Black Rock Navy-Yard, the loading of those vessels built by Henry Eckford, and of the passage back to Presque Isle when, with a force of two hundred soldiers, as many sailors as could be hired, and all the oxen to be found in the vicinity, these craft, so sadly needed by our people, were towed, or tracked, along the shore of the lake. There was much of interest which befell us on the way during this long and tedious journey, for we did not get the vessels loaded and into Buffalo until the 6th of June, nor sail from there until the 13th, when Captain Perry lay in his berth on board the _Caledonia_ sick with what appeared to be a fever, and it seemed to Alec and I as if, because of this illness, all which had been accomplished was set at naught, so far as concerned the getting under way of the fleet that had been begun by my father. CHAPTER V. THE BRITISH FLEET. As I have said, our little fleet sailed from Buffalo on the 13th of June, and on board the _Caledonia_ Captain Perry lay sick with a fever. Perhaps Alec and I were the only two who placed such great dependence upon the leader of this expedition. It may be that others, better informed concerning such matters, held to it that there were many who could fill the place to which Oliver Perry had been appointed; but in my mind his death meant the direst disaster--his sickness the deferring of all our hopes. As a matter of course Alec and I were also embarked on the _Caledonia_, for we two played the part of nurses to the fever-stricken captain, and although as ignorant in matters of sickness as we were in the art of warfare, I dare venture to say the invalid never suffered for anything whatsoever that it was within our power to give him. I was distressed in mind because of Captain Perry’s illness so as to give no heed to the fact that we were making our way toward Presque Isle at imminent danger of being captured by the enemy, although even the dullest member of the party could have said beyond a peradventure that the British had vessels in plenty on Lake Erie, and would most likely be on the lookout for those who were returning from the successful attack upon Fort George. One thing that both of us lads were alive to, however, was the slow progress our fleet was making. The breeze was hardly more than strong enough to ruffle the surface of the waters, and during the first four-and-twenty hours we advanced only that number of miles, Captain Perry meanwhile eating his heart out with impatience because of the dull sailing, thereby giving us quite as severe a task as we could perform in keeping him below according to Dr. Parson’s orders.