But these last were, as old Silas put it, “the tough nuts of the lot;” for if it was necessary to take so much from the smaller craft before they were sufficiently lightened, it did not seem possible that the two brigs could, even by aid of the camels, be forced into the waters of the lake. All this while, as may be imagined, the strictest watch was kept, for we knew full well Commodore Barclay was somewhere in the vicinity with his squadron, and it stood to reason that he expected we would attempt such a manœuvre as was then in progress. Immediately the smaller vessels had been forced into deep water their guns were put in position and loaded; everything was made ready as completely as if we knew an attack would be made within the next hour, and had the Britishers appeared while the brigs were comparatively helpless, I doubt not but that they would have met with a warm reception, although it is not reasonable to suppose we might have succeeded in beating them off. When, on the morning of the fourth day, work was begun upon the _Lawrence_ and _Niagara_, every man and boy among us was in a state of the greatest possible excitement. We understood full well how deplorable would be our plight if the enemy should appear just after the guns had been taken from the brigs, for then the two vessels on which we placed the greatest reliance could have had no part in the battle that must have ensued. Right here let me set down what, as a matter of course, we could not know at the time; but which explains why we were allowed to perform this long task unmolested. I have seen a letter which Mr. Ryason wrote to my father, and from it comes this extract:-- “The citizens of Port Dover, a small village on Ryason’s Creek, a little below Long Point, offered Commodore Barclay and his officers a public dinner. While that dinner was being attended, Perry was getting his vessels over the bar, and thereby acquired power to skilfully dispute the supremacy of Lake Erie with the British. At the dinner Commodore Barclay remarked, in response to a complimentary toast, ‘I expect to find the Yankee brigs hard and fast on the bar when I return, in which predicament it will be but a small job to destroy them.’ Had Barclay been more mindful of duty, his expectations might have been realized.” If we of Presque Isle had had this information at the time, it would have saved us great distress of mind, for there was not among all our forces one who thought otherwise than did old Silas. He said to me despondently, when the order was given to load into small boats the guns from the _Lawrence_:-- “Now has come the time, lad, when I believe of a verity that our ruin is near at hand. It does not stand to reason that the British commodore can hold off longer, for he knows full well we would set about crossing the bar at the earliest moment, and if he sights us at this work while the two brigs are dismantled, we are undone.”