Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/354

and when at last a measure of order was restored the red men had deserted their allies, and Barry St. Leger and his followers sailed from Oswego and again passed over the beautiful St. Lawrence, and did not stop until they were once more in Montreal itself. Han Yost saved himself, Fort Stanwix, Colonel Gansevoort and his men, by the success of his ruse; and with the Mohawk Valley once more freed of its foes, Benedict Arnold with his brave and sturdy followers hastened back to rejoin the army which was threatening the invasion of John Burgoyne. Ticonderoga had fallen, the battle of Hubbardton had been lost, the American army had retreated and drawn their enemy on until now, when, if Howe's men from New York could be prevented from coming up the Hudson, there was beginning to be a strong hope that the invasion itself would prove to be most disastrous to those who had planned it. General Putnam had sent up reinforcements from the highlands of the Hudson; General Washington had sent Morgan with five hundred of his most skillful sharpshooters; and when Arnold returned it was to learn that the spirits of the soldiers were high and hope was daily becoming stronger. The incompe-