Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 1).djvu/24

 they foresaw all the possessions of the English crown in America subdued by their Christian foes, or laid waste by the inroads of their relentless allies.

When, therefore, intelligence was received at the fort which covered the southern termination of the portage between the Hudson and the lakes, that Montcalm had been seen moving up the Champlain with an army "numerous as the leaves on the trees," its truth was admitted with more of the craven reluctance of those who court the arts of peace, than with the stern joy that a warrior should feel in finding an enemy within reach of his blow. The news had been brought towards the decline of a day in Midsummer, by an Indian runner, that also bore an urgent request from Munro, who commanded the work on the shore of the "holy lake" for a speedy and powerful reinforcement. It has already been mentioned, that the distance between these two posts was less than five leagues. The rude path, which originally formed their line of communication, had been widened for the passage of waggons; so that the dis-