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224 alarm in the American army in New Jersey and on the Hudson to spread among the men, and Robert Dorlon shared fully in the prevailing uneasiness. Even his own feeling that somehow he was looked upon as one who had failed to deliver the letter which had been intrusted to him, though in his heart he knew that he had done well, was in a measure ignored in the prevailing excitement in the camp.

The reports came steadily of the advance of John Burgoyne's army, and of the apparent helplessness of the Americans to check it. From Cumberland Head to the falls of the River Bouquet, where it was reported that Burgoyne in person had welcomed the arrival of his Indian forces and had made an address that had greatly stirred his savage allies, the army had moved without hindrance. Rumors were current that the waters of Lake Champlain "swarmed" with the fleets that were transporting the redcoats and the red men. By the end of June the advancing forces had arrived at Crown Point and were in possession of the place, and then early in July came the most disheartening report of all—that the British had seized Fort Ticonderoga, and that the place had been abandoned by the