that on which the garrison of Oswego assembled,
to witness what its commander had jocularly called a passage of arms. Lundie was
a scholar, in military matters at least, and it was one of his sources of honest
pride to direct the reading and thoughts of the young men under his orders, to
the more intellectual parts of their profession. For one in his situation, his
library was both good and extensive, and its books were freely lent to all who
desired to use them. Among other whims that had found their way into the
garrison, through these means, was a relish for the sort of amusement in which
it was now about to indulge, and around which, some chronicles of the days of
chivalry had induced them to throw a parade and romance, that were not unsuited
to the characters and habits of soldiers, or to the insulated and wild post,
occupied by this particular garrison. While so earnestly bent on pleasure,
however, they on whom that duty devolved, did not neglect the safety of the
garrison. One standing on the ramparts of the fort, and gazing on the waste of
glittering water that bounded the view all along the northern horizon, and on
the slumbering and seemingly boundless forest, that filled the other half of the
panorama, would have fancied the spot the very abode of peacefulness and
security; but Duncan of Lundie too well knew that the woods might at any moment
give up their hundreds bent on the destruction of the fort and all it contained,
and that even the treacherous lake offered a highway of easy approach, by which
his more civilized, and scarcely less wily foes, the French, could come upon
him, at an unwelcome and unguarded moment. Parties were sent out, under old and
vigilant officers, men who cared little for the sports of the day, to scour the
forest, and one entire company held the fort, under arms, with orders to
maintain a vigilance as strict as if an enemy of superior force was known to be
near. With these precautions, the remainder of the officers and men abandoned
themselves, without apprehension, to the business of the morning.
    The spot selected for the sports, was a sort of esplanade a little west of
the fort, and on the immediate bank of the lake. It had been cleared of its
trees and stumps, that it might answer the purpose of a parade ground, as it
possessed the advantage of having its rear protected by the water, and one of
its flanks by the works. Men drilling on it, could be attacked, consequently, on
two sides only, and as