But there was another building, too, that Rolf had worked at night
and day. It was no frontier shack, but a tall and towering castle,
splendid and roomy, filled with loved ones and love. Not by the
lake near by, not by the river of his choice, but higher up than
the tops of the high mountains it loomed, and he built and built
until the month was nearly gone. Then only did he venture to ask
for aid, and Annette it was who promised to help him finish the
building.
Yes, the Lake George shore was a land of hungry farms. It was off
the line of travel, too. It was neither Champlain nor Hudson; and
Hendrik, after ten years' toil with barely a living to show, was
easily convinced. Next summer they must make a new choice of home.
But now it was back to Plattsburg.
On November 1st Rolf and Quonab reported to General Macomb. There
was little doing but preparations for the winter. There were no
prospects of further trouble from their neighbours in the north. Most
of the militia were already disbanded, and the two returned to
Plattsburg, only to receive their honourable discharge, to be
presented each with the medal of war, with an extra clasp on Rolf's
for that dauntless dash that spiked the British guns.
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