noon
At eleven Mrs. Hubbell did a little scouting and reported that all was quiet as far as she could see both ways , and no enemy in sight anywhere . With a grateful hand shake he left the house to cover the fourteen miles that lay between Chazy and Plattsburg . Refreshed and fed , young and strong , the representative of a just and victorious cause , how he exulted in that run , rejoicing in his youth , his country , his strength , his legs , his fame as a runner . Starting at a stride he soon was trotting ; then , when the noon hour came , he had covered a good six miles . Now he heard faint , far shots , and going more slowly was soon conscious that a running fight was on between his own people and the body of British sent westward to hold the upper Saranac . True to the instinct of the scout , his first business was to find out exactly what and where they were . From a thick tree top he saw the red-coats spotting an opening of the distant country .