The book begins in the middle of the French and Indian War in upper New York State near the Hudson River and Lake Chaplain. General Webb has just gotten word from an Indian that Moncalm and the French are going to attack Fort William Henry and that Colonel Munro will not be ale to keep the fort because he only has one thousand men and that he (Webb) needs to send reinforcements immediately. Upon hearing this, he ordered fifteen hundred men to be ready to march at dawn and has Cora and Alice Munro sent to their father at Fort William Henry accompanied by Major Duncan Heyward on horseback. They went along an Indian path which was to get them to Fort William Henry faster and they were lead