It was an hour till midnight when the three leaders gave their orders and the chosen band began to prepare.

Robert had begged to be of the perilous number.

He could never endure it if Tayoga went and not he, and Willet, though reluctant, was compelled to consent.
Willet himself was going also, and so was Daganoweda, of course, and Black Rifle, but Rogers was to remain behind, in command of the force on the slope.
Thirty rangers and thirty Mohawks, all powerful swimmers, were chosen, and every man stripped to the skin.

Firearms, of necessity, were left behind with the clothes, but everyone buckled a belt around his bare body, and put in it his hatchet and hunting knife.

The plan was to swim silently for the island and then trust to courage, skill and fortune.
Buoyed up by the favor of Areskoui, who had worked a miracle for them, the sixty dropped into the water, and began their night of extreme hazard..