draw such rations as may be served out, lad, and then push ahead to where we can be in the company of sensible people, meaning our two selves.”
Isaac would have felt decidedly more safe if he could remain with the main body of troops, for he had heard the captain’s caution; but he did not think it wise to give such a desire words, and by his silence signified that he was ready to do whatsoever his instructor should deem to be for the best.
The rations served these volunteers who proposed to reduce the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point ere they yet knew a soldier’s duties were not generous, and he who, from a desire to avoid seeming greedy, delayed in applying for them, generally found himself without food, save he might be so fortunate as to beg some from his more provident companions.
Corporal ’Lige was exceedingly friendly to his stomach; he made it a rule never to allow modesty to deprive him of a full share of whatever might be served out, therefore it was he had drawn rations for himself and Isaac almost before the troops came to a halt, and the hindermost were yet marching into camp, weary and travel-stained, when he said to his small comrade:
“There is nothing to keep us here longer, and the sooner we are at a goodly distance from these silly youngsters who fancy that the taking of a musket in their hands makes them soldiers, the better I shall be pleased.”
Isaac gave token of willingness to continue the march by shouldering his weapon once more, and the two set off, attracting no attention from their companions-in-arms, each of whom had little thought save to minister to his own comfort, for this soldiering was rapidly becoming more of a task and less of a pleasure-tour than had been at first supposed.
Not until he was fully a mile from the foremost of the main body did the corporal give any evidence of an intention to halt, and then he showed remarkably good judgment in his selection of a camping-place.
At the edge of a small brook about fifty yards from the main road over which they had been traveling, he threw down his knapsack, and announced in a tone of satisfaction that they would spend the night there.
“It is not too far away, and yet at such a distance that we shall not be forced to listen to the gabbling of those geese,” he said as he set about building a small campfire in order to prepare the food he had procured. “Make yourself comfortable, Isaac Rice, for it is a soldier’s solemn duty to gain all the rest he can.”
“Do you think we shall be safe here?” the boy asked almost timidly, for it seemed little short of a crime to question any proposition made by the corporal.
“Safe, lad? What’s to prevent? If you keep your ears open for stories of danger while you are with the army, you’ll never know peace of mind, for there are always those faint-hearted ones ready to exaggerate the falling of a leaf into the coming of the enemy. I have as much regard for my own safety as for yours, and I say that here we can camp in peace and safety.”
This was sufficient for the corporal’s recruit, and he set about making himself comfortable, with the conviction that none knew better than his comrade the general condition of affairs.
CHAPTER III. AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE
Surely this camping by themselves was exceedingly pleasant, Isaac thought, as the old soldier took upon himself the duties of cook, leaving his recruit with nothing to do save watch him as he worked.
On the previous night they had slept in the midst of a noisy throng who chattered and made merry until an exceedingly late hour, thus preventing the more weary from sleeping, and everywhere in the air, hanging like clouds, was the dust raised by the feet of so many men.
Now these two were in the seclusion of the woods, with a carpet of grass for a bed; the rippling brook to lull them to slumber, and nothing more noisy than the insect life everywhere around to disturb their slumbers.
Corporal ’Lige was in a rare good humor. He prepared an appetizing meal, although his materials were none of the best, and when it had been eaten, seated himself by Isaac’s side with pipe in his mouth, ready and willing to spin yarns of his previous experience as a soldier.
The boy was an eager listener; but after a certain time even the tones of the old soldier’s voice were not sufficient to banish the sleep elves, and his eyes closed in unconsciousness just when his comrade had arrived at the most exciting portion of his narrative.
“Perhaps I shan’t be so willin’ the next time you want to hear what I’ve seen in this world,” Corporal ’Lige said testily when he observed that his audience was asleep, and then, knocking the ashes carefully from his pipe, he lay down by the side of his small companion.
It seemed to Isaac that he had hardly more than closed his eyes in unconsciousness when he was aroused by the pressure of some heavy substance upon his hand, and looking up quickly he saw, in the dim light, three men standing over the corporal.
The foot of one of these strangers was upon the boy’s hand, as if he did not think Isaac of sufficient importance either to warrant his taking him prisoner, or to so much as step aside that he might be spared pain.
Before hearing a single word, Isaac understood that these late-comers were no friends of the corporal’s, and he endured the pain in silence, hoping that by so doing he might escape observation.
It was hardly probable the strangers failed to see him, for he had been lying within a few feet of his companion; but that he was not the object of their regard could be readily understood.
The man who had thus pinned the boy to the earth by his heel wore moccasins rather than boots, otherwise Isaac would have received severe injury, and as it was, the corporal’s recruit suffered considerable pain before the foot was finally removed; but yet made no sound.
So far as he could judge by the conversation, these strangers must have been in camp some time before he was awakened, for when he first opened his eyes they were in the midst of an unpleasant conversation with the old soldier, such as had evidently been carried on for some moments.
“If he don’t choose to tell, string him up to a tree,” one of the party cried impatiently at the moment Isaac first became conscious that matters were not running smoothly in this private encampment. “A dead rebel is of more good than a live one, and we have no time to lose.”
“Hang me, if that’s what you’re hankerin’ for!” Corporal ’Lige cried in a voice that sounded thick and choked as if a heavy pressure was upon his throat. “Even though I knew more concernin’ this ’ere expedition than I do, not a word should I speak.”
“We’ll soon see whether you’re so willing to dance on nothing,” the first speaker cried vindictively, and then came noises as if the man was making ready to carry his threat into execution.
“Give him another chance,” one of the Tories suggested. “Let the old fool tell us all he knows of Allen’s plans, an’ we’ll leave him none the worse for our coming.”
“I know nothing!” the corporal cried in a rage. “Do you reckon the colonel would lay out his campaign before me?”
“It is said he did so before you left Pittsfield.”
“Whoever says that is a liar; but even though he had made the fullest explanations, I would not reveal the plans to you. You must think I’m a mighty poor kind of a soldier if I don’t know how to die rather than play the traitor.”
“You’ll soon have a chance of proving what you can do!” the third man cried angrily, and then it was he stepped
