"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 forward, leaving Isaac free to do as he thought best. That these three Tories were bent on hanging the old soldier, or at least so nearly doing so as to frighten him into disclosing all he knew regarding Colonel Allen's plans, there could be no question, and young Rice, trembling with fear though he was, had no other thought than as to how it might be possible for him to aid his comrade. It did not seem probable the men were ignorant regarding the boy's presence, and the only explanation which can be made as to why they failed to secure him is that he was so nearly a child as to appear of but little consequence. They evidently had no thought that he could in any way thwart their purpose, and, therefore, no heed was given to him. It can readily be imagined that Isaac did not waste much time in speculations as to why he was allowed to remain at liberty. Now was come the moment when he might repay some portion of the debt he believed he owed Corporal 'Lige, and the only anxiety in his mind was lest he should not do it in proper military fashion. He could not even so much as guess what a genuine soldier would do under the same circumstances; but he had a very good idea as to how a boy might extricate himself from such a difficulty, and lost no time in beginning the work.