The three men were so busily engaged trying to frighten the corporal into telling them what he might know of Colonel Allen's forces as not to heed the noise Isaac made when he rolled himself toward the bushes in that direction where the two muskets had been set up against a tree under the foliage in such manner that they might not be affected by the dew. It was impossible for him to say exactly what these intruders were doing to Corporal 'Lige, but, from the noises, he judged they had first made a prisoner of the old man by seizing him around the throat, perhaps while he was yet asleep, and now there was every indication that they were making ready to carry out the threat of hanging. "Give him another chance to tell what he knows," one of the men cried, and immediately afterward the old soldier replied: "String me up if you will, for there's no need of waiting any longer with the idea that I'm goin' to give you any information, even if I have it." "Then up with him!" the man who had first spoken shouted, and Isaac, without looking in that direction, heard the confused noises which told him the enemy were trying to raise the old man to his feet. By this time the boy had his hand on one of the muskets, and his first impulse was to discharge it full at the intruders; but before he could act, the thought came that there were two shots at his disposal, and he ought to so plan as to make both of them count. He believed it was necessary to work with the utmost speed, lest these three Tories should have hung the corporal before he was ready to interfere, and yet a certain number of seconds were absolutely necessary before he could carry out that plan which had suddenly come into his mind. With both muskets under his arm he crept cautiously a few paces onward until screened by the foliage, and then raising one of the weapons, took deliberate aim at the nearest enemy. There was no thought in his mind that he was thus compassing the death of a human being. He only knew his comrade's life was in danger, and that a well-directed shot might save him. The three men had by this time gotten a rope around Corporal 'Lige's neck, and, finding that it was difficult to raise the old man to his feet, were throwing the halter over the limb of the nearest tree as a method of saving labor. One of the Tories, he who appeared to be the elder, and who was directing the movements of the others, stood a few paces from his comrades, and, taking deliberate aim at him, Isaac shouted: "Throw down your weapons, and surrender, or you are dead men!" The words had but just been spoken when he discharged the musket, and a scream of pain from the living target told that the bullet had sped true to its mark. The two men who were as yet unarmed dropped the rope they were holding and sprang toward their weapons, which had been left on the ground near by; but before they could reach them, Isaac had emptied a second musket, and another cry of pain rang out.