In a few words Capt. Horry explained the purpose for which the council had been convened. A spy had just come in with the intelligence that the garrison of Georgetown had been considerably reduced; on which Col. Lee had proposed that an attack should be made upon the place, since the country expected some bold and decisive stroke, now that his forces and Marion’s were united. The plan he suggested was, that a portion of the brigade should drop down the Pedee by night, and lie in ambush below the town; that, on the succeeding night, this party should enter the town on that defenceless side, and taking it by surprise, open an entrance for their comrades, who, led by Lee and Marion in person, would be ready, at the signal, to assail the entrenchments on the landward side. The heart of Preston leaped into his throat as he heard this proposal “Perhaps Kate may yet be saved,” he said to himself. Accordingly, when Horry ceased, and Marion, by a nod, signified his desire for our hero to speak, Preston’s eyes kindled, and he answered, “My voice is for the attack, whatever be the odds. The opportunity for a bold, a resolute assault, is all I ask for. We will die to a man, or succeed. I will undertake, if necessary, to charge with my company up to the very muzzles of the battery which defends the town.” Lee turned to Horry and nodded approvingly at these words. “A lad of spirit,” he whispered apart. “I have heard of his daring at Blakeley’s. Had there been more such at Camden, we never would have lost that day.” Marion, however, took no further notice of Preston’s fiery speech than to turn to the next officer at the table; but a very close observer might have detected a sudden gleam of the general’s eye, like a flash, gone in a moment. The opinions of the other officers were in the main less favorable to the enterprise than Preston’s; and so many obstacles were mentioned as necessary to overcome, that he was in torture lest the undertaking should be abandoned. Even Lee seemed to hesitate, startled at the difficulties brought forward. Had military discipline permitted it, Preston would have broken in on the conference; but he was forced to sit silent, hearing obstacle after obstacle canvassed as unconquerable; yet his flashing eye, and the agitation of his countenance, told how difficult it was to restrain himself. At length all had delivered their opinions except Marion. He glanced around the board before he spoke, and his words fell on a breathless auditory. With Preston the excitement was intense to hear the general’s decision.