"Or the time," said Barnabas, "which we can't spare. He was a brave soldier an' a true friend, an' I say it who knows. God rest his soul!" "We'd better be seeking his murderer," grumbled Collum McNicol, and the rest approved warmly. "Have a bit of patience, men," replied Barnabas. "It's no use to pursue now." Turning to Nathan he added: "The little man was surely Simon Glass, lad. Are you certain about the other?" "The one in front was Godfrey Spencer," declared Nathan. "The fellow who looks summat like you?" asked Barnabas. "I seen him at De Vries's house two years ago, when I brought a letter from your father." "Yes," replied Nathan. "He's a lieutenant in the British army now, and I believe he is attached to Major Langdon's staff." "Major Langdon?" exclaimed Barnabas. "That's the name of the prisoner I lost! I wonder if he is with the party." "Very likely, since Godfrey is here," Nathan suggested. Barnabas scratched his head thoughtfully for a moment, seeing in this affair a relation to certain other things that had puzzled him considerably of late. "I'm forgetting my duty," he said. "It ain't safe to stay here a minute longer. Forward, now, an' make no noise." With loaded muskets, the men fell in behind their leader, leaving the body of poor Lindsay to stiffen on the grass. Barnabas led the party about a hundred yards to the northeast and halted them in a cluster of pine trees. "You're safe from attack here," he said. "Don't stir till I come back. I'm going forward a bit to reconnoiter." Several volunteered for this duty, but Barnabas knew that he was best fitted for it, and he had his way. He crept off as noiselessly as a serpent, and the shadows hid him from view. Nathan and his companions waited anxiously in the dark cover, not daring to speak above a whisper, and expecting at any moment to hear a shot. Fully half an hour elapsed, and dawn was beginning to break when Barnabas returned. "I've been to the enemy's camp," he announced, eagerly. "They're less than a mile due north from here, across a creek that flows through a deep an' narrow ravine. An' just on the other side of the creek an' the camp is the bridle-road. There's a big pine tree fell across the chasm, formin' a natural bridge from bank to bank, an' I crept over that to peek an' listen." "Are they going to attack us?" asked Reuben Atwood. "They're thinkin' more of gettin' away," replied Barnabas. "From what I kin make out they're in a hurry to reach Wyoming, an' they propose to start as soon as they've had breakfast. They're at the cookin' now, just as though we wasn't in the neighborhood to be reckoned with. The spies didn't learn our strength a bit ago, an' that's why they're doubtful about attackin'." "Is Major Langdon there?" inquired Nathan.