"Yes, yes, mother," said Tom eagerly. "We'll join the patriot army, if need be, to further our ends, and while fighting for Liberty and Independence, and aiding our country in that manner, we will at the same time be on the lookout to find father and rescue him." "Yes, that is what we will do," said Dick. "Father would have joined the patriot army if he had not been captured and taken away by the Tories, and now that he is not able to do that, we will do it in his stead. I know it is what father would wish us to do, and as Tom says, it will give us a better chance to find and rescue father." "Oh, my sons, my sons! How can I spare you, too?" murmured Mrs. Dare. "How can I let you leave me, now that I have lost your dear father!" "It will be only temporary, mother. You can see, when you give the matter more thought, that it is the best thing to do." "Perhaps so, Dick, darling," acquiesced Mrs. Dare, "but it is hard!" Throwing their arms about their mother's neck, the youths kissed her, and presently she grew more calm. Chapter III Ben Foster Brings Important News "Oh, Dick, is it true that you and Tom are going to enter the army and fight for liberty?" "Yes, it is true, Elsie. Aren't you glad?" "Y-yes, Dick," replied Elsie Foster, hesitatingly. "I'm glad you are to be a soldier, but I-well, you might get killed you know, and-and-" "Would you care, Elsie?" Elsie Foster was the daughter of Robert Foster, the nearest neighbor of the Dares. Mr. Foster was a king's man, but he was different from the other Tories of the neighborhood, in that he was an honest, honorable man, and was a friend of the Dares. He had had nothing to do with the capture of Mr. Dare, and was outspoken in his denunciation of his Tory neighbors for the deed they had committed. Dick had gone over to the Foster home to borrow something for his mother, and had met Elsie out in the yard, and the girl had greeted Dick as above. The truth was that Dick and Elsie were great friends. They were school-mates, and whenever there was anything going on in the neighborhood, such as spelling schools, skating parties, etc., Dick was Elsie's companion. Elsie was seventeen, and she had a brother, Ben, he being her twin, and a sister, Lucy, aged fifteen. The three young folks of the Dare family and the three of the Foster family often got together of evenings and had a pleasant time, but now that Dick and Tom were going away to the war, it would break into this arrangement. When Dick asked Elsie if she would care if he should get killed in battle, she blushed and looked confused at first, and then she looked him frankly in the eyes and said, softly. "You know I would, Dick." "I'm glad to know that, Elsie," said Dick, earnestly.