“I guess not. I’ll tell ’em I didn’t know ye was a rebel.” “That will be a good idea.” “Yes.” The farmer now took his seat beside Dick, and took the lines, and drove, and presently Dick said: “I guess I’ll leave you, now, Mr. Boggs. This is about the nearest point to the patriot encampment.” “All right, Dick Dare.” Dick leaped to the ground, shook hands with the farmer, thanked him for his kindness in doing what he had, and then said good-by. His mission ended he set out through the woods in the direction of the encampment. When he reached there, he went to the headquarters tent, and was given a cordial greeting by General Greene. “Have you been reconnoitering the fort, Dick?” the general asked. “Yes, General Greene,” was the reply. “And I have been within the stockade-walls.” The general started and looked surprised. “How did you manage that, my boy?” he asked. Dick explained, then, the general listening with interest, and when Dick had described the interior of the enclosure, and the fort, the officer nodded, and said: “You have done pretty well, Dick. A knowledge of the interior arrangements at the fort is worth considerable.” “So I thought, sir, and that is the reason I was so eager to see the interior of the fort.” After he had asked a few questions, General Greene told Dick he might go, but that any further information he could secure would be appreciated. “I’ll reconnoiter the fort to-night,” said Dick. “I may be able to learn something further.” Dick then rejoined his comrades, and told them the story of his adventure at the fort. They listened with interest, and uttered exclamations of wonder. “Sure an’ they came moighty near to grabbin’ ye, thot toime, Dick,” said Tim Murphy. “Yah, dot is so,” nodded Fritz Schmockenburg. “But I was able to get a look at the interior of the fort,” said Dick, “and that was worth while.” “Yes, indeed,” said Ben Foster. “Of course, you saw nothing of Tom?” “No. If he is there, he was in a building somewhere, and so I would not have seen him.” They talked about the adventure quite a while, and were agreed that Dick had acted in a daring manner in venturing into the fort. “That was the only way I could secure any information regarding the arrangements of the buildings within the enclosure,” said Dick. After supper, Dick again set out. He made his way at a moderate pace, and finally reached the edge of the open ground shortly after dark. He stopped just within the edge of the forest and looked across at the fort for a few minutes. Then he began making his way toward the fort, slowly. It was a rather dark night, and he could just make out the fort, looking like a faint shadow, and he felt certain that the sentinels could not see him. He was at the wall of the fort in about fifteen or twenty minutes, and began making his way along it, feeling for a place where he could climb to the top, as Ben said he had done.