Not until this had been agreed upon did Sam and I slake our thirst, he watching the prisoners closely while I drank, after which I did a like turn for him. Now was I more keenly on the alert for any sign of danger. The prisoners were in condition to bring down upon us those who would rejoice to send us aboard the British frigate, if so be we came near to any Tory habitation, and I was resolved that the gags should be replaced at the first indication that they were like to break the promises made. We traveled a bit more rapidly after the Tories could breathe freely, and were come, as nearly as I could judge in the darkness, within two miles of Wallabout, when suddenly I heard sounds as of footsteps on the trail ahead of us. I had been leading the way, with the prisoners between me and Sam, who brought up the rear, and it can well be supposed that I came to a halt in short order, gripping Luther Stedman by the throat as I did so. Sam did not need to be told that something had given cause for alarm, and he seized Ezra by the arm, leading him cautiously to one side of the trail as he displayed his knife ostentatiously. Within a dozen paces of the path I halted again, trusting that the gloom of the night would shut us out from view of whoever might be approaching, and crept back near the trail, leaving Sam to insure silence on the part of the prisoners, as I knew he could do, otherwise blood would be spilled. Nearer and nearer sounded the footsteps, and while I was racking my brain to guess who might be traveling toward the Narrows at that time of night, the cause of the alarm came within view. Just at the point where I crouched behind a friendly bush the foliage of the trees was sparse, and I could see against the lighter sky a form that caused me to cry aloud in joy and surprise. It was none other than Abraham Decker who had sent us amid the bushes trembling with fear, and the exclamation which escaped me caused him to wheel about suddenly in alarm. “Hold on, lad, don’t run away like a coward!” I cried with a laugh which betokened relief of mind rather than mirth, and he, recognizing my voice, cried in a tone of anxiety as he came forward once more: “What has happened that you are here? Where is Sam?” “Yonder, hidin’ from you. We have a couple of prisoners which we are takin’ to the sloop, but didn’t count on havin’ such good luck as to find you.” By this time Sam came from the bushes driving the Tories before him, and now it was Abe’s turn to cry aloud in astonishment as he recognized the prisoners. “Luther Stedman an’ Ezra Billings! How did it happen that you picked up sich cattle as these?” The story of the night’s adventures was not overly long as I told it, and Abe was doubled up with mirth before I came to the end; but so impatient was he to understand how our comrade chanced to be returning to his post of duty so soon, that Sam cut short the laughter by asking: “Didn’t you go to New York?”