“I could not well make out the drift of the talk between the lieutenant and General Putnam; but the way it appeared to me was that they allowed the Tories couldn’t be held by the army, since they were not soldiers, an’--Well, the fact of the matter is, Eph, I don’t understand it myself, save that they are to be charged with makin’ an assault on you and Sam, an’ the lieutenant will see to it they are held in custody until you two can be there to appear against ’em, which means that they’re safe in jail.” “Did the general make any complaint because of our capturin’ ’em?” Sam asked. “It looked to me as if he took it as a matter of course, knowin’ you couldn’t spy on the fleet an’ have them hangin’ ’round makin’ trouble. Luther was chafin’ a good bit under the collar when I left him; but Ezra’s more of a decent fellow, an’ says he won’t forget how you treated him in the matter of the gag. The most important news I’ve brought is that we needn’t make a daily trip to New York unless there’s some decided move on the part of the enemy. What we’re really here for, is to get word into New York as soon as possible after they start to make a landin’, an’ because of the orders given, the sloop will be off Red Hook from now on, so’s to save us a journey to Wallabout.” This was good news indeed, for that tramp across the island at night was no little of a hardship, and when there was nothing new of which to make report, it seemed to me useless. Abraham had brought with him an additional supply of provisions, together with a jug in which we could keep fresh water, and by the time the stores were packed away and the bottom of the cave smoothed off somewhat, we were, as I looked upon the matter, very comfortably fixed for three lads who were supposed to be doing military duty. And now, because of there being nothing of interest to tell concerning ourselves, I propose to pass over without a word all that time when we remained in hiding, as it were, until the moment came that we had information in plenty for General Putnam. Being able to keep a supply of water on hand, it was only necessary for us to leave our hiding place at such times as the stores ran low, and, consequently, we had no fear of being seen by enemies on land, while it was an easy matter to remain hidden from view of those who passed on the water. Then came the moment when the British forces were put in motion, and the serious part of our work was begun. Three of the ships, and we came afterward to know that they were the Phœnix, the Rose, and the Greyhound, with two bomb-boats, put off from Staten Island early in the morning of the 22nd of August, and at the same time we could see troops going on board the unwieldy scows that had been building.