“Do not hesitate to shoot with good aim at the first who makes the least move at attempting to escape,” the lad had said as we set out with horses and prisoners through the underbrush, speaking sufficiently loud for all to hear, and we answered properly, although there was little we could have done on the instant had the prisoners turned rusty, owing to the fact of being loaded down with the captured weapons. I was carrying my own musket and two of those taken from the prisoners, Archie’s burden was the same as mine, while Gabriel had charge of the remainder of the booty, therefore for one of us to have fired quickly, in case there was need, would have been well-nigh impossible. However, the prisoners were firmly secured on their horses, and there was no possibility they could do anything toward effecting their own release, therefore we had only to guard against a surprise by whoever might come upon us from the outside. Under other circumstances we would have realized that there was little fear of our being discovered by enemies in that place; but, nervous as we were through fear that it might not be possible to regain the encampment with all our spoils of war, even the rustling of the branches in the night air sounded to our ears like the tramp of men, and more than once did the flight of a night bird cause Gabriel to halt our party in order that he might reconnoitre. How long that short march seemed to me! It was as if it would never end, and more than once before we had come upon the place where our horses had been tethered did I say to myself that Gabriel had mistaken the direction. I dare say, however, that we covered the distance in a reasonably short time, and great was my relief, even though we were by no means out of the woods, when we arrived at our first halting-place. “It is not for us to linger here,” Gabriel said when Archie stacked his burden of weapons against the trunk of a tree as if preparing for a long halt. “We have yet many miles to cover before sunrise, for I am not minded to travel in the daytime if it can be avoided.” “You can’t start any too soon to please me,” Archie replied grimly; “but there is no good reason why I should hold on my shoulder this property of the king’s while we are making ready for the journey. How do you count on carrying all the weapons?” “Leave them here,” I cried quickly. “It is not well we should burden ourselves with muskets when it is important to travel rapidly. Better lose all the weapons than fail to carry our prisoners to the general.” “There is no reason why we should lose anything,” Gabriel replied quietly as he began saddling his horse. “We of the Colonies have too much need for weapons to waste any, and I am counting on carrying _all_ our booty back to camp.”