“Who will ride to the plantation?” Gabriel cried, and straightway Jacob Breen and Jared Green offered themselves as volunteers. Archie winking at me quizzically as the boys rose to their feet eager for the service, thus giving me to understand that he was no more inclined to absent himself from our snug quarters than I. What a breakfast we made that morning, we Minute Boys! After our hunger was satisfied we ate for the sake of eating, until it seemed absolutely impossible to swallow another mouthful, and then, as do the hogs, we lay down to sleep, giving no heed to the fact that our company had not been called upon to furnish sentinels, as should have been the case. Under other circumstances we would have been jealous because of this apparent neglect, for we were eager to do our full duty as soldiers, but not one gave it thought, and we spent our time as idly as if we had been Tories instead of Minute Boys who had sworn to defend the Cause even to the extent of yielding up our lives. Toward noon Gabriel and two or three other lads lounged over to the dwelling where General Marion had his quarters, but Archie and I remained within the tent, save at such times as it was necessary to look after the horses, for we were minded to take all the comfort we might, and because there was nothing better to do, we fell to talking about Seth Hastings, of the trap he laid, or the triumph which was probably his because we had gone into it like simples, until Archie said petulantly: “The very name of that villain gives me a bad taste in my mouth, and it is the next thing to crime to talk about him while we are so snugly housed.” “How much pleasure would you find in sitting here if so be we knew beyond a peradventure that the cur was within a dozen miles of us?” I asked laughingly, and he replied quickly: “If there was one chance out of ten that he might be within thirty miles, and we were given permission to set off in pursuit of him, I would agree never to go into a camp like this so long as I might remain in the service.” Just then we heard the thud of horses’ feet outside, and started up in no little surprise, for the animals were approaching rapidly, as if their riders were impatient to arrive at the earliest possible moment. Then looking out from the flaps of the tent, we saw that Jacob and Jared had returned. “Were you afraid that we might get more than our share of the plunder that you have ridden so fast?” Archie asked, looking at the horses, which were covered with foam as if having been ridden at full speed. “We were in a hurry to get back,” Jacob replied, as he dismounted, pulling off the saddle and bridle that his weary steed might roll at will upon the grass, “and we are bringing news which concerns all the Minute Boys,” he added, whereupon Archie came out of the tent quickly as he cried: “You have heard regarding Seth Hastings?” “Ay, so it would seem, although we may have mistaken some other for him.”