“You are right, Rufus; of that there can be no question, but I would give all the little I possess were it possible to read correctly the riddle, for such it is. If Master Sinclair and his family had gone away for a visit, they surely would not have taken half a hundred negroes with them. Even though it might not be necessary to leave the house-servants behind, what about the field-hands?” While the question remained unanswered Archie and Jacob rode up with an expression of blank dismay upon their faces. “There is nothing on this plantation alive, not even poultry,” Archie cried, leaping from his horse and standing before us as if expecting we could give an explanation concerning the abandonment of the property, and Jacob, looking around with something like fear on his face, asked nervously: “Where are the other lads?” “Gone to stable their horses,” I replied, since Gabriel hesitated. “You had best do the same, and then come back here, bringing the others with you.” The two lads rode away, and Gabriel and I remained silent, neither eager to speak, for there was something ominous in this absence of life where we had expected to find friends. Ten minutes later all our company of Minute Boys were grouped in front of the dwelling, when ensued such a tongue-wagging as can be fancied, for each had the same question in mind as had Gabriel and I, and all were equally eager for some solution of the mystifying problem. A full half-hour must have passed before Gabriel spoke, and then our lads, having literally talked themselves out, were moving restlessly to and fro as if fearing some disaster was about to fall upon them. “There is no good reason why we should continue to puzzle our brains over a question which we cannot answer,” the lad said with the air and tone of one who has suddenly decided upon some definite course of action. “Rufus and I are agreed that the abandonment of the plantation has not been caused by the arrival of the Britishers, else would we see signs of their occupation, for it is hardly possible one of the king’s soldiers can resist the inclination to destroy whatsoever may be within his reach. Our orders were to remain here a certain length of time that we might be able to give the alarm if the enemy came this way, and the fact that the plantation is deserted does not acquit us of that duty. You have cared for your horses, and now it seems to me that we should remain inside the building, from the windows of which can be had a good view of the highway, in order to perform the task assigned us.” He had but just ceased speaking when the clatter of horse’s hoofs told that a single rider was approaching, coming from the southward, and Gabriel turned quickly to open once more the door of the house, as he said: “Get under cover, lads, until we know who is coming. It may be that the British leader has sent out scouts and this is our chance to gain information.”