It is well I should dwell upon this scene. Our force was no greater than five hundred when all who counted themselves as troopers had come together, and here were two hundred or more who could not repress their sorrow because, while they were threatened, as Master Sinclair had every proof, by more than three thousand well-armed men, the greater portion of whom were trained soldiers, the word had been given to fall back. This was good evidence of the spirit of patriotism which animated the hearts of the people of the Carolinas, that these brave fellows were dissatisfied only because of not being brought face to face with an enemy who could conquer them by sheer force of numbers. If the Cause of Liberty was crushed out elsewhere, it yet lived and burned with an ardent flame in the hearts of those who had pledged themselves to follow General Marion, and among these patriots we Minute Boys of South Carolina had the good fortune to be numbered. When we rode out from Sinclair’s plantation knowing beyond a peradventure that we were fleeing before the enemy, while none would have openly questioned General Marion’s judgment in such matters, there were many who grumbled because of not being allowed to make a stand when there could be no hope of resisting successfully the overwhelming numbers which were already in motion against us. Master Sinclair remained behind because his house and the negro huts were well filled with wounded men whom he would not abandon, whatever might be the cost of playing the Good Samaritan. And here let me stop sufficiently in this poor story to say that when Tarleton’s legion arrived at the Sinclair plantation, two days later, they not only burned all the buildings, but sent Master Sinclair to the prison-ships in Charleston harbor, apparently giving no heed to the fact that, save for his desire to minister to the wounded Britishers, he might have made good his escape. It must not be supposed that we Minute Boys had, even during the heat of the battle just fought, forgotten that traitorous cur, Seth Hastings. As a matter of fact he had been in our minds all the while, and more than once did we speak of him, but because no one had seen the young villain, we came to believe he was returned to Charleston, where he might remain under the protection of those whose cause he had espoused apparently only that he might work harm to his native land. Therefore it was we counted him the same as having escaped our vengeance, and were forced to content ourselves with the hope that the time might come when we could give him his just deserts.