It can well be supposed that we made all haste to get under cover, and, once hidden by the foliage, it was possible to see, on the western shore of the river, flames mounting to the sky in twenty places at the same time, telling of the homes which were given over to the torch by the orders of that king who claimed us as his subjects. “And this is the end of the wicked folly!” Master Morley said, with a long-drawn sigh. “We are told that we should not speak ill of the dead; and, while it stands to reason that the greater number of those who were so eager to be led against John Butler’s murdering followers are no longer in this world, yet I claim now, and always shall, that they alone are responsible for the crimes which have been committed since noon of the day just past.” “The whole valley will now be overrun; we can no longer call any place our home!” Giles March exclaimed, passionately, and I, understanding that such converse was but tending to make us faint-hearted, proposed that we set off for the cave. “No one can say how soon the Tories may come this way in search of sport, as when we fled from Fort Jenkins, and it is well that we seek some safer refuge while there is an opportunity,” I said, laying my hand on Giles’s shoulder to arouse him from the slough of despondency into which he had fallen. “Our homes, until such as John Butler and his imps have been killed or driven out of the country, will be in the army, doing what we may against a king who would thus force love from his people,” Master Morley said, sternly, and then it was I realized there was no other refuge for us in case we succeeded in getting out of the valley alive. It was not a simple matter to find our way through the forest in the darkness, for there was nothing save a knowledge of the general direction to guide us; but we stumbled on as best we might, well content, since each step took us just so much farther away from the scene of murder. Never once did we come across any rock or tree which could be recognized, and when we had travelled as long as it seemed would have been necessary had our course been the true one, I said, coming to a full stop: “We may be going in a circle, as when Master Bartlett was leading, and I am of the mind that we halt here until morning rather than take the chances of coming upon the river bank again.” “This time Master Bartlett will lead you true, and there is no need of a halt until you are come to where can be had food and a bed,” a voice from the thicket said, in cautious tones, and I made no effort to repress a cry of joy, for I knew it was the old man who had spoken. “I have been back and forth here since Daniel Hinchman arrived,” the old man said, as he made his way through the thicket to where we were standing. “Already have we picked up two of the Minute Boys who were among the missing since the retreat from Fort Jenkins, and there may be more than you hereabout who are searching for a hiding-place.”