Many times during the day he inquired his way of simple country folk along the way. They stared when they heard that he was going up to London; it was a very large place and very far away. That night he stopped at a small wayside inn; he saw the young soldier whom he had noticed coming out of the prison at Plymouth, and who had spoken to him. But the youth studiously avoided him, and as Ethan was not at all anxious to form the acquaintance of king’s men, he did not force himself upon him. When he arose next morning the soldier was not to be seen. The boy breakfasted at his leisure; the landlord and his wife, who took the young American to be a seaman of a British ship, off, perhaps, upon a visit to his old home in some inland town, began to question him about the progress of the war. “And have you seen any of these American privateers that we hear so much about?” asked the landlord. Ethan nodded, and the man went on, “Ah, they must be very desperate fellows, indeed; and stubborn fighters, too, I have heard tell.” “They are,” said Ethan. “Englishmen will have to stand together to gain the victory over such enemies,” said the landlord, shaking his head. “And Englishmen in the service should trust one another; they shouldn’t be like the soldier who slept here over night. Do you know, he seemed afraid of you; and slipped away before you got up, without waiting for his breakfast. He said he’d take some bread and cheese to eat upon the road.” When Ethan once more resumed his journey toward London, his mind was full of conjectures regarding this queer person in uniform. Several times during the day he felt confident that he caught a glimpse of the scarlet coat dodging behind hedges and haystacks. The lad became suspicious of this and left the highroad for a small and badly cut up wagon way which a farmer informed him would land him on the London road some ten miles farther on. “I’ll be out of sight of him now,” said the young seaman, as he plodded along. “It can’t be that he suspects me for what I am; if that were so he’d have summoned help and taken me long ago. But I don’t like his actions for all that, and it’s best that I see no more of him.” But his ruse to avoid any further meeting with the redcoat was not a success. Night brought him to another roadside hostelry, and the first person whom he saw, sitting upon a bench before the door, was that identical person. As they stood staring at each other in wondering surprise, Ethan noticed a sudden spasm of laughter sweep across the young man’s face; the thing seemed infectious for, unable to control himself, the young American threw back his head and burst into a peal that made the old inn ring and caused the white-capped landlady to come rushing out to see what was the matter. The soldier regarded Ethan with somewhat puzzled eyes; it seemed that there was something about the boy that he did not quite understand, nor altogether trust. “I see that you have followed my advice,” said he.