Alec gave the lad the proper course, as I have said, and held him to it so truly by observing the stars from time to time, that considerably before midnight we were standing where we could distinguish the outlines of the coast at a point, as the French lad declared, within three miles of his home, and so far from the encampment that there was little fear of coming upon the redcoats, unless, peradventure, squads of them were out in search of us. From this point our advance was a reasonably rapid one, the guide striking a path through the thicket which he knew full well, and when we had come within five hundred yards, as he declared, of the dwelling, Alec said, coming to a halt:-- “We two will stop hereabout, and do you go ahead, Leon, to learn if the soldiers have visited the house.” All this seemed to me like an excess of precaution, for there was nothing to be heard save the ordinary noises of the night in the forest, and I could see no reason why we should not make ourselves as comfortable as possible, at least until daybreak. Leon, having every faith in Alec’s judgment, did not delay; but went on swiftly, leaving us alone, and there we remained until it seemed positive to me the French lad had abandoned us. More than once I would have spoken with my comrade, urging some such possibility, but that he, pressing his hand over my mouth whenever I made the attempt, thus ensured silence, and the darkness of night was beginning to give way slightly to the coming day when Leon finally returned. He had in his arms a bulky package, and when I sprang up to meet him intimated by gestures that I should remain quiet. Then cautiously, and in the most careful whispers, he told what proved to me once more that I was in no wise fit to direct the movements of even myself while in an enemy’s country. The soldiers came to his home within half an hour after he arrived, while his mother was making ready the provisions for us which he had just brought. They demanded to know why the household was astir at such an unseasonable hour, and she, without absolutely telling an untruth, gave them to understand it was because her son, who had been forcibly taken from her the night previous, had but just returned. Then Leon was forced to submit to the most searching questioning as to how he had escaped from the bateau, and who had brought him to the North Foreland. He told only the truth in replying to these questions, but did not tell it all. Two young men, he said, had found him at the mercy of the wind and waves, and yielding to his earnest entreaties, set him ashore near the easternmost end of the point. When the men asked concerning the two strangers, Leon professed to know nothing, believing it was right to speak an untruth rather than give up to their enemies those who had befriended him.