He found John Cadwalader with General Wayne, and was able to obtain speech with him without dismounting from his horse, as the officers were about starting on a tour of inspection through the camp. “And you want to see more fighting, do you, my lad--and your wound not healed yet?” said the colonel. “What good d’ye think a wounded man will be to us?” “But I’m all right on horseback, and I’ve brought my horse,” Hadley declared. “I wish we had more such fellows--and as eager to fight, Colonel,” said General Wayne. “He’s but a boy, too!” “And how about the promise to your mother, Master Morris?” queried the other officer. “My uncle has cast me off for carrying dispatches, and for being in the Paoli fight, where I got wounded,” the boy said, sadly. “I can do nothing for him now. So I have come to do what I can.” “Well, well. I will speak to His Excellency about you. There is a certain long-legged Yankee hereabout who, if I mistake not, has been inquiring for you through the camp.” “Lafe Holdness!” exclaimed Hadley. “The same. He said he knew you had got away from Philadelphia; but where you had gone was another matter, and one of which he was not cognizant. Now, Master Morris, you will find your friend, Captain Prentice, somewhere to the west of here. Keep near him and then you will be near me. When the propitious moment comes to present you to the Commander-in-Chief, I shall want you in a hurry.” The officers rode on, and Hadley sought out Captain Prentice. “My faith, Hadley!” was the captain’s exclamation, “but we’re a pretty pair of winged birds.” His own arm was still in a sling, but he had taken active command of his company again. “You can scarcely call me winged,” said Hadley, “for the ball went through my leg.” He climbed down from Molly and allowed a soldier to take her away. He could scarcely walk, having been so many hours in the saddle; but Captain Prentice made him welcome and saw to it that he had a bed for a few hours, where he slept away much of his weariness. At this time Washington’s forces lay about twenty miles from Philadelphia and fourteen from Germantown. For some days the Continentals had been resting after the arduous campaign which had followed the landing of the British troops. The officers were planning some important move; but the army was kept in ignorance of its nature until the night of the 3d of October. Then the columns were put into motion quickly and took the road to Germantown. It was to be a night march to surprise the enemy, and never did Hadley Morris forget it. He and his friend, Captain Prentice, were both mounted--the latter on a sorry nag which his orderly had picked up somewhere--and there might have been some ill-feeling expressed among the other officers of the infantry over Prentice’s riding had he not been wounded. But those fourteen miles were hard enough for both the captain and Hadley, despite the fact that they were not obliged to tramp through the heavy roads.