Dick's First Adventure
Dick was challenged, and on answering that he was a friend, was told
to advance and give the countersign.
He approached the sentinel, and when near him, said:
"I am a patriot, but do not know the countersign. I wish to see
General Putnam."
"Who are you and why do you wish to see the general?" the sentinel
asked.
"My name is Dare, and I am a messenger from General Washington. I have
a letter of introduction to General Putnam."
"All right. I'll summon the officer of the guard and he'll conduct you
to the general."
He did so, and the officer asked Dick a few questions, seemed
satisfied, and conducted him to the quarters occupied by General
Putnam.
Dick saluted on entering the presence of the general, and drawing the
letter from his pocket, handed it to Putnam, who took it an read the
contents, after which he gave Dick a keen, searching and somewhat
wondering glance.
"You are Richard Dare?" he queried.
"Yes, General Putnam," replied Dick.
"H'm. The commander-in-chief says here that you are going down to the
enemy's territory to try to do some spying. You are rather young, it
seems to me, to be going such work."
"Time will cure that," smiled Dick.
"Yes-if you live," grimly. "This is very dangerous business you are
entering upon, my boy."
"So General Washington said, sir."
"Yes? Well, it is a fact, and I have my doubts regarding your ability
to do anything, but since the commander-in-chief has seen fit to try
you and has sent you to me for the purpose of having me give you what
information I possess regarding the location of the British, I will do
what I can to assist you."
"Thank you, General Putnam."
The general then gave Dick all the information that he thought would
be of value to him, and the youth listened attentively.
"Now," said Putnam when he had finished, "do you think you can find
the British without any trouble?"
"I am sure I can find the British, sir," was the reply; "but I don't
know about the trouble part."
The grim general chuckled. He seemed to like the dry humor of the lad.
"I guess you'll do, Dare," he said. "I'm beginning to think the
commander-in-chief showed good judgment in sending you, after all.
But, I might have known that such was the case, for he is a man who
seldom makes mistakes."
"I hope he hasn't made a mistake in this instance, sir," modestly.
"I guess he hasn't. It is possible that a boy like you may be better
able to penetrate to the enemy's lines and secure information than a
man, for the British will not be so likely to suspect you of being a
spy."
"That is what General Washington said, sir."
"The position is well taken, I feel confident. Well, Dare, be careful,
take care of yourself and secure all the information possible
regarding the enemy."
"I will do my best, General. Well, I must be going."
The general shook hands with Dick, and wished him good luck.
"Don't let the redcoats get you," he said.
Dick laughed.
"They won't get me, if I can help it," he said. "Good-bye, General
Putnam."
Dick did not start just then, however, for the very good reason that
while he had been engaged in conversation with General Putnam, a storm
that had been threatening that afternoon and evening, broke upon them,
the wind blew a gale and the rain poured down in torrents, the
lightning was incessant and the roar of the thunder terrific. It was
indeed a severe storm.
"You must not think of starting out to-night," said General Putnam.
"You could not find your way anywhere, and would simply get soaked to
the skin, or perhaps struck by lightning. I will give you a bed, and
you will remain here till morning."
"Doubtless that will be best," agreed Dick, though he disliked the
delay. Still, he felt that it would do no good to go in such a storm,
for as the general had said, he could not find his way to the British
encampment, or accomplish anything if he did find it.
So he remained on the Heights that night, only to find it still
raining the next morning.
"You would not want to start out in the daytime, anyhow," said General
Putnam; "so it does not matter. You will stay till evening, and then
if it has ceased raining, you can start on your expedition."
It was still raining hard, when evening came, however, and General
Putnam said it would be foolish to make the start in the storm. So
Dick remained all that night, and all next day. The rain had ceased
soon after sunrise and the sun shone brightly that day, drying the
ground pretty thoroughly, by evening.
"You can make the start, this evening, Dare," said the general. "I
don't suppose the delay in getting away from here will make any
difference."
"I hope not, sir," said Dick.
After dark that evening, Dick took his departure, and as soon as he
was past the sentinels, he struck out southward. The British army was
at that time encamped near the Flatlands, about two miles from the bay
and about two miles south of Flatbush.
Dick walked onward at a moderate pace. There was no hurry, and
besides, by hurrying he might run right into a party of redcoats, and
this would be bad, as it would likely result in his capture.
It were better to make haste slowly. Dick realized this, and he
decided to take his time and exercise his every care. Caution was a
necessary adjunct of a spy.
Dick was eager to succeed. Several men had failed, and had doubtless
been captured, and if he could accomplish his object it would be a big
feather in his cap. He was intensely patriotic, anyway, and this made
him extremely desirous of succeeding in securing the information
regarding the plans of the British.
He reached the wooded heights about halfway between the village of
Bedford and Flatbush after a walk of an hour or so, and having climbed
the hill, he paused on the summit and listened intently for some time.
It was his thought that perhaps a party of British might be located
here, and he did not want to run into their midst, if such were the
case.
He heard sounds, but only such as are usually to be heard in the woods
at night-the chirping of crickets, the buzzing of the wings of
insects, and the call of nightbirds. He heard nothing that would
indicate the presence of human beings.
"I guess there are no redcoats in these woods," he murmured after
listening a while. "The British haven't advanced this far yet, likely.
I'll go ahead, but will be exceedingly careful."
He moved forward slowly, and cautiously made his way down the south
slope of the wooded hill. He paused every few moments and listened. He
was not going to take any chances of discovery and capture, if he
could avoid it by exercising care.
Somehow Dick's heart thrilled with pleasure, even though he were on a
perilous undertaking. He was working for General Washington, trying to
do something that would be of benefit to the great Cause of Liberty,
and this made him experience a feeling of happiness. The danger did
not have any effect on him, save to, if anything, add to the zest. He
was a brave youth, though not a foolhardy one, and the danger made the
work all the more interesting and exhilarating.
On he went down the slope, slowly and cautiously. He had to
practically feel his way, for in under the trees it was very dark and
he could not see to pick a path. This made it slow work, but he had
all night for his task, if he wished so much time, and so he did not
worry because he could not proceed at a swift pace.
"`Slow but sure,' is a good motto," he told himself. "There will be
times, doubtless, when it will pay me to move swiftly, but this is not
one of the times."
Suddenly Dick paused and stood stock still, his every nerve tense, his
every sense on the alert. He thought that he had heard the sound of
voices!
He listened intently, and presently his heart gave a leap. Yes, he had
not been mistaken. Over to the right, and not very far distant, he had
heard someone talking. At least two men were there, engaged in
conversation, their voices being pitched low.
Dick strained his eyes, but could not catch sight of the speakers. He
could only judge of their location and distance from him by the sound
of their voices, and he judged that they were perhaps a dozen yards
from him. This was rather close, if they were British soldiers, as he
had no doubt they were, and he decided that the best thing for him to
do was to get away from their vicinity as quickly as possible. It
would be well to be silent about it, too, for if they should discover
his presence, they would doubtless make a great outcry and try to
capture him.
He began edging away, toward the left. Every once in awhile he paused
to listen. The voices could still be heard, but not so plainly as at
first. He was gradually getting farther and farther away from the
speakers, and would have been successful in escaping from the vicinity
without his presence having been discovered, but for an accident. He
struck his foot against a good-sized stone, which was lying right on
the edge of a rather steep slope, and the rock, becoming dislodged,
went tumbling and plunging downward through the underbrush, making
what seemed to be a great noise, coming as it did in the midst of the
night stillness. It sounded as loud as thunder in Dick's ears.
"Now I've done it!" he murmured, in some dismay. "That will rouse them
sure."
He was right, for instantly there came the challenge, loud and clear:
"Halt! Who comes there?"
There could be no doubt regarding the matter, now; the men Dick had
heard talking were British soldiers doing picket duty.
Dick's first impulse was to take to his heels and run at the top of
his speed, but his second thought was that perhaps if he were to stand
perfectly still, the redcoats would come to the conclusion that there
was no one in the vicinity save themselves, and would go ahead with
their conversation after a few minutes of listening. But it did not
work out that way. After a few moments of silence there came the
command, in a stern voice:
"Who is there? Answer, or I will fire!"
Dick did not like the idea of being fired at, even in the darkness. He
knew the soldier could not see to take aim, but a chance shot might be
as successful as one that was aimed. Dick did not care to take the
chance, anyway, and he quickly, but very cautiously shifted his
position and got a tree between himself and the redcoats.
"Now, he won't be able to hit me, even if he does fire," thought the
youth with a feeling of relief. "Now if he will just make up his mind
that there is no one here and resume the conversation with his
comrade, I shall be able to slip away and escape, doubtless."
But the redcoats were evidently not satisfied to let the matter go
thus. "Let's investigate, comrade," Dick heard a voice say. And then
he heard another in reply: "All right. If there is anybody round here,
we will either run him down or frighten him out of his boots."
"That's what we will, comrade."
"And I feel confident there is somebody near here. What else would
make the noise that we heard?"
"I don't know, comrade. I think it likely that somebody is about."
"I am positive, sure of it as can be."
"Well, come on, then. Let's search all around. We ought to be able to
lay him by the heels, for we can hear him if he tries to run away."
"True. Come, comrade. We'll quickly have the fellow, if he's here."
Then Dick heard the trampling of feet, which sounded closer and
closer, and he realized that he must get away from there at once, or
the redcoats would be upon him.
Having so decided, he lost not time, but moved away as cautiously as
possible. He went a bit faster than he should have done, to maintain a
noiseless movement, however, for he stepped on a fallen branch, which
broke with a cracking sound, and the very next step he stumbled over a
log, and fell into a brushpile, making considerable noise.
"A spy!" he heard one of the redcoats cry. "There's somebody there,
sure!"
"Halt!" cried the other soldier, loudly. "Stop, or I'll fire!"
But Dick, fearing to remain, as he would almost certainly be found and
captured, leaped to his feet and took to his heels, running as fast as
he dared; to run too fast, would have been to break his head against a
tree, more than likely.
The British soldiers heard him, evidently, for one cried, excitedly:
"There he goes! I hear him running!"
"Yes," cried the other, "but I'll put a stop to his running, or know
the reason why. Here goes to wing the rebel."
The next instant the loud crack of a musket rang upon the still night
air. At the same instant Dick Dare fell sprawling upon his face on the
ground, and lay still.