Ben Reconnoiters
The encampment was astir early next morning, and the soldiers cooked and
ate breakfast, and then began making preparations to get ready for the
march.
They were ready in about an hour and a half, or two hours, and then
having said good-by to the settlers of Peaceful Valley, they marched
away toward the west.
They continued onward steadily during that day, stopping an hour at noon
for luncheon and to rest, and when evening came they went into camp at a
point perhaps thirty miles east of Ninety-Six.
They stationed sentinels, so as to prevent a surprise by Indians or
redcoats and the night passed quietly, no enemy appearing.
They were up and away again early in the morning, and by marching hard,
managed to reach the vicinity of Ninety-Six by evening, They went into
camp only about two miles from the fort.
Ben Foster was eager to take a look at the fort, for he feared that
possibly Dick and Tom were prisoners there. He went to General Greene
and asked permission to go on a reconnoitering expedition, and the
permission was granted.
“I shall be glad to have you go and secure all the information possible
regarding Fort Ninety-Six, my boy,” said the general. “But, be careful
and don’t let them capture you.”
“I will be careful, sir,” and then saluting, Ben took his departure.
He made his way cautiously through the timber, for he did not know but
there might be redcoats or redskins in the vicinity, and he did not want
to fall into their hands.
On he went, pausing frequently to listen, but hearing no suspicious
sounds, he drew nearer and nearer to the fort, and at the end of an hour
he arrived at the open space in the center of which the fort stood.
It was a moonlight night, and Ben could see the fort with tolerable
distinctness, and he stood there for some time, looking at the building
and wondering if Dick and Tom were there.
Ben stood there for perhaps half an hour, looking at the fort and the
lay of the land with critical eyes. He was sizing the fort and
surroundings up, and trying to figure out what chance for success the
patriot army would have, if an attack was made.
“It is impossible to judge of the strength of the fort at a distance,”
thought Ben. “I believe that I will try to reach the wall around the
fort and see how strongly-constructed it is. General Greene will be glad
to secure all the information I can get.”
Ben felt that he would be running considerable risk in advancing across
the open ground on an evening when the moon was shining, but he was
brave, and decided to take a closer view, anyhow.
Having decided, he at once set to work. He advanced from among the
trees, and just before getting out where the light would encompass him,
Ben dropped on his hands and knees, and began slowly crawling along,
after the fashion of an Indian.
He was not quite as expert at this kind of work as an Indian, but he did
very well, advancing slowly, and keeping his body close to the ground,
thus not being so likely to attract the attention of a sentinel at the
fort.
It was about a third of a mile to the stockade-wall around the fort, and
Ben was at least half an hour in going that distance, and as he drew
near the fort, he was in momentary expectation of hearing the crack of a
musket and feeling the sting of a bullet.
Ben was not discovered, however. At any rate, there was no musket-shot
or outcry. All was quiet, and on reaching the wall, Ben sat down, with
his back against the logs, and rested a while. It had been rather trying
on his nerves to crawl across the open space under the light of the
moon, faint though it was.
When he had got rested, Ben turned and began making an examination of
the wall. He found that it was made of large logs, flattened at the
sides and placed on top of one another. The wall was, he judged, about
twelve feet high.
Ben worked his way slowly along the wall, feeling between the logs, for
openings, as he wished to learn how thick the wall was, and whether it
would be possible to batter it down with the field-pieces that General
Greene had brought with the army.
Presently Ben found an opening, through which he pushed his hand, and
his fingers came in contact with another log on the inside. The wall was
at least two logs in thickness, and this would make it difficult to
batter it down with the field-pieces.
The patriot youth continued to work his way along the wall, and on
reaching the corner, he turned it and made his way along the wall on
that side. He kept on till he had made the circuit of the stockade-wall,
and he guessed the wall as being about two hundred feet in each
direction.
Near one corner of the wall Ben had found a place where there were
several openings between the logs, and he believed that he could climb
to the top of the wall, there. He decided to make the attempt, anyway,
as all was quiet. He wished to get a look into the enclosure, if he
possibly could.
He made his way to the point in question, and then he began the work of
climbing to the top of the wall. This proved to be more difficult than
he had expected, and he began to think he would not be able to reach the
top, after several unsuccessful attempts, but presently he managed to
get high enough up the side of the wall so that he could get hold of the
top log, and then he slowly and cautiously pulled himself up till his
head was a little above the top of the wall.
Now he exercised great caution, lifting his head slowly, a little at a
time, till he was enabled to look into the enclosure. He could see the
building constituting the fort, and at the farther side he saw a
sentinel pacing slowly back and forth on the platform built against the
wall, and about five feet from the top.
The sentinel’s side was toward Ben when he was pacing back and forth,
however, and when he paused to look away from the fort, his back was
toward the youth, so Ben did much fear being seen by him. But there
should have been a sentinel on the side where Ben was, and he wondered
where the sentinel could be.
He presently found out, for suddenly the head of a British soldier
appeared above the top of the wall, and almost in front of Ben’s face.
The sentinel had evidently been down below when Ben first climbed up
there, and had just returned to his post. He caught sight of Ben at the
same moment the youth caught sight of him, and his exclamation of
amazement was not unnatural.
“Who are you?” he cried.
At the same moment he made a grab for the youth’s throat, but Ben was
too quick for him, and evaded the grasp by dropping to the ground with
all possible dispatch.
“Spies! Rebels!” yelled the sentinel, loudly, and then grabbing up his
musket, he leaned over the top of the wall and looked eagerly for the
youth who had given him such a surprise.
Ben was running across the open ground at the top of his speed, and the
sentinel caught sight of him, leveled his musket, took a quick aim, and
fired.
Crack, the shot rang out, and Ben heard the bullet go buzzing past his
ear. Had the bullet gone a few inches to the right it would have put an
end to his career as a patriot soldier and spy.
Ben ran onward as swiftly as he could, and was soon out of musket-shot
range, but he heard sounds of loud and excited voices back at the fort.
He realized that he had caused a commotion within its walls, and thought
it likely that some of the British soldiers would emerge from the fort
and come in pursuit of him.
And such proved to be the case. The gate was thrown open, and out came
about a score of redcoats and started on the track of Ben. They yelled
to him to stop and surrender, but of course he paid no attention to
them, but ran onward as fast as possible. He was not much alarmed, as he
was sure he could reach the edge of the forest before the redcoats could
get within musket-shot distance, and then he could evade his pursuers in
the underbrush and darkness, he felt certain.
He was not long in reaching the desired haven, and he dashed in among
the trees, drawing a breath of relief as he did so, and slackened his
speed, somewhat, as he did not think it necessary to run so fast. He
could give the redcoats the slip, now that he was in among the trees.
He was soon out of hearing of his pursuers, who doubtless did not follow
him very far into the forest. In less than an hour’s time he was at the
patriot encampment, and had made his report to General Greene.
The information he gave the general, about the size of the fort, and the
extent and thickness of the walls, was of considerable interest and
value, and the general thanked the youth for having secured the
information.
“I hope to capture the fort in a few days,” the general said.