AN ENCOUNTER.
After seeing Fritz scramble under the heap of straw in the corner of
the hut, Dick's eyes roamed about the enclosure in search of a place to
conceal himself. He could hear the Redcoats returning to the clearing
after their fruitless pursuit of the two boys, and he knew that there
was no time to waste before getting out of sight.
Suddenly he hit upon the best remaining hiding place, an old grain
chest in the corner, and quickly raising the lid he climbed inside and
lowered it. For awhile all was silent, and just as Dick had decided
that it would be wise to get out of his new residence and look about,
he heard the indistinct murmur of voices, and heavy footsteps sounded
on the cabin floor.
"The rebel got out through the chimney," said the first voice.
"Go along. He was too fat to get out of there," said the second.
"Oh, I saw him, as I told you," repeated the first, "and if you hadn't
been asleep on your job you'd have seen him, too."
"Well, I don't care how he got out. So long as he's gone we can't help
it," the disgruntled trooper replied. "For one, I'm glad he's out of
this cozy box. I'm going to camp in here myself."
"Ought to be room for four or five of us, I guess," another Redcoat
chimed in. "And there's a nice stack of straw for my bed."
"Poor Fritz," thought Dick. "Caught again. Well, if I'm able to get out
of this I may be able to help him again. I'm afraid coming back here
was a bad plan the way things are working out."
A dispute had arisen, however, amongst the soldiers as to who was
entitled to the heap of straw, and after some scuffling and much wordy
war, they agreed to leave the straw where it was, and all slept on
their blankets.
"Hope Fritz doesn't get up and thank them for leaving him alone," Dick
thought. "And now, with this pleasant little addition to our party,
however are we going to get away?"
The soldiers were soon rolled up in their coverings, and despite the
excitement of their recent chase, they quickly dropped off to sleep,
as Dick could tell from the constantly growing volume of snores.
After allowing all the time he felt he could to let his unwitting
captors drift soundly into the land of dreams, Dick carefully raised
the cover of his bin, and stuck his head out to look around. The fires
outside had died down, and the light inside was very scarce indeed.
Suddenly Dick heard a rustle from the straw pile and he realized that
Fritz had about exhausted his ability to keep motionless. Dick quietly
raised himself over the side of the box, and stepping cautiously over
two sleeping Redcoats, crept to the hiding place of Fritz. How to
uncover his friend without making a noise was a problem, but proceeding
with great care and skill, he gradually removed part of the straw from
Fritz, and whispering to him to be perfectly quiet till he finished,
Dick gradually had the German boy free of all trouble, and together
they tiptoed to the door of the hut.
Directly outside, however, some more of the soldiers were sleeping,
and both Dick and Fritz in their eagerness to get away from their
surroundings stumbled over one of the sleeping forms and immediately
aroused the enemy to a knowledge of their presence.
The yells of the startled Redcoats filled the woods, and with Fritz
dashing madly after the fleeing Dick, the two quickly reached the
outskirts of the camp.
"I see the horses," panted Dick. "We must try to get yours."
"Yah. Get me a horse," answered Fritz, between breaths. "Myself won't
carry much more."
Although the soldiers were heard not a great distance back, Dick dashed
to the tether rope and slashed it with his knife. At that moment the
trooper guarding the horses sprang upon him, but Fritz had presence of
mind enough left to grab him about the waist, and the two rolled on
the ground locked in each others arms. Fritz's horse was on the end
of the line, and grasping the halter to secure him, Dick shouted and
slapped at the nearest trooper's horses to stampede them. He was more
successful than he had hoped and the frightened animals turned and
galloped off in all directions, many of them heading for the pursuing
Redcoats.
The confusion that resulted was a great help to the two patriots, and
as Fritz had freed himself from the clutches of the soldier he had
been fighting with, the two boys made their escape in the darkness and
soon picked up Dick's horse, at some little distance from the camp.
"I'm more than thankful to be out of that," said Dick, earnestly, when
they had galloped a little way along the road.
"But vere do we sleep?" asked Fritz. "For myself this is a hard day."
"Sleep," echoed Dick, "we won't get any of that before noon-day, I
guess. We've got to keep moving while the darkness helps us."
They had now covered a mile or more along the road, and Fritz was
drooping in his saddle from exhaustion, when, without warning, from the
road ahead a figure cried, "Halt!"
The command was accompanied by the ominous click of a musket hammer
being raised, and as Dick pulled at the bridle of Fritz's horse and
attempted to wheel them both, he felt himself grasped by strong hands.
Despite his efforts he was quickly pulled from his mount.
Fritz was soon placed beside him, and the leader, after gruffly
cautioning the boys to be quiet, gave the order to march, and the band
with its prisoners in their midst moved on in the direction which the
boys had been following. Evidently they had ridden into their ranks
before discovering the presence of anyone else, and had fallen easy
victims into their hands.
It was still some time before day, and the tired boys had great
difficulty in keeping up to the rapid strides of their captors.
Finally, after what seemed an age to Fritz, the dark turned into a dull
grey and Dick, peering at the men about him, suddenly emitted a shout
that brought the men about him threateningly.
"They're our men, Fritz! Hurray!" he cried. "We're all right, after
all!"
"Give us back our horse," grumbled Fritz, provoked at having walked
when he might have ridden.
"Boys, this is a mistake," explained Dick. "We're Patriots on a special
mission, and we trust you'll help us make up this needless loss of
time."
"Fine Patriots you would make," answered one of the band. "You're a
couple of Tory spies and you can't fool your Uncle Henry by any such
story as that."
"You're wrong," cried Dick. "You're dead wrong. Isn't there any of you
here that know us? This is Fritz Schmockenberg, of Captain Morgan's
company. I'm Dick Dare," he explained modestly.
"Ha, ha," laughed one of the men. "So you're Dick Dare, are you? Well,
let me tell you, my young friend, that Dick Dare is in Charleston, and
we left him there only yesterday."
"That's what everybody is supposed to think," replied Dick. "We left
there secretly."
"That don't go with us," said the leader, coming forward. "You fellows
are from the British force which is quartered a space back along the
road, and I'm afraid that under the usual rules of war, you will have
to pay the penalty that is usually dealt out to spies."
"For why didn't we stay vere ve vass," lamented Fritz. "Dot straw vas
so comfortable."
"Where were you?" questioned the Patriot captain.
"In dot Redgoat hut," answered Fritz, without thinking of the effect
such a statement would have.
"Just what I thought," cried the Patriot, exultingly. "What have you
got to say to that?" turning to Dick.
"What he says is true," answered Dick. "We just escaped from the hands
of the British, and thought we had run into another of their parties
when you took us in charge."
"Well, we don't string up prisoners without a chance to explain
themselves," returned the leader, "but I can't say as I see much hope
for you fellows. You admit coming from the enemy's camp, and don't
explain matters till you think up this fool story about being Patriots.
I kind of think you are British spies and in these times we can't
afford to be taking many chances."
"You are making an awful mistake," answered Dick. "If we could only be
taken before one of your commanders, I'm sure they would know me. I'm
afraid I can't explain anything any more fully." Dick kept in mind the
secrecy of his instructions, and did not feel that he could betray his
trust under any circumstances.
The company resumed their march and a few of the officers withdrew and
entered into an earnest discussion. They were one of the bands of local
Patriots who roamed about the country and joined whatever organized
movement was afoot in their vicinity. They were a great thorn in the
side of the British, but due to their irresponsibility and lack of
order, were not generally sought after by the Patriot armies.
After marching some distance along the road, the men turned off to
one side, crossed a few fields, and entered a patch of woods to cook
breakfast and rest after their tiring march. The two boys shared in the
breakfast and exchanged a few comments with each other, but talking to
the men who were about them was forbidden.
With their simple repast out of the way the men lay back and took
their ease preparatory to taking up their tramp again. The leaders now
approached Dick and Fritz and proceeded to question them about the
British force they had just left.
"How many men were there in the Redcoats' camp?" asked the captain.
"About two hundred, I should think," said Dick.
"As long as you are making your last statements on this earth, you may
as well stick to the truth," commented the second in command, brutally.
"Bud," Fritz cried, "we would rather stick to the earth." The men could
not refrain from laughing at his unintentional joke.
"If you hang us as spies," Dick said, boldly, "you will regret it
before long. As soon as the general hears of your horrible mistake I
imagine you will have to pay the penalty for your haste."
"That's our lookout, young man," returned the leader. "We can't see
anything else to do under the circumstances. You admit having come from
the British camp, and didn't declare yourselves when we caught you, so
I guess your story won't stand in the face of the evidence against you."
Things looked very black to the two boys at that moment, and there
passed before the minds of each all of the incidents in their exciting
young lives. Meanwhile the soldiers prepared two ropes to place about
their necks, and after asking for any last requests they had to make,
led the boys to a strong tree and threw the ends of the ropes over the
lower branches.
The two youths had borne themselves bravely through this ordeal and
were prepared to go to the end, whatever it might be, in a suitable
manner, although Fritz was nearly in tears at the thought of what their
finish must be.
"I can't forgive myself for bringing you into this, Fritz," said Dick,
brokenly.
"Dot's all right," said Fritz, "mapy der ropes vill preak."
Before Dick could reply to the German's humorous remark and forlorn
hope, a brisk volley was fired from around a bend in the road, and the
Patriot outposts ran hurriedly toward the shelter of the trees, one of
them falling before he had gone more than a few paces, badly wounded by
the first discharge.
The men quickly abandoned Dick and Fritz, and grasping their guns, ran
crouching to the nearest stone wall in front of them.
"It's the British!" cried one of the pickets.
"Come on, men, and we'll give a good account of ourselves," shouted the
captain. "Keep behind the walls and they can't touch us."
He and the other leaders rushed across the field toward the oncoming
British. The latter swept around the bend in the road in regular
formation and fired a volley with telling effect at the Patriot band.
The leaders, more impetuous than the men, suffered severely, and all
of them dropped either dead or wounded. The men, however, kept on and
without further loss gained the shelter of the stone wall. But without
their leaders the defence gradually weakened and the men began to
drop back and take refuge behind the second wall. The boys had been
onlookers up to this point, but the defeat of the Patriots was too
much for their enthusiasm and with the ropes still hanging, unheeded
about their necks and trailing out behind, the two youths leaped to
the front and snatching up guns from the dead soldiers, shouted to the
demoralized and scattering members of the band.
"Come on, men!" Dick cried. "Don't let them get the best of us now! A
few more volleys and we'll have them on the run."
"Yah, yah, yah!" chorused Fritz, following Dick and brandishing the
musket above his head. He and Dick reached the second stone wall behind
which the men were seeking shelter.
The English troopers were holding the first wall and were contemplating
a charge across the field to drive the Patriots from their position
when Dick took charge.
"Fritz!" he cried, above the roar of the battle. "Take a dozen of these
fellows around and through the woods and take the British on the flank!"
"Dot's it!" answered Fritz, catching his friend's idea quickly. "We'll
did it."
Dick motioned a handful of the men apart and told them to follow
Fritz if they hoped to win out that day and save their liberty. Dick
Dare's commanding tone and natural leadership inspired the men with
new life, and the few men left with him redoubled their efforts to
cover the departure of their comrades and hold the Redcoats off. Their
firing, however, was growing more and more infrequent, and the English
troops were beginning to climb over the stone wall to charge across the
field when Fritz and his men broke out of the woods and yelling like a
hundred Indians charged upon the rear of the British.
"Now's the time, boys," called Dick, leaping onto the fence in front of
them. "We'll finish the argument now."
[Illustration: "NOW IS THE TIME", CALLED DICK.]
The band jumped up with a cheer and followed Dick's lead, rushed madly
over the open ground and took the startled enemy off their guard.
The combined onslaught of the two bands was more than the British
could withstand. After a few minutes of hand-to-hand conflict the
English broke and fled headlong for the road. The exulting Patriots
followed them for some distance, making several prisoners, and at last,
wearied with the long encounter and the pursuit, they dropped back and
collected at the scene of the opening of the fight. They had lost half
a dozen men and several of the others were wounded, but the victory
was complete and amongst their prisoners were two of the Redcoat
officers.
The boys came back among the last and the sight of the two brought
cheers from the victors. The boys received these quietly and when the
shouting was over, Dick stepped forward and spoke to them.
"Let this be a lesson to you, friends," he said soberly. "My friend
Fritz and I were nearly murdered by you without proper trial and on
entirely insufficient evidence. I think that the little parts that
we have played in this combat have proved our loyalty to the cause
of liberty, and both Fritz and I hope that any future prisoners will
receive better treatment until they are proven guilty."
The men took Dick's little talk to heart and when, after a long rest
and a meal the boys left the band, they both felt that any other
Patriots who were encountered by this particular band would receive the
best of treatment.