"Halt!" he cried.
With a gasp of amazement the man halted and gazed at the British as though bewildered. One look he gave them and then exclaimed in a shrill piping voice, in English:
"You are surrounded! Run, Anthony, run!"
He suited the action to the word, and, turning in his tracks, ran, puffing and blowing, in the direction from which he had come.
In spite of his merriment at this comical sight, Hal put spurs to his horse and dashed after him. The others did likewise. Hearing the sounds of pursuit, the little stout man redoubled his efforts and puffed on like an engine.
Hal ranged his horse alongside of him, and, restraining his laughter, shouted in a stern tone:
"Halt! or you are a dead man!"
The little man needed no further warning. He stopped so quickly that Hal rode on beyond him, while those behind were able to check their horses barely in time to keep from riding over him.
Hal leaped to the ground, and stood over the stranger, who lay panting on the earth where he had fallen the moment he stopped running.
"Who are you?" demanded Hal. "What are you doing here?"
The little man struggled in vain to reply; but he gasped so wildly for breath that for a moment he was unable to utter a word. Then, as he still panted, his eye fell upon the uniforms of the British troopers. He was on his feet in a moment.
"I thought you were Germans!" he exclaimed. "Great Caesar"s ghost! I didn"t think I could run another step, but I did; and here I was running from you fellows. What do you mean by chasing an American citizen down the road?"
He paused and glared at Hal wrathfully. The latter could control his merriment no longer, and burst into a hearty laugh. The others did likewise.
The little man drew himself up indignantly.
"I say!" he exclaimed, "what are you fellows laughing at me for?"
Hal ceased laughing, and his face took on a stern expression.
"Who are you?" he asked briefly. "A spy, eh?"
"A spy! Me a spy?" exclaimed the man. "Great Caesar"s ghost, no; I"m no spy."
"Who are you, then?" demanded Hal.
The stranger drew himself up to his full height--and he was still almost as broad as he was long, folded his arms and said proudly:
"I am Anthony Stubbs, sir, war correspondent of the _New York Gazette_, sir; and I am here in search of news."
"News, eh?" said Hal. "It is my belief that you are in search of information to turn over to the Germans."
"You are mistaken, sir," replied Anthony, somewhat uncomfortably, the lads could see. "I a.s.sure you on the honor of a Stubbs that I am what I represent myself to he."
Hal could keep a straight face no longer. So comical was the little man in his ruffled dignity that the boy was forced to laugh.
"All right, Mr. Stubbs," he said at last, "I believe you; but tell me, what were you running from when you b.u.mped into us?"
"I wasn"t running, sir," was the reply. "I heard a large force of the enemy in a field just out of the woods, and I was merely hurrying to a place where I could get a look at them."
"Well, you were hurrying at a pretty good gait," said Hal. "But tell me, is the enemy in force?"
"I didn"t see any of them," said Stubbs, "but by the sounds of their horses" hoofs, I should say they were in force, sir."
"Where?" demanded Hal, somewhat anxiously.
"Straight ahead, sir," replied Stubbs, pointing down the road.
"We thank you, Mr. Stubbs," said Hal, "and we shall now leave you to gather your news while we proceed to reconnoiter."
"And leave me here?" cried Stubbs.
"Why, certainly. You are paid to get the news for your paper, are you not?"
"But I"m not paid to be shot by the Germans," replied Stubbs vehemently.
"Take me with you."
How much truth there was in Stubbs" account of a large force of the enemy approaching, Hal, of course, did not know. But the little man appeared so greatly worried that Hal was moved to motion him to one of the spare horses, which had followed the troop.
Stubbs clambered into the saddle with difficulty, and, once astride the animal, he maneuvered so as to get right in among the British cavalrymen, who smiled tolerantly as they surrounded him. Then, at a word from Hal, the troop moved forward at a slow trot.
They rode for perhaps fifteen minutes, and so far Hal had seen no signs of an enemy, nor was there any evidence that a large force had pa.s.sed that way recently. He turned to Stubbs.
"I see no sign of the enemy," he said. "Where were they?"
Stubbs motioned to the left.
"Beyond the woods, there, in an open field," he replied. "I didn"t see them, but I heard "em, all right. They are probably lying in ambush, and we shall all be killed."
Hal halted his men, and, dismounting, plunged into the woods to investigate. At the edge of the woods he came upon a field, and there he saw the "enemy" or at least what had caused Stubbs" fright. He broke into a loud laugh, and hurried back.
"I have found the enemy," he said quietly. "Come, men, I shall show them to you."
All dismounted, and Hal led the way, Stubbs following protestingly. At the edge of the woods Hal stopped, and, taking Stubbs by the arm, led him forward.
"There," he said, pointing, "is the enemy; and I don"t believe they chased you very far."
Stubbs looked and gasped, then mumbled:
"I wonder, I wonder--"
For the objects upon which his eyes rested, the movements of which had sent him scurrying down the road in fear for his life, were nothing more than a drove of about a dozen sheep, which, thrashing about in the field, had led Stubbs to suspect the presence of the Germans.
Stubbs, after the one look, turned and strode majestically to where the horses had been left. The laughter of the troopers rankled in his ears and his face was a dull red. He was mounted when Hal, Chester and the others returned.
"Stubbs," said Hal, as they rode forward again, "you could have whipped all those fellows yourself."
"Well," replied Stubbs, "they might have been Germans."