"Very well, d.i.c.k. That will suit me."
"Come, then."
"You were not hit by the bullet from the redcoat"s musket, d.i.c.k?"
somewhat anxiously.
"No, Tom. At the very moment he fired I tripped over a vine and fell headlong to the ground. I was still lying there when I heard you fire your pistol, and then I heard you yell, "Come on, boys", and recognized your voice; but I was sorely puzzled. I didn"t know what to think. I almost thought I must have dreamed it."
Tom laughed.
"I hit one of the rascals, d.i.c.k," he chuckled. "I"ll warrant you he did not think it was a dream."
"Likely no," with an answering chuckle. "Well, let"s move."
They set out down the slope, moving at a fair pace, pausing occasionally to listen. All was quiet, however. The redcoat pickets had evidently retreated to the British encampment.
When d.i.c.k and Tom emerged from the timber, at the foot of the slope, they were able to go at a faster pace, and they set out in the direction in which they believed the enemy"s camp to be. They walked onward about half an hour, and then came upon a little clump of trees.
Feeling certain that they must be in the vicinity of the British encampment, they went in among the trees and stopped.
"Wait here a few minutes, Tom" said d.i.c.k. "I"m going to climb a tree and see if I can see the campfires of the enemy."
"All right."
d.i.c.k climbed a tree on the south side of the clump, and looked toward the south. He was rewarded by seeing the twinkling lights of the campfires, seemingly at no very great distance.
"There is the encampment, sure enough," he murmured. "Well, now, the question is, How am I to get into the camp and secure information regarding the plans of the British?"
This was a poser. It certainly seemed like a hopeless task, but d.i.c.k Dare was not a youth to be easily discouraged. He had come here to spy on the British and learn their plans, and he would do so, if such a thing were possible.
He climbed down and told his brother that he had seen the campfires of the British.
"Good," said Tom. "But, what are you going to do next, d.i.c.k? How are you going to get into their encampment?"
"I decided on my course, Tom," he said, "before I started out."
"What are you going to do?" eagerly.
"I"m going to enter the British encampment boldly and tell them that I want to join the army."
"Goodness! That will be dangerous, brother!"
"Yes, but one can"t do spy-work without encountering danger."
"I know that. Do you think that you can succeed, d.i.c.k?"
"I"m going to try."
"Will they take you into the army-a boy like you?"
"General Washington did."
"But the British army may be different. They may think that they don"t need help badly enough for them to accept boys as recruits."
"Well, even if that is the case, I will succeed in entering the British encampment, Tom."
"That"s so. That part will be all right."
"Yes."
"When are you going to approach the encampment? Now?"
"Yes, I don"t see any use of waiting."
"What shall I do?"
"You had better stay right here or in this vicinity."
"All right. When do you think you will be back?"
"I don"t know. Possibly to-morrow night."
"I"m to wait till you come?"
"Yes."
"But, I"ll get hungry before to-morrow night."
"Go to a farmhouse in the morning and get some food. There must be farmhouses near."
"That"s so. I can do that."
"Well, I may as well be going. Good-bye, Tom."
"Good-bye, d.i.c.k; and-be careful, brother! If anything should happen to you, it would break mother"s heart."
"I"ll be careful, Tom. You had better keep your eyes open, too, for the redcoats may come prowling around here to-morrow, and you must not let them capture you."
"I"ll not let them get me, brother."
Then d.i.c.k took his departure. He had some time since decided upon his course, and as soon as he was a short distance away from the clump of trees, he set out at a brisk walk, and made no effort at concealment.
He did not care, now, if he were halted by a British picket or sentinel.
He walked swiftly onward, and about twenty minutes later was hailed:
"Halt! Who comes there?"
d.i.c.k"s heart leaped, and he felt that he was soon to be submitted to an ordeal, but he did not hesitate, and answered firmly and promptly: