g for a
charge. The dragoons lingered on the shore till the last moment, and
then they reluctantly commenced their own retreat back to the main
body of the corps, which had retired to a small hamlet a short
distance above the Locusts, where several roads intersected each
other. This was a favorite halting place of the horse, and frequently
held by light parties of the American army, during their excursions
below.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PURSUIT.--BIRCH'S ESCAPE.

The gathering mists of the evening had begun to darken the valley, as
the detachment of Lawton made its reappearance at its southern
extremity. The march of the troops was slow and their line extended,
for the benefit of ease. In the front rode the captain, side by side
with his senior subaltern,[59] apparently engaged in close conference,
while the rear was brought up by a young cornet, humming an air, and
thinking of the sweets of a straw bed after the fatigues of a hard
day's duty.

[Footnote 59: that is, here, first lieutenant.]

"Well, Tom, a slanderous propensity[60] is incurable--but," stretching
his body forward in the direction he was gazing, as if to aid him in
distinguishing objects through the darkness, "what animal is moving
through the field on our right?"

[Footnote 60: inclination.]

"'Tis a man," said Mason, looking intently at the suspicious object.

"By his hump 'tis a dromedary!" added the captain, eying it keenly.
Wheeling his horse suddenly from the highway, he exclaimed, "Harvey
Birch!--take him, dead or alive!"

A dozen of the men, with the lieutenant at their head, followed the
impetuous Lawton, and their speed threatened the pursued with a sudden
termination of the race.

Birch prudently kept his position on the rock, where he had been
seen by the passing glance of Henry Wharton, until evening had
begun to shroud the surrounding objects in darkness. It was with
difficulty that he had curbed his impatience until the obscurity of
night should render his moving free from danger. He had not, however,
completed a fourth of his way to his own residence, when his quick
ear distinguished the tread of the approaching horse. Trusting to the
increasing darkness, he determined to persevere. By crouching, and
moving quickly along the surface of the ground, he hoped to escape
unseen. Captain Lawton was too much engrossed in conversation to
suffer his eyes to indulge in their usual wandering; and the peddler,
perceiving b