of putting himself in condition to make his services
effectual.

With this view he now directed his horse to be carefully tended; then,
having taken a hearty meal, he retired to rest, desiring that he might
be waked up at midnight, when he proposed to follow the path of Horse
Shoe and his comrade.

CHAPTER XXVII.

A RETREAT AFTER THE MANNER OF XENOPHON.

The next morning, a little after sunrise, as Robinson was holding the
watch on the outer ledge of the rock, in a position that enabled him to
survey the approaches to the spot through the valley, as well as to keep
his eye upon the ensign and Christopher Shaw, who were both asleep under
cover of the crag, he was startled by a distant noise of something
breaking through the bushes on the margin of the brook. At first it
struck him that this was caused by deer stalking up the stream; but he
soon afterwards descried the head and shoulders of a man, whose motions
showed him to be struggling through the thicket towards the base of the
hill. This person at length reached a space of open ground, where he
halted and looked anxiously around him, thus revealing his figure, as he
sat on horseback, to the observation of the sergeant, who, in the
meantime, had taken advantage of a low pine tree and a jutting angle of
a rock to screen himself from the eager eye of the traveller--at least
until he should be satisfied as to the other's character and purpose.

A loud and cheerful halloo, several times repeated by the stranger,
seemed to indicate his quest of a lost companion; and this gradually
drew the sergeant, with a weary motion, from his hiding-place, until
assuring himself that the comer was alone, he stept out to the edge of
the shelf of rock, and presenting his musket, peremptorily gave the
common challenge of "Who goes there?"

"A friend to Horse Robinson," was the reply of the visitor, in whom my
reader recognises John Ramsay.

Before further question might be asked and answered, John had dismounted
from his horse and clambered to the platform, where he greeted the
sergeant and the hastily-awakened Christopher Shaw, with a hearty shake
of the hand; and then proceeded to communicate the pressing objects of
his visit, and to relate all that he had learned of the recent events
during his short stay at his father's house.

In the consultation that followed these disclosures, Ramsay earnestly
urged his comrades to make instant preparation to quit their present
ret