re for us that
I had failed to hear the hum of voices, until my attention was thus
attracted, and then I realized that it was yet quite early in the evening,
instead of well toward morning, as I had supposed.

Because he did not speak again I understood that Sergeant Corney was not
inclined for conversation, and I lay there motionless and silent until it
was as if twice four and twenty hours had passed, when the old man, rising
to a sitting posture, whispered, cautiously:

"I reckon, lad, that the time has come for us to make a try at deliverin'
the general's message. As I figger it, we had best bear off to the
westward, strikin' the fort on that side nearabout where the fragment of a
bush stands, than to push on for the main gate. It seems reasonable the
enemy will watch that part of the works closer than any other, in order to
guard against a sortie, an' if Colonel Gansevoort has been told of our
signals, every sentinel will be on the alert for us."

"Well?" I asked, as he ceased speaking for an instant.

"We'll do the trick after this fashion: You shall go ahead, an' I'll keep
two or three paces in the rear."

"Why do you propose such a plan as that?" I asked, suspiciously, and the
old man replied, hesitatingly, as if averse to having his reasons known:

"In case they see us before we are well on our way, he who is in advance
stands the best show of escapin'."

"But why should my chances be made any better than yours?" I asked,
angrily, for even though I was afraid of the venture, it was not in my
mind to be treated like a child, as seemed to be the case when the old man
was considering my safety rather than his own.

"Well, lad, there are two reasons, 'cordin' to my way of figgerin', but
the last is the strongest. First off, I have a much shorter time to live
in this world than you, therefore, if one life is taken, it had best be
mine, so far as the patriot cause is concerned. Then agin, an' this has
weight to it, in case we are chased you should be able to run faster than
me, an' we must bear in mind the fact that to deliver the message is the
one important thing--our lives amount to very little compared with that."

I could not well make protest after this explanation, and, in fact, it
seemed to me that there was little choice of position. If the enemy
discovered us at any time while we were between the lines, our fate was
well-nigh certain, and he who was three paces in advance would have no
more show of