five, although none of them knew it, received an
additional impulse from this news about Braxton Wyatt. He had grown up
with them. Loyalty to the king had nothing to do with his becoming a
renegade or a Tory; he could not plead lost lands or exile for taking
part in such massacres as Wyoming or Cherry Valley, but, long since an
ally of the Indians, he was now at the head of a Tory band that murdered
and burned from sheer pleasure.

"Some day we'll get him, as shore as the sun rises an' sets," said
Shif'less Sol, repeating Henry's prediction.

But for the present they "holed up," and now their foresight was
justified. To such as they, used to the hardships of forest life, "The
Alcove" was a cheery nest. From its door they watched the wild fowl
streaming south, pigeons, ducks, and others outlined against the dark,
wintry skies. So numerous were these flocks that there was scarcely a
time when they did not see one passing toward the warm South.

Shif'less Sol and Paul sat together watching a great flock of wild
geese, arrow shaped, and flying at almost incredible speed. A few
faint honks came to them, and then the geese grew misty on the horizon.
Shif'less Sol followed them with serious eyes.

"Do you ever think, Paul," he said, "that we human bein's ain't so
mighty pow'ful ez we think we are. We kin walk on the groun', an' by
hard learnin' an' hard work we kin paddle through the water a little.
But jest look at them geese flyin' a mile high, right over everything,
rivers, forests any mountains, makin' a hundred miles an hour, almost
without flappin' a wing. Then they kin come down on the water an' float
fur hours without bein' tired, an' they kin waddle along on the groun',
too. Did you ever hear of any men who had so many 'complishments? Why,
Paul, s'pose you an' me could grow wings all at once, an' go through the
air a mile a minute fur a month an' never git tired."

"We'd certainly see some great sights," said Paul, "but do you know,
Sol, what would be the first thing I'd do if I had the gift of tireless
wings?"

"Fly off to them other continents I've heard you tell about."

"No, I'd swoop along over the forests up here until I picked out all the
camps of the Indians and Tories. I'd pick out the Butlers and Braxton
Wyatt and Coleman, and see what mischief they were planning. Then I'd
fly away to the East and look down at all the armies, ours in buff and
blue, and the British redcoats. I'd look into the face of