t going to spend the night with---- with what's there," said
Felix Matier. "I'm not a coward, but I won't sit in the dark all night
with my knees up against--ugh!"

"James Finlay?" said Bigger. "He won't hurt you now."

"I'm for getting away if possible," said Donald. "I'm not frightened of
dead men, but I want to be at the fight tomorrow. If we stay here all
night we'll miss it."

"Hark!" said Moylin, "they're in the churchyard. I hear them stumbling
about among the graves. We can't get back now, even if we want to.
Follow me."

Creeping along the side of the hedge, they crossed the field they were
in, another, and another after that. They came upon a by-road.

"We must cross this," said Moylin, "and I think there are soldiers nigh
at hand."

Suddenly the sky behind them grew strangely bright. A flame, which cast
black shadows from hedge and tree and wall, which lit up every open
space of ground, shot up.

"Down," said Donald, "down for your lives, lie flat. Where the devil
have they got the fire?"

"It's my house," said Moylin, quietly, "the roof is thatched. It burns
well, but it won't burn for long."

The shouts of the soldiers round the burning homestead reached them
plainly. A body of horsemen cantered along the lane in front of them.

"Now," said Donald, "now, while their backs are turned, get across."

They crossed unseen, and gained the shelter of the ditch at the far
side. They crept along it, seeking some boundary wall or hedge running
at right angles which would cast a shadow over them. The horsemen passed
again, but this time the risk of discovery was less. The thatch of
Moylin's house had almost burned itself out. Only a red glow remained,
casting little shadow, lighting the land dimly. They crossed the field
in safety and reached a grove of trees.

"We're right now," said Moylin. "We can take it easy from this on."

"Neal Ward," said Felix Matier, "next time you get yourself into a
scrape I'll leave you there. I haven't been as nervous since I played 'I
spy' twenty years ago among the whins round the Giant's Ring. Fighting's
no test of courage. It's running away that tries a man."

"Phew!" said Donald, wiping his brow. Even he seemed to have felt the
strain of the last half-hour. "I did some scouting work for General
Greene in the Carolinas. I've lain low in sight of the watch-fires of
Cornwallis' cavalry, but I'm damned if I ever had as close a shave as
that. I felt jumpy, and that's a f