y!" I exclaimed, thinking for the moment that Bill Jepson was
trying to play upon our fears.

"They haven't done it so far," and the sailor looked grave again. "As
near as I can hear we've got about seven thousand men near about, an'
more'n three-quarters of 'em are so green that it would be dangerous
to let the cows have a whack at 'em."

"Have the Britishers a larger force?" Jim Freeman asked.

"No, lad, not quite so many when you come to number 'em up; but they
are all trained soldiers, every one the match for three of ours in a
reg'lar battle, no matter how well the Americans can fight. Then
again, what with the President an' all the big bugs takin' a hand,
we've got too many commanders. Leave the whole business to one
man--say Joshua Barney, for example--, an' I believe we could hold our
own."

To us youngsters who had come expecting to aid in a successful defense
of the city, this kind of talk was not particularly cheerful, and I
would have welcomed any change in the conversation; but Bill Jepson
had used his eyes to good advantage during the short stay in
Washington, and was determined that we should receive the benefit of
what he had seen and heard.

"Last night Mr. Monroe, the secretary of state, sent a despatch to the
President, an' I saw a copy of it while on duty at the commodore's
quarters. It read like this: 'The enemy are advanced six miles on the
road to the Wood Yard, and our troops are retiring. Our troops were on
the march to meet them, but in too small a body to engage. General
Winder proposes to retire till he can collect them in a body. The
enemy are in full march to Washington. Have the materials prepared to
destroy the bridges.' That was signed with Mr. Monroe's name, lads,
an' after so much, he wrote, 'You had better remove the records.' Now
do you think I'm so far out of the way in sayin' that there's a good
chance of our gettin' the worst of it?"

Just at that moment, to my great relief of mind, my father appeared in
the doorway of the barracks, and I sprang to meet him.

How good it was to see his dear face once more! What a sense of relief
came over me because he was near! I was yet so young as to believe
that no harm could come to a fellow while his father was near, and on
the moment all the fears which had been aroused by Bill Jepson passed
out of mind.

It is not necessary for me to set down that conversation between my
father and me while it related to the dear ones at home, or