By
the time he had concluded his narration, the fugitive Germans were
collected in the rear of the column of infantry, and Colonel Wellmere
cried aloud,--
"From my soul I congratulate you, my brave friend; mercy is a quality
with which these traitors are unacquainted, and you are doubly fortunate
in escaping from their hands uninjured. Prepare yourself to grant me
your assistance and I will soon afford you a noble revenge."
"I do not think there was danger of personal outrage to any man, Colonel
Wellmere, from a party that Major Dunwoodie commands," returned young
Wharton, with a slight glow on his face. "His character is above the
imputation of such an offense; neither do I think it altogether prudent
to cross this brook into the open plain, in the face of those Virginian
horse, flushed as they must be with the success they have just
obtained."
"Do you call the rout of those irregulars and these sluggish Hessians a
deed to boast of?" said the other with a contemptuous smile. "You speak
of the affair, Captain Wharton, as if your boasted Mr. Dunwoodie, for
major he is none, had discomfited the bodyguards of your king."
"And I must be allowed to say, Colonel Wellmere, that if the bodyguards
of my king were in yon field, they would meet a foe that it would be
dangerous to despise.
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