"But let me tell you, Mr. Archibald
Sitgreaves, you were wanting to dissect, just now, a damned
honest fellow."
"It was the peddler--one of the most notorious spies in the enemy's
service; and I must say that I think it would be an honor to such a man
to be devoted to the uses of science."
"He may be a spy--he must be one," said Lawton, musing; "but he has a
heart above enmity, and a soul that would honor a soldier."
The surgeon turned a vacant eye on his companion as he uttered this
soliloquy, while the penetrating looks of the trooper had already
discovered another pile of rocks, which, jutting forward, nearly
obstructed the highway that wound directly around its base.
"What the steed cannot mount, the foot of man can overcome," exclaimed
the wary partisan. Throwing himself again from his saddle, and leaping a
wall of stone, he began to ascend the hill at a pace which would soon
have given him a bird's-eye view of the rocks in question, together with
all their crevices. This movement was no sooner made, than Lawton caught
a glimpse of the figure of a man stealing rapidly from his approach, and
disappearing on the opposite side of the precipice.
"Spur, Sitgreaves--spur," shouted the trooper, dashing over every
impediment in pursuit, "and murder the villain as he flies.
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