"Stand!--who goes there?" shouted Hollister.
"Ha! Hollister, is it you?" cried Lawton, "ever ready and at your post;
but where is the guard?"
"At hand, sir, and ready to follow you through thick and thin," said the
veteran, relieved at once from responsibility, and as eager as a boy to
be led against his enemy.
"'Tis well!" said the trooper, riding up to his men; then, speaking a
few words of encouragement, he led them down the valley at a rate but
little less rapid than his approach. The miserable horse of the sutler
was soon distanced, and Betty, thus thrown out in the chase, turned to
the side of the road, and observed,--
"There--it's no difficult to tell that Captain Jack is wid 'em, anyway;
and away they go like so many nagur boys to a husking-frolic; well, I'll
jist hitch the mare to this bit of a fence, and walk down and see the
sport afoot--it's no r'asonable to expose the baste to be hurted."
Led on by Lawton, the men followed, destitute alike of fear and
reflection. Whether it was a party of the refugees, or a detachment from
the royal army, that they were to assail, they were profoundly ignorant;
but they knew that the officer in advance was distinguished for courage
and personal prowess; and these are virtues that are sure to captivate
the thoughtless soldiery.
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