"Come on, then, my brave friends!" shouted the trooper, turning his
horse's head towards the British line, one flank of which was very near
him; "come on, and hold your fire until it will scorch their eyebrows."
The men sprang forward, and followed his example, neither giving nor
receiving a fire until they had come within a very short distance of the
enemy. An English sergeant, who had been concealed by a rock, enraged
with the audacity of the officer who thus dared their arms, stepped from
behind his cover, and leveled his musket.
"Fire and you die!" cried Lawton, spurring his charger, which leaped
forward at the instant. The action and the tone of his voice shook the
nerves of the Englishman, who drew his trigger with an uncertain aim.
Roanoke sprang with all his feet from the earth, and, plunging, fell
headlong and lifeless at the feet of his destroyer. Lawton kept his
feet, standing face to face with his enemy. The latter presented his
bayonet, and made a desperate thrust at the trooper's heart. The steel
of their weapons emitted sparks of fire, and the bayonet flew fifty feet
in the air. At the next moment its owner lay a quivering corpse.
"Come on!" shouted the trooper, as a body of English appeared on the
rock, and threw in a close fire. "Come on!" he repeated, and brandished
his saber fiercely.
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