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"We'll see; the difference is that every man among us has some outrage to revenge. Our quarrel is a personal one against thieves and murderers. What is the programme, Farrell?" "To intercept Delavan's raiders. They will be along the main road within the hour from all reports.
He has twenty wagons, an' a foraging party of less than fifty men somewhere out Medford way," with sweep of hand to the northeast. "If he an' Grant get together the two commands will outnumber us, but we'll have the advantage of surprise, of a swift attack in the dark. In my judgment that is what Grant was sent out for to guard Delavan's wagons. His spy hunting was a personal affair.
What such a body of mounted men were doing in the neighborhood I could merely guess at either they were riding through to New York on some matter of importance, or else had been sent out hurriedly to discover what had become of Delavan's foragers. This supposition was the more likely, and they had taken the wrong road, thus missing Grant and his men in the darkness.
"I had been brought upstairs before you arrived." "Then you saw your captors by daylight?" "Two of them, yes a man called Peter, and an Irish fellow, with chin beard." "What!" and Mortimer started forward. "Peter and Mike in uniform! This is beyond belief. Were they alone?" "They were apparently under the orders of a young lieutenant the same who had command of Delavan's advance guard.
No matter what his purpose may have been this man penetrated our lines in disguise; he admittedly exercised command of those irregulars who attacked and routed Delavan's column, and has since been prowling about disguised as a countryman. Merely because my daughter confesses to a friendship between them can hardly justify me in setting him at liberty."
I was unable to distinguish the lad's face." "Delavan's advance guard!" and the Colonel turned toward Grant. "What do you know about this, sir? Who was he?" The Captain hesitated, shifting uneasily on his feet. "I I do not know, sir," he explained finally, driven to answer. "I merely had a glimpse of the boy when I first joined the column. I I thought I recognized him, but was not sure."
Probably that was the spot where the two had been accustomed to meeting. If true in the past, why not now as well? Suddenly it occurred to me that it was at a place called Lone Tree that the minute men had gathered for their attack on Delavan's wagon train. Could this, by any possibility, be the same spot? I drew my horse back beside Conroy. "Ever heard of a place called Lone Tree?"
I kicked him once, sending him tumbling backward, but he only came back silently, with more cruel twist of the rope, while the boy laughed, bending over his horse's neck. "Hoist him up on the black, lads," he said shortly, reining back out of the way. "Delavan's horse, isn't it? Yes, tie his feet underneath, and one of you keep a hand on the reins. Peter, you and Cass ride with him.
There was no figuring the affair out. Why should these fellows, who, earlier in the evening, had been part of Delavan's wagon guard, be in ambush to waylay some rider on the Bristol road? Who was it they sought to capture? Where were they taking me, and why was I not released as soon as they discovered their mistake? These were the main questions, but there were others also arising in mind.
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