“I am sure I heard a hammering up here,” he declared.
“Very likely. I was pounding on the guns. A man must do something to keep himself awake.”
The answer apparently satisfied the officer, for he turned to retrace his steps down the mountain side. After going a few paces, however, he paused to say:
“You may tell the general that I came up here myself to see if the guns were all right.”
“That is fair,” the young scout agreed, wondering if the officer had recognized him.
He stood motionless until every sound of footsteps had died away. Then he hurried across the summit and gave utterance to the cries which told the listening Yankee general that he had succeeded in his undertaking.
But that gratified officer little fancied that the lad was even then mentally asking if it was safe for him to return to the British camp.
CHAPTER IV.
THE DAM ACROSS THE CREEK.
Ira did not stop to debate the question there on the mountain top. He had a more difficult problem, which was, how to descend in safety to the plain below.
Down the slanting shelf to the face of the cliff, he slowly groped his way; and then lowered himself inch by inch down the rocks. Sometimes he was forced to cling with his hands to a bush or sapling while he swung to and fro in search of a footing. Often he was forced to guess what was below him, and, at a venture, drop himself down where he believed he would find a crevice large enough for his feet. It was many minutes, and to him it must have seemed hours, before he gained a place from which he could descend without danger.