“They are bound to make you talk,” said the Englishman. “If you will tell all you know they will treat you better.”
“Tell what?” asked Silvers.
“Tell all the plans of the English soldiers.”
“But we know very little,” put in Henry.
“The French captain thinks you know a great deal. He says the man who captured you, Jacques Volnier, is certain one of you is a noted spy.”
“He must mean me,” said Silvers. “If so, he is much mistaken. I am nothing but a plain soldier.”
“And so am I,” added Henry.
“I am willing to believe that, for your faces are honest ones,” said the old Englishman. “But you know how suspicious these Frenchmen are.”
“How come you here?” asked Henry.
“It is a long story. Years ago I married a young lady whose parents lived not far from Quebec. When they died, they left her the farm and all its fine buildings. We moved to this place and have been here ever since. I am seventy-three years old, and so far I have refused to take either side in this struggle.”