“Did they send you here to bribe us?”
The old man drew himself up.
“They could not do that. They asked me to talk to you, that is all. I am afraid if you will tell them nothing it will go hard with you.”
“We cannot tell what we do not know,” said Silvers.
“That is true.”
The old man asked them their names, and in return said his name was Peter Merton. He said he had a son, who had left home at the beginning of the war, and what had become of his offspring he did not know.
“I have an idea he joined the English army,” he said. “If so, I sincerely trust that no harm comes to him.”
The old Englishman remained with them for the best part of an hour. He told them that the camp was located not far from the north bank of the St. Lawrence, a few miles above Quebec.
“I cannot tell you what General Wolfe is now doing,” he said. “We get very little news.”
“I heard some cannon firing last night,” said Henry.