“Well, then, my dear boy, let me set your poor weak head at rest. I know everything you did from your start until you were trapped in the wood, the enemy letting you pass one troop, and having another waiting for you at the end of the wood.”
“Yes, that is how it was, and I did not take sufficient care.”
“Yes, you did, my boy; your precautions were all that an officer on such a duty could take, and all that I should have taken.”
“You seem to be giving me fresh life, father,” whispered Fred. “But how did you know?”
“Partly from the advance guard, partly from Samson; and both join in saying that my son behaved as a gallant officer should. I am quite satisfied, my boy. I sent you upon a dangerous expedition, and in spite of the perils of your journey, you have escaped with life, and you are no longer a prisoner. In fact, we have turned the tables on the enemy again, and read them a lesson they will not forget.”
“Yes; I heard the fighting, father.”
“And do you know whose men they were?”
“No.”
“Sir Godfrey Markham’s.”
“Father?”