“I hope I’m wrong, but I’m very much afraid—”
“That settles it, Gil, lad,” he said quickly. “You are thinking as I have been for the last quarter of an hour, are you not? That we are too late?”
“Yes. They have deserted the place.”
“Undoubtedly. I ought to have grasped the notion at once. We could not have got into this village unchallenged. We have not been drilling before these men so many years for them to occupy a place like this without sentries.”
“Can we have failed?” I said despondently.
“Oh no; say we have not succeeded yet,” he cried cheerily, as he clapped me on the shoulder. “You and I are going to recapture those guns, Gil, my lad. We must; we must.”
“But what are you going to do now?” I asked.
“Practise patience, lad. We have spent many hours over this vain struggle, and it is madness to go wandering about in the darkness, so let’s get back to the village and pick out the best house we can, and rest till daylight. It is the only course open to us. There, we need not whisper now.”
“I wish I was stronger,” I said rather despondently.
“Bah! you are tired. So am I. Cheer up, lad. You’ll feel like a new man when you’ve lain down for an hour. Nothing like it. Flat down on your back. It is the most refreshing thing there is.”