"We can't have war without death, can we?" half sighed the West Pointer.
Once inside the house Hal's first care was to visit the wounded men.
"Bender's gone, sir?" asked Hal.
"Yes," nodded Lieutenant Prescott gravely.
Then they went to breakfast, for the soldier must eat or presently stop fighting.
"You'll want to know my orders from Captain Cortland," said Lieutenant Prescott, filling his cup with coffee.
"Yes, sir; if you feel at liberty to tell me."
"The captain's instructions are few. He tells me that, as commander in the field, I will have to use my own judgment to a great degree. But the captain urges me, as soon as I may be satisfied that the Moros have withdrawn, to leave Sergeant Dinsmore here with a guard of twelve men, and to bring the white people from this plantation into town with me. Then Dinsmore, if he sees no more of the Moros within three days, is to march his men back to Bantoc. With the limited number of men at his disposal Captain Cortland recognizes the impossibility of keeping a military guard regularly at each plantation."
"But, sir, if Dinsmore and a dozen men had to brave such a charge as we met last night he would stand a very good chance of having his detachment wiped out, wouldn't he?"
"No; for the Moros would attempt such a charge only in the night time. Captain Cortland has sent me a supply of various-colored rockets, and a code by which they are to be used. So, if attacked by a rush at night, Sergeant Dinsmore will withdraw with his men to the house, and send up rockets that will be seen in Bantoc and at Fort Franklin. Then a column will be sent out to overtake and punish any brown rascals who may attack."