"How would I know such an one?" gasped Andy.
"That will I tell you later." Again the forward tramp.
"And you have passed, unnoticed, the British line! 'Tis a joke almost beyond belief!" chuckled the stranger. "I should like to see my Lord Howe's face were he to hear this."
"Oh! be silent, sir!" cautioned the guide, "we come to an open space."
Once again beneath the heavy boughs, the boy said:
"I passed the line but yesterday. And I heard that which has troubled me, sorely, yet I could do nothing. But—" here Andy paused and turned sharply—"bend down. Should you know Washington were you to see him?"
"Aye, lad." The two heads were pressed close.
"Would you bear a message, and try to find him?"
"Aye."
"They are planning an attack. I could not hear when or where, for the men moved past. As they came back, and passed where I was hidden, I heard them say that they who are near Washington had best be on watch, poison in the food made no such noise as a gun—but it would serve!"