“Yes; and they stole a big lot of provisions from you yesterday.”
“We know that, dog-gone them!” said the captain. “We have come up here to see about those provisions. Do you know where they are?”
“The most of them have been hauled to the swamp.”
“There!” said the lieutenant. “Then it is of no use to go any further. If those goods have been taken to the swamp they are lost to us.”
“I confess it does look that way. Now, about this rebel fellow who has just gone off. What is he going after; do you know?”
“He may be out scouting, the same as you are,” replied Dan.
“And he takes a couple of green boys to help him scout the same as we are?” exclaimed the captain. “I guess not. He’s got some friends down here, and he wants to get them on the other side of the line. Do you know where this boy lives or what he is?”
“We can easy catch him as we go back,” said the lieutenant. “And in the meantime I would suggest to you the propriety of going up and finding out for ourselves the number of pickets they have placed at the bridge. I believe you said there were some there?” he continued, turning to Dan.
“There’s a whole pile of them,” answered Dan. “We didn’t see them ourselves, because we swum the creek; but when we got over here I went out to see if I could see anything of the sentinels, and they saw and halted me.”
“But you didn’t go in, did you?”