Having wrung a little of the water out of their clothes, Don and his companion continued their flight, threading their way rapidly but cautiously through the thick woods; but before they had gone two hundred yards, the sergeant, who was acting as guide, stopped all on a sudden and pointed silently before him. Don looked and saw that they had barely escaped running into an ambuscade that had been prepared for them. Having crossed the creek at the bridge, Corporal[Corporal] Mack and his men had made the best of their way to the main road and were now hidden in the bushes on each side of it, awaiting the approach of the deserters. Don could see their uniform caps, and he counted a dozen of them in all.
“Mack knows that we are going to the show, and he will exert himself to the utmost to prevent it,” said the sergeant, after he and Don had made a wide detour and safely passed the ambuscade. “We must hurry on now, for we are not safe so long as we wear these uniforms.”
It would have been much easier walking in the main road, which was in plain sight of them, but the sergeant dared not follow it, for he and Don were in no condition, weighed down as they were by their wet clothing, to engage in a foot-race with the fleet and persevering corporal, who would be sure to see them the moment they came out of their concealment. So they kept to the bushes, and at the end of a quarter of an hour came to a halt in the rear of a snug little farm-house, which was the home of one Asa Peters, who had agreed, for a suitable consideration, to furnish them with disguises whenever they might stand in need of them. Asa was chopping wood in the back yard, and Egan had no difficulty in attracting his attention. Hearing his name pronounced in a cautious tone, Asa threw down his axe, and after looking all around to make sure that his movements were not observed, he climbed the fence and joined the deserters behind the smoke-house, where they had stopped for concealment. He was a stalwart young rustic with a red head, a peaked nose, and a freckled face—very homely, in short, but with a most exalted opinion of his personal appearance.
“I say, Asa,” said Egan, hurriedly. “We want those clothes now. Is there any way for us to get into the house without being seen?”
Asa leaned against the smoke-house and twirled his thumbs, but said nothing.
“What’s the matter?” asked Egan, in some alarm. “You are not going back from your word, are you? You agreed to furnish each of us with a suit of your clothes for a dollar apiece, and we expect you to live up to your bargain.”
“Wal,” drawled Asa.“ You see—Sally, she——”
He blushed and hesitated.
“Well, go on; what about Sally?” asked Don, impatiently. “She doesn’t want to borrow your clothes, does she?”
“Eh? No,” said Asa, indignantly. “But she wants to go to the show, an’ how am I goin’ to take her when I aint got no duds to go in? That’s what’s been a botherin’ me. An’, you see, if I don’t take her, ’Bijah Sawin will.”