"I am sure I don't know. I have been before and he never acted in this fashion."
"Who harnessed him?" asked Bob, looking the horse.
"Why, I did. The boy was busy and I couldn't wait, so I did it myself. Why shouldn't I do things for myself instead of being always dependent upon others?"
"That is all right in theory," laughed Bob, "but you have not done it right, and the horse has been chafed and annoyed, and has finally tried to get out of it and has run away. You had better let me fix things."
"Well, I declare!" exclaimed the girl. "And I thought I could do most anything!"
Just then Dick caught sight of one of the men he had seen the night before going down Broadway, and he said to Bob in a low tone:
"Look after the young lady, Bob. There is one of those ruffians. Take Major up with you when you get through."
Then he went away at not too rapid a walk and followed the man he had seen, observing him go into a tavern on the other side of the street and just below the corner.
"Not a very reputable place," he said to himself, "but I think I am safe enough."
Entering the place, he saw the man he had followed sitting in a corner talking to a man who, if he was not greatly mistaken, was the chief of the two spies he had captured the day before and had turned over to General Putnam. The man recognized him, and hastily arose, and Dick knew that he was not mistaken, although how he should have escaped was a puzzle to him.