Almost before the boys could thank the Captain he had turned and was gone, having thrown a long-bladed knife with a curiously carved ivory handle—a relic of some Dutch trader perhaps—to Ree.
“I say! Maybe ye didn’t hear as haow Jim Huson was able to git about t’day! Ye’ll be hungry enough fer news I was thinkin’, before ye air back agin!”
John waved his old cap and Ree shouted their thanks again, but if Captain Bowen heard he gave no heed; at least he did not look back.
At noon a halt was made at the roadside, close to a running brook, while the horse was fed and watered and the boys ate their lunch. They would not have exchanged places with a prince, now that they felt themselves fairly launched upon their long-talked-of enterprise. Their hopes were unblemished by any unhappy circumstance and the fine weather was as a tonic to their already lively spirits. They carefully examined their goods and wagon to see that all was in proper order before starting on, resolving to be attentive to every detail and let no mishap come to them through carelessness. On the road, too, they exercised care, remembering that a steady gait and not too fast, was necessary. And so the first day of their journey was passed most pleasantly.
For the novelty of it the boys camped out the first night, beneath a clump of beech trees, and no two young men ever more fully enjoyed a campfire’s cheerful blaze.
Another and another day passed. It was in the afternoon of the fourth day of the journey that John stopped whistling “Yankee Doodle” to inquire of his companion who was taking his turn riding on the box:
“Ree, do you know much about this Eagle tavern where we are to stop to-night? I just happened to remember a story that was told in war time, that the house was haunted.”
“Haunted by Redcoat spies, I guess,” Ree answered. “The whole kit of them there at that time were the worst kind of Tories at heart, I have heard folks say, and Captain Bowen said something about it, too, you remember? But I guess they are all right now—got on the right side of the fence after the war was over.”
“I don’t mind Indians or wild animals—fact is, I’m just hankering to kill a bear, but I don’t want anything to do with spooks or witches or anything of that sort,” returned John. “I’ll keep my eyes wide open for ghosts and robbers if we stay at the Eagle, at any rate.”
“There is probably more reason to be afraid of bed-bugs,” laughed Ree. “I don’t believe the Eagle is so very bad a place or Captain Bowen would not have marked it as a stopping place. There was a man robbed and murdered there, it is true; but that was years ago, and needn’t worry us.”