"You lads shall stay here, never venturin' to leave the hidin'-place unless the Britishers themselves drive you out, an' I'll take a little trip down stream to see what is goin' on. If the enemy has come into the river without a pilot, I'll go bail that more than one of his vessels has taken the ground."
Then the old man stole softly through the underbrush, and we gave but little heed to his departure, so intent were we on the wondrous panorama spread out before us.
The first craft to heave in sight was an armed brig, the decks of which were brilliant with red uniforms and glittering weapons, and immediately astern of this vessel were a dozen or more barges, and two pungies.
Then came boats filled with soldiers, one astern of the other until it surely seemed as if every craft in the Chesapeake had been brought here to make up the procession, which was more imposing than anything I had ever seen.
It was the glittering, fanciful side of war, which would be transformed into something hideous immediately the actual work was begun, for then one lost sight of the pomp and parade, seeing only the ominous stains of blood, and unable to hear aught save the shrieks of the dying and the groans of the wounded.
Then, to our great surprise, we found that the Britishers were making preparations to take possession of the village. The armed brig was moored stem and stern in the channel where her full broadside could be brought to bear upon the settlement, and the three barges, each having on board a twelve-pounder, were rowed up to the beach on which no less than four hundred soldiers, with weapons ready for use, stood as if to repel an attack.
"They are makin' a mighty lot of fuss." Jerry said with a laugh. "A corporal's guard could capture Benedict without turnin' a hair, an' yet look at that crowd!"
It was truly astonishing that so many men should have been brought to take possession of our little village. Boat-load after boat-load came up the river, landing their living cargoes in the cove where we lads had always kept our canoes, and before the disembarkation had been concluded, the shore of the river was literally covered with soldiers, marines, and, strangely enough, companies of negroes who were decked out in uniforms of the British army.
Since that day I have seen statements made by the enemy's officers to the effect that five thousand men were landed at Benedict, and for what purpose we lads were unable to imagine.
I had never seen such a throng of people before; the town was over-run, and the woods above and below seemed to be packed full of armed men.