"They won't go so far as to burn the prisoners, lad. All that crowd of evil-doers will be set at liberty, and I reckon they'll be the only Americans who can rejoice because of the English victory at Bladensburg.
"Then in that case," Jerry said grimly, "we can set it down as a fact that Elias Macomber is paradin' the streets with his good friends the British, boastin' of his suffering at the hand of the Americans."
I started up in very unpleasant surprise. Until this moment I had given no heed to the cur whom we had captured twice, since we left the burning fleet at Pig Point; but now I realized that my partner was right. There could be no question but that Elias Macomber was a free man once more, and all our efforts to bring him to justice had only resulted in giving him an opportunity to pose as a martyr!
"Well, he's got a chance to pay off old scores now, if he only knew it," Jim Freeman suggested. "How happy the villain would be if he knew where he could find us in hidin'!"
"Don't talk about him," I said petulantly. "It makes me heartsick to think that after all our work he is in fine feather, strutting around the city as one of the best friends the British had in this section. Speak of something else. What of Bill Jepson? Does any one know if he came out of the battle alive?"
"I saw him not more than five minutes before the order was given to retreat," my father said. "He had been sent back to the wagons for ammunition, and appeared to be having a royal time."
"We'll hope he got away at the last, for if he's taken they'll hang him as a deserter," I said, and then, finding it impossible to prevent my thoughts from straying to our missing comrade, I added, "Darius wouldn't have stayed away so long unless something serious had happened. We ought to go in search of him."
"Where would you look first?" Jerry asked. "If the Britishers got their hands on him we stand little chance of seein' the poor fellow, for they'll keep him a close prisoner."
"It doesn't seem possible that we can accomplish very much," I said with a long drawn sigh; "but we must do as he would if one of us was missing."
"And what would that be?" my father asked.