Therefore it was that Nathan's captor turned him over to the other trooper, saying as he did so:
"If you have any doubts as to being able to keep these young rebels in proper subjection, I will truss them up before leaving; but it seems to me one Englishman can care for five horses and two boys, without any very great amount of difficulty."
"I am not afraid but that it can be done after some sort of fashion, yet I had rather not kill a lad even though he be a rebel, so if it is all the same to you, pass a couple of those saddle-straps over their arms, and I'll be more certain of keeping them here without using a bullet."
The trooper did as he was requested, and the boys were fettered in such a manner as precluded all possibility of escape.
With both arms stretched to their sides flight was out of the question, and the hearts of the lads were heavy in their breasts, for they must remain in the rear while the redcoats went on to do the slaughtering.
"I could kill Ephraim Sowers and never believe I had committed a murder," Nathan whispered when the two, placed back to back, were fastened to a convenient tree. "All the blood spilled this night will be upon his head, and that brave men should meet their death through such as him makes it all the more pitiful."
"There is a chance Sarah Dillard succeeded in getting through to the Spring," Evan whispered in a tremulous tone.
"I cannot believe it. The captain himself would never have made such a doubtful venture, and surely a woman could not succeed where he must have failed."
Now those of the troopers who had not been detailed to the care of the horses, were ordered forward, and soon only the animals, with perhaps twenty men to guard them, remained in this portion of the thicket.
Not a sound betrayed the movements of the redcoats as they advanced to do what seemed little less than murder.