"Can we believe what he says?" Evan asked when he and Nathan stood at such a distance from the prisoner that their words could not be overheard.
"I do not understand how he would dare to tell a lie. When our men advance it will be known if he has given the correct information, and we will make it plain that should he tell us anything which was proven to be incorrect, then our promises are withdrawn."
"Go on, and arrange the matter as soon as you can, for no one can say when some of the redcoats may come this way on a scout, and if we should chance to fall into the hands of the enemy now, I think that Tory sneak would kill us, if the murder could be compassed."
The two remained as if in conversation a moment longer, and then returning to the terrified spy, Nathan said in a solemn tone:
"We have agreed that if you give us all the information in your power concerning Major Ferguson's force, and you claim to know everything regarding it, we will carry you as prisoner to Evan's father, promising in his name that you shall be treated the same as any Britisher that might be captured. Should, however, it be discovered that you played us false in the slightest detail, it will be the same as if our promise had not been given, and you will be turned over to Colonel Clarke's men."
"I am not likely to tell that which is not true when my life depends upon the truth," Ephraim said in a tone which convinced his hearers that, perhaps for the first time in his life, he was resolved to make a correct statement.
"Well," Evan said impatiently after a brief pause. "Why don't you begin?"
"What shall I tell you?"
"How many men has Major Ferguson?"
"I must not be held as to the truth of numbers, for I only know what I heard a commissary sergeant say, which was that there were eleven hundred and twenty all told upon the mountain."