"And don't belong to the army?"
Seth hesitated sufficiently long for the most obtuse to have understood that he was about to equivocate, and then said:
"If we were soldiers we should be in uniform, and wouldn't ask for lodgings."
"Exactly; I see," the man replied with a curious smile, and continued on up the second flight of stairs into what was evidently the attic of the house.
On this floor was a long, narrow passage with doors opening from either side; but the host did not pause until arriving at the extreme end, when he ushered them into a small apartment, saying as he did so:
"This is the only room we have empty to-night; but so long as the bed is rest-inviting I suppose it will answer your purpose. I'll bring the food at once."
Placing the candle on the rude table, the host left the room, and the boys listened until from the sound of his footsteps they knew he had traversed the passage, and was descending the stairs.
"He has taken precious good care we shall be well out of the way," Seth said thoughtfully as he looked around the apartment, in which was a low trundle-bed covered with the coarsest of clothing, a small, rude table on which the candle had been placed, and one stool.
There were no windows in the room, and the door was formed of heavy planks, bolted rather than nailed together.
"He said some one in the house was sick, and most likely we have been brought up here for fear we might make a noise," Enoch suggested.