It is true that there was no mutinous talk to be heard; the fate of the deserters had taught the grumblers a lesson that would not soon be forgotten, but much was said that did not tend to improve the discipline.
At noon word was passed among the men that the last of the votes on Cox's case must be in the commandant's hands within two hours, and it was generally understood, if not stated as a fact, that at nightfall we would hear the verdict. Then also, so nearly all the members of the garrison believed, Colonel Gansevoort would explain the reason for putting us on short allowance after having stated that we had food in plenty.
Therefore it was the men went about their work as usual, content to wait until night; but the commandant would have been unwise to keep them in ignorance longer.
"The only mistake that has been made in this business was when Colonel Gansevoort condescended to give out any statement while the men were ripe for mutiny," Sergeant Corney stopped to say to me, as I met him on the parade-ground while going to the barracks to summon some of the lads whose time for sentinel-duty had come. "If a dozen or more of the loudest-mouthed had been put under arrest, an' such as the deserters strung up by the thumbs, four lives might have been saved, an' there wouldn't be any foolish talk made now."
I had no time to reply to the old man, for, having thus relieved his mind, he passed on, and I went about my duties.
The Britishers and Tories worked half-heartedly in the trenches, the savages kept well out of sight, and we of the garrison watched eagerly for an opportunity to send home a bullet where it would do the most good, until nightfall, and then came the call for us to fall into line.
The fate of Cox had been decided, and we were to be told about the reduction of rations, therefore nearly every man wore an expression of anxious expectation.
Sergeant Corney was an exception to the general rule; he apparently had no particular interest in either matter, and obeyed the call as if he did so only because it was necessary.
As on the previous occasion, we were drawn up in a hollow square, with Colonel Gansevoort and his staff inside, and without wasting many words in leading up to the subject, the commandant announced that the majority of the men had decided there was no need of further punishment for Reuben Cox; that the penalty which he had already paid was a sufficient lesson for those of us who entertained any idea of trusting to the promises made by the British commander.
Then he spoke of our being put on short allowance, and straightway the men pricked up their ears, listening intently to the end that they might be able to prove the quartermaster had told a deliberate falsehood.