There is little of particular interest that can be told concerning ourselves during that time of happenings which I have just set down in the words of another, when our people were showing themselves such able soldiers.
When the fighting was hottest at least two of us lads were out of doors where we could see what was going on, and regarding not the bullets or cannon balls that came our way, in our eagerness to watch for some advantage which might be gained by the Americans.
It was for us a time of constant anxiety. We had the prisoners to guard, and had we not been forced to take Abel Hunt as we did, then might it have been a simple matter, for we could frighten Horry Sims into submission. But this hulking, dissolute fellow, as ready to fight as he was to eat, regardless of whether he faced friend or foe, was smarting under the sense of being held captive by lads, and we knew only too well that he would struggle to his utmost to set himself free that he might denounce us as spies, which he could well do after knowing what he must have known regarding the Jerseyman.
While I was on duty in the loft I stood at one of the small apertures or the other gazing out, oftentimes hearing the shrieking of a bomb as it came within what seemed to be a very short distance of the building; but ever keeping a watchful eye on Abel Hunt.
At such times as I was off duty and not obliged to go with Pierre foraging, for he was the only one of us three who could successfully conduct such expeditions, I was lounging around the outside of the building, saddened when our people slackened fire, lest they should be wavering in the attempt to overcome Cornwallis, and again exulting when the big guns boomed their notes of defiance until it was as if the very air vibrated with the detonations.
Although we were so fearsome that Hunt might succeed in making his escape, at least four times in every four and twenty hours were we forced in humanity's name to take the gag from his mouth, that he might get relief for his jaws.
The fellow begged again and again that we would relieve him from his bonds so he might walk around, promising to be as obedient to our orders as was Horry Sims; but I knew him too well to put any trust in his words.
Now and then we released his feet, and again gave him free use of one arm at a time; in other words, we did all we might to relieve the pain of his position without running too much risk on our part.
On that day when the French and the American troops attacked the redoubts on either side the village, I thought we had come to our last hour on earth, so thickly did the shots from the American redoubt directly in front of the lines which were sent to cover the assault I have already described, strike roundabout old Mary's cabin. It seemed certain we must be sent into the Beyond by those who would lend us every aid within their power.
It was when a solid shot struck the corner of the cabin near to the ridge-pole, just above where Abel Hunt lay, and plowed its way through the solid logs, tearing them aside as a child might shatter a lot of jackstraws, that I believed we were soon to meet our death. Hunt must have been of the same opinion, for he begged like a cur, when Pierre and I went up shortly afterward, for us to keep the gag from his mouth, declaring that we were striving to compass his death by leaving him in such a place.