We noted with glee the fact that the Britishers were gathering all the boats that could be come at, and even from Gloucester Point did they send over barges and skiffs until the river front was completely lined with small craft.
The afternoon was not yet more than half spent before baggage wagons were being loaded into the larger boats. I saw more than one officer carrying his belongings down to the river to stow them in this or that craft instead of trusting a soldier to perform the labor, as would have been done had matters not been so pressing, and if each man who wore a red coat was not looking forward with somewhat of fear to the possibility that the retreating army might be choked before it had gotten well on its way toward New York.
As the day drew nearer to a close I became painfully nervous, fearing lest something even at this last hour should prevent my Lord Cornwallis from carrying out his plans, and seeing the expression of trouble on my face, understanding perhaps from that which was in his own mind, little Frenchie whispered to me in a tone of encouragement:
"Don't fret yourself, Fitz Hamilton, fearing lest the red-coats will not carry out the manoeuvre. They only await the coming of night, when it will be possible to steal across the river without being seen by our people, and then you may set it down as a fact that all these valiant soldiers of the king will make every effort to get out of the way of that French boy who, as my Lord Cornwallis has said, is striving to 'play war with a handful of rebels.'"
"Then there is in your mind no question but that the retreat is much the same as begun?" I asked, wanting to hear him confirm that which was in my mind.
"I can see no evidence of their failing to go on as they have begun," the lad replied cheerily, and added as he dropped his voice to a whisper: "The one chance which may work against us is, that my Lord Cornwallis will take some steps to prevent any of the people in the village from carrying word regarding his movements to the Americans, therefore let us get into some place of hiding, where we may watch all that goes on here about the river bank without presenting ourselves to the eyes of the red-coats."
Hardly more than fifty yards from where we were then standing were the ruins of a house which had been literally torn into fragments by shot from the American lines. Under these splintered and partially-burned timbers would it be possible for us to find a fairly good hiding place, unless peradventure strict search might be made, which was not probable because so far as we knew, the red-coats had no reason to suspect us as being other than lads whose parents so loved the king that they had been willing to remain in the village of York even during the siege.
Saul was not at first inclined to go into hiding. When Pierre told him what we would do, he declared that it was putting ourselves to useless trouble, for these gentry who wore red coats no longer had the time nor the inclination to concern themselves about us; but when little Frenchie explained that we might in some way be prevented from carrying early news of the retreat to the American lines, then my cousin followed, unwillingly, mayhap, still he kept at our heels until we had wriggled our way beneath the shattered timbers to where it was possible to have a fairly good view of the river.
It was not until we had snugly stowed ourselves into this place that I began to realize how great was the danger which menaced. Our people had the range so well that the buildings roundabout this place were torn and wrecked, while now and then a shot came unpleasantly near, and I saw two men killed while they were striving to get one of the heavy baggage wagons on board a barge.
Then I realized that it was more than possible we might never come out from beneath these timbers alive because of having been killed by our own friends. The triumph which had been mine was sadly marred by the timorousness which came over me, as I understood that death might be nearer at hand than when we were in old Mary's cabin, with Abel Hunt roaming around the village in search of us.