"He shall be carried to Williamsburg! Once there I'll answer for it he has no chance to join his friends who claim to love the king so dearly."
Then Pierre and I set about discussing the best course to pursue while leaving the town of York, as if we would set off that very night, when Uncle 'Rasmus put an end to the hoping and planning, at least so far as the present was concerned, by saying dreamily:
"I'se 'lowin', chillun, dat you won' fin' it so ter'ble easy to get out ob de lines dis yere night. Dere's sumfin in de air dat's trubblin' Marse Cornwallis, an' you can be mighty sure dese yere sogers am keepin' dere eyes wide open."
Surprised at thus learning that the old negro knew so much of what was going on outside, I asked irritably why he had formed such an opinion.
"Didn' you tell me yoursef, honey? I ain' 'lowin' dat dese yere sogers would be shovelin' dirt in de night 'less sumfin had come up sudden like. Des look out ob dis yere winder, an' see de torches all 'roun' us. How you 'low you'se gwine to sneak out ob dis yere cabin wid de young Tory 'tween you, an' get away widout anybody's askin' questions?"
There was no need for me to do as Uncle 'Rasmus suggested. While Pierre and I had been searching for Saul we had seen signs, as I have already set down, of unusual activity in every direction, and I realized that we could not hope to make our way through the lines unnoticed while, as it seemed to me, every member of Cornwallis's army was astir.
"Uncle 'Rasmus is right," Pierre said mournfully, "and I was a fool not to have remembered what we have just seen. There is no sense in our talking of leaving town, at least until the Britishers have quieted down. We must carry the Tory into the loft again, and say to ourselves that we are held prisoners in the village of York even as he is in this cabin."
"Why take the trouble to carry him into the loft?" I asked fretfully, angry because it had been shown me beyond a shadow of doubt that the plan I leaped at so eagerly was an impossibility.
"Because when morning comes no one may say how many red-coated soldiers will be here hunting for us. If Saul has been arrested, then are we under suspicion."
"And if they come to search for us, there is no more assurance of our remaining hidden with this Tory in the loft, than if he remained here in the room."