“That is what I should be doing if I deserted a friend. We will remain here, and it may be the soldiers will fail to find us.”
It was possible they might pass us by in the darkness, unless we betrayed our whereabouts by thus wrangling as to who should go or stay, and I fell silent at once, understanding at the same time that words were of no avail in the effort to persuade the French lad into deserting us.
We three remained motionless as statues, and quite as silent, save for our heavy breathing, which could not at once be stilled, until, as the moments passed, we understood that the pursuit was either abandoned, or the soldiers had gone in the wrong direction.
We had escaped, for the time being at least, and my surprise was very nearly akin to fear as I realized this, for it seemed little short of miraculous that such good fortune could come to us.
“They must be hiding near by, ready to leap upon us the instant we leave this thicket,” I said half to myself, and then I knew that Alec was laughing heartily, although silently.
“Do you suppose the Britishers would be willing to sit down and wait patiently until we were rested?” he asked, pressing my hand warmly. “We have given them the slip, Dicky Dobbins, and you shall have the full credit of it, because save for your bravery it might never have been brought about. I should have been clapped into that same pen where we nearly froze to death, before having the courage to engage half a dozen soldiers in a hand-to-hand fight!”
“Nor would I have shown so much bravery had there been time in which to think of the danger. The fit came upon me quite by accident, and even at this moment I cannot tell what took place.”
“Well, I can,” Alec replied, still laughing silently. “You leaped like a tiger upon one of the men, wresting his musket from him, and Leon and I could do no less than follow the example. The soldier was twice your size, and yet you floored him with a single blow—”
“One of you did that, striking the fellow from behind,” I interrupted. “But for your assistance I should speedily have been worsted.”
“It was your third opponent that Leon felled with a blow from the butt end of a musket. You had tumbled two over, and was engaged with the third when I had an opportunity of seeing what was being done. I always believed you a courageous lad, Dicky Dobbins, but never have I supposed it was in your power to handle your fists with such skill.”