Certain it is we were not yet come within the vicinity of Nelson's Ferry when Gavin Witherspoon's horse stopped short, and the old man said as he dismounted slowly:
"We may as well rest here for the night, as a mile or two further on. I propose that we halt until a couple of hours before sunrise, and by so doing we shall gain time."
After the experience we had had with the old man, Percy and I were more than willing to follow his advice, and we set about making ourselves as comfortable as might be under all the circumstances.
A better place for camping could not be found. A tiny brook running through a grove of pines, where the underbrush was so dense as to form ample hiding-place, as well as a shelter from the dews of the night. There was little green feed for the horses; but we carried a goodly store of grain on our saddles, and, heedless of the possible necessities of the future which seemed so dark, we allowed the tired steeds to eat their pleasure from the store.
Such food as we had, and as I have said was taken from the Tory camp, we ate, and then, lame and sore in every joint from the long hours in the saddle, we laid ourselves down for perchance the last sleep on this earth.
My eyes were closed in slumber within two or three minutes after I was thus stretched at full length upon the bed of pine needles, and it seemed as if I had slept several hours when something—I know not what—awakened me.
There was no movement, and the faint light of the stars did not penetrate the thicket; yet I could see that the horses were lying down; that my comrades were wrapped in slumber, and it puzzled me to make out why I was thus wakeful.
Then, partially turning my head, for no other reason than to make a change of position, I saw what appeared to be the reflection of a camp-fire through the underbrush.
When one knows that he is surrounded by enemies, the lightest thing out of the ordinary arouses his suspicions, and although this gleam of light was so faint that at another time I would have given no heed to it, now it seemed absolutely necessary I should understand the cause.
It would be foolish to awaken my comrades, so I argued, when there might be no good reason, and I crept out through the bushes softly until, having traversed a distance of fifty yards or more, when I saw that we were not the only ones who had utilized this thicket as a camp.