"Then we must cross that bridge on planks, if I mistake not, in order to come at them?"
"You are right, Gavin."
"And so many horsemen as we number may not be able to do that without giving an alarm."
"It is a chance which we must take. Whether they have warning of our approach, or not, from the moment we reach the causeway our advance must be rapid."
Then my uncle rode ahead to join General Marion, and we, tired and sleepy from being long in the saddle without proper hours of rest, relapsed into silence until we were arrived at this same bridge of which Gavin had spoken.
It was midnight, and I had said to Percy that all the odds were in our favor, so far as taking the enemy by surprise was concerned, when the foremost of the troops clattered across the planks.
Within sixty seconds an alarm gun was heard from the Tory encampment.
Now was come the time, and the first, when we two lads were to take part in a conflict where the enemy was expecting us.
It would be a real battle, and Percy cried, clasping my hand as we spurred our horses on at a gallop lest we be left in the rear:
"We may perchance come to our death, Bob, before the sun shall rise again; but it shall never be said that we failed to follow the head of the family wherever he might lead!"