"Then we must go, for, being forewarned we are forearmed, and shall gain a victory."
This idea prevailed, and the Mountain Boys commenced their march to the east.
When a mile had been traversed, as near as they could guess, Warner sent a scout forward to reconnoiter.
He returned quickly and said that there was no sign of an ambush, but the snake fence was there and the vine-covered house also.
"Go forward, Letsom, and find out all you can about the farmer and his household."
The man was an excellent fellow for such a purpose, though Seth Warner expressed a wish that Eben had been there, so that he might have gone.
Letsom returned an hour later.
"Farmer Mervale is a bitter Britisher," he reported, "and told me that if any of the rebels came to his house he would know how to deal with them. I asked him what he would do, and he replied that he would ask them to dine and would poison their soup."
"The villain!"
"He further said that every rebel, as he called us, should be shot like a rat."