"That's onbeknownst to me," replied Horse Shoe.
"Do you remember the fool we met at the Waxhaws last May?" asked one of the officers present, of another. "This fellow might pass for a full brother in blood—only I think this clown has the less wit of the two."
"As heavy a lump, certainly," replied the officer. "This, you say, is the first time you have been in Carolina?"
"To my knowledge," replied the sergeant.
"It is broad day, gentlemen," said Tarleton; "we have been squandering precious time upon an empty simpleton. Give him his beast and let him be gone. Sirrah, you are free to depart. But, look you, if I hear any reports along the road of your having seen me, or a word about my coming, I'll ferret you out and have you trussed upon a stake twenty feet long."
"Thank your honor," said Horse Shoe, as he left the tent. "I never troubles my head with things out of my line."
Then seeking his horse he leisurely rode back by the way he had come; and as soon as he found himself beyond the outposts of the corps, he urged Captain Peter to as much speed as the late arduous duties of the good beast left him power to exert.