"Ya-as, it does, an' I don't come t' blame ye for it,--mind ye, I don't blame ye fur it. I'm sometimes tempted to go myself, old as I am."
"No, no, Mr. Winners, there is no occasion. Let the younger men do the service."
"I don't blame ye, for goin', Fernando; but I hope ye won't furgit one thing."
"What?"
"My Sukey's on t'other side. Now that fightin's begun, he'll have to light his own flag; but he won't do it with a very good grace, lem me tell ye. No, he won't. Now, Fernando, I don't want to ask ye to ease down on the British a bit; but when ye come to the crowd that Sukey's with, won't ye kind a shoot easy?"
Fernando promised to do all he could to aid Sukey to escape, and assured him that, when once he was free, the cruel masters should pay for their tyranny. The old man seemed partially satisfied, and, as he rode away, he twisted himself half way round in the saddle to say:
"Now, Fernando, if ye meet Sukey's crowd, I want ye to remember to shoot easy."
"I will not harm Sukey, if I can help it," Fernando answered. Next morning, he bade his parents farewell and, with his clothes tied up in a little bundle, set out on his way to the town.
A flag was streaming from a long pole, and Fernando heard the roll of the drum and the shrill notes of a fife. The company was more than half made up when he arrived. He enlisted at once and four days later the company was ready to march.
As yet the armies of the United States were not organized, and for some time Captain George Rose was at a loss what to do with his volunteers. They were riflemen, ready for any detached service to which they might be assigned. The militia forces raised were, of course, to serve in their own respective States; but the volunteers were allowed to attach to any regiment they chose. For some time, it was doubtful whether Captain Rose would be sent West under Hull and Harrison, or to the North to act under General Jacob Brown.