Instantly the lad was encircled by a ring of anxious faces.
“And the result?” Washington’s voice was entirely without excitement.
“The British were victorious.”
A sort of groan went up from the little party of gentlemen. And it was here that Ezra Prentiss spoke eagerly.
“We are bearing General Ward’s report of the fight to Congress. And though the British did drive us back, we twice repulsed them. We would have done so the third time had not our powder run out. As it stands, they lost a thousand men and do not dare advance beyond the ground they won.”
The gloom which settled upon the face of Washington at Nat Brewster’s words vanished at those of Ezra Prentiss.
“The militia?” he asked, his hand upon the boy’s shoulder. “How did they hold themselves under fire?”
“Bravely,” returned Ezra. “As long as they could fire back they showed fear of neither cannon-shot nor musketry.”
“That is all I wish to know,” exclaimed the commander-in-chief. “The cause of liberty is safe.”
The others then burst in with anxious and excited questions. Even during the dinner which the bountiful Mr. Clark sat the boys down to in a long, shaded room did not stop this flow of interrogations. Both were forced to answer as best they could between mouthfuls, but they did so with enthusiasm, for they were as full of the matter as their questioners.