"Hush, little one!" interposed Knox. "Don't tell the neighbors about it, for it might astonish them."
"I don't believe there are any neighbors very near us," replied Deck in a low tone. "But there is something going on in this vicinity."
"We won't tell 'em, whoever's at work round here, that we are coming. By the light of the fire I can see a mansion or farmhouse over yonder."
As he spoke, the report of the half-a-dozen muskets, more or less, that had attracted the attention of the main body of the squadron, was heard, though the scouts were half a mile distant. The building of the fire was possibly a signal for the discharge which had so soon followed it; but no other connection could be suggested between them.
"One man can always do better in lookin' inter things than a dozen," said Life, as he was trying to connect the fire and the firing in a reasonable manner. "Ride over towards that fire, Deck, and see what you can see."
"Be you uns soldiers, Mars'r?" asked a negro, coming out of a cornfield at the side of the road, where the stalks had concealed his coming.
"Of course we are, Cato," replied Deck, who was nearest to him.
"Who done tole you my name, Mars'r?" asked the negro, whose surprise seemed to have driven everything else out of his head.
"I guessed at it. But what do you want? I told you we were soldiers," added Deck. "Do you come from that house beyond the cornfield?"