Sentry. Who goes there?
Mrs. Secord. A friend.
Sentry. What friend?
Mrs. Secord. To Canada and Britain.
Sentry. Your name and errand.
Mrs. Secord. My name is Secord—Captain Secord's wife,
Who fought at Queenston;—and my errand is
To Beaver Dam to see Fitzgibbon,
And warn him of a sortie from Fort George
To move to-night. Five hundred men, with guns,
And baggage-waggons for the spoil, are sent.
For, with such force, the enemy is sure
Our stores are theirs; and Stoney Creek avenged.
Sentry. Madam, how know you this?
Mrs. Secord. I overheard
Some Yankee soldiers, passing in and out
With all a victor's license of our hearths,
Talk of it yesternight, and in such wise
No room for doubt remained. My husband wished
[!-- Begin Page 46 --] To bear the news himself, but is disabled yet
By those two wounds he got at Queenston Heights,
And so the heavy task remained with me,
Much to his grief.
Sentry. A heavy task indeed.
How got you past their lines?
Mrs. Secord. By many wiles;
Those various arts that times like these entail.