“‘That pedler,’ said he firmly, ‘is a spy; and it is your duty to assist in his capture. Is he in this house?’
“Now, Smith knew better than to try to persuade the soldiers that Henderson had driven away. He saw they had certain knowledge of the spy’s presence. So he exclaimed:—
“‘A spy, is he? Well, I reckon you’ve about got him, then. He’s drove his team in on the barn floor, out of the sun, and most likely’—but the whole squad were off for the barn.
“‘To the woods! The cave!’ hissed Smith toward the little bedroom; and at the same instant my grandfather darted from the window, down behind the tall rows of pole-beans and a leafy bed of artichokes, and gained the cover of the woods which touched on the rear edge of the garden.
“He ran with desperate speed, following at first a well-beaten cattle-path that led straight into the woods. But he had small hope of escape. It was the glimpse he had got of those two great dogs that filled his soul with dismay.
“For the troops alone he would have cared little. He knew he could outrun most men, and the forest afforded innumerable hiding-places. But those dogs! With no weapon but his sheath-knife, he could hardly hope to overcome them without being himself disabled; and if he were to take refuge in a tree, they would just hold him there till their masters arrived to lead him off to an ignominious death.
“My grandfather concluded, however, that his only chance for escape lay in fighting the dogs. If he could kill them before the soldiers came up, he might possibly get away.
“But to make the most of this poor chance he must get deep into the woods, and lead the dogs a long distance ahead of the troops.
“He understood the sound tactics of dividing the enemy’s forces. He tightened his belt and ran on, snatching up by the way a stout stick which some one had intended for a cane.
“The cave of which Smith had spoken lay about three miles from the village. After following the cattle-path for perhaps half a mile, my grandfather turned a little to the right and plunged into the trackless forest. His long, nimble legs carried him swiftly over the innumerable obstructions of the forest floor.