The girl paled, and at this added insult Dick leaped to the ground and advanced on the troublesome one. Grasping him by the collar and giving him a vigorous push in the proper direction, Dick sent the young Loyalist sprawling in a ditch.
"Ha, ha!" shouted Fritz, "my turn next."
"It will be both of your turns next," yelled their new acquaintance, who had promptly recovered his feet, and was retiring down the road in discomfort, evidently feeling sure that retreat was the safest in the face of such odds.
"Oh," cried the girl, "now I've drawn you into trouble, haven't I?"
"Not that I can notice," replied Dick, with quiet indifference. "I trust that we have been of service to you and haven't interfered where we shouldn't have."
"I can't thank you enough for getting rid of him just at this moment," she replied. "As he said, I'm a Patriot, and he was trying to force some important information from me regarding the forces in Charleston."
"My name is Dare, miss, and this is Fritz Schmockenburg, both of Capt. Morgan's company."
The girl nodded brightly at Fritz, who was overwhelmed by the suddenness with which he was thrown into a lady's company. "My brother is very influential in the King's army," she said, "and now I'd advise you to hurry along if you expect to avoid any further trouble with him."
At that moment Dick thought he distinguished the dull sound of hoof-beats coming from the direction in which the young Tory had retreated.
"Guess you're right," replied Dick, "but if we go on, what will happen to you?"