They kept on going till about the middle of the afternoon, and then they came to the top of a ridge. It was covered with trees--in fact, they had been traveling through the timber pretty much ever since leaving camp--and here they paused, looking down the slope at the other side of the ridge.
At first, they saw nothing unusual, then suddenly an exclamation escaped the lips of Dick, and pointing his finger, he said in a low voice: “See yonder, boys.”
Tom and Ben looked in the direction indicated, and Tom said, excitedly: “Sure as living, a party of redcoats!”
“Yes,” said Dick. “Be careful, boys, and don’t let them see you. Get slowly behind trees.”
They took up their stations as suggested, and after a few minutes Dick said: “I’m going to slip down there, get within hearing distance of those fellows, if I can, and learn what they are doing here.”
“Look out that they don’t see and capture you, Dick,” cautioned Tom.
“I’ll be careful,” was the reply. Then, telling the two to remain there, Dick set out on his perilous expedition.
He was careful to keep trees between himself and the redcoats, and as he was skilled at this kind of work, he managed to reach a point within hearing distance of the redcoats as they sat talking, then stationed behind a tree, Dick stood there, listening intently.
As it turned out, he was well repaid for the danger he had run in coming there, for he heard the British soldiers talking of how they were going to visit a settlement made up mostly of patriots, as soon as it was dark, plunder the homes of the settlers, and then burn the houses down.
It was a cold-blooded plan, and Dick shuddered as he listened, but at the same time he made up his mind to hasten to the settlement, warn the settlers, and thus enable them to either prepare to defend themselves, or take their leave before the redcoats put in an appearance.