He turned his attention therefore to the problem of how if possible to rescue the patriot spies and soldiers that were in the old hulk used for a prison.
“I must rescue them!” was his thought. “I will rescue them!” he decided, and he began figuring on the matter in earnest and laying his plans.
About half-past one o'clock in the afternoon, however, he was given a shock: He saw half a dozen British soldiers approaching the encampment from the north, and in their midst was–his brother Tom!
“They've captured Tom!” he exclaimed mentally, in dismay. “Goodness, that is bad! I wonder how it happened?”
This was a simple matter. The half dozen redcoats had been up in the hills nearby the Heights, where Dick and Tom had had the adventure the night before, when in passing the clump of trees, some one of them happened to catch a glimpse of Tom, who was seated under a tree, eating some food that he had procured t a farmhouse early that morning. The soldiers had advanced, and their sudden appearance had startled Tom to such an extent that when they asked who he was and what he was doing there, he stammered and was unable to make a satisfactory reply offhand, with the result that the redcoats seized him and made him a prisoner, their idea being that even though he were a boy he might be a “rebel” spy.
As may well be supposed, when Dick saw the redcoats approaching with his brother a prisoner in their midst, his heart sank. He had been figuring on getting his brother to help him in rescuing the patriot spies and soldiers, and here was Tom in the enemy's hands, a prisoner.
“I'll have to begin by rescuing Tom, I guess,” was Dick's thought.
The soldiers entered the encampment, with the youth in their midst, and conducted him to where in front of his tent the general was sitting on a camp-stool. The officer looked up as the party approached, and he eyed the prisoner in some surprise.
Dick had drawn near as the soldiers entered the camp, and had managed to catch Tom's eye and give him a warning look. He hoped that his brother would be very careful, and not let it be seen that they were known to each other.
“Whom have you there?” queried General Percy, as the party came to a halt in front of him.