The Dare Boys with General Greene

by Stephen Angus Douglas Cox

Dick Dare had not gone twenty yards before he became convinced that there were Indians in the vicinity. At once he realized that he would have to be very careful, or he would be unable to get through the lines without being captured. He had been successful, always, in getting through the lines of British sentinels, but these redskins were a different proposition. They were perfectly at home in this region, and, too, they were used to being about at night. They possessed the ability to know what was going on around them, even in the darkness, they seemingly having the catlike faculty of seeing in the dark.

But the knowledge that he was going to have a hard time getting past the Indians only made Dick the more determined to do so. He was eager to prove that he was a good scout and spy, and if he could get through the Indians’ lines without being discovered or captured, then he would have done something to be proud of.

So he settled down and began advancing very slowly and cautiously. He would advance a few feet and then stop and lie flat on the ground, and listen intently. Several times, while lying thus, silent and motionless, he heard sounds in various directions that he knew were not made by wild animals of the forest, but were made by Indians, without doubt.

He heard the calls of night birds, which, so his keen and well trained ear told him, were not made by birds, but were simply good imitations, made by the redskins. Dick could imitate the majority of the birds of the forest, in their calls to one another, himself, and so was able to determine that these calls were not genuine.

And this made him exercise the greatest possible care. He could tell, by the various directions the sounds came from, that the fort was surrounded, and he did not doubt but what an attack was contemplated. He would have gone back into the fort and told them what he had learned, had he deemed it necessary; but he knew that sentinels were posted, and that the redskins could not spring a surprise on the settlers, so he felt that it would do no good to take this trouble. It was more important that he get through the lines and then hasten to reach General Greene with the news that he was needed down in that part of the country.

Presently he discovered, by hearing a call close at hand, that at least one Indian was almost in front of him. He paused and lay silent and motionless for a few moments, and then he began moving around, in a semi-circle.

Cautiously he proceeded, and his every nerve was tense and ready for instant action, in case his presence was discovered and he was attacked. He had gone perhaps twenty yards, and was about opposite the point where he had heard the sound that indicated the presence of the Indian, when he heard a slight rustling, as of a body moving toward him, through the grass. He listened, and became convinced that an Indian was approaching him, and he guessed that the redskin had heard him.

Dick lay still, his mind working swiftly. What should he do? Should he wait and engage the redskin in a combat, or should he leap up and take refuge in flight?

It was a difficult question to answer, and as he was turning the matter over in his mind, he heard the rustling coming closer and closer. He must act quickly, or the Indian would be upon him.

He suddenly decided that the best thing for him to do was to take refuge in flight. True, he realized he might run right into the arms of the Indians, but on the other hand, if he remained where he was, and was attacked by the redskin, the sound of the combat would bring a score of Indians to the spot quickly, and he would be captured.