Among them they had set the adventurous mind of a fearless young rebel to thinking in a fashion of which they little dreamed.
“I shall be careful, sir,� and then with his gay manner and the self-confidence of youth, he added: “What with the Gemini and Tom and the Colonel, it ought to be safe enough. What time should we go to-morrow, Colonel?�
“Nine will be early enough.�
“Will you lend me your sable coat?� asked Verney of the Count.
“With pleasure.�
“I like best my sealskin,� said Grimstone. “It is not so heavy. Do you really mean to take the boys?�
“Of course I do. We want Tom to hold the horses while we tramp about, and the Gemini must have the frolic. I promised.�
Tom listened, well pleased. He paused on his way to bed, and while the officers were studying Major Montresor’s elaborate map, he pocketed the rough sketch of attack Verney had crumpled up and cast under the table.
The boy was by this time more than merely curious. Being intelligent and thoughtful, all this war talk interested him, and now for two years his father’s letters while in service and the constant discussion he heard had rendered familiar the movements of the two armies and the changing fortunes of the war. The great value of the map of Sir William’s chief engineer had been made plain to him, and his mother’s gay suggestion that it would be a nice Christmas gift to Washington set the lad to planning all manner of wild schemes as he lay abed. He finally gave it up in despair. How could a boy manage to steal a map from a man like Verney and then get to Valley Forge? It was no use to bother about it, and he went to sleep.