"It's all up with us here," cried Barnabas, "an' there's nothin' left to do but die fightin'. Come, men, let's open the door, give the devils a volley, an' make a rush. Each one for hisself arter that, an' mebbe one or two of us kin reach the woods."
[CHAPTER XI]
IN WHICH GODFREY PLEADS FOR THE CONDEMNED PRISONERS
Without waiting for an answer, Barnabas jerked the table away and swung the door partly open. The enemy were on the watch and immediately opened a hot fire. Two bullets struck Reuben Atwood, and he fell dead across the threshold. The others dodged back into the heat and smoke, and just at the critical moment the firing ceased in response to a loud command.
"It's the Tory colonel hisself," exclaimed Barnabas, as he peeped through a crevice. "He's just arrived, an' there's lots of Royal Greens along with him."
"Colonel Butler," he added loudly, "we'll surrender, providin' you spare our lives."
"Come out first, and then we'll talk," the officer shouted back after a brief pause.
There was hope in the words, and Barnabas and his companions lost no time in scrambling to their feet. Half-choked, and sweating from every pore, they stepped over Atwood's dead body and staggered across the clearing. At sight of the three figures there was a loud murmur of astonishment.
"Where's the rest?" demanded Simon Glass, as he roughly stripped the prisoners of their muskets.