Page:Tale of the Rebellion of 1745, or, The broken heart (2).pdf/22

22 alarm. At all events I will fire my piece it I hear the least noise. If a crow chatters, or a leaf falls, you shall hear my musket. Yon may be alarmed when nothing is the matter; hut you must take the chance as the condition of the discovery.” The Colonel applauded his courage, and told him he would he right to fire upon the least noise which was ambiguous. His comrades shook hands with him and left him with a melancholy foreboding. The company marched hack, and waited the event in the guard-house.

An hour had elapsed, and every ear was upon the rack for the discharge of the musket, when, upon a sudden, the report was heard. The guard immediately marched, accompanied, as before, by the Colonel, and some of the most experienced officers of the regiment. As they approached the post, they saw the man advancing towards them, dragging another man on the ground by the hair of his head. When they came up to him it appeared to be an Indian whom he had shot. An explanation was immediately required.

“I told your honour,” said the man, “that I should fire if I heard the least noise. The resolu- tion I have taken has saved my life. I had not been long on my post when I heard a rustling at some short distance; I looked and saw an American hog, such as are common in the woods, crawling along the ground, and seemingly looking for nuts under the trees and among the leaves. As these animals are so very common, I Ceased to consider it for some minutes ; but being on the constant alarm and expectation of attack, and scarcely knowing what was to be considered a real cause of apprehension, I kept my eyes vigilantly fixed upon it, and marked its progress among the trees; still there was no need to give the alarm, and my thoughts were directed to danger from another quarter. It