Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/149

Rh "You stay here. I 'll go and tell my father. I 'll be back in a few minutes."

The young man darted away, leaving Robert where he then was, and quickly disappeared from sight. Left to himself, Robert began to look about him at the men and the defenses of the little fort. The men he could see for the most part were evidently farmers and farmers' boys, members doubtless of the militia from which the defenders of the forts on the Hudson had been drawn by the order of Congress. They were a sturdy lot, but how much they would be able to do if they should be attacked by a force of the redcoats he was unable to decide. Of experience they had had but little, and it was already apparent that the discipline in the army of King George was an element of no small consequence in the struggle that was then going on. The defenses of the fort, too, were not impressive, and Robert's fears were not allayed by what he saw when he thought of the probable advance of the British army under Howe or Clinton.

The dusk was deepening now and he began to realize that he was exceedingly weary. The long ride had been supplemented by such adventures as never before he had met with, and