Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/157

Rh must fight these Dutch butchers along with the redcoats, but I don't blame them for being here nearly as much as I do the men in power who sent them. But you can remember that John Burgoyne has more than three thousand of them in his army."

"How many regulars?"

"Something more than four thousand."

"Seven thousand then, all told."

"Many more than that, many more, for there is the Canadian militia which he expects to join him, to say nothing of all the Indians. Then, too, I know he believes there are hundreds of Tories all about the country who will flock to join his army just as soon as he advances a little farther, or certainly as soon as he wins his first victory."

"Will they do it?" demanded Robert.

"No man knows. It's one of the things for which we must wait before we can really form much of an opinion. Personally, I do not believe there are many Tories around Albany, not nearly so many as the British suppose, and I do not think they will all dare to come out on Burgoyne's side. Certainly not, if we can keep Clinton or Howe from coming up the Hudson and can manage to starve out or hold back, even if we can't head off, Bur-