Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/235

Rh I 'll hide ye so 't nobody on earth can find ye, an' probably by to-morrow it 'll be safe for ye to go on."

"We can't stay," replied Robert sharply. He was not without his suspicions of the man, though his eagerness to return to the American camp with his letter was the supreme desire in his heart at the time.

"I thought likely that was what ye'd say. I don't know 's it's the best thing, but it's nat'ral for boys like you. Now I 'll point out to ye a way ye can go without hitting the road for fifteen miles. Whether it 'll take ye out o' the way these men are followin' or not, I can't say. I'm a good friend t' th' Americans," he added. "I ought t' be, seein' as how I 've got two boys with General Clinton."

"What's their name?" demanded Joseph quickly. "Brokaw."

"I know them. They 're good men, too. We'd better let this man show us the way," Joseph said to Robert. "It 'll be better for everybody."

As Robert quickly agreed, all three went out to the barn, and the old man mounted one of the horses while the young men leaped upon the backs of their own, and the little