Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/68

52 something from some one who was to come to the hut that would compel him to depart at once. He wondered if Nero was near by, and the thought at once aroused the eager young soldier. If only he could gain possession of him he would laugh at all the efforts of the Thirteen to overtake him.

He lifted his head from the blankets and gazed earnestly at Josh. The man was evidently asleep, and his heavy breathing came almost like a response to that of Russell, who was sleeping by his side. If he should rise and dart through the doorway he might be able to gain the shelter of the surrounding forest before the mighty Josh could recover from the surprise. Even the possibility that the guard was not really sleeping, but only resting, was hardly worthy of consideration, Robert thought, in contrast with the prospect of many days in one of the sugar-houses in New York, where already so many of the American soldiers were confined,—the tales of their sufferings and privations being familiar to all the patriots of the region.

But his hands were securely bound behind his back and his arms were numb and stiff. To attempt to escape with such a handicap was scarcely to be thought of, he decided,