Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/75

Rh the slightest conception, but his excitement and interest were too keen to permit him to falter now. Once outside the hut the man stopped, and holding a letter in his hand, said,—

"You 're to give this to Sir Henry himself. It's from General Burgoyne."

"Yes, sir," replied Robert, still too dazed to comprehend what it all meant.

"Mind you, you 're to put it into the hands of Sir Henry himself! No other man on earth is to see it. Can you do it?"

"Yes, sir," replied Robert, his heart giving a great throb as he realized that the man, whoever he was, had mistaken him for Russell. His own letter had been taken from him, but if he should succeed in bearing the other missive to the leaders of the American army it might in part atone for his failure to deliver the letter which Washington had consigned to his care. "We 've had a great time getting it through," continued the man, "and if you lose it now you 'll have Claud Brown right at yer heels, and he 'll never let up. You hear, don't ye?"

"I hear," said Robert quietly.

"Where's yer coat, man?"