The Dare Boys in Virginia

  CHAPTER X--To the Rescue

  They had been sitting there perhaps ten or fifteen minutes, watching thetorch carried by the leader of the British force bobbing about in theswamp, when they suddenly heard voices right near them. The next momentthey saw several dark forms making their way through the timber. The twolistened to the conversation of the strangers, and learned that theywere Tories, on their way to the home of a patriot, one John Santon,who, it seemed, had taken into his home a patriot school-teacher, afterthe latter had been given a coat of tar and feathers.

  The Tories were going to take the teacher out, give him a whipping, andthen give him twenty-four hours to get out of that part of the country.

  The Tories were walking at a slow pace, and so the two patriots gainedthe above information before the party was out of hearing.

  "Sure, an' what do ye say to followin' thim rascals an' thryin' to spoiltheir game, Fritz?" asked Tim.

  "I think dot is der thing to do, Tim," was the reply. "Der retgoads villnot be back here for a long while, und ve can't do anything to dena whendey do come, for dere are too many uf dem."

  "Roight ye are, an' mebby we can help the fellow what thim rapscallionsare talkin' av takin' out an' whippin'."

  "Mebby so, Tim. Ve vill try id, uf you say so."

  "Well, Oi do say so. Let's follow thim, me bye."

  So they rose, promptly set out on the trail of the Tories, and were soonclose enough to them to hear their conversation. As it was pretty dark,there was not much danger of their being discovered.

  When the Tories reached the Santon home, and knocked on the door, Timand Fritz were close at hand. They listened to the conversation betweenSanton and the Tories, and when the school-teacher was captured and theTories started away, with him in their midst, Tim and Fritz moved awaythrough the woods, keeping the party under observation. When they cameupon the cabin in the gully, they guessed that this might be the spotthe Tories were aiming for. So they stationed themselves behind treesnear the end of the cabin, awaiting the approach of the party.

  The two patriots watched the Tories, who had lighted a torch, so as tosee how to do the work they intended doing. When they saw the ruffianstie their prisoner to a tree, after stripping him to the waist, and oneon either side with a heavy switch in his hand, get ready to administera whipping, Tim and Fritz decided that they would not stand there and bewitnesses to such an affair. There were only five of the ruffians, andas the two had each two pistols, they believed they could drive theTories away.

  Tim whispered instructions to Fritz, both drew their pistols, and justas the two ruffians with the switches were about to strike, the patriotsfired their pistols.

  Both the bullets took effect. The patriots had not tried to kill, butthey wanted to wound the Tories, and succeeded. They had aimed at thetwo who were holding the switches, and at the sound of the reports thetwo ruffians uttered exclamations of pain and amazement. Dropping theswitches, they staggered away from their intended victim.

  "Foire ag'in, comrades, an' thin charge the spalpanes!" cried Tim atthis instant, and firing the other two pistols, they succeeded inwounding Sprowl, whose howl of pain was loud and prolonged. Then theruffians all hastened away, the two that were not injured runningswiftly ahead, while the others traveled as fast as they could.

  "Afther thim!" yelled Tim, loudly, to add to the fright of the fleeingTories, but in a low voice to Fritz he said: "Don't follow thim. We'vegot thim running, an' so let thim go. We'll set this poor chap free."

  He stepped to the spot and cut the rope binding Miller to the tree. Theteacher was grateful to his new found friends and thanked the twoheartily. "You have done me a great kindness," he said, "and Iappreciate it, I assure you. Those ruffians would have given me aterrible beating had you not intervened."

  "They looked capable av doin' thot, sir," said Tim.

  "Yah, dey vos mean-loogin' fellers, und dot is so," said Fritz.

  "Yes, those same scoundrels gave me a coat of tar and feathers thisafternoon," continued Miller. "But they were not satisfied with that, itseems, but wanted to give me a beating."

  "Well, we gave thim a little somethin' to remimber this affair by, Oi'mthinkin'," chuckled Tim.

  "I'm glad you did. And, now, who are you, if I may ask, and where areyou from? I don't think you live in this part of the country."

  "We are soldiers," said Fritz. "Ve belong mit der army."

  "I didn't know there was a patriot army in this part of the country,"said Miller.

  "We just got here," explained Tim. "There is a rigimint, an' it isencamped about twinty miles from here."

  "Ve haf come down here to fighd Arnold," said Fritz.

  "That is good. He has been causing the patriots a lot of trouble sincehe came down into Virginia."

  "Thot is what we have understood," said Tim, "An' we have seen some avtheir work, already."

  "How is that?" with an air of interest.

  "Well, ye know there is a patriot sittlemint a couple av moiles fromhere, av coorse."

  "Yes. What about it?"

  "Why, a party av about twenty ridcoats wint there, this avenin',intendin' to rob the sittlers an' burn the houses, but whin they gotthere, the sittlers were all gone, an' had taken their household goodswid thim."

  "Ah, they must have been warned of the approach of the redcoats. I amglad of that."

  "Yis, an' they wint into a swamp thot is about a moile or so from thesittlemint."

  "Ah, they will likely be safe there."

  "Ve ain'd so sure abouid dot," said Fritz. "Der retgoads haf followedder settlers into der swamp."

  "You don't say so!" exclaimed Miller. "That is bad."

  "Yis, so it is," agreed Tim. "Fritz an' mesilf were goin' to stay at theplace where the path inters the swamp, an' wait till the ridcoats cameout, an' learn what success they had, but thot party av Tories camepast, an' we heard thim talkin' about givin' a rebel school-teacher awhippin', an' so, thinkin' we could mebby do more good by followin'thim, we did so."

  "And I'm glad you did. But, supposing we go to the point where the pathenters the swamp? The redcoats are likely not back out of the swamp yet,and--"

  At this moment the sound of musket-shots came to their hearing, and Timexclaimed "They're foightin', now!"