ll
you," added Joel, with emphasis, "and he ra'ally bore as hard on the
major as a lawyer before a court. How he found out that the major was
at the Hut is a little strange, seein' that none of us know'd of it;
but they've got extraor'nary means, now-a-days."

"And, did major Willoughby admit his true character, when charged with
being in the king's service?"

"He did--and like a gentleman. He only insisted that his sole ar'nd out
here was to see his folks, and that he intended to go back to York the
moment he had paid his visit."

"How did the person you mention receive his explanations?"

"Waal, to own the truth, he laugh'd at it, like all natur'. I don't
believe they put any great weight on a syllable the major told 'em. I
never see critturs with such onbelievin' faces! After talking as long
as suited themselves, they ordered the major to be shut up in a
buttery, with a warrior at the door for a sentinel; a'ter which they
took to examining me."

Joel then proceeded with an account--his own account, always, be it
remembered--of what passed between himself and the strangers. They had
questioned him closely touching the nature of the defences of the Hut,
the strength of the garrison, its disposition, the number and quality
of the arms, and the amount of the ammunition.

"You may depend on't, I gave a good account," continued the overseer,
in a self-satisfied way. "In the first place, I told 'em, the captain
had a lieutenant with him that had sarved out the whull French war;
then I put the men up to fifty at once, seein' it was just as easy to
say that, as thirty or thirty-three. As to the arms, I told 'em more
than half the pieces were double-barrelled; and that the captain, in
particular, carried a rifle that had killed nine savages in one fight."

"You were much mistaken in that, Joel. It is true, that a celebrated
chief once fell by this rifle; even that is not a matter for boasting."

"Waal, them that told me on't, said that _two_ had fallen before
it, and I put it up to nine at once, to make a good story better. Nine
men had a more desperate sound than two; and when you _do_ begin
to brag, a man shouldn't be backward. I thought, howsever, that they
was most non-plussed, when I told 'em of the field-piece."

"The field-piece, Strides!--Why did you venture on an exaggeration that
any forward movement of theirs must expose?"

"We'll see to that, captain--we'll see to that. Field-pieces are
desperate damper