tion as to giving us a
certain amount of food. We were most likely looked upon as village lads,
and by this time my Lord Cornwallis had been forced to feed the citizens
of York from the army stores, he having seized from those who had an
abundance everything that might serve to satisfy hunger.

Even I, thick-headed and dull of vision as I am, understood on this
morning that some change was near at hand. The red-coats were moving
here and there hurriedly, like bees whose hive has been disturbed. There
was a great gathering of horses nearby the river bank, and among them,
to my grief and anxiety, was my own colt Silver Heels; baggage wagons
were being drawn down to the shore, and officers rode to and fro in hot
haste, seemingly giving little heed as to what might be going on in the
fortifications.

Half the buildings in the town had been taken possession of that they
might be used as hospitals for the poor wretches who had been wounded,
and as we passed them on our way to the commissary's quarters I noted
that the surgeons were going from one to another as if having but little
time to spend. The British fire had slackened although the Americans
continued to pour shot and bombs into the town in a half-hearted way,
and one might almost have supposed they were getting short of
ammunition.

"Something of importance is going on here," I said decidedly when Pierre
and I, having received what was supposed to be our proper amount of
rations, had set off as if to return to the cabin. "Do you note that
baggage is being carried to the river, and the horses are tethered
there? Have you seen how hurriedly the surgeons were moving about,
giving but scant heed to those who need their services most?"

"All that I have seen," Pierre replied gravely, "and it would seem to me
that the riddle may easily be read, even by you who claim to have no
knowledge of military matters."

"What do you mean?" I cried sharply. "What is it you read in this
movement, except, perhaps, that Cornwallis is making ready for another
sortie?"

"Would he make ready for a sortie by moving his baggage to the river? By
gathering the horses there?" Pierre cried, speaking incautiously loud,
and then lowering his voice to a whisper as he realized that the words
might carry far even despite the roaring of the American guns. "If it
was in his mind to strike a blow at our people would he be overhauling
his baggage? Would not the horses be taken near to the front wher