ld
him he'd been afraid all along that we'd run into some such kind of a
muss. Commodore Barney warned him to be on the watch for what appears
to be happenin', an' it begins to look as if we might have trouble
mighty quick."

"There can't be a great deal of it for the Britishers, if their
smallest force is three hundred, for they'd make short work of us," I
said with an inward quaking. "I've been blaming the lieutenant for
making us march so swiftly, and now I wish he had pushed us on twice
as fast."

I had hardly more than ceased speaking when the command was given to
fall into line once more, and the men obeyed eagerly, for the word had
been passed around that our small force was in most serious danger.

Every man among us was tired, I venture to say, yet we literally
over-ran the lieutenant, who was setting the pace, and pressed forward
like a flock of sheep pursued by dogs.

It was nearly noon when we arrived at what is known as the Wood Yard,
where General Winder had encamped and thrown up some slight
entrenchments, and where Commodore Barney was to have joined him; but
now the place was deserted, save for one man whom I remembered having
seen on our fleet.

As we soon came to know, he had been sent back from Long Old Fields by
the commodore to quicken our movements, and both Jerry and I heard
that which he said to the lieutenant when we came up.

It seems that the American troops from all quarters were hastening to
Washington, and Commodore Barney had given orders that we hurry
forward with the least possible delay.

"The commodore told me to say that unless you kept your men moving
night and day you would be captured, for no less than three British
forces are known to be on the way here from the Patuxent," so the
messenger said, and Lieutenant Frazier asked if he knew what body of
the enemy was coming up the Potomac.

"A portion of the British fleet under Captain Gordon is already to be
seen from High Point," the man replied, and then he withdrew some
distance with the lieutenant as if to give him private instructions.

There is no need for me to set down the fact that our small force was
in a state of the greatest excitement. From no less than three sources
we had learned that the enemy was so near as to make capture seem
certain, and our only hope of safety was to press forward at the best
possible speed until arriving at Washington, where we were told the
commodore had already arrived.

It was a