I tried to count the seconds in order to have some knowledge of the passage of time; but could not fix my mind upon such a simple act.
When it seemed to me as if the night was considerably more than half-spent, I whispered tremblingly to my companion:
"Have you given over tryin' to gain the fort?"
"Why should you think so, lad?" he asked, as if in surprise. "We had best make the venture after midnight, rather than now while the enemy is astir."
So great was my fear as to what the future might have in store for us that I had failed to hear the hum of voices, until my attention was thus attracted, and then I realized that it was yet quite early in the evening, instead of well toward morning, as I had supposed.
Because he did not speak again I understood that Sergeant Corney was not inclined for conversation, and I lay there motionless and silent until it was as if twice four and twenty hours had passed, when the old man, rising to a sitting posture, whispered, cautiously:
"I reckon, lad, that the time has come for us to make a try at deliverin' the general's message. As I figger it, we had best bear off to the westward, strikin' the fort on that side nearabout where the fragment of a bush stands, than to push on for the main gate. It seems reasonable the enemy will watch that part of the works closer than any other, in order to guard against a sortie, an' if Colonel Gansevoort has been told of our signals, every sentinel will be on the alert for us."
"Well?" I asked, as he ceased speaking for an instant.
"We'll do the trick after this fashion: You shall go ahead, an' I'll keep two or three paces in the rear."
"Why do you propose such a plan as that?" I asked, suspiciously, and the old man replied, hesitatingly, as if averse to having his reasons known:
"In case they see us before we are well on our way, he who is in advance stands the best show of escapin'."
"But why should my chances be made any better than yours?" I asked, angrily, for even though I was afraid of the venture, it was not in my mind to be treated like a child, as seemed to be the case when the old man was considering my safety rather than his own.
"Well, lad, there are two reasons, 'cordin' to my way of figgerin', but the last is the strongest. First off, I have a much shorter time to live in this world than you, therefore, if one life is taken, it had best be mine, so far as the patriot cause is concerned. Then agin, an' this has weight to it, in case we are chased you should be able to run faster than me, an' we must bear in mind the fact that to deliver the message is the one important thing--our lives amount to very little compared with that."