There we were met by a lad of our acquaintance whose home was in Kingstree. Samuel Lee was the name of this fellow, with whom we had had little intercourse because of his associating much with the king's soldiers; there had never been any bad blood between us, but we held aloof from him, and now I was less inclined than ever to give him my confidence.
He was curious to know what brought us so far from home, and on our part we wondered what had led him out of the district.
Neither Percy nor I had any particular reason to fear Sam Lee; yet instinctively we closed our mouths on his approach, which was at the very moment when we were about to wrench the saws from the fastenings, and awaited his speech.
"What are you two hunting?" he asked with an unwarranted assumption of familiarity which Percy at once resented by closing his mouth closely, while I, little dreaming what information it was possible for him to give, replied in a tone intended to repel his advances:
"Any game which comes our way is not unwelcome."
"Are you expecting to find fur or feather in Pingree's Mill?"
I was tempted to reply roughly; but without knowing why it should be done, I put a curb upon my tongue and spoke him fairly, even against my inclination.
"When one has traveled far under such a blazing sun as shines to-day, any shelter from the heat is grateful."
"And may at the same time be dangerous for some lads," he said in a tone which caused me to believe it was within his power to give some information of value to us.
"Why should it be dangerous for some, and not for others?" I asked.
"Because all who live in the Williamsburg district do not boast of their relationship to the James family, great though it may be."
Now was I certain he had it in his mind to do us a mischief, and was capable of carrying it out, else the cowardly lad who called himself a Loyalist would never have spoken so boldly.
There was a similar thought in Percy's mind, as I understood from the meaning look he gave me, and then I was resolved to know all Sam Lee could tell.
By way of provoking him to further speech I said boastingly:
"If you know of another family hereabout who have greater reason to be proud of its members, than ours, I would like much to hear the name."
