For an hour he and his comrade were closeted with General Schuyler, and then the two lads came forth, Ira to make his way back to his quarters in the fort, and Dan to mount a horse when, after a long detour to the south of Fort Edward, he was to ride toward Bennington.
Not far from nine o'clock the following day Master Lyman and Ira Le Geyt left the fort, and, taking the nearest route for Bennington, rode leisurely along.
"I am sure you will find Fred of great help to you in this work," Master Lyman said, "and a good word from you will surely give him the place he wants on the general's staff."
"He prefers that to the position of scout or courier?" the latter questioned, more to keep up appearances than for any other reason.
"Yes," the Tory replied emphatically. "If he is only a scout or courier he must wear his ordinary dress, but if put on the general's staff, with the rank of a lieutenant or captain, he would have the regular uniform, and that is what Fred wants. Ever since he was in Quebec last fall he has just been about crazy to get on some regimentals."
"And yet he might be of more service in ordinary clothes," Ira said grimly.
"Yes, and run a bigger risk. The reason Fred sticks for a place on the staff of the general is, that there won't be as much danger, as in the regular service. There'll be more honor and less fighting."
"I've known others to choose the humbler place because it called for more dangerous work," the young scout said in the same grim tone.
The Tory looked at him sharply. "Do you question Fred's courage?" he demanded.
"How can I, until I see it put to the test?" was the demure response. "I was merely thinking of the difference between Fred's view and mine. I am a scout because it gives me an opportunity to render a greater service."
The Tory scowled, but made no reply, and soon the conversation turned to other matters. At noon they ate dinner with a friend of Master Lyman's, of whom the latter declared: "He is as true a servant of the king's as I am," a fact of which Ira made mental note for future use.
At nightfall they were within a few miles of their destination, and by pushing on could have reached it before a very late hour; but Master Lyman evidently had another plan in mind. As they arrived at a road leading northward, he said: