CHAPTER XIX
The Settlers' Retreat
Tom Dare realized that he was indeed in great danger, for the rockswould be as likely to strike him as not, if he accompanied the redcoats,and it looked as if he would have to accompany them.
Slowly the time rolled away, and when the British reinforcements, to thenumber of about seventy-five, reached there, it was decided to start atonce for the valley.
They could reach there easily before evening, they felt certain. So theyset out, with Tom among them.
As they entered upon the path that led along the foot of the mountain,Tom looked upward quickly, as if expecting to see some of the stonescome rolling down upon them.
If the settlers did not know he was with the redcoats, they would soonbegin rolling the stones down, and Tom did not like the idea of beingthere among the British.
They continued onward perhaps two hundred yards, and then Tom lookedupward again, an apprehensive expression on his face, and one of thesoldiers, noticing this, glanced upward a moment later, a look ofcuriosity on his face. The look quickly changed to one of terror,however, and he yelled, loudly: "Look out for the rock, comrades! Beready to dodge!" and he pointed up the mountainside.
His comrades, and Tom also, glanced upward and saw a big rock comingbounding down the steep descent. It was now not more than one hundredyards distant, and coming with the speed of the wind. Down it came,leaping, bounding, rolling, and the next moment it struck in the midstof the soldiers, knocking a couple of them down, and causing the othersto tumble over one another in their attempts to get out of the stone'scourse.
"So that is what you were looking upward for, eh?" cried the redcoat whohad noted Tom's action and who had glanced upward and seen the rockcoming. "The rebels have piled stones along the top of the precipice,comrades, and they'll annihilate our party if we try to make our wayalong this path to the valley."
"There comes another rock!" yelled another soldier at that moment, andthere was a lively scrambling to get out of the rock's course.
They managed to keep from getting hit, this time, but realized that ifthey continued onward along the path, they would be crushed and knockedto pieces by the stones, and so the lieutenant gave the order toretreat, and the soldiers hastened back along the path, to the pointthey had left only a short time before.
Here they paused, and held a council. It was decided to ascend to thetop of the precipice and attack the settlers there, if they stood theirground and showed fight.
"We can reach the valley by going that way," said the lieutenant.
So they set out, and made their way slowly up the steep ascent leadingto the top of the mountain. Tom was taken with them, but he did not mindit so much, now, for he did not fear the bullets from the settlers'rifles as much as he did the rocks.
Presently the party of redcoats were almost to the top of the mountain,and suddenly there came the sound of rifle-shots, and then the bulletscame whizzing among them. One or two of the redcoats were wounded, butthey pressed onward as rapidly as the rough conditions would admit, andsoon caught sight of the settlers, who had taken up positions behind therocks.
The British soldiers opened fire, and then advanced, slowly andsteadily, and the settlers, knowing that they could not offer successfulresistance to such a strong force, turned and retreated hastily.
They kept on retiring till they came to where there were a lot of largeboulders, and here they stopped to reload their rifles, and waited forthe British to come within range again.
The lieutenant, observing this action, placed Tom Dare right in front,so that a volley could not be fired without hitting the patriot youth.
The settlers must have recognized Tom by this time, for they turned andhastened onward again, having evidently decided not to fire the volleyas planned.
"That scheme worked all right," the lieutenant said, with a smile. "Wewill simply keep you in front, Tom Dare, and will thus be able to walkinto the valley in safety. I am glad that we got hold of you."
But Tom wasn't glad. By permitting himself to fall into the hands of theenemy, he had spoiled the plan to roll rocks down on the redcoats, andhad made it impossible for the settlers to fire upon the British withoutbeing in danger of killing him. He wished that he could do something tochange this state of affairs.
But what could he do? He was a prisoner, with redcoats all about him,and he did not see how he was to do anything to help the settlers.
He thought of trying the plan of falling down the precipice, as he haddone once before, but the precipice in this instance was too steep. Hewould surely be killed, as it would be a fall of at least one hundredand fifty feet.
He decided that there was nothing that he could do, and so he walkedonward at the head of the party, though he did not feel very happy.
The settlers did not stop again. Evidently they did not wish to take thechances of killing or wounding Tom by firing at the British, and hadmade up their minds to retreat to their village in the valley.
They moved considerably faster than did the redcoats, and Tom, whoshrewdly guessed that the settlers would like to have as much time aspossible, for the purpose of removing their household goods to a safeplace in the mountains, walked slowly pretending lameness, which did notseem unreasonable and thus kept the redcoats from advancing, for a timeat least, at a fast pace.
They kept telling him to increase his speed, but he did not hasten hissteps and presently a couple of soldiers seized him by the arms, at anorder from the lieutenant, and he was made to walk faster.
They went on, and finally reached the entrance to the valley. Then theymoved faster, as the ground was level and the walking easier. They didnot see the settlers, so judged they had already reached their homes inthe village.
"Likely the rebels intend carrying some of their household goods andvaluables up into the mountains," said the lieutenant. "We must try toget there in time to prevent them from doing that."
So they hastened, and closer and closer to the village they drew.Finally they were at the edge of the village, and all was quiet. Theydid not see any signs of the settlers.
"They're gone," said the lieutenant.
Then the redcoats scattered and entered the houses, and searched forvaluables, but found nothing of much use, the settlers having indeedtaken pretty much everything out of the houses.
"They've gone up into the mountains," said the lieutenant. "Let's firethese houses, and then follow."
With cries of satisfaction, for they were angered by being cheated outof their plunder, as they looked at it, the soldiers set fire to thehouses, and soon the village was going up in flames.
"Now head up into the mountains, men," said the lieutenant. "We'll runthe rebels to earth and help ourselves to their valuables, anyhow."
The soldiers hastened into the forest, and began ascending the mountain.The ground was rough, but they made pretty good headway. They spreadout, fan-shape, so as to cover as much ground as through this alignmentthey could obtain, and looked eagerly in all directions for the patriotsettlers.
"They must have a hiding-place somewhere up the mountain," said thelieutenant. "Make a thorough search."
But, although they searched till nightfall, they did not find thehiding-place of the settlers, and they finally went back down to thevillage, or rather, where it had stood, for the houses were now burnedto the ground, and there camped for the night.
And next morning they set out on the return to Ninety-Six, reaching thefort about the middle of the afternoon.
Tom was placed in the guard-house, and the lieutenant went to MajorCruger and reported the result of the expedition. The Major expressedsatisfaction at the burning of the settlers' houses, but was sorry theyhad managed to make their escape and carry their household goods withthem.
The Dare Boys with General Greene Page 19