"
"Trust me, sir," I answered, "I shall be at least as uncomfortable
until you return. But I have an inkling that--whatever the secret
may be, and whether we surprise it or it surprises us--it will wait
until we are separated. Moreover, I have a theory to test. So far,
every man has disappeared outside the churchyard here and somewhere
on the side of the forest. The camp itself has been safe enough, and
so have the meadow and the path down to the creek. You will remember
that Billy was roaming the meadow for mushrooms at the very time we
lost Mr. Fett: yet Billy came to no harm. To be sure, the enemy,
having thinned us down to two, may venture more boldly; but if I keep
the camp here while you take the path down to the creek, and nothing
happens to either, we shall be narrowing the zone of danger, so to
speak."
My father nodded. "You will promise me not to set foot outside the
camp?"
"I will promise more," said I. "At the smallest warning I am going
to let off my piece. You must not be annoyed if I fetch you back on
a false alarm, or even an absurd one. I shall sit here with my
musket across my knees, and half a dozen others, all loaded, close
around me: and at the first sign of something wrong--at the crackling
of a twig, maybe--I shall fire.
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