"Thank you, sir. You are very kind, and I will try to do nothing to cause you to regret that you let me go."

"That is right." The commander-in-chief wrote a brief note, addressed it to General Putnam and handed it to Tom.

"There. Now go, my boy, and may you succeed in joining your brother and benefit to him in his work. Good-bye," and he gave the boy's hand a friendly grasp.

"Good-bye, your excellency," and saluting, Tom took his departure.

He hastened down to the East River dock and got a boatman to take him across to the east sh.o.r.e, after which he made his way as quickly as possible to the patriot quarters on Brooklyn Heights.

When he presented himself before General Putnam, and handed over the note, the officer, after a perusal of the few words written there, looked at the boy in some surprise and with no little interest.

"Another one," he said, with something like a grim smile. "The Dares certainly seem to be in evidence to-night."

"d.i.c.k was here, then, sir?" eagerly.

"Yes, he was here."

"How long has he been gone?"

"Oh, about an hour, I should judge. He had to remain here until this evening on account of the storm."

"Please direct me how to go in order to overtake him, General Putnam."

"I will do so as nearly as possible, my boy." Then the general gave Tom all the directions possible, and the boy said:

"Thank you, sir. I will try to join my brother to-night."

"You had better keep your eyes open, Master Dare," cautioned General Putnam. "You are going where redcoats are thicker than mosquitoes, and that is saying a good deal."

"I'll look out for them, sir," with a smile. "Good-bye, and thank you, General Putnam."

"That's all right. You are welcome. Good-bye and good luck."

Tom took his departure, and as soon as he was out of the patriot encampment, he hastened away in the direction that he had been told d.i.c.k had undoubtedly gone.

"Perhaps by hurrying I may be able to overtake d.i.c.k," was his thought.

He walked swiftly, at times running, and came to the wooded hills much quicker than d.i.c.k had done. He climbed the hill quickly, and was soon making his way down the other side. He had gone only a few steps when he heard the report of the musket-shot, sounding close at hand and almost in front of him.

Instantly Tom was greatly excited. The thought came to him at once that a redcoat had fired that shot and that it had been fired at d.i.c.k, and with wildly-beating heart he ran forward, at the same time drawing a pistol from his belt. Tom was excited, but not at all frightened.

His only fear was that perhaps d.i.c.k had been wounded or killed by the bullet from the musket, and he was eager to get a shot at the person who had just done the shooting.

Suddenly he heard voices, and paused, listening intently.

"I wonder if I got the rebel?" he heard one say.

"Likely you did," replied another voice. "I don't hear the sound of running feet any more."

"Served the rascal right if I put a bullet through him," said the first voice.

"Yes. That is what ought to happen to all rebels."

Tom heard these words, and his heart sank, and then a feeling of anger blazed up in his heart. What if d.i.c.k was killed, as these soldiers surmised. It was terrible to contemplate, and acting on the spur of the moment, Tom leveled his pistol, pointing in the direction from which the voices sounded, and pulled the trigger.

Crack! went the pistol, and a howl of pain, rage and surprise commingled went up on the night air.

"Oh--ow!--ouch! I'm shot!" cried one of the voices. "There are other rebels at hand, comrade! Perhaps we're surrounded!"

This gave Tom an idea, and he at once acted upon it. If he could make the redcoats think there were a number of patriot soldiers around, they might be put to flight, and then he could look for d.i.c.k, and learn whether he were injured.

"Come on, boys!" he yelled loudly. "Charge the scoundrelly redcoats!

Kill them! At them, I say!" And then, drawing his other pistol, he fired another shot.

He had no way of knowing whether this bullet hit either of the redcoats, but he had evidence that it was effective in one way, for he heard the British soldiers going tearing down the slope, through the underbrush at a great rate. They had undoubtedly been seized with a panic and taken to their heels.

Tom waited till he could no longer hear any sounds of the fleeing redcoats, and then he called out:

"d.i.c.k! Oh, d.i.c.k!"

Chapter IX

The Brothers Together

Almost at once came the reply:

"Tom! Oh, Tom, is that you?"

"Yes, d.i.c.k. I'll be right with you."

He hastened in the direction from which d.i.c.k's voice sounded, and a few minutes later was at his side.

"What in the world brought you here, Tom?" queried d.i.c.k. "I was never so surprised in my life as when I heard your voice."

"I'll tell you why I come, d.i.c.k. After you left your quarters in New York, I got to thinking, and I remembered what I had told mother-that I would go to war with you and fight side by side with you, you know, and I thought of how I had let you go away on a dangerous spying expedition alone, and I decided to follow you. I went and asked permission of General Washington to come over here, and he gave it."

"He was willing for you to come, then, was he?"

"Yes. He held back a little at first, but when I told him about having promised mother I would stick by you, he then said I might come."

"Well, it has been all right, so far. You got here just in time to frighten those redcoats away, but I don't believe that two can do spy-work successfully."

"We don't need to both actually do the spy-work, d.i.c.k. You can do that, and I'll stay back and wait and watch, and then if anything should happen to you, I would perhaps be able to render you some a.s.sistance."

"True. Well, now that you are here, you may as well stay with me.

We'll go on down in the neighborhood of the British encampment together, and then you can hunt at hiding-place and I will go ahead and see what I can do in the way of spying."