Griffith, one word in your ear."
A short conference took place between he two officers, apart from the
men, at the close of which, as they rejoined the party, Manual might be
heard urging his plans on the reluctant ears of Griffith in the
following words:
"I could carry the old dungeon without waking one of the snorers; and
consider, sir, we might get a stock of as rich cordial from its cellars
as ever oiled the throat of a gentleman!"
"'Tis idle, 'tis idle," said Griffith impatiently; "we are not robbers
of hen-roosts, nor wine-gaugers, to be prying into the vaults of the
English gentry, Captain Manual; but honorable men, employed in the
sacred cause of liberty and our country. Lead your party into the ruin,
and let them seek their rest; we may have work for them with the dawn."
"Evil was the hour when I quitted the line of the army, to place a
soldier under the orders of an awkward squad of tarry jackets!" muttered
Manual, as he proceeded to execute an order that was delivered with an
air of authority that he knew must be obeyed. "As pretty an opportunity
for a surprise and a forage thrown away, as ever crossed the path of a
partisan! but, by all the rights of man! I'll have an encampment in some
order. Here, you sergeant, detail a corporal and three men for a picket,
and station them ii the skirts of this wood. We shall have a sentinel in
advance of our position, and things shall be conducted with some air of
discipline.
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