He had seen enough to know that the besiegers were disciplined men led by able officers and they would certainly make a cordon about the whole Southern position.
He rode his horse into a dense clump of trees and paused to listen.
He heard nothing but the faint murmur of the creek, and the occasional rustle of dry branches as puffs of wind passed.

He dismounted for the sake of caution and silence as far as possible, and led his horse down the fringe of trees, always keeping well under cover.
Another hundred yards and he stopped again to listen.

All those old inherited instincts and senses leaped into life.

He was, for the moment, the pioneer lad, seeking to detect the ambush of his foe.

Now, his acute ears caught the hostile sound.