‘With a head inside it?’ pursued the corporal, also doing his best to see.
The corporal nodded, and Whitson, throwing forward his rifle, fired. The ball struck the water some feet beyond the cap, which still moved unconcernedly along.
‘Missed!’ cried the corporal, firing his own rifle immediately afterwards. ‘That’s better. That wiped your eye.’
His bullet had struck the cap slantwise on the crown, turning it over, so that it immediately filled and sank to the bottom.
‘My!’ whispered Ephraim gleefully. ‘It’s ez good ez shootin’ et bottles et a fair.’
‘I guess it was only a cap,’ said the corporal, reloading his rifle; ‘but we can’t be sure. We’ll report the circumstance, anyhow.—Hello! What did you find?’ This to the four men who had returned.
‘No one in the boat, corporal,’ answered one of them. ‘We followed her down to the bend, and she ran on a shoal and turned over on her side. We could see right into her.’
‘We’ll report that too,’ said the corporal with military brevity.—‘Fall in! Squad, attention! Shoulder arms! Slope arms! Quick march!’
‘Thet’s one more down ter us,’ said Ephraim, with an air of relief, as the noise of footsteps died away in the distance. ‘Thet old boat served our turn well, after all. They won’t worry ter hunt up in this direction any more. Thar’s been a fuss, though, Luce. Did ye hear what he said about the ginrul? My! I reckon them Yanks will be ez lively ez a Juny-bug ter-night, looking fer us and all.’
‘So lively,’ returned Lucius, ‘that I think we may as well give up all hope of placing that packet in General Jackson’s hands. It is enough that we, or rather you, have prevented it from reaching Frémont.’
‘I reckon not,’ said Ephraim thoughtfully. ‘Shields is pretty sure ter try and git a message over ter him now thet this wan’s failed.’
‘Even so, he may change his plans,’ argued Lucius.
‘He han’t the time,’ answered Ephraim with considerable shrewdness. ‘Thet is, ef he’s on the lookout fer an attack to-morrer, and I reckon he is. Of co’se, he may alter ’em hyar and thar, jest ter try and bluff old Stonewall; but in the main I b’leeve he’ll hev ter abide by ’em.’
‘Well, what is it to be, then?’ asked Lucius, yawning. ‘I’m out for the day, so I may as well take a hand in the fun. If we’re caught with that despatch about us, we’re as good as done for. However, I suppose we may try for the sheep now that we’ve got the lamb.’