"So much the worse for us if it does not," the old man replied, grimly.
"Make your way in, an' if there be no tree to give us a roostin'-place, we
must take our chances on the ground, for the day is comin' on apace."

And indeed he said no more than the truth; already was it possible for me
to see surrounding objects, dimly, to be sure, but more clearly than when
we first began searching for a place of refuge.

Unless we were concealed from view within half an hour, we might as well
march straight to the nearest sentinel and give ourselves up as prisoners.

There was much to be desired in this thicket which we had chosen by
chance, as was learned when we were well within it. Several large trees
grew amid the clump of bushes, to be sure; but the foliage was not so
dense that one who passed near at hand with reasonable alertness would
have failed to discover us lurking there.

"It is better than the open country," Sergeant Corney said, when I would
have found fault with our blind choice. "We will burrow amid these small
bushes until daylight, an' then, if necessary, go to roost."

I had in my pocket a small piece of corn bread, and, when I would have
divided it with the old man, he showed me about the same quantity, which
he had saved in event of just such an emergency, and we munched the dry
food with no very keen appetites, but eating at this the first
opportunity, in order to keep up our strength for the struggle which must
ensue before we gained speech with those in the fort.

My sorrow because Jacob had left us on a venture from which I did not