Leaving  Williams  to  his  own  reflections.  Colonel  Hill  at
once  informed  Colonel  Lacey  what  the  former  had  done —
that,  to  use  a  huntsman's  phrase,  he  had  been  putting
their  friends  on  the  wrong  scent ;  that  should  they  not  be
correctly  informed  before  the  ensuing  day,  Ferguson
might  escape ;  and  as  he.  Colonel  Hill,  was  unfit  to  make
a  night  ride,  with  his   arm  still  in  a  sling  from  the  severe


AND  ITS  HEROES.  219

wound  he  received  at  Hanging  Rock,  he  desired  Colonel
Lacey  to  go  at  once  to  the  camp  of  the  mountaineers,  as  he
was  better  able  to  travel,  and  give  them  a  just  representa-
tion of  Ferguson's  localit}^,  and  the  necessity  for  the  great-
est expedidon  in  attacking  him  while  yet  within  reach,  and
before  Tai-leton  could  come  to  his  aid.
Taking  Colonel  Hill's  horse,  who  was  a  good  night
traveler,  with  a  person  for  pilot  who  was  acquainted  with
the  country,  Lacey  started  on  his  mission  at  about  eight
o'clock  in  the  evening  ;  and  on  crossing  the  spur  of  a  moun-
tain, they  unfortunately  strayed  from  the  trail,  and  Lacey
began  to  be  suspicious  that  his  guide  was  playing  him  false,
and  was  endeavoring  to  betray  him  into  the  hands  of  the
enemy.  So  strong  was  this  conviction,  that  he  twice  cocked
his  gun  to  kill  the  suspected  traitor  ;  but  the  pilot's  earnest
pleas  of  innocence  prevailed.
