Not a trace was left of the manner in which they had been conveyed away, except that, upon one or two occasions, a few drops of blood had appeared upon the leaves which covered the ground. Many imputed this unaccountable disappearance to treachery, and suggested as an unanswerable argument, that the men thus surprised might at least have fired their muskets, and communicated the alarm to the contiguous posts. Others, who could not be brought to consider it as treachery, were content to receive it as a mystery which time would unravel.
One morning, the centinels having been stationed as usual over night, the guard went at sun-rise to relieve a post which extended a considerable distance into the wood. The centinel was gone! The surprise was great; but the circumstance had occurred before. They left another man and departed, wishing him better luck. "You need not be afraid," said the man with warmth, "I shall not desert!" The relief company returned to the guard-house. The centinels were replaced every twenty-four hours, and, at the appointed time the guard again marched to relieve the post.—To their inexpressible astonishment the man was gone! They searched round the spot, but no traces could be found of his disappearance. It was necessary that the station, for a stronger motive than ever, should not remain unoccupied; they were compelled to leave another man and return to the guard-house. The superstition of the soldiers was awakened, and the terror ran through the regiment. The Colonel being apprised of the occurrence,
