Tom Dare did not like the idea of being a prisoner in the hands of the British, but he was in what seemed to be a pretty strongly-built building, and his chances of getting out seemed pretty slim. And even if he were to get out of the building, he would have difficulty in getting out of the enclosure.

But Tom as we know was a determined youth, and he made up his mind to do all he could to make his escape. It was not until about dark of the evening on which Dick had come to the fort, however, that Tom discovered that there was a loose board in the floor, and when he had lifted the board, he discovered that there was a considerable opening underneath the floor.

He had already had his supper and did not think that anyone would enter the room, so he crawled down through the opening, replaced the board, and worked his way along till he came to the edge of the building. Here he found that an embankment of earth had been piled up against the side of the building, and he proceeded to dig through this. It was slow work, but he persevered, and finally he managed to get a large enough hole made so that he could crawl through.

This he did, and presently stood erect beside the building. He looked around him, sizing up the situation carefully. It was already pretty dark, and Tom could not see very well, but this would be more to his advantage than to the advantage of the sentinels, for they could not see him unless they were close to him.

Tom slipped away from the building, and presently reached the wall, and located a set of steps that the soldiers used in climbing to the platform on the inside of the wall. He climbed these steps, and reached the platform, and at that moment he heard footsteps advancing, and the form of the sentinel loomed up indistinctly.

Tom realized that he was about to be discovered. What should he do? He did not like the idea of being recaptured, and discovery and capture seemed unavoidable and indeed imminent.

He stood there, hesitating, only a few moments, and then suddenly he heard an exclamation from the sentinel, who asked: “Who is there?”

There was no time to lose, if he were to escape. Tom realized this, and did the first thing that occurred to him, which was to climb to the top of the wall and leap to the ground.

He dropped down outside the enclosure, but instead of striking the ground, he struck something which he realized was a human form. And with the realization came the belief that the person in question was a British soldier.

With this belief in his mind, he leaped to his feet and started to run away as fast as possible, while from above came the command: “Halt! Stop, or I’ll fire!”

Then to his hearing came the words, “Is that you, Tom?” It was the voice of his brother Dick, and Tom replied joyously:

“Yes, Dick.”

Crack! It was a musket-shot. The sentinel, hearing the voices, and thinking, perhaps, that an attack was about to be made, fired, as much to give the alarm as with the expectation of hitting the person that had escaped from the enclosure.

The bullet did not hit Tom, who had stopped, and as soon as he was joined by Dick, they hastened onward, and were quickly at a point of safety and out of range. There they paused and stood listening.

There was considerable noise and excitement at the fort. Lights showed in the upper room of the fort, and presently the gate opened and it was evident that some soldiers had come forth, with the intention of pursuing the fugitive.

“I guess we had better go in the direction of the patriot encampment, Tom,” decided Dick. “Those redcoats will be here in a few minutes, and it will be best for us to be somewhere else.”

They made their way through the forest, and told their stories as they went. By the time they had finished relating their remarkable experiences they were at the encampment, and Tom accompanied Dick to the headquarters tent, for he had a better knowledge regarding the interior of the fort than Dick. He had been in all the rooms when he was supposed to be a member of the British force, and the information he gave about the building was received with pleasure by General Greene.

Then, having given all the information in their possession, Dick and Tom, went to their quarters, where Tom was given a cordial greeting by his comrades.

Next morning General Greene called a council of war. When the officers were all in the tent, the general told them that he had made up his mind to begin the attack that morning, if the idea met with the approval of the officers.

There was not much discussion, for the members of the staff were all eager to advance on Fort Ninety-Six and attack the fort. As soon as it had been decided as to the details, the soldiers broke camp and advanced slowly, dragging the field-pieces with them.

When they reached the edge of the wood, they halted and planted the field-pieces for effective use and began firing on the fort.

The little six-pound balls did not make much impression on the heavy logs, however, and it seemed doubtful if they would damage the stockade-walls very much.

This firing was kept up pretty steadily, but did not have much effect, and it was decided to wait till nightfall, and try to set fire to the fort.

Slowly the hours rolled away, and when evening came, the soldiers began gathering dry wood, with the intention of carrying it and placing it against the wall, and then when it was set on fire, there would be a big blaze, by the light of which redcoats could be shot if they attempted to put out the fire.

Luckily it was a dark night, and the soldiers were enabled to carry the wood and pile it against the walls without being seen, though they had to exercise great care to avoid discovery.

Among those who were most active in this work were Dick and Tom Dare and Ben Foster, and they were eager to see the fire started, for they hoped it would result in the capture of the fort.

Slowly the work went on, and at last a sufficient amount of wood had been piled against the wall, and now the next move was to set fire to the wood.

This would be a very dangerous undertaking, as the moment the fire was started, the person or persons starting it would be revealed by the light of the flames, and would be in danger of being shot before they could get out of range.

General Greene did not like to name anyone for this dangerous work, and so he called for volunteers. A dozen of the soldiers, Dick and Tom Dare and Ben Foster among them, stepped forward at once, and offered their services.

“I expected that there would be plenty who would be willing to risk getting shot in order to render a service to the patriot Cause,” said the general. “But, how shall I choose from among you?”

“By lot,” suggested a soldier. And this was done, and the result was that Dick Dare and Tim Murphy were the ones who were to venture up to the wall of the fort and set the fire.

“Sure an’ we are the byes phwat can do thot work, all roight, Dick,” said Tim.

“We will do the best we can to make a success of setting the wood on fire,” replied Dick.

They provided themselves with flint and steel and tinder, and then set out in the direction of the fort.

Slowly they made their way to the point where the wood was piled against the wall, and, reaching there, they crouched down, got out their flint and steel and tinder, and got ready to start the fire.

Suddenly these sparks caught in the tinder.