The weather grew colder by the day.
Early that morning, Dane was collecting river-crossing fees from a group of gold prospectors. Just as Yardley had predicted, more and more people were heading for Louisiana. This time, he had even stopped two full wagonloads.
Newman hurried over and gestured to his two partners. "Hey, I heard the French attacked Memphis a few days ago."
Yardley happily let out a whistle. "Looks like the war will be going on for quite a while."
Dane frowned slightly. "They crossed the Alabama River?"
Newman shook his head. "Word from Halls Town says the French showed up from the Tennessee River."
Dane stared in astonishment. "How is that possible?!"
The Tennessee River lay east of Memphis, deep within American territory.
"Who knows?" Newman shrugged. "But I figure the prospectors who were originally headed for Memphis will probably come our way." Dane narrowed his eyes. "I remember that Sergeant who came to inspect us mentioning that our troops were all around Fort Adams." "I think so."
Dane suddenly shouted, "We have to get out of here!"
"Why? Business has been so good lately."
Dane looked at the two of them. "If Memphis is occupied by the French, and there aren't enough troops around Tennessee, the military will definitely conscript more soldiers to stabilize the situation."
"What does that have to do with us?"
"Everything. Because we're the easiest soldiers for them to draft!"
Yardley shook his head. "They don't have the authority to do that."
"No, they do. They can claim the ones attacking Memphis are Spanish spies..."
Newman fell silent for a moment, still reluctant to leave. "One more week—no, three days. Then we'll go. Look, we made 20 US Dollars just from that batch."
Dane could not sway his two companions—or perhaps, deep down,