They did the double duty of patrol and spies.

They hovered about the posts of the enemy, crouching in the thicket, or darting along the plain, picking up prisoners, and information, and spoils together.

They cut off stragglers, encountered patrols of the foe, and arrested his supplies on the way to the garrison.

Sometimes the single scout, buried in the thick tops of the tree, looked down upon the march of his legions, or hung perched over the hostile encampment till it slept, then slipping down, stole through the silent host, carrying off a drowsy sentinel, or a favorite charger, upon which the daring spy flourished conspicuous among his less fortunate companions.

The boldness of these adventurers was sometimes wonderful almost beyond belief.