Chapters 5, 6, and 7 Summary

Sharpe decides the safest course of action is to lay low and let his enemies assume he is dead. To that end, Sharpe and Harper travel through the English countryside and subsist by poaching and doing odd jobs. Meanwhile they travel quickly and often, visiting many small towns in search of the South Essex's Second Battalion's recruiting parties. They finally meet up with the recruiting party and Sergeant Horatio Havercamp. Havercamp is a likable loudmouth who sings the praises of military enlistment and discards the dangers and discomforts associated with it. To listen to Havercamp, one would image the army to be full of lascivious young women, piles of gold coins, and excellent room and board. Havercamp supplies his potential recruits with so-called free drinks—the costs later deducted from their enlistment bonus payments—and gets about a dozen...