Once Tim has decided that he wants to run Mr. Heron's errand, he waits for an excuse to see Mr. Heron. Within two days, this excuse comes when Mr. Heron orders a keg of rum from the tavern and Father sends Tim to deliver it. At the delivery, Tim volunteers to run the errand. Mr. Heron asks Tim to set out with a letter the following morning. The next morning, Tim tells his father that he will be fishing all day. He goes to see Mr. Heron, who explains that he must deliver a letter to Fairfield, which is a five-hour walk away. While walking, Tim runs into Betsy, who spies the letter and begins to tease Tim about it being a love letter. Tim lies and says he is going fishing, thinking that he hates lying and lying is a sin. Betsy tells Tim that she is going to visit Sam. Tim is shocked to hear this. Betsy evades his questions about Sam's whereabouts and experiences, declaring smugly that Tim is a Tory and therefore doesn't deserve to know. Tim does make her tell him that the source of her information about Sam was Mr. Heron, and Tim wonders aloud why Mr. Heron said nothing to him about Sam that morning. Betsy immediately deduces that Tim is carrying a letter for Mr. Heron, and she demands to have it, fearful that it is a spy report that would endanger Sam. Tim refuses to believe her or give her the letter, fearing he may get thrown in jail for opening the letter to check. Betsy counters that Sam may get killed if he does not open the letter. She lunges for him and the two fight bitterly, hitting each other. Betsy wins the fight, snatching up the letter and running. She reads it and discards it on the road. Tim follows her and picks up the slip of paper, which reads, "If this message is received, then we will know that the messenger is reliable."
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