Jack now understood: this Winged Hussar had very grand ambitions for the day's looting. He had found this horse early in the day. It was a prize worth keeping, but it would only hinder him if he tried to lead it around. If he tied it to a tree it would be looted by someone else. So he had looked for an armed peasant (to him, anyone on foot would be a peasant) and enlisted him as a sort of flesh-and-blood hitching-post. Jack's job was to stand still holding these reins until the Winged Hussar came back – all day if need be.