thrust his hands into his capacious pockets. The pistols were
still there, and he resolved that he would use them if need be.

He went at first toward the Potomac, and he did not look back for a
long time, rambling about the streets in a manner apparently aimless.
Now and then a quiver ran down his back, and he knew it was due to the
mental fear that Shepard was pursuing. When he did look back at last he
did not see him, and he felt immediate elation. It would not be long
now until dark, and then he would make his escape across the river.

Time was slow, but it could not keep darkness back forever, and, as soon
as it had come fully, he turned toward the north. Southern troops would
not be looked for there, and egress would be easier in that direction.
He passed on without interruption and soon was in the suburbs, which
were then so shabby. Then he looked back, and cold fear plucked at the
roots of his hair. A man was following him, and he could tell even in
the dim light that it was Shepard.

A shudder shook him now. A rope was the fate for a spy. But he
recovered himself and walked on faster than ever. The cabins thinned
away, and he saw before him bushes. His keen hearing brought to him
the soft sound of the pursuing footsteps. Now he took his resolution.
There were few games at which two could not play.

He passed between two bushes, came around and returned to the open.
But he returned with one of the pistols cocked and levelled, his finger
on the trigger. Shepard, pursuing swiftly, walked almost against the
muzzle, and Harry laughed softly.

"Well, Mr. Shepard," he said, "you've followed me well, but as I've no
mind to be hung for a spy or anything else, I must ask you to go back."

"You have the advantage at present, it is true," said Shepard, "but what
makes you think I was going to shoot at you or have you seized?"

"Isn't it what one would naturally expect?"

"Yes--perhaps. But I could have given the alarm while you were still in
the city. I speak the truth when I say I do not know just what I had
in mind. But at all events the tables are turned. You hold me at the
pistol's muzzle and I admit it."

He smiled and the boy could not keep from liking him.

"Mr. Shepard," said Harry, "what you told me at Montgomery was true.
We of the South did not realize the numbers, power and spirit of the
North. I know now the truth of what you told me, but, on the other hand,
you of the North do not r