l the time."

"That is what made you come back, is it?" asked the Lieutenant.

"Yes; I did not march the command far before I halted and waited for you.
Pretty soon we heard the sound of a galloping horse, and thought you were
coming. But when you didn't appear, I became alarmed and concluded to ride
back and see what was the matter."

"Thank you, Sergeant, for your watchfulness. I shall remember it."

Then as they rode along, the Lieutenant told Latham his story.

"And that pesky Reb was concealed in the house all the time, was he?"
asked Latham.

"Yes; the girl worked it fine."

The Sergeant laughed long and loud. "And she coaxed the letters from you
too. Oh, my! Oh, my!" And he nearly bent double.

"Shut up, you fool you!" growled Haines. "Say, you must help me out of
this scrape."

"Trust me, Lieutenant; I will tell how brave you were, and how you run the
Rebel down, and how you would have captured him if he hadn't shot your
horse. But look out after this how you let Southern girls fool you."

The Lieutenant sighed. "She is the most beautiful creature I ever saw," he
murmured. "Gods! I shall never forget how she looked when she sprang in
between me and that Pennington when he had his revolver levelled at my
head."

"Forget her," was the sage advice of the Sergeant; but the Lieutenant did
not take it.

CHAPTER III.

RECRUITING IN KENTUCKY.

It did not take Calhoun long after he had plunged into the wood to
ascertain that he was not pursued; so he slackened his headlong pace, then
stopped that he might catch his breath.

"Whew!" he panted, "here is a go. Horse gone--arms, except this small
revolver, gone--baggage gone--letters gone. Thank God the dispatches are
safe," and he tapped his breast, where they lay hidden. "That is about as
tight a place as I care to be in," he continued, as he began to work his
way through the woods. "I call this blamed tough luck. Here I am nearly
three hundred miles from my destination. A horse I must and will have, and
that quickly. Surely the planters in this section are too loyal to the
South not to let me have a horse when they know the predicament I am in. I
will try my luck at the very first opportunity. If worse come to worst, I
will steal one; that is, I will confiscate one."

With this resolve he pushed rapidly on, and after going a half mile or
more, he came out of the woods, and beyond lay a