lled this forenoon."

"Whose heart's blood do you want?"

"That younker with the badge on his shoulder; the un I chased in."

"He didn't kill Tom Myers, or any other man."

"Show me the man, then," growled the rebel, now beginning to feel the
pain of his wound.

"I'm your man. I brought Tom Myers down," replied Hapgood, anxious to
remove any cause of peril from his _protege_.

"Did yer?"

"Sartin I did; saw him drop when I fired."

"Then, stranger, yer kin make up yer mind to die like a hog within ten
days. I tell yer, Yank, there ain't bolts and bars enough in Yankee land
to keep me away from yer. You kin shoot me if yer like now, and that's
all the way yer kin save yerself."

"Well, reb, you are great at blowing; but I've seen a good many jest sich
fellers as you be. I've fit with 'em, and fit agin' 'em; and I tell you,
your uncle can take keer of just as many of you as can stand up between
here and sundown. Put that in your hopper, reb; and the sooner you dry
up, the sooner you'll come to your milk. We'll take keer on you like a
Christian, though you ain't nothin' but a heathen. Here, boys, make a
stretcher, and kerry him along. Take that jack-knife out of his hand
fust, and keep one eye on him all the time."

Having thus delivered himself, Sergeant Hapgood hastened to the spot
where Somers had seated himself on the ground to recover his wind and
rest his weary limbs. The terrible excitement of the last hour seemed to
fatigue him more than the previous labors of the whole day; and he was
hardly in condition to march to the division headquarters, where he was
to report the success of his mission.

"Oh, Tom--I mean Lieutenant Somers--I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed the
veteran as he grasped both the hands of the young soldier.

"Thank you, uncle; I'm just as glad to see you as you can be to see me,"
replied Somers.

"You're all tuckered out, Somers."

"I had to run for some distance, with the odds against me; but I shall
get rested in a little while."

The sergeant began to ask questions; and, as soon as he had recovered his
breath, Somers gave him a brief sketch of his adventures, dwelling mainly
on the last and most thrilling event of the day.

"I can hardly believe that I am alive and well after all that has
happened," said he in conclusion. "That was the most bloodthirsty villain
I ever encountered in the whole course of my life."

"If you say shoot him, leftenant, it shall be done quicker'n yo