which he is no more guilty than we are."

"That's true, but what are we going to do about it, captain?"

"Blessed if I know. Wait till I take a look."

Captain Sherburne raised himself a little, in order to peep over the
crest of the ridge. A rifle cracked on the other side, a bullet
clipped the top of his cap, and he dropped back in the snow, unhurt but
startled.

"This man, Shepard, is fully as dangerous as you claim him to be," he
said to Harry.

"Can you see anything of them?" asked St. Clair.

"Not a thing," said Harry.

"If we show they shoot, and if they show we shoot," said Langdon. "Seems
to me it's about the most beautiful case of checkmate that I've known."

"Perhaps we can stalk them," said St. Clair.

"And perhaps they can stalk us," said Langdon. "But I think both sides
are afraid to try it."

"You're right, Langdon," said Captain Sherburne, "It's a case of
checkmate. I confess that I don't know what to do."

"We could wait here while they waited too, and if we waited long enough
it would get so dark we couldn't see each other. But captain, you are a
kind-hearted and sympathetic man, do you see any fun in sitting in the
snow on top of a mountain, waiting to kill men whom you don't want to
kill or to be killed by men who don't want to kill you?"

"No, Tom, I don't," replied Captain Sherburne with a laugh, "and you're
talking mighty sound sense. This is not like a regular battle. We've
nothing to gain by shooting those men, and they've nothing to gain by
shooting us. The Massanuttons extend a long distance and there's nothing
to keep scouts and spies from climbing them at other places. We'll go
away from here."

He gave the order. They rose and crept as softly as they could through
the snow and bushes down the side of the mountain. Harry looked back
occasionally, but he saw no faces appear on the crest. Soon he heard
Langdon who was beside him laughing softly to himself.

"What's the matter, Tom?" he asked.

"Harry, if I could take my pistol and shoot straight through this
mountain the bullet when it came out on the other side would hit a
soldier in blue clothes, going at the same rate of speed down the
mountain."

"More than likely you're right, Tom, if they're sensible, and that man
Shepard certainly is."

Further down they met some of their own men climbing up. The troop had
heard the shots and was on the way to rescue, if rescue were needed.
Captain Sherburne explained briefly and