stood up, and bounded across
the highroad.

"There they go!" shouted one of the soldiers in the wood. At once there
was an uproar, as the sentries ran out into the road, and began to fire
their guns in wild confusion. It was pitch dark, and they could see
nothing. Over the road and into an open field tore the two fugitives. They
felt like blind men, for they could hardly distinguish any object before
them; moreover they were wholly ignorant of their surroundings. They ran
on, however, and finally reached another field in which were several large
trees. Watson made straight for one of them.

"Up we go," he said, and, suiting the action to the order, he had soon
clambered up the tree, and seated himself across one of its branches.
George was quick to follow; he climbed up with even more celerity than
Watson, and settled himself on a neighboring branch.

They could hear the cries of the sentries, mingled with an occasional
shot. Two of the soldiers passed directly under the tree occupied by the
Northerners.

"They have gotten off," one of them was saying.

"I'm not surprised," rejoined the other sentry. "Any fellows who could do
what they did at Big Shanty are not easy customers to deal with."

In a little while the two sentries returned, and, again passing under the
tree, evidently went back to the woods. The uproar had ceased; there was
no more firing; it was plain that the chase had been abandoned.

After the lapse of half an hour Watson and George descended from their
uncomfortable perches. Once upon the ground the boy released Waggie from
his pocket, and the little party pushed on in the darkness for about a
mile. Here they found a hayrick in a field, alongside of which they laid
their weary bones and slept the sleep of exhaustion. When daylight came
they had awakened, feeling much refreshed and ready for more adventures.

"I'll tell you what I think," said Watson. "There's a chance for us yet,
provided we try a new means of getting away from the South."

"What do you mean?" asked George.

"If we try to move northward," continued Watson, "we are sure to be
caught. Every countryman between Atlanta and Chattanooga will be on the
lookout for us. Instead of that, let us strike out towards the Gulf of
Mexico, where we should reach one of the ships of the Union blockading
squadron. New Orleans is in the hands of the North, and many of our
vessels must be patroling the Gulf. Once we reach the coast we are
practic