s decided that Willy should go before--he said to
"reconnoitre," Balla said "to open the gate and lead the way,"--and
that Frank should bring up the rear.

They trudged slowly on through the darkness, Frank and Willy watching
on every side, old Balla stooping under the weight of the big box.

After they were some distance in the garden they heard, or thought
they heard, a sound back at the gate, but decided that it was nothing
but the latch clicking; and they went on down to their hiding place.

In a little while the black box was well settled in the hole, and the
dirt was thrown upon it. The replaced earth made something of a mound,
which was unfortunate. They had not thought of this; but they covered
it with leaves, and agreed that it was so well hidden, the Yankees
would never dream of looking there.

"Unc' Balla, where are your horses?" asked one of the boys.

"That's for me to know, an' them to find out what kin," replied the
old fellow with a chuckle of satisfaction.

The whole party crept back out of the garden, and the boys were soon
dreaming of buccaneers and pirates.

CHAPTER IX.

The boys were not sure that they had even fallen asleep when they
heard Lucy Ann call, outside. They turned over to take another nap.
She was coming up to the door. No, for it was a man's step, it must be
Uncle Balla's; they heard horses trampling and people talking. In a
second the door was flung open, and a man strode into the room,
followed by one, two, a half-dozen others, all white and all in
uniform. They were Yankees. The boys were too frightened to speak.
They thought they were arrested for hiding the silver.

"Get up, you lazy little rebels," cried one of the intruders, not
unpleasantly. As the boys were not very quick in obeying, being really
too frightened to do more than sit up in bed, the man caught the
mattress by the end, and lifting it with a jerk emptied them and all
the bedclothes out into the middle of the floor in a heap. At this all
the other men laughed. A minute more and he had drawn his sword. The
boys expected no less than to be immediately killed. They were almost
paralyzed. But instead of plunging his sword into them, the man began
to stick it into the mattresses and to rip them up; while others
pulled open the drawers of the bureau and pitched the things on the
floor.

The boys felt themselves to be in a very exposed and defenceless
condition; and Willy, who had become tangled in the be