nsiderable body of sharpshooters near Dick were attempting
a flanking movement of some kind, and meant to carry it out with
bullets. He was impatient to see, but prudence kept him in his covert, a
prudence that was soon justified, as presently he heard voices very near
him and then the sound of footsteps.

He rose up a little and saw several hundred Confederate soldiers passing
on the slopes not more than a hundred yards away. They went south of
him, and he recognized with growing alarm that the wall across his way
was growing higher. When they were gone and he could no longer hear
their tread among the bushes he slipped from his hiding place and went
directly toward Vicksburg. Being within an iron ring he thought that
perhaps he would be safer somewhere near the center. He might make his
way without much trouble through the vast confused crowd in Vicksburg,
and then in the night go down the river's edge and to the fleet.

It was a daring idea, so very daring that it appealed to the strain of
high adventure in the lad. He was encouraged, too, by his earlier and
easy success in passing among the Confederate soldiers. But in order not
to appear reckless and to satisfy his own conscience he tried once more
for the way to the south. But the soldiers entirely barred the path
there, and, being on some duty that required extreme vigilance, they
were likely to prove exacting.

He advanced with a clear mind toward Vicksburg, picking his way among
the forests and ravines, but, after long walking over most difficult
ground, he saw before him extensive earthworks thronged with Southern
troops. When he turned westward the result was the same, and then it
became evident that there was no flaw in the iron ring. He could not go
through to Porter, he could not go back to his own army, but Vicksburg
invited him as a guest.

He would make the trial at night. It was a long wait, but he dared not
risk it by day, and, going back into one of the ravines, he sought
a secluded and sheltered place. Threshing the bushes to drive away
possible snakes, he crawled into a clump and lay there. Resolved to be
patient in spite of everything, he did not stir, but listened to the far
throbbing of the cannon which poured an incessant storm of missiles upon
unhappy Vicksburg.

The warmth and the heavy air in the ravine were relaxing. His brain grew
so dull and heavy that he fell asleep, and when he awoke the twilight
was coming. And yet he had lost not