nditions except by command." I paused, then added slowly: "You are all
intelligent enough to know the danger of our expedition, and the
necessity of striking quick and hard. Our success, our very lives,
depend on surprise. If each one of you does exactly as I order, we've
got a chance to come back; if not, then it means a bullet, or a prison,
for all of us. Are you ready?"

I heard the low responses, and counted them--ten, the negro not
answering.

"All right, men," then, my voice hardening into a threat: "Now go ahead,
Le Gaire, and remember I am next behind, and carry a revolver in my
hand. Make a wrong move, lad, and you'll never make another."

I could faintly discern the whites of his eyes, and heard one of the men
snicker nervously.

"Lead off! Fall in promptly, men."

It was a rocky cleft through the hills, perhaps a hundred yards wide
here where it opened on the river, with a little stream in its centre
fringed with low trees, but narrowing gradually, and becoming blocked
with underbrush as it penetrated deeper into the interior. For a mile or
more the course was not entirely unknown to me, although the darkness
obscured all familiar landmarks. The negro, however, apparently
possessed the instinct of an animal, or else had night eyes, for he
never hesitated, keeping close along the edge of the stream. The
tree-branches brushed our faces, but our feet pressed a well defined
path. Farther in, the shadows becoming more dense, this path wound about
crazily, seeking the level spots; yet Le Gaire moved steadily forward,
his head lowered, and I kept him within reach of my arm, barely able to
distinguish the cautious tread of feet behind. Clearly enough he knew
the way, and could follow it with all the certainty of a dog. Relieved
as to this, and confident the fellow dare not play us false, I could
take notice of other things, and permit my thoughts to wander. There was
little to be seen or heard; except for the musical tinkle of the stream,
all to the right was silence, but from the other side there arose an
occasional sound, borne faintly from a distance--a voice calling, the
blare of a far-off bugle, the echo of a hammer pounding on iron. Once
through the obscuring branches the fitful yellow of a camp-fire was
dimly visible, but the ravine twisted so that I could not determine
whether this was from Federal or Confederate lines. Anyhow no eye saw us
creep past, and no suspicious voice challenged. Indeed we had ev