rl waitin' for me back in ol' Illinoy, an' I reckon I know what
she'd want me to do in a case like this. Sure, I'm with you until the
cows come home, and so are the rest o' the boys. Lord, this is the kind
o' sojerin' I like; somethin' happenin' every minute. What's
next, sir?"

"Perhaps I better look over the house first," I said thoughtfully, "and
see where we can stow away these prisoners without needing all our men
to guard them. You take charge in there while I am gone, Miles, and let
the girl go anywhere she pleases so she promises not to leave
the house."

"All right, sir," and the sergeant saluted, his eyes shining, as I
started for the stairs.

CHAPTER XXII

MISS WILLIFRED DECLARES HERSELF

I glanced at the various rooms up stairs, but nothing seemed exactly
suitable for our purpose, and, finally, taking a trooper along to hold a
light, explored the basement with better results. Here I found a
considerable cellar, divided into two sections, the floor of stone
slabs, and the walls well bricked. Iron bars, firmly set, protected the
small windows, and altogether the place appeared favorable for our
purpose. To be sure, desperate prisoners could not be confined in such
quarters for any length of time, but it would answer temporarily,
providing we left a guard within. Satisfied as to this, after fixing up
a stout bar across the door, I returned to the first floor, and gave
orders to have the men taken below. We could not differentiate between
officers and privates, but robbed the rooms up stairs of bed-clothing,
and thus made them as comfortable as possible. Bell and the clergy-man
made voluble protests, but yielded to the inevitable, being persuaded by
the revolvers of the guards to accompany the others. So far as arms
went we were now well supplied, having added to our original equipment
the officers' pistols, and the carbines of the men captured in the
stable. This matter settled I turned to the consideration of the case of
the two men remaining in the front parlor.

Here was a more serious problem, for I could not herd Major Hardy with
those fellows below, nor was I willing to humiliate Le Gaire by any such
treatment. Not that I thought him too good to associate with these
others, but Billie must not think I was actuated by any feelings of
revenge. I talked the situation over with the sergeant, who proved a
hard-headed, practical man, and we decided upon an upstairs room, over
the kitchen, which had