ay had fled,
And the storm was rolling high,
And they laid him down in his lonely bed
By the light of an angry sky.
The lightning flashed and the wild sea lashed
The shore with its foaming wave,
And the thunder passed on the rushing blast,
As it howled o'er the rover's grave.

He pressed on, hour after hour, through the deep woods, meeting no one,
but content. At noon his horse suddenly showed signs of great weariness,
and Dick, remembering how much he had ridden him over muddy roads, gave
him a long rest. Besides, there was no need to hurry. The Southern army
was at Corinth, in Mississippi, three or four days' journey away, and
there had been no scouts or skirmishers in the woods between.

After a stop of an hour he remounted and rode on again, but the horse
was still feeling his great strain, and he did not push him beyond a
walk. He calculated that nevertheless he would reach headquarters not
long after nightfall, and he went along gaily, still singing to himself.
He crossed the river at a point above the army, where the Union troops
had made a ferry, and then turned toward the camp.

About sunset he reached a hill from which he could look over the
forest and see under the horizon faint lights that were made by Grant's
campfires at Pittsburg Landing. It was a welcome sight. He would soon be
with his friends again, and he urged his horse forward a little faster.

"Halt!" cried a sharp voice from the thicket.

Dick faced about in amazement, and saw four horsemen in gray riding from
the bushes. The shock was as great as if he had been struck by a bullet,
but he leaned forward on his horse's neck, kicked him violently with
his heels and shouted to him. The horse plunged forward at a gallop. The
boy, remembering General Buell's instructions, slipped the letter from
his pocket, and in the shelter of the horse's body dropped it to the
ground, where he knew it would be lost among the bushes and in the
twilight.

"Halt!" was repeated more loudly and sharply than ever. Then a bullet
whizzed by Dick's ear, and a second pierced the heart of his good horse.
He tried to leap clear of the falling animal, and succeeded, but he fell
so hard among the bushes that he was stunned for a few moments. When he
revived and stood up he saw the four horsemen in gray looking curiously
at him.

"'Twould have been cheaper for you to have stopped when we told you to
do it," said one in a whimsical tone.

Dic