t, he dropped down at the
orderly's feet, panting.

"That, was certainly fine work," said the Colonel, stooping to pat Hero's
sides. "I suppose nothing could induce you to give him up to the army?"
he asked, turning to Lloyd.

"Oh, no, no, no!" cried Lloyd, as if alarmed at the suggestion, and
pressing Hero's head protectingly against her shoulder. If she had been
proud of him before, she was doubly proud of him now. He had won the
admiration of the entire regiment. Never had he been so praised and
petted. When Mrs. Walton called her party together for their homeward
drive, it was plain to be seen that Hero was loath to leave the camp. A
word from the orderly would have kept him, despite Lloyd's commands to
jump up into the wagon.

As the boys rode on ahead again, Keith said, "It does seem too bad to
force that dog into being a private citizen when he is a born soldier."

"Did you hear what Colonel Wayne told mamma as we left?" asked Ranald. "He
told her that it was reported that some of the animals had escaped from
the circus that was in Louisville yesterday, and that a panther and some
other kind of a beast had been seen in these woods. He laughed and asked
her if she didn't want him to send a guard over to our camp. Of course he
was only joking, but when she saw that I had heard what he said, she told
me not to tell the girls; not to even mention such a thing, or they'd be
so frightened they'd want to break camp and go straight home."

"It would be fun to scare them," said Rob, "but you'd better believe I'll
not say anything if there's any danger of having to go home sooner on
account of it."

"We've got to go day after to-morrow anyhow," said Keith, gloomily. "I
wish I could miss another week of school, but I know papa wouldn't let me,
even if the camp didn't break up."

"Come on!" called Ranald, who had pushed on ahead. "Let's hurry back and
have a good swim before supper."

Not satisfied with the excitement of the day, the girls were no sooner out
of the wagon than some one started a wild game of prisoners' base. Then
they played hide-and-seek among the rocks and trees around the waterfall,
and while they were wiping their flushed faces, panting after the long
run, Kitty proposed that they should have a candy pulling.

Dinah made the candy, but the girls pulled it, running a race to see whose
would be the whitest in a given time. Their arms ached long before they
were done. By the time the boys came stum