a position, it is merely
a nominal one. I think the natives are beginning to suspect that he is
not quite right in his mind. But still they love to hear him praise
them, and they swallow a good bit of what he says, like so many
children."

For the moment Major Morris was silent. Then he turned to Ben. "Our
mission seems to have come to a sudden end," he said. "Brownell can
tell Colonel Darcy all he wants to know." And he related to the
escaped prisoner the reason for their coming beyond the American
lines.

"Yes, I reckon I can tell the colonel well enough," answered Barton
Brownell. "For I saw Caspard often, as I mentioned before, and he
never knew what it was to keep his tongue from wagging."

"And how did you escape?" asked Ben, with interest.

"In a very funny way," and the soldier laughed. "As I said before, we
were kept up in the mountains, in a large cave. There were six of our
troop, but all told the prisoners numbered twenty-eight. There was a
guard of four rebels to keep us from escaping, and an old woman called
Mother Beautiful, because she was so ugly, used to cook our food for
us--and the food was mighty scanty, I can tell you that.

"Well, one day two of the guards went off, leaving the old woman and
the other two guards in sole charge. There had been a raid of some
kind the day before, and the guards had some fiery liquor which made
them about half drunk. The old woman got mad over this, and she was
more angry than ever when one of the guards refused to get her a pail
of water from a neighboring spring. 'I'll get the water, mother,' says
I, bowing low to her, and would you believe it, she made the two
guards let me out, just to get her the water."

"And the water hasn't arrived yet," said Major Morris, laughing.

"No, the water hasn't arrived yet," answered Barton Brownell. "As soon
as I reached the spring I dropped the pail and ran for all I was
worth, and hid in the brush along the mountain side. I stayed there
two days and nearly starved to death. Then they hunted me out, and I
received this wound. But I escaped them and made my way through the
jungle and over the rice-fields to here, and here I am."

"You say there were twenty-eight prisoners all told," cried Ben. "Did
you ever hear anything of my brother, Larry Russell?"

"Larry Russell?" repeated Barton Brownell, thoughtfully. "To be sure I
did. He is a sailor from the _Olympia_, isn't he?"

"Yes! yes! And was he with you?"

"He was,