tart at the sound of Shorty's voice,
but he recovered himself, and saying, "You're right, my brother," put
out his hand for the grip.

"'Taint right, neither," hissed Shorty. "Si Klegg, what are you doin'
here?"

"Shorty!" ejaculated Si, joyfully, but still in a whisper. "I thought I
knowed your voice. Where in the world did you come from?"

"I'm here on business," answered Shorty. "I came up from Headquarters at
Jeffersonville. What brung you here?"

"O," said Si, "we've bin hearin' about this Copperhead lodge for some
time, and some of us boys who's home on furlough thought that we'd come
down here with the Deputy Provo and bust it up. We've bin plannin' it
a week or two. All these that you see, there are soldiers. I've 15,
includin' myself."

The boys hastily conferred together as to the plan of operations, and
one man was hurried back to inform Lieut. Bigelow of the presence of the
other squad.

"You seem to know most about this affair. Shorty," said Si. "You take
command and make arrangements."

"Not for a minute. Si," protested Shorty. "You rank me and you must
command, and I want you to hold your own over Bob Ramsey, who will try
to rank you. Bob's a good boy, but he's rather too much stuck on his
stripes."

It was finally arranged that Si should move his squad out to near the
edge of the path and wait for Lieut. Bigelow to come up, while Shorty
should go forward and reconnoiter.

Shorty walked along the path toward the lodge. Suddenly the large figure
of a man loomed up before him, standing motionless, on guard, in the
road.

"You are out late, my friend," said he.

"Yes," answered Shorty.

"Did you see a star?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"The Star of Bethlehem."

"You are right, my brother," said the man, extending his hand for the
grip.

"This rotten star-and-brother rigmarole's making me sick," muttered
Shorty, with a hasty glance to see that the man was alone, and grasping
his hand with a grip of iron, while with his left he clutched the
sentry's throat. Before the man could utter a groan he wrenched him
around and started him back for Si. Arriving there he flung him under
the trees, saying in a loud whisper:

"First sucker o' this Spring's run. String him. Si."

Lieut. Bigelow had come up in the meanwhile with the other squad, and
they all moved cautiously forward to where they could get a dim sight
of the lodge through the intervals between the trees. For a log house it
was quite