into the jail. The keeper had been riding nearly all night, and
had secured this number of riflemen, though he had been obliged to seek
them, in part, miles distant from the town. They came with rifles and
belts, with powder and ball in horns and pouches, as those from
Millersville had appeared. They were ready for duty, and Butters
declared that every one of them could shoot very well with the rifles
they had used in their practice.

They were introduced by Lieutenant Ripley to the members of his command
lodged in the building, and they fraternized like brothers; for the
ability to use the rifle with skill and precision seemed to be the bond
which united them. The lieutenant of the sharpshooters now had
fifty-six men in his company. When Captain Gordon called at the prison,
he promoted Ripley to the rank of captain, and made Butters, who was
the second-best shot in the corps, lieutenant, though he could not give
them commissions. They were then marched to the tobacco dry-house, only
a small portion of which the cooks used, and drilled by the new
captain.

At the hotel, Major Lyon and Captain Woodbine, an aide-de-camp of the
commanding general, who had been sent to Harrison on account of his
intimate knowledge of this locality, and was a man of influence in a
neighboring county, were discussing the situation. Deck had found him,
after no little difficulty, at the house of one of his friends, and
reported to him the arrival of the Riverlawn Cavalry, re-enforced by a
company of volunteer sharpshooters from Adair County, under the command
of Captain Ripley.

"Ripley is an old man, isn't he?" asked Captain Woodbine.

"Sixty, I heard some one say, Captain; but I can assure you he is a
very able officer," replied Deck.

"I dare say he is, for I know him well. Now will you introduce
yourself, Lieutenant?" said the aide-de-camp with a smile, as he looked
over the wet form of the visitor.

"My name is Dexter Lyon, Captain."

"Any relation to the commander of your squadron?"

"His son; but I was promoted from the ranks on the petition of every
member of the first company, and all the officers of the squadron
except my father," replied Deck; and there was a blush on his wet
cheeks, for he feared that the military official would conclude that he
had been raised to his present rank by the influence of his father.

"A very commendable delicacy on the part of Major Lyon, but not always
manifested in such cases," added the