el Bradner had always been a fire eater, hot to the last degree;
and if he had had his way, war between the North and the South would
have broken out in '58 instead of '61. For a time he had drawn a
pension from the government at Washington; but this was now cut off, and
the loss made the military gentleman more bitter than ever, if such a
thing were possible.

The plantation on the side road was one of good size. In days gone by it
had flourished, and been a source of riches to the colonel and his wife,
the only members of the household. The slaves had numbered sixty-five,
all able-bodied, and all worth five hundred dollars each at the auction
block in Memphis. Now all but six of the slaves had run away, the
plantation was neglected, and what there had been of stores had been
given to the Confederate forces, simply from the fact that, had they not
been given up, friend or foe would have confiscated them as one of the
necessities of the great conflict.

Unaware that he was wrong, and likewise unaware that he was "running his
head into the lion's mouth," Artie galloped down the side trail, sending
a shower of mud up against the trees as he passed them by. Not a soul
was in sight, and it looked as if the neighborhood, for miles around,
was deserted.

Presently he reached a negro hut--the first belonging to the Bradner
plantation. The door stood wide open, the rain beating far in over the
sill. A brief survey convinced the young captain that the abode was
deserted.

"The negroes have grown scared, and run for it," he mused, as he
continued on his way. "Hullo, there's another cabin, and another. I've
struck some village, I reckon--or a plantation. If somebody would only
appear--ah!"

Through the low-hanging trees he had caught sight of the mansion,
standing between an avenue of pines. To the front was a path of sand,
and to the rear a small brook. The fields were on the other side of the
brook.

"That looks as deserted as were those cabins," thought Artie, when he
saw a woman pass hastily by one of the parlor windows. Concluding that
the men were off to the war, and that the lady was the only person left
at home, he turned up the sandy path and rode to the front porch, where
he dismounted, and used the heavy brass knocker attached to the oaken
door.

His arrival had been noticed, yet it was several minutes before anybody
answered his summons. In the meantime he heard a spirited murmur of
voices, as though two pers