d heedless of the negro, he darted out of his hiding-place and
ran for the creek road.

"Oh, Mars'r Deck!" cried Faraway, in dismay, when he started back
dumfounded, for the young major had suddenly arisen to a kneeling
position, taken careful aim and fired. The bullet sped true to its mark,
and the guerilla went down, shot through the right knee.

"Hang yer cursed Yankee trick!" he groaned, as Deck came up to him,
totally uninjured from the shot aimed at him a minute previously. Lying
as he was, he attempted to fire again, but the major kicked the pistol
from his grasp and Faraway pounced upon him and pinned him to the
ground.

"Any kind of a trick would be justifiable in capturing such a rascal as
you," said Deck, as he directed Faraway to disarm the prisoner. This
done, and making sure that the fellow could not walk away, they propped
him up on the creek bridge and left him.

Returning to the vicinity of the mansion, Deck found that one other
guerilla had been captured by Artie and Clinker, and that white men and
negroes were scattered in all directions endeavoring to round up the
remainder. The search for the fleeing ones was kept up until midnight,
and two others were wounded and taken into custody.

All the prisoners were either marched or carried to Fort Bedford, and
here the wounded ones were cared for as tenderly as though they were
friends instead of enemies. The dead were laid out for burial, unless
the bodies should be claimed by relatives or friends.

Deck had bound a silk handkerchief around his neck, which felt stiff
where the bullet had scratched it. Artie had been hurt, too, but the
wound was of small consequence. The Unionists received even greater care
than the guerillas.

It was exactly two o'clock in the morning when Deck came into the
mansion thoroughly worn out by what he had passed through. Mrs. Lyon had
ordered Diana (not Dinah, if you please) to prepare the best meal
Riverlawn could afford, and while the family and the other whites sat
down in the dining room, the negroes made themselves comfortable in the
spacious kitchen. In the meantime the prisoners at the fort were kept
under close guard and a messenger was despatched to notify the county
authorities of what had taken place.

The mansion had been turned topsy-turvy, and a few articles of
bric-a-brac had been smashed, but otherwise the loss did not seem to be
of much consequence outside of the fact that two dozen silver spoons and