ermined to encamp there for the night.
The soldiers, unaccustomed to exact discipline, had, in sport, set fire
to a tall pine which some accident of the storm had killed, and produced
the conflagration that had lighted Horse Shoe and his charge to the
scene of the present meeting.

It may be imagined that this incident afforded great satisfaction to
Mildred and her party, who were thus brought into connexion with a
numerous body of friends, with whom they determined henceforth to pursue
their journey. The first good result of this encounter was immediately
experienced in the comfortable though rude accommodation which the
prompt and united efforts of the Rangers supplied to Mildred and her
friend, Mary Musgrove, in enabling them to pass a night of sound and
healthful sleep.

On the following day, the Rangers and their new companions arrived at
Burk Court House. They were here made acquainted with the fact that the
mountain troops were at this time moving towards Gilbert-town. They
accordingly, after a night's rest, resumed their march, and by a
toilsome journey through a rugged mountain district, succeeded on the
third evening in reaching the little village which had but a short time
since been the head-quarters of Ferguson and the spot of Arthur Butler's
captivity.

They were now in advance of Campbell and his mountaineers; and, in
waiting for these troops, they were afforded leisure to recruit
themselves from the effects of their late fatigues. Good quarters were
obtained for Mildred and her companions. She required repose, and
profited by the present opportunity to enjoy it.

The village at this moment was full of troops. Brandon and Lacy, with
their followers, whom we have referred to in the last chapter, were
already there, in daily expectation of the arrival of the confederates;
and amongst these men, Sergeant Robinson and his companion, the miller,
found the means of relieving the tediousness of delay, to say nothing of
Henry, who had now become so decidedly martial in his inclinations, that
the camp was to him a scene of never-fading interest.

In two days Campbell's army entered the village, after a march of which
we have already given a sketch to our reader. It was a duty of early
concern, on the part of Allen Musgrove and the sergeant, to apprise him
of the presence of Mildred and her brother, and to communicate to him
the singular purpose of her mission. The effect of this was a visit by
Campbell, Shel