rolic and merriment.

In the midst of this festivity, a portion of Connelly's troopers, who
had now been absent forty-eight hours, arrived, and made an immediate
report to Innis. The purport of this was, that they had found Ensign St.
Jermyn in the possession of a detachment of Whig cavalry near the
Saluda: as soon as they descried him, which they did, some three hundred
paces distant, knowing him by his scarlet uniform, they prepared to
attack this party of Whigs; but the ensign perceiving his friends at
hand, had already, by a brave effort, disentangled himself from his
keepers, and taken off into the open field. The scouts, therefore,
instead of attacking the Whigs, directed all their attention to secure
the ensign's retreat, by holding themselves ready to check the pursuit:
their manoeuvre had been successful, and the prisoner was free.

"And is now with you in the camp, my brave fellows?" said Innis, with
great exultation.

"Not yet," replied the sergeant of the squad. "He is upon the road, and
will, no doubt, soon be here. We have not seen him since his escape.
Whilst we hung back, with a view to favor his retreat, we fell in with a
party that we took to be the escort that had made him prisoner; and as
they outnumbered us, we thought it prudent to decline a skirmish with
them. So we filed off and made our way back to head quarters. The ensign
must have been a good mile ahead of us, and as the road is hard to find,
he may have lost his way. But this is certain, we saw him clear of the
Whigs, with his horse's head turned towards this camp."

"Thank you, good friends," said Innis; "you have performed your duty
handsomely. Go to your comrades; they have news for you, and an extra
allowance to-day. Faith, Ker, this is a day for settling old accounts,"
he continued, as he turned and addressed an officer by his side. "Gates
beaten, Sumpter beaten, and Ensign St. Jermyn delivered from captivity!
That looks well! And now I have another account, which shall be settled
on the nail. Stirring times, Captain St. Jermyn. I congratulate you, my
friend, on your brother's safety, and mean to signalize the event as it
deserves. Major Frazer, bring out your prisoner, and let him die the
death punctually at sundown--at sundown, to the minute, major. We must
get that job off our hands. To-morrow, my friends, we shall move towards
Catawba, and thence to Hanging Rock. Meantime, we must sweep up our
rubbish. So, major, look to your dut