he same side--that is, if you have any side. But in spite of that, if
I hear of any harm happening to Aunt Betsey, or Melissa, or Uncle Joel,
or Rube, while they are all peaceably at home, I'm goin' to hold you
and Tad responsible, whether you are or not, and I'll kill you"--he
raised one hand to make the Almighty a witness to his oath--"I'll kill
you, if I have to follow you both to hell for doin' it. Now, you take
keer of 'em! Turn 'round!"

The Dillon hesitated.

"Turn!" Chad cried, savagely, raising his pistol. "Go back to that gun,
an' if you turn your head I'll shoot you where you're sneakin' aroun'
to shoot Rube or Uncle Joel--in the back, you cowardly feist. Pick up
that gun! Now, let her off! See if you can hit that beech-tree in front
of you. Just imagine that it's me."

The rifle cracked and Chad laughed.

"Well, you ain't much of a shot. I reckon you must have chills and
fever. Now, come back here. Give me your powder-horn. You'll find it on
top of the hill on the right-hand side of the road. Now, you
trot--home!"

Then Dillon stared.

"Double-quick!" shouted Chad. "You ought to know what that means if you
are a soldier--a soldier!" he repeated, contemptuously.

The Dillon disappeared on a run.

Chad rode all that night. At dawn he reached the foot-hills, and by
noon he drew up at the road which turned to Camp Dick Robinson. He sat
there a long time thinking, and then pushed on toward Lexington. If he
could, he would keep from fighting on Kentucky soil.

Next morning he was going at an easy "running-walk" along the old
Maysville road toward the Ohio. Within three miles of Major Buford's,
he leaped the fence and stuck across the fields that he might go around
and avoid the risk of a painful chance meeting with his old friend or
any of the Deans.

What a land of peace and plenty it was--the woodlands, meadows, pasture
lands! Fat cattle raised their noses from the thick grass and looked
with mild inquiry at him. Sheep ran bleating toward him, as though he
were come to salt them. A rabbit leaped from a thorn-bush and whisked
his white flag into safety in a hemp-field. Squirrels barked in the big
oaks, and a covey of young quail fluttered up from a fence corner and
sailed bravely away. 'Possum signs were plentiful, and on the edge of
the creek he saw a coon solemnly searching under a rock with one paw
for crawfish Every now and then Dixie would turn her head impatiently
to the left, for she knew wher