ft the room.

"This way, miss," said the sergeant. She entered the room into which Ted
had been taken, but he was not there.

In the middle of the floor was an open trapdoor.

"I must ask you to go down there," said the sergeant. "You will find a
ladder. You will be safe, and it is not for long. We start for the post
soon, I am told."

Hallie made no reply, but did as she was bid.

The cellar was as dark as a pocket, and she could see absolutely nothing
as her feet touched the earth floor.

But she found a box, and sat down upon it. The trap was closed, a bolt
shot in it, and she was in Stygian darkness.

She was terribly frightened at first, but there were no rats in the
cellar, which she had at first feared, and she fell to thinking what it
all meant. Surely the army must have gone entirely mad that she, Hallie
Croffut, its pet, should be under arrest in a dark and musty cellar.

But presently her heart stopped beating. In a far corner she heard a
faint noise.

Something else was in the place with her. What could it be? Where was
Ted? What did it all mean?

Then she heard a groan, and an uneasy movement.

"Who is it?" Hallie asked, in a trembling voice.

"Is that you, Hallie?" It was Ted's voice.

"Yes, it is I. Where are you?"

"Over here in the corner. Those brutes threw me down the ladder, and it
stunned me. Come here. Perhaps you can untie my hands. Then we will see
what chance there is for escape."

Ted was soon released, and, climbing the ladder, tried the trapdoor, but
found it securely fastened.

There had been no sound above them for some time, and Ted came to the
conclusion that the soldiers were gone.

He was right. When the prisoners had been thrust into the cellar,
Barrows and his men rode away, leaving them alone.

Hours dragged along in the dark, and they scarcely spoke to one another,
both lost in their thoughts.

Suddenly Ted started up. Outside he heard a whistle, and he listened for
it to be repeated. It was the whistle of the bobwhite. He knew that
there were no quail in this region at this time of the year. He knew,
too, that it was an Indian signal which Stella and Singing Bird had used
between them. Could it be that Stella was outside, and that she was
signaling the house, and thinking it occupied, did not dare come to it?
He answered it as well as he could, knowing, however, that the sound
would not get beyond the cellar.

For several minutes the whistling continued, t