uch information. "He must be a rebel, of
course, if he has a rebel flag in his possession."

"His name is Marcy Gray, and he is rebel or Union, just as it happens,"
said Tom. "He has been pilot on a privateer and blockade runner."

"Aha!" said the captain.

"Yes," continued Tom. "But the minute you Yankees came here and captured
the Island he quit business and came home."

"Which was the most sensible thing he could have done," said the
officer. "Are there any weapons in the house, do you know?"

Before either of the boys could reply Mr. Allison came out upon the
porch, bringing with him the "heirlooms" of which he had spoken--an old
officers sword and a flint-lock musket that, so he said, had passed the
winter with Washington at Valley Forge.

"If that is the case I'll not touch them," said the captain. "These are
all you have, I suppose?"

"There are no other weapons in the house," replied Mr. Allison.

The officer smiled, gave Mark Goodwin a comical look, and then mounted
his horse and rode out of the yard without saying another word. Mr.
Allison and the boys watched him until he joined his command and with it
disappeared down the road, and then Mark said:

"What do you reckon he meant by grinning at me in that fashion?"

"He meant that those 'heirlooms' of father's did not fool him worth a
cent," answered Tom. "The next officer who comes here will say: 'Perhaps
there are no weapons in the house, but are there any _around_ it?' And
then he will turn his men loose in the yard and root up everything.
Those guns of mine must go in some safer place as soon as night comes.
Now give us one of your good stories, Mark."

"That's so," exclaimed the latter. "The sight of those Yankees made me
forget all about it. You know that big iron-clad of ours that's been
building up at Portsmouth, don't you?"

"Aw! I don't want to hear any more about her," cried Tom. "She is a rank
failure."

"Judging by the stories that have been circulated about her she was a
failure; but judged by the work she did three days ago she is a glorious
success," replied Mark, pausing for a moment to enjoy the surprise which
his statement occasioned among his auditors for now that the Yankees had
taken themselves off, without turning the house upside down or insulting
anybody, the whole family came out on the porch, and a servant brought
chairs enough to seat them all. "She captured and burned the _Congress_,
sunk the _Cumberland_, and if ther