soldiers when he was in
reality a Lincolnite. The boy shivered when he thought of the
consequences of such a mistake.

"I'll tell you what's a fact," he said, to himself, stamping about the
stable with rather more noise than he ought to have made, seeing that
the guerrillas had barely had time to get out of hearing. "The farther I
go toward Springfield, the deeper I seem to get into trouble. I must
either find Tom and ride the rest of the way with him, or else I must
get ahead of him. If I don't do one or the other he will put me into a
scrape that I can't work out of."

"Now you stay here and I will go out and snoop around a bit," said
Merrick, when the sound of the hoof-beats could be no longer heard.
"What I am afraid of is that they will leave some of their men to watch
the house."

"Do your neighbors know that you are a Union man?" asked Rodney, as he
stepped up and took the horse by the bits.

"They know I'm neutral, and that's just about as bad as though they knew
I was Union," was the reply. "They aint done nothing to me yet but I
know I'm watched, and so I have to mind what I am about. If the men who
just went by knew how I feel, I wouldn't dast to lift a hand to help
you. They'd have me hung to one of my shade trees before morning."

As Merrick spoke he glided out into the darkness, and Rodney was left
alone to think over the situation; but Merrick had not been gone more
than five minutes when the horse indicated by his actions that there was
some one approaching the stable. Presently a twig snapped, a hand was
passed along the wall outside and a figure appeared in the doorway. It
wasn't tall enough for Merrick, and besides it had a coat on. Believing
that it was one of Thompson's men who had been left behind to watch the
house, Rodney drew his revolver from his boot leg and cocked it as he
raised it to a level with his eyes and covered the figure's head.

"Don't shoot, Merrick," said the intruder, who had probably heard the
click of the hammer. "What's the good of helping a fellow one hour if
you are going to shoot him the next?"

"Tom Percival!" exclaimed Rodney, in guarded tones.

In an instant the figure sprang into the stable and seized Rodney in his
arms.

"Did anybody ever hear of such luck?" said Tom, who was the first to
recover his power of speech. "Where are you going and what business have
you got up here in my State, you red-hot rebel?"

"I never expected to be on such terms with a Yan