ould be safe, then straightened up,
listened for a moment to a faint, far-off note that came to his ears,
drew his hands swiftly across his eyes, and made the best of his way
toward the Mississippi River.

"That is my hound, and I'll bet it will be a long time before I shall
hear him give tongue in that fashion again," soliloquized Tom, as he
emerged from the cane and took a survey of the prospect before him. "I
may never hear him, but I shall always remember him."

As Tom came out of the cane he found himself on the verge of that swamp
over which, one short week previous, the water had stood to the depth of
fifteen feet; but Our Fellows had already ridden over it, with Sandy
Todd for a leader,--the boy who admitted that he "might be slow
a-walkin' an' a-talkin', but was not slow a-ridin',"--in their wild
chase after the Indians and after Luke Redman, the man who had stolen
Black Bess, and had managed in some way, they could not tell how, to
secure possession of the valise which contained General Mason's five
thousand dollars. The ridges were high and dry, and by following them
one could enjoy a pleasant ride, avoiding the water altogether; but the
trouble in Tom's case was the ridges ended either in the swamp at Dead
Man's Elbow, the place where they afterward captured Luke Redman, or
veered around until they ended in the very spot Tom did not want to go,
the town of Burton, which was the only place in the county that could
boast of a jail. It was dangerous to attempt to pass from one ridge to
another, for the bottom was covered with a bed of mud in which a
horseman would sink out of sight. Tom speculated upon this as he walked
along, and although he was positive that no very desperate attempt would
be made to capture him when it was found out that he was the guilty one,
he would have felt safer if he had left all sights and sounds of his
first wrong-doing far behind. How his uncle would scorn him when first
he found it out! And the negroes! Why, it wouldn't be long till it would
be all over the State.

"This is what comes of a rash attempt to have revenge on a boy who never
did me a thought of harm. Because I couldn't be the leader among Our
Fellows I had to go to work and get myself into worse trouble by it. Why
couldn't I have rested easy when I had nothing to worry about? But I
mustn't allow my thoughts to get the start of me right at the beginning,
for if I do, I shall come out at the little end of the horn. I w