uld be wounded I would dress his wounds and nurse him carefully
without asking to which side he belongs. But if either of you attempts
to escape I will, as I said, fire at his legs without asking to which
side he belongs.'

"The soldier with the brown hair looked at the one with the black hair.
'If I should attempt to escape,' said he, 'would you assist this lady in
restraining me?' 'I would,' answered the other. 'Then I would do the
same by you,' said the first speaker. 'Miss, I am your prisoner.' 'And I
also,' said the black-haired soldier."

"Well, well," said John Gayther, who had not cut a pea-stick for the
last fifteen minutes; "I suppose you could not tell by their uniforms
which one of them belonged to your side--I mean the young lady could not
tell?"

"Almia had no side," replied the Daughter of the House, "and the
soldiers wore no coats, for they had thrown them aside in the heat of
the combat; and she purposely took no note whatever of their trousers.
She was determined to be absolutely impartial. 'Now, then,' said Almia
to her prisoners, 'I am going to get just as close to the battle as I
can. I am delighted to have you with me, not only because you can remove
wounded prisoners to shady places where I can nurse them, but because
you will be a protection to me. Should an unruly soldier appear from
either army he will always be met by an enemy and by me.'

"The three now pressed on, for there was no time to lose. The roar of
the battle was increasing; reports of musketry as well as cannon rent
the air, and the sharp whistling of rifle-balls could frequently be
heard. Reaching a wood road, they followed this for some distance, Almia
in advance, when suddenly they came upon a man sitting on the trunk of a
fallen tree. He had a little blank-book in his hand, and apparently he
was making calculations in it with a lead-pencil. At the sound of
approaching footsteps he rose to his feet, still holding the open book
in his hand. He was a moderately tall man, a little round-shouldered,
and about fifty years old. He wore a soldier's hat and coat, but his
clothes were so covered with dust it was impossible to perceive to which
army he belonged. He had a bushy beard, and that was also very dusty. He
wore spectacles, and had a very pleasant smile, and looked from one to
the other of the new-comers with much interest. 'I hope,' said he,
speaking to the soldiers, 'that this young woman is not your prisoner.'
'No, sir,' sa