re, among
other things, a pocket Bible, a gift from his sister, which he wished to
preserve. Perhaps it was there still; perhaps he could get in and
recover it. At all events, he had plenty of leisure on his hands, and
could afford to make the trial.

He heard the mounted patrol pass by, and waited for the sound of hoofs
to die in the distance. Then cautiously he drew near the gloomy and
silent school-house. Not doubting but the door was locked,--for he still
had the key with him which he had turned for the last time when he
walked out in defiance of the lynchers,--he resolved not to unlock it,
but to keep in the rear of the building, and enter, if possible, by a
window.

The window was unfastened, as it had ever remained since he had opened
it, on that memorable occasion, to communicate with Carl. Softly he
raised the sash, and softly he crept in. His foot, however, struck an
object on the desk, and swept it down. It fell with a loud, rattling
sound upon the floor.

It was a musket; the owner of which bounded up on the instant from a
bench where he was lying, and seized Penn by the leg. The school-house
had been turned into a barrack-room for recruits, and the late master
found that he had descended upon a squad of confederate soldiers.

Lights were struck, and the sleepy sentinels, rubbing their eyes open,
recognized, struggling in the arms of their companion, the unfortunate
young Quaker.

"I knowed 'twas him! I knowed 'twas him!" cried his overjoyed captor,
who proved to be no other than Silas Ropes's worthy friend Gad. "I heern
him gittin' inter the winder, but I kept dark till he knocked my gun
down; then I grabbed him! He's a traitor, and this time will meet a
traitor's doom!"

"My friends," said Penn, recovering from the agitation of his first
surprise and struggle, "I am in your power. It is perhaps the best thing
that could happen to me; for I have committed no crime, and I cannot
doubt but that I shall receive justice all the sooner for this accident.
You need not take the trouble to bind me; I shall not attempt to
escape."

His captors, however, among whom he recognized with some uneasiness more
than one of those who had been engaged in lynching him, persisted in
binding him upon a bench, in no very comfortable position, and then set
a guard over him for the remainder of the night.

XVIII.

_CONDEMNED TO DEATH._

Early the next morning Virginia Villars overheard the soldiers
conversing