thought of his friend Pomp, and
of the wrongs he had suffered at this man's hands. He thought of his own
safety too, and crept under the bridge. He had time, however, before he
disappeared, to catch a glimpse of three other horsemen coming from the
north. His heart beat fast, for he knew in an instant that these were
his pursuers returning.

He had already prepared for himself a good hiding-place, in a cavity
between the two logs that supported the bridge. Upon the butment, close
under the trembling planks, he lay, when Bythewood and his man rode
over. The dust rattled upon him through the cracks, and sifted down into
the stream. The thundering and shaking of the planks ceased, but he
listened in vain to hear the hoofs of the two horses clattering off in
the distance. To his alarm he perceived that Bythewood and his man had
halted on the other side of the bridge, and were going to water their
horses in the bed of the stream. Clashing and rattling down the steep,
stony banks, and plashing into the water, came the foam-streaked
animals. The negro rode one, and led the other by the bridle. There he
sat in the saddle, watching the eager drinking of the thirsty beasts,
and pulling up their heads occasionally to prevent them from swallowing
too fast or too much; all in full sight of the concealed schoolmaster.
Bythewood, after dismounting, also walked down to the edge of the stream
in full view.

Such was the situation when the three horsemen from the north arrived.
They all rode their animals down the bank into the water. Penn had not
been mistaken as to their character and business. Two of them were the
men who had adjusted the noose to his neck the day before. The third was
no less a personage than Captain Lysander Sprowl. Penn lay breathless
and trembling in his hiding-place; for those men were but a few yards
from him, and all in such plain view that it seemed inevitable but they
must discover him.

"What luck?" said Bythewood, carelessly, seating himself on a rock and
lighting a cigar.

"The rascal has given us the slip," said Lysander, from his horse. "I
believe we have passed him, and so, on our way back, we'll search the
house of every man suspected of Union sentiments. He started off with
Stackridge's horse, and we tracked him easy at first, but to-day we
haven't once heard of him."

"It's my opinion he don't intend to leave the state," said Bythewood,
coolly smoking. "Sam, walk those horses up and down the ro