d they
found themselves surrounded by a dozen troopers. Prescott recognized the
faded blue uniform and knew at once that he was in the midst of Yankee
horsemen. The girl beside him gave one start at the sudden apparition
and then became calm and impassive.

"Who are you?" asked the leader of the horsemen, a lieutenant.

"Elias Gardner of Wellsville," replied Prescott in a drawling, rural
voice.

"That tells nothing," said the Lieutenant.

"It's my name, anyhow," replied Prescott coolly, "and if you don't
believe it, here's a pass they gave me when I went into Richmond with a
load of produce."

The Lieutenant read the paper by the moonlight and then handed it back
to its temporary owner.

"It's all right," he said; "but I want to know, Mr. Elias Gardner and
Mrs. Elias Gardner, what you mean by feeding the enemy."

"I'd sell to you at the same price," replied Prescott.

Some of the troopers were looking at the barrels and crates in the
wagons to see if they were really empty, and Prescott was in dread lest
they come upon the sleeping farmer; but they desisted soon, satisfied
that there was nothing left to eat.

The Lieutenant cocked a shrewd eye on Prescott.

"So you've been in Richmond, Mr. Farmer; how long were you there?" he
asked.

"Only a day."

"Don't you think it funny, Mr. Farmer, that you should go so easily into
a town that armies of a hundred thousand men have been trying for more
than two years to enter and have failed?"

"Maybe I showed better judgment," Prescott replied, unable to restrain a
gibe.

The Lieutenant laughed.

"Perhaps you are right," he said; "but we'll have Grant soon. Now, Mr.
Gardner, you've been in Richmond, and I've no doubt you used your eyes
while you were there, for you look to me like a keen, observant man. I
suspect that you could tell some interesting things about their
earthworks, forts and so forth."

Prescott held up his hands in mock consternation.

"I ain't no soldier," he replied in his drawling tone. "I wouldn't know
a fort if I saw one, and I never get near such things if I know it."

"Then perhaps Mrs. Gardner took notice," continued the Lieutenant in a
wheedling tone. "Women are always observant."

Miss Catherwood shook her head.

"See here, you two," said the Lieutenant, "if you'll only tell me about
those fortifications I'll pay you more than you got for that load of
produce."

"We don't know anything," said Prescott; "ain't sure there are any