m. "I'll need couriers," he said
aloud. It was an advance scout's privilege to have riders to send back
with information.

Campbell hesitated as if he would protest and then agreed. "You have men
picked?"

"Kirby and Barrett. Kirby's had scout experience; Barrett knows part of
this country and rides light."

"All right, Kirby and Barrett. You ready to ride, Hart?"

The other trooper nodded, picked up a set of extra horseshoes, and went
out of the smithy. Campbell had one last word for Drew.

"We'll angle south from here to hit the Cumberland River some ten miles
north of Cadiz, Hart knows where. This time of year it ought to be easy
crossin'. But the Tennessee--" he shook his head--"that is goin' to be
the hard one. Learn all you can about conditions and where it's best to
hit that...."

Drew found Hart already mounted, Kirby and Boyd waiting.

"Hart says we're ridin' out," the Texan said. "Goin' to cover the high
lines?"

"Scout, yes. South of here. River crossin's comin' up."

"No time for shadin' in this man's war," Kirby observed.

"Shadin'?" Boyd repeated as a question.

"Sittin' nice an' easy under a tree while some other poor hombre prowls
around the herd," Kirby translated. "It's a kinda restin' I ain't had
much of lately. Nor like to...."

They put Calhoun behind them, and Hart led them cross-country. But at
each new turn of the back country roads Drew added another line or two
on the map he sketched in on paper which Boyd surprisingly produced from
his bulging sack of loot.

The younger boy looked self-conscious as he handed it over. "Thought as
how I might want to write a letter."

Drew studied him. "You do that!" He made it an order. There had been no
chance to leave Boyd in Calhoun. But there was still Cadiz as a
possibility. He did not believe this vague story about Union gold in the
bank. And the company might never enter the town in force at all. So
that Boyd, left behind, would not attract the unfavorable attention of
the authorities.

It began to rain again, and the roads were mire traps. As they struggled
on into evening Kirby found a barn which appeared to be out by itself
with no house in attendance. The door was wedged open with a drift of
undisturbed soil and Boyd, exploring into a ragged straggle of brush in
search of a well, reported a house cellar hole. The place must be
abandoned and so safe.

"We'll be in Cadiz tomorrow," Hart said.

"An' how do we ride in?" Kirby wante