ff, too.
Time somebody collected bounty on those wolves' scalps."

Ridding the country of such vermin was indeed a worthy occupation. And
their private quest for an answer to Weatherby's fate might be a part of
that. But their first duty was to the army: The gathering of
information, and any discomfort they could deal the Yankees, must be
their primary project.

Croff brought them into a camping site he had chosen for just such use.
It lay at the head of a small rocky ravine down the center of which ran
an ice-sealed thread of stream. It was not quite a cave, but provided
shelter for them and their mounts. It was a clear night, and the ground
was reasonably hard.

They ate hard salt beef and cold army bread made with corn meal, grease,
and water the night before.

"Leave here in the early mornin'." The Cherokee outlined his
suggestions. "There's a road leadin' to the turnpike that's three or
four miles from here. Last I heard, a bridge had washed out on the pike.
Anybody ridin' from Pulaski to Columbia has to turn out and take this
other way--"

"Good cover on it?" Drew asked.

"The best."

"I jus' got me one question," Kirby interrupted. "Say we was to gobble
us up a bunch of strayin' Yankees along this road, what're we gonna do
with 'em after? Four of us don't make no army, an' we ain't gonna be
able to detach no prisoner guard. 'Course theah are them what's said
from the first that the only good Yankees are them laid peacefullike in
their graves. But I don't take natural to shootin' men what are holdin'
up the sky with both hands."

"Orders are to spread confusion," Drew observed. "I'd say if we hit
quick and often, take a prisoner's boots, maybe, and his horse, and his
gun--"

"Also," Webb added, "his rations an' his overcoat, be he wearin' one."

"Then turn him loose, after parolin' him--"

"The Yankees don't honor a parole no more," Kirby objected.

"What if they don't? A lot of men comin' in sayin' they've been paroled
will stir up trouble. Remember, from what we've heard, a lot of the
Yankees ain't any happier about fightin' on and on than we are. So we
take prisoners, get their gear, keep what we can use, destroy the rest,
and turn the men loose. If we can move around enough, maybe we can draw
some of Wilson's men out of that big army he's supposed to be gatherin'
to hit us south. It's the old game Morgan played."

Croff grunted. "It may be old, but I've seen it work. All right, we
parole pris