o another stream, and
was making preparations to cross it, when he was startled by a voice,
which sounded from the opposite bank:

"Who goesh dere?"

Instead of replying to the challenge, Frank sprang behind a tree, and,
looking across the stream, discovered a tall, powerfully-built man,
dressed in "butternut" clothes, holding his rifle in the hollow of his
arm. In an instant Frank's gun was at his shoulder, and his finger was
already pressing the trigger, when the man exclaimed:

"What for you shoot? I be a friend."

Frank, although fearful of treachery, lowered his gun, and the
Dutchman, moving out of the bushes, leaned on his rifle, and inquired:

"Where you go? I guess you been a gun-boat feller; ain't it?"

"Yes," answered Frank, "I once belonged to a gun-boat. But who are
you?"

"Me? Oh, I was a captain in the army. Sherman gets licked at
Wicksburg, an' I gets took brisoner; an' purty quick me an' anoder
feller runs away. Here he is;" and, as the Dutchman spoke, a man
wearing a shabby Confederate uniform appeared.

Frank's mind was made up in an instant. Beyond a doubt this was but
a stratagem to capture him. But he resolved that he would never
surrender, as long as he had sufficient strength to handle his rifle.

"Well, my young friend," exclaimed the man in the rebel uniform, "this
is a nice dress for a Federal officer to be wearing, isn't it?"

"I don't believe that either of you are officers in the Federal army,"
answered Frank. "It's my opinion that you are both rebels. If it is
your intention to attempt to capture me, I may as well tell you that
your expectations will never be realized, for I shall never be taken
alive;" and Frank handled the lock of his gun in a very significant
manner.

"I admire your grit," said the man, "and I acknowledge that you have
strong grounds for suspicion. But we are really escaped prisoners."

"Yah," chimed in the Dutchman, "I shwear dat is so."

"It is no fault of ours," continued the man, "that we are wearing
rebel uniforms; for we were compelled to exchange with our captors,
and were obliged to accept these, or go without any."

"What regiment do you belong to?"

"The One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois Infantry, Company 'K.' I
formerly belonged to the Forty-sixth Maine."

"Do you know any of the boys belonging to Company 'B,' of the
Forty-sixth Maine Regiment?"

"Oh, yes," replied the man, "I know Harry and George Butler, Ben Lake,
and, in fact, all