hose doubts in regard to the locality
had not yet been solved.

In the pressure of more exciting matters, he had not attempted to explain
why he did not come to Fairfax station while following the railroad.

"If we keep on a little while longer, I reckon we shall come to
Thoroughfare Gap," answered Joe.

"But where do you live? What town is your house in?" asked Tom, who had
never heard of Thoroughfare Gap before.

"Haymarket is the nearest town to my house."

"What railroad is that over there?" asked Tom, who was no nearer the
solution of the question than he had been in the beginning.

"That's the Manassas Gap Railroad, I reckon," replied Joe, who seemed to
be astonished at the ignorance of his companion.

"Just so," added Tom, who now, for the first time, comprehended where he
was.

When he left Sudley church, he walked at random till he came to the
railroad; but he had struck the Manassas Gap Railroad instead of the main
line, and it had led him away from the great body of the rebels, though it
also conducted him away from Washington, where he desired to go. He was
perplexed at the discovery, and at once began to debate the question
whether it was advisable for him to proceed any farther in this direction.

"I suppose you are a Union man--ain't you?" said Tom, after he had
considered his situation for some time.

Instead of answering this question, Joe Burnap raised his eyes from the
ground, and fixed his gaze intently upon Tom. He stared at him for a
moment in doubt and silence, and then resumed his former attitude.

"You don't want to fight for the south," added Tom; "so I suppose you
don't believe in the Southern Confederacy."

"I don't want to fight for nuther of 'em," replied Joe, after a moment of
further consideration. "If they'll only let me alone, I don't keer which
beats."

His position was certainly an independent one, and he appeared to be
entirely impartial. The newspapers on either side would not have disturbed
him. Patriotism--love of country--had not found a resting place in his
soul. Tom had not, from the beginning, entertained a very high respect for
the man; but now he despised him, and thought that a rebel was a gentleman
compared with such a character. How a man could live in the United States,
and not feel an interest in the stirring events which were transpiring
around him, was beyond his comprehension. In one word, he so thoroughly
despised Joe Burnap, that he resolved, at the