hrown.

"Back to camp, Major!" said Dick.

In an instant the intelligent animal was flying after the girls, who
quickly recognized his hoof-beats. Meanwhile the men who had captured
Dick and Bob knew the danger they would run remaining on the ground, and
they hurried away with the two boys, letting Bob's bay go free. They
went on so rapidly that Dick was unable to see much of the way, but he
knew the direction they took almost by instinct, and could have returned
without trouble if he had been liberated. The men kept the two boys in
the middle of the party and held on to them tightly.

"We got the rebels an' we'll get the reward," said one.

"Yes, the gals an' the other rebels won't be able to find the house, and
they can hunt all they like."

It was a sharp decline to the river, down the lane, and one of the men
stumbled and rolled several yards, picking himself up with a grunt and a
groan and a lot of bad language, and then hurrying after the rest. Dick
heard the swash of the water on the gravel bank, and then saw the river
itself dimly, but in another moment some dark object loomed up before
him, and then he and Bob were taken into a house, the front of which was
much lower than the back on account of the steepness of the hank. The
boys were taken to the front and then down a flight of steps to a room
in the rear, where they were left in the dark, the door being locked and
barred on the outside.

"Who are these fellows, do you suppose, Dick?" asked Bob, when they were
left alone.

"I don't know. Tories, no doubt, or just men who want the reward offered
for my capture."

"But there is none offered for me," with a laugh. "Why should they take
me with them?"

"To keep you from giving the alarm. They would have taken the girls if
they had thought twice."

"But will the girls be able to show them the way?"

"They can take them to where we were attacked, and after that the boys
will follow the trail. Mark is a good hand at that sort of thing, and he
will have good boys to help him."

"Yes, they would all turn out and join in the hunt if he asked them,"
declared Bob.

"But there is no use in our staying in the dark, Bob," said Dick. "You
have matches with you?"

"Yes. They did not search us and I have matches, and my pistols and
everything."

Bob then lighted a sulphur match, the only kind in use at the time, and
looked about him. They were in a room with one door but no windows, and
were evidently unde