d. Let us hope
the skies will be brighter by that time--that to be one of Morgan's men
will not be a badge of dishonor, even in the North."

"Oh, Calhoun, if I could only hope! I will hope. Come to me after the war
is over. Father's consent may be won. But now the prison, the prison. I
must save you. I have thought it all out."

"How can you save me, a poor, weak mortal, who cannot take a step without
help?" asked Calhoun.

"Put you in a carriage to-morrow night and take you where they cannot find
you."

"So soon? The Doctor said he would ask for two weeks. Two more weeks with
you, Joyce--I could afford to go to prison for that."

"Don't talk foolishly. I feel if I don't get you away to-morrow night, I
cannot at all."

"But you--will it endanger you, Joyce?"

"Not at all!"

"But how will you explain my disappearance?"

"Suppose you have been shamming, better than we thought you were, and so
you gave us the slip."

"A right mean trick," said Calhoun.

"No, a Yankee trick, a real good one. Now listen, Calhoun, and I will tell
you all about how I am going to get you away. Some six miles from here a
colored man lives whom my father has greatly befriended. He will do
anything for me I ask. I shall tell him you are a sick soldier, and for
good reasons wish to remain in hiding until you get well."

"Will he know I am one of Morgan's men?" asked Calhoun.

"No, he will think you are a Federal soldier. Calhoun, as much as you may
hate it, you must don the Union Blue."

"That would make a spy of me. No, it wouldn't either, if I kept clear of
any military post."

"That's good. I have a Federal uniform in the house, which will about fit
you. A friendless soldier died here a short time ago. We took him in and
cared for him during his last sickness. He had been discharged for wounds
received at Fair Oaks. Here is the discharge. I think it fits you close
enough, so it may be of use to you."

She handed him the discharge; he took it and read: "James Brown, age
nineteen; height five feet nine inches; weight one hundred and sixty
pounds; complexion dark; hair and eyes black."

"Why, Joyce, with that in my pocket, and wearing a Federal uniform, I
could travel anywhere in the North."

"So I thought. We will cheat that old prison yet. But it is time you were
asleep."

"God bless you, Joyce," replied Calhoun. "Give me a kiss before you go."

She smiled and threw him one as she went out and he had to be content with