ntelligence that he
had found the whereabouts of the former, but had been able to discover no
traces of the latter.

A consultation was held as to what should be done, but opinions were
divided. At this juncture Mr. Mandeville, who had manifested but little
interest in the affair until now, and who was not apprised of the
individuality of the persons they were after, seemed suddenly to become
himself again, and taking in the whole subject at a glance, threw in his
opinion to the following effect:

"The horse being found as stated in the letter, we have every reason to
believe that the thief is not far off; and as the beast cannot live without
food, at some time during the day the thief, who is, doubtless, secreted
somewhere about the vicinity of the horse, will come out to feed him. I
think all we need to do is to hide ourselves near the animal and wait for
the fellow to appear."

This advice was at once adopted, and moving forward under the 'Squire's
guidance as noiselessly as Indians, the whole party secreted themselves in
ambush, within shooting distance of the horse, which was hid away in a
thicket of bushes so nicely, that it was a mere accident the 'Squire
discovered him. Here they remained in whispered silence for several hours,
until some time in the afternoon, and were about to despair of seeing the
culprit, when their attention was directed by Mr. Mandeville, who had kept
a sharp look out, to a man descending from a thick, bushy topped tree. He
was a good way off, and they could not distinguish his features; but he
paused and looked around in all directions, as if to satisfy himself that
there was no one near to observe his motions; then going to a large tree,
and taking another look around to be sure of safety, he removed some bark
from its base, which was very dextrously fitted to its place, and revealed
a large hollow caused by the decay of the inner portions of the tree, from
which he drew forth a bag of oats, and, cautiously approaching the horse,
gave him a mess.

"Now is our time!" whispered the 'Squire. "Two of you go on either side so
as to cut off his retreat, while Mandeville and I march directly upon him.
You, Jake, look out for, and take charge of the horse. Move rapidly, but
with as little noise as possible. Strike out!"

With the concluding words all five rose from their hiding-place and
proceeded to execute the parts assigned them.

Duffel, whose senses were quickened by fear, heard the b