ant reverie was disturbed by
a sound behind and near him, and turning quickly he was startled to see
three soldiers in the road along which the troops first seen were
advancing. The fact that these men had not been noticed before gave Rose
some uneasiness for a moment; but as they wore blue uniforms, and
moreover seemed to take no note of the approaching Federal troops, all
things seemed to indicate that they were simply an advanced detail of
the same body. This seemed to be further confirmed by the fact that the
trio were now moving down the road, apparently with the intent of
joining the larger body; and as the ground to the east rose to a crest,
both of the bodies were a minute later shut off from Rose's view.

In the full confidence that all was right he rose to his feet and walked
toward the crest to get a better view of everything and greet his
comrades of the loyal blue. A walk of a hundred yards brought him again
in sight of the three men, who now noticed and challenged him.

In spite of appearances a vague suspicion forced itself upon Rose, who,
however, obeyed the summons and continued to approach the party, who now
watched him with fixed attention. As he came closer to the group, the
brave but unfortunate soldier saw that he was lost.

For the first time the three seemed to be made aware of the approach of
the Federals, and to show consequent alarm and haste. The unhappy Rose
saw before the men spoke that their blue uniform was a disguise, and the
discovery brought a savage expression to his lips. He hoped and tried to
convince his captors that he was a Confederate, but all in vain; they
retained him as their prisoner, and now told him that they were
Confederates. Rose, in the first bitter moment of his misfortune,
thought seriously of breaking away to his friends so temptingly near;
but his poor broken foot and the slender chance of escaping three
bullets at a few yards made this suicide, and he decided to wait for a
better chance, and this came sooner than he expected.

One of the men appeared to be an officer, who detailed one of his
companions to conduct Rose to the rear in the direction of Richmond. The
prisoner went quietly with his guard, the other two men tarried a little
to watch the advancing Federals, and now Rose began to limp like a man
who was unable to go farther. Presently the ridge shut them off from the
view of the others. Rose, who had slyly been staggering closer and
closer to the guard