aptain
rose from the ground, and glanced in the direction of the enemy's
pickets.

"The most unhappy result I could conceive of would be your continuing
this bad practice of telling big stories," replied Somers, standing up by
the side of his companion.

"No more; you add insult to injury, Somers."

"Really, captain, you injure yourself by this habit, and----"

Captain de Banyan, at this point of the conversation, suddenly turned
round, and sprang upon the lieutenant, bearing him to the ground before
the latter could even make a movement in self-defense. Together they
rolled upon the earth, at the foot of the tree whose sheltering branches
had protected them from the intense heat of the sun. Somers, as the
reader already knows, was bold and belligerent before an attack; and, on
the impulse of the moment, he proceeded to repel the sharp assault of his
companion.

"If you fight a duel in that way, I am ready to take part in it," said
he, his face red with anger. "Let go of me!"

"With pleasure, my dear boy," replied De Banyan, edging away from him.

"What do you mean by pitching into me in that way?" demanded Somers
angrily.

"I have been trying this half hour to teach you a useful lesson; but you
don't know who your best friends are."

"I think I do. Some of them tell the truth sometimes."

"Somers!" said the captain sternly.

"Captain de Banyan!" replied the lieutenant firmly.

"Do you see that hole in the tree?" continued Captain de Banyan, pointing
to a fresh bullet-mark.

"I do."

"I only pulled you down to keep that rifle-ball from going through your
head. I saw a rebel picket through the trees, ready to fire at us. The
ball struck the tree before we struck the ground."

"Forgive me, captain. I did not understand the movement," replied Somers,
extending his hand.

"With all my heart," replied the captain, taking the proffered hand. "We
don't always know who our best friends are."

"Perhaps not; but I know that you are one of my best friends. You have
just given me another reason for wishing you did not----" Somers
hesitated, not thinking it exactly fair to reproach his companion for his
vile habit, after he had rendered him such a signal service.

"Lie," added De Banyan, finishing the sentence.

"Perhaps it isn't exactly lying; you don't mean to deceive any one. At
the worst, they are only white lies. Now, captain, don't you think you
exaggerate sometimes?"

"Well, perhaps I do; my memory