e of
his father, and concluded that, after the surrender, he must have gone at
once to Kentucky, expecting his son to come there by another way.

But the reports of Slade and Skelly were so numerous and so sinister that
they made a complete change of plan. The colonels, St. Clair and Langdon,
would not try to go direct to South Carolina, but the whole party would
cling together, ride to Kentucky, and then those who lived farther south
could return home chiefly by rail. It seemed, on the whole, much the
wiser way, and, curving back a little to the north, they entered by and
by the high mountains on the line between Virginia and Kentucky. Other
returning soldiers had joined them and their party now numbered thirty
brave, well-armed men.

They entered Kentucky at a point near the old Wilderness Road, and,
from a lofty crest, looked down upon a sea of ridges, heavy with green
forest, and narrow valleys between, in which sparkled brooks or little
rivers. The hearts of Harry and Dick beat high. They were going home.
What awaited them at Pendleton? Neither had heard from the town or
anybody in it for a long time. Anticipation was not unmingled with
anxiety.

Two days later they entered a valley, and when they stopped at noon for
their usual rest Harry Kenton rode some distance up a creek, thinking
that he might rouse a deer out of the underbrush. Although the country
looked extremely wild and particularly suited to game, he found none,
but unwilling to give up he continued the hunt, riding much farther than
he was aware.

He was just thinking of the return, when he heard a rustling in a thicket
to his right, and paused, thinking that it might be the deer he wanted.
Instead, a gigantic figure with thick black hair and beard rose up in the
bush. Harry uttered a startled exclamation. It was Skelly, and beside
him stood a little man with an evil face, hidden partly by an enormous
flap-brimmed hat. Both carried rifles, and before Harry could take his
own weapon from his shoulder Skelly fired. Harry's horse threw up his
head in alarm, and the bullet, instead of hitting the rider, took the
poor animal in the brain.

As the horse fell, Harry sprang instinctively and alighted upon his feet,
although he staggered. Then Slade pulled trigger, and a searing, burning
pain shot through his left shoulder. Dizzy and weak he raised his rifle,
nevertheless, and fired at the hairy face of the big man. He saw the
huge figure t