et they could not have been more disconcerted. What did they
know about Kentucky, if they had to be put through a series of
cross-questions by a native! But there was no reason, after all, why the
Major should dwell on the subject.

"I thought Mrs. Page said you belonged to a Virginia regiment," exclaimed
Macgreggor, almost involuntarily.

"So I do," replied the Major, "but I only settled in Virginia two years
ago. I was born and bred in Kentucky, and there's no state like it--now is
there?"

"No!" cried the trio, with a well-feigned attempt at enthusiasm. They felt
that they were treading on dangerous ground, and resolved to play their
parts as well as they could.

"Do you all come from the same part of Kentucky?" queried the Major, as he
sat down on a chair, evidently prepared for a pleasant chat.

"From Fleming County," said Watson carelessly, quite as if he knew every
other county in the State. "I fear, sir, we must be moving on towards
Chattanooga. We are in a hurry to enlist, and we have already been delayed
too long."

The Major completely ignored the latter part of this sentence. "From
Fleming County," he said. "Well, that's pleasant news. I know Fleming
County like a book. There is where my father lived and died. What part of
the county do you come from?"

Had the Major asked them to tell the area of the United States in square
inches he could not have propounded a more puzzling question.

"Dunder and blitzen;" thought Watson. "If I only knew more of Kentucky
geography I might get myself out of this scrape."

"We come from the southeastern part of the county," said Macgreggor, after
an awkward pause.

"Near what town?"

Another pause. Oh, for the name of a town in the southeastern part of
Fleming County, Kentucky. The Major was looking at the visitors curiously.
Why this sudden reticence on their part?

At last Watson spoke up, although evasively. "We were a long distance from
any town; we worked on adjoining farms, and when the call to arms came we
determined to rush to the rescue of our beloved Southland."

The Major gave Watson one searching look. "Humph!" said he, "that's all
very pretty, and I'm glad you are so patriotic--but that won't do. What is
the nearest town to the places you live in?"

The name of Carlisle flashed through Watson's mind. He recalled that it
was somewhere in the part of Kentucky in which Fleming County was
situated. A man he knew had once lived there. He would risk i