. The sort of your brown horse
is kind'er uncommon up along there, and they'd spot _him_ if they didn't
spot you, and you'd never get to look like a citizen--not if you was to
shave and wear a wig. There's no two words about it: it ain't to be
done."

I believe the man intended to gild the pill with a rough compliment; in
any case, I was bound to swallow it. There was no sort of contract
between us, nor any promise of remuneration; I only rode by sufferance
in that company. I felt, too, that he was right: it would be very
difficult for any Englishman--drilled or undrilled--to disguise himself
as a Virginia cattle-dealer, so that keen native eyes could not detect
the travestie. I do not think I should have pressed the point, even had
I been in a position to do so; as it was, I yielded with good grace,
only begging my late companions to let me have the earliest information
as to the route, if they succeeded in getting through. This they readily
promised; so, with the concurrence of the good Walter, I determined to
fall back, for the present, on my original "base," with the consoling
reflection that I was only imitating the most renowned Federal
commanders.

All this was scarcely settled, when our host hurried in--rather a blank
look on his bold face--to say that one of his contrabands had just come
in, after an absence of two hours: he had taken one of his master's
horses without leave, and absolutely declined to state where, or why, he
had gone. As 1,800 Federals, including a regiment of cavalry, occupied
Poolsville--only six miles off--it was easy to guess in what direction
the "colored person" had wandered. There was no time for argument, and
even chastisement was reserved for a more fitting season: in fifteen
minutes more, we had ridden swiftly across the cleared lands, and with
Hoyle for our pilot, were winding through the ravines and glades of the
White Grounds. The day was dull and cloudy: so, having no sun to guide
us, we, the strangers, speedily lost all idea of direction; even Walter,
the confident, owned himself fairly puzzled. But our host led on at a
steady pace, never pausing to consult landmarks or memory; evidently
every bush and brake was familiar to him; there was not the ghost of a
track, but we seemed generally to follow the winding of a rapid, shallow
stream, up whose channel we often scrambled for forty yards or more.

We had na ridden a league, a league,
O' leagues but barely three,

wh