ng to do?"

"I am going to get my men in position to carry out my orders, which are
to protect property," answered the captain. "I shall put a guard around
the house of every Union man in town."

"Why, Captain," exclaimed Mr. Riley. "You don't pretend to say that--"

"I don't pretend to say anything but this," interrupted the captain.
"When the houses of two Union men, situated more than a mile apart, get
on fire at the same time, and no bells are rung, and the engines can't
work because they are out of order, and a big crowd like this stands
about without lifting a finger to save anything when all these things
happen, it makes me suspect that there are firebugs around, and that
they are after Union men and nobody else. At any rate I shall act on
that suspicion. These muskets are loaded with ball, and if any one
attempts to apply a match to a building in the presence of my guards,
he'll get hurt."

"Three cheers for Captain Wilson," shouted some Union boys in the
ranks.

"Silence!" commanded the captain. He was angry enough to put that boy
under arrest, but not foolish enough to try to find out who he was. He
knew by past experience that the students would not tell tales on one
another.

The captain was as good as his word. Paying no attention to the protests
of the different members of the committee who gathered about him, the
details were quickly made, and so it came about that Dixon and five
others, including a non-commissioned officer, found themselves guarding
Mr. Bailey's store. Another and much larger squad was sent down the road
at double time to see what they could do to assist Elder Bowen.

"Go up that by-path a piece, Dixon," said the corporal, as he stepped
upon the porch that ran in front of old man Bailey's door. "Keep your
eye peeled for fire-bugs, and if you see--"

"Hey, there!" shouted a voice from the inside of the store. "Get off
that porch."

"On the watch, are you?" replied the corporal. "Well, we'll watch too,
if you will give us some candy to eat while we are doing it. Come out
and see the Union men burn up. It will be your turn next."

Mr. Bailey was astonished--at least the corporal thought he was, for he
heard him talking to himself as he stumbled around in the dark searching
for a jar of candy. The old man had not looked for anything like this.
Being on the watch he knew when the fire in town broke out, and
believing that Bud Goble was at work, he began patroling his store with
h