up she stays.
That's me."

"And will you continue to march and drill under it, now that we have a
flag of our own?" demanded Rodney.

"That also depends. If the other boys drill under it and march after it,
I will. In fact, I don't know but I shall do it any way, whether the
others do or not. I don't know what you mean when you speak of a flag of
our own. I don't recognize that thing you are carrying over your
shoulder. The old flag is my flag, and will be as long as Missouri stays
in the Union. I don't see the least use in rushing things. You and your
friends are taking a good deal upon yourselves when you presume to act
in advance of the State."

"Well, you see what the business men of Barrington think of the
situation, don't you? That notice in the post-office looks and sounds
mighty innocent, but reading between the lines--"

"So you read between the lines!" exclaimed Dick. "I did the same, and I
tell you that that Committee of Safety is a fraud. Bud Goble has been
carrying tales about some innocent men whom, for personal reasons, he
does not like, and Mr. Riley and a few other hotheads are trying to find
some excuse for driving them out of town. There'll be outrages here the
first thing you know and they will be committed under cover of that
business men's meeting, and with the connivance of those whose names are
signed to that list."

"Do you mean to say that all those prominent men are such ruffians?"
cried Rodney, in great excitement. "Why didn't you say as much when you
were talking to Mr. Riley? You dared not do it."

"I didn't think of it; but I will wait here while you run back and tell
him."

Dick looked sharply at his companion as he said this, and was surprised
to see the usually self-possessed Rodney turn as red as a beet. It was
plain that he had been touched in some tender spot by these chance
words.

"What's he been up to?" was the question Dick Graham propounded to
himself. "If I had known that I was going to hit him as hard as that, I
wouldn't have said a word. He has been doing something sneaking, and I
did not think that of Rodney Gray." Then aloud he said: "I didn't mean
to hint that you would do such a thing, but you have been about
half-wild during the last few weeks, and I don't believe you know all
the time what you are doing."

"Well, if I'm crazy, I have the satisfaction of knowing that there are a
good many like me in the South," replied Rodney, with a light laugh; and
he utte