hin, and lifting it,
looked into his eyes. Bob shivered and a sob escaped him.

The Major placed his hand firmly on his knee. "Why, you are wringing
wet," he said, aloud. "I wonder you are not frozen to death." He rose
and stripped off his coat. "Here, get into this;" and before the boy
knew it the Major had bundled him into his coat, and rolled up the
sleeves so that Bob could use his hands. The action attracted the
attention of the rest of the group, and several of the soldiers offered
to take the boy and give him dry clothes.

"No, sir," laughed the Major; "this boy is a rebel. Do you think he
will wear one of your Yankee suits? He's a little major, and I'm going
to give him a major's uniform."

In a minute he had stripped off his trousers, and was helping Bob into
them, standing himself in his underclothes in the icy air. The legs
were twice too long for the boy, and the waist came up to his arm-pits.

"Now go home to your mother," said the Major, laughing at his
appearance; "and some of you fellows get me some clothes or a blanket.
I'll wear your Yankee uniform out of sheer necessity."

Bob trotted around, keeping as far away from the light of the
camp-fires as possible. He soon found himself unobserved, and reaching
the shadow of a line of huts, and keeping well in it, he came to the
edge of the camp. He watched his opportunity, and when the sentry's
back was turned he slipped out into the darkness. In an instant he was
flying down the hill. The heavy clothes impeded him, and he stopped
only long enough to snatch them off and roll them into a bundle, and
sped on his way again. He struck the main road, and was running down
it as fast as his legs could carry him, when he suddenly found himself
almost on a group of dark objects who were standing in the road just in
front of him. One of them moved. It was the picket. He had forgotten
all about them. Bob suddenly stopped. His heart was in his throat.

[Illustration: Bob trotted around, keeping as far away from the light
of the camp-fires as possible.]

"Who goes there?" said a stern voice. Bob's heart beat as if it would
spring out of his body.

"Come in; we have you," said the man, advancing.

Bob sprang across the ditch beside the road, and putting his hand on
the top rail of the low fence, flung himself over it, bundle and all,
flat on the other side, just as a blaze of light burst from the picket,
and the report of a carbine startled t