thing you know he'll be out behind a cedar bush with a
shotgun loaded with slugs, waitin' to make a lead mine o' some feller
wearin' blue clothes. You see him before he does you, and he'll swear
that he was out after the crows that's bin pullin' up his corn. He'll
take' the oath of allegiance like it was a dram of old apple-jack, and
tears'll come into his eyes at the sight o' the Old Flag, which he and
his'n has always loved. He'll go ahead plowin' and grubbin' sprouts
and tendin' his cattle till the fit comes on him agin to go gunnin' for
bluecoats, and off he is, to go through the whole performance agin.
You kin never tell how long his loosid interval will last, nor when the
fit's comin' on him. Mebbe the changes o' the moon's somethin' to do
with it. Mebbe it's somethin' that they eat, like what the cattle eat
out West that makes 'em go crazy."

"Will the guerrillas begin shootin' at us as soon's we cross the river?"

"Can't tell. Guerrillas's like the nose-bleed--likely to come on you at
any time. They're jest where you find 'em--that's when they're jumpin'
you.. When they aint jumpin' you, they're lawabiding Union citizens,
entitled to the protection o' the laws and to draw rations from the
Commissary. To make no mistake, you want to play every man in citizen's
clothes south of the Ohio River for a rebel. And when you don't see him,
you want to be surer than ever, for then he's layin' for you."

Si came up at this moment with orders for them to pick up and go down to
the ferry, and the lively hustle shut off Shorty's stream of information
for the time being. The boys swarmed on to the bow of the ferry-boat,
where they could scrutinize and devour with eager eyes the fateful shore
of Kentucky.

"Don't look so very different from the Indiana side," said Harry Joslyn,
as they neared the wharf. "Same kind o' wharf-boats and same kind o' men
on 'em."

"That's because we've taken 'em and have our own men there," replied Gid
Mackall. "It'll all be different when we git ashore and further into the
State."

"Wasn't expecting nothing else," said Albert Grimes. "I've been watchin'
the Sargint and Corpril, and they're acting just as if it was every
day bizniss. I'm not going to expect anything till I see them lookin'
serious."

They landed and walked to the depot through the streets of Louisville,
which were also disappointingly like those they had seen elsewhere, with
the stores open and people going about their busin