ery well, both of you, that if you were caught,
and your mission understood, you would be hung or shot without benefit
of clergy," said General Woodbine impressively.

"We shall come back, and with the information you want, in forty-eight
hours," replied Deck confidently.

"Do you intend to go over in the full uniform of a staff-officer?"
inquired the general.

"I think not, sir. If you will leave the matter to Life and me, we will
manage all the details."

"Very well; you will perhaps find my command at Burkesville when you
return," added the general, rising from his seat at the table; and
taking the hands of the scouts, he wished them a safe return, and they
left the tent.

They walked back to the shanty of Cuffy, and found him seated in his
kitchen. Not a word was said to Major Lyon about the enterprise of his
son; and Deck could not bid good-by to his father, his brother, or to
the many friends he had in the squadron. Both of them were in uniform,
and they had no difficulty in passing the guards.

Cuffy was not only a ferryman, but a river-driver. He made a business
of picking up whatever floated down the stream, not excepting the dead
bodies of men and horses, the former for their clothing and whatever
their pockets contained, and the latter for the saddles and bridles on
them. He buried the bodies of the men in a pit he had made for the
purpose, drying and storing in his house portions of their clothing.

It required a good deal of talking and a handsome reward to induce the
ferryman to exhibit his stock of clothing; but from it the scouts took
what they needed; and were soon clothed in rusty and damaged
Confederate uniforms of privates. They bargained for the use for two
days of Cuffy's boat, and embarked about midnight on their mission. The
Cumberland was still in a turbulent condition; but Deck had seen enough
of the stream to enable him to avoid the dangerous places. At the point
where Deck and Fronklyn had landed, they had a hard battle with the
raging current; but the skill of the lieutenant and the strength of
Life carried them safely through the peril.

At daylight in the morning, they discovered a creek flowing into the
river from the south side. They pulled up this stream five or six miles
till the shallow water interrupted their further progress. They
concealed the boat very carefully, and then proceeded on foot up the
stream till they came to a house, more elaborate than most of the
dwellings