t through the mountains.

The state of affairs in Chattanooga during this siege had grown rapidly
from bad to worse. The first thing to give out was fresh meats, for the
Confederate cavalry leader, Wheeler, raided the country for miles around
Chattanooga and gathered in all of the animals in sight. Next, the
fodder ran short, and horses and mules dropped in the streets, and whole
detachments of regiments were kept busy burying the beasts, to prevent
the spread of disease. And now rations were scarce, and not a man of the
whole Army of the Cumberland had had a square meal for a week or over.

And yet, to Major Deck Lyon, this was not the worst feature of the
long-to-be-remembered siege. On the day following the retreat to the
city proper an ambulance had been procured and Captain Artie had been
brought in, as carefully as possible, and taken to the house formerly
occupied by the Greenes. Rosebel Greene and Miss Pomeroy had come in
with the wounded captain, the former feeling it her duty to nurse the
young man, because of what Deck had done for her, and the aunt saying
she would not remain at the farmhouse alone, and because she was curious
to see if Rosebel would really find the money hidden in the cellar, as
the dead brother had mentioned.

The money had been found intact, and then hidden again, for there was no
telling what might happen in those troublesome times. Artie had stood
the journey fairly well, and was put in the best room the house
afforded.

During these days the Riverlawns had been kept busy in the vicinity of
Camp Thomas, some twenty-eight miles out of the city. Here one day they
had had a fierce brush with Forrest, and when it was over it was
discovered that Colonel Lyon was missing.

The discovery had caused a shock to Deck, and without delay he had
organized a searching party, to learn if his father was killed, wounded,
or a prisoner of the enemy. The search had lasted until nearly midnight
and the gallant colonel had been found, lying partly under his horse,
the latter dead, and the colonel shot through the head and unconscious.

As Artie was at Rosebel Greene's house, it was but natural that Deck
should take his father to the same place, since the regular hospitals in
Chattanooga were crowded far beyond their capacity. The colonel was
placed in a chamber adjoining that of his foster-son, and Rosebel and
Miss Pomeroy became his nurses, Deck promising to pay them handsomely
for whatever was done.