cent was able without difficulty to have Dan
assigned to his party. A house in the village was placed at their
disposal, and here the five off duty slept and took their meals while
the others were in the saddle. Dan was quite in his element, and turned
out an excellent cook, and was soon a general favorite among the mess.

CHAPTER VI.

BULL RUN.

The next fortnight passed by without adventure. Hard as the work was,
Vincent enjoyed it thoroughly. When on duty by day he was constantly on
the move, riding through the forest, following country lanes,
questioning everyone he came across; and as the men always worked in
pairs, there was no feeling of loneliness. Sometimes Ashley would draw
together a score of troopers, and crossing the river in a ferry-boat,
would ride twenty miles north, and dashing into quiet villages, astonish
the inhabitants by the sight of the Confederate uniform. Then the
villagers would be questioned as to the news that had reached them of
the movements of the troops; the post-office would be seized and the
letters broken open; any useful information contained in them being
noted. But in general questions were readily answered; for a
considerable portion of the people of Maryland were strongly in favor of
the South, and were only prevented from joining it by the strong force
that held possession of Baltimore, and by the constant movement of
Federal armies through the State. Vincent was often employed in carrying
dispatches from Major Ashley to Stuart, being selected for that duty as
being the best mounted man in the troop. The direction was always a
vague one. "Take this letter to Colonel Stuart, wherever he may be," and
however early he started, Vincent thought himself fortunate if he
carried out his mission before sunset; for Stuart's front covered over
fifty miles of ground, and there was no saying where he might be.
Sometimes, after riding thirty or forty miles, and getting occasional
news that Stuart had passed through ahead of him, he would learn from
some outpost that the colonel had been there but ten minutes before, and
had ridden off before he came, and then Vincent had to turn his horse
and gallop back again, seldom succeeding in overtaking his active
commander until the latter had halted for his supper at one or other of
the villages where his men were stationed. Sometimes by good luck he
came upon him earlier, and then, after reading the dispatch, Stuart
would, if he were riding