iles, I should say, if it's a foot. The first question is--where are we
to get a boat? I should think that some of these farmhouses are sure to
have boats, but the chances are they have been seized by the Yankees
long ago. Still they may have some laid up. The Yanks would not have
made much search for these, though they would no doubt take all the
larger boats for the use of the troops or for getting stores ashore.
Anyhow, I will go to the next farmhouse and ask."

"Shall I go, sah?"

"No, Tony, they would probably take you for a runaway. No, I will go.
There can be no danger. The men are all away, and the women are sure to
be loyal. I fancy the few who were the other way before will have
changed their minds since the Yanks landed."

They followed the bank of the river for a quarter of a mile, and then
Vincent walked on to a small farmhouse standing on the slope fifty yards
from the water. Two or three children, who were playing outside, at once
ran in upon seeing a stranger, and a moment later two women came out.
They were somewhat reassured when they saw Vincent approaching alone.

"What is it, stranger?" one of them asked. "Do you want a meal? We have
got little enough to offer you, but what there is you are welcome to.
The Yanks have driven off our cows and pigs and the two horses, and have
emptied the barns, and pulled up all the garden stuff, and stole the
fowls, and carried off the bacon from the beams, so we have got but an
empty larder. But, as far as bread and molasses go, you are welcome."

"Thank you," Vincent said; "I am not in want of food. What I am in want
of is a boat."

"Boat!" the woman repeated in surprise.

"Yes, I want to get across to the other side, or else to get up the
river and land between Petersburg and Bermuda."

"Sakes alive!" the woman exclaimed; "what do you want to do that for?"

"I will tell you," Vincent replied. "I know I can trust my life to any
woman in the Confederacy. I am one of General Wade Hampton's officers,
and I have come through their lines to find out what they are doing. I
have been caught once, but managed to slip through their hands, but
there is no possibility of making my way back across the country, for
the Yankee cavalry are patrolling every road, and the only chance I have
is of getting away by boat."

"Step right in, sir," the woman said. "It's a real pleasure to us to
have one of our officers under our roof."

"I have a friend with me," Vincent said;