on and answer, as the Brownie
soldiers swiftly fell into line of battle.

"Where is the Captain?" asked Lieutenant MacWhirlie, saluting
Acting-Adjutant Bright.

"At the picket line I believe, Sir," answered Bright, "looking after the
cause of the alarm. Ah! here comes the Sergeant of the guard. Why--in
Heaven's name, Vigilant, what's the matter?"

"Captain--Bruce--is--gone!" said the Sergeant, jerking out the words
between sobs.

"Gone--what do you mean?" cried both officers at once. The story was
soon told. The Captain had disappeared as mysteriously as the two
privates. Lieutenant MacWhirlie after a brief consultation with the
officers issued the following order: "Let the soldiers be informed of
everything. Appeal to their honor, loyalty, courage and good sense.
Dismiss them to their quarters, and bid them sleep upon their arms.
Come, Sergeant, lead the way to the picket line."

[Illustration: FIGS. 113, 114, 115 and 116.--"Tucked Within the Folds of
Rolled Leaves or Curled Birch Bark." (Furrow Spiders.)]

Accompanied by Vigilant, the Lieutenant strode away, having sent back
his pony to the corral. The men of the guard were still scattered
throughout the neighborhood looking for traces of their lost commander
and comrades. They were recalled by a bugle. There was nothing to
report.

Meanwhile MacWhirlie carefully examined the premises. The open space in
front of the mysterious picket post ended in a low ridge which ran for
some distance in either direction, and was covered with grass intermixed
with tufts of moss and ferns. Beyond that and toward Camp Lawe the ridge
was covered with a growth of young bushes. It was close up to this ridge
that the lost pickets had been stationed.

"Did you observe the position of the men?" asked MacWhirlie.

"Not of the first one," answered the Sergeant. "But the second was
stationed here. So also was the Captain. They both stood with their
faces toward the plain--outward. I watched them both from a distance,
after I had left them. The Captain paced up and down, just there along
the ridge, keeping his eyes toward the enemy's camp. He made a half face
outward, so to speak, as he walked."

"Outward? You are quite sure of that?"

"Quite."

"Very well. I shall take this post now. You will form the entire guard
in a circle enclosing this spot."

"How far away, Sir?"

"Just far enough to have me well in sight. Let the men pace their beats
as ordinary sentinels, keeping eac