make another dash.

By this time Hippy had him by the collar.

"Oh, fiddlesticks! All this scare for a black nightmare," groaned Emma.

"Stop that racket!" commanded Hippy. "Is any one chasing you?"

"Ah--Ah doan know. Ah--Ah reckons de debbil hisself am chasing me. Ah--"

"Pull yourself together and tell us what happened to you," directed
Grace as Lieutenant Wingate led the trembling lad up to them.

"He got me, he did."

"Who got you?" interjected Miss Briggs.

"Ah doan know. He kotched me an' Ah yelled--"

"He yelled? How unusual," muttered Emma.

"Den--den he put er hand ovah ma mouth an' gib me er clip on de haid,"
continued Washington excitedly. "Ah doan knows nothin' moah till Ah
wakes up. Dey was talkin' 'bout dat time."

"Who was talking?" interrupted Hippy.

"Dis heah niggah doan know nothin' 'bout dat. Dey was talkin', an' den
Ah jest jumps up--an' den Ah jumps up an runs away."

"How did you find your way here?" asked Anne.

"That is what I have been wondering," nodded Grace.

"Ah didn'. A feller kotched me when Ah runned, an' held mah mouf shut
so Ah couldn't holler. Den he-all fotched me heah. Den he gib me er kick
an' says, 'Gwine on, yuh lazy niggah, but look out fer de guns. Dem
folks kin shoot.' Dat's why Ah hollered when Ah kim inter de camp,"
finished Washington.

"Did you recognize any of the men who took you away from here?"
questioned Miss Briggs.

Washington shook his curly head.

"Did you know the man who brought you back?" asked Grace.

"Ah did not. Who yuh reckons he was?"

"That is what we are trying to find out," Hippy informed him. "Would you
know the man were you to see him again?"

"Ah didn' see him nohow. Ah felt him, Ah did, an' Ah feels him yit, Ah
does."

"No need to question him," laughed Grace. "His militant friend was
rather violent, it appears. Washington, get your blanket and lie down
here near the tents. The camp is being guarded and you will be perfectly
safe. The others had better turn in also, and get what rest they can. It
now lacks only about two hours to daylight, and we shall be able to make
an early start, now that Washington is here."

"Yes, he's here, but he would not be here if I had not con-centrated on
him," spoke up Emma Dean.

"For the love of goodness, drop that piffle!" begged Hippy wearily. "We
have enough serious matters on hand to think about without having to
listen to prattle. Laundry, did you know that Miss Dean had been
'con