ath the loyal soldier dies, but we save the
rope for traitors."

"The editor's pen was so mad it stuttered when it wrote this rambling
article," thought Marcy. "It couldn't talk straight. If he owned about
fifty thousand dollars' worth of houses in these parts, he would not
write so glibly about hanging Union men. Now, let us see what sort of
language he used in denouncing the raid that was made upon our house."

He looked the paper through without finding any reference to it, but
that was no more than he expected. The outrages of every description
that were perpetrated upon Union people during the days of the war, by
"loyal Southern gentlemen," were of so common occurrence, and of so
little consequence besides, that they were never mentioned in the
newspapers. The oft-expressed verdict was that Unionists had no rights
that any white man was bound to respect.

"If our house had been burned and everybody in it hanged, this rebel
sheet would not have said a word against it." thought Marcy, shoving the
paper into his pocket and starting up his horse. "Mark Goodwin says that
these things have got to be stopped now, which means that Beardsley and
Shelby will set something else afoot as soon as they return from the
Island. Now, let us see what it will be. Shall I show this paper to
mother, or not?"

This was the question that Marcy pondered during his ride, and the
conclusion he came to was that his mother had as much right to know the
worst as he had to know it himself; so he handed out the paper as soon
as he reached home, and rode on to the field to see how his small force
was getting on with the work he had assigned it.

Then came several days of suspense that were hard to bear. Beardsley and
Shelby came home as soon as they heard of the loss they had sustained,
but what they had to say, and what they made up their minds to do about
it, never came to Marcy's ears. They did not take the trouble to call
upon Mrs. Gray. Evidently they did not think it worth while, because she
could not restore to them the property they had lost; but others, who
had roofs that they wanted to keep over their heads, came every day or
two, although they did not bring much news that was worth hearing. About
all Marcy learned was that Beardsley and his companion had returned
filled with martial ardor, that they were working night and day to send
recruits to Roanoke Island, although they did not show any signs of
going back there themselv