the rest of the night and
walk home in the morning, when he was startled by hearing a low,
familiar whistle, something like the chirp of a cricket, a short
distance away. He listened until the sound was repeated, and then called
out, in a husky voice:

"Julius!"

"Hi ya!" came the answer through the darkness; and Marcy thought he had
never heard anything half so melodious as the black boy's laugh. "I done
tol' dat fool niggah he didn't know nuffin, but he won't listen to
Julius. Eberybody take Julius for a plum dunce; but I done fine you,
Marse Mahcy, an' dere's dat Morris----"

"Where are you?" interrupted the boy. "Come here and tell me what you
mean, and what brought you here so far from home."

"Nuffin didn't brung me hyar; I jes done come," replied Julius; and a
slight splashing in the water indicated that he was in a boat, and that
he was pushing off from the bank in the direction from which Marcy's
voice sounded. "Dat fool Morris, he take de mu-el an' de filly an' done
gone to Nashville lookin' for you; but I know you aint gwine come home
dat a way fru all dem rebel soldiers, an' so I come hyar."

"And very glad I am to see you," answered Marcy, laying hold of the side
of the dugout that just then bumped against his skiff. "You came here to
meet me while Morris went to Nashville with my horse. How did you know I
was coming home to-night?"

"Well, de missus say you boun' to come mighty soon, now dat de Yankees
done cotch Plymouth, an' so I come hyar," replied Julius. "Howdy, Marse
Mahcy!"

The latter replied that he felt pretty well but hungry, although he had
just finished a hearty lunch. Julius had been thoughtful enough to
provide for that, and straightway produced a basket whose contents would
have withstood the assaults of two or three boys with appetites sharper
than his own; and while he ate, Marcy asked a good many leading
questions, in the hope of inducing his close-mouthed black friend to
tell him just how things had been going at home during his absence. He
learned that Captain Beardsley had returned in company with some of the
prisoners who had been paroled at the Island, but so far as Julius knew
he had not set any new plans afloat against Marcy and his mother.
Perhaps he did not think it would be safe to do so until things became a
little more settled, for among those who had been captured at Roanoke
were many who were very bitter against the Confederate government, and
who declared that the