ins says?" exclaimed Tom. "He's a traitor; and
when he declared that he wouldn't fight for the South any more, I told
him to his face that he was a coward."

"Oh, my son," said the doting mother, "I am afraid your high spirit will
bring you into trouble some time."

Mark Goodwin knew that his friend's "high spirit" had nothing to do with
the scathing rebukes he had received in the post-office. His unruly
tongue and his want of common sense were to blame for it.

"Is Mr. Goodwin a member of the Home Guards?" inquired Mr. Allison.
"Then I think I will ride over and have a talk with him. From his house
I will go to town and see if I can learn more of that glorious victory
in Hampton Roads."

The gentleman went into the house accompanied by his wife, and Tom and
Mark descended the steps out of ear-shot of the rest of the family.
"Where shall we go?" was the first question they asked each other.

"I wish we could go to half a dozen different places at once," said Tom,
at length. "If we go to Beardsley's we may be sorry we didn't go to
town; and if we call on Colonel Shelby, to see if he can tell us
anything about that light, we may be sorry we didn't go somewhere else.
What do you say?"

"I say, let's ride over to Beardsley's in the first place, and to Marcy
Gray's in the next."

"And so follow up that squad of thieving Yankees and see what damage
they did? If they overhauled Gray's house I can pretend to sympathize
with them, you know, for that was the way they served us."

"Overhaul nothing!" exclaimed Tom in disgust. "Mark my words: I don't
believe they went near the Grays; but if they did, they treated them
with more civility than they showed my father. Come along, and see if I
haven't told you the truth."

Tom's horse was ready and waiting, and a rapid ride of twenty minutes
brought him and Mark to a field in which Beardsley was working with some
of his negroes. When he saw them approaching he shied a chip he held in
his hand at the head of the nearest darky, who caught sight of it in
time to dodge, and came up to the fence to wait for them. His actions
proved that he was full of good news, for he placed his hands on his
knees, bent himself half double, looked down at the ground, and shook
his head as if he were laughing heartily. When he reached the fence he
pounded the top rail with his fist, and shouted as soon as the boys came
within speaking distance:

"Have them varmints been up to your house?"

"Do