a thing to himself to save his life. I
thought it might be a good idea to see what Mrs. Brown thinks about it,
and to ask her if there is any truth in the report that a band of men
has been got together to rob Mrs. Gray's house."

"I will tell you one thing confidentially," said Mark. "If that part of
the story isn't true, a few wags of Mrs. Brown's tongue will make it
true. There are dozens of men right here in this country, and you and I
are acquainted with some of them, who would jump down on that house this
very night if they were sure they could make anything by it."

"I know that, but I don't care; do you? I always did despise those
Grays, and now that they have shown themselves to be traitors, I say let
them suffer for it. You heard Marcy tell me to put a uniform on before I
presumed to speak to him again, didn't you?"

"Yes; and I heard his brother Jack call you a stay-at-home blow-hard. I
looked for you to tackle the pair of them the moment they insulted you;
but you surprised me and all the rest of your friends by keeping
perfectly still," observed Mark, who knew well enough that Tom lacked
the courage to "tackle" the brothers, either of whom could have tossed
him half-way across the post-office without very much trouble.

"I was biding my time," replied Allison, making his riding-whip whistle
viciously through the air just above his horse's ears. "It has come now,
and if Marcy Gray doesn't take that insulting word back as publicly as
he gave it to me----"

"Oh, you needn't look for him to do that. Marcy isn't that sort of a
fellow."

"He'll wish he was that sort before I am done with him," said Tom, with
spiteful emphasis. "That's one reason why I am going to see Mrs. Brown.
I want her to spread it around that Marcy took Jack out to the
blockading fleet."

"She is just the one to do it," said Mark, with a laugh. "And the way to
make her go about it as though she meant business is to tell her your
story under a pledge of secrecy."

"And there is another matter that I want to speak to you about,"
continued Tom. "What scheme have Shelby and Dillon and the postmaster
and your father and mine got in hand that they take so much pains to
keep from us boys?"

"I wish I knew," answered Mark, whose face showed that his companion's
words had made him angry. "They talk about something or other as often
as they get together, and if I take a step in their direction they
either send me about my business, or stop