the
crown. He hardly recognized himself he was so altered in appearance. He
wondered if Azalia or Daphne would know him. He had no weapon or
equipments. There was nothing about him which indicated that he was a
soldier of the Union army ready to lay down his life for the old flag.

He walked cautiously along the winding path, noticing all the objects;
looking up to the north star at every turn of the road, keeping tally of
his steps that he might know the distance travelled. He walked
stealthily, expecting every moment to hear the challenge of the Rebel
pickets. He was startled by the cry, "Who! Who! Who!" He came to a
sudden halt, and then laughed to think that he had been challenged by an
owl.

In the morning he came upon a party of men cutting wood, and found that
they were Rebel soldiers outside of the picket line. Paul took an axe
and went to work, and so became one of them. When they went into camp
he accompanied them, carrying the axe on his shoulder, thus passing the
picket as a wood-chopper. He found three or four thousand soldiers at
Fort Henry, hard at work, throwing up breastworks, digging ditches,
hewing timber, mounting guns. He worked with them, but kept his eyes and
ears open, noticing the position of the fort on the bank of the river,
and how many guns there were. He found out what troops were there, where
they came from, and who commanded them. He learned that a wagon-train
was going to Fort Donelson after ammunition. He joined it and passed the
picket as one of the train guards. As the wagons were empty, he had a
chance to ride, and thus saved a weary walk of twelve miles.

The little town of Dover, which is near Fort Donelson, he found alive
with troops; regiments were arriving from Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas,
and Tennessee. General Pillow was there in command. He was once an
officer in the army of the United States and fought in Mexico. General
Floyd was there with a brigade of Virginians. He was Secretary of War
when Buchanan was President, and did what he could to destroy the Union.
He was a thief as well as a Rebel. He was a large, coarse man. Paul
despised him, and could hardly restrain himself from knocking the
villain from his horse when he saw him ride by wearing the uniform of a
traitor. There was not much discipline in the Rebel army, and Paul found
little difficulty in going through all the camps, ascertaining what
regiments were there. It nettled him to hear the boasts of the soldiers