horses had been brought into the yard in readiness
for the squad to mount, and Rodney and the captain were sitting on the
front steps. The prisoners, if such they could be called, were too
sullen to exchange a word with the Confederates, and the captain thought
it beneath his dignity to talk to Union men; and Rodney was glad to have
it so.

"Bring in the guards and get a-going," was the order the captain gave
when his lieutenant came up; and this made it evident to the
well-drilled Barrington boys that Captain Hubbard's company of Rangers
were not the only Confederates who had a good deal to learn before they
could call themselves soldiers. But his men understood the order, and it
was the work of but a few minutes for them to get into their saddles and
set off down the road, and they did it without paying any more attention
to the men in the house. Rodney rode beside the captain at the head of
the column, Tom and the lieutenant coming next in line. The former
thought it was a good evening's work all around, and that Merrick's
red-eyed darkey could not have done him a greater service if he had been
a friend to him instead of an enemy. He had had a narrow escape from
being taken into the presence of men he hoped he might never see again,
but he was all right now. So was Tom, for if he wasn't already beyond
the danger of betrayal, he certainly would be by the time daylight
came.

"No; we shall not march all night," said the captain, in response to an
inquiry from Rodney. "We have been in the saddle pretty steadily for the
last week, and both men and horses are in need of rest. But I shall take
good care to get out of this settlement before going into camp. I don't
want to be ambushed."

"I don't think those men back there would do such a thing," replied
Rodney. "They seemed very grateful to you for letting them off so
easily."

"Ha!" exclaimed the captain. "They would do it in a minute if they
thought they could escape the consequences. You don't know how bitter
everybody is against everybody else who doesn't train with his crowd,
and you'll have to live among us a while before you can understand it."

"When shall I have the pleasure of shaking Dick Graham by the hand?"
inquired Rodney. "Does he stand up for State Rights as strongly as he
used?"

"Yes; and I am with him. You see, when the election was held in '60, our
people, by a vote of one hundred and thirty-five thousand to thirty
thousand, decided against the