a
position there, and when Rodney halted in front of him and took off his
cap, the latter began a speech, thanking the young sergeant for what he
had done for the company, and begging him to accept a small token of
their respect and esteem.

"Take it, friend Rodney," said the captain, in conclusion. "Keep it to
remind you of the pure gold of our friendship which shall never know
alloy. And while we sincerely trust that it may never be drawn except
upon peaceful occasions of ceremony, we are sure you will not permit it
to remain idle in its scabbard while the flag of our Young Republic is
in danger, or your good right arm retains the power to wield it."

The captain stepped back, and the thoroughly astonished Rodney stood
holding in his hands an elegant cavalry sabre. He stared hard at it, and
then he looked at the expectant crowd around the band-stand.

"Speech, speech!" yelled the Rangers.

But the usually self-possessed Barrington boy was past speech-making
now. He managed to mumble a few words of thanks, got to the ground
somehow and mingled with the crowd as quickly as possible.

"How very surprised he is," sneered Tom Randolph, who told himself
regretfully that a sword like that might have been presented to him if
he had only remained with the company. "I will bet my horse against his
that he knew a week ago that he was going to get it."

Rodney waited four days before he received a reply to the dispatch he
sent to Dick Graham's father, and seeing that the authorities had
assumed control of the wires, and the operator at Mooreville was a
government spy, it was rather singular that he got it at all. It ran as
follows:

"Price will accept. Company officers and independent organization to
remain the same."

"I tell you Missouri is the best State yet," said Rodney, handing the
telegram over to Captain Hubbard. "This brings the matter squarely home
to the boys, and they've got to decide upon something this very night."

And they did, but it was only after a stormy and even heated discussion.
The captain and Rodney carried their point but it was by a very small
majority of votes; and the former, believing it advisable to strike
while the iron was hot, took one of his lieutenants and started for New
Orleans to engage passage for his company to Little Rock. It was at this
juncture that Rodney wrote that letter to his cousin Marcy Gray, a
portion of which we gave to the reader in the first volume of this
series.