o'clock.

"No, mother; I think it best that I remain on guard," he answered. "Some
of those guerrillas may come back, you know."

"But you must be tired out."

"I am; but I reckon I can stay up during the night without falling
asleep at my post," he said, smiling faintly.

"Do as you think best, Jack; you and Marion must be my mainstays now,"
and she kissed him affectionately.

Hour after hour of the night wore along and nothing of moment happened.
Jack spent the most of the time around the house, but toward daybreak
made the rounds of the stable and barns.

He found the guerrilla groaning dismally.

"Give me sum terbacker, will yer?" asked the man presently.

Not wishing to appear too unkind, Jack procured a twist of tobacco for
him, which he began to chew savagely.

"I'm in a putty bad fix, I reckon," said the guerrilla, after chewing in
silence for several minutes.

"If you are, you have only yourself to thank for it," returned Jack
coldly.

"Oh, I aint complainin', sonny. It's the fortunes o' war--as them poets
call it, I reckon."

"You might be in better business than stealing horses."

"So I might, sonny--an' then agin' I might do wuss--yes, a heap wuss. I
was gwine ter turn them hosses over to the Confed'rate government--they
need hoss-flesh."

"You were going to do nothing of the kind. You are not a soldier, you
are a common thief."

"Now, don't be hard on me, sonny. I fit on the right side, I did,"
drawled the guerrilla anxiously.

"You fought only for your own good."

"Taint so, sonny; I fit fer the glorious Stars an' Bars. Wot are ye
calkerlatin' ter do with me, sonny?"

"I don't know yet. I reckon you'll stay where you are for the present."

"That's so too--I can't move nohow. Hullo, who's thet?"

At this question Jack turned suddenly--to find himself confronted by Dr.
Mackey and two soldiers in Confederate uniform!

CHAPTER XXIII.

DR. MACKEY'S BOLD MOVE.

It must be confessed that Jack was startled, for he had not heard the
approach of the surgeon and his companions, who had come up noiselessly
and on foot.

"Hullo, you here?" asked Dr. Mackey, as he gazed at Jack in some
astonishment.

"What brings you here, Dr. Mackey?" demanded our hero.

"I am looking for the dead or wounded in this neighborhood," was the
answer. "Whom have you here?"

"A guerrilla we shot down."

"Ha! who shot him?"

"I did. He was trying to steal our horses."

"Dr. Mackey, don't you