ter it will be best for you to remain
away from this place. You schemed to steal some of my things, but you
shall not do it."

"Why, Aunt Alice----" he began.

"It is true. Do you know that Dr. Mackey is a prisoner?"

At these words St. John fell back and grew very pale.

"A prisoner, did you say?" he faltered.

"Yes. He has plotted against not only Jack and myself, but also against
the Federal officer who is under my roof, badly wounded."

"You mean Colonel Stanton?"

"I do."

"He is a spy, aunt."

"He is nothing of the sort. He is a brave officer, and as such deserves
the best of treatment. St. John, the less you mix up in this affair the
better it will be for you."

A stormy scene followed, and St. John came out of it considerably
frightened, especially when he was told that the colonel was Jack's
father and that Dr. Mackey was proved to be a thorough villain.

"I--I won't ask for this arrest just now," he said, to the men he had
brought along. "We will let the matter drop for the present. The man is
too sick to be moved, anyway." And soon after he hurried away, and his
companions with him. He never showed himself at his aunt's door again.

"And we are well rid of him," said Marion. "He is as cowardly as he is
unprincipled."

On the day following Jack's return home there was a long-drawn battle in
the mountains between the Federal troops and the guerrillas, which
resulted in the killing off of a number of the outlaws, including those
who had held our hero a prisoner. In this contest Gendron was also
killed, and he died without revealing what he knew of Dr. Mackey's past.

The outlaws' camp was thoroughly searched, and here were found the goods
stolen from the trader who had been attacked in the storm, and also a
number of other things of value, including the tin box taken from the
wreck of the _Nautilus_. Later on this box, with its contents, was
turned over to Colonel Stanton.

"My precious papers!" said the officer to Jack, as he looked them over.
"My son, nothing now stands between us and our fortune."

A few words more and we will bring this tale to a close.

Colonel Stanton's recovery was slow, and by the time he got around again
the great Civil War was a thing of the past. For this the colonel was
truly thankful, and so were Jack, Mrs. Ruthven, and Marion.

As soon as it was possible to do so, the colonel resigned from the army.
This done, he set to work to prosecute Dr. Mackey and recover