oarding-house. He made some excuses to account for his
sudden return, but they were unnecessary, for, so long as he paid his
bill regularly, the landlord was perfectly satisfied.

The next morning Maroney visited a livery stable owned by a man named
Cook, who was a great favorite. He was said to have a horse which could
out-trot anything in the city. Cook and Maroney drove out several times
with this horse, and Maroney examined him critically. He was a good
judge of horseflesh, and when he was excited would fairly carry a person
away with his vivid description of the delights of "tooling" along
behind a fast horse.

Roch could not certainly tell whether Maroney had bought the horse or
not, but judged he had, as he heard Cook tell Maroney that he should
expect to see him on his return to Chattanooga.

After leaving Cook, Maroney sauntered out to see his fair, but frail
friends. Roch left him there and returned to have a good time with his
countrymen. He had ordered up a bottle of wine, and the landlord and he
were just about to have a game of euchre when he accidentally glanced up
at the hotel.

It was fortunate he did so, as whom should he see going in at the main
entrance but Maroney. He hastily excused himself from the game and
walked out. He had gone hardly a block from his boarding-house before
Maroney came down and got into a carriage. He had gone at once to his
room, ordered his trunk down, paid his bill and was now being hurried to
the depot.

Roch followed as fast as he could. Maroney had allowed himself barely
enough time to check his trunk and step upon the train as it moved off,
so that Roch had to start without his satchel and without buying a
ticket. He did not think much of the loss of his baggage, that little
loss being more than compensated by the joy he felt at not having lost
his man.

He had not the slightest idea where Maroney was going, but took up his
old position in the "nigger car" and watched closely. When the conductor
came around to Maroney, Roch noticed two things: first, that Maroney
bought a through ticket to Memphis; and second, that the conductor did
not know him. Wherever he had gone before, he had met friends, but now
he had left them all behind. Roch followed Maroney's lead and bought a
second class ticket to Memphis.

Maroney, though utterly unconscious of the fact, was as much in the
power of Roch as was Sindbad the Sailor in the power of the little old
man who clung to his