shot him as clean as a sixpence in the right
leg. Down came Mr. Carr; he lay there a minute or two cursing, and
then he fainted. 'Pick him up, dress his wound, and put him to bed,'
says the colonel. Well, sir, it was only a flesh wound, so we soon got
him comfortable, and there he lay all night."

"How did he get away to-day?"

"We were all out, sir--went over to Mr. Carr's place to borrow his
horses. The colonel took a message, sir. [Here the fellow grinned
again.] I don't know what it was. Well, when we'd got the horses, we
rode round outside the town, and came into the road between here and
the colonel's. Ten horses we got, and we went there to give the ten
men who were patrolling the road the fresh horses. We heard from them
that no one had come along. When we got home, he'd been gone two
hours!"

"How did he manage it?"

"A woman, sir," said my warrior, with supreme disgust. "Gave her a
kiss and ten dollars to undo the front door, and then he was off! He
daren't go to the stables to get a horse, so he was forced to limp
away on his game leg. A plucky one he is, too," he concluded.

"Poor old Johnny!" said I. "You didn't go after him?"

"No time, sir. Couldn't tire the horses. Besides, when he'd once got
home, he's got a dozen men there, and they'd have kept us all night.
Well, sir, I must be off. Any answer for the colonel? He'll be outside
the Golden House by eleven, sir, and Mr. Carr won't get in if he comes
after that."

"Tell him to rely on me," I answered. But for all that I didn't mean
to shoot Johnny on sight. So, much perturbed in spirit, I set off to
the barracks, wondering when Johnny would get to Whittingham, and
whether he would fall into the colonel's hands outside the Golden
House. It struck me as unpleasantly probable that he might come
and spoil the harmony of my evening; if he came there first, the
conspiracy would probably lose my aid at an early moment! What would
happen to me I didn't know. But, as I took off my coat in the lobby,
I bent down as if to tie a shoestring, and had one more look at my
revolver.

CHAPTER IX.

A SUPPER PARTY.

I shall never forget that supper as long as I live. Considered merely
as a social gathering it would be memorable enough, for I never before
or since sat at meat with ten such queer customers as my hosts of
that evening. The officers of the Aureataland Army were a very mixed
lot--two or three Spanish-Americans, three or four Brazilians, and