st I can say. If we strike far enough to the west,
we may be able to flank the troops spread out to keep us away from the
river. Best plan for now, anyway. And the more men we can pick up, the
better."

"Scattered some, ain't we?" Kirby assented. "You give the orders, Cap'n,
suh. We ain't licked complete yet."

There was a low growl arising from the company on the pike as the
Texan's comment reached them. They might have run and gone on running
most of that long day, but they were no longer running; they were moving
in reasonable order and to some purpose, with a direction in view and a
form of organization, no matter how patched together they were. Campbell
spoke directly to Drew: "You know anything about this section of the
country?"

"Some, but it's been almost three years since I was here. I know nothin'
about any Union garrison--"

"Those we'll have to worry about as they come. But you ride advance for
us now. Send in any stragglers you come across. The night is almost
here, and that's in our favor."

So Drew and Kirby, with Boyd trailing, ranged ahead of the small troop.
And pick up more stragglers they did--some twenty men in the last hour
before twilight closed down.

"I'm hungry," Boyd said, approaching Drew. "There're farms around. Why
can't we get something to eat?"

"Here." Drew fumbled in the saddlebags he had transferred from Shawnee
to this new mount back by the river. He handed over a piece of hardtack,
flinty-surfaced and about as appetizing as a stone. "That's the best
you'll get for a while."

Boyd stared at it in dismay. "You can't eat a thing like this! It's a
piece of rock." Indignantly he hurled it away.

"You get down and pick that up! Now!"

Boyd, flushed and hot-eyed, gazed at Drew for a long moment. The flush
faded and he moved uneasily in his saddle, but not out of the range of
Drew's attention. At length, unhappily, he dismounted and went to pick
the gray-white chunk out of a weed tangle. Holding it gingerly, he came
back to his horse.

"If you don't want it--give!" Drew held out his hand.

Boyd, realizing the other meant just what he said, fingered the hardtack
and finally dropped it into that waiting palm.

"You eat hard and you sleep on the soft side of a board--if you're lucky
enough to find a board. You ride till your seat is blistered and until
you can sleep in the saddle. You drink mud green with scum if that's all
you can find to drink, and you think it's mighty fine