up their
feet, and down went the prisoners; and they generally found their way to
the bottom in a hurry. I escaped by swimming. I was in the water
twenty-four hours, and was picked up by a vessel bound to New York."

"I suppose you had a life-preserver," said Johnny.

"No, sir. I had nothing to depend upon but my own exertions."

"You must be some relation to a duck," said Archie, speaking before he
thought.

"I suppose you mean to convey the idea that I am an excellent swimmer,"
said Arthur, turning around in his saddle, and looking sharply at
Archie.

"Yes; that's what I intended to say," replied Archie, demurely.

"The vessel landed me in New York," continued Arthur, "and I went home;
and, having become tired of wandering about, and our troubles with
Algiers being settled, I led the quiet life of a student until the
Florida war broke out, and then I enlisted in the army."

"Now, then," thought Archie, who had been paying strict attention to all
Arthur said, "I have got a basis for a calculation, and I am going to
find out how old this new friend of ours is. War was declared against
Algeria (not Algiers) in March, 1815; and on the 30th day of June, in
the same year, the Dey cried for quarter, and signed a treaty of peace.
If Arthur began his wanderings at eleven, and spent four years with
Decatur, he must have been fifteen years old when the war closed. After
that, he led the quiet life of a student until the Florida war broke
out. That commenced in 1835; so Arthur must have spent just twenty years
at school. By the way, it's a great pity that he didn't devote a portion
of his time to geography and natural history, for then he would have
known that there are no icebergs and polar bears in India, or Arabs and
burning sands in Patagonia, or wild lions and tigers in Europe. If he
spent twenty years at school, and was fifteen years old when he had
those terrible battles with the Algerians, he must have been
thirty-five years old when the Florida war broke out."

"Did you go through the war?" Johnny asked.

"I did."

"How long did it last?" inquired Frank, "and what was the cause of it?"

"It continued nearly two years, and was brought about by the hatred the
Choctaws cherished toward the white people."

"Three mistakes there," thought Archie. "The war lasted seven years, and
cost our Government forty millions of dollars. The Choctaws had nothing
to do with it. It was the Seminoles and Creeks--principally th