he discovered an officer and two "grayback" soldiers. The
ghost of his grandmother would not have been half so appalling a sight,
and he retreated to the back door with a very undignified haste.

"Gracious me!" exclaimed the lady of the house. "Who kin thet be?"

"An officer and two soldiers," replied Tom, hastily.

"Then they are arter my old man!" said she, dropping into the only chair
the room contained.

"Don't say I'm here, marm, and I'll help your husband, if they catch him.
Tell them he has gone off to be absent a week."

"He'd be absent more'n thet if he knowed them fellers was arter him."

The woman moved towards the front door, and Tom through the back door; but
as he was about to pass into the garden, he caught a glimpse of one of the
graybacks in the rear of the house. For a moment his case seemed to be
hopeless; but he retreated into the room again, just as the woman opened
the front door to admit the officer. He could not escape from the house,
and his only resource was to secure a hiding place within its walls. There
were only two which seemed to be available; one of these was the bed, and
the other the chimney. If any search was made, of course the soldiers
would explore the bed first; and the chimney seemed the most practicable.

There was no time for consideration, for the woman had already opened the
door, and was answering the questions of the Confederate officer; so Tom
sprang into the fireplace, and, by the aid of the projecting stones,
climbed up to a secure position. The chimney was large enough to
accommodate half a dozen boys of Tom's size. The fire had gone out, and
though the stones were rather warm in the fireplace, he was not
uncomfortable.

The fears of the lady of the house proved to be well grounded this time,
for the party had actually come in search of her "old man;" and what was
more, the officer announced his intention not to leave without him.

"He's gone away fur a week, and he won't be hum before the fust of August,
no how," said the woman resolutely, and adopting Tom's suggestion to the
letter.

"All nonsense, woman! He is about here, somewhere, and we will find him."

"You may, if you kin."

The officer then went out at the back door, as Tom judged by his
footsteps, and the woman asked one of the children what had become of the
other soldier man. The boy said he was up chimney. She then told them not
to tell the officer where he was.

"What shell I do?" said she,