"Not a thing, Sergeant; I thought I heard voices one time, but I could make nothing of them. I saw this woman walking across a cornfield;" and he pointed at Grace. "I saw him too; but I was afraid of him," added the young woman. "Wasn't you afeerd of me?" asked the sergeant, with a smile on his wiry face. "No, I was not; besides, I was tired out with the load I carried, and I felt as though I could go no farther." "How far from here does Colonel Halliburn live?" asked Life. "It is more than a mile from this road." "I reckon this box will not be very safe with him, for there's more gorillas runnin' loose about this country than there is skippers in an old cheese. Kin you ride horseback, Grace?" "Every Kentucky girl can ride horseback," replied she, with the first smile he had yet seen on her face, perhaps because she expected to be sent to Colonel Halliburn's mansion. "But we hain't got no side-saddle," suggested Life. "I can get along very well on any saddle; and I have ridden a spirited animal without any saddle," said the lady. "Perhaps you would like to enlist in our company," added the sergeant, with a heavy chuckle. "I should like it first-rate, if it could be allowed," replied Grace, with energy, while her eyes snapped at the idea. "I shall have to leave that matter to Major Lyon. But here comes the platoon," said Life, as thirty-five or forty men dashed down the road, led by Lieutenant Lyon. "Where are the enemy, Sergeant?" demanded the officer, as he reined in his panting steed some distance in advance of his men, and in front of Life and Grace Morgan. "Half a mile or more to the east of where we stand," replied the scout. "Is there a road or path over there?" inquired Deck. "This is Grace Morgan, and she can tell you all about it, for she brought me the news," answered Life, presenting the young woman. The lieutenant raised his cap and bowed politely to the Kentucky damsel; and he could not help observing that she was a very pretty girl, though he had no time to indulge in the phrases of gallantry, even if his fealty to Miss Kate Belthorpe had permitted him to do so. This fair young lady was the sister of Lieutenant Belthorpe, and Deck had made her acquaintance on the evening of the "Battle of Riverlawn," when he had rescued her from the grasp of a ruffian. He was too young to be absolutely in love with the maiden, though he believed she was the prettiest girl in the State of Kentucky. Miss Morgan repeated the story she had told the sergeant. "How did you escape from the ruffians?" asked Deck. "We saw them coming from the direction of Miltonville; and Mr. Halliburn, who is my guardian, sent me to carry his valuables to the mansion of his brother, about a mile and a half from his own house," replied Grace, by this time quite reassured by the presence of the soldiers. "Have you the valuables now?"