Just as he arrived he received secret word from some one that a rebel officer was actually in Middleburgh. That afternoon Nancy Pansy was playing in the bottom of the yard when a lot of soldiers came along the street, and before them rode a strange, cross-looking man with a beard. Tom Adams was marching with the soldiers, and he did not look at all pleased. They stopped at the old doctor’s gate, and the strange man trotted up to her place and asked Nancy Pansy if she knew Captain Harry Hunter. “Yes, indeed,” said Nancy Pansy, going up to the fence and poking her little rosy face over it; “Harry’s a major now.” “Ah! Harry’s a major now, is he?” said the strange man. Nancy Pansy went on to tell him how her Harry was named after the other Harry, and how she was all broken now; but the officer was intent on something else. “Where is Harry now?” he asked her. “In the house,” and she waved her hand toward the old doctor’s house behind her. “So, so,” said the officer, and went back to Tom Adams, who looked annoyed, and said: “I don’t believe it; there’s some mistake.” At this the strange man got angry and said: “Lieutenant Adams, if you don’t want the rebel caught, you can go back to camp.” My! how angry Tom was! His face got perfectly white, and he said: “Major Black, you are my superior, or you wouldn’t dare to speak so to me. I have nothing to say now, but some day I’ll out-rank you.” Nancy Pansy did not know what they were talking about, but she did not like the strange man at all; so when he asked her: “Won’t you show me where Harry is?” at first she said “No,” and then “Yes, if you won’t hurt him.” “No, indeed,” said the man. As Tom Adams was there she was not afraid; so she went outside the gate and on into the old doctor’s yard, followed by the soldiers and Tom Adams, who still looked angry, and told her she’d better run home. Some of the soldiers went around behind the house. “Where is he?” the strange gentleman asked. “Asleep up-stairs in the company-room,” said Nancy Pansy in a whisper. “You mustn’t make any noise.” She opened the door and they entered the house, Nancy Pansy on tiptoe and the others stepping softly. She was surprised to see the strange man draw a pistol; but she was used to seeing pistols, so, though Tom Adams told her again to run home, she stayed there. “Which is the company-room?” asked the strange man. She pointed to the door at the head of the steps. “That’s it.” He turned to the soldiers. “Come ahead, men,” he said, in a low voice, and ran lightly up the stairs, looking very fierce. When he reached the door he seized the knob and dashed into the room. Then Nancy Pansy heard him say some naughty words, and she ran up the stairs to see what was the matter. They were all standing around the big bed on which she had laid Harry an hour before, with her head on a pillow; but a jerk of the counterpane had thrown Harry over on her face, and her broken neck and ear looked very bad.