Jake started; Jack waited, and reached out his hand to him. Jake had gotten over the worst part, when his foot slipped, and with a cry he went down into the water. Jack caught his hand, but it slipped out of his grasp. He came up with his arms beating wildly. “Help--help me!” he cried, and went down again. In went Jack head foremost, and caught him by the arm. Jake clutched him. They came up. Jack thought he had him safe. “I’ve got you,” he said. “Don’t----” But before he could finish the sentence, Jake flung his arm around his neck and choked him, pulling him down under the water, and getting it into his throat and nostrils. Jack struggled, and tried to get up, but he could not; Jake had him fast. He knew he was drowning. He remembered being down on the bottom of the river and thinking that if he could but get Jake to the top again he would be safe. He thought that the Yankees might save him. He tried, but Jake had him tight, choking him. He thought how he had brought him there; he thought of his mother and father, and that he had not seen his mother that morning, and had not said his prayers, and then he did not know anything more. The next thing he knew, some one said, “He’s all right,” and he heard confused voices, and was suffering some in his chest and throat, and he heard his mother’s voice, and opening his eyes he was in a tent. She was leaning over him, crying and kissing him, and there were several gentlemen around the bed he was on. He was too weak to think much, but he felt glad that his mother was there. “I went back after Jake,” he said, faintly. “Yes, you did, like a man,” said a gentleman in an officer’s uniform, bending over him. “We saw you.” Jack turned from him. “Mother,” he said, feebly, “we carried the horse back, but----” “He is just outside the door,” said the same gentleman; “he belongs to you. His owner has presented him to you.” “To me and Jake!” said Jack. “Where is Jake?” But they would not let him talk. They made him go to sleep. THE END. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.