The young Unionist reckoned that he was about a mile from the picket line when he came to a turn in the road he was pursuing. He had just passed a small encampment of Confederate troops who were breaking up to march to the rear. He now heard the thunder of cavalry on the road and stepped into the brush at hand to let them pass by. They soon came into view and he recognized the Montgomery Grays. “Andy’s troop,” he muttered, and strained his eyes to catch sight of his friend, but failed to do so, at which he was much disappointed. The cavalry having passed, he resumed his journey, but with greater caution, feeling he must ere long go into hiding until nightfall. A short tramp brought him to the top of a rise. From this he made out Confederate troops to his right and his left, while the road ahead was alive with them. “That settles it. I can’t go much farther in this direction. I’ll strike out through the woods.” Leaving the road, he pursued a course in the center of the rising ground, thus avoiding the swamps upon either side. There was a beaten trail here, showing that others had taken the same course. A few minutes of walking and Louis suddenly stood still. A horse was coming towards him, walking slowly. The animal was riderless and was bleeding from a bullet wound in the foreleg. As the beast came closer Louis recognized it. The horse was Firefly. CHAPTER XXVIII LOUIS AND ANDY MEET AGAIN “Firefly!” burst from the lips of the young Union soldier. “Whoa, old fellow! Where is your master?” At this question Firefly halted and looked at Louis as though he would like very much to talk. The bullet wound made the beast quiver with pain, and the youth stroked him affectionately. “Been in a scrimmage, I’ll wager a pilot cracker,” the boy went on. “Was Andy killed? Oh, I sincerely trust not!” And something like a lump came up in his throat. Firefly whinnied and shook his mane vigorously. Then he turned, as if to lead Louis down a narrow path branching off from that on the ridge. At once the boy understood and followed the animal. Scarcely three hundred feet had been passed when Louis heard the murmur of voices, coming from a little clearing, backed up by a treacherous swamp. As he drew closer, he recognized Andy’s voice: “Let me alone, Jacks, or it will be the worse for you,” the young Confederate cavalryman was saying. “You are nothing but a thief, I know, but you shall not rob me.” “We are two to one, Arlington,” came from Sam Jacks. “And I ain’t forgot how yer interfered with me an’ my pards up ter Lee Run. I’m a-goin’ ter git squar’, I am.” “It’s a mighty fine gold watch the kid’s got,” put in another, and now Louis recognized the vicious face of Caleb Fox through the brush. “It ought ter be wuth fifty dollars an’ more.” “You wounded my horse and made him run away,” went on Andy. “I ought to shoot you both for that.”