“To run from a cow!” he burst out. “Boys, I am ashamed of you. What would the rebels say to this if they heard of it?” “But he came upon us so unexpectedly, captain,” pleaded one. “Soldiers should never be taken unawares. Didn’t I warn you we might be passing through a hostile country, and all must be on guard?” “But we weren’t looking for a bull rebel, cap’n,” returned Jack Melburn, the joker of the company. The captain made no reply to this. Learning that Louis had shot the beast, he praised the youth for his alertness and good aim, and then re-formed his company and marched on. Nothing more had been seen of the strange cavalrymen, but as soon as the volunteers went into camp a strict guard was set, that there might be no surprise during the night. Several old tents had been brought along, and these and the blankets were all the protection at hand, but even these were better than some of the accommodations experienced by the volunteers later. Morning was just about to dawn, and Louis was still fast asleep, with his head upon a pine branch pillow, when a sudden shot from the direction of the roadway set the camp in immediate commotion. Two farmers had tried to pass the guard and the soldier had fired as a signal for assistance. When Captain Paulding went out to meet the intruders, with his company drawn up behind him, the farmers looked rather disconcerted. Yet one of them plucked up courage enough to state that he was the owner of the bull that had been slain, and he wanted to know what the “sodgers was a-gwine ter do about the deestruction o’ his val’able property.” “The bull attacked my men while they were on the public highway,” returned the captain. “They had to kill him in self-defense. We propose to do nothing.” “Thet bull was wuth a heap o’ money,” growled the farmer. “I am sorry for you, but I can do nothing,” went on Captain Paulding. “I reckon you air some of them cussed Yankees.” “We are Union men, sir,” and the captain looked so stern that the farmer’s jaw dropped. Seeing he could do nothing by intimidation, he finally offered to sell the meat at a reasonable price. This offer was accepted, and for the remainder of the trip to the Capitol the Goreville Volunteers lived on roast beef and beefsteaks galore. “It was an easy way out of the trouble,” said the captain when in camp the next noon. “Had we not bought the meat the farmer might have spread the report that we were confiscating his goods and the whole neighborhood would have been aroused.” Frederick had been passed by a circuitous route, and now the company took the most direct road to Rockville and Washington. Everybody still felt fresh and none complained of the long marches. Once they encountered a slight shower, but otherwise the weather remained perfect.