Ceph went flying the rest of the way; and the guerillas did not attempt to stop him. The young horseman had a good chance to see the condition of the enemy at a glance. The footmen had hemmed in the horses in their efforts to escape the expected bullets; and there was no question in his mind that the horde had already been effectually defeated. If the sergeant's big bag had been ready, they were all ready to go into it. "Good Heaven, Deck!" exclaimed Captain Gordon, rushing up to him with all the speed of his horse. "Did you cut through the enemy?" "Not exactly, Captain," replied Deck. "I am here to deliver to you Major Lyon's order not to charge the enemy without a special order to that effect." "I haven't given that order yet, for the enemy are about crushed already; but I intended to follow up the charge of the rest of the company on the other side. But I saw you, Deck, engaged against two men in front of you only a few minutes ago; and I was about to order the platoon to charge in order to rescue you. I thought the first company had lost one of its best soldiers then." "But I have come through all right, Captain," added Deck, laughing at the excitement of his officer. "Ceph always does me a good turn when I get into a tight place, and he did this time." "There come some more of the men from the other side of the house," added the captain, as he pointed to the way the orderly had come. Deck looked, and saw Life Knox, with a dozen troopers, rushing along the gutter through which he had come; but the guerillas did not attempt to molest them, for they were formidable enough to have beaten the whole squad of the enemy, even before they had lost a man. "Major Lyon sent me after you, Deck," said the sergeant, as he stopped his horse in front of him. "You had a narrow squeak of it that time, my boy." "No, I didn't, Life; what's the use of making such a to-do about nothing? I'm all right," replied Deck, who thought his father and the rest of them were treating him like an infant. "But your pa was tearing his hair like a mother that had lost her baby, to think he had sent you into such a tight place," added Knox. "He would 'a' sent the whole company after you in two minutes more. But you are safe, and I thought you'd gone to feed the worms sure." "The worms will not dine on me just yet. I am going back now to my place on the other side of the enemy," said Deck. "You can come when you get ready, Life." As he spoke he wheeled his trusty steed, and intimated to him that he was ready; whereupon Ceph made a spring, and darted off at a breakneck speed. "Hold on, Baby!" shouted the sergeant, calling him by a name he had used before, to which Deck did not object as long as the Kentuckian did not treat him like an infant. "We uns kim over to escort you back!" "Obey your orders, Life," returned the furious young rider, without even looking behind him.