"Riverlawn," answered Deck, giving the word that had been selected the day before. "We have a message for Captain Truman from Major Lyon. Where is he?" "Not far from here," replied Blenks, who was in charge of the picket line. "I will conduct you to him." They found the captain seated on his horse, apart from his command, eating his breakfast from his haversack. The men were all mounted, and in readiness for immediate service, though they were standing at ease, some of them taking their morning meal. "Good-morning, Deck," said Captain Truman, as he recognized his early visitors. "You left your bunk in good time this morning." "We are the bearers of orders from Major Lyon," replied Deck, who was in the habit of doing most of the talking, though Artie had a tongue of his own; and he repeated all the orders and all the information with which they had been charged. "Captain Titus a prisoner!" exclaimed the captain, when he had finished. "Then it remains to be proved whether or not Lieutenant Buck Lagger will execute the orders received by Captain Titus." "We heard them down the road as we came along," said Artie. "I have no doubt they will be at work within half an hour," added Deck. "But we must hurry back, for our company will move farther to the south, I think, judging from the message we brought to you." "But you can't go now, for you will meet the Home Guards by the time you get to the south road. The ruffians would be glad to get a couple of prisoners like you and Artie; for then Buck Lagger could exchange you both for his captain." "Such an arrangement would not suit Buck Lagger at all," replied Deck. "When Levi Bedford brought Buck to the fort at Riverlawn, after he attempted to kill him on the road, the villain did not speak very handsomely of his captain, but said he should soon be in command of the company himself." "Be that as it may, you ought not to throw yourselves into the midst of these ruffians," the captain insisted. "If they don't capture you, they would take great pleasure in abusing you." "Mounted as we are, I think we could take care of ourselves against the whole of them," answered Deck. The soldiers of the squadron had an utter contempt for the fighting qualities of this company, and Deck and Artie shared it with the others. But the captain protested so earnestly against their exposing themselves to a needless peril, that they agreed to wait behind some bushes near the south road till the company had passed. They would gladly have learned something more in regard to the plan of the captain; but he was as reticent as military men usually are, and kept his own counsel. The messengers rode to the knoll covered with bushes which they had observed near the road when they entered the field. "We shall have a chance to see something of this affair," said Deck, as he stopped his horse at a point where the bushes would conceal them from those passing in the road.