All night they rode and, when morning came, they halted by a field of corn, and once more gave their horses a fine feed, while the men made coffee and feasted on roasting ears. "Boys, which shall it be--Mexico or Paris?" asked Lawrence. "From what we learned from Duncan, it is the intention of Porter to unite all his force near Paris, and then move north. Guitar must be in Mexico by this time, but there will be no fighting there. No doubt he will keep on to Paris." "To Paris!" shouted the men. "Let's go where the fighting will be. Our horses are quite fresh. We can be there by night." "What if we run into Porter and his whole gang?" asked Lawrence, smiling. "Lick the whole gang!" they yelled. "You're all right, boys, but I hardly think you can do that; at least, we won't try as long as I'm leader," laughed Lawrence. The day was hot and the roads dusty, and Lawrence favored the horses all possible, but they made good progress. Taken for guerrillas by the inhabitants, they fared well, and much information was given them. Much to Lawrence's surprise, he learned that Porter had taken and sacked Paris the day before, and that McNeil had moved down from Palmyra and driven him out. More serious still was the news that Porter had been reinforced, and had attacked and expected to recapture the place. This was news, indeed. If true, Porter was squarely between them and Paris. A consultation was held, and it was the unanimous opinion that they should keep on and join McNeil, if they could. As they neared Paris, they heard firing, and became aware a slight skirmish was in progress. They halted, and while debating what best to do, a couple of guerrillas came riding towards them. "Who be yo' un?" they asked of Lawrence, as they rode up. "We 'uns are from Galloway County, on our way to join Porter," answered Lawrence. "I heah fightin'. What is it?" "Oh, a few of us are only amusing the Yanks while Porter gits away," said the men. "Then Porter is not heah?" "No; he an' most of his men air miles north by this time. He left about a hundred of us here to make believe we 'uns ware goin' to attack Paris, so to give him time to git away. Thar, yo' uns don't hear any shooting now. The boys have amused the Yanks as long as they wanted to, and now air on their way to jine Porter, and bet your life the Yanks don't catch them." "What are you doing here, away from your command?" asked Lawrence, sternly. The guerrillas started at the change in the speech and manner of Lawrence. "We 'uns," they stammered, "we 'uns live about five miles back, and we 'uns was goin' to see the folks. We 'uns can easily overtake the boys by riding all night." A sign from Lawrence, and, to the amazement of the guerrillas, they were looking into the muzzles of revolvers. "It's all up with you, fellows," said Lawrence. "We are Yanks. Boys, disarm them."