"I know two of those fellows," he exclaimed, "They were with the gang that murdered father. One of them was the one that fired the house. Mother knew them. There were six of them, and I know every one. I have sworn to get the whole six, and I will if I live." The look of hatred on his face made Harry shiver, but he knew how he felt; so had he felt when he saw his father lying dead before him. "I had all I could do to keep from shooting them while they were talking to you," continued Jack. "It makes me feel like a coward to let such a chance go." "It would have been madness, Jack. Then, we are not out to fight if we can avoid it, but to get information. Never let your passion lead you to do a foolish thing." Jack said no more, but fell back in the rear. It was almost night, and Harry decided to go into camp, as he had not learned the exact whereabouts of Poindexter. Suddenly some one asked, "Where is Jack Harwood?" Harry looked. He was nowhere to be seen. "Does any one know anything about him?" he asked, anxiously. One of the men said: "Jack stopped just after the guerrillas left us. He said the girth of his saddle was loose, and he would have to fix it. I thought no more about him, and as I have been riding in front, I did not notice he was not with us." Could Jack have been captured by lurking guerrillas? They would go back and see. It would not do to leave a comrade in peril. If Jack had been captured, Bruno would have little trouble in following the trail. It was not more than two miles back to the place where the soldier had seen Jack dismount to fix his saddle girth, but there was no sign of a struggle there; no evidence that any guerrilla had been lying in ambush. But by the side of the road there were tracks of where a horse had been turned and ridden back. "By heavens!" exclaimed one of the men, "Jack has deserted. Don't you remember one of those guerrillas said they lived in Ralls County?--and Jack is from Ralls." The other men began to swear. "If we ever catch him," they muttered, with clenched fists. "Hold on, boys," ejaculated Harry; "Jack has not deserted, but he has gone, and gone alone, on one of the maddest adventures that ever single man set out to do." Then he told them of what Jack had said, and added: "No doubt he has gone back to try and get those men." "Let's go back and try to help him!" exclaimed the squad in unison. Harry shook his head. "No, boys," he said; "and if you wish to continue with me, you must promise me that you will not leave under any conditions whatever, without my consent. We are soldiers. We are under orders, and those orders are to find Poindexter. To try and find Jack would lead us we know not where, and bring the whole object of our scout to naught." The men saw, and turned back; but with heavy hearts, for their thoughts were with Jack.