"I can't help it if they do set the dogs on us," muttered Dennis sturdily. "I can't go any farther. My wind is gone, and my side is thumpin' as if--" "Here!" said Noel excitedly; "here's a well! I don't know whether there's any water in it or not, but the thing for you to do is to hide there. You can do it," he added abruptly as he stretched himself on the ground and, peering into the depths, found that the old well was lined with rough stones that projected unevenly from the sides. "Go down a few feet and wait until the excitement is over." "Will you come with me?" Noel hesitated and then said, "No, I'll not stay here. There will be more danger if both of us try to hide in the same place. I'll keep on, and after a while you follow me and I'll be on the lookout for you, and not very far ahead." "See that you are," said Dennis, as he at once prepared to make his descent into the forbidding hole which his companion had discovered. Without waiting to discover what success attended his comrade's efforts, Noel Curtis instantly turned and resumed his flight. CHAPTER XIX AT THE FORK Noel ran swiftly forward in the darkness until at last he was compelled to stop to recover his breath. As he looked behind him he saw that the fire on the plantation manifestly was dying down. There was one spot of dull red yet to be seen against the dark horizon, but the flames had ceased. For a moment he was tempted to turn and bid Dennis join him in his flight; but his uncertainty as to the exact direction in which to return to the old well, and his confidence that somehow the young Irish soldier would be able to make his way through the surrounding difficulties caused him to decide to continue his own flight. The young soldier soon found himself in a road with which he was, of course, unfamiliar. He also was ignorant alike of the location of his friends and his enemies. For a brief time Noel tried to discover some signs which would indicate the presence or the passing of bodies of troops, but his efforts were unavailing, and at last he turned to his left and started resolutely along the roadway. Frequently the young soldier stopped to convince himself that he was in no immediate peril. To his listening ears, however, no sounds of danger came. The silence of the night was unbroken, and from the occasional plantations not even the dogs betrayed any alarm at his passing. Two hours or more had elapsed, and Noel now was beginning to feel the effects of his labors. Only in a general way did he know where he wanted to go, but his very ignorance had strengthened his nervous fear and he increased his efforts to make haste.