"Wallace, don't be a fool!" cried Al, impatiently. Then, seeing that he must exercise diplomacy to make his friend follow the safer course, he went on, "Don't you see that it would be harder for two of us to escape than one, especially when you are disabled? I know Mrs. Falkner. She will hide me until I can get away, but she could not so easily hide two of us. Just give me your revolver and ammunition; that's all I want, and you take my musket and surrender it, so there'll be no question about your being unarmed. Nobody but Colonel Harding knows I'm here or who I am; and, if it comes up, you can tell him I've cut out and escaped, probably up-river." "Al, I hate to do it," said Wallace, hesitatingly. "You needn't. It's best for us both," insisted Al. "Now go; time is precious, and good luck to you." They gripped each other's hands in a firm farewell and Al stepped to the cellar door and opened it. Then he turned and shook his finger at Wallace smilingly. "Mind, now; if you're paroled, I'll see you in St. Louis inside of ten days, and we'll have lemonade together, with ice in it, at the ice-cream parlor near Third and Olive Streets." He closed the door behind him and felt his way down the cellar stairs, his heart by no means as light as he had tried to make Wallace believe. "Mrs. Falkner! Mrs. Falkner!" he called, softly, on reaching the bottom. There was no answer. "Mrs. Falkner!" Al repeated. "It's Al Briscoe. I'm in trouble." He heard the rustle of her dress as she came toward him, saying, "Al Briscoe? In trouble?" "Yes," he answered. "The city has just surrendered. I have been fighting, though I am not an enlisted soldier, and if the Confederates catch me I shall very likely be shot. Will you hide me for a little while until I can escape from the city?" "Why, of course I will, Al," exclaimed the kind-hearted lady, forgetting her own distress of mind in concern for him. "I am only too glad to help you. What time of day is it?" "It is about noon, Mrs. Falkner." "Then you will hardly dare to venture out before dark," she said. "Till then you can stay in the cellar. If you feel your way, you will find a pile of boxes in the corner back here which you can hide behind, if you wish. But I am living alone in the house, except for old Dinah, and she ran away up town when the battle began. I think no one will suspect that you are hiding here. Are you hungry?" "I have not eaten since last evening, in Arrow Rock," Al admitted. "I will see if there is anything to eat upstairs," said Mrs. Falkner. "I suppose the house is completely wrecked?" "Not altogether," Al replied, "but it is in pretty bad shape." The lady went upstairs and presently returned with some food and a candle.