and takin' a runnin' jump out of the woods, landed beside you. Now,
listen, Captain; I reckon you're on some sort of scoutin' trip, and
want to go on toward the river."

"You reckon right."

"About a mile further on we dip into a little valley. A creek, wide but
shallow and with a bed all rocks, takes up most of the width of that
valley. It goes nearly to the north, and at last reaches the Potomac.
A half mile from the crossin' ahead it runs through steep, high banks
that come right down to its edges, but the creek bottom is smooth enough
for the horses. I 'low I make myself plain enough, don't I, Mr. Captain?"

"You do, Mr. Lankford, and you're an angel in homespun. Without you we
could never do what we want to do. Lead the way to that blessed creek.
We don't want any of the Yankee vanguard to see us when we turn and
follow its stream."

"We can make it easy. They might guess that we're ridin' in the water
to hide our tracks, but the bottom is so rocky they won't know whether
we've gone up or down the stream. And if they guessed the right way,
and followed it, they'd be likely to turn back at the cliffs, anyhow."

They urged their horses now to the uttermost, and Harry soon saw the
waters of the creek shining through the darkness. Everything was
falling out as Lankford had said. The pursuit was unseen and unheard
behind them, but they knew it was there.

"Slow now, boys," said Sherburne, as they rode into the stream. "We
don't want to make too much noise splashing the water. Are there many