"Now," soliloquized Archie, "I am to stay here, am I? That's what I was
ordered to do, but I don't know whether I'll obey or not. It is evident
Frank left me here to keep me out of harm's way. Perhaps he thinks that
because I have never smelt powder, I am a coward; but I'll show him that
I am not."

So saying, Archie stepped out from behind his tree, and walked slowly
toward the house. When he arrived opposite the window from which the
light shone, he stopped and looked in. He did not, however, go up close
to the window, or he certainly would have been seen; but he remained
standing at a respectful distance, so that he would have some chance for
escape, in case he should be discovered.

The sight that met his gaze would have been sufficient to deter most men
from attempting to burn the house. The room was filled with men, some of
whom were lying on the floor on their blankets, others sitting around
the table, and one or two were walking about the apartment. In the
corner stood their arms, ready to be seized at a moment's warning. And
this was but one of the rooms; perhaps the whole house was filled with
guerrillas.

"My eye!" said Archie to himself, "what a hornet's nest would be raised
about our ears, if we should be discovered."

His heart beat faster than usual, as he moved back from the window, and
walked silently around to the other side of the house. Here also was a
window, from which a light shone, and as, like the other, it was
destitute of a curtain, every thing that went on within could be plainly
seen by Archie, who took his station behind some bushes that stood at a