scene I had almost forgotten the man with the scarlet kerchief; now I

thought of him.

“Looking sharply around I espied him creeping off towards the place where the boss’s horses were tethered.

“There is the ringleader, Dan Whipple, the horse-thief; in the law’s name, lieutenant, I order you to help capture that man!’

“Saying this, I threw myself on the nearest horse, followed by four soldiers; but he had reached the tetherage, and we saw him galloping through the woods, far ahead, saddleless, and managing his nag with a mere halter.

“Our horses and his were about the same mettle, and we gained nothing on him. The soldiers told me they had left Silver Creek in search of this Dan Whipple, who, in the open street, had stolen a mule from a team about to set out with a colonel’s camp furniture; that on the road they had come upon a dead horse and the stolen mule with a bullet-hole in his head, being at a loss to account for it; however, they had pressed on in hopes of capturing the outlaw.

“They had not gone far before they heard shots and saw smoke, and after a sharp ride came upon the camp.

“I did not enlighten them in regard to the mule, but kept a look-out for the fugitive. Although during the civil war the popular estimation of Government horse flesh was not very great, nevertheless these Western war steeds were not at all despicable, for they brought us near enough to get a sight of our prey; but just then the mare whisked into the woods and was invisible.

“An ejaculation of a soldier caused me to turn my head, and, fifty feet right behind us, came on the horse the rascal had two minutes before bestrode.

“We looked at each other astonished. One man secured the horse, and I ordered the troops to proceed with me to the place where the thief had darted into the forest. We scrutinised every bush and hollow closely; for the moves of the man were so sudden and unexpected that I looked for a fatal shot from every corner.

“In apparent despair, I ordered the men to face homeward as our prey had certainly escaped us. We had not gone far, however, before I signed them to keep on slowly, while I lightly dismounted and made a large circuit, until I stood hidden in the bush, ten paces from a certain large tree I had noticed.

“Yes, the branches swayed in a manner not at all natural. First a limb rather high up moved queerly; then a lower one; now one farther down; and so the strange motion was communicated till the legs of a man appeared beneath the lowermost branch. I cocked my pistol.

“Gradually the body of the veritable Dan Whipple came down till he hung by the hands. Now was the time. Wishing merely to disable him, I aimed for his legs.

“‘Ping, ping,’ went those barrels. He tried hard to draw himself up into the tree. Then hung by one hand, with the other endeavouring to detach a weapon.

“But it was too much for him. He dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. I pounced upon him, held him by the throat, my knee on his chest, shouting for the soldiers.

“A cavalryman detached from his saddle a pair of iron cuffs, originally intended for the appropriator of the luckless mule, and the unenviable ornaments speedily enveloped the captive’s wrists. The wound not seeming serious, we placed him astride his last booty and started for camp.

“To conclude, suffice it to note, that the rioters were liberated with the exception of a few of the most prominent, who were sentenced to some months’ labour at the garrison in Silver Greek.

“There was no convenient penitentiary in the locality; besides men were in demand by the P. R. R.――therefore they were set at large. As for Dan Whipple, it was found necessary, after surgical examination, to amputate his wounded limb; but his thiefship obstinately refused to undergo the beneficial operation, and three days after his capture he died miserably from the effects of gangrene; thus preventing me from taking him to Omaha, to be subjected to lawful justice by the injured express firm――my employers.

“In justice to the departed purloiner of other people’s horses so as to obliterate from his record at least one crime, I explained to the military authorities the abstraction of the mule from the team, and was cleared of all intention of joining the profession, of which Mr. Whipple was such a prominent member.

“The labour superintendent, since these adventures were shared, has often met me, and we have undergone the same perils over and over――in words.”