Chapter 16

A FRIEND IN GRAY.

Marcy Gray had seldom thought of his mother's overseer since he learned that he had been spirited away by armed and masked men, and, when he did, it was to indulge in the hope that he would never see or hear of him again. He did not believe that Hanson would dare disregard the warning of the Union men, who had "turned him loose, with orders never to show his face in the settlement again;" but here he was, riding along the public road in broad daylight, without making the least effort at concealment, and, to make the situation more alarming, he was riding one of Captain Beardsley's horses. Acting upon the first thought that came into his mind, Marcy urged his filly forward, intending to speak to the man, and Hanson, nothing loath, turned his horse about to wait for him.

"I'm on hands agin, like a bad piece of money," he said, with a laugh.

"So I see," answered Marcy. "And I must say that I little expected to meet you."

Hanson's response, and the way in which he acted, disheartened Marcy Gray, for they gave him a clew to the course this enemy of his mother's had marked out for himself. The first thing he did was to ride up and offer Marcy his hand, and the boy took it, because he did not think it would be policy to refuse. He wanted to find out what the man's plans were, and he could not do that by making him angry the first thing he