"I say, Fred," remarked Calhoun, "this is something like it; seems like old times. Why did this war have to come and separate us?"
Fred sighed. "The war, Calhoun," he answered, "has laid a heavier hand on me than on you, for it has made me an outcast from home."
"Don't worry, Fred; it will come out all right," answered Calhoun, cheerily.
On the morning of the second day the boys met with an adventure for which they were not looking. Even as early in the war as this, those roving bands of guerrillas which afterward proved such a curse to the border States began to appear. It was somewhat of a surprise to the boys when four men suddenly rode out of the woods by the side of the road, and roughly demanded that they give an account of themselves.
"By whose authority do you stop us?" indignantly demanded Fred.
"By my authority," answered the leader, with a fearful oath.
"And your authority I refuse to acknowledge," was the hot answer.
"See here, young man, you had better keep a civil tongue in your head," and as the leader said this he significantly tapped the butt of his revolver.
Calhoun here interposed. "What is it you wish?" he asked.
"I wish to know who you are, and where you are going, and that —— quick."