“Then you must know all about the men up there,” said the colonel. “How many have they got, anyway?”
“A thousand fighting men,” replied Dan. “And I tell you, you will want more men than you have got here to whip them.”
“I don’t know about that. We have got a thousand men here in this regiment, and they are all disciplined, and when they draw up against your crowd of bushwhackers you will see some scattering. Now, we want to get across that bridge; how far is it from here?”
“You will find it right straight up this road about twenty miles. You want to be careful, because they have got ten men hidden up there, and they are all good shots.”
“We will take care of them, don’t you fear. Now, after we get across the bridge we must deploy in line of battle; how far will we have to go before we can strike their main line?”
“It is ten miles from the bridge to Ellisville, and when you get there you will find all the men you want.”
“Well, now, see here: suppose you go with me? You know all the crooks and turns of the road that leads—”
“But, Captain,” began Dan.
“This gentleman is a colonel,” interrupted the man who rode by his commanding officer’s side.
“A colonel!” exclaimed Dan, somewhat surprised to find that he had found the man who held the position his father was working for. “Colonel, I am glad to meet you,” he added, advancing and thrusting out a dirty, begrimed hand to the man, who merely reached down and touched the tips of it with his fingers. “My father calculates to hold the position of colonel when he has delivered up all the head men of the county into your hands. But, Colonel, I want to see this man located in Mobile. I had a heap of trouble to gobble him, and I don’t want to lose him.”