"What regiment do you belong to?"
"The One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois Infantry, Company 'K.' I formerly belonged to the Forty-sixth Maine."
"Do you know any of the boys belonging to Company 'B,' of the
Forty-sixth Maine Regiment?"
"Oh, yes," replied the man, "I know Harry and George Butler, Ben Lake, and, in fact, all the boys; for I once belonged to that very company. My home is only twenty miles from Lawrence, the place where the company was raised."
Frank did not stop to ask any more questions, for he was satisfied that he had fallen in with friends. How his heart bounded at meeting one who had lived so near his own home! He hastily crossed the stream, and, seizing the man's hand, shook it heartily.
"I am overjoyed at meeting with you, sir," he said, in a voice choked with emotion. "Perhaps I owe you an apology; but you will acknowledge that it is best to be on the safe side."
"Certainly it is," answered the man. "I should have done exactly as you did, if I had been in your place. But where are you travelling to?"
"I want to reach Red River, as soon as possible."
"So do we! But we have lost our reckoning, and don't know which way to go."
"I do," said Frank. "This path leads directly to it."