Soon after the bugle had sounded the sick call, one of the sentinels on the picket line saw some one rapidly approaching from the direction of the Pixie camp.
"Halt! Who goes there?" he cried.
"A friend without the countersign."
"Advance, friend without the countersign."
Fig. 94.—"The Bugle had Sounded the Sick Call."
As the stranger drew near he showed the form and features of a Brownie soldier. They were indeed marred and wasted, and the uniform was tattered and soiled; but a Brownie soldier the fugitive certainly was. When he had come near enough the sentinel halted him and called:
"Corporal of the guard! Post four!" When the Corporal arrived the stranger was ordered to advance to the post.
"Who are you and whence do you come?" asked the Corporal.
"What! friend Steadypace," was the reply, "don't you know me? Well, well! A Pixie prison must have made sad changes in me if you can't recognize your old comrade Dodge."