Page:On to Pekin.djvu/102

82 suspicious, Nuggy. Go to somebody else, and find out."

"I am not afraid of him; and, if he has been playing the sneak, I'll give him a bit of my mind, I can tell you that."

"You must remember that he is an officer, and that his colonel is in control here. If you do anything rash, the young officer may have you put in the brig for it."

"Do you think they would dare to go as far as that?" questioned Nuggy, looking much disturbed.

"They would dare do almost anything. On an expedition like this, private citizens are counted as being in the way, at the best."

"Then, of course, I'll have to pull in my horns, Jerry. But it makes me mad to think he may have been imposing on me."

"If I were you, I'd try to find out something about him from the other soldiers; and, if he really is a relative to Jefferson Pennington, and is trying to pump you in order to get money out of your father, then I'd run a game up his back."

"How?"

"I wouldn't let him know what I had learned, and