Page:The Campaign of the Jungle.djvu/197

Rh he had wisely provided himself. "Perhaps you had better investigate."

"I will," returned the young captain, and backed out of the room. The regulars wanted to stop him, but aiming his weappns at them the major told them to hold their peace.

"If everything is all right, you won't be harmed," he said. "But it doesn't look right to me. You have no business here, for one thing."

"And what business have you here?" demanded the older regular. And then he changed his manner. "We were captured in the fight of last week, and were just trying to get back to our lines again."

"We'll talk about that when my friend the captain gets back, my man. If we are treating you unjustly, I'll apologize and do the handsome thing by you," he added.

In the meantime Ben was making his way down to the bank of the stream, under the mill, with all possible speed. It was extremely dark, and he had to pick his way with caution for fear of tumbling into some ugly hollow. Below the mill was a fall of water, and here the stream ran between a series of sharp rocks.

Ben had just gained the bank of the stream when