"
Frightened almost into convulsions, the decrepit old man fell back into a
corner, his eyes glaring with the unmistakable gleam of insanity, and his
teeth chattering terribly.
A stove, barely alive with heat, served to shelter him from the intruders,
for he managed to get behind the old piece of iron, and there crouched and
shuddered.
"Come, come!" said Major Dale as quickly as he could command his voice.
"Don't you know me? Look! I'm Dale--of the Guards--come to save you, Cap.
We have no wish to frighten you!"
"Save me!" hissed the old man. "Go away! I'm crazy--crazy!"
"Not a bit of it," answered the major, stepping nearer to the stove. "Come
along. We are snowbound, and had to come in uninvited."
Assured that the specter was a man and nothing more nor less, Tom had
hurried back to reassure the girls. Nat turned his attention to old Abe,
and, between scolding and explaining, finally succeeded in quieting the
colored man's fears. But the major kept close to the lunatic--for such he
took Captain Mayberry to be.
"And don't you remember me?" he kept asking, satisfied that a gleam of
recognition did pass over the wrinkled face that now peered out into the
glare of the lamp from the Fire Bird. "Come! We are hungry, and you are
too, I'll wager. Let's have mess. Rations are plenty to-night."
Crawling like some animal, the old man was finally persuaded to come out
from behind the stove.
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