I will take what you have and leave at once, for the villains may be lurkin' round here somewhere.

But first, the bullet! have you that safe ?" "Here it is." The scout put it in his pocket, and taking in his hand a paper box of bread and meat which his loyal hostess brought him, resumed his hazardous journey.
He knew that there were other perils to encounter, unless he was particularly fortunate, but he had a heart prepared for any fate.

The perils came, but he escaped them with adroitness, and at midnight of the following day he was admitted into the presence of Colonel Craven.
Surely this was no common man, and his feat was no common one.
In forty-eight hours, traveling only by night, he had traversed one hundred miles with a rope round his neck, and without the prospect of special reward.

For he was but a private, and received but a private's pay--thirteen dollars a month, a shoddy uniform, and hard-tack, when he could get it.
Colonel Craven opened the bullet, and read the dispatch.
It was dated "Louisa, Kentucky, December 24, midnight"; and directed him to move at once with his regiment (the Fortieth Ohio, eight hundred strong) by way of Mount Sterling and McCormick's Gap, to Prestonburg.

He was to encumber his men with as few rations as possible, since the safety of his command depended on his celerity.