THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL

THE STORY OF THE GREAT VALLEY CAMPAIGN

By Joseph A. Altsheler

FOREWORD

"The Scouts of Stonewall, " while an independent story, is in effect acontinuation of the series which began with "The Guns of Bull Run"and which was carried on in "The Guns of Shiloh. " The present romancereverts to the Southern side, and is concerned with the fortunes ofHarry Kenton and his friends. 

THE CIVIL WAR SERIES

 VOLUMES IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES

 THE GUNS OF BULL RUN. THE GUNS OF SHILOH. THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL. THE SWORD OF ANTIETAM. THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG. THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA. THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESS. THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX. 

 PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES

 HARRY KENTON, A Lad Who Fights on the Southern Side. DICK MASON, Cousin of Harry Kenton, Who Fights on the Northern Side. COLONEL GEORGE KENTON, Father of Harry Kenton. MRS. MASON, Mother of Dick Mason. JULIANA, Mrs. Mason's Devoted Colored Servant. COLONEL ARTHUR WINCHESTER, Dick Mason's Regimental Commander. COLONEL LEONIDAS TALBOT, Commander of the Invincibles, a Southern Regiment. LIEUTENANT COLONEL HECTOR ST. HILAIRE, Second in Command of the Invincibles. ALAN HERTFORD, A Northern Cavalry Leader. PHILIP SHERBURNE, A Southern Cavalry Leader. WILLIAM J. SHEPARD, A Northern Spy. DANIEL WHITLEY, A Northern Sergeant and Veteran of the Plains. GEORGE WARNER, A Vermont Youth Who Loves Mathematics. FRANK PENNINGTON, A Nebraska Youth, Friend of Dick Mason. ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, A Native of Charleston, Friend of Harry Kenton. TOM LANGDON, Friend of Harry Kenton. GEORGE DALTON, Friend of Harry Kenton. BILL SKELLY, Mountaineer and Guerrilla. TOM SLADE, A Guerrilla Chief. SAM JARVIS, The Singing Mountaineer. IKE SIMMONS, Jarvis' Nephew. AUNT "SUSE, " A Centenarian and Prophetess. BILL PETTY, A Mountaineer and Guide. JULIEN DE LANGEAIS, A Musician and Soldier from Louisiana. JOHN CARRINGTON, Famous Northern Artillery Officer. DR. RUSSELL, Principal of the Pendleton School. ARTHUR TRAVERS, A Lawyer. JAMES BERTRAND, A Messenger from the South. JOHN NEWCOMB, A Pennsylvania Colonel. JOHN MARKHAM, A Northern Officer. JOHN WATSON, A Northern Contractor. WILLIAM CURTIS, A Southern Merchant and Blockade Runner. MRS. CURTIS, Wife of William Curtis. HENRIETTA GARDEN, A Seamstress in Richmond. DICK JONES, A North Carolina Mountaineer. VICTOR WOODVILLE, A Young Mississippi Officer. JOHN WOODVILLE, Father of Victor Woodville. CHARLES WOODVILLE, Uncle of Victor Woodville. COLONEL BEDFORD, A Northern Officer. CHARLES GORDON, A Southern Staff Officer. JOHN LANHAM, An Editor. JUDGE KENDRICK, A Lawyer. MR. CULVER, A State Senator. MR. BRACKEN, A Tobacco Grower. ARTHUR WHITRIDGE, A State Senator. 

 HISTORICAL CHARACTERS

 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States. JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Southern Confederacy. JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, Member of the Confederate Cabinet. U. S. GRANT, Northern Commander. ROBERT B. LEE, Southern Commander. STONEWALL JACKSON, Southern General. PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, Northern General. GEORGE H. THOMAS, "The Rock of Chickamauga. " ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Southern General. A. P. HILL, Southern General. W. S. HANCOCK, Northern General. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Northern General. AMBROSE B. BURNSIDE, Northern General. TURNER ASHBY, Southern Cavalry Leader. J. E. B. STUART, Southern Cavalry Leader. JOSEPH HOOKER, Northern General. RICHARD S. EWELL, Southern General. JUBAL EARLY, Southern General. WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS, Northern General. SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, Southern General. LEONIDAS POLK, Southern General and Bishop. BRAXTON BRAGG, Southern General. NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, Southern Cavalry Leader. JOHN MORGAN, Southern Cavalry Leader. GEORGE J. MEADE, Northern General. DON CARLOS BUELL, Northern General. W. T. SHERMAN, Northern General. JAMES LONGSTREET, Southern General. P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, Southern General. WILLIAM L. YANCEY, Alabama Orator. JAMES A. GARFIELD, Northern General, afterwards President of the United States. 

 And many others

 IMPORTANT BATTLES DESCRIBED IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES

 BULL RUN KERNSTOWN CROSS KEYS WINCHESTER PORT REPUBLIC THE SEVEN DAYS MILL SPRING FORT DONELSON SHILOH PERRYVILLE STONE RIVER THE SECOND MANASSAS ANTIETAM FREDERICKSBURG CHANCELLORSVILLE GETTYSBURG CHAMPION HILL VICKSBURG CHICKAMAUGA MISSIONARY RIDGE THE WILDERNESS SPOTTSYLVANIA COLD HARBOR FISHER'S HILL CEDAR CREEK APPOMATTOX

CONTENTS

 I. IN THE VALLEY

 II. THE FOOT CAVALRY

 III. STONEWALL JACKSON'S MARCH

 IV. WAR AND WAITING

 V. THE NORTHERN ADVANCE

 VI. KERNSTOWN

 VII. ON THE RIDGES

 VIII. THE MOUNTAIN BATTLE

 IX. TURNING ON THE FOE

 X. WINCHESTER

 XI. THE NIGHT RIDE

 XII. THE CLOSING CIRCLE

 XIII. THE SULLEN RETREAT

 XIV. THE DOUBLE BATTLE

 XV. THE SEVEN DAYS

THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL

CHAPTER I. IN THE VALLEY

A young officer in dingy Confederate gray rode slowly on a powerfulbay horse through a forest of oak. It was a noble woodland, clear ofundergrowth, the fine trees standing in rows, like those of a park. Theywere bare of leaves but the winter had been mild so far, and a carpet ofshort grass, yet green, covered the ground. To the rider's right floweda small river of clear water, one of the beautiful streams of the greatVirginia valleys. 

Harry Kenton threw his head back a little and drew deep breaths of thecool, crisp air. The light wind had the touch of life in it. As thecool puffs blew upon him and filled his lungs his chest expanded andhis strong pulses beat more strongly. But a boy in years, he had alreadydone a man's work, and he had been through those deeps of passion anddespair which war alone brings. 

A year spent in the open and with few nights under roof had enlargedHarry Kenton's frame and had colored his face a deep red. His greatancestor, Henry Ware, had been very fair, and Harry, like him, becamescarlet of cheek under the beat of wind and rain. 

Had anyone with a discerning eye been there, to see, he would havecalled this youth one of the finest types of the South that rode forthso boldly to war. He sat his saddle with the ease and grace that comeonly of long practice, and he controlled his horse with the slightesttouch of the rein. The open, frank face showed hate of nobody, althoughthe soul behind it was devoted without any reserve to the cause forwhich he fought. 

Harry was on scout duty. Although an officer on the staff of ColonelTalbot, commander of the Invincibles, originally a South Carolinaregiment, he had developed so much skill in forest and field, he hadsuch acuteness of eye and ear, that he was sent often to seek the campsof the enemy or to discover his plans. His friends said that theseforest powers were inherited, that they came from some far-away ancestorwho had spent his life in the wilderness, and Harry knew that what theysaid was true. 

Despite the peaceful aspect of the forest and the lack of human presencesave his own, he rode now on an errand that was full of danger. TheUnion camp must lie on the other side of that little river, not manymiles farther on, and he might meet, at any moment, the pickets of thefoe. He meant to take the uttermost risk, but he had no notion of beingcaptured. He would suffer anything, any chance, rather than that. He hadlately come into contact with a man who had breathed into him the fireand spirit belonging to legendary heroes. To this man, short of wordsand plain of dress, nothing was impossible, and Harry caught from himnot merely the belief, but the conviction also. 

Late in the autumn the Invincibles, who had suffered severely at BullRun and afterward had been cut down greatly in several small actions inthe mountains, had been transferred to the command of Stonewall Jacksonin the Shenandoah Valley. Disease and the hospital had reduced theregiment to less than three hundred, but their spirits were as high asever. Their ranks were renewed partly with Virginians. Colonel Talbotand Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire had recovered from small wounds, andSt. Clair and Langdon were whole and as hard as iron. After a period ofwaiting they were now longing for action. 

There was some complaint among the Invincibles when they were detachedfrom the main army to the service of Jackson, but Harry did not sharein it. When he heard of the order he remembered that dread afternoon atBull Run, when all seemed lost, and the most vivid of his memories wasthe calm figure riding back and forth just beyond the pines among whichhe stood, and gathering for a fresh charge the stern ranks of his menwho were to turn almost sure defeat into absolutely sure victory. Thepicture of the man in the heart of that red glare among the showers ofbullets had been burned so deeply into Harry's memory that he could callit up, almost as vivid as life itself at any time. Surely that was aleader to follow, and he, at least, would wish to ride where Stonewallled. 

But action did not come as soon as he had expected. Jackson was held bycommands from Richmond. The great army of the South waited, because thegreat army of the North, under McClellan, also waited and temporizedwhile the autumn was passing fast. 

But Jackson, while held in the bonds of orders, did not sleep. The mostactive youth of his command rode day and night toward the northernend of the valley, where the forces of the Union were gathering. Themovements of Banks and Kelly and the other Northern commanders werewatched continually by keen eyes trained in the southern forests. Slimstriplings passed in the night through the little towns, and the people, intensely loyal to the South, gave them the news of everything. 

Harry had seen the whole autumn pass and winter come, and the war, savefor a fitful skirmish now and then, stood at a pause in the valley. Yethe rode incessantly, both with the others and alone, on scouting duty. He knew every square mile of the country over a wide range, and he hadpassed whole nights in the forest, when hail or snow was whistling by. But these had been few. Mostly mild winds blew and the hoofs of hishorse fell on green turf. 

Harry was intensely alert now. He was far from his command, and he knewthat he must see and hear everything or he would soon be in the hands ofthe enemy. He rode on rather slowly, and amid continued silence. He sawon his left a white house with green shutters and a portico. But theshutters were closed tightly and no smoke rose from the chimneys. Although house and grounds showed no touch of harm, they seemed to bearthe brand of desolation. The owners had fled, knowing that the sinistermarch of war would pass here. 

Harry's mood changed suddenly from gladness to depression. Thedesolate house brought home to him the terrible nature of war. It meantdestruction, wounds and death, and they were all the worse because itwas a nation divided against itself, people of the same blood and thesame traditions fighting one another. 

But youth cannot stay gloomy long, and his spirits presently flowedback. There was too much tang and life in that crisp wind from the westfor his body to droop, and a lad could not be sad long, with brilliantsunshine around him and that shining little river before him. 

The thrill of high adventure shot up from his soul. He had ceased tohate the Northern soldiers, if he had ever hated them at all. Nowthey were merely brave opponents, with whom he contended, and successdemanded of either skill, daring and energy to the utmost degree. He wasresolved not to fail in any of these qualities. 

He left the desolate house a mile behind, and then the river curved alittle. The woods on the farther shore came down in dense masses to theedge of the stream, and despite the lack of foliage Harry could not seefar into them. The strong, inherited instincts leaped up. His nostrilsexpanded and a warning note was sounded somewhere in the back of hisbrain. 

He turned his horse to the left and entered the forest on his own sideof the river. They were ancient trees that he rode among, with manydrooping and twisted boughs, and he was concealed well, although hecould yet see from his covert the river and the forest on the othershore. 

The song of a trumpet suddenly came from the deep woodland across theshining stream. It was a musical song, mellow and triumphant on everykey, and the forest and hills on either shore gave it back, soft andbeautiful on its dying echoes. It seemed to Harry that the volume ofsound, rounded and full, must come from a trumpet of pure gold. He hadread the old romances of the Round Table, and for the moment hishead was full of them. Some knight in the thicket was sending forth achallenge to him. 

But Harry gave no answering defiance. Now the medieval glow was gone, and he was modern and watchful to the core. He had felt instinctivelythat it was a trumpet of the foe, and the Northern trumpets were notlikely to sing there in Virginia unless many Northern horsemen rodetogether. 

Then he saw their arms glinting among the trees, the brilliant beams ofthe sun dancing on the polished steel of saber hilt and rifle barrel. A minute more, and three hundred Union horsemen emerged from the forestand rode, in beautiful order, down to the edge of the stream. 

Harry regarded them with an admiration which was touched by no hate. They were heavily built, strong young men, riding powerful horses, andit was easy for anyone to see that they had been drilled long and well. Their clothes and arms were in perfect order, every horse had beentended as if it were to be entered in a ring for a prize. It was histhought that they were not really enemies, but worthy foes. That ancientspirit of the tournament, where men strove for the sake of striving, came to him again. 

The Union horsemen rode along the edge of the stream a little space, and then plunged into a ford. The water rose to their saddle skirts, butthey preserved their even line and Harry still admired. When all were onhis own shore the golden trumpet sang merrily again, and they turned theheads of their horses southward. 

Harry rode deeper into the ancient wood. They might throw out scouts orskirmishers and he had no mind to be taken. It was his belief that theycame from Romney, where a Northern army had gathered in great force andwould eventually march toward Jackson at Winchester. But whatever theirerrand, here was something for him to watch, and he meant to know whatthey intended. 

The Northern troop, youths also, the average of their age not much morethan twenty, rode briskly along the edge of the little river, which wasa shining one for them, too, as well as Harry. They knew that no enemyin force was near, and they did not suspect that a single horsemanfollowed, keeping in the edge of the woods, his eyes missing nothingthat they did. 

As for themselves, they were in the open now and the brilliant sunshinequickened their blood. Some of them had been at Bull Run, but the stingof that day was going with time. They were now in powerful force at thehead of the great Virginia valleys, and they would sweep down them withsuch impact that nothing could stand before them. The trumpet sang itsmellow triumphant note again, and from across a far range of hills cameits like, a low mellow note, faint, almost an echo, but a certain reply. It was the answer from another troop of their men who rode on a parallelline several miles away. 

The lone lad in the edge of the forest heard the distant note also, buthe gave it no heed. His eyes were always for the troop before him. Hehad already learned from Stonewall Jackson that you cannot do two thingsat once, but the one thing that you do you must do with all your might. 

The troop presently left the river and entered the fields from whichthe crops had been reaped long since. When the horsemen came to a fencetwelve men dismounted and threw down enough panels for the others toride through without breaking their formation. Everything was done withorder and precision. Harry could not keep from admiring. It was notoften that he saw so early in the war troops who were drilled sobeautifully, and who marched so well together. 

Harry always kept on the far side of the fields, and as the fences wereof rails with stakes and riders he was able by bending very low in thesaddle to keep hidden behind them. Nevertheless it was delicate work. Hewas sure that if seen he could escape to the forest through the speedof his horse. But he did not want to be driven off. He wished to followthat troop to its ultimate destination. 

Another mile or two and the Union force bore away to the right, enteringthe forest and following a road, where the men rode in files, sixabreast. They did not make much noise, beyond the steady beating of thehoofs, but they did not seem to seek concealment. Harry made the obviousdeduction that they thought themselves too far beyond the range of theSouthern scouts to be noticed. He felt a thrill of satisfaction, becausehe was there and he had seen them. 

He rode in the forest parallel with the troop and at a distance of aboutfour hundred yards. There was scattered undergrowth, enough to hidehim, but not enough to conceal those three hundred men who rode in closefiles along a well-used road. 

Harry soon saw the forest thinning ahead of him and then the trumpetsang its mellow, golden note again. From a point perhaps a mile aheadcame a reply, also the musical call of the trumpet. Not an echo, butthe voice of a second trumpet, and now Harry knew that another force wascoming to join the first. All his pulses began to beat hard, notwith nervousness, but with intense eagerness to know what was afoot. Evidently it must be something of importance or strong bodies of Unioncavalry would not be meeting in the woods in this manner. 

After the reply neither trumpet sounded again, and the troop that Harrywas following stopped while yet in the woods. He rode his horse behind atall and dense clump of bushes, where, well hidden, he could yet see allthat might happen, and waited. 

He heard in a few minutes the beat of many hoofs upon the hard road, advancing with the precision and regularity of trained cavalry. He sawthe head of a column emerge upon the road and an officer ride forwardto meet the commander of the first troop. They exchanged a few words andthen the united force rode southward through the open woods, with thewatchful lad always hanging on their rear. 

Harry judged that the new troop numbered about five hundred men, andeight hundred cavalry would not march on any mere scouting expedition. His opinion that this was a ride of importance now became a conviction, and he hardened his purpose to follow them to the end, no matter whatthe risk. 

It was now about noon, and the sun became warm despite the December day. The turf softened under the rays and the Union cavalry left an immensewide trail through the forest. It was impossible to miss it, and Harry, careful not to ride into an ambush of rear guard pickets, dropped back alittle, and also kept slightly to the left of the great trail. He couldnot see the soldiers now, but occasionally he heard the deep sound of somany hoofs sinking into the soft turf. Beyond that turfy sigh no soundfrom the marching men came to him. 

The Union troop halted about two o'clock in the afternoon, and the menate cold food from the knapsacks. They also rested a full hour, andHarry, watching from a distance, felt sure that their lack of hurryindicated a night attack of some kind. They had altered their courseslightly, twice, and when they started anew they did so a third time. 

Now their purpose occurred suddenly to Harry. It came in a flash ofintuition, and he did not again doubt it for a moment. The head of thecolumn was pointed straight toward a tiny village in which food andammunition for Stonewall Jackson were stored. The place did not havemore than a dozen houses, but one of them was a huge tobacco barnstuffed with powder, lead, medicines, which were already worth theirweight in gold in the Confederacy, and other invaluable supplies. It hadbeen planned to begin their removal on the morrow to the Southern campat Winchester, but it would be too late unless he intervened. 

If he did not intervene! He, a boy, riding alone through the forest, todefeat the energies of so many men, equipped splendidly! The Confederacywas almost wholly agricultural, and was able to produce few suchsupplies of its own. Nor could it obtain them in great quantities fromEurope as the Northern navy was drawing its belt of steel about theSouthern coasts. That huge tobacco barn contained a treasure beyondprice, and Harry was resolved to save it. 

He did not yet know how he would save it, but he felt that he would. Allthe courage of those border ancestors who won every new day of lifeas the prize of skill and courage sprang up in him. It was no vainheritage. Happy chance must aid those who trusted, and, taking adeep curve to the left, he galloped through the woods. His horsecomparatively fresh after easy riding, went many miles without showingany signs of weariness. 

The boy knew the country well, and it was the object of his circuit totake him ahead of the Union troop and to the village which held asmall guard of perhaps two hundred men. If the happy chance in which hetrusted should fail him after all, these men could carry off a part ofthe supplies, and the rest could be destroyed to keep them from fallinginto Northern hands. 

He gave his horse a little breathing space and then galloped harderthan ever, reckoning that he would reach the village in another hour. Heturned from the woods into one of the narrow roads between farms, justwide enough for wagons, and increased his speed. 

The afternoon sun was declining, filling the west with dusky gold, andHarry still rode at a great pace along the rough road, wondering allthe while what would be the nature of the lucky chance, in which he wastrusting so firmly. Lower sank the sun and the broad band of dusky goldwas narrowing before the advance of the twilight. The village was notnow more than two miles away, and the road dipped down before him. Sounds like that made by the force behind him, the rattle of arms, thecreak of leather and the beat of hoofs, came suddenly to his ears. 

Harry halted abruptly and reined his horse into some bushes beside theroad. Then he heard the sounds more plainly. They were made by cavalry, riding slowly. The great pulses in his throat leaped in quick alarm. Was it possible that they had sent a portion of their force swiftly byanother route, and that it was now between him and the village?

He listened again and with every faculty strained. The cavalrymen wereriding toward him and they could not be a part of the Union force. Thenthey must be of his own South. Surely this was the happy chance of whichhe had dreamed! Again the great pulses leaped, but with a differentemotion. 

Scorning every risk, he reined his horse back into the road and rodestraight forward. The heads of men were just topping the rise, and a fewmoments later they and the horses they bestrode came into full view. Itwas a thankful thrill that shot through him now. The sun, almost sunk, sent a last golden shower across them and disclosed the dingy gray oftheir uniforms and the lean, tanned faces. 

Uttering a shout of joy and holding up a hand to show that he was afriend, Harry galloped forward. A young man at the head of the troop, acaptain by his uniform, and evidently the leader, gave the signal to hismen to stop, and received the boy who came alone. 

"Who are you?" he asked. 

"I'm Harry Kenton, a lieutenant in the army of Stonewall Jackson, andan aide on the staff of Colonel Leonidas Talbot, colonel of the regimentknown as the Invincibles. "

"I've heard of that regiment. South Carolinians at first, but now mostlyVirginians. "

"The Virginians filled up the gaps that were made on the battlefield. "

Harry spoke proudly, and the young captain smiled. The boy regardedhim with increasing interest. Somehow he was reminded of Jeb Stuart, although this man was younger, not having passed his boyhood long. 

It was evident that he was tall. Thick, yellow curls showed from underthe edge of his cap. His face, like Harry's, had turned red before windand rain. His dress was a marvel, made of the finest gray without a spotor stain. A sash of light blue silk encircled his waist, and the costlygray cloak thrown back a little from his shoulders revealed a silklining of the same delicate blue tint. His gauntlets were made of thefinest buckskin, and a gold-hilted small sword swung from his sash. 

"A dandy, " thought Harry, "but the bravest of the brave, for all that. "

"My name's Sherburne, Captain Philip Sherburne, " said the young leader. "I'm from the Valley of Virginia, and so are my men. We belong toStonewall Jackson's army, too, but we've been away most of the time onscouting duty. That's the reason you don't know us. We're going towardWinchester, after another of our fruitless rides. "

"But it won't be fruitless this time!" exclaimed Harry, eagerly. "AUnion force of nearly a thousand men is on its way to destroy thestores at the village, the stores that were to be moved to a safer placeto-morrow!"

"How do you know?"

"I've seen 'em. I was behind 'em at first and followed 'em for a longtime before I guessed their purpose. Then I curved about 'em, gallopedthrough the woods, and rode on here, hoping for the lucky chance thathas come with you. "

Harry, as he spoke, saw the eyes of the young captain leap and flame, and he knew he was in the presence of one of those knightly souls, thrown up so often in the war, most often by the border States. Theywere youths who rode forth to battle in the spirit of high romance. 

"You ask us to go back to the village and help defend the stores?" saidPhilip Sherburne. 

"That's just what I do ask--and expect. "

"Of course. We'd have done it without the asking, and glad of it. What achance for us, as well as for you!"

He turned and faced his men. The golden glow of the sun was gone now, but a silver tint from the twilight touched his face. Harry saw therethe blaze of the knightly spirit that craved adventure. 

"Men, " he said in clear, happy tones, "we've ridden for days and days inquests that brought nothing. Now the enemy is at hand, nearly a thousandstrong, and means to destroy our stores. There are two hundred of youand there are two hundred more guarding the stores. If there's a singleone among you who says he must ride on to Winchester, let him hold uphis hand. "

Not a hand was raised, and the bold young captain laughed. 

"I don't need to put the other side of the question, " he said to Harry. "They're as eager as I am to scorch the faces of the Yankees. "

The order was given to turn and ride. The "men, " not one of whom wasover twenty-five, obeyed it eagerly, and galloped for the village, everyheart throbbing with the desire for action. They were all from the richfarms in the valleys. Splendid horsemen, fine marksmen, and alive withyouth and courage, no deed was too great for them. Harry was proudto ride with them, and he told more of the story to Sherburne as theycovered the short distance to the village. 

"Old Jack would order us to do just what we're doing, " said Sherburne. "He wants his officers to obey orders, but he wants them to think, too. "

Harry saw his eyes flash again, and something in his own mind answeredto the spirit of adventure which burned so brightly in this young man. He looked over the troop, and as far as he could see the faces of allwere flushed with the same hope. He knew with sudden certainty that theUnion forces would never take that warehouse and its precious contents. These were the very flower of that cavalry of the South destined tobecome so famous. 

"You know the village?" said Sherburne to Harry. 

"Yes, I passed there last night. "

"What defense has it?"

"About two hundred men. They are strangers to the region, drawn from theTidewater country, and I don't think they're as good as most of GeneralJackson's men. "

"Lack of discipline, you think?"

"Yes, but the material is fine. "

"All right. Then we'll see that they acquire discipline. Nothing likethe enemy's fire to teach men what war is. "

They were riding at good speed toward the village, while they talked, and Harry had become at once the friend and lieutenant of young CaptainSherburne. His manner was so pleasant, so intimate, so full of charm, that he did not have the power or the will to resist it. 

They soon saw Hertford, a village so little that it was not able to putitself on the map. It stood on the crest of a low hill, and the tobaccobarn was about as large as all the other buildings combined. Thetwilight had now merged into night, but there was a bright sky andplenty of stars, and they saw well. 

Captain Sherburne stopped his troop at a distance of three or fourhundred yards, while they were still under cover of the forest. 

"What's the name of the commander there?" he asked. 

"McGee, " Harry replied. "Means well, but rather obstinate. "

"That's the way with most of these untrained men. We mustn't risk beingshot up by those whom we've come to help. Lasley, give them a call fromthe bugle. Make it low and soft though. We don't want those behind us tohear it. "

Lasley, a boy no older than Harry, rode forward a dozen yards in frontof the troop, put his bugle to his lips and blew a soft, warning call. Harry had been stirred by the first sound of a hostile trumpet hoursbefore, and now this, the note of a friend, thrilled him again. He gazedintently at the village, knowing that the pickets would be on watch, andpresently he saw men appear at the edge of the hill just in front ofthe great warehouse. They were the pickets, beyond a doubt, because thesilver starshine glinted along the blades of their bayonets. 

The bugler gave one more call. It was a soft and pleasing sound. It saidvery plainly that the one who blew and those with him were friends. Two men in uniform joined the pickets beside the warehouse, and lookedtoward the point whence the note of the bugle came. 

"Forward!" said Captain Philip Sherburne, himself leading the way, Harryby his side. The troops, wheeling back into the road and marching byfours in perfect order, rode straight toward the village. 

"Who comes?" was the stern hail. 

"A troop of Stonewall Jackson's cavalry to help you, " replied Sherburne. "You are about to be attacked by a Northern division eight hundredstrong. "

"Who says so?" came the question in a tone tinged with unbelief, andHarry knew that it was the stubborn and dogmatic McGee who spoke. 

"Lieutenant Harry Kenton of the Invincibles, one of Stonewall Jackson'sbest regiments, has seen them. You know him; he was here yesterday. "

As he spoke, Captain Sherburne sprang from his horse and pointed toHarry. 

"You remember me, Captain McGee, " said Harry. "I stopped with you aminute yesterday. I rode on a scouting expedition, and I have seen theUnion force myself. It outnumbers us at least two to one, but we'll havethe advantage of the defense. "

"Yes, I know you, " said McGee, his heavy and strong, but not veryintelligent face, brightening a little. "But it's a great responsibilityI've got here. We ought to have had more troops to defend such valuablestores. I've got two hundred men, captain, and I should say that you'veabout the same. "

It was then that Captain Philip Sherburne showed his knightly character, speaking words that made Harry's admiration of him immense. 

"I haven't any men, Captain McGee, " he said, "but you have four hundred, and I'll help my commander as much as I can. "

McGee's eyes gleamed. Harry saw that while not of alert mind he wasnevertheless a gentleman. 

"We work together, Captain Sherburne, " he said gratefully, "and I thankGod you've come. What splendid men you have!"

Captain Sherburne's eyes gleamed also. This troop of his was his pride, and he sought always to keep it bright and sharp like a polished swordblade. 

"Whatever you wish, Captain McGee. But it will take us all to repelthe enemy. Kenton here, who saw them well, says they have a fine, disciplined force. "

The men now dismounted and led their horses to a little grove just inthe rear of the warehouse, where they were tethered under the guard ofthe villagers, all red-hot partisans of the South. Then the four hundredmen, armed with rifles and carbines, disposed themselves about thewarehouse, the bulk of them watching the road along which the attackingforce was almost sure to come. 

Harry took his place with Sherburne, and once more he was compelledto admire the young captain's tact and charm of manner. He directedeverything by example and suggestion, but all the while he made theheavy Captain McGee think that he himself was doing it. 

Sherburne and Harry walked down the road a little distance. 

"Aren't you glad to be here, Kenton?" asked the captain in a somewhatwhimsical tone. 

"I'm glad to help, of course. "

"Yes, but there's more. When I came to war I came to fight. And if wesave the stores look how we'll stand in Old Jack's mind. Lord, Kenton, but he's a queer man! You'd never take any notice of him, if you didn'tknow who he was, but I'd rather have one flash of approval from thosesolemn eyes of his than whole dictionaries of praise from all the othergenerals I know. "

"I saw him at Bull Run, when he saved the day. "

"So did I. The regiment that I was with didn't come up until near theclose, but our baptism of battle was pretty thorough, all the same. Hark! did you think you heard anything, Kenton?"

Harry listened attentively. 

"Yes, I hear something, " he replied. "It's very soft, but I should saythat it's the distant beat of hoofs. "

"And of many hoofs. "

"So I think. "

"Then it's our friends of the North, coming to take what we want tokeep. A few minutes more, Kenton, and they'll be here. "

They slipped back toward the warehouse, and Harry's heart began to throbheavily. He knew that Sherburne's words would soon come true. 

CHAPTER II. THE FOOT CAVALRY

Captain Sherburne told Captain McGee that the invaders were coming, and there was a stir in the ranks of the defenders. The cavalrymen, disciplined and eager, said nothing, but merely moved a little in orderto see better along the road over which the enemy was advancing. Theoriginal defenders, who were infantry, talked in whispers, despitecommands, and exchanged doubts and apprehensions. 

Harry walked up and down in front of the warehouse with CaptainSherburne, and both watched the road. 

"If we only had a little artillery, just a light gun or two, " saidSherburne, "we'd give 'em such a surprise that they'd never get overit. "

"But we haven't got it. "

"No, we haven't, but maybe rifles and carbines will serve. "

The hoofbeats were fast growing louder, and Harry knew that the head ofthe Northern column would appear in a minute or two. Every light in thewarehouse or about it and all in the village had been extinguished, butthe moonlight was clear and more stars had come into the full sky. 

"We can see well enough for a fight, " murmured Captain Sherburne. 

Everybody could hear the hoofbeats now, and again there was a stir inthe ranks of the defenders. The dark line appeared in the road three orfour hundred yards away and then, as the horsemen emerged into the open, they deployed rapidly by companies. They, too, were trained men, andkeen eyes among their officers caught sight of the armed dark linebefore the warehouse. The voice of the trumpet suddenly pealed forthagain, and now it was loud and menacing. 

"It's the charge!" cried Sherburne, "and I can see that they're all yousaid, Kenton! A magnificent body, truly! Ready, men! Ready! For God'ssake don't fire too soon! Wait for the word! Wait for the word!"

He was all the leader now, and in the excitement of the moment McGee didnot notice it. The superior mind, the one keen to see and to act, was incontrol. 

"Here, Kenton!" cried Sherburne, "hold back these recruits! My own menwill do exactly as I say!"

Harry ran along the infantry line, and here and there he knocked downrifles which were raised already, although the enemy was yet threehundred yards away. But he saw a figure in front of the charginghorsemen wave a sword. Then the trumpet blew another call, short butfierce and menacing, and the ground thundered as nearly a thousandhorsemen swept forward, uttering a tremendous shout, their sabersflashing in the moonlight. 

Harry felt a moment of admiration and then another moment of pity. These men, charging so grandly, did not know that the defenders had beenreinforced. Nor did they know that they rode straight to what was swiftand sudden death for many of them. 

It was hard to stand steady and not pull the trigger, while that line offlashing steel galloped upon them, but the dismounted cavalrymen lookedto their leader for commands, and the officer held the infantry. Harry'smoment of admiration and pity passed. These were soldiers coming todefeat and destroy, and it was his business to help prevent it. His ownpulse of battle began to beat hard. 

That front of steel, spread wide across the open, was within two hundredyards now! Then a hundred and fifty! Then a hundred! Then less, andfierce and sharp like the crack of a rifle came Captain Sherburne'scommand: "Fire!"

Four hundred rifles leaped to the shoulder and four hundred fingerspressed trigger so close together that four hundred rifles sang togetheras one. The charge halted in its tracks. The entire front rank was shotaway. Horses and men went down together, and the horses uttered neighsof pain, far more terrific than the groans of the wounded men. Many ofthem, riderless, galloped up and down between the lines. 

But the splendid horsemen behind came on again, after the momentarystop. Half of them armed with short carbines sent a volley at thedefenders, who were shoving in cartridges in frantic haste, and theswordsmen galloped straight upon the Virginians. 

Harry saw a great saber flashing directly in his face. It was wieldedby a man on a powerful horse that seemed wild with the battle fever. Thehorse, at the moment, was more terrible than his rider. His mouth wasdripping with foam, and his lips were curled back from his cruel, whiteteeth. His eyes, large and shot with blood, were like those of somehuge, carnivorous animal. 

The boy recoiled, more in fear of the horse than of the saber, andsnatching a heavy pistol from his belt, fired directly at the greatfoam-flecked head. The horse crashed down, but his rider sprang clearand retreated into the smoke. Almost at the same instant the defendershad fired the second volley, and the charge was beaten back from theirvery faces. 

The Southerners at the war's opening had the advantage of an almostuniversal familiarity with the rifle, and now they used it well. Sherburne's two hundred men, always cool and steady, fired like trainedmarksmen, and the others did almost as well. Most of them had newrifles, using cartridges, and no cavalry on earth could stand beforesuch a fire. 

Harry again saw the flashing sabers more than once, and there was avast turmoil of fire and smoke in front of him, but in a few minutes thetrumpet sounded again, loud and clear over the crash of battle, and nowit was calling to the men to come back. 

The two forces broke apart. The horsemen, save for the wounded and dead, retreated to the forest, and the defenders, victorious for the present, fired no more, while the wounded, who could, crawled away to shelter. They reloaded their rifles and at first there was no exultation. Theybarely had time to think of anything. The impact had been so terribleand there had been such a blaze of firing that they were yet in a daze, and scarcely realized what had happened. 

"Down, men! Down!" cried Captain Sherburne, as he ran along the line. "They'll open fire from the wood!"

All the defenders threw themselves upon the ground and lay there, muchless exposed and also concealed partly. One edge of the wood ran withintwo hundred yards of the warehouse, and presently the Northern soldiers, hidden behind the trees at that point, opened a heavy rifle fire. Bullets whistled over the heads of the defenders, and kept up a constantpatter upon the walls of the warehouse, but did little damage. 

A few of the men in gray had been killed, and all the wounded were takeninside the warehouse, into which the great tobacco barn had been turned. Two competent surgeons attended to them by the light of candles, whilethe garrison outside lay still and waiting under the heavy fire. 

"A waste of lead, " said Sherburne to Harry. "They reckon, perhaps, thatwe're all recruits, and will be frightened into retreat or surrender. "

"If we had those guns now we could clear out the woods in short order, "said Harry. 

"And if they had 'em they could soon blow up this barn, everything in itand a lot of us at the same time. So we are more than even on the matterof the lack of guns. "

The fire from the wood died in about fifteen minutes and was succeededby a long and trying silence. The light of the moon deepened, andsilvered the faces of the dead lying in the open. All the survivors ofthe attack were hidden, but the defenders knew that they were yet in theforest. 

"Kenton, " said Captain Sherburne, "you know the way to General Jackson'scamp at Winchester. "

"I've been over it a dozen times. "

"Then you must mount and ride. This force is sitting down before us fora siege, and it probably has pickets about the village, but you mustget through somehow. Bring help! The Yankees are likely to send back forhelp, too, but we've got to win here. "

"I'm off in five minutes, " said Harry, "and I'll come with a brigade bydawn. "

"I believe you will, " said Sherburne. "But get to Old Jack! Get there!If you can only reach him, we're saved! He may not have any horsemen athand, but his foot cavalry can march nearly as fast! Lord, how StonewallJackson can cover ground!"

Their hands met in the hearty grasp of a friendship which was alreadyold and firm, and Harry, without looking back, slipped into the wood, where the men from the village were watching over the horses. Sherburnehad told him to take any horse he needed, but he chose his own, convinced that he had no equal, slipped into the saddle, and rode to theedge of the wood. 

"There's a creek just back of us; you can see the water shining throughthe break in the trees, " said a man who kept the village store. "Thetimber's pretty thick along it, and you'd best keep in its shelter. Here, you Tom, show him the way. "

A boy of fourteen stepped up to the horse's head. 

"My son, " said the storekeeper. "He knows every inch of the ground. "

But Harry waved him back. 

"No, " he said. "I'll be shot at, and the boy on foot can't escape. I'llfind my way through. No, I tell you he must not go!"

He almost pushed back the boy who was eager for the task, rode outof the wood which was on the slope of the hill away from the point ofattack, and gained the fringe of timber along the creek. It was aboutfifty yards from cover to cover, but he believed he had not been seen, as neither shout nor shot followed him. 

Yet the Union pickets could not be far away. He had seen enough to knowthat the besiegers were disciplined men led by able officers and theywould certainly make a cordon about the whole Southern position. 

He rode his horse into a dense clump of trees and paused to listen. He heard nothing but the faint murmur of the creek, and the occasionalrustle of dry branches as puffs of wind passed. He dismounted for thesake of caution and silence as far as possible, and led his horse downthe fringe of trees, always keeping well under cover. 

Another hundred yards and he stopped again to listen. All those oldinherited instincts and senses leaped into life. He was, for the moment, the pioneer lad, seeking to detect the ambush of his foe. Now, his acuteears caught the hostile sound. It was low, merely the footsteps of aman, steadily walking back and forth. 

Harry peeped from his covert and saw a Union sentinel not far away, pacing his beat, rifle on shoulder, the point of the bayonet tipped withsilver flame from the moon. And he saw further on another sentinel, andthen another, all silent and watchful. He knew that the circle about thedefense was complete. 

He could have escaped easily through the line, had he been willing toleave his horse, and for a few moments he was sorely tempted to do so, but he recalled that time was more precious than jewels. If he ever gotbeyond the line of pickets he must go and go fast. 

He was three or four hundred yards from the village and no one hadyet observed him, but he did not believe that he could go much fartherundetected. Some one was bound to hear the heavy footsteps of the horse. 

The creek shallowed presently and the banks became very low. Then Harrydecided suddenly upon his course. He would put everything to the touchand win or lose in one wild dash. Springing upon the back of his horse, he raked him with the spur and put him straight at the creek. Thestartled animal was across in two jumps, and then Harry sent him racingacross the fields. He heard two or three shouts and several shots, butfortunately none touched him or his mount, and, not looking back, hecontinually urged the horse to greater speed. 

Bending low he heard the distant sound of hoofbeats behind him, but theysoon died away. Then he entered a belt of forest, and when he passedout on the other side no pursuit could be seen. But he did not slackenspeed. He knew that all Sherburne had said about Stonewall Jackson wastrue. He would forgive no dallying by the way. He demanded of every manhis uttermost. 

He turned from the unfenced field into the road, and rode at a fullgallop toward Winchester. The cold wind swept past and his spirits rosehigh. Every pulse was beating with exultation. It was he who had broughtthe warning to the defenders of the stores. It was he who had broughtSherburne's troop to help beat off the attack, and now it was he who, bursting through the ring of steel, was riding to Jackson and surerelief. 

His horse seemed to share his triumph. He ran on and on without a swerveor jar. Once he stretched out his long head, and uttered a shrill neigh. The sound died in far echoes, and then followed only the rapid beat ofhis hoofs on the hard road. 

Harry knew that there was no longer any danger to him from the enemy, and he resolved now not to go to his own colonel, but to ride straightto the tent of Jackson himself. 

The night had never grown dark. Moon and stars still shed an abundantlight for the flying horseman, and presently he caught fleeting glimpsesthrough the trees of roofs that belonged to Winchester. Then two menin gray spring into the road, and, leveling their rifles, gave him thecommand to stop. 

"I'm Lieutenant Kenton of the Invincibles, " he cried, "and I come forhelp. A strong force of the Yankees is besieging Hertford, and fourhundred of our men are defending it. There is no time to waste! Theymust have help there before dawn, or everything is lost! Which way isGeneral Jackson's tent?"

"In that field on the hillock!" replied one of the men, pointing two orthree hundred yards away. 

Harry raced toward the tent, which rose in modest size out of thedarkness, and sprang to the ground, when his horse reached it. A singlesentinel, rifle across his arms, was standing before it, but the flapwas thrown back and a light was burning inside. 

"I'm a messenger for General Jackson!" cried Harry. "I've news thatcan't wait!"

The sentinel hesitated a moment, but a figure within stepped to the doorof the tent and Harry for the first time was face to face with StonewallJackson. He had seen him often near or far, but now he stood before him, and was to speak with him. 

Jackson was dressed fully and the fine wrinkles of thought showed on hisbrow, as if he had intended to study and plan the night through. He wasa tallish man, with good features cut clearly, high brow, shortbrown beard and ruddy complexion. His uniform was quite plain and hisappearance was not imposing, but his eyes of deep blue regarded the boykeenly. 

"I'm Lieutenant Kenton, sir, of Colonel Talbot's Invincibles, " repliedHarry to the question which was not spoken, but which nevertheless wasasked. "Our arsenal at Hertford is besieged by a strong force of theenemy, a force that is likely to be increased heavily by dawn. LuckilyCaptain Sherburne and his troop of valley Virginians came up in time tohelp, and I have slipped through the besieging lines to bring more aid. "

Harry had touched his cap as he spoke and now he stood in silence whilethe blue eyes looked him through. 

"I know you. I've observed you, " said Jackson in calm, even tones, showing not a trace of excitement. "I did not think that the Federaltroops would make a movement so soon, but we will meet it. A brigadewill march in half an hour. "

"Don't I go with it?" exclaimed Harry pleadingly. "You know, I broughtthe news, sir!"

"You do. Your regiment will form part of the brigade. Rejoin ColonelTalbot at once. The Invincibles, with you as guide, shall lead the way. You have done well, Lieutenant Kenton. "

Harry flushed with pride at the brief words of praise, which meant somuch coming from Stonewall Jackson, and saluting again hurried to hisimmediate command. Already the messengers were flying to the differentregiments, bidding them to be up and march at once. 

The Invincibles were upon their feet in fifteen minutes, fully clothedand armed, and ready for the road. The cavalry were not available thatnight, and the brigade would march on foot save for the officers. Harrywas back on his horse, and St. Clair and Langdon were beside him. Thecolonels, Talbot and St. Hilaire, sat on their horses at the head of theInvincibles, the first regiment. 

"What is it?" said Langdon to Harry. "Have you brought this night marchupon us?"

"I have, and we're going to strike the Yankees before dawn at Hertford, "replied Harry to both questions. 

"I like the nights for rest, " said Langdon, "but it could be worse; I'vehad four hours' sleep anyway. "

"You'll have no more this night, that's certain, " said St. Clair. "Look, General Jackson, himself, is going with us. See him climbing upon LittleSorrel! Lord pity the foot cavalry!"

General Jackson, mounted upon the sorrel horse destined to become sofamous, rode to the head of the brigade, which was now in ranks, andbeckoned to Harry. 

"I've decided to attend to this affair myself, Lieutenant Kenton, "he said. "Keep by my side. You know the way. Be sure that you lead usright. "

His voice was not raised, but his words had an edge of steel. The coldblue eyes swept him with a single chilly glance and Harry felt the fearof God in his soul. Lead them right? His faculties could not fail withStonewall Jackson by his side. 

The general himself gave the word, the brigade swung into the broadroad and it marched. It did not dawdle along. It marched, and it marchedfast. It actually seemed to Harry after the first mile that it wasrunning, running toward the enemy. 

Not in vain had the infantry of Stonewall Jackson been called footcavalry. Harry now for the first time saw men really march. The roadspun behind them and the forest swept by. They were nearly all open-airVirginians, long of limb, deep of chest and great of muscle. There wasno time for whispering among them, and the exchange of guesses abouttheir destination. They needed every particle of air in their lungs forthe terrible man who made them march as men had seldom marched before. 

Jackson cast a grim eye on the long files that sank away in the darknessbehind him. 

"They march very well, " he said, "but they will do better with morepractice. Ride to the rear, Lieutenant Kenton, and see if there are anystragglers. If you find any order them back into line and if they refuseto obey, shoot. "

Again his voice was not raised, but an electric current of fiery energyseemed to leap from this grave, somber man and to infuse itself throughthe veins of the lad to whom he gave the orders. 

Harry saluted and, wheeling his horse, rode swiftly along the edge ofthe forest toward the rear. Now, the spirit of indomitable youth brokeforth. Many in the columns were as young as he and some younger. Inthe earlier years of the war, and indeed, to the very close, there waslittle outward respect for rank among the citizen soldiers of eitherarmy. Harry was saluted with a running fire of chaff. 

"Turn your horse's head, young feller, the enemy ain't that way. He's infront. "

"He's forgot his toothbrush, Bill, and he's going back in a hurry to getit. "

"If I had a horse like that I'd ride him in the right direction. "

"Tell 'em in Winchester that the foot cavalry are marchin' a hundredmiles an hour. "

Harry did not resent these comments. He merely flung back an occasionalcomment of his own and hurried on until he reached the rear. Then in thedusk of the road he found four or five men limping along, and ready whenconvenient to drop away in the darkness. Harry wasted no time. The firein his blood that had come from Jackson was still burning. He snatched apistol from his belt and, riding directly at them, cried:

"Forward and into the ranks at once, or I shoot!"

"But we are lame, sir!" cried one of the men. "See my foot is bleeding!"

He held up one foot and red drops were falling from the ragged shoe. 

"It makes no difference, " cried Harry. "Barefooted men should be gladto march for Stonewall Jackson! One, two, three! Hurry, all of you, or Ishoot!"

The men took one look at the flaming face, and broke into a run for therear guard. Harry saw them in the ranks and then beat up the woods oneither side of the road, but saw no more stragglers or deserters. Thenhe galloped through the edge of the forest and rejoined the general atthe head of the command. 

"Were they all marching?" asked Jackson. 

"All but four, sir. "

"And the four?"

"They're marching now, too. "

"Good. How far are we from the arsenal?"

"About eight miles, sir. "

"Isn't it nearer nine?"

"I should say nearer eight, sir. "

"You should know, and at any rate we'll soon see. "

Jackson did not speak to him again directly, evidently keeping him athis side now for sure guidance, but he continually sent other aidesalong the long lines to urge more speed. The men were panting, and, despite the cold of the winter night, beads of perspiration stood onevery face. But Jackson was pitiless. He continually spurred them on, and now Harry knew with the certainty of fate that he would get there intime. He would reach Hertford before fresh Union troops could come. Hewas as infallible as fate. 

There was no breath left for whispering in the ranks of Jackson's men. Nothing was heard but the steady beat of marching feet, and now andthen, the low command of an officer. But such commands were few. Therewere no more stragglers, and the chief himself rode at their head. Theyknew how to follow. 

The moon faded and many of the stars went back into infinite space. Adusky film was drawn across the sky, and at a distance the fields andforest blended into one great shadow. Harry looked back at the brigadewhich wound in a long dark coil among the trees. He could not see facesof the men now, only the sinuous black shape of illimitable length thattheir solid lines made. 

This long black shape moved fast, and occasionally it gave forth asinister glitter, as stray moonbeams fell upon blade or bayonet. Itseemed to Harry that there was something deadly and inevitable about it, and he began to feel sorry for the Union troops who were besieging thevillage and who did not know that Stonewall Jackson was coming. 

He cast a sidelong glance at the leader. He rode, leaning a littlefurther forward in the saddle than usual, and the wintry blue eyes gazedsteadily before him. Harry knew that they missed nothing. 

"You are sure that we are on the right road, Mr. Kenton?" said Jackson. 

"Quite sure of it, sir. "

The general did not speak again for some time. Then, when he caught thefaint glimmer of water through the dark, he said:

"This is the creek, is it not?"

"Yes, sir, and the Yankees can't be more than a mile away. "

"And it's a full hour until dawn. The reinforcements for the enemycannot have come up. Lieutenant Kenton, I wish you to stay with me. Iwill have a messenger tell Colonel Talbot that for the present you aredetached for my service. "

"Thank you, sir, " said Harry. 

"Why?"

"I wish to see how you crumple up the enemy. "

The cold blue eyes gleamed for a moment. Harry more than guessed thedepths of passion and resolve that lay behind the impenetrable maskof Jackson's face. He felt again the rays of the white, hot fire thatburned in the great Virginian's soul. 

A few hundred yards further and the brigade began to spread out in thedusk. Companies filed off to right and left, and in a few minutes cameshots from the pickets, sounding wonderfully clear and sharp in thestillness of the night. Red dots from the rifle muzzles appearedhere and there in the woods, and then Harry caught the glint of latestarshine on the eaves of the warehouse. 

Jackson drew his horse a little to one side of the road, and Harry, obedient to orders, followed him. A regiment massed directly behind themdrew up close. Harry saw that it was his own Invincibles. There wereColonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire onhorseback, looking very proud and eager. Further away were Langdon andSt. Clair also mounted, but Harry could not see the expression on theirfaces. 

"Tell Colonel Talbot to have the charge sounded and then to attack withall his might, " said Jackson to his young aide. 

Harry carried the order eagerly and rejoined the general at once. Thedrums of the Invincibles beat the charge, and on both sides of them thedrums of other regiments played the same tune. Then the drum-beat waslost in that wild and thrilling shout, the rebel yell, more terriblethan the war-whoop of the Indians, and the whole brigade rushed forwardin a vast half-circle that enclosed the village between the two horns ofthe curve. 

The scattered firing of the pickets was lost in the great shout of theSouth, and, by the time the Northern sentinels could give the alarm totheir main body, the rush of Jackson's men was upon them, clearing outthe woods and fields in a few instants and driving the Union horsemen inswift flight northward. 

Harry kept close to his general. He saw a spark of fire shoot from theblue eye, and the nostrils expand. Then the mask became as impenetrableas ever. He let the reins fall on the neck of Little Sorrel, and watchedhis men as they swept into the open, passed the warehouse, and followedthe enemy into the forest beyond. 

But the bugles quickly sounded the recall. It was not Jackson's purposeto waste his men in frays which could produce little. The pursuingregiments returned reluctantly to the open where the inhabitants of thevillage were welcoming Jackson with great rejoicings. The encounter hadbeen too swift and short to cause great loss, but all the stores weresaved and Captain Sherburne and Captain McGee rode forward to salutetheir commander. 

"You made a good defense, " said Stonewall Jackson, crisply and briefly. "We begin the removal of the stores at once. Wagons will come up shortlyfor that purpose. Take your cavalry, Captain Sherburne, and scout thecountry. If they need sleep they can get it later when there is nothingelse to do. "

Captain Sherburne saluted and Harry saw his face flush with pride. Theindomitable spirit of Jackson was communicated fast to all his men. Thesentence to more work appealed to Sherburne with much greater force thanthe sentence of rest could have done. In a moment he and his men wereoff, searching the woods and fields in the direction of the Union camp. 

"Ride back on the road, Lieutenant Kenton, and tell the wagons tohurry, " said General Jackson to Harry. "Before I left Winchester I gaveorders for them to follow, and we must not waste time here. "

"Yes, sir, " said Harry, as he turned and rode into the forest throughwhich they had come. He, too, felt the same emotion that had made theface of Sherburne flush with pride. What were sleep and rest to a youngsoldier, following a man who carried victory in the hollow of his hand;not the victory of luck or chance, but the victory of forethought, ofminute preparation, and of courage. 

He galloped fast, and the hard road gave back the ring of steel shodhoofs. A silver streak showed in the eastern sky. The dawn was breaking. He increased his pace. The woods and fields fled by. Then he heard thecracking of whips, and the sound of voices urging on reluctant animals. Another minute and the long line of wagons was in sight straining alongthe road. 

"Hurry up!" cried Harry to the leader who drove, bareheaded. 

"Has Old Jack finished the job?" asked the man. 

"Yes. "

"How long did it take him?"

"About five minutes. "

"I win, " called the man to the second driver just behind him. "You'lowed it would take him ten minutes, but I said not more'n seven at thevery furthest. "

The train broke into a trot, and Harry, turning his horse, rode by theside of the leader. 

"How did you know that it would take General Jackson so little time toscatter the enemy?" the boy asked the man. 

"'Cause I know Old Jack. "

"But he has not yet done much in independent command. "

"No, but I've seen him gettin' ready, an' I've watched him. He seeseverything, an' he prays. I tell you he prays. I ain't a prayin' manmyself. But when a man kneels down in the bushes an' talks humble an'respectful to his God, an' then rises up an' jumps at the enemy, it'stime for that enemy to run. I'd rather be attacked by the worst bullyand desperado that ever lived than by a prayin' man. You see, I want tolive, an' what chance have I got ag'in a man that's not only not afraidto die, but that's willin' to die, an' rather glad to die, knowin' thathe's goin' straight to Heaven an' eternal joy? I tell you, young man, that unbelievers ain't ever got any chance against believers; no, not innothin'. "

"I believe you're right. "

"Right! Of course I'm right! Why did Old Jack order these waggins tocome along an' get them stores? 'Cause he believed he was goin' to save'em. An' mebbe he saved 'em, 'cause he believed he was goin' to do it. It works both ways. Git up!"

The shout of "Git up!" was to his horses, which added a little more totheir pace, and now Harry saw troops coming back to meet them and forman escort. 

In half an hour they were at the village. Already the ammunition andsupplies had been brought forth and were stacked, ready to be loaded onthe wagons. General Jackson was everywhere, riding back and forth on hissorrel horse, directing the removal just as he had directed the marchand the brief combat. His words were brief but always dynamic. He seemedinsensible to weariness. 

It was now full morning, wintry and clear. The small population of thevillage and people from the surrounding country, intensely Southern andsurcharged with enthusiasm, were bringing hot coffee and hot breakfastfor the troops. Jackson permitted them to eat and drink in relays. As many as could get at the task helped to load the wagons. Littlecompulsion was needed. Officers themselves toiled at boxes and casks. The spirit of Jackson had flowed into them all. 

"I've gone into training, " said Langdon to Harry. 

"Training? What kind of training, Tom?"

"I see that my days of play are over forever, and I'm practicing hard, so I can learn how to do without food, sleep or rest for months at atime. "

"It's well you're training, " interrupted St. Clair. "I foresee thatyou're going to need all the practice you can get. Everything's loadedin the wagons now, and I wager you my chances of promotion against oneof our new Confederate dollar bills that we start inside of a minute. "

The word "minute" was scarcely out of his mouth, when Jackson gave thesharp order to march. Sherburne's troop sprang to saddle and led theway, their bugler blowing a mellow salute to the morning and victory. Many whips cracked, and the wagons bearing the precious stores swunginto line. Behind came the brigade, the foot cavalry. The breakfast andthe loading of the wagons had not occupied more than half an hour. Itwas yet early morning when the whole force left the village and marchedat a swift pace toward Winchester. 

General Jackson beckoned to Harry. 

"Ride with me, " he said. "I've notified Colonel Talbot that you aredetached from his staff and will serve on mine. "

Although loath to leave his comrades Harry appreciated the favor andflushed with pleasure. 

"Thank you, sir, " he said briefly. 

Jackson nodded. He seemed to like the lack of effusive words. Harry knewthat his general had not tasted food. Neither had he. He had actuallyforgotten it in his keenness for his work, and now he was proud of thefact. He was proud, too, of the comradeship of abstention that it gavehim with Stonewall Jackson. As he rode in silence by the side of thegreat commander he made for himself an ideal. He would strive in hisown youthful way to show the zeal, the courage and the untiring devotionthat marked the general. 

The sun, wintry but golden, rose higher and made fields and forestluminous. But few among Jackson's men had time to notice the glory ofthe morning. It seemed to Harry that they were marching back almost asswiftly as they had come. Langdon was right and more. They were gettingcontinuous practice not only in the art of living without food, sleep orrest, but also of going everywhere on a run instead of a walk. Those whosurvived it would be incomparable soldiers. 

Winchester appeared and the people came forth rejoicing. Jackson gaveorders for the disposition of the stores and then rode at once to atent. He signalled to Harry also to dismount and enter. An orderly tookthe horses of both. 

"Sit down at the table there, " said Jackson. "I want to dictate to yousome orders. "

Harry sat down. He had forgotten to take off his cap and gloves, but heremoved one gauntlet now, and picked up a pen which lay beside a littleinkstand, a pad of coarse paper on the other side. 

Jackson himself had not removed hat or gauntlets either, and the heavycavalry cloak that he had worn on the ride remained flung over hisshoulders. He dictated a brief order to his brigadiers, Loring, EdwardJohnson, Garnett, the commander of the Stonewall Brigade, and Ashby, wholed the cavalry, to prepare for a campaign and to see that everythingwas ready for a march in the morning. 

Harry made copies of all the orders and sealed them. 

"Deliver every one to the man to whom it is addressed, " said Jackson, "and then report to me. But be sure that you say nothing of theircontents to anybody. "

The boy, still burning with zeal, hurried forth with the orders, delivered them all, and came back to the tent, where he found thegeneral dictating to another aide. Jackson glanced at him and Harry, saluting, said:

"I have given all the orders, sir, to those for whom they wereintended. "

"Very well, " said Jackson. "Wait and I shall have more messages for youto carry. "

He turned to the second aide, but seeming to remember something, lookedat his watch. 

"Have you had any breakfast, Mr. Kenton?" he said. 

"No, sir. "

"Any sleep?"

"Yes, sir. "

"When?"

"I slept well, sir, night before last. "

Harry's reply was given in all seriousness. Jackson smiled. The boy'sreply and his grave manner pleased him. 

"I won't give you any more orders just now, " he said. "Go out and getsomething to eat, but do not be gone longer than half an hour. You needsleep, too--but that can wait. "

"I shall be glad to carry your orders, sir, now. The food can wait, too. I am not hungry. "

Harry spoke respectfully. There was in truth an appealing note in hisvoice. Jackson gave him another and most searching glance. 

"I think I chose well when I chose you, " he said. "But go, get yourbreakfast. It is not necessary to starve to death now. We may have achance at that later. "

The faintest twinkle of grim humor appeared in his eyes and Harry, withdrawing, hastened at once to the Invincibles, where he knew he wouldhave food and welcome in plenty. 

St. Clair and Langdon greeted him with warmth and tried to learn fromhim what was on foot. 

"There's a great bustle, " said Langdon, "and I know something big isahead. This is the last day of the Old Year, and I know that the NewYear is going to open badly. I'll bet you anything that before to-morrowmorning is an hour old this whole army will be running hot-foot over thecountry, more afraid of Stonewall Jackson than of fifty thousand of theenemy. "

"But you've been in training for it, " said Harry with a laugh. 

"So I have, but I don't want to train too hard. "

Harry ate and drank and was back at General Jackson's tent in twentyminutes. He had received a half hour but he was learning already to dobetter than was expected of him. 

CHAPTER III. STONEWALL JACKSON'S MARCH

Harry took some orders to brigadiers and colonels. He saw thatconcentration was going on rapidly and he shared the belief of hiscomrades that the army would march in the morning. He felt a new impulseof ambition and energy. It continually occurred to him that while he wasdoing much he might do more. He saw how his leader worked, with rapidityand precision, and without excitement, and he strove to imitate him. 

The influence of Jackson was rapidly growing stronger upon the mind ofthe brilliant, sensitive boy, so susceptible to splendor of both thoughtand action. The general, not yet great to the world, but great alreadyto those around him, dominated the mind of the boy. Harry was proud toserve him. 

He saw that Jackson had taken no sleep, and he would take noneeither. Soon the question was forgotten, and he toiled all through theafternoon, glad to be at the heart of affairs so important. 

Winchester was a sprightly little city, one of the best in the greatvalley, inhabited by cultivated people of old families, and Southern tothe core. Harry and his young comrades had found a good welcome there. They had been in many houses and they had made many friends. TheVirginians liked his bright face and manners. Now they could not failto see that some great movement was afoot, and more than once his newfriends asked him its nature, but he replied truthfully that he didnot know. In the throb of great action Winchester disappeared from histhoughts. Every faculty was bent upon the plans of Jackson, whateverthey might be. 

The afternoon drew to a close and then the short winter twilight passedswiftly. The last night of the Old Year had come, and Harry was to enterat dawn upon one of the most vivid periods in the life of any boy thatever lived, a period paralleled perhaps only by that of the French ladswho followed the young Bonaparte into the plains of Italy. Harry withall his dreams, arising from the enormous impression made upon him byJackson, could not yet foresee what lay before him. 

He was returning on foot from one of his shorter errands. He had riddenthroughout the afternoon, but the time came when he thought the horseought to rest, and with the coming of the twilight he had walked. Hewas not conscious of any weakness. His body, in a way, had become a meremechanism. It worked, because the will acted upon it like a spring, butit was detached, separate from his mind. He took no more interest in itthan he would in any other machine, which, when used up, could be castaside, and be replaced with a new one. 

He glanced at the camp, stretching through the darkness. Much fewerfires were burning than usual, and the men, warned to sleep while theycould, had wrapped themselves already in their blankets. Then he enteredthe tent of Jackson with the reply to an order that he had taken to abrigadier. 

The general stood by a wall of the tent, dictating to an aide who sat atthe little table, and who wrote by the light of a small oil lamp. Harry saluted and gave him the reply. Jackson read it. As he read Harrystaggered but recovered himself quickly. The overtaxed body was making aviolent protest, and the vague feeling that he could throw away theold and used-up machine, and replace it with a new one was not true. Hecaught his breath sharply and his face was red with shame. He hoped thathis general had not seen this lamentable weakness of his. 

Jackson, after reading the reply, resumed his dictation. Harry was surethat the general had not seen. He had not noticed the weakness in anaide of his who should have no weakness at all! But Jackson had seen andin a few hours of contact he had read the brave, bright young soul ofhis aide. He finished the dictation and then turning to Harry, he saidquietly:

"I can't think of anything more for you to do, Mr. Kenton, and I supposeyou might as well rest. I shall do so myself in a half hour. You'll findblankets in the large tent just beyond mine. A half dozen of my aidessleep in it, but there are blankets enough for all and it's first comefirst served. "

Harry gave the usual military salute and withdrew. Outside the tent, thebody that he had used so cruelly protested not only a second timebut many times. It was in very fact and truth detached from the will, because it no longer obeyed the will at all. His legs wobbled andbent like those of a paralytic, and his head fell forward through veryweakness. 

Luckily the tent was only a few yards away, and he managed to reach itand enter. It had a floor of planks and in the dark he saw three youths, a little older than himself, already sound asleep in their blankets. He promptly rolled himself in a pair, stretched his length against thecloth wall, and balmy sleep quickly came to make a complete reunionof the will and of the tired body which would be fresh again in themorning, because he was young and strong and recovered fast. 

Harry slept hard all through the night and nature completed her taskof restoring the worn fibers. He was roused shortly after dawn and thecooks were ready with breakfast for the army. He ate hungrily and whenhe would stop, one of his comrades who had slept with him in the tenttold him to eat more. 

"You need a lot to go on when you march with Jackson, " he said. "Besides, you won't be certain where the next is coming from. "

"I've learned that already, " said Harry, as he took his advice. 

A half hour later he was on his horse near Jackson, ready to receive hiscommands, and in the early hours of the New Year the army marched out ofWinchester, the eager wishes of the whole population following it. 

It was the brightest of winter mornings, almost like spring it seemed. The sky was a curving and solid sheet of sunlight, and the youths of thearmy were for the moment a great and happy family. They were marchingto battle, wounds and death, but they were too young and too buoyant tothink much about it. 

Harry soon learned that they were going toward Bath and Hancock, twovillages on the railway, both held by Northern troops. He surmised thatJackson would strike a sudden blow, surprise the garrisons, cut therailway, and then rush suddenly upon some greater force. A campaignin the middle of winter. It appealed to him as something brilliant anddaring. The pulses which had beat hard so often lately began to beathard again. 

The army went swiftly across forest and fields. As the brigade hadmarched back the night before, so the whole army marched forward to-day. The fact that Jackson's men always marched faster than other men wasforced again upon Harry's attention. He remembered from his reading anold comment of Napoleon's referring to war that there were only two orthree men in Europe who knew the value of time. Now he saw that at leastone man in America knew its value, and knew it as fully as Napoleon everdid. 

The day passed hour by hour and the army sped on, making only a shorthalt at noon for rest and food. Harry joined the Invincibles for afew moments and was received with warmth by Colonel Leonidas Talbot, Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire and all his old friends. 

"I am sorry to lose you, Harry, " said Colonel Talbot, "but I am gladthat you are on the immediate staff of General Jackson. It's an honor. Ifeel already that we're in the hands of a great general, and the feelinghas gone through the whole army. There's an end, so far as this force isconcerned, to doubt and hesitation. "

"And we, the Southerners who are called the cavaliers, are led by apuritan, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. "Because if there everwas a puritan, General Jackson is one. "

Harry passed on, intending to speak with his comrades, Langdon andSt. Clair. He heard the young troops talking freely everywhere, neverforgetting the fact that they were born free citizens as good asanybody, and never hesitating to comment, often in an unflattering way, upon their officers. Harry saw a boy who had just taken off his shoesand who was tenderly rubbing his feet. 

"I never marched so fast before, " he said complainingly. "My feet aresore all over. "

"Put on your shoes an' shut up, " said another boy. "Stonewall Jacksondon't care nothin' about your feet. You're here to fight. "

Harry walked on, but the words sank deep in his mind. It was anuneducated boy, probably from the hills, who had given the rebuke, buthe saw that the character of Stonewall Jackson was already understood bythe whole army, even to the youngest private. He found Langdon andSt. Clair sitting together on a log. They were not tired, as they weremounted officers, but they were full of curiosity. 

"What's passing through Old Jack's head?" asked Langdon, the irreverentand the cheerful. 

"I don't know, and I don't suppose anybody will ever know all that'spassing there. "

"I'll wager my year's pay against a last year's bird nest that he isn'tleading us away from the enemy. "

"He certainly isn't doing that. We're moving on two little towns, Bathand Hancock, but there must be bigger designs beyond. "

"This is New Year's Day, as you know, " said St. Clair in his pleasantSouth Carolina drawl, "and I feel that Tom there is going to earn theyear's pay that he talks so glibly about wagering. "

"At any rate, Arthur, " said Langdon, "if we go into battle you'll bedressed properly for it, and if you fall you'll die in a gentleman'suniform. "

St. Clair smiled, showing that he appreciated Langdon's flippantcomment. Harry glanced at him. His uniform was spotless, and it waspressed as neatly as if it had just come from the hands of a tailor. Thegray jacket of fine cloth, with its rows of polished brass buttons, wasbuttoned as closely as that of a West Point cadet. He seemed to be indress and manner a younger brother of the gallant Virginia captain, Philip Sherburne, and Harry admired him. A soldier who dressed well amidsuch trying obstacles was likely to be a soldier through and through. Harry was learning to read character from extraneous things, things thatsometimes looked like trifles to others. 

"I merely came over here to pass the time of day, " he said. "We startagain in two or three minutes. Hark, there go the bugles, and I go withthem!"

He ran back, sprang on his horse a few seconds before Jackson himselfwas in the saddle, and rode away again. 

The general sent him on no missions for a while, and Harry rode insilence. Observant, as always, he noticed the long ridges of themountains, showing blue in the distance, and the occasional glimmerof water in the valley. It was beautiful, this valley, and he did notwonder that the Virginians talked of it so much. He shared their wrathbecause the hostile Northern foot already pressed a portion, and he feltas much eagerness as they to drive away the invader. 

He also saw pretty soon that the long lines of the mountains, so blueand beautiful against the shining sun, were losing their clear and vividtints. The sky above them was turning to gray, and their crests weregrowing pale. Then a wind chill and sharp with the edge of winter beganto blow down from the slopes. It had been merely playing at summer thatmorning and, before the first day of January 1862, closed, winter rusheddown upon Virginia, bringing with it the fiercest and most sanguinaryyear the New World ever knew--save the one that followed it, and the onethat followed that. 

The temperature dropped many degrees in an hour. Just as the youngtroops of Grant, marching to Donelson, deceived by a warm morning hadcast aside their heavy clothing to be chilled to the bone before theday was over, so the equally young troops of Jackson now suffered in thesame way, and from the same lack of thought. 

Most of their overcoats and cloaks were in the wagons, and there wasno time to get them, because Jackson would not permit any delays. Theyshivered and grumbled under their breath. Nevertheless the army marchedswiftly, while the dark clouds, laden with snow and cold, marched upwith equal swiftness from the western horizon. 

A winter campaign! It did not seem so glorious now to many of the boyswho in the warmth and the sunshine had throbbed with the thought of it. They inquired once more about those wagons containing their overcoatsand blankets, and they learned that they had followed easier roads, while the troops themselves were taking short cuts through the forestsand across the fields. They might be reunited at night, and they mightnot. It was not considered a matter of the first importance by Jackson. 

Harry had been wise enough to retain his military cloak strapped to hissaddle, and he wrapped it about his body, drawing the collar as highas he could. One of his gauntleted hands held the reins, and the otherswung easily by his side. He would have given his cloak to some oneof the shivering youths who marched on foot near him, but he knew thatJackson would not permit any such open breach of discipline. 

The boy watched the leader who rode almost by his side. Jackson had puton his own cavalry cloak, but it was fastened by a single button atthe top and it had blown open. He did not seem to notice the fact. Apparently he was oblivious of heat and cold alike, and rode on, bent alittle forward in the saddle, his face the usual impenetrable mask. ButHarry knew that the brain behind that brow never ceased to work, alwaysthinking and planning, trying this combination and that, ready to makeany sacrifice to do the work that was to be done. 

The long shadows came, and the short day that had turned so cold wasover, giving way to the night that was colder than the day. They wereon the hills now and even the vigorous Jackson felt that it was time tostop until morning. The night had turned very dark, a fierce wind wasblowing, and now and then a fine sift of snow as sharp as hail was blownagainst their faces. 

The wagons with the heavy clothing, blankets and food had not come up, and perhaps would not arrive until the next day. Gloom as dark as thenight itself began to spread among the young troops, but Jackson gavethem little time for bemoaning their fate. Fires were quickly builtfrom fallen wood. The men found warmth and a certain mental relief ingathering the wood itself. The officers, many of them boys themselves, shared in the work. They roamed through the forest dragging in fallentimber, and now and then, an old rail fence was taken panel by panel tojoin the general heap. 

The fires presently began to crackle in the darkness, running in long, irregular lines, and the young soldiers crowded in groups about them. At the same time they ate the scanty rations they carried in theirknapsacks, and wondered what had become of the wagons. Jackson sentdetachments to seek his supply trains, but Harry knew that he would notwait for it in the morning. The horses drawing the heavy loads over theslippery roads would need rest as badly as the men, and Jackson wouldgo on. If food was not there--well then his troops must march on emptystomachs. 

Youth changes swiftly and the high spirits with which the soldiers haddeparted in the morning were gone. The night had become extremely cold. Fierce winds whistled down from the crests of the mountains and piercedtheir clothing with myriads of little icy darts. They crept closer andcloser to the fire. Their faces burned while their backs froze, andthe menacing wind, while it chilled them to the marrow with its breath, seemed to laugh at them in sinister fashion. They thought with many alament of their warm quarters in Winchester. 

Harry shared the common depression to a certain extent. He had recalledthat morning how the young Napoleon started on his great campaignof Italy, and there had been in his mind some idea that it would berepeated in the Virginia valleys, but he recalled at night that thesoldiers of the youthful Bonaparte had marched and fought in warmdays in a sunny country. It was a different thing to conduct a greatcampaign, when the clouds heavy with snow were hovering around themountain tops, and the mercury was hunting zero. He shivered and lookedapprehensively into the chilly night. His apprehension was not for ahuman foe, but for the unbroken spirits of darkness and mystery that cancow us all. 

No tents were pitched. Jackson shared the common lot, sitting by a firewith some of the higher officers, while three or four other young aideswere near. The sifts of snow turned after a while into a fine but steadysnow, which continued half an hour. The backs of the soldiers werecovered with white, while their faces burned. Then there was a shufflingsound at every fire, as the men turned their backs to the blaze andtheir faces to the forest. 

Harry watched General Jackson closely. He was sitting on a fallen log, which the soldiers had drawn near to one of the largest fires, and hewas staring intently into the coals. He did not speak, nor did he seemto take any notice of those about him. Harry knew, too, that he was notseeing the coals, but the armies of the enemy on the other side of thecold mountain. 

Jackson after a while beckoned to the young aides and he gave to everyone in turn the same command. 

"Mount and make a complete circuit of the army. Report to me whetherall the pickets are watchful, and whether any signs of the enemy can beseen. "

Harry had tethered his horse in a little grove near by, where he mightbe sheltered as much as possible from the cold, and the faithful animalwhich had not tasted food that day, whimpered and rubbed his noseagainst his shoulder when he came. 

"I'm sorry, old boy, " whispered Harry, "I'd give you food if I could, but since I can't give you food I've got to give you more work. "

He put on the bridle, leaped into the saddle, which had been left on thehorse's back, and rode away on his mission. The password that nightwas "Manassas, " and Harry exchanged it with the pickets who curved in agreat circle through the lone, cold forest. They were always glad to seehim. They were alone, save when two of them met at the common end of abeat, and these youths of the South were friendly, liking to talk and tohear the news of others. 

Toward the Northern segment of the circle he came to a young giantfrom the hills who was walking back and forth with the utmost vigorand shaking himself as if he would throw off the cold. His brown facebrightened with pleasure when he saw Harry and exchanged the password. 

"Two or three other officers have been by here ridin' hosses, " he saidin the voice of an equal speaking to his equal, "an' they don't fillme plum' full o' envy a-tall, a-tall. I guess a feller tonight kin keepwarmer walkin' on the ground than ridin' on a hoss. What might your namebe, Mr. Officer?"

"Kenton. I'm a lieutenant, at present on the staff of General Jackson. What is yours?"

"Seth Moore, an' I'm always a private, but at present doin' sentinelduty, but wishin' I was at home in our double log house 'tween theblankets. "

"Have you noticed anything, Seth?" asked Harry, not at all offended bythe nature of his reply. 

"I've seen some snow, an' now an' then the cold top of a mountain, an'--"

"An' what, Seth?"

"Do you see that grove straight toward the north four or five hundredyards away?"

"Yes, but I can make nothing of it but a black blur. It's too far awayto tell the trunks of the trees apart. "

"It's too fur fur me, too, an' my eyes are good, but ten or fifteenminutes ago, leftenant, I thought I saw a shadder at the edge of thegrove. It 'peared to me that the shadder was like that of a horse witha man on it. After a while it went back among the trees an' o' course Ilost it thar. "

"You feel quite sure you saw the shadow, Seth?"

"Yes, leftenant. I'm shore I ain't mistook. I've hunted 'coons an''possums at night too much to be mistook about shadders. I reckon, if Imay say so, shadders is my specialty, me bein' somethin' o' a night owl. As shore as I'm standin' here, leftenant, and as shore as you're settin'there on your hoss, a mounted man come to the edge of that wood an'stayed thar a while, watchin' us. I'd have follered him, but I couldn'tleave my beat here, an' you're the first officer I've saw since. It mayamount to nothin, an' then again it mayn't. "

"I'm glad you told me. I'll go into the grove myself and see if anybodyis there now. "

"Leftenant, if I was you I'd be mighty keerful. If it's a spy it'll beeasy enough for him under the cover of the trees to shoot you in theopen comin' toward him. "

Harry knew that Jackson planned a surprise of some kind and Seth Moore'swords about the mounted man alarmed him. He did not doubt the accuracyof the young mountaineer's eyesight, or his coolness, and he resolvedthat he would not go back to headquarters until he knew more about that"shadow. " But Moore's advice about caution was not to be unheeded. 

"If you keep in the edge of our woods here, " said Moore, "an' ride alonga piece you'll come to a little valley. Then you kin go up that an' comeinto the grove over thar without being seed. "

"Good advice. I'll take it. "

Harry loosened one of the pistols in his belt and rode cautiouslythrough the wood as Seth Moore had suggested. The ground sloped rapidly, and soon he reached the narrow but deep little valley with a densegrowth of trees and underbrush on either side. The valley led upward, and he came into the grove just as Moore had predicted. 

This forest was of much wider extent than he had supposed. It stretchednorthward further than he could see, and, although it was devoid ofundergrowth, it was very dark among the trees. He rode his horse behindthe trunk of a great oak, and, pausing there, examined all the forestwithin eyeshot. 

He saw nothing but the long rows of tree trunks, white on the northernside with snow, and he heard nothing but the cold rustle of wind amongboughs bare of branches. Yet he had full confidence in the words ofSeth Moore. He could neither see him nor hear him, but he was sure thatsomebody besides himself was in the wood. Once more the soul and spiritof his great ancestor were poured into him, and for the moment he, too, was the wilderness rover, endowed with nerves preternaturally acute. 

Hidden by the great tree trunks he listened attentively. His horse, oppressed by the cold and perhaps by the weariness of the day, wasmotionless and made no sound. He waited two or three minutes and then hewas sure that he heard a slight noise, which he believed was made by thehoofs of a horse walking very slowly. Then he saw the shadow. 

It was the dim figure of a man on horseback, moving very cautiously atsome distance from Harry. He urged his own horse forward a little, andthe shadow stopped instantly. Then he knew that he had been seen, and hesat motionless in the saddle for an instant or two, not knowing what todo. 

After all, the man on horseback might be a friend. He might be somescout from a band of rangers, coming to join Jackson; and not yet surethat the army in the woods was his. Recovering from his indecision herode forward a little and called:

"Who are you?"

The shadow made no reply, and horse and rider were motionless. Theyseemed for an instant to be phantoms, but then Harry knew that they werereal. He was oppressed by a feeling of the weird and menacing. He wouldmake the sinister figure move and his hand dropped toward his pistolbelt. 

"Stop, I can fire before you!" cried the figure sharply, and then Harrysuddenly saw a pistol barrel gleaming across the stranger's saddle bow. 

Harry checked his hand, but he did not consider himself beaten by anymeans. He merely waited, wary and ready to seize his opportunity. 

"I don't want to shoot, " said the man in a clear voice, "and I won'tunless you make me. I'm no friend. I'm an enemy, that is, an officialenemy, and I think it strange, Harry Kenton, almost the hand of fate, that you and I come face to face again under such circumstances. "

Harry stared, and then the light broke. Now he remembered both the voiceand the figure. 

"Shepard!" he exclaimed. 

"It's so. We're engaged upon the same duty. I've just been inspectingthe army of General Jackson, calculating its numbers, its equipment, andwhat it may do. Keep your hand away from that pistol. I might not hityou, but the chances are that I would. But as I said, I don't want toshoot. It wouldn't help our cause or me any to maim or kill you. Supposewe call it peace between us for this evening. "

"I agree to call it peace because I have to do it. "

Shepard laughed, and his laugh was not at all sarcastic or unpleasant. 

"Why a rage to kill?" he said. "You and I, Harry Kenton, will findbefore this war is over that we'll get quite enough of fighting inbattles without seeking to make slaughter in between. Besides, havingmet you several times, I've a friendly feeling for you. Now turn andride back to your own lines and I'll go the other way. "

The blood sprang into Harry's face and his heart beat hard. There wassomething dominating and powerful in the voice. It now had the tone of aman who spoke to one over whom he ruled. Yet he could do nothing. He sawthat Shepard was alert and watchful. He felt instinctively that his foewould fire if he were forced to do so and that he would not miss. Thendespite himself, he felt admiration for the man's skill and power, and apronounced intellectual quality that he discovered in him. 

"Very well, " he replied, "I'll turn and go back, but I want to tell you, Mr. Shepard, that while you have been estimating what General Jackson'sarmy can do you must make that estimate high. "

"I've already done so, " called Shepard--Harry was riding away as hespoke. The boy at the edge of the wood looked back, but the shadow wasalready gone. He rode straight across the open and Seth Moore met him. 

"Did you find anything?" the young mountaineer asked. 

"Yes, there was a mounted man in a blue uniform, a spy, who has beenwatching, but he made off. You had good eyes, Seth, and I'm going toreport this at once to General Jackson. "

Harry knew that he was the bearer of an unpleasant message. GeneralJackson was relying upon surprise, and it would not please him to knowthat his movements were watched by an active and intelligent scout orspy. But the man had already shown his greatness by always insistingupon hearing the worst of everything. 

He found the chief, still sitting before one of the fires and reportedto him fully. Jackson listened without comment, but at the end he saidto two of the brigadiers who were sitting with him:

"We march again at earliest dawn. We will not wait for the wagons. "

Then he added to Harry:

"You've done good service. Join the sleepers, there. "

He pointed to a group of young officers rolled in their blankets, andHarry obeyed quickly. 

CHAPTER IV. WAR AND WAITING

Harry slept like one dead, but he was awakened at dawn, and he rose yetheavy with sleep and somewhat stiff from the severe exertions of the daybefore. But it all came back in an instant, the army, the march, and themarch yet to come. 

They had but a scanty breakfast, the wagons not yet having come up, and in a half hour they started again. They grumbled mightily at first, because the day was bleak beyond words, heavy with clouds, and sharpwith chill. The country seemed deserted and certainly that somber airwas charged with no omens of victory. 

But in spite of everything the spirits of the young troops began torise. They took a pride in this defiance of nature as well as man. Theycould endure cold and hunger and weariness as they would endure battle, when it came. They went on thus three days, almost without food andshelter. Higher among the hills the snow sometimes beat upon them in ahurricane, and at night the winds howled as if they had come down freshfrom the Arctic. 

The spirits of the young troops, after rising, fell again, and theirfeet dragged. Jackson, always watching, noticed it. Beckoning to severalof his staff, including Harry, he rode back along the lines, giving aword of praise here and two words of rebuke there. They came at lastto an entire brigade, halted by the roadside, some of the men leaningagainst an old rail fence. 

Jackson looked at the men and his face darkened. It was his ownStonewall Brigade, the one of which he was so proud, and which he hadled in person into the war. Their commander was standing beside a tree, and riding up to him he demanded fiercely:

"What is the meaning of this? Why have you stopped?"

"I ordered a stop of a little while for the men to cook their rations, "replied General Garnett. 

Jackson's face darkened yet further, and the blue eyes were menacing. 

"There is no time for that, " he said sharply. 

"But the men can't go any farther without them. It's impossible. "

"I never found anything impossible with this brigade. "

Jackson shot forth the words as if they were so many bullets, gaveGarnett a scornful look and rode on. Harry followed him, as was hisduty, but more slowly, and looked back. He saw a deep red flush showthrough Garnett's sunburn. But the preparations for cooking were stoppedabruptly. Within three minutes the Stonewall Brigade was in line again, marching resolutely over the frozen road. Garnett had recognized thatthe impossible was possible--at least where Jackson led. 

Not many stragglers were found as they rode on toward the rear, butevery regiment increased its speed at sight of the stern general. Aftercircling around the rear he rode back toward the front, and he leftHarry and several others to go more slowly along the flanks and reportto him later. 

When Harry was left alone he was saluted with the usual good-humoredchaff by the soldiers who again demanded his horse of him, or askedhim whether they were to fight or whether they were training tobe foot-racers. Harry merely smiled, and he came presently to theInvincibles, who were trudging along stubbornly, with the officersriding on their flanks. Langdon was as cheerful as usual. 

"Things have to come to their worst before they get better, " he saidto Harry, "and I suppose we've about reached the worst. A sight of theenemy would be pleasant, even if it meant battle. "

"We're marching on Bath, " said Harry, "and we ought to strike itto-night, though I'm afraid the Yankees have got warning of our coming. "

He was thinking of Shepard, who now loomed very large to him. Thecircumstances of their meetings were always so singular that thisNorthern scout and spy seemed to him to possess omniscience. Beyonda doubt he would notify every Northern garrison he could reach ofJackson's coming. 

Suddenly the band of South Carolinians, who were still left in theInvincibles, struck up a song:

 "Ho, woodsmen of the mountain-side! Ho, dwellers in the vales! Ho, ye who by the chafing tide Have roughened in the gales! Leave barn and byre, leave kin and cot, Lay by the bloodless spade: Let desk and case and counter rot, And burn your books of trade!"

All the Invincibles caught the swing and rush of the verses, andregiments before them and behind them caught the time, too, if not thewords. The chant rolled in a great thundering chorus through the wintryforest. It was solemn and majestic, and it quickened the blood of theseyouths who believed in the cause for which they fought, just as those onthe other side believed in theirs. 

"It was written by one of our own South Carolinians, " said St. Clair, with pride. "Now here goes the second verse! Lead off, there, Langdon!They'll all catch it!"

 "The despot roves your fairest lands; And till he flies or fears, Your fields must grow but armed bands Your sheaves be sheaves of spears: Give up to mildew and to rust The useless tools of gain And feed your country's sacred dust With floods of crimson rain!"

Louder and louder swelled the chorus of ten thousand marching men. Itwas not possible for the officers to have stopped them had they wishedto do so, and they did not wish it. Stonewall Jackson, who had read andstudied much, knew that the power of simple songs was scarcely less thanthat of rifle and bayonet, and he willingly let them sing on. Now andthen, a gleam came from the blue eyes in his tanned, bearded face. 

Harry, sensitive and prone to enthusiasm, was flushed in every vein bythe marching song. He seemed to himself to be endowed with a new life ofvigor and energy. The invader trod the Southern land and they must rushupon him at once. He was eager for a sight of the blue masses which theywould certainly overcome. 

He returned to his place near the head of the column with the staffof the commander. Night was now close at hand, but Bath was still manymiles away. It was colder than ever, but the wagons had not yet come upand there were no rations and tents. Only a few scraps of food were leftin the knapsacks. 

"Ride to Captain Sherburne, " said General Jackson to Harry, "and tellhim to go forward with his men and reconnoiter. "

"May I go with him, sir?"

"Yes, and then report to me what he and his men find. "

Harry galloped gladly to the vanguard, where the gallant young captainand his troop were leading. These Virginians preserved their fineappearance. If they were weary they did not show it. They sat erect intheir saddles and the last button on their uniforms was in place. Theirpolished spurs gleamed in the wintry sun. 

They set off at a gallop, Harry riding by the side of Captain Sherburne. Blood again mounted high with the rapid motion and the sense of action. Soon they left the army behind, and, as the road was narrow and shroudedin forest, they could see nothing of it. Its disappearance was ascomplete as if it had been swallowed up in a wilderness. 

They rode straight toward Bath, but after two or three miles theyslackened speed. Harry had told Sherburne of the presence of Shepard thenight before, and the captain knew that they must be cautious. 

Another mile, and at a signal from the captain the whole troop stopped. They heard hoofbeats on the road ahead of them, and the sound was comingin their direction. 

"A strong force, " said Captain Sherburne. 

"Probably larger than ours, if the hoofbeats mean anything, " said Harry. 

"And Yankees, of course. Here they are!"

A strong detachment of cavalry suddenly rounded a curve in the road andswept into full view. Then the horsemen stopped in astonishment at thesight of the Confederate troop. 

There was no possibility of either command mistaking the other for afriend, but Sherburne, despite his youth, had in him the instinctfor quick perception and action which distinguished the great cavalryleaders of the South like Jeb Stuart, Turner Ashby and others. He drewhis men back instantly somewhat in the shelter of the trees and receivedthe Union fire first. 

As Sherburne had expected, few of the Northern bullets struck home. Someknocked bark from the trees, others kicked up dirt from the frozenroad, but most of them sang vainly through the empty air and passed farbeyond. Now the Southerners sent their fire full into the Union ranks, and, at Sherburne's shouted command, charged, with their leader at theirhead swinging his sword in glittering circles like some knight of old. 

The Southern volley had brought down many horses and men, but theNorthern force was double in numbers and many of the men carried newbreech-loading rifles of the best make. While unused to horses andlargely ignorant of the country, they had good officers and theystood firm. The Southern charge, meeting a second volley from thebreech-loading rifles, broke upon their front. 

Harry, almost by the side of Sherburne, felt the shock as they gallopedinto the battle smoke, and then he felt the Virginians reel. He heardaround him the rapid crackle of rifles and pistols, sabers clashingtogether, the shouts of men, the terrible neighing of wounded horses, and then the two forces drew apart, leaving a sprinkling of dead andwounded between. 

It was a half retreat by either, the two drawing back sixty or seventyyards apiece and then beginning a scattered and irregular fire from therifles. But Sherburne, alert always, soon drew his men into the shelterof the woods, and attempted an attack on his enemy's flank. 

Some destruction was created in the Union ranks by the fire from thecover of the forest, but the officers of the opposing force showedskill, too. Harry had no doubt from the way the Northern troops werehandled that at least two or three West Pointers were there. Theyquickly fell back into the forest on the other side of the road, andsent return volleys. 

Harry heard the whistle and whizz of bullets all about them. Bark wasclipped from trees and dry twigs fell. Yet little damage was done byeither. The forest, although leafless, was dense, and trunks and lowboughs afforded much shelter. Both ceased fire presently, seeming torealize at the same moment that nothing was being done, and hoveredamong the trees, each watching for what the other would try next. 

Harry kept close to Captain Sherburne, whose face plainly showed signsof deep disgust. His heart was full of battle and he wished to get atthe enemy. But prudence forbade another charge upon a force doublehis numbers and now sheltered by a wood. At this moment it was the boybeside him who was cooler than he. 

"Captain Sherburne, " he suggested mildly, "didn't General Jackson merelywant to find out what was ahead of him? When the army comes up it willsweep this force out of its way. "

"That's so, " agreed Sherburne reluctantly, "but if we retire they'llclaim a victory, and our men will be depressed by the suspicion ofdefeat. "

"But the Yankees are retiring already. Look, you can see themwithdrawing! They were on the same business that we were, and it's farmore important for them to be sure that Jackson is advancing than it isfor us to know that an enemy's in front. "

"You're right. We knew already that he was there, and we were watchingto get him. It's foolish for us to stay here, squabbling with a lot ofobstinate Yankees. We'll go back to Jackson as fast as we can. You're abright boy, Harry. "

He dropped a hand affectionately on Harry's shoulder, then gave theorder to the men and they turned their horses' heads toward the army. At the same time they saw with their own eyes the complete withdrawalof the Union troops, and the proud Virginians were satisfied. It was nodefeat. It was merely a parting by mutual consent, each moving at thesame instant, that is, if the Yankees didn't go first. 

They galloped back over the frozen road, and Captain Sherburne admittedonce more to himself the truth of Harry's suggestion. Already thetwilight was coming, and again it was heavy with clouds. In the east allthe peaks and ridges were wrapped about with them, and the captain knewthat they meant more snow. Heavy snow was the worst of all things forthe advance of Jackson. 

Captain Sherburne gave another signal to his men and they gallopedfaster. The hoofbeats of nearly two hundred horses rang hard on thefrozen road, but with increased speed pulses throbbed faster and spiritsrose. The average age of the troops was not over twenty, and youththought much of action, little of consequences. 

They saw in a half hour the heads of columns toiling up the slopes, and then Jackson riding on Little Sorrel, his shoulders bent forwardslightly, the grave eyes showing that the great mind behind them wasstill at work, planning, planning, always planning. Their expressiondid not change when Sherburne, halting his horse before him, salutedrespectfully. 

"What did you find, Captain Sherburne?" he asked. 

"The enemy, sir. We ran into a force of cavalry about four hundredstrong. "

"And then?"

"We had a smart little skirmish with them, sir, and then both sideswithdrew. "

"Undoubtedly they went to report to their people, as you have come toreport to yours. It looks as if our attempt to surprise Bath might fail, but we'll try to reach it to-night. Lieutenant Kenton, ride back andgive the brigade commanders orders to hasten their march. "

He detached several others of his staff for the same duty, and in mostcases wrote brief notes for them. Harry noticed how he took it forgranted that one was always willing to do work, and yet more work. He himself had just ridden back from battle, and yet he was sentimmediately on another errand. He noticed, too, how it set a newstandard for everybody. This way Jackson had of expecting much wasrapidly causing his men to offer much as a matter of course. 

While Jackson was writing the notes to the brigadiers he looked up onceor twice at the darkening skies. The great mass of clouds, charged withsnow that had been hovering in the east, was now directly overhead. Whenhe had finished the last note it was too dark for him to write any morewithout help of torch. As he handed the note to the aide who was to takeit, a great flake of snow fell upon his hand. 

Harry found that the brigades could move no faster. They were alreadytoiling hard. The twilight had turned to night, and the clouds coveredthe whole circle of the heavens. The snow, slow at first, was soonfalling fast. The soldiers brushed it off for a while, and then, feelingthat it was no use, let it stay. Ten thousand men, white as if wrappedin winding sheets, marched through the mountains. Now and then, a thintrickle of red from a foot, encased in a shoe worn through, stained thesnow. 

The wind was not blowing, and the night, reinforced by the clouds, became very dark, save the gleam from the white covering of snow uponthe earth. Torches began to flare along the line, and still Jacksonmarched. Harry knew what was in his mind. He wished to reach Bath thatnight and fall upon the enemy when he was not expected, even though thatenemy had been told that Jackson was coming. The commander in front, whoever he might be, certainly would expect no attack in the middle ofthe night and in a driving snowstorm. 

But the fierce spirit of Jackson was forced to yield at last. Hismen, already the best marchers on the American continent, could go nofarther. The order was given to camp. Harry more than guessed how bitterwas the disappointment of his commander, and he shared it. 

The men, half starved and often stiff with cold, sank down by theroadside. They no longer asked for the wagons containing their food andheavy clothing, because they no longer expected them. They passed fromhigh spirits to a heavy apathy, and now they did not seem to care whathappened. But the officers roused them up as much as possible, made thembuild fires with every piece of wood they could find, and then letthem wrap themselves in their blankets and go to sleep--save for thesentinels. 

All night long the snow beat on Jackson's army lying there among themountains, and save for a few Union officers not far away, both Northand South wondered what had become of it. 

It was known at Washington and Richmond that Jackson had leftWinchester, and then he had dropped into the dark. The eyes of theleaders at both capitals were fixed upon the greater armies of McClellanand Johnston, and Stonewall Jackson was not yet fully understood byeither. Nevertheless, the gaunt and haggard President of the North beganto feel anxiety about this Confederate leader who had disappeared withhis army in the mountains of Northern Virginia. 

The telegraph wires were not numerous then, but they were kept busyanswering the question about Jackson. Banks and the other Union leadersin the valley sent reassuring replies. Jackson would not dare to attackthem. They had nearly three times as many men as he, and it did notmatter what had become of him. If he chose to come, the sooner he came, the sooner he would be annihilated. McClellan himself laughed at thefears about Jackson. He was preparing his own great army for a march onRichmond, one that would settle everything. 

But the army of Jackson, nevertheless, rose from the snow the nextmorning, and marched straight on the Union garrison. The rising was madenear Bath, and the army literally brushed the snow from itself beforeeating the half of a breakfast, and taking to the road again, Jackson, on Little Sorrel, leading them. Harry, as usual, rode near him. 

Harry, despite exertions and hardships which would have overpoweredhim six months before, did not feel particularly hungry or weary thatmorning. No one in the army had caught more quickly than he the spiritof Stonewall Jackson. He could endure anything, and in another houror two they would pass out of this wilderness of forest and snow, andattack the enemy. Bath was just ahead. 

A thrill passed through the whole army. Everybody knew that Jackson wasabout to attack. While the first and reluctant sun of dawn was trying topierce the heavy clouds, the regiments, spreading out to right andleft to enclose Bath, began to march. Then the sun gave up its feebleattempts, the clouds closed in entirely, the wind began to blow hard, and with it came a blinding snow, and then a bitter hail. 

Harry had been sent by Jackson to the right flank with orders and he wasto remain there, unless it became necessary to inform the commander thatsome regiment was not doing its duty. But he found them all marchingforward, and, falling in with the Invincibles, he marched with them. Yet it was impossible for the lines to retain cohesion or regularity, sofierce was the beat of the storm. 

It was an alternation of blinding snow and of hail that fairly stung. Often the officers could not see the men thirty yards distant, andthere was no way of knowing whether the army was marching forward inthe complete half circle as planned. Regiments might draw apart, leavingwide gaps between, and no one would know it in all that hurricane. 

Harry rode by the side of Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-ColonelHector St. Hilaire, who were leading the Invincibles in person. Bothhad gray military cloaks drawn around them, but Harry saw that theywere shivering with cold as they sat on their horses, with the snowaccumulating on their shoulders and on the saddles around them. Intruth, the foot cavalry had rather the better of it, as the hardmarching kept up the circulation. 

"Not much like the roses of Charleston, " said Colonel Talbot, faintlysmiling. 

"But I'm glad to be here, " said Harry, "although I will admit, sir, thatI did not expect a campaign to the North Pole. "

"Neither did I, but I'm prepared for anything now, under the commanderthat we have. Bear in mind, my young friend, that this is for yourprivate ear only. "

"Of course, sir! What was that? Wasn't it a rifle shot?"

"The report is faint, but it was certainly made by a rifle. And hark, there are others! We've evidently come upon their outposts! Confoundthis storm! It keeps us from seeing more than twenty yards in front ofus!"

The scattered rifle fire continued, and the weary soldiers raised theirheads which they had bent to shelter their eyes from the driving snowand hail. Pulses leaped up again, and blood sparkled. The whole armyrushed forward. The roofs of houses came into view, and there was Bath. 

But the firing had been merely that of a small rear guard, skirmisherswho surrendered promptly. The garrison, warned doubtless by Shepard, and then the scouting troop, had escaped across the river, but Jackson'swintry march was not wholly in vain. The fleeing Union troops had notime either to carry away or destroy the great stores of supplies, accumulated there for the winter, and the starving and freezingSoutherners plunged at once into the midst of plenty, ample compensationto the young privates. 

The population, ardently Southern, as everywhere in these Virginiatowns, welcomed the army with wild enthusiasm. Officers and soldierswere taken into the houses, as many as Bath could hold, and enormousfires were built in the open spaces for the others. They also showed theway at once to the magazines, where the Union supplies were heaped up. 

Harry, at the direction of his general, went with one of the detachmentsto seize these. Their first prize was an old but large storehouse, crammed full of the things they needed most. The tall mountain youth, Seth Moore, was one of his men, and he proved to be a prince of looters. 

"Blankets! blankets!" cried Moore. "Here they are, hundreds of 'em! An'look at these barrels! Bacon! Beef! Crackers! An' look at the piles ofcheese! Oh, Lieutenant Kenton, how my mouth waters! Can't I bite intoone o' them cheeses?"

"Not yet, " said Harry, whose own mouth was watering, too, "but you can, Seth, within ten minutes at the farthest. The whole army must bite atonce. "

"That's fa'r an' squar', but ain't this richness! Cove oysters, cans an'cans of 'em, an' how I love 'em! An' sardines, too, lots of 'em! Why, I could bite right through the tin boxes to get at 'em. An' rice, an'hominy, an' bags o' flour. Why, the North has been sendin' whole trainloads of things down here for us to eat!"

"And she has been sending more than that, " said Harry. "Here are fiveor six hundred fine breech-loading rifles, and hundreds of thousandsof cartridges. She's been sending us arms and ammunition with which tofight her!"

His boyish spirit burst forth. Even though an officer, he could notcontrol them, and he was radiant as the looting Seth Moore himself. Hewent out to report the find and to take measures concerning it. On hisway he met hundreds of the Southern youths who had already put on heavyblue overcoats found in the captured stores. The great revulsion hadcome. They were laughing and cheering and shaking the hands of oneanother. It was a huge picnic, all the more glorious because they hadburst suddenly out of the storm and the icy wilderness. 

But order was soon restored, and wrapped in warm clothing they feastedlike civilized men, the great fires lighting up the whole town with acheerful glow. Harry was summoned to new duties. He was also a newman. Warmth and food had doubled his vitality, and he was ready for anyerrand on which Jackson might send him. 

While it was yet snowing, he rode with a half dozen troopers towardthe Potomac. On the other side was a small town which also held a Uniongarrison. Scouting warily along the shores, Harry discovered that thegarrison was still there. Evidently the enemy believed in the protectionof the river, or many of their leaders could not yet wholly believe thatJackson and his army, making a forced march in the dead of winter, wereat hand. 

But he had no doubt that his general would attend to these obstinatemen, and he rode back to Bath with the news. Jackson gave his worntroops a little more rest. They were permitted to spend all that day andnight at Bath, luxuriating and renewing their strength and spirits. 

Harry slept, for the first time in many nights, in a house, and he madethe most of it, because he doubted whether he would have another suchchance soon. Dawn found the army up and ready to march away from thisplace of delight. 

They went up and down the Potomac three or four days, scatteringor capturing small garrisons, taking fresh supplies and spreadingconsternation among the Union forces in Northern Virginia and Maryland. It was all done in the most bitter winter weather and amid storms ofsnow and hail. The roads were slippery with sleet, and often the cavalrywere compelled to dismount and lead their horses long distances. Therewas little fighting because the Northern enemy was always in numberstoo small to resist, but there was a great deal of hard riding and manycaptures. 

News of Jackson's swoop began to filter through to both Richmond andWashington. In Richmond they wondered and rejoiced. In Washington theywondered, but did not rejoice. They had not expected there any blow tobe struck in the dead of winter, and Lincoln demanded of his generalswhy they could not do as well. Distance and the vagueness of the newsmagnified Jackson's exploits and doubled his numbers. Eyes were turnedwith intense anxiety toward that desolate white expanse of snow and ice, in the midst of which he was operating. 

Jackson finally turned his steps toward Romney, which had been the Unionheadquarters, and his men, exhausted and half starved, once more draggedthemselves over the sleety roads. Winter offered a fresh obstacle atevery turn. Even the spirits of Harry, who had borrowed so much from thecourage of Jackson, sank somewhat. As they pulled themselves through thehills on their last stage toward Romney, he was walking. His horse hadfallen three times that day on the ice, and was now too timid to carryhis owner. 

So Harry led him. The boy's face and hands were so much chapped andcracked with the cold that they bled at times. But he wasted nosympathy on himself. It was the common fate of the army. Jackson andhis generals, themselves, suffered in the same way. Jackson was walking, too, for a while, leading his own horse. 

Harry was sent back to bring up the Invincibles, as Romney was nowclose at hand, and there might be a fight. He found his old colonel andlieutenant-colonel walking over the ice. Both were thin, and were blackunder the eyes with privation and anxiety. These were not in appearancethe men whom he had known in gay and sunny Charleston, though in spiritthe same. They gave Harry a welcome and hoped that the enemy would waitfor them in Romney. 

"I don't think so, " said Harry, "but I've orders for you from GeneralJackson to bring up the Invincibles as fast as possible. "

"Tell General Jackson that we'll do our best, " said Colonel Talbot, ashe looked back at his withered column. 

They seemed to Harry to be withered indeed, they were so gaunt withhardship and drawn up so much with cold. Many wore the blue Northernovercoats that they had captured at Bath, and more had tied up theirthroats and ears in the red woolen comforters of the day, procured atthe towns through which they passed. They, too, were gaunt of cheek andblack under the eye like their officers. 

The Invincibles under urging increased their speed, but not much. Littlereserve strength was left in them. Langdon and St. Clair, who had beensent along the line, returned to Colonel Talbot where Harry was stillwaiting. 

"They're not going as fast as a railroad train, " said Langdon in anaside to Harry, "but they're doing their best. You can't put in a wellmore than you can take out of it, and they're marching now not on theirstrength, but their courage. Still, it might be worse. We might all bedead. "

"But we're not dead, by a big margin, and I think we'll make anotherhaul at Romney. "

"But Old Jack won't let us stay and enjoy it. I never saw a man so muchin love with marching. The steeper the hills and mountains, the colderthe day, the fiercer the sleet and snow, the better he likes it. "

"The fellow who said General Jackson didn't care anything about our feettold the truth, " said St. Clair, thoughtfully. "The general is not acruel man, but he thinks more of Virginia and the South, and our cause, than he does of us. If it were necessary to do so to win he'd sacrificeus to the last man and himself with us. "

"And never think twice before doing it. You've sized him up, " saidHarry. The army poured into Romney and found no enemy. Again a garrisonhad escaped through the mountain snows when the news reached it thatJackson was at hand. But they found supplies of food, filled their emptystomachs, and as Langdon had foretold, quickly started anew in search ofanother enemy elsewhere. 

But the men finally broke down under the driving of the mercilessJackson. Many of them began to murmur. They had left the bleeding trailof their feet over many an icy road, and some said they were ready tolie down in the snow and die before they would march another mile. Agreat depression, which was physical rather than mental, a depressionborn of exhaustion and intense bodily suffering, seized the army. 

Jackson, although with a will of steel, was compelled to yield. Slowlyand with reluctance, he led his army back toward Winchester, leavinga large garrison in Romney. But Harry knew what he had done, althoughnothing more than skirmishes had been fought. He had cleared a wideregion of the enemy. He had inspired enthusiasm in the South, and he hadfilled the North with alarm. The great movement of McClellan on Richmondmust beware of its right flank. A dangerous foe was there who mightsting terribly, and men had learned already that none knew when orwhence Jackson might come. 

A little more than three weeks after their departure Harry and hisfriends and the army, except the portion left in garrison at Romney, returned to Winchester, the picturesque and neat little Virginia city soloyal to the South. It looked very good indeed to Harry as he drew near. He liked the country, rolling here and there, the hills crested withsplendid groves of great trees. The Little North Mountain a looming blueshadow to the west, and the high Massanutton peaks to the south seemedto guard it round. And the valley itself was rich and warm with the finefarms spread out for many miles. Despite the engrossing pursuit of theenemy and of victory and glory, Harry's heart thrilled at the sight ofthe red brick houses of Winchester. 

Here came a period of peace so far as war was concerned, but of greatanxiety to Harry and the whole army. The government at Richmond beganto interfere with Jackson. It thought him too bold, even rash, and itwanted him to withdraw the garrison at Romney, which was apparentlyexposed to an attack by the enemy in great force. It was said thatMcClellan had more than two hundred thousand men before Washington, and an overwhelming division from it might fall at any time upon theSouthern force at Romney. 

Harry, being a member of Jackson's staff, and having become a favoritewith him, knew well his reasons for standing firm. January, which hadfurnished so fierce a month of winter, was going. The icy country wasbreaking up under swift thaws, and fields and destroyed roads were avast sea of mud in which the feet of infantry, the hoofs of horses andthe wheels of cannon would sink deep. 

Jackson did not believe that McClellan had enough enterprise to ordera march across such an obstacle, but recognizing the right of hisgovernment to expect obedience, he sent his resignation to Richmond. Harry knew of it, his friends knew of it, and their hearts sank likeplummets in a pool. 

Another portion of the Invincibles had been drawn off to reinforceJohnston's army before Richmond, as they began to hear rumors now thatMcClellan would come by sea instead of land, and their places werefilled with more recruits from the valley of Virginia. Scarcelya hundred of the South Carolinians were left, but the name, "TheInvincibles" and the chief officers, stayed behind. Jackson had beenunwilling to part with Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, experienced and able West Pointers. Langdon and St. Clair alsostayed. 

Harry talked over the resignation with these friends of his, and theyshowed an anxiety not less than his own. It had become evident to thetwo veteran West Pointers that Jackson was the man. Close contact withhim had enabled them to read his character and immense determination. 

"I hope that our government at Richmond will decline this resignationand give him a free hand, " said Colonel Talbot to Harry. "It would be aterrible loss if he were permitted to drop out of the army. I tell youfor your own private ear that I have taken it upon me to Write a letterof protest to President Davis himself. I felt that I could do so, because Mr. Davis and myself were associated closely in the MexicanWar. "

The answer came in time from Richmond. Stonewall Jackson was retainedand a freer hand was given to him. Harry and all his comrades felt animmense relief, but he did not know until long afterward how near theConfederacy had come to losing the great Jackson. 

Benjamin, the Secretary of War, and President Davis both were disposedto let him go, but the powerful intervention of Governor Letcher ofVirginia induced them to change their minds. Moreover, hundreds ofletters from leading Virginians who knew Jackson well poured in uponhim, asking him to withdraw the resignation. So it was arranged andJackson remained, biding his time for the while at Winchester, until hecould launch the thunderbolt. 

A pleasant month for Harry, and all the young staff officers passed atWinchester. The winter of intense cold had now become one of tremendousrain. It poured and it poured, and it never ceased to pour. BetweenWinchester and Washington and McClellan's great army was one vastflooded area, save where the hills and mountains stood. 

But in Winchester the Southern troops were warm and comfortable. It wasa snug town within its half circle of mountains. Its brick and woodenhouses were solid and good. The young officers when they went on errandstrod on pavements of red brick, and oaks and elms and maples shaded themnearly all the way. 

When Harry, who went oftenest on such missions, returned to his generalwith the answers, he walked up a narrow street, where the silver maples, which would soon begin to bud under the continuous rain, grew thickest, and came to a small building in which other officers like himself wroteat little tables or waited in full uniform to be sent upon like errands. If it were yet early he would find Jackson there, but if it were latehe would cross a little stretch of grass to the parsonage, the largeand solid house, where the Presbyterian minister, Dr. Graham, lived, andwhere Jackson, with his family, who had joined him, now made his home inthis month of waiting. 

It was here that Harry came one evening late in February. It had beenraining as usual, and he wore one of the long Union overcoats capturedat Bath, blue then but a faded grayish brown now. However, the grayConfederate uniform beneath it was neat and looked fresh. Harry wasalways careful about his clothing, and the example of St. Clair inspiredhim to greater efforts. Besides, there was a society in Winchester, including many handsome young women of the old Virginia families, andeven a budding youth who was yet too young for serious sentimentalism, could not ignore its existence. 

It was twilight and the cold rain was still coming down steadily, asHarry walked across the grass, and looked out of the wet dusk at themanse. Lights were shining from every window, and there was warmtharound his heart. The closer association of many weeks with Jacksonhad not only increased his admiration, but also had given the general agreat place in the affection that a youth often feels for an older manwhom he deems a genius or a hero. 

Harry walked upon a little portico, and taking off the overcoat shookout the rain drops. Then he hung it on a hook against the wall of thehouse. The door was open six inches or so, and a ribbon of brilliantlight from within fell across the floor of the portico. 

Harry looked at the light and smiled. He was young and he loved gayety. He smiled again when he heard within the sound of laughter. Then hepushed the door farther open and entered. Now the laughter rose to ashout, and it was accompanied by the sound of footsteps. A man, thickof hair and beard, was running down a stairway. Perched high upon hisshoulders was a child of three or four years, with both hands plantedfirmly in the thick hair. The small feet crossed over the man's neckkicked upon his chest, but he seemed to enjoy the sport as much as thechild did. 

Harry paused and stood at attention until the man saw him. Then hesaluted respectfully and said to General Jackson:

"I wish to report to you, sir, that I delivered the order to GeneralGarnett, as you directed, and here, sir, is his reply. "

He handed a note to the general, who read it, thrust it into his pocket, and said:

"That ends your labors for the day, Lieutenant Kenton. Come in now andjoin us. "

He picked up the child again, and carrying it in his arms, led the wayinto an inner room, where he gave it to a nurse. Then they passed intothe library, where Dr. Graham, several generals and two or three ofWinchester's citizens were gathered. 

All gave Harry a welcome. He knew them well, and he looked around withsatisfaction at the large room, with its rows and rows of books, boundmostly in dark leather, volumes of theology, history, essays, poetry, and of the works of Walter Scott and Jane Austen. Jackson himself was arigid Presbyterian, and he and Dr. Graham had many a long talk in thisroom on religion and other topics almost equally serious. 

But to-night they were in a bright mood. A mountaineer had come in withfour huge wild turkeys, which he insisted upon giving to General Jacksonhimself, and guests had been asked in to help eat them. 

Nearly twenty people sat around the minister's long table. The turkeys, at least enough for present needs, were cooked beautifully, and all thesucculent dishes which the great Virginia valleys produce so fruitfullywere present. General Jackson himself, at the request of the minister, said grace, and he said it so devoutly and so sincerely that it alwaysimpressed the hearers with a sense of its reality. 

It was full dusk and the rain was beating on the windows, when the blackattendants began to serve the guests at the great board. Severalladies, including the general's wife, were present. The room was lightedbrilliantly, and a big fire burned in the wide fireplace at the end. To Harry, three seats away from General Jackson, there was a startlingcontrast between the present moment and that swift campaign of theirsthrough the wintry mountains where the feet of the soldiers left bloodytrails on the ice and snow. 

It was a curious fact that for a few instants the mountain and the greatcold were real and this was but fancy. He looked more than once at thecheerful faces and the rosy glow of the fire, before he could convincehimself that he was in truth here in Winchester, with all this comfort, even luxury, around him. 

Sitting next to him was a lady of middle age, Mrs. Howard, of prominencein the town and a great friend of the Grahams. Harry realized suddenlythat while the others were talking he had said nothing, and he feltguilty of discourtesy. He began an apology, but Mrs. Howard, who hadknown him very well since he had been in Winchester, learning to callhim by his first name, merely smiled and the smile was at once maternaland somewhat sad. 

"No apologies are needed, Harry, " she said in a low tone that the othersmight not hear. "I read your thoughts. They were away in the mountainswith a marching army. All this around us speaks of home and peace, butit cannot last. All of you will be going soon. "

"That's true, Mrs. Howard, I was thinking of march and battle, and Ibelieve you're right in saying that we'll all go soon. That is whatwe're for. "

She smiled again a little sadly. 

"You're a good boy, Harry, " she said, "and I hope that you and all yourcomrades will come back in safety to Winchester. But that is enoughcroaking from an old woman and I'm ashamed of myself. Did you ever see ahappier crowd than the one gathered here?"

"Not since I was in my father's house when the relatives would come tohelp us celebrate Christmas. "

"When did you hear from your father?" asked Mrs. Howard, whose warmsympathies had caused Harry to tell her of his life and of his peoplewhom he had left behind in Kentucky. 

"Just after the terrible disaster at Donelson. He was in the fort, buthe escaped with Forrest's cavalry, and he went into Mississippi to jointhe army under Albert Sidney Johnston. He sent a letter for me tomy home, Pendleton, under cover to my old teacher, Dr. Russell, whoforwarded it to me. It came only this morning. "

"How does he talk?"

"Hopefully, though he made no direct statement. I suppose he was afraidto do so lest the letter fall into the hands of the Yankees, butI imagine that General Johnston's army is going to attack GeneralGrant's. "

"If General Johnston can win a victory it will help us tremendously, but I fear that man, Grant. They say that he had no more men at Donelsonthan we, but he took the fort and its garrison. "

"It's true. Our affairs have not been going well in the West. "

Harry was downcast for a few moments. Much of their Western news hadcome through the filter of Richmond, but despite the brighter color thatthe Government tried to put on it, it remained black. Forts and armieshad been taken. Nothing had been able to stop Grant. But youth againcame to Harry. He could not resist the bright light and the happy talkabout him. Bitter thoughts fled. 

General Jackson was in fine humor. He and Dr. Graham had started todiscuss a problem in Presbyterian theology in which both were deeplyinterested, but they quickly changed it in deference to the younger andlighter spirits about them. Harry had never before seen his generalin so mellow a vein. Perhaps it was the last blaze of the home-lovingspirit, before entering into that storm of battle which henceforth wasto be his without a break. 

The general, under urging, told of his life as an orphan boy in hisuncle's rough home in the Virginia wilderness, how he had been seizedonce by the wanderlust, then so strong in nearly all Americans, andhow he and his brother had gone all the way down the Ohio to theMississippi, where they had camped on a little swampy island, earningtheir living by cutting wood for the steamers on the two rivers. 

"How old were you two then, General?" asked Dr. Graham. 

"The older of us was only twelve. But in those rough days boys maturedfast and became self-reliant at a very early age. We did not run away. There wasn't much opposition to our going. Our uncle was sure that we'dcome back alive, and though we arrived again in Virginia, five or sixhundred miles from our island in the river, all rags and filled withfever, we were not regarded as prodigal sons. It was what hundreds, yes, thousands of other boys did. In our pleasant uplands we soon got rid ofboth rags and fever. "

"And you did not wish to return to the wilderness?"

"The temptation was strong at times, but it was defeated by otherambitions. There was school and I liked sports. These soon filled up mylife. "

Harry knew much more about the life of Jackson, which the modesty of hishero kept him from telling. Looking at the strong, active figure ofthe man so near him he knew that he had once been delicate, doomed inchildhood, as many thought, to consumption, inherited from his mother. But a vigorous life in the open air had killed all such germs. He was aleader in athletic sports. He was a great horseman, and often rode asa jockey for his uncle in the horse races which the open-air Virginiansloved so well, and in which they indulged so much. He could cut down atree or run a saw-mill, or drive four horses to a wagon, or seek deerthrough the mountains with the sturdiest hunter of them all. And upontop of this vigorous boyhood had come the long and severe training atWest Point, the most thorough and effective military school the worldhas ever known. 

Harry did not wonder, as he looked at his general, that he could dareand do so much. He might be awkward in appearance, he might wear hisclothes badly, but the boy at ten years had been a man, doing a man'swork and with a man's soul. He had come into the field, no paradesoldier, but with a body and mind as tough and enduring as steel, thewhole surcharged and heated with a spirit of fire. 

Both Harry and Mrs. Howard had become silent and were watching thegeneral. For some reason Jackson was more moved than usual. His mannerdid not depart from its habitual gravity. He made no gestures, but theblue eyes under the heavy brows were irradiated by a peculiar flashinglight. 

The long dinner went on. It was more of a festival than a banquet, andHarry at last gave himself up entirely to its luxurious warmth. Theforeboding that their mellow days in the pleasant little city were over, was gone, but it was destined to come again. Now, after the dinner wasfinished, and the great table was cleared away, they sat and talked, some in the dining room and some in the library. 

It was still raining, that cold rain which at times turns for a momentor two to snow, and it dashed in gusts against the window panes. Harrywas with some of the younger people in the library, where they wereplaying at games. The sport lagged presently and he went to a window, where he stood between the curtain and the glass. 

He saw the outside dimly, the drenched lawn, and the trees beyond, underwhich two or three sentinels, wrapped closely in heavy coats, walked toand fro. He gazed at them idly, and then a shadow passed between him andthem. He thought at first that it was a blurring of the glass by somestronger gust of rain, but the next moment his experience told him thatit could not be so. He had seen a shadow, and the shadow was that of aman, sliding along against the wall of the house, in order that he mightnot be seen by a sentinel. 

Harry's suspicions were up and alive in an instant. In this bordercountry spies were numerous. It was easy to be a spy where people lookedalike and spoke the same language with the same accent. His suspicions, too, centered at once upon Shepard, whom he knew to be so daring andskillful. 

The lad was prompt to act. He slipped unnoticed into the hall, put onhis greatcoat, felt of the pistol in his belt, opened the front door andstepped out into the dark and the rain. 

CHAPTER V. THE NORTHERN ADVANCE

Harry flattened himself against the wall and all his training andinherited instincts came promptly to his service. He knew that he, too, would be in the shadow there, where it was not likely that the sentinelscould see him owing to the darkness of the night. Then he movedcautiously toward the window where he had seen the outline. 

The cold rain beat on his face and he saw the figures of the sentinelsmoving back and forth, but, black against the black wall, he wasconfident that he could not be seen by them. Half way to the window, hiseyes now having gotten used to the darkness, he knelt down and examinedthe earth, made soft by the rains. He distinctly saw footprints, undoubtedly those of a man, leading by the edge of the wall, and now heknew that he had not been mistaken. 

Harry came to the window himself, and, glancing in, he saw that themerriment was going on unabated. He continued his search, following therevealing foot prints. He went nearly all the way around the house andthen lost them among heavy shrubbery. He surmised that at this pointthe spy--he was sure that it was a spy and sure, too, that it wasShepard--had left the place, passing between the sentinels in the rainydark. 

He spoke to the sentinels, who knew him well, and they were quiteconfident that nobody had come within their lines. But Harry, whilekeeping his own counsel, held another opinion and he was equallypositive about it. He was returning to the house, when he heard thetread of hoofs, and then a horseman spoke with the sentinels. He lookedback and recognized Sherburne. 

The young captain was holding himself erect in the saddle, but his horseand his uniform were covered with red mud. There were heavy black linesunder his eyes and his face, despite his will, showed strong signs ofweariness. Sure that his mission was important, Harry went to him atonce. 

"Is General Jackson inside?" asked Sherburne. 

"Yes, and he has not yet gone to bed, " replied Harry, looking at thelighted windows. 

"Then ask him if I can see him at once. He sent my troop and me on ascout toward Romney this morning. I have news, news that cannot wait. "

"Of course, he'll see you. Come inside. "

Sherburne slipped from his horse. Harry noticed that it was not hisusual elastic spring. He seemed almost to fall to the ground, and thehorse, no hand on the reins, still stood motionless, his head drooping. It was evident that Sherburne was in the last stages of exhaustion, and now that he came nearer his face showed great anxiety as well asweariness. 

Harry opened the door promptly and pushed him inside. Then he helped himoff with his wet and muddy overcoat, pushed him into a chair, and said:

"I'll announce you to General Jackson, and he'll see you at once. "

Harry knew that Jackson would not linger a second, when a messenger ofimportance came, and he went into the library where the minister andthe general stood talking. General Jackson held in one hand a largeleather-covered volume, and with the forefinger of the other hand he waspointing to a paragraph in it. The minister was saying somethingthat Harry did not catch, but he believed that they were arguing somedisputed point of Presbyterian doctrine. 

When Jackson saw Harry he closed the book instantly, and put it on theshelf. He had seen in the eyes of his aide that he was coming with nocommon message. 

"Captain Sherburne is in the hall, sir, " said the boy. "He has come backfrom the scout toward Romney. "

"Bring him in. "

The minister quietly slipped out, as Sherburne entered, but Jackson badeHarry remain, saying that he might have orders for him to carry. 

"What have you to tell me, Captain Sherburne?" asked Jackson. 

"We saw the patrols of the enemy, and we took two prisoners. We learnedthat McClellan's army is showing signs of moving, and we saw withour own eyes that Banks and Shields are preparing for the same. Theythreaten us here in Winchester. "

"What force do you think Banks has?"

"He must have forty thousand men. "

"A good guess. The figures of my spies say thirty-eight thousand, and wecan muster scarcely five thousand here. We must move. "

Jackson spoke without emotion. His words were cold and dry, even formal. Harry's heart sank. If eight times their numbers were advancing uponthem, then they must abandon Winchester. They must leave to the enemythis pleasant little city, so warmly devoted to the Southern cause andconfess weakness and defeat to these friends who had done so much forthem during their stay. 

He felt the full bitterness of the blow. The people of the South--littleimmigration had gone there--were knit together more closely by ties ofkinship than those of the North. Harry through the maternal line was, like most Kentuckians, of Virginia descent, and even here in Winchesterhe had found cousins, more or less removed it was true, but it waskinship, nevertheless, and they had made the most of it. It would havebeen easier for him were strangers instead of friends to see theirretreat. 

"Captain Sherburne, you will go to your quarters and sleep. It isobvious that you need rest, " said Jackson. "Mr. Kenton, you will waitand take the orders that I am going to write. "

Sherburne saluted and withdrew promptly. Jackson turned to a shelf ofthe library on which lay pen, ink and paper, and standing before itrapidly wrote several notes. It was his favorite attitude--habit of hisWest Point days--to write or read standing. 

It took him less than five minutes to write the notes, and he handedthem to Harry to deliver without delay to the brigade commanders. Histones were incisive and charged with energy. Harry felt the electricthrill pass to himself, and with a quick salute he was once more out inthe rain. 

Some of the brigadiers were asleep, and grumbled when Harry awoke them, but the orders soon sent the last remnants of sleep flying. The boy didnot linger, but returned quickly to the manse, where General Jackson methim at the door. Other aides were coming or going, but all save one ortwo windows of the house were dark now, and the merrymaking was over. 

"You have delivered the orders?" asked Jackson. 

"Yes, sir, all of them. "

Harry also told then of the face that he had seen at the window and hisbelief concerning its identity. 

"Very likely, " said Jackson, "but we cannot pursue him now. Now go toheadquarters and sleep, but I shall want you at dawn. "

Harry was ready before the first sunlight, and that day consternationspread through Winchester. The enemy was about to advance inoverwhelming force, and Jackson was going to leave them. Johnston wasretreating before McClellan, and Jackson in the valley must retreatbefore Banks. 

There could be no doubt about the withdrawal of Jackson. Thepreparations were hurried forward with the utmost vigor. A train tookthe sick to Staunton, and in one of the coaches went Mrs. Jackson to herfather's home. Town and camp were filled with talk of march and battle, and the younger rejoiced. They felt that a month of waiting had madethem rusty. 

Amid all the bustle Jackson found time to attend religious services, and also ordered every wagon that reached the camp with supplies to besearched. If liquor were found it was thrown at once upon the ground. The soldiers, even the recruits, knew that they were to follow aGod-fearing man. Oliver Cromwell had come back to earth. But most of thesoldiers were now disciplined thoroughly. The month they had spent atWinchester after the great raid had been devoted mostly to drill. 

The day of departure came and the army, amid the good wishes of manyfriends in Winchester, filed out of the town. The great rains, which, ithad seemed, would never cease, had ceased at last. There was a touch ofspring in the air, and in sheltered places the grass was taking on deeptints of green. 

During all the days of preparation Jackson had said nothing about hisplan of retreat. The Virginians, lining the streets and watching soanxiously, did not know where he would seek refuge. And suddenly as theywatched, a cheer, tremendous and involuntary, burst from them. 

The heads of Jackson's columns were turned north. He was not marchingaway from the enemy. He was marching toward him. But the burst ofelation was short. Even the civilians in Winchester knew that Jacksonwas hugely outnumbered. 

Harry himself was astonished, and he gazed at his leader. Whatfathomless purpose lay beneath that stern, bearded face? Jackson's eyesexpressed nothing. He and he alone knew what was in his mind. 

But the troops asked no word from their leaders. The fact that theirfaces were turned toward the north was enough for them. They knew, too, of the heavy odds that were against them, but they were not afraid. 

As Harry watched the young soldiers, many of whom sang as they marched, his own enthusiasm rose. He had seen companies in brilliant uniforms atRichmond, but no parade soldiers were here. There were few glimpses ofcolor in the columns, but the men marched with a strong, elastic step. They had all been born upon the farms or in the little villages, andthey were familiar with the hills and forests. They had been hunters, too, as soon as their arms were strong enough to hold rifle or shot gun. Most of them had killed deer or bear in the mountains, and all of themhad known how to ride from earliest childhood. They had endured everyhardship and they knew how to take care of themselves in any kind ofcountry and in any kind of weather. 

Harry smiled as he looked at their uniforms. How different they werefrom some of the gay young companies of Charleston! These uniforms hadbeen spun for them and made for them by their own mothers and wives andsisters or sweethearts. They were all supposed to be gray, but therewere many shades of gray, sometimes verging to a light blue, withbutternut as the predominant color. They wore gray jackets, short ofwaist and single-breasted. Caps were giving way to soft felt hats, and boots had already been supplanted by broad, strong shoes, calledbrogans. 

Many of the soldiers carried frying pans and skillets hung on thebarrels of their rifles, simple kitchen utensils which constitutedalmost the whole of their cooking equipment. Their blankets and rubbersheets for sleeping were carried in light rolls on their backs. Atoothbrush was stuck in a buttonhole. On their flanks or in front rodethe cavalry, led by the redoubtable Turner Ashby, and there was inall their number scarcely a single horseman who did not ride like theComanche Indian, as if he were born in the saddle. Ashby was a host inhimself. He had often ridden as much as eighty miles a day to inspecthis own pickets and those of the enemy, and it was told of him that hehad once gone inside the Union lines in the disguise of a horse doctor. 

The Northern cavalry, unused to the saddle, compared very badly withthose of the South in the early years of the war. Ashby's men, moreover, rode over country that they had known all their lives. There was noforest footpath, no train among the hills hidden from them. But thecannon of Jackson's army was inferior. Here the mechanical genius of theNorth showed supreme. 

Such was the little army of Jackson, somber to see, which marched forthupon a campaign unrivalled in the history of war. The men whom theywere to meet were of staunch stock and spirit themselves. Banks, theircommander, had worked in his youth as a common laborer in a cotton mill, and had forced himself up by vigor and energy, but Shields was a veteranof the Mexican War. Most of the troops had come from the west, and they, too, were used to every kind of privation and hardship. 

Harry's duties carried him back and forth with the marching columns, but he lingered longest beside the Invincibles, only a regiment now, andthat regiment composed almost wholly of Virginians. St. Clair was stillin the smartest of uniforms, a contrast to the others, and as he noddedto Harry he told him that the troops expected to meet the enemy beforenight. 

"I don't know how they got that belief, " he said, "but I know it extendsto all our men. What about it, Harry?"

"Stonewall Jackson alone knows, and he's not telling. "

"They say that Banks is coming with ten to one!" said Langdon, "but itmight be worse than that. It might be a hundred to one. "

"It's hardly as bad as ten to one, Tom, " said Harry with a laugh. "Ashby's men say it's only eight to one, and they know. "

"It's all right, then, " said Langdon, squaring his shoulders, andlooking ferocious. "Ten to one would be a little rough on us, but Idon't mind eight to one at all! at all! They say that the army of Banksis not many miles away. Is it so, Harry?"

"I suppose so. That's the news the cavalry bring in. "

Harry rode on, saluting Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire as he passed. They returned the salutes, but said nothing, andin a few minutes he was with General Jackson again. 

It was now March, and the spring was making headway in the great valley. The first flush of green was over everything. The snows were gone, therains that followed were gone, too, and the earth was drying rapidlyunder the mild winds that blew from the mountains. It was evident to allthat the forces of war were unloosed with the departure of winter. 

The day was filled with excitement for Harry. The great Federal army wasnow so near that the rival pickets were almost constantly in touch. Onlystern orders from Jackson kept his fiery cavalry from making attackswhich might have done damage, but not damage enough. Banks, the Unionleader, eminent through politics rather than war, having been Governorof Massachusetts, showed the utmost caution. Feeling secure inhis numbers he resolved to risk nothing until he gained his mainobject--Winchester--and the efforts of Turner Ashby and his brilliantyoung lieutenants like Sherburne, could not lead him into any trap. 

Night came and the Southern army stopped for supper and rest. TheNorthern army was then only four miles from Winchester, and within ahalf hour hostile pickets had been firing at one another. Yet the menate calmly and lay down under the trees. Jackson called a council in alittle grove. General Garnett, the commander of the Stonewall Brigade, all the colonels of the regiments, and the most trusted young officersof his staff were present. A little fire of fallen wood lighted up theanxious and earnest faces. 

Jackson spoke rapidly. Harry had never before seen him show so muchemotion and outward fire. He wanted to bring up all his men and attackthe Union army at once. He believed that the surprise and the immensedash of the Southern troops would overcome the great odds. But the otherofficers shook their heads sadly. There had been a confusion of orders. Their own troops had been scattered and their supply trains were faraway. If they attacked they would surely fall. 

Jackson reluctantly gave up his plan and walked gloomily away. But heturned presently and beckoned to Harry and others of his staff. His eyeswere shining. Some strange mood seemed to possess him. 

"Mount at once, gentlemen, " he said, "and ride with me. I'm going toWinchester. "

One or two of the officers opened their mouths to protest, but checkedthe words when they saw Jackson's stern face. They sprang into thesaddle, and scorning possible attack or capture by roving Union cavalry, galloped to the town. 

Jackson drew rein before the manse, where Dr. Graham was alreadystanding at the open door to meet him, runners from the town carryingahead the news that Jackson was returning with his staff. It seemed thatsomething the general had said to the minister the day before troubledhim. Harry inferred from the words he heard that Jackson had promisedthe minister too much and now he was stung by conscience. Doubtlesshe had told Dr. Graham that he would never let the Federals takeWinchester, and he had come to apologize for his mistake. Harry was notat all surprised. In fact, as he came to know him thoroughly, he wasnever surprised at anything this strange man and genius did. 

Harry's surmise was right. Jackson was torn with emotion at beingcompelled to abandon Winchester, and he wanted to explain how it was tothe friend whom he liked so well. He had thoughts even yet of strikingthe enemy that night and driving him away. Looking the minister steadilyin the face, but not seeing him, seeing instead a field of battle, hesaid slowly, biting each word:

"I--will--yet--carry--out--this plan. I--will--think. It--must be done. "

The minister said nothing, standing and staring at the general likeone fascinated. He had never seen Jackson that way before. His facewas lined with thought and his eyes burned like coals of fire. Hishand fiercely clinched the hilt of his sword. He, who showed emotion sorarely, was overcome by it now. 

But the fire in his eyes died, his head sank, and his hand fell from hissword. 

"No, no, " he said sadly. "I must not try it. Too many of my brave menwould fall. I must withdraw, and await a better time. "

Saying good-by to his friend he mounted and rode in silence fromWinchester again, and silently the people saw him go. His staff followedwithout a word. When they reached a high hill overlooking the townJackson paused and the others paused with him. All turned as if by oneaccord and looked at Winchester. 

The skies were clear and a silver light shone over the town. It was abeautiful, luminous light and it heightened the beauty of spire, roof, and wall. Jackson looked at it a long time, the place where he had spentsuch a happy month, and then, his eye blazing again, he lifted his handand exclaimed with fierce energy:

"That is the last council of war I will ever hold!"

Harry understood him. He knew that Jackson now felt that the council hadbeen too slow and too timid. Henceforth he would be the sole judge ofattack and retreat. But the general's emotion was quickly suppressed. Taking a last look at the little city that he loved so well, he roderapidly away, and his staff followed closely at his heels. 

That was a busy and melancholy night. The young troops, after all, werenot to fight the enemy, but were falling back. Youth takes less accountthan age of odds, and they did not wish to retreat. Harry who had seenthat look upon Jackson's face, when he gazed back at Winchester, feltthat he would strike some mighty counter-blow, but he did not know howor when. 

The army withdrew slowly toward Strasburg, twenty-five miles away, and the next morning the Union forces in overwhelming numbers occupiedWinchester. Meantime the North was urging McClellan with his mighty armyto advance on Richmond, and Stonewall Jackson and his few thousands whohad been driven out of Winchester were forgotten. The right flank ofMcClellan, defended by Banks and forty thousand men, would be secure. 

There was full warrant for the belief of McClellan. It seemed to Harryas they retreated up the valley that they were in a hopeless checkmate. What could a few thousand men, no matter how brave and hardy, do againstan army as large as that of Banks? But he was cheered somewhat by theboldness and activity of the cavalry under Ashby. These daring horsemenskirmished continually with the enemy, and Harry, as he passed back andforth with orders, saw much of it. 

Once he drew up with the Invincibles, now a Virginia instead of aSouth Carolina regiment, and sitting on horseback with his old friends, watched the puffs of smoke to the rear, where Ashby's men kept back thepersistent skirmishers of the North. 

"Colonel, " said Harry to Colonel Talbot, "what do you think of it? Shallwe ever make headway against such a force? Or shall we be compelledto retreat until we make a junction with the main army under GeneralJohnston?"

Colonel Talbot glanced back at the puffs of white smoke, and suddenlyhis eyes seemed to flash with the fire that Harry had seen in Jackson'swhen he looked upon the Winchester that he must leave. 

"No, Harry, I don't believe we'll keep on retreating, " he replied. "Iwas with General Taylor when he fell back before the Mexican forcesunder Santa Anna which outnumbered him five to one. But at Buena Vistahe stopped falling back, and everybody knows the glorious victory we wonthere over overwhelming odds. The Yankees are not Mexicans. Far fromit. They are as brave as anybody. But Stonewall Jackson is a far greatergeneral than Zachary Taylor. "

"I'm hoping for the best, " said Harry. 

"We'll all wait and see, " said the colonel. 

They stopped falling back at Mount Jackson, twenty-five miles fromWinchester, and the army occupied a strong position. Harry feltinstinctively that they would fall back no more, and his spirits beganto rise again. But the facts upon which his hopes were based were small. Jackson had less than five thousand men, and in the North he was wipedoff the map. It was no longer necessary for cabinet members and generalsto take him into consideration. 

Jackson now out of the way, the main portion of the army under Banks wasdirected to march eastward to Manassas, while a heavy detachment stillmore than double Jackson's in numbers remained in the valley. MeanwhileMcClellan, with his right flank clear, was going by sea to Richmond, goaded to action at last by the incessant demands of a people which hada right to expect much of his great and splendidly equipped army. 

Harry was with Stonewall Jackson when the news of these movementsreached them, brought by Philip Sherburne, who, emulating his commander, Turner Ashby, seemed never to rest or grow weary. 

"General Banks is moving eastward to cover the eastern approaches toWashington, " said the young captain, "while General Shields with 12, 000men is between us and Winchester. "

"So, " said Jackson. Sherburne looked at him earnestly, but he gave nosign. 

"Ride back to your chief and tell him I thank him for his vigilance andto report to me promptly everything that he may discover, " said Jackson. "You may ride with him also, Mr. Kenton, and return to me in an hourwith such news as you may have. "

Harry went gladly. Sometimes he longed to be at the front with TurnerAshby, there where the rifles were often crackling. 

"What will he do? Will he turn now?" said Sherburne anxiously to Harry. 

"I heard General Jackson say that he would never hold another councilof war, and he's keeping his word. Nobody knows his plans, but I thinkhe'll attack. I feel quite sure of it, captain. "

They came soon to a field in which Turner Ashby was sitting on ahorse, examining points further down the valley with a pair of powerfulglasses. Sherburne reported briefly and Ashby nodded, but did not takethe glasses from his eyes. Harry also looked down the valley and hisstrong sight enabled him to detect tiny, moving figures which he knewwere those of Union scouts and skirmishers. 

Despite his youth and the ardor of battle in his nostrils, Harry feltthe tragedy of war in this pleasant country. It was a noble landscape, that of the valley between the blue mountains. Before him stretched lowhills, covered here and there with fine groups of oak or pine withoutundergrowth. Houses of red brick, with porticoes and green shutters, stood in wide grounds. Most of them were inhabited yet, and their ownersalways brought information to the soldiers of the South, never to thoseof the North. 

The earth had not yet dried fully from the great rains, and horses andcannon wheels sank deep in the mud, whenever they left the turnpikerunning down the center of the valley and across which a Northern armyunder Shields lay. The men in blue occupied a wide stretch of grassyfields on the east, and on the west a low hill, with a small grovegrowing on the crest. Dominating the whole were the lofty cliffs ofNorth Mountain on the west. The main force of the North, strengthenedwith cannon, lay to the east of the turnpike. But on the hill to thewest were two strong batteries and near it were lines of skirmishers. Shields, a veteran of the Mexican war himself, was not present at thismoment, but Kimball, commanding in his absence, was alert and did notshare the general belief that Stonewall Jackson might be considerednon-existent. 

Harry, things coming into better view, the longer he looked, saw much ofthe Union position, and Turner Ashby presently handed him the glasses. Then he plainly discerned the guns and a great mass of infantry, withthe colors waving above them in the gentle breeze. 

"They're there, " said Turner Ashby, dryly. "If we want to attack they'rewaiting. "

Harry rode back to Jackson, and told him that the whole Union force wasin position in front, and then the boy knew at once that a battle wascoming. The bearded, silent man showed no excitement, but sent ordersthick and fast to the different parts of his army. The cavalry led byAshby began to press the enemy hard in front of a little village calledKernstown. A regiment with two guns led the advance on the west of theturnpike, and the heavier mass of infantry marched across the fields onthe left. 

Harry, as his duty bade him, kept beside his general, who was ridingnear the head of the infantry. The feet of men and horses alike sankdeep in the soft earth of the fields, but they went forward at a goodpace, nevertheless. Their blood was hot and leaping. There was an end toretreats. They saw the enemy and they were eager to rush upon him. 

The pulses in Harry's temples were beating hard. He already consideredhimself a veteran of battle, but he could not see it near withoutfeeling excitement. A long line of fire had extended across the valley. White puffs of smoke arose like innumerable jets of steam. The crackleof the rifles was incessant and at the distance sounded like the rippingof heavy cloth. 

Then came a deep heavy crash that made the earth tremble. The twobatteries on the hill had opened at a range of a mile on Jackson'sinfantry. Those men of the North were good gunners and Harry heard theshells and solid shot screaming and hissing around. Despite his willhe could not keep from trembling for a while, but presently it ceased, although the fire was growing heavier. 

But the Southern infantry were so far away that the artillery fire didnot harm. Ever urged on by Jackson, they pressed through fields andmarshy ground, their destination a low ridge from which, as a place ofadvantage, they could reply to the Union batteries. From the east andfrom a point near a church called the Opequon came the thunder of theirown guns advancing up the other side of the turnpike. 

Now the great marching qualities of Jackson's men were shown. Not invain had they learned to be foot cavalry. They pressed forward throughthe deep mud and always the roar of the increasing fire called them on. Before them stretched the ridge and Harry was in fear lest the enemyspring forward and seize it first. 

But no foe appeared in front of them in the fields, and then with a rushthey were at the foot of the ridge. Another rush and they had climbedit. Harry from its crest saw the wide field of combat and he knew thatthe greater battle had just begun. 

CHAPTER VI. KERNSTOWN

The long winding lines of the two armies spread over a maze of fields, woods and thickets, with here and there a stone wall and scattered lowhills, which could be used as points of strength. Jackson's men, led byable officers, were pushing forward with all their might. The woods, thethickets and the mud nullified to some extent the superior power ofthe Northern artillery, but the rifles were pouring forth shatteringvolleys, many at close range. 

Harry felt his horse stagger just after he reached the crest of thehill, but he took no notice of it until a few minutes later, when theanimal began to shiver. He leaped clear just in time, for when theshiver ceased, the horse plunged forward, fell on his side and lay dead. As Harry straightened himself on his feet a bullet went through the brimof his cap, and another clipped his epaulet. 

"Those must be western men shooting at you, Harry, " said a voice besidehim. "But it could have been worse. You're merely grazed, when you couldhave been hit and hit deep. "

It was Langdon, cool and imperturbable, who was speaking. He wasregarding Harry rather quizzically, as the boy mechanically brushed themud from his clothes. 

"Force of habit, " said Langdon, and then he suddenly grasped Harry andpulled him to his knees. There was a tremendous crash in front of them, and a storm of bullets swept over their heads. 

"I saw a Yankee officer give the word, and then a million riflemen rosefrom the bushes and fired straight at us!" shouted Langdon. "You stayhere! See the Invincibles are all about you!"

Harry saw that he had in truth fallen among the Invincibles. There wasSt. Clair, immaculate, a blazing red spot in either cheek, gazing atthe great swarms of riflemen in front. Colonel Leonidas Talbot andLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, those veteran West Pointers, werestalking up and down in front of their lines, fiercely bidding their mento lie down. But Harry knew that his duty was elsewhere. 

"I belong to the general!" he exclaimed. "I must join him!"

Casting one glance of regret at the fallen horse that had served him sowell he rushed toward General Jackson, who with the rest of his staffhad dismounted. The general, showing no emotion or anxiety, was watchingthe doubtful combat. 

Along the whole line the battle was deepening. The able West Pointerson the Northern side were hurrying forward fresh troops. Shields himselfwas coming with new battalions. The men from Ohio and the states furtherwest, expert like the Southerners in the use of the rifle, and confidentof victory, were pouring a heavy and unbroken fire upon the thinnerSouthern lines. They, too, knew the value of cover and, cool enough tothink about it, they used every thicket, and grove and ridge that theycould reach. 

The roar of the battle was heard plainly in Winchester, and the peopleof the town, although it was now held by the North, wished openly forthe success of the South. The Northern troops, as it happened, nearlyall through the war, were surrounded by people who were against them. The women at the windows and on the house tops looked eagerly for thered flare in the South which should betoken the victorious advance ofJackson, sweeping his enemies before him. 

But Jackson was not advancing. All the valor and courage of the South sofar had been in vain. Harry, standing near his commander, and awaitingany order that might be given him, saw new masses of the enemy advancingalong every road and through the fields. The Union colors, held aloft infront of the regiments, snapped defiantly in the wind. And those westernriflemen, from their cover, never ceased to pour showers of bulletsupon the Southern lines. They had already cut a swath of dead, and manywounded were dragging themselves to the rear. 

It seemed to Harry, looking over the field, that the battle was lost. The Northern troops were displaying more tenacity than the Southernofficers had expected. Moreover, they were two to one, in strongpositions, and with a much superior artillery. As he looked he saw oneof the Virginia regiments reel back before the attack of much greaternumbers and retreat in some disorder. The victors came on, shoutingin triumph, but in a few minutes their officers rallied them, anotherVirginia regiment rushed to their relief, and the two, united, hurledthemselves upon the advancing enemy. The Union troops were driven backwith great loss, and Harry noticed that the fire from their two greatbatteries was weakening. He could not keep from shouting in joy, but hewas glad that the sound of his voice was drowned in the thunder of thebattle. 

General Jackson had no orders for him at present, and Harry watched withextraordinary fascination the battle which was unrolling itself in filmafter film before him. He saw a stone fence running down the center ofa field, and then he saw beyond it a great mass of Northern infantryadvancing with bayonets shining and colors waving. From his own side aregiment was running toward it. 

Who would reach the fence first? The pulses in Harry's temple beat sohard that they hurt. He could not take his eyes from that terrible race, a race of human beings, a race of life and death. The sun blazed downon the rival forces as they sped across the field. But the Southernersreached the wall first. Not in vain had Jackson trained his foot cavalryto march faster anywhere than any other troops in the world. 

Harry saw the Virginians sink down behind the fence, the crest of whicha moment later blazed with fire for a long distance. He saw the wholefront line of the Northern troops disappear, while those behind werethrown into confusion. The Southerners poured in a second volley beforethey could recover and the whole force broke and retreated. Other troopswere brought up but in the face of everything the Virginians held thefence. 

But Shields was an able officer. Moreover he and Jackson had beenthrown together in former years, and he knew him. He divined some of thequalities of Jackson's mind, and he felt that the Southern general, thefield being what it was, was going to push hardest at the center. Heaccumulated his own forces there in masses that increased continually. He had suffered a wound the previous day in a skirmish, and he could notbe at the very front, but he delivered his orders through Kimball, whowas in immediate command upon the field. Five regiments in reserve weresuddenly hurled forward and struck the Confederates a tremendous blow. 

Harry saw these regiments emerge from the woods and thickets and he sawthe gray lines reel before them. Jackson, pointing toward this new andfurious conflict, said to Harry:

"Jump on the horse there and tell the officer in command that he muststand firm at all hazards!"

Harry sprang upon a horse not his own, and galloped away. The moment hecame into view the western riflemen began to send bullets toward him. His horse was struck, but went on. Another bullet found him, and then athird, which was mortal. Harry leaped clear of the second horse thathad been killed under him, and ran toward the officer in charge of thestricken troops. But they were retreating already. They moved slowly, but they moved backward. 

Harry joined with the officers in their entreaties to the men to stand, but the pressure upon them was too great. General Garnett, the commanderof the Stonewall Brigade, had given an order of his own accord toretreat, and all that part of the line was falling back. The Northernleader, seeing the breach, continually pushed forward fresh troops andmore cannon, while the deadly riflemen in the thickets did more harmthan the great guns. 

The Southerners were compelled to fall back. One gun was lost. Jacksonfrom the crest of the hill had seen with amazement the retreat of thefamous Stonewall Brigade that he had once led in person. He gallopedacross the field, reckless of bullets, and fiercely bade Garnett turnand hold his ground. A drummer stood near and Jackson, grasping him bythe shoulder with a firm right hand, fairly dragged him to the crest ofa little hill, and bade him beat the rally. 

While Jackson still held him he gave the call to stand and fight. Butthe Southerners could not. The men in blue, intoxicated with victory, pushed forward in thousands and thousands. Their heavy masses overboreall resistance. Jackson, Garnett, Harry and all the officers, youngand old were swept from the field by that flood, crested with fire andsteel. It was impossible to preserve order and cohesion. The brokenregiments were swept back in a confused mass. 

Jackson galloped about, trying to rally his men, and his staff gave allthe help they could. Harry was on foot once more, waving the sword ofwhich he was so proud. But nothing could stay the tremendous pressure ofthe Union army. Their commanders always pushed them forward and alwaysfresh men were coming. Skilled cannoneers sent grape shot, shell andround shot whistling through the Southern ranks. The Northern cavalrywhipped around the Southern flanks and despite the desperate efforts ofAshby, Sherburne, and the others, began to clip off its wings. 

Harry often wondered afterward how his life was preserved. It seemedimpossible that he could have escaped such a storm from rifle andcannon, but save for the slight scratches, sustained earlier in theaction, he remained untouched. He did not think of it at the time, onlyof the avalanche that was driving them back. He saw before him a vastred flame, through which bayonets and faces of men showed, ever comingnearer. 

Now the North was sure of victory. The shouts of joy ran up and downtheir whole front. The batteries were pushed nearer and nearer, andsent in terrible volleys at short range. The riflemen who had donesuch deadly work rose from the woods and thickets, and rushed forward, loading and firing as they came. The Southern force seemed to be nothingbut a hopeless mass of fugitives. 

Anyone save Jackson would have despaired even of saving his army. Buthe dreamed yet of victory. He galloped back for a strong detachment ofVirginians who had not yet come upon the field, but could not get themup in time to strike a heavy blow. 

It was apparent even to Harry and all the other young lieutenants thatthe battle was lost. He must have shed tears then, because afterward hefound furrows in the mud and burned gunpowder on his face. The combatnow was not for victory, but for existence. The Southerners fought topreserve the semblance of an army, and it was well for them that theywere valiant Virginians led by a great genius, and dauntless officers. 

Stonewall Jackson, in this the only defeat he ever sustained inindependent command, never lost his head for a moment. By giganticexertions he formed a new line at last. The fresher troops covered theshattered regiments. The retreating artillery was posted anew. 

Jackson galloped back and forth on Little Sorrel. Everywhere his courageand presence of mind brought the men back from despair to hope. Onceanew was proved the truth of Napoleon's famous maxim that men arenothing, a man everything. The soldiers on the Northern side were asbrave as those on the Southern but they were not led by one of thoseflashing spirits of war which emerge but seldom in the ages, men who inall the turmoil and confusion of battle can see what ought to be doneand who do it. 

The beaten Southern army, but a few thousands, now was formed anew fora last stand. A portion of them seized a stone fence, and others tookposition in thick timber. The cavalry of Turner Ashby raged back andforth, seeking to protect the flanks, and in the east, coming shadowsshowed that the twilight might yet protect the South from the last blow. 

Harry, in the thick of furious battle, had become separated from hiscommander. He was still on foot and his sword had been broken at thehilt by a bullet, but he did not yet know it. Chance threw him once moreamong the Invincibles. He plunged through the smoke almost into the armsof Langdon. 

"And here is our Harry again!" shouted the irrepressible SouthCarolinian. "Stonewall Jackson has lost a battle, but he hasn't lost anarmy. Night and our courage will save us! Here, take this rifle!"

He picked up a loaded rifle which some falling soldier had dropped andthrust it into Harry's hand. 

The boy took the rifle and began mechanically to fire and load and fireagain at the advancing blue masses. He resolved himself for a minuteinto a private soldier, and shouted and fired with the rest. Thetwilight deepened and darkened in the east, but the battle did notcease. The Northern leaders, grim and determined men, seeing theirvictory sought to press it to the utmost, and always hurried forwardinfantry, cavalry and artillery. Had the Southern army been commanded byany other than Jackson it would have been destroyed utterly. 

Jackson, resourceful and unconquerable, never ceased his exertions. Wherever he appeared he infused new courage into his men. Harry hadseized a riderless horse and was once more in the saddle, following hisleader, taking orders and helping him whenever he could. The Virginianswho had seized the stone fence and the wood held fast. The eye ofJackson was on them, and they could do nothing else. An Ohio and aVirginia regiment on either side lost and retook their colors six timeseach. One of the flags had sixty bullets through it. An Indiana regimentgave way, but reinforced by another from the state rallied and returnedanew to the attack. A Virginia regiment also retreated but was broughtback by its colonel, and fought with fresh courage. 

The numerous Northern cavalry forced its way around the Southernflanks, and cut in on the rear, taking many prisoners. Then the horsemenappeared in a great mass on the Southern left, and had not time andchance intervened at the last moment Stonewall Jackson might have passedinto obscurity. 

The increasing twilight was now just merging into night, and a woodstretched between the Northern cavalry and the Southern flank. TheNorthern horsemen hesitated, not wishing to become entangled amongtrees and brush in the dark, and in a few minutes the Southern infantry, falling back swiftly after beating off the attacks on their front, passed out of the trap. Sherburne and Funsten, two of Ashby's mostvaliant cavalry leaders, came up with their squadrons, and covered theretreat, fighting off the Northern horsemen as Jackson and his armydisappeared in the woods, and night came over the lost field. 

The Southern army retired, beaten, but sullen and defiant. It did notgo far, but stopped at a point where the supply train had been placed. Fires were built and some of the men ate, but others were so muchexhausted that without waiting for food they threw themselves upon theground, and in an instant were fast asleep. 

Harry, for the moment, a prey to black despair, followed his general. Only one other officer, a major, was with him. Harry watched himclosely, but he did not see him show any emotion. Little Sorrel likehis master, although he had been under fire a hundred times, had passedthrough the battle without a scratch. Now he walked forward slowly, thereins lying loose upon his neck. 

Harry was not conscious of weariness. He had made immense exertions, buthis system was keyed so high by excitement that the tension held firmlyyet a little longer. The night had come on heavy and dark. Behind him hecould hear the fitful sounds of the Northern and Southern cavalrystill skirmishing with each other. Before him he saw dimly the Southernregiments, retreating in ragged lines. It was almost more than he couldstand, and his feelings suddenly found vent in an angry cry. 

General Jackson heard him and understood. 

"Don't be grieved, my boy, " he said quietly. "This is only the firstbattle. "

The calm, unboastful courage strengthened Harry anew. If he shouldgrieve how much more should the general who had led in the lost battle, and upon whom everybody would hasten to put the blame! He felt once morethat flow of courage and fire from Jackson to himself, and he felt alsohis splendid fortune in being associated with a man whose acts showedall the marks of greatness. Like so many other young officers, mereboys, he was fast maturing in the furnace of a vast war. 

The general ceased to follow the troops, but turned aside into whatseemed to be a thin stretch of forest. But Harry saw that the trees grewin rows and he exclaimed:

"An orchard!"

It seemed to strike Jackson's fancy. 

"Well, " he said, "an orchard is a good place to sleep in. Can't wemake a fire here? I fear that we shall have to burn some fence railstonight. "

Harry and the major--Hawks was his name--hitched the horses, andgathered a heap of dry fence rails. The major set fire to splinters withmatches and, in a few minutes a fine fire was crackling and blazing, taking away the sharp chill of the March night. 

Harry saw other fires spring up in the orchard, and he went over to oneof them, where some soldiers were cooking food. 

"Give me a piece of meat and bread, " he said to a long Virginian. 

"Set, Sonny, an' eat with us!"

"I don't want it for myself. "

"Then who in nation are you beggin' fur?"

"For General Jackson. He's sitting over there. "

"Thunderation! The gen'ral himself! Here, boy!"

Bearing a big piece of meat in one hand and a big piece of bread in theother Harry returned to Jackson, who had not yet tasted food that day. The general ate heartily, but almost unconsciously. He seemed to be in adeep study. Harry surmised that his thoughts were on the morrow. He hadlearned already that Stonewall Jackson always looked forward. 

Harry foraged and obtained more food for himself, and other officersof the staff who were coming up, some bearing slight wounds that theyconcealed. He also secured the general's cloak, which was strapped tohis saddle and insisted upon his putting it on. 

The fire was surrounded presently by officers. Major Hawks had laidtogether and as evenly as possible a number of fence rails upon whichJackson was to sleep, but as yet no one was disposed to slumber. Theyhad finished eating, but they remained in a silent and somber circleabout the fire. 

Jackson stood up presently and his figure, wrapped in the long cloak wasall dark. The light did not fall upon his face. All the others looked athim. Among them was one of Ashby's young troopers, a bold and recklessspirit. It was a time, too, when the distinction between officers andprivates in the great citizen armies was not yet sharply defined. Andthis young trooper, some spirit of mockery urging him on, stood up andsaid to his general:

"The Yankees didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave Winchester, didthey, general?"

Harry drew a quick, sharp breath, and there was a murmur among theofficers, but Stonewall Jackson merely turned a tranquil look upon thepresumptuous youth. Then he turned it back to the bed of coals and saidin even tones:

"Winchester is a pleasant town to stay in, sir. "

The young cavalryman, not abashed at all, continued:

"We heard the Yankees were retreating, but I guess they're retreatingafter us. "

Harry half rose and so did several of the older officers, but Jacksonreplied quietly:

"I think I may tell you, young sir, that I am satisfied with theresult. "

The audacity of the youthful trooper could not carry him further. Hecaught threatening looks from the officers and slipped away in thedarkness. Silence fell anew around the fire, and Jackson still stood, gazing into the coals. Soon, he turned abruptly, strode away into thedarkness, but came back after a while, lay down on the fence rails andslept soundly. 

Harry put four or five rails side by side to protect his body from thecold ground, lay down upon them and threw a cloak over himself. Now herelaxed or rather collapsed completely. The tension that had kept himup so long was gone, and he felt that he could not have risen from therails had he wished. He saw wavering fires and dusky figures besidethem, but sleep came in a few minutes to soothe and heal. 

Bye and bye all the army, save the sentinels, slept and the victoriousNorthern army only two or three miles away also slept, feeling that ithad done enough for one day. 

Shields that night was sending messages to the North announcing hisvictory, but he was cherishing no illusions. He told how fierce hadbeen the attack, and with what difficulty it had been beaten off, and inWashington, reading well between the lines they felt that another attackand yet others might come from the same source. 

Harry sleeping on his bed of fence rails did not dream of theextraordinary things that the little army of Jackson, beaten atKernstown was yet to do. McClellan was just ready to start his greatarmy by sea for the attack on Richmond, when suddenly the forgottenor negligible Jackson sprang out of the dark and fixed himself on hisflank. 

The capital, despite victory, was filled with alarm and the Presidentshared it. The veteran Shields knew this man who had led the attack, and he did not seek to hide the danger. The figure of Stonewall Jackson, gigantic and menacing, showed suddenly through the mists. If McClellanwent on to Richmond with the full Northern strength he might launchhimself on Washington. 

The great scheme of invasion was put out of joint. Shields, althoughvictorious for the time, could not believe that Jackson would attackwith so small an army unless he expected reinforcements, and he sentswift expresses to bring back a division of 8, 000 men which wasmarching to cover Washington. Banks, his superior officer, on the way toWashington, too, heard the news at Harper's Ferry and halted there, andLincoln, detaching a whole corps of nearly 40, 000 men from McClellan'sarmy, ordered them to remain at Manassas to protect the capital againstJackson. A dispatch was sent to Banks ordering him to push the valleycampaign with his whole strength. 

But when Harry rose the next morning from his fence rails he knewnothing of these things. Nor did anyone else in the Southern army, unless it was Stonewall Jackson who perhaps half-divined them. Harrythought afterward that he had foreseen much when he said to the impudentcavalryman that he was satisfied with the result at Kernstown. 

They lingered there a little and then began a retreat, unharrassed bypursuit. Scouts of the enemy were seen by Ashby's cavalry, who hung likea curtain between them and the army, but no force strong enough to doany harm came in sight. Harry had secured another horse and most of hisduty was at the rear, where he was often sent by the general to get thelatest news from Ashby. 

He quickly met Sherburne over whose dress difficulties had triumphedat last. His fine cloak, rent in many places, was stained with mud andthere was one large dark spot made by his own blood. His face was lineddeeply by exhaustion and deep disappointment. 

"They were too much for us this time, Harry, " he said bitterly. "Wecan't beat two to one all the time. How does the general take it?"

"As if it were nothing. He'll be ready to fight again in a few days, andwe must have struck a hard blow anyhow. The enemy are not pursuing. "

"That's true, " said Sherburne more cheerfully. "Your argument is a goodone. "

The army came to a ridge called Rude's Hill and stopped there. Harry wasalready soldier enough to see that it was a strong position. Before itflowed a creek which the melting snows in the mountains had swollen toa depth of eight or ten feet, and on another side was a fork of theShenandoah, also swollen. Here the soldiers began to fortify and preparefor a longer stay while Jackson sent for aid. 

Harry was not among the messengers for help. Jackson had learned hisgreat ability as a scout, and now he often sent him on missions ofobservation, particularly with Captain Sherburne, to whom St. Clair andLangdon were also loaned by Colonel Talbot. Thus the three were togetherwhen they rode with Sherburne and a hundred men a few days after theirarrival at the ridge. 

They were well wrapped in great coats, because the weather, afterdeceiving for a while with the appearance of spring, had turned coldagain. The enemy's scouts and spies were keeping back, where they couldblow on their cold fingers or walk a while to restore the circulation totheir half frozen legs. 

Sherburne was his neat and orderly self again and St. Clair was fullyhis equal. Langdon openly boasted that he was going to have a dressingcontest between them for large stakes as soon as the war was over. Butall the young Southerners were in good spirits now. They had learnedof the alarm caused in the North by Kernstown, and that a third ofMcClellan's army had been detached to guard against them. Nor had Banksand Shields yet dared to attack them. 

"There's what troubles Banks, " said Sherburne, pointing with his saberto a towering mass of mountains which rose somber and dark in the verycenter of the Shenandoah Valley. "He doesn't know which side of theMassanuttons to take. "

Harry looked up at these peaks and ridges, famous now in the minds ofall Virginians, towering a half mile in the air, clothed from base tosummit with dense forest of oak and pine, although today the crests werewrapped in snowy mists. They cut the Shenandoah valley into two smallervalleys, the wider and more nearly level one on the west. Only a singleroad by which troops could pass crossed the Massanuttons, and that roadwas held by the cavalry of Ashby. 

"If Banks comes one way and he proves too strong for us we can crossover to the other, " said Sherburne. "If he divides his force, marchinginto both valleys, we may beat one part of his army, then pass themountain and beat the other. "

Sherburne had divined aright. It was the mighty mass of the Massanuttonsthat weighed upon Banks. As he looked up at the dark ridges and mistycrests his mind was torn by doubts. His own forces, great in numberthough they were, were scattered. Fremont to his right on the slopesof the Alleghanies had 25, 000 men; there were other strong detachmentsunder Milroy and Schenck, and he had 17, 000 men under his own eye. So hewas hesitating while the days were passing and Jackson growing stronger. 

"I suppose the nature of the country helps us a lot, " said Harry as helooked up at the Massanuttons, following Sherburne's pointing saber. 

"It does, and we need help, " said Sherburne. "Even as it is they wouldhave been pushing upon us if it hadn't been for the cavalry and theartillery. Every time a detachment advanced we'd open up on it with amasked battery from the woods, and if pickets showed their noses tooclose horsemen were after them in a second. We've had them worried todeath for days and days, and when they do come in force Old Jack willhave something up his sleeve. "

"I wonder, " said Harry. 

CHAPTER VII. ON THE RIDGES

As they rode in the shadow of the Massanuttons Harry continuedto wonder. The whole campaign in the valley had become to him aninterminable maze. Stonewall Jackson might know what he intended to do, but he was not telling. Meanwhile they marched back and forth. There wasincessant skirmishing between cavalry and pickets, but it did not seemto signify anything. Banks, sure of his overwhelming numbers, pressedforward, but always cautiously and slowly. He did not march into anytrap. And Harry surmised that Jackson, much too weak to attack, wasplaying for time. 

Sherburne and his troop paused at the very base of the Massanuttonsand Harry, who happened to be with them, looked up again at the loftysummits standing out so boldly and majestically in the middle of thevalley. The oaks and maples along their slopes were now blossoming intoa green that matched the tint of the pines, but far up on the creststhere was still a line of snow, and white mists beyond. 

"Why not climb the highest summit?" he said to Sherburne. "You havepowerful glasses and we could get a good view of what is going on up thevalley. "

"Most of those slopes are not slopes at all. They're perpendicular likethe side of a house. The horses could never get up. "

"But they can certainly go part of the way, and some of us can climb therest on foot. "

Sherburne's eyes sparkled. The spirit of adventure was strong withinhim. Moreover the task, if done, was worth while. 

"Good for you, Harry, " he exclaimed. "We'll try it! What do you say, St. Clair, you and Langdon?"

"I follow where you lead, and I hope that you lead to the top of themountain, " replied St. Clair. 

"Likely it's cold up there, " said Langdon, "but there are higher andcolder mountains and I choose this one. "

They had learned promptness and decision from Stonewall Jackson, andSherburne at once gave the order to ascend. Several men in his troopwere natives of that part of the valley, and they knew the Massanuttonswell. They led and the whole troop composed of youths followed eagerly. Bye and bye they dismounted and led their horses over the trails whichgrew slippery with wet and snow as they rose higher. 

When they paused at times to rest they would all look northward overthe great valley, where a magnificent panorama had gradually risen intoview. They saw a vast stretch of fields turning green, neat villages, dark belts of forest, the gleam of brooks and creeks, and now and then, the glitter from a Northern bayonet. 

At length the chief guide, a youth named Wallace, announced that thehorses could go no farther. Even in summer when the snow was all goneand the earth was dry they could not find a footing. Now it was certaindeath for them to try the icy steeps. 

Sherburne ordered the main body of the troop to halt in a forested andsheltered glen in the side of the mountain, and, choosing Harry, St. Clair, Langdon, the guide Wallace, and six others, he advanced with themon foot. It was difficult climbing, and more than once they were bruisedby falls, but they learned to regard such accidents as trifles, andardent of spirit they pressed forward. 

"I think we'll get a good view, " said Sherburne. "See how brilliantlythe sun is shining in the valley. "

"Yes, and the mists on the crests are clearing away, " said Harry. 

"Then with the aid of the glasses we can get a sweep up the valley formany miles. Now boys, here we go! up! up!"

If it had not been for the bushes they could never have made the ascent, as they were now in the region of snow and ice and the slopes were likeglass. Often they were compelled to crawl, and it was necessary, too, toexercise a good deal of care in crawling. 

St. Clair groaned as he rose after climbing a rock, and brushed theknees of his fine gray trousers. 

"Cheer up, Arthur, " said Langdon, "it could have been worse. The sharpstones there might have cut holes through them. "

But in spite of every difficulty and danger they went steadily towardthe summit, and streamers of mist yet floating about the mountain oftenenclosed them in a damp shroud. Obviously, however, the clouds andvapors were thinning, and soon the last shred would float away. 

"It ain't more'n a hundred feet more to the top, " said Wallace, "an'it's shore that the sun will be shinin' there. "

"Shining for us, of course, " said Langdon. "It's a good omen. "

"I wish I could always look for the best as you do, Tom, " said St. Clair. 

"I'm glad I can. Gay hearts are better than riches. As sure as I climb, Arthur, I see the top. "

"Yes, there it is, the nice snowy bump above us. "

They dragged themselves upon the loftiest crest, and, panting, stoodthere for a few minutes in several inches of snow. Then the wind caughtup the last shreds and tatters of mist, and whipped them away southward. Every one of them drew a deep, sharp breath, as the great panorama ofthe valley to the northward and far below was unrolled before them. 

The brilliant sunshine of early spring played over everything, but fardown in the valley they seemed to see by contrast the true summer of thesunny south, which is often far from sunny. But seen from the top ofthe mountain the valley was full of golden rays. Now the roofs of thevillages showed plainly and they saw with distinctness the long silverlines that marked the flowing of the rivers and creeks. To the east andto the west further than the eye could reach rose the long line of dimblue mountains that enclosed the valley. 

But it was the glitter of the bayonets in the valley that caused thehearts of the Virginians to beat most fiercely. Banners and guidons, clusters of white tents, and dark swarms of men marked where the footof the invading stranger trod their soil. The Virginians loved the greatvalley. Enclosed between the blue mountains it was the richest and mostbeautiful part of all their state. It hurt them terribly to see theoverwhelming forces of the North occupying its towns and villages andencamped in its fields. 

Harry, not a Virginian himself, but a brother by association, understoodand shared their feeling. He saw Sherburne's lips moving and he knewthat he was saying hard words between his teeth. But Sherburne's eyeswere at the glasses, and he looked a long time, moving them slowly fromside to side. After a while he handed them to Harry. 

The boy raised the glasses and the great panorama of the valley sprangup to his eyes. It seemed to him that he could almost count the soldiersin the camps. There was a troop of cavalry riding to the southward, and further to the left was another. Directly to the north was theirbattlefield of Kernstown, and not far beyond it lay Winchester. He sawsuch masses of the enemy's troops and so many signs of activity amongthem that he felt some movement must be impending. 

"What do you think of it, Harry?" said Sherburne. 

"Banks must be getting ready to move forward. "

"I think so, too. I wish we had his numbers. "

"More men are coming for us. We'll have Ewell's corps soon, and GeneralJackson himself is worth ten thousand men. "

"That's so, Harry, but ten thousand men are far too few. McDowell'swhole corps is available, and with it the Yankees can now turn more thanseventy thousand men into the valley. "

"And they can fight, too, as we saw at Kernstown, " said St. Clair. 

"That's so, and I'm thinking they'll get their stomachs full of itpretty soon, " said Langdon. "Yesterday about dusk I went out in somebushes after firewood, and I saw a man kneeling. It struck me ascurious, and I went up closer. What do you think? It was Old Jackpraying. Not any mock prayer, but praying to his Lord with all his heartand soul. I'm not much on praying myself, but I felt pretty solemn then, and I slid away from there as quick and quiet as you please. And Itell you, fellows, that when Stonewall Jackson prays it's time for theYankees to weep. "

"You're probably right, Langdon, " said Captain Sherburne, "but it'stime for us to be going back, and we'll tell what we've seen to GeneralJackson. "

As they turned away a crunching in the snow on the other slope causedthem to stop. The faces of men and then their figures appeared throughthe bushes. They were eight or ten in number and all wore blue uniforms. Harry saw the leader, and instantly he recognized Shepard. It came tohim, too, in a flash of prescience, that Shepard was just the man whomhe would meet there. 

Sherburne, who had seen the blue uniforms, raised a pistol and fired. Two shots were fired by the Union men at the same instant, and then bothparties dropped back from the crest, each on its own side. 

Sherburne's men were untouched and Harry was confident that Shepard'shad been equally lucky--the shots had been too hasty--but it was nervousand uncomfortable work, lying there in the snow, and waiting for thehead of an enemy to appear over the crest. 

Harry was near Captain Sherburne, and he whispered to him:

"I know the man whose face appeared first through the bushes. "

"Who is he?"

"His name is Shepard. He's a spy and scout for the North, and he isbrave and dangerous. He was in Montgomery when President Davis wasinaugurated. I saw him in Washington when I was there as a spy myself. Isaw him again in Winchester just before the battle of Kernstown, and nowhere he is once more. "

"Must be a Wandering Jew sort of a fellow. "

"He wanders with purpose. He has certainly come up here to spy us out. "

"In which he is no more guilty than we are. "

"That's true, but what are we going to do about it, captain?"

"Blessed if I know. Wait till I take a look. "

Captain Sherburne raised himself a little, in order to peep over thecrest of the ridge. A rifle cracked on the other side, a bulletclipped the top of his cap, and he dropped back in the snow, unhurt butstartled. 

"This man, Shepard, is fully as dangerous as you claim him to be, " hesaid to Harry. 

"Can you see anything of them?" asked St. Clair. 

"Not a thing, " said Harry. 

"If we show they shoot, and if they show we shoot, " said Langdon. "Seemsto me it's about the most beautiful case of checkmate that I've known. "

"Perhaps we can stalk them, " said St. Clair. 

"And perhaps they can stalk us, " said Langdon. "But I think both sidesare afraid to try it. "

"You're right, Langdon, " said Captain Sherburne, "It's a case ofcheckmate. I confess that I don't know what to do. "

"We could wait here while they waited too, and if we waited long enoughit would get so dark we couldn't see each other. But captain, you are akind-hearted and sympathetic man, do you see any fun in sitting in thesnow on top of a mountain, waiting to kill men whom you don't want tokill or to be killed by men who don't want to kill you?"

"No, Tom, I don't, " replied Captain Sherburne with a laugh, "and you'retalking mighty sound sense. This is not like a regular battle. We'venothing to gain by shooting those men, and they've nothing to gain byshooting us. The Massanuttons extend a long distance and there's nothingto keep scouts and spies from climbing them at other places. We'll goaway from here. "

He gave the order. They rose and crept as softly as they could throughthe snow and bushes down the side of the mountain. Harry looked backoccasionally, but he saw no faces appear on the crest. Soon he heardLangdon who was beside him laughing softly to himself. 

"What's the matter, Tom?" he asked. 

"Harry, if I could take my pistol and shoot straight through thismountain the bullet when it came out on the other side would hit asoldier in blue clothes, going at the same rate of speed down themountain. "

"More than likely you're right, Tom, if they're sensible, and that manShepard certainly is. "

Further down they met some of their own men climbing up. The troop hadheard the shots and was on the way to rescue, if rescue were needed. Captain Sherburne explained briefly and they continued the descent, leading their horses all the way, and breathing deep relief, when theystood at last in the plain. 

"I'll remember that climb, " said Langdon to Harry as he sprang intothe saddle, "and I won't do it again when there's snow up there, unlessGeneral Jackson himself forces me up with the point of a bayonet. "

"The view was fine. "

"So it was, but the shooting was bad. Not a Yank, not a Reb fell, andI'm not unhappy over it. A curious thing has happened to me, Harry. While I'm ready to fight the Yankee at the drop of the hat I don't seemto hate 'em as much as I did when the war began. "

"Same here. The war ought not to have happened, but we're in it, and tomy way of thinking we're going to be in it mighty deep and long. "

Langdon was silent for a little while, but nothing could depress himlong. He was soon chattering away as merrily as ever while the trooprode back to General Jackson. Harry regarded him with some envy. Atemperament that could rejoice under any circumstances was truly worthhaving. 

Sherburne reported to Ashby who in return sent him to the commander, Harry going with him to resume his place on the staff. Jackson heard thereport without comment and his face expressed nothing. Harry could notsee that he had changed much since he had come to join him. A littlethinner, a little more worn, perhaps, but he was the same quiet, self-contained man, whose blue eyes often looked over and beyond the oneto whom he was talking, as if he were maturing plans far ahead. 

Harry occupied a tent for the time with two or three other youngofficers, and being permitted a few hours off duty he visitedhis friends of the Invincibles, Colonel Leonidas Talbot andLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. The two old comrades already hadheard the results of the scout from St. Clair and Langdon, but they gaveHarry a welcome because they liked him. They also gave him a camp stool, no small luxury in an army that marches and fights hard, using moregunpowder than anything else. 

Harry put the stool against a tree, sat on it and leaned back againstthe trunk, feeling a great sense of luxury. The two men regarded himwith a benevolent eye. They, too, were enjoying luxuries, cigars whicha cavalry detail had captured from the enemy. It struck Harry at themoment that although one was of British descent and the other of Frenchthey were very much alike. South Carolina had bred them and then WestPoint had cast them in her unbreakable mold. Neat, precise, they satrigidly erect, and smoked their cigars. 

"Do you like it on the staff of General Jackson, Harry, " asked ColonelTalbot. 

"I felt regrets at leaving the Invincibles, " replied Harry truthfully, "but I like it. I think it a privilege to be so near to GeneralJackson. "

"A leader who has fought only one battle in independent command and wholost that, " said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, thoughtfully--heknew that Harry would repeat nothing, "and who nevertheless has theutmost confidence of his men. He does not joke with them as the youngNapoleon did with his soldiers. He has none of the quality that we callmagnetic charm, and yet his troops are eager to follow him anywhere. Hehas won no victories, but his men believe him capable of many. He takesnone of his officers into his confidence, but all have it. Incredible, but true. Why is it?"

He put his cigar back in his mouth and puffed meditatively. ColonelLeonidas Talbot, who also had been puffing meditatively whileLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire was speaking, now took his cigarfrom his mouth, blew away the delicate rings of smoke, and said in anequally thoughtful tone:

"It occurs to me, Hector, that it is the power of intellect. StonewallJackson has impressed the whole army down to the last and least littledrummer with a sense of his mental force. I tell you, sir, that he isa thinker, and thinkers are rare, much more rare than people generallybelieve. There is only one man out of ten thousand who does not actwholly according to precedent and experience. Habit is so powerful thatwhen we think we are thinking we are not thinking at all, we are merelyrecalling the experiences of ourselves or somebody else. And of therare individuals who leave the well-trod paths of thought to think newthoughts, only a minutely small percentage think right. This minutelysmall fraction represents genius, the one man in a million or rather tenmillion, or, to be more accurate, the one man in a hundred million. "

Colonel Leonidas Talbot put the cigar back in his mouth and puffed withregularity and smoothness. Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, in histurn, took his cigar from his mouth once more, blew away the fine whiterings of smoke and said:

"Leonidas, it appears to me that you have hit upon the truth, or as ourlegal friends would say, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but thetruth. I am in the middle of life and I realize suddenly that in all theyears I have lived I have met but few thinkers, certainly not more thanhalf a dozen, perhaps not more than three or four. "

He put his cigar back in his mouth and the two puffed simultaneously andwith precision, blowing out the fine, delicate rings of smoke at exactlythe same time. Gentlemen of the old school they were, even then, butHarry recognized, too, that Colonel Leonidas Talbot had spoken theweighty truth. Stonewall Jackson was a thinker, and thinkers are nevernumerous in the world. He resolved to think more for himself if hecould, and he sat there trying to think, while he absently regarded thetwo colonels. 

Colonel Leonidas Talbot, after two minutes perhaps, took the cigar fromhis mouth once more and said to Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire:

"Fine cigars the Yankees make, Hector. "

"Quite true, Leonidas. One of the best I have ever smoked. "

"Not more than a dozen left. "

"Then we must get more. "

"But how?"

"Stonewall Jackson will think of a way. "

Harry, despite his respect for them, was compelled to laugh. But the twocolonels laughed with him. 

"The words of my friend Leonidas have been proved true within a fewminutes, " said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. "In doubt weturned at once and with involuntary impulse to Stonewall Jackson tothink of a way. He has impressed us, as he has impressed the privates, with his intellectual power. "

Harry sat with them nearly an hour. He had not only respect butaffection also for them. Old-fashioned they might be in some ways, butthey were able military men, thoroughly alert, and he knew that he couldlearn much from them. When he left them he returned to General Jacksonand a few more days of waiting followed. 

Winter was now wholly gone and spring, treacherous at first, wasbecoming real and reliable. Reports heavy and ominous were coming fromMcClellan. He would disembark and march up the peninsula on Richmondwith a vast and irresistible force. Jackson might be drawn off from thevalley to help Johnston in the defense of the capital. But Banks withhis great army would then march down it as if on parade. 

Harry heard one morning that a new man was put in command of theSouthern forces in Northern Virginia. Robert Edward Lee was his name, and it was a good name, too. He was the son of that famous Light HorseHarry Lee who was a favorite of Washington in the Revolution. Alreadyan elderly man, he was sober and quiet, but the old West Pointers passedthe word through Jackson's army that he was full of courage and daring. 

Harry felt the stimulus almost at once. A fresh wind seemed to beblowing down the Valley of Virginia. Lee had sent word to Jackson thathe might do what he could, and that he might draw to his help also alarge division under Ewell. The news spread through the army and therewas a great buzzing. Young Virginia was eager to march against any odds, and Harry was with them, heart and soul. 

Nor were they kept waiting now. The news had scarcely spread through thearmy when they heard the crack of carbines in their front. The cavalryof Ashby, increased by many recruits, was already skirmishing with thevanguard of Banks. It was the last day of April and Harry, sent to thefront, saw Ashby drive in all the Northern cavalry. When he returnedwith the news Jackson instantly lifted up his whole division and marchedby the flank through the hills, leaving Ewell with his men to occupyBanks in front. The mind of the "thinker" was working, and Harry knew itas he rode behind him. He did not know what this movement meant, but hehad full confidence in the man who led them. 

Yet the marching, like all the other marching they had done, was ofthe hardest. The ground, torn by hoofs, cannon wheels and the feet ofmarching men, was a continuous quagmire. Ponds made newly by the rainsstood everywhere. Often it required many horses and men to drag a cannonout of the mud. The junior officers, and finally those of the highestrank, leaped from their horses and gave aid. Jackson himself carriedboughs and stones to help make a road. 

Despite the utmost possible exertions the army could make only fivemiles in a single day and at the approach of night it flung itself uponthe ground exhausted. 

"I call this the Great Muddy Army, " said St. Clair, ruefully to Harry, as he surveyed his fine uniform, now smeared over with brown liquidpaste. 

"It might have been worse, " said Langdon. "Suppose we had fallen in aquicksand and had been swallowed up utterly. 'Tis better to live muddythan not to live at all. "

"It would be better to call it the Great Tired Army just now, " saidHarry. "To keep on pulling your feet all day long out of mud half a yarddeep is the most exhausting thing I know or ever heard of. "

"Where are we going?" asked St. Clair. 

"Blessed if I know, " replied Harry, "nor does anybody else save one. It's all hid under General Jackson's hat. "

"I guess it's Staunton, " said Langdon. "That's a fine town, as good asWinchester. I've got kinsfolk there. I came up once from South Carolinaand made them a visit. "

But it was not Staunton, although Staunton, hearing of the march, hadbeen joyfully expecting Jackson's men. The fine morning came, warm andbrilliant with sunshine, raising the spirits of the troops. The roadsbegan to dry out fast and marching would be much easier. But Jackson, leading somberly on Little Sorrel, turned his back on Staunton. 

The Virginians stared in amazement when the heads of columns turnedaway from that trim and hospitable little city, which they knew was sofervently attached to their cause. Before them rose the long line of theBlue Ridge and they were marching straight toward it. 

They marched a while in silence, and then a groan ran through the ranks. It was such a compound of dismay and grief that it made Harry shiver. The Virginians were leaving their beloved and beautiful valley, leavingit all to the invader, leaving the pretty little places, Winchester andStaunton and Harrisonburg and Strasburg and Front Royal, and all thetowns and villages in which their families and relatives lived. Everyone of the Virginians had blood kin everywhere through the valley. 

The men began to whisper to one another, but the order of silence waspassed sternly along the line. They marched on, sullen and gloomy, but after a while their natural courage and their confidence in theircommander returned. Their spirits did not desert them, even when theyleft the valley behind them and began to climb the Blue Ridge. 

Up, up, they went through dense forests. Harry remembered their ascentof the Massanuttons, but the snows were gone now. They pressed on untilthey reached the crest of the ridges and there the whole army paused, high up in the air, while they looked with eager interest at the rollingVirginia country stretching toward the east until it sank under thehorizon. 

Harry saw smoke that marked the passing of trains, and he believedthat they were now on their way to Richmond to help defend the capitalagainst McClellan. He glanced at Jackson, but the commander was astight-lipped as ever. Whatever was under that hat remained the secret ofits owner. 

They descended the mountains and came to a railway station, where manycars were waiting. Troops were hurried aboard expecting to start forRichmond, and then a sudden roar burst from them. The trains did notmove toward Richmond, but back, through defiles that would lead themagain into their beloved valley. Cheers one after another rolled throughthe trains, and Harry, who was in a forward car with the Invincibles, joined in as joyfully as the best Virginian of them all. 

The boy was so much exhausted that he fell into a doze on a seat. Butafterward he dimly remembered that he heard the two colonels talking. They were trying to probe into the depths of Jackson's mind. Theysurmised that this march over the mountains had been made partly todelude Banks. They were right, at least as far as the delusion of Bankswent. He had been telegraphing that the army of Jackson was gone, on itsway to Richmond, and that there was nothing in front of him save a fewskirmishers. 

The Virginians left their trains in the valley again, waited for theirwagons and artillery, and then marched on to Staunton, that neat littlecity that was so dear to so many of them. But the mystery of what wasunder Jackson's hat remained a mystery. They passed through Staunton, amid the cheering people, women and children waving hats, scarfs andhandkerchiefs to their champions. But the terrible Stonewall gave themno chance to dally in that pleasant place. Staunton was left far behindand they never stopped until they went into camp on the side of anotherrange of mountains. 

Here in a great forest they built a few fires, more not being allowed, and after a hasty supper most of the men lay down in their blankets torest. But the young officers did not sleep. A small tent for Jackson hadbeen raised by the side of the Invincibles, and Harry, sitting on a log, talked in low tones with Langdon and St. Clair. The three were of theopinion that some blow was about to be struck, but what it was they didnot know. 

"The Yankees must have lost us entirely, " said Langdon. "To tell you thetruth, boys, I've lost myself. I've been marching about so much that Idon't know east from west and north from south. I'm sure that this isthe Southern army about us, but whether we're still in Virginia or notis beyond me. What do you say, Arthur?"

"It's Virginia still, Tom, but we've undoubtedly done a lot ofmarching. "

"A lot of it! 'Lot' is a feeble word! We've marched a million miles inthe last few days. I've checked 'em off by the bunions on the soles ofmy feet. "

"Look out, boys, " said St. Clair. "Here comes the general!"

General Jackson was walking toward them. His face had the usual intense, preoccupied look, but he smiled slightly when he saw the three lads. 

"Come, young gentlemen, " he said, "we're going to take a look at theenemy. "

A group of older officers joined him, and the three lads followedmodestly. They reached a towering crag and from it Harry saw a deepvalley fringed with woods, a river rushing down its center and furtheron a village. Both banks of the river were thick with troops, men inblue. Over and beyond the valley was a great mass of mountains, ridgeon ridge and peak on peak, covered with black forest, and cut by defilesand ravines so narrow that it was always dark within them. 

Harry felt a strange, indescribable thrill. The presence of the enemyand the wild setting of the mountains filled him with a kind of awe. 

"It's a Northern army under Milroy, " whispered St. Clair, who now heardJackson talking to the older officers. 

"Then there's going to be a battle, " said Harry. 

CHAPTER VIII. THE MOUNTAIN BATTLE

General Jackson and several of his senior officers were examining thevalley with glasses, but Harry, with eyes trained to the open air andlong distances, could see clearly nearly all that was going on below. He saw movement among the masses of men in blue, and he saw officers onhorseback, galloping along the banks of the river. Then he saw cannonin trenches with their muzzles elevated toward the heights, and he knewthat the Union troops must have had warning of Jackson's coming. And hesaw, too, that the officers below also had glasses through which theywere looking. 

There was a sudden blaze from the mouth of one of the cannon. A shellshot upward, whistling and shrieking, and burst far above their heads. Harry heard pieces of falling metal striking on the rocks behind them. The mountains sent back the cannon's roar in a sinister echo. 

A second gun flashed and again the shell curved over their heads. But Jackson paid no heed. He was still watching intently through hisglasses. 

"The enemy is up and alert, " whispered St. Clair to Harry. "I judge thatthese are Western men used to sleeping with their eyes open. "

"Like as not a lot of them are mountain West Virginians, " said Harry. "They are strong for the North, and it's likely, too, that they're themen who have discovered Jackson's advance. "

"And they mean to make it warm for us. Listen to those guns! It's hardshooting aiming at men on heights, but it shows what they could do onlevel ground. "

Jackson presently retired with his officers, and Harry, parting from hisfriends of the Invincibles, went with him. Back among the ridges all thetroops were under arms, the weary ones having risen from their blanketswhich were now tied in rolls on their backs. They had not yet been ableto bring the artillery up the steeps. Harry saw that the faces of allwere eager as they heard the thunder of the guns in the valley below. Among the most eager was a regiment of Georgians arrived but recentlywith the reinforcements. 

Many of the men, speaking from the obscurity of the crowded ranks, didnot scorn to hurl questions at their officers. 

"Are we goin' to fight the Yankees at last?"

"I'd rather take my chances with the bullets than march any more. "

"Lead us down an' give us a chance at 'em. "

Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire wereamong the officers who had gone with Jackson to the verge of the cliff, and now when they heard the impertinent but eager questions from themassed ranks they looked at each other and smiled. It was not accordingto West Point, but these were recruits and here was enthusiasm which wasa pearl beyond price. 

General Jackson beckoned to Harry and three other young staff officers. 

"Take glasses, " he said, "go back to the verge of the cliff, and watchfor movements on the part of the enemy. If any is made be sure that yousee it, and report it to me at once. "

The words were abrupt, sharp, admitting of no question or delay, andthe four fairly ran. Harry and his comrades lay down at the edge of thecliff and swept the valley with their glasses. The great guns were stillfiring at intervals of about a minute. The gunners could not see theSouthern troops drawn back behind the ridges, but Harry believed thatthey might be guided by signals from men on opposite slopes. But ifsignalmen were there they were hidden by the forest even from hisglasses. 

The smoke from the cannon was gathering heavily in the narrow valley, soheavily that it began to obscure what was passing there in the Northernarmy. But the four, remembering the injunction of Jackson, a man whomust be obeyed to the last and minutest detail, still sought to piercethrough the smoke both with the naked eye and with glasses. As a riftappeared Harry saw a moving mass of men in blue. It was a great body oftroops and the sun shining through the rift glittered over bayonets andrifle barrels. They were marching straight toward a slope which led at arather easy grade up the side of the mountain. 

"They're not waiting to be attacked! They're attacking!" cried Harry, springing to his feet and running to the point where he knew Jacksonstood. Jackson received his news, looked for himself, and then began topush on the troops. A shout arose as the army pressed forward to meetthe enemy who were coming so boldly. 

"We ought to beat 'em, as we have the advantage of the heights, "exclaimed Sherburne, who was now on foot. 

But the advantage was the other way. Those were staunch troops who wereadvancing, men of Ohio and West Virginia, and while they were yet on thelower slopes their cannon, firing over their heads, swept the crest withshot and shell. The eager Southern youths, as invariably happens withthose firing downward, shot too high. The Northern regiments now openingwith their rifles and taking better aim came on in splendid order. 

"What a magnificent charge!" Harry heard Sherburne exclaim. 

The rifles by thousands were at work, and the unceasing crash sentechoes far through the mountains. The Southerners at the edge of thecliff were cut down by the fire of their enemy from below. Their losswas now far greater than that of the North, and their officers sought todraw them back from the verge, to a ridge where they could receive thecharge, just as it reached the crest and pour into them their full fire. The eager young regiment from Georgia refused to obey. 

"Have we come all these hundreds of miles from Georgia to run beforeYankees?" they cried, and stood there pulling trigger at the enemy, while their own men fell fast before the bitter Northern hail. 

Harry, too, was forced to admire the great resolution and courage withwhich the Northern troops came upward, but he turned away to be readyfor any command that Jackson might give him. The general stood by a rockattentively watching the fierce battle that was going on, but not yetgiving any order. But Harry fancied that he saw his eyes glisten as hebeheld the ardor of his troops. 

A detachment of Virginians, posted in the rear, seeing a break in thefirst line, rushed forward without orders, filled the gap and cameface to face with the men in blue. Harry thought he saw Jackson's eyesglisten again, but he was not sure. 

The crash of the battle increased fast. The Southern troops had noartillery, but as the Northern charge came nearer the crest theirbullets ceased to fly over the heads of their enemies, but struck now inthe ranks. The ridges were enveloped in fire and smoke. A fresh Southernregiment was thrown in and the valiant Northern charge broke. The bravemen of Ohio and West Virginia, although they fought desperately andencouraged one another to stand fast, were forced slowly back down theslope. 

Harry and a half dozen others beside him heard Jackson say, apparentlyto himself, "The battle will soon be over. " Harry knew instinctivelythat it was true. He had got into the habit of believing every thingJackson said. The end came in fifteen minutes more, and with it came thenight. 

The soldiers in their ardor had not noticed that the long shadows werecreeping over the mountains. The sun had already sunk in a blood-redblur behind the ridges, and as the men in blue slowly yielded the lastslope darkness which was already heavy in the defiles and ravines sweptdown over the valley. 

Jackson had won, but his men had suffered heavily and moreover he hadstood on the defense. He could not descend into the valley in the faceof the Northern resistance which was sure to be fierce and enduring. The Northern cannon were beginning to send curving shells again over thecliffs, sinister warnings of what the Virginians might expect if theycame down to attack. Harry and the other staff officers peering over thecrest saw many fires burning along the banks of the river. Milroy seemedto be still bidding Jackson defiance. 

Harry saw no preparations for a return assault. Jackson was inspectingthe ground, but his men were going over the field gathering up thewounded and burying the dead. The Georgians had suffered terribly--mostof all--for their rash bravery, and the whole army was subdued. Therewas less of exuberant youth, and more of grim and silent resolve. 

Harry worked far into the night carrying orders here and there. Themoon came out and clothed the strange and weird battlefield in a robe ofsilver. The heavens were sown with starshine, but it all seemed mysticand unreal to the excited nerves of the boy. The mountains rose to two, three times their real height, and the valley in which the Northernfires burned became a mighty chasm. 

It was one o'clock in the morning before Jackson himself left the fieldand went to his headquarters at a little farmhouse on the plateau. His faithful colored servant was waiting for him with food. He had nottouched any the whole day, but he declined it saying that he needednothing but sleep. He flung himself booted and clothed upon a bed andwas sound asleep in five minutes. 

There was a little porch on one side of the house, and here Harry, whohad received no instructions from his general, camped. He rolled himselfin his cavalry cloak, lay down on the hard floor which was not hard tohim, and slept like a little child. 

He was awakened at dawn as one often is by a presence, even though thatpresence be noiseless. He felt a great unwillingness to get up. That wasa good floor on which he slept, and the cavalry cloak wrapped aroundhim was the finest and warmest that he had ever felt. He did not wishto abandon either. But will triumphed. He opened his eyes and sprangquickly to his feet. 

Stonewall Jackson was standing beside him looking intently toward thevalley. The edge of a blazing sun barely showed in the east, and in thewest all the peaks and ridges were yet in the dusk. Morning was comingin silence. There was no sound of battle or of the voices of men. 

"I beg your pardon. I fear that I have overslept myself!" exclaimedHarry. 

"Not at all, " said Jackson with a slight smile. "The others of the staffare yet asleep. You might have come inside. A little room was left onthe floor there. "

"I never had a better bed and I never slept better. " The general smiledagain and gave Harry an approving glance. 

"Soldiers, especially boys, learn quickly to endure any kind ofhardship, " he said. "Come, we'll see if the enemy is still there. "

Harry fancied from his tone that he believed Milroy gone, but knowingbetter than to offer any opinion of his own he followed him toward theedge of the valley. The pickets saluted as the silent figures passed. The sun in the east was rising higher over the valley, and in the westthe peaks and ridges were coming out of the dusk. 

The general carried his glasses slung over his shoulder, but he didnot need them. One glance into the valley and they saw that the army ofMilroy was gone. It had disappeared, horse, foot and guns, and Harry nowknew that the long row of camp fires in the night had been a show, butonly a brave show, after all. 

The whole Southern army awoke and poured down the slopes. Yes, Milroy, not believing that he was strong enough for another battle, had gonedown the valley. He had fought one good battle, but he would reach Banksbefore he fought another. 

The Southern troops felt that they had won the victory, and Jacksonsent a message to Richmond announcing it. Never had news come at a moreopportune time. The fortunes of the South seemed to be at the lowestebb. Richmond had heard of the great battle of Shiloh, the failure todestroy Grant and the death of Albert Sidney Johnston. New Orleans, the largest and richest city in the Confederacy, had been taken by theNorthern fleet--the North was always triumphant on the water--and themighty army of McClellan had landed on the Peninsula of Virginia for theadvance on Richmond. 

It had seemed that the South was doomed, and the war yet scarcely ayear old. But in the mountains the strange professor of mathematics hadstruck a blow and he might strike another. Both North and South realizedanew that no one could ever tell where he was or what he might do. Thegreat force, advancing by land to co-operate with McClellan, hesitated, and drew back. 

But Jackson's troops knew nothing then of what was passing in the mindsof men at Washington and Richmond. They were following Milroy and thatcommander, wily as well as brave, was pressing his men to the utmost inorder that he might escape the enemy who, he was sure, would pursue withall his power. He knew that he had fought with Stonewall Jackson and heknew the character of the Southern leader. 

Sherburne brought his horses through a defile into the valley and hismen, now mounted, led the pursuit. Jackson in his eagerness rode withhim and Harry was there, too. Behind them came the famous foot cavalry. Thus pursuer and pursued rolled down the valley, and Harry exultedwhen he looked at the path of the fleeing army. The traces were growingfresher and fresher. Jackson was gaining. 

But there were shrewd minds in Milroy's command. The Western men knewmany devices of battle and the trail, and Milroy was desperately bentupon saving his force, which he knew would be overwhelmed, if overtakenby Jackson's army. Now he had recourse to a singular device. 

Harry, riding with Captain Sherburne, noticed that the trees were drydespite the recent rains. On the slopes of the mountains the water ranoff fast, and the thickets were dry also. Then he saw a red light in theforest in front of them. General Jackson saw it at the same time. 

"What is that?" he exclaimed. 

"It looks like a forest fire, general, " replied Sherburne. 

"You're right, captain, and it's growing. "

As they galloped forward they saw the red light expand rapidly andspread directly across their path. The whole forest was on fire. Greatflames rose up the trunks of trees and leaped from bough to bough. Sparks flew in millions and vast clouds of smoke, picked up by the wind, were whirled in their faces. 

The troop of cavalry was compelled to pause and General Jackson, brushing the smoke from his eyes, said:

"Clever! very clever! Milroy has put a fiery wall between us. "

The device was a complete success. The pursuing men in gray could passaround the fire at points, and wait at other points for it to burn out, but they lost so much time that their cavalry were able only to skirmishwith the Northern rear guard. Then when night came on Milroy escapedunder cover of the thick and smoky darkness. 

Harry slept on the ground that night, but the precious cloak was aroundhim. He slept beyond the dawn as the pursuit was now abandoned, butwhen he arose smoke was still floating over the valley and the burnedforests. He was stiff and sore, but the fierce hunger that assailedhim made him forget the aching of his bones. He had eaten nothing forthirty-six hours. He had forgotten until then that there was such athing as food. But the sight of Langdon holding a piece of frying baconon a stick afflicted him with a raging desire. 

"Give me that bacon, Tom, " he cried, "or I'll set the rest of the foreston fire!"

"No need, you old war-horse. I was just bringing it to you. There'splenty more where this came from. The foot cavalry took it at McDowell, and like the wise boys they are brought it on with them. Come and joinus. Your general is already riding a bit up the valley, and, as hedidn't call you, it follows that he doesn't want you. "

Harry followed him gladly. The Invincibles had found a good place, andwere cooking a solid breakfast. They had bacon and ham and coffeeand bread in abundance, and for a while there was a great eating anddrinking. 

To youth which had marched and fought without food it was not abreakfast. It was a banquet and a feast. Young frames which recoverquickly responded at once. Now and then, the musical clatter of ironspoons and knives on iron cups and plates was broken by deep sighs ofsatisfaction. But they did not speak for a while. There was lost timeto be made up, and they did not know when they would get another suchchance--the odds were always against it. 

"Enough is enough, " said Langdon at last. "It took a lot to make enough, but it's enough. You have to be a soldier, Harry, to appreciate whatit is to eat, sleep and rest. I'm willing to wager my uniform against alast winter's snowball that we don't get another such meal in a month. Old Jack won't let us. "

"To my mind, " said St. Clair, "we're going right into the middle of bigthings. We've chased the Yankees out of the mountains into the valley, and we'll follow hot on their heels. We've already learned enough ofGeneral Jackson to know that he doesn't linger. "

"Linger!" exclaimed Langdon indignantly. "Even if there was no fightingto be done he'd march us from one end of the valley to the other justto keep us in practice. Hear that bugle! Off we go! Five minutes to getready! Or maybe it is only three!"

It was more than five minutes, but not much more, when the whole armywas on the march again, but the foot cavalry forgot to grumble whenthey came again into their beloved valley, across which, and up and downwhich, they had marched so much. 

They threw back their shoulders, their gait became more jaunty and theyburst into cheers, at the sight of the rich rolling country, now sobeautiful in spring's heavy green. Far off the mountains rose, darkand blue, but they were only the setting for the gem and made it moreprecious. 

"It's ours, " said Sherburne proudly to Harry. "We left it to the Yankeesfor a little while, but we've come back to claim it, and if the unbiddentenant doesn't get out at once we'll put him out. Harry, haven't you gotVirginia kinfolks? We want to adopt you and call you a Virginian. "

"Lots of them. My great-grandfather, Governor Ware, was born inMaryland, but all the people on my mother's side were of Virginiaorigin. "

"I might have known it. Kentucky is the daughter of Virginia though alarge part of Kentucky takes sides with the Yankees. But that's not yourfault. Remember, for the time being you're a Virginian, one of us byright of blood and deed. "

"Count me among 'em at once, " said Harry. He felt a certain pride inthis off-hand but none the less real adoption, because he knew that itwas a great army with which he marched, and it might immortalize itself. 

"What's the news, Harry?" asked Sherburne. "You're always near Old Jack, and if he lets anything come from under that old hat of his, which isn'toften, it's because he's willing for it to be known. "

"He's said this, and he doesn't mean it to be any secret. Banks isat Strasburg with a big army, but he's fortified himself there and hedoesn't know just what to do. He doesn't for the life of him know whichway Jackson is coming, nor do I. But I do know that Ewell with hisdivision is going to join us at last and we'll have a sizable army. "

"And that means bigger things!" exclaimed Sherburne, joyously. "Betweenyou and me, Harry, Banks won't sleep soundly again for many a night!"

As they marched on the valley people came out joyously to meet them. Even women and girls on horseback, galloping, reined in their horses totell them where the Union forces lay. Always they had information forJackson, never any for the North. Here scouts and spies were scarcelyneeded by the Southern army. Before night Stonewall Jackson knew as muchof his enemy as any general needed to know. 

They camped at dusk and Langdon, contrary to his prediction, enjoyedanother ample meal and plenty of rest. Jackson allowed no tent to beset for himself. The night was warm and beautiful and the songs of birdscame from the trees. The general had eaten sparingly, and now he sat ona log in deep thought. Presently he looked up and said:

"Lieutenant Kenton, do you and Lieutenant Dalton ride forward in thatdirection and meet General Ewell. He is coming, with his staff, to seeme. Escort him to the camp. "

He pointed out the direction and in an instant Harry and Dalton, also ofthe staff, were in the camp, following the line of that pointing finger. They had the password and as they passed a little beyond the picketsthey saw a half dozen horsemen riding rapidly toward them in the dusk. 

"General Ewell, is it not, sir?" said Harry, as he and Dalton gave thesalute. 

"I'm General Ewell, " replied the foremost horseman. "Do you come fromGeneral Jackson?"

"Yes, sir. His camp is just before you. You can see the lights now. Hehas directed us to meet you and escort you. "

"Then lead the way. "

The two young lieutenants, guiding General Ewell and his staff, weresoon inside Jackson's camp, but Harry had time to observe Ewell well. Hehad already heard of him as a man of great vigor and daring. He had madea name for judgment and dash in the Indian wars on the border. Menspoke of him as a soldier, prompt to obey his superior and ready to takeresponsibility if his superior were not there. Harry knew that Jacksonexpected much of him. 

He saw a rather slender man with wonderfully bright eyes that smiledmuch, a prominent and pronounced nose and a strong chin. When he tookoff his hat at the meeting with Jackson he disclosed a round bald head, which he held on one side when he talked. 

Jackson had risen from the log as Ewell rode up and leaped from hismagnificent horse--his horses were always of the best--and he advanced, stretching out his hand. Ewell clasped it and the two talked. The staffsof the two generals had withdrawn out of ear shot, but Harry noticedthat Ewell did much the greater part of the talking, his head cocked onone side in that queer, striking manner. But Harry knew, too, thatthe mind and will of Jackson were dominant, and that Ewell readilyacknowledged them as so. 

The conference did not last long. Then the two generals shook handsagain and Ewell sprang upon his horse. Jackson beckoned to Harry. 

"Lieutenant Kenton, " he said, "ride with General Ewell to his camp. You will then know the way well, and he may wish to send me some quickdispatch. "

Harry, nothing loath, was in the saddle in an instant, and at the wishof General Ewell rode by his side. 

"You have been with him long?" said Ewell. 

"From the beginning of the campaign here, sir. "

"Then you were at both Kernstown and McDowell. A great general, youngman. "

"Yes, sir. He will march anywhere and fight anything. "

"That's my own impression. We've heard that his men are the greatestmarchers in the world. My own lads under him will acquire the samemerit. "

"We know, sir, that your men are good marchers already. "

General Ewell laughed with satisfaction. 

"It's true, " he said. "When I told my second in command that we weregoing to march to join General Jackson he wanted to bring tents. I toldhim that would load us up with a lot of tent poles and that he mustbring only a few, for the sick, perhaps. There must be no baggage, justfood and ammunition. I told 'em that when we joined General Jackson we'dhave nothing to do but eat and fight. "

He seemed now to be speaking to himself rather than to Harry, and theboy said nothing. Ewell, relapsing into silence, urged his horse to agallop and the staff perforce galloped, too. Such a pace soon broughtthem to the camp of the second army, and as they rode past the picketsHarry heard the sound of stringed music. 

"The Cajuns, " said one of the staff, a captain named Morton. Harry didnot know what "Cajuns" meant, but he was soon to learn. Meanwhile thesound of the music was pleasant in his ear, and he saw that the camp, despite the lateness of the hour, was vivid with life. 

General Ewell gave Harry into Captain Morton's care, and walked away toa small tent, where he was joined by several of his senior officers fora conference. But after they had tethered their horses for the night, Captain Morton took Harry through the camp. 

Harry was full of eagerness and curiosity and he asked to see first thestrange "Cajuns, " those who made the music. 

"They are Louisiana French, " said Morton, "not the descendants or theoriginal French settlers in that state, but the descendants of theFrench by the way of Nova Scotia. "

"Oh, I see, the Acadians, the exiles. "

"Yes, that's it. The name has been corrupted into Cajuns in Louisiana. They are not like the French of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and theother towns. They are rural and primitive. You'll like them. Few of themwere ever more than a dozen miles from home before. They love music, andthey've got a full regimental band with them. You ought to hear it play. Why, they'd play the heart right out of you. "

"I like well enough the guitars and banjos that they're playing now. Seems to me that kind of music is always best at night. "

They had now come within the rim of light thrown out by the fires ofthe Acadians, and Harry stood there looking for the first time at thesedark, short people, brought a thousand miles from their homes. 

They were wholly unlike Virginians and Kentuckians. They had black eyesand hair, and their naturally dark faces were burned yet darker by thesun of the Gulf. Yet the dark eyes were bright and gay, sparkling withkindliness and the love of pleasure. The guitars and banjos were playingsome wailing tune, with a note of sadness in the core of it so keen andpenetrating that it made the water come to Harry's eyes. But it changedsuddenly to something that had all the sway and lilt of the rosy South. Men sprang to their feet and clasping arms about one another began tosway back and forth in the waltz and the polka. 

Harry watched with mingled amazement and pleasure. Most of the Southwas religious and devout. The Virginians of the valley were nearly allstaunch Presbyterians, and Stonewall Jackson, staunchest of them all, never wanted to fight on Sunday. The boy himself had been reared in astern Methodist faith, and the lightness in this French blood of theSouth was new to him. But it pleased him to see them sing and dance, andhe found no wrong in it, although he could not have done it himself. 

Captain Morton noticed Harry's close attention and he read his mind. 

"They surprised me, too, at first, " he said, "but they're fine soldiers, and they've put cheer into this army many a time when it needed itmost. Taylor, their commander, is a West Pointer and he's got them intowonderful trim. They're well clothed and well shod. They never straggleand they're just about the best marchers we have. They'll soon be ratedhigh among Jackson's foot cavalry. "

Harry left the Acadians with reluctance, and when he made the round ofthe camp General Ewell, who had finished the conference, told him thathe would have no message to send that night to Jackson. He might go tosleep, but the whole division would march early in the morning. Harrywrapped himself again in his cloak, found a place soft with moss under atree, and slept with the soft May wind playing over his face and lullinghim to deeper slumber. 

He rode the next morning with General Ewell and the whole division tojoin Jackson's army. It was a trim body of men, well clad, fresh andstrong, and they marched swiftly along the turnpike, on both sides ofwhich Jackson was encamped further on. 

Harry felt a personal pride in being with Ewell when the junction wasto be made. He felt that, in a sense, he was leading in this greatreinforcement himself, and he looked back with intense satisfaction atthe powerful column marching so swiftly along the turnpike. 

They came late in the day to Jackson's pickets, and then they saw hisarmy, scattered through the fields on either side of the road. 

Harry rejoiced once more in the grand appearance of the new division. Every coat or tunic sat straight. Every shoe-lace was tied, and theymarched with the beautiful, even step of soldiers on parade. Theywere to encamp beyond Jackson's old army, and as they passed along theturnpike it was lined on either side by Jackson's own men, cheering withvigor. 

The colonel who was in immediate charge of the encampment, a man who hadnever seen General Jackson, asked Harry where he might find him. Harrypointed to a man sitting on the top rail of a fence beside the road. 

"But I asked for General Jackson, " said the colonel. 

"That's General Jackson. "

The colonel approached and saluted. General Jackson's clothes weresoiled and dusty. His feet, encased in cavalry boots that reached beyondthe knees, rested upon a lower rail of the fence. A worn cap with adented visor almost covered his eyes. The rest of his face was concealedby a heavy, dark beard. 

"General Jackson, I believe, " said the officer, saluting. 

"Yes. How far have those men marched?" The voice was kindly andapproving. 

"We've come twenty-six miles, sir. "

"Good. And I see no stragglers. "

"We allow no stragglers. "

"Better still. I haven't been able to keep my own men from straggling, and you'll have to teach them. "

At that moment the Acadian band began to play, and it played themerriest waltz it knew. Jackson gazed at it, took a lemon from hispocket and began to suck the juice from it meditatively. The officerstood before him in some embarrassment. 

"Aren't they rather thoughtless for such serious work as war?" asked thePresbyterian general. 

"I am confident, sir, that their natural gayety will not impair theirvalue as soldiers. "

Jackson put the end of the lemon back in his mouth and drew some juicefrom it. The colonel bowed and retired. Then Jackson beckoned to Harry, who stood by. 

"Follow him and tell him, " he said, "that the band can play as much asit likes. I noticed, too, that it plays well. "

Jackson smiled and Harry hurried after the officer, who flushed withgratification, when the message was delivered to him. 

"I'll tell it to the men, " he said, "and they'll fight all the betterfor it. "

That night it was a formidable army that slept in the fields on eitherside of the turnpike, and in the silence and the dark, Stonewall Jacksonwas preparing to launch the thunderbolt. 

CHAPTER IX. TURNING ON THE FOE

Harry was awakened at the first shoot of dawn by the sound of trumpets. It was now approaching the last of May and the cold nights had longsince passed. A warm sun was fast showing its edge in the east, and, bathing his face at a brook and snatching a little breakfast, he wasready. Stonewall Jackson was already up, and his colored servant washolding Little Sorrel for him. 

The army was fast forming into line, the new men of Ewell resolved tobecome as famous foot cavalry as those who had been with Jackson allalong. Ewell himself, full of enthusiasm and already devoted to hischief, was riding among them, and whenever he spoke to one of them hecocked his head on one side in the peculiar manner that was habitualwith him. Now and then, as the sun grew warmer, he took off his hat andhis bald head gleamed under the yellow rays. 

"Which way do you think we're going?" said the young staff officer, George Dalton, to Harry--Dalton was a quiet youth with a good deal ofthe Puritan about him and Harry liked him. 

"I'm not thinking about it at all, " replied Harry with a laugh. "I'vequit trying to guess what our general is going to do, but I fancy thathe means to lead us against the enemy. He has the numbers now. "

"I suppose you're right, " said Dalton. "I've been trying to guess allalong, but I think I'll give it up now and merely follow where thegeneral leads. "

The bugles blew, the troops rapidly fell into line and marched northwardalong the turnpike, the Creole band began to play again one of thoselilting waltz tunes, and the speed of the men increased, their feetrising and falling swiftly to the rhythm of the galloping air. Jackson, who was near the head of the column, looked back and Harry saw a faintsmile pass over his grim face. He saw the value of the music. 

"I never heard such airs in our Presbyterian church, " said Dalton toHarry. 

"But this isn't a church. "

"No, it isn't, but those Creole tunes suit here. They put fresh lifeinto me. "

"Same here. And they help the men, too. Look how gay they are. "

Up went the shining sun. The brilliant blue light, shot with gold, spread from horizon to horizon, little white clouds of vapor, tintedat the edges with gold from the sun, floated here and there. It wasbeautiful May over all the valley. White dust flew from the turnpikeunder the feet of so many marching men and horses, and the wheels ofcannon. Suddenly the Georgia troops that had suffered so severely atMcDowell began to sing a verse from the Stars and Bars, and graduallythe whole column joined in:

 "Now Georgia marches to the front And close beside her come Her sisters by the Mexique sea With pealing trump and drum, Till answering back from hill and glen The rallying cry afar, A nation hoists the Bonnie Blue Flag That bears a single star. "

It was impossible not to feel emotion. The face of the most solemnPresbyterian of them all flushed and his eyes glowed. Now the band, thatwonderful band of the Acadians, was playing the tune, and the mightychorus rolled and swelled across the fields. Harry's heart throbbedhard. He was with the South, his own South, and he was swayed wholly byfeeling. 

The Acadians were leading the army. Harry saw Jackson whisperingsomething to a staff officer. The officer galloped forward and spoke toTaylor, the commander of the Louisiana troops. Instantly the Acadiansturned sharply from the turnpike and walked in a diagonal line throughthe fields. The whole army followed and they marched steadily northwardand eastward. 

Harry had another good and close view of the Massanuttons, now onevast mass of dark green foliage, and it caused his thoughts to turn toShepard. He had no doubt that the wary and astute Northern scout wassomewhere near watching the march of Stonewall. He had secured a pair ofglasses of his own and he scanned the fields and forests now for asight of him and his bold horsemen. But he saw no blue uniforms, merelyfarmers and their wives and children, shouting with joy at the sight ofJackson, eager to give him information, and eager to hide it from Banks. 

But Harry was destined to have more than another view of theMassanuttons. Jackson marched steadily for four days, crossing theMassanuttons at the defile, and coming down into the eastern valley. The troops were joyous throughout the journey, although they had not theleast idea for what they were destined, and Ewell's men made good theirclaim to a place of equal honor in the foot cavalry. 

They were now in the division of the great valley known as the Luray, and only when they stopped did Harry and his comrades of the staff learnthat the Northern army under Kenly was only ten miles away at FrontRoyal. 

The preceding night had been one of great confidence, even oflight-heartedness in Washington. The worn and melancholy President feltthat a triumphant issue of the war was at hand. The Secretary of War wasmore than sanguine, and the people in the city joyfully expectedspeedy news of the fall of Richmond. McClellan was advancing with anoverwhelming force on the Southern capital, and the few regiments ofJackson were lost somewhere in the mountains. In the west all thingswere going well under Grant. 

It was only a few who, recognizing that the army of Jackson was lost toNorthern eyes, began to ask questions about it. But they were laugheddown. Jackson had too few men to do any harm, wherever he might be. Nobody suspected that at dawn Jackson, with a strong force, would beonly a little more than three score miles from the Union capital itself. Even Banks himself, who was only half that distance from the Southernarmy, did not dream that it was coming. 

When the sun swung clear that May morning there was a great elationin this army which had been lost to its enemies for days and which theunknowing despised. They ate a good breakfast, and then, as the Creoleband began to play its waltzes again, they advanced swiftly on FrontRoyal. 

"We'll be attacking in two hours, " said Dalton. 

"In less time than that, I'm thinking, " said Harry. "Look how the menare speeding it up!"

The band ceased suddenly. Harry surmised that it had been stopped, in order to suppress noise as much as possible, now that they wereapproaching the enemy. Cheering and loud talking also were stopped, and they heard now the heavy beat of footsteps, horses and men, and therumble of vehicles, cannon and wagons. The morning was bright and hot. A haze of heat hung over the mountains, and to Harry the valley was morebeautiful and picturesque than ever. He had again flitting feelings ofmelancholy that it should be torn so ruthlessly by war. 

If Shepard and other Northern scouts were near, they were lax thatmorning. Not a soul in the garrison at Front Royal dreamed of Jackson'sswift approach. They were soon to have a terrible awakening. 

Harry saw Jackson raise the visor of his old cap a little, and he sawthe eyes beneath it gleam. 

"We must be near Front Royal, " he said to Dalton. 

"It's just beyond the woods there. It's not more than half a mile away. "

The army halted a moment and Jackson sent forward a long line ofskirmishers through the wood. Sherburne's cavalry were to ride justbehind them, and he dispatched Harry and Dalton with the captain. At thefirst sound of the firing the whole army would rush upon Front Royal. 

The skirmishers, five hundred strong, pressed forward through the wood. They were sun-browned, eager fellows, every one carrying a rifle, andall sharpshooters. 

It seemed to Harry that the skirmishers were through the wood inan instant, like a force of Indians bursting from ambush upon anunsuspecting foe. The Northern pickets were driven in like leaves beforea whirlwind. The rattle and then the crash of rifles beat upon the ears, and the Southern horsemen were galloping through the streets of thestartled village by the time the Northern commander, posted with hismain force just behind the town, knew that Jackson had emerged from thewilderness and was upon him. Banks not dreaming of Jackson's nearness, had taken away Kenly's cavalry, and there were only pickets to see. 

The Northern commander was brave and capable. He drew up his men rapidlyon a ridge and planted his guns in front, but the storm was too heavyand swift. 

Harry saw the front of the Southern army burst into fire, and then adeadly sleet of shell and bullets was poured upon the Northern force. He and Dalton did not have time to rejoin Jackson, but they kept withSherburne's force as the group of wild horsemen swung around toward theNorthern rear, intending to cut it off. 

Harry heard the Southern bugles playing mellow and triumphant tunes, andthey inflamed his brain. All the little pulses in his head began to beatheavily. Millions of black specks danced before his eyes, but the airabout them was red. He began to shout with the others. The famous rebelyell, which had in it the menacing quality of the Indian war whoop, wasalready rolling from the half circle of the attacking army, as it rushedforward. 

Kenly hung to his ground, fighting with the courage of desperation, andholding off for a little while the gray masses that rushed upon him. Butwhen he heard that the cavalry of Sherburne was already behind him, andwas about to gain a position between him and the river, he retreatedas swiftly as he could, setting fire to all his tents and stores, andthundering in good order with his remaining force over the bridge. 

These Northern men, New Yorkers largely, were good material, liketheir brethren of Ohio and West Virginia. Despite the surprise and theoverwhelming rush of Jackson, they stopped to set fire to the bridge, and they would have closed that avenue of pursuit had not the Acadiansrushed forward, heedless of bullets and flames, and put it out. Yetthe bridge was damaged and the Southern pursuit could cross but slowly. Kenly, seeing his advantage, and cool and ready, drew up his men on ahill and poured a tremendous fire upon the bridge. 

Harry saw the daring deed of the men from the Gulf coast, and he clappedhis hands in delight. But he had only a moment's view. Sherburne wascurving away in search of a ford and all his men galloped close behindhim. 

Near the town the river was deep and swift and the horsemen would beswept away by it, but willing villagers running at the horses' heads ledthem to fords farther down. 

"Into the river, boys!" shouted Sherburne, as he with Harry and Daltonby his side galloped into the stream. It seemed to Harry that the wholeriver was full of horsemen in an instant, and then he saw StonewallJackson himself, riding Little Sorrel into the stream. 

Harry's horse stumbled once on the rocky bottom, but recovered hisfooting, and the boy urged him on toward the bank, bumping on eitherside against those who were as eager as he. He was covered with waterand foam, churned up by so many horses, but he did not notice it. In aminute his horse put his forefeet upon the bank, pulled himself up, andthen they were all formed up by Jackson himself for the pursuit. 

"They run! They run already!" cried Sherburne. 

They were not running, exactly, but Kenly, always alert and cool, hadseen the passage of the ford by the Virginians, and unlimbering hisguns, was retreating in good order, but swiftly, his rear covered by theNew York cavalry. 

Now Harry saw all the terrors of war. It was not sufficient for Jacksonto defeat the enemy. He must follow and destroy him. More of his armycrossed at the fords and more poured over the bridge. 

The New York cavalry, despite courage and tenacity, could not withstandthe onset of superior numbers. They were compelled to give way, andKenly ordered his infantry, retreating on the turnpike, to turn and helpthem. Jackson had not waited for his artillery, but his riflemen pouredvolley after volley of bullets upon the beaten army, while his cavalry, galloping in the fields, charged it with sabers on either flank. 

Harry was scarcely conscious of what he was doing. He was slashing withhis sword and shooting with the rest. Sometimes his eyes were filledwith dust and smoke and then again they would clear. He heard the voicesof officers shouting to both cavalry and infantry to charge, and thenthere was a confused and terrible melee. 

Harry never remembered much of that charge, and he was glad that he didnot. He preferred that it should remain a blur in which he could notpick out the details. He was conscious of the shock, when horse methorse and body met body. He saw the flash of rifle and pistol shots, and the gleam of sabers through the smoke, and he heard a continuousshouting kept up by friend and foe. 

Then he felt the Northern army, struck with such terrific force, givingway. Kenly had made a heroic stand, but he could no longer support theattacks from all sides. One of his cannon was taken and then all. Hehimself fell wounded terribly. His senior officers also fell, as theytried to rally their men, who were giving way at all points. 

Sherburne wheeled his troop away again and charged at the Northerncavalry, which was still in order. Harry had seen Jackson himself givethe command to the captain. It was the redoubtable commander who saw alland understood all, who always struck, with his sword directly at theweak point in the enemy's armor. Harry saw that eye glittering as he hadnever seen it glitter before, and the command was given in words of firethat communicated a like fire to every man in the troop. 

The Northern cavalry cut to pieces, Kenly's whole army dissolved. Theattack was so terrific, so overwhelming, and was pushed home so hard, that panic ran through the ranks of those brave men. They fled throughthe orchards and the fields, and Jackson never ceased to urge on thepursuit, taking whole companies here and there, and seizing scatteredfugitives. 

Ashby, with the chief body of the cavalry, galloped on ahead to arailway station, where Pennsylvania infantry were on guard. They hadjust got ready a telegraphic message to Banks for help, but his menrushed the station before it could be sent, tore up the railroad tracks, cut the telegraph wires, carried by storm a log house in which thePennsylvanians had taken refuge, and captured them all. 

The Northern army had ceased to exist. Save for some fugitives, it hadall fallen or was in the hands of Jackson, and the triumphant cheers ofthe Southerners rang over the field. Banks, at Strasburg, not far away, did not know that Kenly's force had been destroyed. Three hours afterthe attack had been made, an orderly covered with dust galloped into hiscamp and told him that Kenly was pressed hard--he did not know the fulltruth himself. 

Banks, whose own force was cut down by heavy drafts to the eastward, was half incredulous. It was impossible that Jackson could be at FrontRoyal. He was fifty or sixty miles away, and the attack must be somecavalry raid which would soon be beaten off. He sent a regiment and twoguns to see what was the matter. He telegraphed later to the Secretaryof War at Washington that a force of several thousand rebels gathered inthe mountains was pushing Kenly hard. 

Meanwhile the victorious Southerners were spending a few moments inenjoying their triumph. They captured great quantities of food andclothing which Kenly had not found time to destroy, and which theyjoyously divided among themselves. 

Harry found the two colonels and all the rest of the Invincibles lyingupon the ground in the fields. Some of them were wounded, but mostwere unhurt. They were merely panting from exhaustion. Colonel LeonidasTalbot sat up when he saw Harry, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire also sat up. 

"Good afternoon, Harry, " said Colonel Talbot, politely. "It's been awarm day. "

"But a victorious one, sir. "

"Victorious, yes; but it is not finished. I fancy that in spite ofeverything we have not yet learned the full capabilities of GeneralJackson, eh, Hector?"

"No, sir, we haven't, " replied Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, emphatically. "I never saw such an appetite for battle. In MexicoGeneral Winfield Scott would press the enemy hard, but he was notanxious to march twenty miles and fight a battle every day. "

Harry found St. Clair and Langdon not far away from their chiefofficers. St. Clair had brushed the dust off his clothing, but he wasregarding ruefully two bullet holes in the sleeve of his fine graytunic. 

"He has neither needle nor thread with which to sew up those holes, "said Langdon, with wicked glee, "and he must go into battle again with atunic more holy than righteous. It's been a bad day for clothes. "

"A man doesn't fight any worse because he's particular about hisuniform, does he?" asked St. Clair. 

"You don't. That's certain, old fellow, " said Langdon, clapping himon the back. "And just think how much worse it might have been. Thosebullets, instead of merely going through your coat sleeve, might havegone through your arm also, shattering every bone in it. Now, Harry, youride with Old Jack. Tell us what he means to do. Are we going to reston our rich and numerous laurels, or is it up and after the Yankshot-foot?"

"He's not telling me anything, " replied Harry, "but I think it's safe topredict that we won't take any long and luxurious rest. Nor will we evertake any long and luxurious rest while we're led by Stonewall Jackson. "

Jackson marched some distance farther toward Strasburg, where the armyof Banks, yet unbelieving, lay, and as the night was coming on thick andblack with clouds, went into camp. But among their captured stores theyhad ample food now, and tents and blankets to protect themselves fromthe promised rain. 

The Acadians, who were wonderful cooks, showed great culinary skill aswell as martial courage. They were becoming general favorites, and theyprepared all sorts of appetizing dishes, which they shared freely withthe Virginians, the Georgians and the others. Then the irrepressibleband began. In the fire-lighted woods and on the ground yet stained bythe red of battle, it played quaint old tunes, waltzes and polkas androundelays, and once more the stalwart Pierres and Raouls and Luciensand Etiennes, clasping one another in their arms, whirled in wild dancesbefore the fires. 

The heavy clouds opened bye and bye, and then all save the sentinelsfled to shelter. Harry and Dalton, who had been watching the dancing, went to a small tent which had been erected for themselves and two more. Next to it was a tent yet smaller, occupied by the commander-in-chief, and as they passed by it they heard low but solemn tones lifted ininvocation to God. Harry could not keep from taking one fleeting glance. He saw Jackson on his knees, and then he went quickly on. 

The other two officers had not yet come, and Dalton and he were alone inthe tent. It was too dark inside for Harry to see Dalton's face, but heknew that his comrade, too, had seen and heard. 

"It will be hard to beat a general who prays, " said Dalton. "Some of ourmen laugh at Jackson's praying, but I've always heard that the Puritans, whether in England or America, were a stern lot to face. "

"The enemy at least won't laugh at him. I've heard that they had greatfun deriding a praying professor of mathematics, but I fancy they'vequit it. If they haven't they'll do so when they hear of Front Royal. "

The tent was pitched on the bare ground, but they had obtained fourplanks, every one about a foot wide and six feet or so long. They weresufficient to protect them from the rain which would run under the tentand soak into the ground. Harry had long since learned that a tent and amere strip of plank were a great luxury, and now he appreciated them attheir full value. 

He wrapped himself in the invaluable cloak, stretched his weary bodyupon his own particular plank, and was soon asleep. He was awakened inthe night by a low droning sound. He did not move on his plank, but layuntil his eyes became used partially to the darkness. Then he sawtwo other figures also wrapped in their cloaks and stretched on theirplanks, dusky and motionless. But the fourth figure was kneeling onhis plank and Harry saw that it was Dalton, praying even as StonewallJackson had prayed. 

Then Harry shut his eyes. He was not devout himself, but in the darknessof the night, with the rain beating a tattoo on the canvas walls ofthe tent, he felt very solemn. This was war, red war, and he was in themidst of it. War meant destruction, wounds, agony and death. He mightnever again see Pendleton and his father and his aunt and his cousin, Dick Mason, and Dr. Russell and all his boyhood and school friends. Itwas no wonder that George Dalton prayed. He ought to be praying himself, and lying there and not stirring he said under his breath a simpleprayer that his mother had taught him when he was yet a little child. 

Then he fell asleep again, and awoke no more until the dawn. But whileHarry slept the full dangers of his situation became known to Banks farafter midnight at Strasburg. The regiment and the two guns that hehad sent down the turnpike to relieve Kenly had been fired upon soincessantly by Southern pickets and riflemen that they were compelledto turn back. Everywhere the Northern scouts and skirmishers were drivenin. Despite the darkness and rain they found a wary foe whom they couldnot pass. 

It was nearly two o'clock in the morning when Banks was aroused by astaff officer who said that a man insisted upon seeing him. The man, the officer said, claimed to have news that meant life or death, and hecarried on his person a letter from President Lincoln, empowering him togo where he pleased. He had shown that letter, and his manner indicatedthe most intense and overpowering anxiety. 

Banks was surprised, and he ordered that the stranger be shown in atonce. A tall man, wrapped in a long coat of yellow oilcloth, drippingrain, was brought into the room. He held a faded blue cap in his hand, and the general noticed that the hand was sinewy and powerful. The frontof the coat was open a little at the top, disclosing a dingy blue coat. His high boots were spattered to the tops with mud. 

There was something in the man's stern demeanor and his intense, burninggaze that daunted Banks, who was a brave man himself. Moreover, thegeneral was but half dressed and had risen from a warm couch, whilethe man before him had come in on the storm, evidently from some greatdanger, and his demeanor showed that he was ready for other and instantdangers. For the moment the advantage was with the stranger, despite thedifference in rank. 

"Who are you?" asked the general. 

"My name, sir, is Shepard, William J. Shepard. I am a spy or a scoutin the Union service. I have concealed upon me a letter from PresidentLincoln, empowering me to act in such a capacity and to go where Iplease. Do you wish to see it, sir?"

Shepard spoke with deference, but there was no touch of servility in histone. 

"Show me the letter, " said Banks. 

Shepard thrust a hand into his waistcoat and withdrew a document whichhe handed to the general. Banks glanced through it rapidly. 

"It's from Lincoln, " he said; "I know that handwriting, but it would notbe well for you to be captured with that upon you. "

"If I were about to be captured I should destroy it. "

"Why have you come here? What message do you bring?"

"The worst possible message, sir. Stonewall Jackson and an army oftwenty thousand men will be upon you in the morning. "

"What! What is this you say! It was only a cavalry raid at Front Royal!"

"It was no cavalry raid at Front Royal, sir! It was Jackson and hiswhole army! I ought to have known, sir! I should have got there and havewarned Kenly in time, but I could not! My horse was killed by a rebelsharpshooter in the woods as I was approaching! I could not get up intime, but I saw what happened!"

"Kenly! Kenly, where is he?"

"Mortally wounded or dead, and his army is destroyed! They made a bravestand, even after they were defeated at the village. They might have gotaway had anybody but Jackson been pursuing. But he gave them no chance. They were enveloped by cavalry and infantry, and only a few escaped. "

"Good God!" exclaimed Banks, aghast. 

"Nor is that all, sir. They are close at hand! They will attack youat dawn! They are in full force! Ewell's army has joined Jackson andJackson leads them all! We must leave Strasburg at once or we are lost!"

Shepard's manner admitted of no doubt. Banks hurried forth and sentofficers to question the pickets. All the news they brought wasconfirmatory. Even in the darkness and rain shots had been fired atthem by the Southern skirmishers. Banks sent for all of his importantofficers, the troops were gathered together, and leaving a strongrear-guard, they began a rapid march toward Winchester, which Jacksonhad loved so well. 

Swiftness and decision now on the other side had saved the Northern armyfrom destruction. Banks did not realize until later, despite the urgentwords of Shepard, how formidable was the danger that threatened him. Jackson, despite all the disadvantages of the darkness and the rain, wished to get his army up before daylight, but the deep mud formed bythe pouring rain enabled Banks to slip away from the trap. 

The Southern troops, moreover, were worn to the bone. They had comeninety miles in five days over rough roads, across streams withoutbridges, and over a high mountain, besides fighting a battle of uncommonfierceness. There were limits even to the endurance of Jackson's footcavalry. 

Harry was first awake in the little tent. He sat up and looked at theother three on their planks who were sleeping as if they would neverwake any more. A faint tint of dawn was appearing at the open flap ofthe door. The four had lain down dressed fully, and Harry, as he sprangfrom his board, cried:

"Up, boys, up! The army is about to move!"

The three also sprang to their feet, and went outside. Although the dawnwas as yet faint, the army was awakening rapidly, or rather was beingawakened. The general himself appeared a moment later, dressed fully, the end of a lemon in his mouth, his face worn and haggard by incrediblehardships, but his eyes full of the strength that comes from anunconquerable will. 

He nodded to Harry, Dalton and the others. 

"Five minutes for breakfast, gentlemen, " he said, "and then join me onhorseback, ready for the pursuit of the enemy!"

The few words were like the effects of a galvanic battery on Harry. Peculiarly susceptible to mental power, Jackson was always a stimulusto him. Close contact revealed to him the fiery soul that lay underneaththe sober and silent exterior, and, in his own turn, he caught fire fromit. Youthful, impressionable and extremely sensitive to great mindsand great deeds, Stonewall Jackson had become his hero, who could do nowrong. 

Five minutes for the hasty breakfast and they were in the saddle justbehind Jackson. The rain had ceased, the sun was rising in a clear sky, the country was beautiful once more, and down a long line the Southernbugles were merrily singing the advance. Very soon scattered shots allalong their front showed that they were in touch with the enemy. 

The infantry and cavalry left by Banks as a curtain between himself andJackson did their duty nobly that morning. The pursuit now led into acountry covered with forest, and using every advantage of such shelter, the Northern companies checked the Southern advance as much as washumanly possible. Many of them were good riflemen, particularly thosefrom Ohio, and the cavalry of Ashby, Funsten and Sherburne found thewoods very warm for them. Horses were falling continually, and oftentheir riders fell with them to stay. 

Harry, in the center with the commander, heard the heavy firing to bothright and left, and he glanced often at Jackson. He saw his lips move asif he were talking to himself, and he knew that he was disappointed atthis strong resistance. Troops could move but slowly through woods inthe face of a heavy rifle fire, and meanwhile Banks with his main bodywas escaping to Winchester. 

"Mr. Kenton, " said Jackson sharply, "ride to General Ashby and tell himto push the enemy harder! We must crush at least a portion of this army!It is vital!"

Harry was off as soon as the last words left the general's lips. Hespurred his horse from the turnpike, leaped a low rail fence, andgalloped across a field toward a forest, where Ashby's cavalry wereadvancing and the rifles were cracking fast. 

Bullets from the Northern skirmishers flew over him and beside him, ashe flew about the field, but he thought little of them. He was growingso thoroughly inured to war that he seldom realized the dangers untilthey were passed. 

Neither he nor his horse was hurt--their very speed, perhaps, saved themand they entered the wood, where the Southern cavalry were riding. 

"General Ashby!" he cried to the first man he saw. "Where is he? I've amessage from General Jackson!"

The soldier pointed to a figure on horseback but a short distance away, and Harry galloped up. 

"General Jackson asks you to press the enemy harder!" he said to Ashby. "He wishes him to be driven in rapidly!"

A faint flush came into the brown cheeks of Ashby. 

"He shall be obeyed, " he replied. "We're about to charge in full force!Hold, young man! You can't go back now! You must charge with us!"

He put his hand on Harry's rein as he spoke, and the boy saw that astrong force of Northern cavalry had now appeared in the fields directlybetween him and his general. Ashby turned the next instant to a buglerat his elbow and exclaimed fiercely:

"Blow! Blow with all your might!"

The piercing notes of the charge rang forth again and again. Ashby, shouting loudly and continuously and waving his sword above his head, galloped forward. His whole cavalry force galloped with him and sweptdown upon the defenders. 

Nor did Ashby lack support. The Acadians led by Taylor swung forward ona run, and a battery, coming at the double quick, unlimbered and openedfire. Jackson had directed all, he had brought up the converging lines, and the whole Northern rear guard, two thousand cavalry, some infantryand a battery, were caught. Just before them lay the little village ofMiddletown, and in an instant they were driven into its streets, wherethey were raked by shot and shell from the cannon, while the rifles ofthe cavalry and of the Louisiana troops swept them with bullets. 

Again the Northern soldiers, brave and tenacious though they might be, could make no stand against the terrible rush of Jackson's victoriousand superior numbers. They had no such leading as their foes. The man, the praying professor, was proving himself everything. 

As at Front Royal, the Northern force was crushed. It burst from thevillage in fragments, and fled in many directions. But Jackson urged onthe pursuit. Ashby's cavalry charged again and again, taking prisonerseverywhere. 

The people of Middletown, as red-hot for the South as were those ofFront Royal, rushed from their houses and guided the victors along theright roads. They pointed where two batteries and a train of wagons werefleeing toward Winchester, and Ashby, with his cavalry, Harry still athis elbow, raced in pursuit. 

CHAPTER X. WINCHESTER

Ashby's troopers put the armed guard of the wagons to flight in aninstant, and then they seized the rich pillage in these wagons. Theywere not yet used to the stern discipline of regular armies and Ashbystrove in vain to bring most of them back to the pursuit of the flyingenemy. Harry also sought to help, but they laughed at him, and he hadnot yet come to the point where he could cut down a disobedient soldier. Nor had the soldiers reached the point where they would suffer suchtreatment from an officer. Had Harry tried such a thing it is more thanlikely that he would have been cut down in his turn. 

But the delay and similar delays elsewhere helped the retreatingNorthern army. Banks, feeling that the pursuit was not now so fierce, sent back a strong force with artillery under a capable officer, Gordon, to help the rear. The scattered and flying detachments also gatheredaround Gordon and threw themselves across the turnpike. 

Harry felt the resistance harden and he saw the pursuit of the Southernarmy slow up. The day, too, was waning. Shadows were already appearingin the east and if Jackson would destroy Banks' army utterly he muststrike quick and hard. Harry at that moment caught sight of the generalon the turnpike, on Little Sorrel, the reins lying loose on the horse'sneck, his master sitting erect, and gazing at the darkening battlefieldwhich was spread out before him. 

Harry galloped up and saluted. 

"I could not come back at once, sir, " he said, "because the enemy wascrowded in between Ashby and yourself. "

"But you've come at last. I was afraid you had fallen. "

Harry's face flushed gratefully. He knew now that Stonewall Jacksonwould have missed him. 

"If the night were only a little further away, " continued Jackson, "wecould get them all! But the twilight is fighting for them! And theyfight for themselves also! Look, how those men retreat! They do well fortroops who were surprised and routed not so long ago!"

He spoke in a general way to his staff, but his tone expressed decidedadmiration. Harry felt again that the core of the Northern resistancewas growing harder and harder. The hostile cannon blazed down the road, and the men as they slowly retired sent sheets of rifle bullets at theirpursuers. Detachments of their flying cavalry were stopped, reformed onthe flanks, and had the temerity to charge the victors more than once. 

Harry did not notice now that the twilight was gone and the sun had sunkbehind the western mountains. The road between pursuer and pursued waslighted up by the constant flashes of cannon and rifles, and at timeshe fancied that he could see the vengeful and threatening faces of thosewhom he followed, but it was only fancy, fancy bred by battle and itsexcitement. 

The pursued crossed a broad marshy creek, the Opequon, and suddenlyformed in line of battle behind it with the cavalry on their flanks. The infantry poured in heavier volleys than before and their horsemen, charging suddenly upon a Virginia regiment that was trying to cross, sent it back in rapid retreat. 

After the great volleys it was dark for a moment or two and then Harrysaw that General Jackson and his staff were sitting alone on theirhorses on the turnpike. The Northern rifles flashed again on the edge ofthe creek, and from a long stone fence, behind which they had also takenrefuge for a last stand. 

Harry and his comrades urged Jackson off the turnpike, where he was afair target for the rifles whenever there was light, and into the bushesbeside it. They were just in time, as the night was illuminated aninstant later by cannon flashes and then a shower of bullets swept theroad where Jackson and his staff had been. 

Harry thought that they would stop now, but he did not yet know fullyhis Stonewall Jackson. He ordered up another Virginia regiment, which, reckless of death, charged straight in front, crossed the creek anddrove the men in blue out of their position. 

Yet the Northern troops, men from Massachusetts, refused to be routed. They fell back in good order, carrying their guns with them, andstopping at intervals to fire with cannon and rifles at their pursuers. Jackson and his staff spurred through the Opequon. Water and mud flew inHarry's face, but he did not notice them. He was eager to be up with thefirst, because Jackson was still urging on the pursuit, even far intothe night. Banks with his main force had escaped him for the time, buthe did not mean that the Northern commander should make his retreat atleisure. 

Harry had never passed through such a night. It contained nothing butcontinuous hours of pursuit and battle. The famous foot cavalry hadmarched nearly twenty miles that day, they had fought a hard combatthat afternoon, and they were still fighting. But Jackson allowed not amoment's delay. He was continually sending messengers to regiments andcompanies to hurry up, always to hurry up, faster, and faster and yetfaster. 

Harry carried many such messages. In the darkness and the confusionhis clothing was half torn off him by briars and bushes. His horse felltwice, stumbling into gulleys, but fortunately neither he nor his riderwas injured. Often he was compelled to rein up suddenly lest he rideover the Southern lads themselves. All around him he heard the pantingof men pushed to the last ounce of their strength, and often there wasswearing, too. Once in the darkness he heard the voice of a boy cry out:

"Oh, Lord, have mercy on me and let me go to Hades! The Devil will havemercy on me, but Stonewall Jackson never will!"

Harry did not laugh, nor did he hear anyone else laugh. He had expressedthe opinion that many of them held at that moment. Stonewall Jackson wasdriving them on in the darkness and the light that he furnished them wasa flaming sword. It was worse to shirk and face him, than it was to goon and face the cannon and rifles of the enemy. 

They called upon their reserves of strength for yet another ounce, andit came. The pursuit thundered on, through the woods and bushesand across the hills and valleys, but the men in blue, in spite ofeverything, retained their ranks on the turnpike, retreated in order, and facing at intervals, sent volley after volley against the foe. Itwas impossible for the Southern army to ride them down or destroy themwith cannon and rifle. 

Harry came back about midnight from one of his messages, to Jackson, whowas again riding on the turnpike. Most of his staff were gone on likeerrands, but General Taylor who led the Acadians was now with him. Offin front the rifles were flashing, and again and again, bullets whistlednear them. Harry said nothing but fell in behind Jackson and close tohim to await some new commission. 

They heard the thunder of a horse's hoofs behind them, and a mangalloped up, he as well as his horse breathing hard. 

He was the chief quartermaster of the army, and Jackson recognized himat once, despite the dark. 

"Where are the wagon trains?" exclaimed Jackson, shouting forth hiswords. 

"They're far behind. They were held up by a bad road in the Lurayvalley. We did our best, sir, " replied the officer, his voice tremblingwith weariness and nervousness. 

"And the ammunition wagons, where are they?"

The voice was stern, even accusing, but the officer met Jackson's gazefirmly. 

"They are all right, sir, " he replied. "I sacrificed the other wagonsfor them, though. They're at hand. "

"You have done well, sir, " said Jackson, and Harry thought he saw himsmile. No food for his veterans, but plenty of powder. It was exactlywhat would appeal to Stonewall Jackson. 

"Supply more powder and bullets to the men, " said Jackson presently. "Keep on pushing the enemy! Never stop for a moment. "

Harry mechanically put his hand in his pocket, why he did not know, buthe felt a piece of bread and meat that he had put there in the morning. He fingered the foreign substance a moment, and it occurred to himthat it was good to eat. It occurred to him next that he had not eatenanything since morning, and this body of his, which for the time beingseemed to be dissevered from mind, might be hungry. 

He took out the food and looked at it. It was certainly good to theeyes, and the body was not so completely dissevered after all, as itbegan to signal the mind that it was, in very truth, hungry. He wasabout to raise the food to his lips and then he remembered. 

Spurring forward a little he held out the bread and meat to Jackson. 

"It's cold and hard, sir, " he said, "but you'll find it good. "

"It's thoughtful of you, " said Jackson. "I'll take half and see that youeat the rest. Give none of it to this hungry horde around me. They'reable to forage for themselves. "

Jackson ate his half and Harry his. That reminded most of the officersthat they had food also, and producing it they divided it and fellto with an appetite. As they ate, a shell from one of the retreatingNorthern batteries burst almost over their heads and fragments of hotmetal struck upon the hard road. They ate on complacently. When Jacksonhad finished his portion he took out one of his mysterious lemons andbegan to suck the end of it. 

Midnight was now far behind and the pursuit never halted. One of theofficers remarked jokingly that he had accepted an invitation to takebreakfast on the Yankee stores in Winchester the next morning. Jacksonmade no comment. Harry a few minutes later uttered a little cry. 

"What is it?" asked Jackson. 

"We're coming upon our old battlefield of Kernstown. I know those hillseven in the dark. "

"So we are. You have good eyes, boy. It's been a long march, but here weare almost back in Winchester. "

"The enemy are massing in front, sir, " said Dalton. "It looks as if theymeant to make another stand. "

The Massachusetts troops, their hearts bitter at the need to retreat, were forming again on a ridge behind Kernstown, and the Pennsylvaniansand others were joining them. Their batteries opened heavily on theirpursuers, and the night was lighted again with the flame of many cannonand rifles. 

But their efforts were vain against the resistless advance of Jackson. The peal of the Southern trumpets was heard above cannon and rifles, always calling upon the men to advance, and, summoning their strengthanew, they hurled themselves upon the Northern position. 

Fighting hard, but unable to turn the charge, the men in blue weredriven on again, leaving more prisoners and more spoil in the hands oftheir pursuers. The battle at three o'clock in the morning lasted but ashort time. 

The sound of the retreating column, the footsteps, the hoof-beats andthe roll of the cannon, died away down the turnpike. But the sound ofthe army marching in pursuit died, also. Jackson's men could call upno further ounce of strength. The last ounce had gone long ago. Many ofthem, though still marching and at times firing, were in a mere daze. The roads swam past them in a dark blur and more than one babbled ofthings at home. 

It would soon be day and there was Winchester, where the kin of so manyof them lived, that Winchester they had left once, but to which theywere now coming back as conquerors, conquerors whose like had not beenseen since the young Napoleon led his republican troops to the conquestof Italy. No, those French men were not as good as they. They could notmarch so long and over such roads. They could not march all day and allnight, too, fighting and driving armies of brave men before them as theyfought. Yes, the Yankees were brave men! They were liars who said theywouldn't fight! If you didn't believe it, all you had to do was tofollow Stonewall Jackson and see!

Such thoughts ran in many a young head in that army and Harry's, too, was not free from them, although it was no new thing to him to admitthat the Yankees could and would fight just as well as the men of hisSouth. The difference in the last few days lay in the fact that theSouthern army was led by a man while the Northern army was led by meremen. 

The command to halt suddenly ran along the lines of Jackson's troops, and, before it ceased to be repeated, thousands were lying prostrate inthe woods or on the grass. They flung themselves down just as they were, reckless of horses or wagons or anything else. Why should they care?They were Jackson's men. They had come a hundred miles, whipping armiesas they came, and they were going to whip more. But now they meant torest and sleep a little while, and they would resume the whipping aftersunrise. 

It was but a little while until dawn and they lay still. Harry, who hadkept his eyes open, felt sorry for them as they lay motionless in thechill of the dawn, like so many dead men. 

Jackson himself took neither sleep nor rest. Without even a cloak tokeep off the cold of dawn, he walked up and down, looking at the silentranks stretched upon the ground, or going forward a little to gazein the direction of Winchester. Nothing escaped his eye, and he heardeverything. Dalton, too, had refused to lie down and he stood withHarry. The two gazed at the sober figure walking slowly to and fro. 

"He begins to frighten me, " whispered Dalton. "He now seems to me attimes, Harry, not to be human, or rather more than human. It has beenmore than a day and night now since he has taken a second of rest, andhe appears to need none. "

"He is human like the rest of us, but the flame in him burns stronger. He gets cold and hungry and tired just as we do, but his will carrieshim on all the same. "

"I'm thankful that I fight with him and not against him, " said Daltonearnestly. 

"Yes, and you're going to march again with him in five minutes. See thegray blur in the east, George. It's the dawn and Jackson never waits onthe morning. "

Jackson was already giving the order for the men to awake and marchforth to battle. It seemed to most of them that they had closed theireyes but a minute before. They rose, half awake, without food, cold, and stiff from the frightful exertions of the day and night before, andadvanced mechanically in line. 

The sun again was yellow and bright in a clear blue sky, and soon theday would be warm. As they heard the sound of the trumpets they shooksleep wholly from their eyes, and, as they moved, much of the sorenesswent from their bones. Not far before them was Winchester. 

Banks was in Winchester with his army. The fierce pursuit of the nightbefore had filled him with dismay, but with the morning he recalled hiscourage and resolved to make a victorious stand with the valiant troopsthat he led. Many of his officers told him how these men had foughtJackson all through the night, and he found abundant cause for courage. 

Harry and Dalton sprang into the saddle again, and, as they rode withJackson, they saw that the whole Southern army was at hand. Ewell wasthere and the cavalry and the Acadians, their band saluting the morningwith a brave battle march. It sent the blood dancing through Harry'sveins. He forgot his immense exertions, dangers and hardships and thathe had had no sleep in twenty-four hours. 

Before him lay the enemy. It was no longer Jackson who retreated beforeoverwhelming numbers. He had the larger force now, at least wherethe battle was fought, and although the Northern troops in thevalley exceeded him three or four to one, he was with his single armydestroying their detached forces in detail. 

General Jackson, General Taylor and several other high officers werejust in front of the first Southern line, and Harry and Dalton sat ontheir horses a few yards in the rear. The two generals were examiningthe Northern position minutely through their glasses, and the chief, turning presently to Harry, said:

"You have young and strong eyes. Tell me what you can see. "

Harry raised the splendid pair of glasses that he had captured in one ofthe engagements and took a long, careful look. 

"I can see west of the turnpike, " he said, "at least four or fiveregiments and a battery of eight big guns. I think, too, that there is aforce of cavalry behind them. On the right, sir, I see stone fences andthe windings of the creeks with large masses of infantry posted behindthem. "

He spoke modestly, but with confidence. 

"Your eyesight agrees with mine, " said Jackson. "We outnumber them, butthey have the advantage of the defense. But it shall not avail them. "

He spoke to himself rather than to the others, but Harry heard everyword he said, and he already felt the glow of the victory that Jacksonhad promised. He now considered it impossible for Jackson to promise invain. 

The sun was rising on another brilliant morning, and the two armies thathad been fighting all through the dark now stood face to face in fullforce in the light. Behind the Northern army was Winchester in all thethroes of anxiety or sanguine hope. 

The people had heard two or three days before that Jackson was fightinghis way back toward the north, winning wherever he fought. They hadheard in the night the thunder of his guns coming, always nearer, andthe torrents of fugitives in the dark had told them that the Northernarmy was pushed hard. Now in the morning they were looking eagerlysouthward, hoping to see Jackson's gray legions driving the enemy beforehim. But it was yet scarcely full dawn, and for a while they heardnothing. 

Jackson waited a little and scanned the field again. The morning had nowcome in the west as well as in the east, and he saw the strong Northernartillery posted on both sides of the turnpike, threatening the Southernadvance. 

"We must open with the cannon, " he said, and he dispatched Harry andDalton to order up the guns. 

The Southern batteries were pushed forward, and opened with a terrificcrash on their enemy, telling the waiting people in Winchester that thebattle had begun. The infantry and cavalry on either side, eager despitetheir immense exertions and loss of rest and lack of food, were heldback by their officers, while the artillery combat went on. 

Jackson, anxious to see the result, rode a little further forward, andthe group of staff officers, of course, went with him. Some keen-eyedNorthern gunner picked them out, and a shell fell near. Then cameanother yet nearer, and when it burst it threw dirt all over them. 

"A life worth so much as General Jackson's should not be risked thisway, " whispered Dalton to Harry, "but I don't dare say anything to him. "

"Nor do I, and if we did dare he'd pay no attention to us. Our gunnersdon't seem to be driving their gunners away. Do you notice that, George?"

"Yes, I do and so does General Jackson. I can see him frowning. "

The Northern batteries, nearly always of high quality, were doingvaliant service that morning. The three batteries on the left of theturnpike and another of eight heavy rifled guns on the right, swept thewhole of Jackson's front with solid shot, grape and shell. The Southernguns, although more numerous, were unable to crush them. The batteriesof the South were suffering the more. One of them was driven backwith the loss of half its men and horses. At another every officer waskilled. 

"They outshoot us, " said Dalton to Harry, "and they make a splendidstand for men who have been kept on the run for two days and nights. "

"So they do, " said Harry, "but sooner or later they'll have to give way. I heard General Jackson say that we would win a victory. "

Dalton glanced at him. 

"So you feel that way, too, " he said very seriously. "I got the beliefsome time ago. If he says we'll win we'll win. His prediction settles itin my mind. "

"There's a fog rising from the creek, " said Harry, "and it's growingheavier. I think Ewell was to march that way with his infantry and itwill hold him back. Chance is against us. "

"His guns have been out of action, but there they come again! I can'tsee them, but I can hear them through the mist. "

"And here goes the main force on our left. Stonewall is about tostrike. "

Harry had discovered the movement the moment it was begun. The wholeStonewall brigade, the Acadians and other regiments making a formidableforce, moved to the left and charged. Gordon, Banks' able assistant, threw in fresh troops to meet the Southern rush, and they fired almostpoint blank in the faces of the men in gray. Harry, riding forwardwith the eager Jackson, saw many fall, but the Southern charge was notchecked for a moment. The men, firing their rifles, leaped the stonefences and charged home with the bayonet. The Northern regiments weredriven back in disorder and their cavalry sweeping down to protect them, were met by such a sleet of bullets that they, too, were driven back. 

Now all the Southern regiments came up. Infantry, cavalry and artillerycrossed the creek and the ridges and formed in a solid line whichnothing could resist. The enemy, carrying away what cannon he could, wasdriven swiftly before them. The rebel yell, wild and triumphant, swelledfrom ten thousand throats as Jackson's army rushed forward, pursuing theenemy into Winchester. 

Harry was shouting with the rest. He couldn't help it. The sober Daltonhad snatched off his cap, and he, too, was shouting. Then Harry sawJackson himself giving way to exultation, for the first time. He wasback at Winchester which he loved so well, he had defeated the enemybefore it, and now he was about to chase him through its streets. Hespurred his horse at full speed down a rocky hill, snatched off his cap, whirled it around his head and cried at the top of his voice again andagain:

"Chase them to the Potomac! Chase them to the Potomac!"

Harry and Dalton, hearing the cry, took it up and shouted it, too. Before them was a vast bank of smoke and dust, shot with fire, and thebattle thundered as it rolled swiftly into Winchester. The Northernofficers, still strove to prevent a rout. They performed prodigies ofvalor. Many of them fell, but the others, undaunted, still cried to themen to turn and beat off the foe. 

Winchester suddenly shot up from the dust and smoke. The battle went onin the town more fiercely than ever. Torrents of shell and bullets sweptthe narrow streets, but many of the women did not hesitate to appear atthe windows and shout amid all the turmoil and roar of battle cheers andpraise for those whom they considered their deliverers. Over all rosethe roar and flame of a vast conflagration where Banks had set hisstorehouses on fire, but the women cheered all the more when they sawit. 

Harry did his best to keep up with his general, but Jackson still seemedto be aflame with excitement. He was in the very front of the attack andhe cried to his men incessantly to push on. It was not enough to takeWinchester. They must follow the beaten army to the Potomac. 

Harry had a vision of flame-swept streets, of the whizzing of bulletsand shell, of men crowded thick between the houses, and of the faces ofwomen at windows, handkerchiefs and veils in their hands. Before him wasa red mist sown with sparks, but every minute or two the mist was rentopen by the blast of a cannon, and then the fragments of shell whistledagain about his ears. He kept his eyes on Jackson, endeavoring to followhim as closely as possible. 

He heard suddenly a cry behind him. He saw Dalton's horse falling, andthen Dalton and the horse disappeared. He felt a catch at the heart, but it was not a time to remember long. The Southern troops were stillpouring forward driving hard on the Northern resistance. 

He heard a moment or two later a voice by his side and there was Daltonagain mounted. 

"I thought you were gone!" Harry shouted. 

"I was gone for a minute but it was only my horse that stayed. He wasshot through the heart but I caught another--plenty of riderless onesare galloping about--and here I am. "

The houses and the narrow streets offered some support to the defenseof Banks, but he was gradually driven through the town and out intothe fields beyond. Then the women, careless of bullets, came out of thehouses and weeping and cheering urged on the pursuit. It always seemedto Harry that the women of this section hated the North more than themen did, and now it was in very fact and deed the fierce women of theSouth cheering on their men. 

He came in the fields into contact with the Invincibles. St. Clair wason foot, his horse killed, but Langdon was still riding, although therewas a faint trickle of blood from his shoulder. Some grim demon seizedhim as he saw Harry. 

"We said we were coming back to Winchester, " he shouted in his comrade'sear, "and we have come, but we don't stay. Harry, how long does Old Jackexpect us to march and fight without stopping?"

"Until you get through. "

Then the Invincibles, curving a little to the right, were lost in theflame and smoke, and the pursuit, Jackson continually urging it, swepton. He seemed to Harry to be all fire. He shouted again and again. "Wemust follow them to the Potomac! To the Potomac! To the Potomac!" Hesent his staff flying to every regimental commander with orders. He hadthe horses cut from the artillery and men mounted on them to continuethe pursuit. He inquired continually for the cavalry. Harry, afterreturning from his second errand with orders, was sent on a third toAshby. There was no time to write any letter. He was to tell him to comeup with cavalry and attack the Federal rear with all his might. 

Harry found Ashby far away on the right, and with but fifty men. Therest had been scattered. He galloped back to his general and reported. He saw Jackson bite his lip in annoyance, but he said nothing. Harry remained by his side and the chase went on through the fields. Winchester was left out of sight behind, but the crashing of the riflesand the shouts of the troopers did not cease. 

The Northern army had not yet dissolved. Although many commands wereshattered and others destroyed, the core of it remained, and, as itretreated, it never ceased to strike back. Harry saw why Jackson wasso anxious to bring up his cavalry. A strong charge by them and thefighting half of the Northern force would be split asunder. Then nothingwould be left but to sweep up the fragments. 

But Jackson's men had reached the limit of human endurance. They werenot made of steel as their leader was, and the tremendous exultation ofspirit that had kept them up through battle and pursuit began to die. Their strength, once its departure started, ebbed fast. Their kneescrumpled under them and the weakest fell unwounded in the fields. Thegaps between them and the Northern rear-guard widened, and gradually theflying army of Banks disappeared among the hills and woods. 

Banks, deeming himself lucky to have saved a part of his troops, did notstop until he reached Martinsburg, twenty-two miles north of Winchester. There he rested a while and resumed his flight, other flying detachmentsjoining him as he went. He reached the Potomac at midnight with lessthan half of his army, and boats carried the wearied troops over thebroad river behind which they found refuge. 

Most of the victors meanwhile lay asleep in the fields north ofWinchester, but others had gone back to the town and were making anequitable division of the Northern stores among the different regiments. Harry and Dalton were sent with those who went to the town. On theirway Harry saw St. Clair and Langdon lying under an apple tree, still andwhite. He thought at first they were dead, but stopping a moment he sawtheir chests rising and falling with regular motion, and he knewthat they were only sleeping. The whiteness of their faces was due toexhaustion. 

Feeling great relief he rode on and entered the exultant town. He markedmany of the places that he had known before, the manse where the goodminister lived, the churches and the colonnaded houses, in more than oneof which he had passed a pleasant hour. 

Here Harry saw people that he knew. They could not do enough for him. They wanted to overwhelm him with food, with clothes, with anything hewanted. They wanted him to tell over and over again of that wonderfulmarch of theirs, how they had issued suddenly from the mountains in thewake of the flying Milroy, how they had marched down the valley winningbattle after battle, marching and fighting without ceasing, both by dayand by night. 

He was compelled to decline all offers of hospitality save food, whichhe held in his hands and ate as he went about his work. When he finishedhe went back to his general, and being told that he was wanted no morefor the night, wrapped himself in his cloak and lay down under an appletree. 

He felt then that mother-earth was truly receiving him into her kindlylap. He had not closed his eyes for nearly two days--it seemed amonth--and looking back at all through which he had passed it seemedincredible. Human beings could not endure so much. They marched throughfire, where Stonewall Jackson led, and they never ceased to march. Hesaw just beyond the apple tree a dusky figure walking up and down. Itwas Jackson. Would he never rest? Was he not something rather more thannormal after all? Harry was very young and he rode with his hero, seeinghim do his mighty deeds. 

But nature had given all that it had to yield, and soon he slept, lyingmotionless and white like St. Clair and Langdon. But all through thenight the news of Jackson's great blow was traveling over the wires. Hehad struck other fierce blows, but this was the most terrible of themall. Alarm spread through the whole North. Lincoln and his Cabinet saw agreat army of rebels marching on Washington. A New York newspaper whichhad appeared in the morning with the headline, "Fall of Richmond, "appeared at night with the headline "Defeat of General Banks. "McDowell's army, which, marching by land, was to co-operate withMcClellan in the taking of Richmond, was recalled to meet Jackson. Thegovernors of the loyal states issued urgent appeals for more troops. 

Harry learned afterward how terribly effective had been the blow. Thewhole Northern campaign had been upset by the meteoric appearance ofJackson and the speed with which he marched and fought. McDowell's armyof 40, 000 men and a hundred guns had been scattered, and it would takehim much time to get it all together again. McClellan, advancing onRichmond, was without the support on his right which McDowell was tofurnish and was compelled to hesitate. 

But Jackson's foot cavalry were soon to find that they were not to reston their brilliant exploits. As eager as ever, their general was makingthem ready for another great advance further into the North. 

CHAPTER XI. THE NIGHT RIDE

Harry was back with the general in a few hours, but now he was allowed alittle time for himself. It seemed to occur suddenly to Jackson that themembers of his staff, especially the more youthful ones, could not marchand fight more than two or three days without food and rest. 

"You've done well, Harry, " he said--he was beginning to call the boy byhis first name. 

The words of praise were brief, and they were spoken in a dry tone, butthey set Harry's blood aflame. He had been praised by Stonewall Jackson, the man who considered an ordinary human being's best not more thanthird rate. Harry, like all the others in the valley army, saw thatJackson was setting a new standard in warfare. 

Tremendously elated he started in search of his friends. He found theInvincibles, that is, all who were left alive, stretched flat upontheir sides or backs in the orchard. It seemed to him that St. Clairand Langdon had not moved a hair's breadth since he had seen them therebefore. But their faces were not so white now. Color was coming back. 

He put the toe of his boot against Langdon's side and shoved gently butfirmly. Langdon awoke and sat up indignantly. 

"How dare you, Harry Kenton, disturb a gentleman who is occupied withhis much-needed slumbers?" he asked. 

"General Jackson wants you. "

"Old Jack wants me! Now, what under the sun can he want with me?"

"He wants you to take some cavalry, gallop to Washington, go all aroundthe city, inspect all its earthworks and report back here by nightfall. "

"You're making that up, Harry; but for God's sake don't make thatsuggestion to Old Jack. He'd send me on that trip sure, and then have mehanged as an example in front of the whole army, when I failed. "

"I won't say anything about it. "

"You're a bright boy, Harry, and you're learning fast. But things couldbe a lot worse. We could have been licked instead of licking the enemy. I could be dead instead of lying here on the grass, tired but alive. But, Harry, I'm growing old fast. "

"How old are you, Tom?"

"Last week I was nineteen, to-day I'm ninety-nine, and if this sort ofthing keeps up I'll be a hundred and ninety-nine next week. "

St. Clair also awoke and sat up. In some miraculous manner he hadrestored his uniform to order and he was as neat and precise as usual. 

"You two talk too much, " he said. "I was in the middle of a beautifuldream, when I heard you chattering away. "

"What was your dream, Arthur?" asked Harry. 

"I was in St. Andrew's Hall in Charleston, dancing with the mostbeautiful girl you ever saw. I don't know who she was, I didn't identifyher in my dream. There were lots of other beautiful girls there dancingwith fellows like myself, and the roses were everywhere, and the musicrose and fell like the song of angels, and I was so happy and--Iawoke to find myself here on a hillside with a ragged army that's beenmarching and fighting for days and weeks, and which, for all I know, will keep it up for years and years longer. "

"I've a piece of advice for you, Arthur, " said Langdon. 

"What is it?"

"Quit dreaming. It's a bad habit, especially when you're in war. Thedream is sure to be better than the real thing. You won't be dancingagain in Charleston for a long time, nor will I. All those beautifulgirls you were dreaming about but couldn't name will be without partnersuntil we're a lot older than we are now. "

Langdon spoke with a seriousness very uncommon in him, and lay backagain on the ground, where he began to chew a grass stem meditatively. 

"Go back to sleep, boys, you'll need it, " said Harry lightly. "Our nextmarch is to be a thousand miles, and we're to have a battle at everymilestone. "

"You mean that as a joke, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it cametrue, " said Langdon, as he closed his eyes again. 

Harry went on and found the two colonels sitting in the shadow of astone fence. One of them had his arm in a sling, but he assured Harrythe wound was slight. They gave him a glad and paternal welcome. 

"In the kind of campaign we're waging, " said Colonel Leonidas Talbot, "Iassume that anybody is dead until I see him alive. Am I not right, eh, Hector?"

"Assuredly you're right, Leonidas, " replied Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire. "Our young men don't get frightened because they don't havetime to think about it. Before we can get excited over the battle inwhich we are engaged we've begun the next one. It is also a matterof personal pride to me that one of the best bodies of troops in theservice of General Jackson is of French descent like myself. "

"The Acadians, colonel, " said Harry. "Grand troops they are. "

"It is the French fighting blood, " said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, with a little trace of the grandiloquent in his tone. "Slurshave been cast at the race from which I sprang since the rout and flightat Waterloo, but how undeserved they are! The French have burned moregunpowder and have won more great battles without the help of alliesthan any other nation in Europe. And their descendants in North Americahave shown their valor all the way from Quebec to New Orleans, althoughwe are widely separated now, and scarcely know the speech of oneanother. "

"It's true, Hector, " said Colonel Leonidas Talbot. "I think I've heardyou say as much before, but it will bear repeating. Do you think, Hector, that you happen to have about you a cigarette that has survivedthe campaign?"

"Several of them, Leonidas. Here, help yourself. Harry, I would offerone to you, but I do not recommend the cigarette to the young. You don'tsmoke! So much the better. It's a bad habit, permissible only to theold. Leonidas, do you happen to have a match?"

"Yes, Hector, I made sure about that before I asked you for thecigarettes. Be careful when you light it. There is only one match forthe cigarettes of both. "

"I'll bring you a coal from one of the campfires, " said Harry, springingup. 

But Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire waved him down courteously, though rather reprovingly. 

"You would never fire a cannon shot to kill a butterfly, " he said, "andneither will I ever light a delicate cigarette with a huge, shapelesscoal from a campfire. It would be an insult to the cigarette, and aftersuch an outrage I could never draw a particle of flavor from it. No, Harry, we thank you, you mean well, but we can do it better. "

Harry sat down again. The two colonels, who had been through days ofcontinuous marching and fighting, knelt in the lee of the fence, andLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire also shaded the operation withhis hat as an additional protection. Colonel Leonidas Talbot carefullystruck the match. The flame sputtered up and his friend brought his hatcloser to protect it. Then both lighted their cigarettes, settled backagainst the fence, and a deep peace appeared upon their two faces. 

"Hector, " said Colonel Talbot, "only we old soldiers know how little ittakes to make a man happy. "

"You speak truly, Leonidas. In the last analysis it's a mere matter offood, clothes and shelter, with perhaps a cigarette or two. In Mexico, when we advanced from Vera Cruz to the capital, it was often very coldon the mountains. I can remember coming in from some battle, aching withweariness and cold, but after I had eaten good food and basked halfan hour before a fire I would feel as if I owned the earth. Physicalcomfort, carried to the very highest degree, produces mental comfortalso. "

"Sound words, Hector. The starved, the cold and the shelterless cannever be happy. God knows that I am no advocate of war, although it ismy trade. It is a terrible thing for people to kill one another, but itdoes grind you down to the essentials. Because it is war you and I havean acute sense of luxury, lying here against a stone fence, smoking acouple of cigarettes. "

"That is, Leonidas, we are happy when we have attained what we haveneeded a long time, and which we have been a long time without. It hasoccurred to me that the cave-man, in all his primitive nakedness, musthave had some thrilling moments, moments of pleasures of the body, themind and the imagination allied, which we modern beings cannot feel. "

"To what moments do you allude, Hector?"

"Suppose that he has just eluded a monstrous saber-toothed tiger, andhas slipped into his cave by the opening, entirely too small for anygreat beast of prey. He is in his home. A warm fire is burning on aflat stone. His wife--beautiful to him--is cooking savory meats forhim. Around the walls are his arms and their supplies. They eat placidlywhile the huge tiger from which he has escaped by a foot or less roarsand glowers without. The contrast between the danger and that house, which is the equivalent to a modern palace, comes home to him with athrill more keen and penetrating than anything we can ever feel. 

"The man and his wife eat their evening meal, and retire to their bedof dry leaves in the corner. They fall asleep while the frenzied andferocious tiger is still snarling and growling. They know he cannot getat them, and his gnashings and roarings are merely a lullaby, soothingthem to the sweetest of slumbers. You could not duplicate that in theage in which we live, Leonidas. "

"No, Hector, we couldn't. But, as for me, I can spare such thrills. Itseems to me that we have plenty of danger of our own just now. I mustsay, however, that you put these matters in a fine, poetic way. Have youever written verses, Hector?"

"A few, but never for print, Leonidas. I am happy to think that afew sonnets and triolets of mine are cherished by middle-aged but yethandsome women of Charleston that we both know. "

Harry left them still talking in rounded sentences and always in perfectagreement. He thought theirs a beautiful friendship, and he hoped thathe should have friendships like it, when he was as old as they. 

But he and all the other prophets were right. The restless Jackson soontook up the northward march again. He was drawing farther and fartheraway from McClellan and the Southern army before Richmond, and the greatstorm that was gathering there. The army of Banks was not yet whollydestroyed, and there were other Northern and undestroyed armies in thevalley. His task there was not yet finished. Jackson pushed on towardHarper's Ferry on the Potomac. He was now, though to the westward, further north than Washington itself, and with other armies in hisrear he was taking daring risks. But as usual, he kept his counsels tohimself. All was hidden under that battered cap to become later an oldslouch hat, and the men who followed him were content to go wherever heled. 

The old Stonewall Brigade was in the van and Jackson and his staff werewith it. The foot cavalry refreshed by a good rest were marching againat a great rate. 

Harry was detached shortly after the start, and was sent to GeneralWinder with orders for him to hurry forward with the fine troops underhis command. Before he could leave Winder he ran into a strong Northernforce at Charleston, and the Southern division attacked at once with allthe dash and vigor that Jackson had imparted to his men. They had, too, the confidence bred by continuous victory, while the men in blue weredepressed by unbroken defeats. 

The Northern force was routed in fifteen or twenty minutes and fledtoward the river, leaving behind it all its baggage and stores. Harrycarried the news to Jackson and saw the general press his thin lipstogether more closely than ever. He knew that the hope of destroyingBanks utterly was once more strong in the breast of their leader. Themembers of the staff were all sent flying again with messages to theregiments to hurry. 

The whole army swung forward at increased pace. Jackson did not knowwhat new troops had come for Banks, but soon he saw the heights south ofHarper's Ferry, and the same glance told him that they were crowded withsoldiers. General Saxton with seven thousand men and eighteen guns hadundertaken to hold the place against his formidable opponent. 

General Jackson held a brief council, and, when it was over, summonedHarry and Dalton to him. 

"You are both well mounted and have had experience, " he said. "Youunderstand that the army before us is not by any means the only onethat the Yankees have. Shields, Ord and Fremont are all leading armiesagainst us. We can defeat Saxton's force, but we must not be caught inany trap. Say not a word of this to anybody, but ride in the directionI'm pointing and see if you can find the army of Shields. Other scoutsare riding east and west, but you must do your best, nevertheless. Perhaps both of you will not come back, but one of you must. Take foodin your saddle bags and don't neglect your arms. "

He turned instantly to give orders to others and Harry and Daltonmounted and rode, proud of their trust, and resolved to fulfill it. Evening was coming as they left the army, and disappeared among thewoods. They had only the vague direction given by Jackson, derivedprobably from reports, brought in by other scouts, but it was theirmission to secure definite and exact information. 

"You know this country, George, don't you?" asked Harry. 

"I've ridden over all of it. They say that Shields with a large part ofMcDowell's army is approaching the valley through Manassas Gap. It's along ride from here, Harry, but I think we'd better make for it. Thishorse of mine is one of the best ever bred in the valley. He could carryme a hundred miles by noon to-morrow. "

"Mine's not exactly a plough horse, " said Harry, as he stroked the maneof his own splendid bay, one especially detailed for him on this errand. "If yours can go a hundred miles by noon to-morrow so can mine. "

"Suppose, then, we go a little faster. "

"Suits me. "

The riders spoke a word or two. The two grand horses stretched out theirnecks, and they sped away southward. For a while they rode over theroad by which they had come. It was yet early twilight and they saw manymarks of their passage, a broken-down wagon, a dead horse, an explodedcaisson, and now and then something from which they quickly turned awaytheir eyes. 

Dalton knew the roads well, and at nightfall they bore in toward theright. They had already come a long distance, and in the darkness theywent more slowly. 

"I think there's a farmhouse not much further on, " said Dalton, "andwe'll ask there for information. It's safe to do so because all thepeople through here are on our side. There, you can see the house now. "

The moonlight disclosed a farmhouse, surrounded by a lawn that waswell sprinkled with big trees, but as they approached Harry and Daltonsimultaneously reined their horses back into the wood. They had seen adozen troopers on the lawn, and the light was good enough to show thattheir uniforms were or had been blue. A woman was standing in the opendoor of the house, and one of the men, who seemed to be the leader, wastalking to her. 

"Yankee scouts, " whispered Harry. 

"Undoubtedly. The Yankee generals are waking up--Jackson has made 'em doit, but I didn't expect to find their scouts so far in the valley. "

"Nor I. Suppose we wait here, George, until they leave. "

"It's the thing to do. "

They rode a little further into the woods where they were safe fromobservation, and yet could watch what was passing at the house. Butthey did not have to wait long. The troopers evidently got littlesatisfaction from the woman to whom they were talking and turned theirhorses. Harry saw her disappear inside, and he fairly heard the doorslam when it closed. The men galloped southward down the road. 

Harry heard a chuckle beside him and he turned in astonishment. 

"I'm laughing, " said Dalton, "because I've got a right to laugh. Here inthe valley we are all kin to one another just as you people in Kentuckyare all related. The woman who stood in the doorway is Cousin ElizaPomeroy. She's about my seventh cousin, but she's my cousin just thesame, and if we could have heard it we would have enjoyed what she wassaying to those Yankees. "

"Oughtn't we to stop also and get news, if we can?"

"Of course. We must have a talk with Cousin Eliza. "

They emerged from the woods, opened the gate and rode upon the lawn. Nota ray of light came from the house anywhere. Every door and shutter wasfast. 

"Knock on the door with the hilt of your sword, Harry, " said Dalton. "Itwill bring Cousin Eliza. She can't have gone to sleep yet. "

Harry dismounted and holding the reins of his horse over his arm, knocked loudly. There was no reply. 

"Beat harder, Harry. She's sure to hear. "

Harry beat upon that door until he bruised the hilt of his sword. Atlast it was thrown open violently, and a powerful woman of middle yearsappeared. 

"I thought you Yankees had gone forever!" she exclaimed. "You'd betterhurry or Stonewall Jackson will get you before morning!"

"We're not Yankees, ma'am, " said Harry, politely. "We're Southerners, Stonewall Jackson's own men, scouts from his army, here looking for newsof the enemy. "

"A fine tale, young man. You're trying to fool me with your grayuniform. Stonewall Jackson's men are fifteen miles north of here, chasing the Yankees by thousands into the Potomac. They say he does itjust as well by night as by day, and that he never sleeps or rests. "

"What my comrade tells you is true. Good evening, Cousin Eliza!" said agentle voice beyond Harry. 

The woman started and then stepped out of the door. Dalton rode forwarda little where the full moonlight fell upon him. 

"You remember that summer six years ago when you spanked me for stealingthe big yellow apples in the orchard. "

"George! Little George Dalton!" she cried, and as Dalton got off hishorse she enclosed him in a powerful embrace, although he was little nolonger. 

"And have you come from Stonewall Jackson?" she asked breathless witheagerness. 

"Straight from him. I'm on his staff and so is my friend here. This isHarry Kenton of Kentucky, Mrs. Pomeroy, and he's been through allthe battles with us. We were watching from the woods and we saw thoseYankees at your door. They didn't get any information, I know that, butI'm thinking that we will. "

Cousin Eliza Pomeroy laughed a low, deep laugh of pride andsatisfaction. 

"Come into the house, " she exclaimed. "I'm here with four children. Jim, my husband, is with Johnston's army before Richmond, but we've been ableto take care of ourselves thus far, and I reckon we'll keep on beingable. I can get hot coffee and good corn cakes ready for you inside offifteen minutes. "

"It's not food we want, Cousin Eliza, " said Dalton. "We want somethingfar better, what those Yankees came for--news. So I think we'd betterstay outside and run no risk of surprise. The Yankees might come back. "

"That's so. You'll grow up into a man with a heap of sense, George. I've got real news, and I was waiting for a chance to send it through toStonewall Jackson. Billy! Billy!"

A small boy, not more than twelve, but clothed fully, darted from theinside of the house. He was well set up for his age, and his face waskeen and eager. 

"This is Billy Pomeroy, my oldest son, " said Cousin Eliza Pomeroy, witha swelling of maternal pride. "I made him get in bed and cover himselfup, boots and all, when the Yankees came. Billy has been riding to-day. He ain't very old, and he ain't very big, but put him on a horse andhe's mighty nigh a man. "

The small, eager face was shining. 

"What did you see, Billy, when you rode so far?" asked Dalton. 

"Yankees! Yankees, Cousin George, and lots of 'em, toward Manassas Gap!I saw some of their cavalry this side of the Gap, and I heard at thestore that there was a big army on the other side, marching hard to comethrough it, and get in behind our Stonewall. "

Harry looked at Dalton. 

"That confirms the rumors we heard, " he said. 

"You can believe anything that Billy tells you, " said Mrs. Pomeroy. 

"I know it, " said Dalton, "but we've got to go on and see these men forourselves. Stonewall Jackson is a terrible man, Cousin Eliza. If we tellhim that the Yankees are coming through Manassas Gap and closing in onhis rear, he'll ask us how we know it, and when we reply that a boy toldus he'll break us as unfit to be on his staff. "

"And I reckon Stonewall Jackson will be about right!" said Cousin ElizaPomeroy, who was evidently a woman of strong mind. "Billy, you leadthese boys straight to Manassas Gap. "

"Oh, no, Cousin Eliza!" exclaimed Dalton. "Billy's been riding hard allday, and we can find the way. "

"What do you think Billy's made out of?" asked his mothercontemptuously. "Ain't he a valley boy? Ain't he Jim Pomeroy's son andmine? I want you to understand that Billy can ride anything, and he canride it all day long and all night long, too!"

"Make 'em let me go, ma!" exclaimed Billy, eagerly. "I can save time. Ican show 'em the shortest way!"

Harry and George glanced at each other. Young Billy Pomeroy might beof great value to them. Moreover, the choice was already made for them, because Billy was now running to the stable for his horse. 

"He goes with us, or rather he leads us, Cousin Eliza, " said Dalton. 

Billy appeared the next instant, with his horse saddled and bridled, andhis own proud young self in the saddle. 

"Billy, take 'em straight, " said his Spartan mother, as she drew himdown in the saddle and kissed him, and Billy, more swollen with pridethan ever, promised that he would. But the mother's voice broke a littlewhen she said to Dalton:

"He's to guide you wherever you want to go, but you must bring him backto me unhurt. "

"We will, Cousin Eliza, " said Dalton earnestly. 

Then they galloped away in the dark with Billy leading and riding like aComanche. He had taken a fresh horse from the stall and it was almost aspowerful as those ridden by Harry and Dalton. 

"See the mountains, " said Billy, pointing eastward to a long dark linedimly visible in the moonlight. "That's the Blue Ridge, and furthersouth is the Gap, but you can't see it at night until you come rightclose to it. "

"Do you know any path through the woods, Billy?" asked Harry. "We don'twant to run the risk of capture. "

"I was just about to lead you into it, " replied the boy, still rejoicingin the importance of his role. "Here it is. "

He turned off from the road into a path leading into thick forest, wide enough for only one horse at a time. Billy, of course, led, Harryfollowed, and Dalton brought up the rear. The path, evidently a shortcut used by farmers, was enclosed by great oaks, beeches and elms, nowin full leaf, and it was dark there. Only a slit of moonlight showedfrom above, and the figures of the three riders grew shadowy. 

"They'll never find us here, will they, Billy?" said Harry. 

"Not one chance in a thousand. Them Yankees don't know a thing aboutthe country. Anyway, if they should come into the path at the other end, we'd hear them long before they heard us. "

"You're right, Billy, and as we ride on we'll all three listen with sixgood ears. "

"Yes, sir, " said Billy. 

Harry, although only a boy himself, was so much older than Billy, whoaddressed him as "sir, " that he felt himself quite a veteran. 

"Billy, " he said, "how did it happen that you were riding down this way, so far from home, to-day?"

"'Cause we heard there was Yanks in the Gap. Ma won't let me go an'fight with Stonewall Jackson. She says I ain't old enough an' bigenough, but she told me herself to get on the horse an' ride down thisway, an' see if what we heard was true. I saw 'em in little bunches, an'then that gang come to our house to-night, less 'n ten minutes after Icome back. We'll be at a creek, sir, in less than five minutes. It runsdown from the mountains, an' it's pretty deep with all them big springrains. I guess we'll have to swim, sir. We could go lower down, wherethere's always a ford, but that's where the Yankees would be crossing. "

"We'll swim, if necessary, Billy. "

"When even the women and little children fight for us, the South willbe hard to conquer, " was Harry's thought, but he said no more until theyreached the creek, which was indeed swollen by the heavy rains, and wasrunning swiftly, a full ten feet in depth. 

"Hold on, Billy, I'll lead the way, " said Harry. 

But Billy was already in the stream, his short legs drawn up, and hishorse swimming strongly. Harry and Dalton followed without a word, andthe three emerged safely on the eastern side. 

"You're a brave swimmer, Billy, " said Harry admiringly. 

"'Tain't nothin, sir. I didn't swim. It was my horse. I guess he'd takeme across the Mississippi itself. I wouldn't have anything to do butstick on his back. Look up, sir, an' you can see the mountains closeby. "

Harry and Dalton looked up through the rift in the trees, and saw almostover them the lofty outline of the Blue Ridge, the eastern rampart ofthe valley, heavy with forest from base to top. 

"We must be near the Gap, " said Dalton. 

"We are, " said Billy. "We've been coming fast. It's nigh on to fifteenmiles from here to home. "

"And must be a full thirty to Harper's Ferry, " said Dalton. 

"Does this path lead to some point overlooking the Gap, " asked Harry, "where we can see the enemy if he's there, and he can't see us?"

"Yes, sir. We can ride on a slope not more than two miles from here andlook right down into the Gap. "

"And if troops are there we'll be sure to see their fires, " said Dalton. "Lead on, Billy. "

Billy led with boldness and certainty. It was the greatest night of hislife, and he meant to fulfill to the utmost what he deemed to be hisduty. The narrow path still wound among mighty trees, the branches ofwhich met now and then over their heads, shutting out the moonlightentirely. It led at this point toward the north and they were rapidlyascending a shoulder of the mountain, leaving the Gap on their right. 

Harry, riding on such an errand, felt to the full the weird qualityof mountains and forest, over which darkness and silence brooded. Thefoliage was very heavy, and it rustled now and then as the stray windswandered along the slopes of the Blue Ridge. But for that and thehoofbeats of their own horses, there was no sound save once, when theyheard a scuttling on the bark of a tree. They saw nothing, but Billypronounced it a wildcat, alarmed by their passage. 

The three at length came out on a level place or tiny plateau. Billy, who rode in advance, stopped and the others stopped with him. 

"Look, " said the boy, pointing to the bottom of the valley, about fivehundred feet below. 

A fire burned there and they could discern men around it, with horses inthe background. 

"Yankees, " said Billy. "Look at 'em through the glasses. "

Harry raised his glasses and took a long look. They had the fullmoonlight where they stood and the fire in the valley below was also ahelp. He saw that the camp was made by a strong cavalry force. Many ofthem were asleep in their blankets, but the others sat by the fire andseemed to be talking. 

Then he passed the glasses to Dalton, who also, after looking long andwell, passed them to Billy, as a right belonging to one who had beentheir real leader, and who shared equally with them their hardships anddangers. 

"How large would you say that force is, George?" asked Harry. 

"Three or four hundred men at least. There's a great bunch of horses. Ishould judge, too, from the careless way they've camped, that they've nofear of being attacked. How many do you think they are, Billy?"

"Just about what you said, Cousin George. Are you going to attack them?"

Harry and Dalton laughed. 

"No, Billy, " replied Dalton. "You see we're only three, and there mustbe at least three hundred down there. "

"But we've been hearin' that Stonewall Jackson's men never mind ahundred to one, " said Billy, in an aggrieved tone. "We hear that's justabout what they like. "

"No, Billy, my boy. We don't fight a hundred to one. Nobody does, unlessit's like Thermopylae and the Alamo. "

"Then what are we going to do?" continued Billy in his disappointedtone. 

"I think, Billy, that Harry and I are going to dismount, slip downthe mountainside, see what we can see, hear what we can hear, and thatyou'll stay here, holding and guarding the horses until we come back. "

"I won't!" exclaimed Billy in violent indignation. "I won't, CousinGeorge. I'm going down the mountain with you an' Mr. Kenton. "

"Now, Billy, " said Dalton soothingly, "you've got a most important jobhere. You're the reserve, and you also hold the means of flight. Supposewe're pursued hotly, we couldn't get away without the horses that you'llhold for us. Suppose we should be taken. Then it's for you to gallopback with the news that Shields' whole army will be in the pass in themorning, and under such circumstances, your mother would send you on toGeneral Jackson with a message of such immense importance. "

"That's so, " said Billy with conviction, in the face of so mucheloquence and logic, "but I don't want you fellows to be captured. "

Dalton and Harry dismounting, gave the reins of their horses into thehands of Billy, and the small fingers clutched them tightly. 

"Stay exactly where you are, Billy, " said Harry. "We want to find youwithout trouble when we come back. "

"I'll be here, " said Billy proudly. 

Harry and Dalton began the descent through the bushes and trees. Theyhad not the slightest doubt that this was the vanguard of the Northernarmy which they heard was ten thousand strong, and that this force wasmerely a vanguard for McDowell, who had nearly forty thousand men. Butthey knew too well to go back to Stonewall Jackson with mere surmise, however plausible. 

"We've got to find out some way or other whether their army is certainlyat hand, " whispered Dalton. 

Harry nodded, and said:

"We must manage to overhear some of their talk, though it's riskybusiness. "

"But that's what we're here for. They don't seem to be very watchful, and as the woods and bushes are thick about 'em we may get a chance. "

They continued their slow and careful descent. Harry glanced back oncethrough an opening in the bushes and saw little Billy, holding the reinsof the three horses and gazing intently after them. He knew that amongall the soldiers of Jackson's army, no matter how full of valor and zealthey might be, there was not one who surpassed Billy in eagerness toserve. 

They reached the bottom of the slope, and lay for a few minutes hiddenamong dense bushes. Both had been familiar with country life, they hadhunted the 'possum and the coon many a dark night, and now their forestlore stood them in good stead. They made no sound as they passed amongthe bushes and trailing vines, and they knew that they were quite securein their covert, although they lay within a hundred yards of one of thefires. 

Harry judged that most of the men whom they saw were city bred. It wasan advantage that the South had over the North in a mighty war, waged ina country covered then mostly with forest and cut by innumerable riversand creeks, that her sons were familiar with such conditions, while manyof those of the North, used to life in the cities, were at a loss, whenthe great campaigns took them into the wilderness. 

Both he and Dalton, relying upon this knowledge, crept a little closer, but they stopped and lay very close, when they saw a man advancing to ahillock, carrying under his arm a bundle which they took to be rockets. 

"Signals, " whispered Dalton. "You just watch, Harry, and you'll see 'emanswered from the eastward. "

The officer on the summit of the hillock sent up three rockets, whichcurved beautifully against the blue heavens, then sank and died. Far tothe eastward they saw three similar lights flame and die. 

"How far away would you say those answering rockets were?" whisperedHarry. 

"It's hard to say about distances in the moonlight, but they may bethree or four miles. I take it, Harry, that they are sent up by theNorthern main force. "

"So do I, but we've got to get actual evidence in words, or we've gotto see this army. I'm afraid to go back to General Jackson with anythingless. Now, we won't have time to go through the Gap, see the army andget back to the general before things begin to happen, so we've got tostick it out here, until we get what we want. "

"True words, Harry, and we must risk going a little nearer. See thatline of bushes running along there in the dark? It will cover us, andwe're bound to take the chance. We must agree, too, Harry, that if we'rediscovered, neither must stop in an attempt to save the other. If onereaches Jackson it will be all right. "

"Of course, George. We'll run for it with all our might, and if it'sonly one it's to be the better runner. "

They lay almost flat on their stomachs, and passing through thegrass, reached the line of bushes. Here they could rise from such anuncomfortable position, and stooping they came within fifty yards of thefirst fire, where they saw very clearly the men who were not asleep, and who yet moved about. Most of them were not yet sunburned, and Harryjudged at once that they had come from the mills and workshops of NewYork or New England. As far as he could see they had no pickets, and heinferred their belief that no enemy was nearer than Jackson's army, atleast thirty miles away. Perhaps the little band of horsemen who hadknocked at Mrs. Pomeroy's door had brought them the information. 

They lay there nearly an hour, not thinking of the danger, but consumedwith impatience. Officers passed near them talking, but they could catchonly scraps, not enough for their purpose. A set of signals was sent upagain and was answered duly from the same point to the east of the Gap. But after long waiting, they were rewarded. Few of the officers or menever went far from the fires. They seemed to be at a loss in the darkand silent wilderness which was absolute confirmation to Harry that theywere city dwellers. 

Two officers, captains or majors, stopped within twenty feet of thecrouching scouts, and gazed for a long time through the Gap toward thewest into the valley, at the northern end of which Jackson and his armylay. 

"I tell you, Curtis, " one of them said at last, "that if we get throughthe Gap to-morrow and Fremont and the others also come up, Jackson can'tpossibly get away. We'll have him and his whole force in a trap and withthree or four to one in our favor, it will be all over. "

"It's true, if it comes out as you say, Penfield, " said the other, "butthere are several 'ifs, ' and as we have reason to know, it's hard to putyour hand on Jackson. Why, when we thought he was lost in the mountainshe came out of them like an avalanche, and some of our best troops wereburied under that avalanche. "

"You're too much of a pessimist, Curtis. We've learned a lot in the lastfew days. As sure as you and I stand here the fox will be trapped. Why, he's trapped already. We'll be through the Gap here with ten thousandmen in the morning, squarely in Jackson's rear. To-morrow we'll havefifty or sixty thousand good troops between him and Richmond andJohnston. His army will be taken or destroyed, and the Confederacy willbe split asunder. McClellan will be in Richmond with an overwhelmingforce, and within a month the war will be practically over. "

"There's no doubt of that, if we catch Jackson, and it certainly looksas if the trap were closing down upon him. In defeating Banks and thenfollowing him to the Potomac he has ruined himself and his cause. "

Harry felt a deadly fear gripping at his heart. What these men weresaying was probably true. Every fact supported their claim. The toughand enduring North, ready to sustain any number of defeats and yet win, was pouring forward her troops with a devotion that would have wrungtears from a stone. And she was destined to do it again and againthrough dark and weary years. 

The two men walked further away, still talking, but Harry and Daltoncould no longer hear what they were saying. The rockets soared againin the pass, and were answered in the east, but now nearer, and the twoknew that it was not worth while to linger any longer. They knew thevital fact that ten thousand men were advancing through the pass, andthat all the rest was superfluity. And time had a value beyond price totheir cause. 

CHAPTER XII. THE CLOSING CIRCLE

"George, " said Harry, "we must chance it now and get back to the horses. We've got to reach General Jackson before the Northern army is throughthe pass. "

"You lead, " said Dalton. "I don't think we'll have any danger exceptwhen we are in that strip of grass between these bushes and the woods. "

Harry started, and when he reached the grass threw himself almost flaton his face again, crawling forward with extreme caution. Dalton, closebehind him, imitated his comrade. The high grass merely rippled as theypassed and the anxious Northern officers walking back and forth were notwell enough versed in woodcraft to read from any sign that an enemy wasnear. 

Once Dalton struck his knee against a small bush and caused its leavesto rustle. A wary and experienced scout would have noticed the slight, though new noise, and Harry and Dalton, stopping, lay perfectly still. But the officers walked to and fro, undisturbed, and the two boysresumed their creeping flight. 

When they reached the forest, they rose gladly from their knees, and ranup the slope, still bearing in mind that time was now the most pressingof all things. They whistled softly as they neared the little plateau, and Billy's low answering whistle came back. They hurried up the lastreach of the slope, and there he was, the eyes shining in his eagerface, the three bridles clutched tightly in his small right hand. 

"Did you get what you wanted?" he asked in a whisper. 

"We did, Billy, " answered Harry. 

"I saw 'em sendin' up shootin' stars an' other shootin' stars way off tothe east answerin', an' I didn't know what it meant. "

"It was their vanguard in the Gap, talking to their army several milesto the eastward. But we lay in the bushes, Billy, and we heard whattheir officers said. All that you heard was true. Ten thousand Yankeeswill be through the pass in the morning, and Stonewall Jackson will havegreat cause to be grateful to William Pomeroy, aged twelve. "

The boy's eyes fairly glowed, but he was a man of action. 

"Then I guess that we've got to jump on our horses and ride licketysplit down the valley to give warnin' to General Jackson, " he said. 

Harry knew what was passing in the boy's mind, that he would go withthem all the way to Jackson, and he did not have the heart to sayanything to the contrary just then. But Dalton replied:

"Right you are, Billy. We ride now as if the woods were burning behindus. "

Billy was first in the saddle and led the way. The horses had gaineda good rest, while Harry and Dalton were stalking the troopers in thevalley, and, after they had made the descent of the slope, they swunginto a long easy gallop across the level. 

The little lad still kept his place in front. Neither of the otherswould have deprived him of this honor which he deserved so well. He saterect, swinging with his horse, and he showed no sign of weariness. Theytook no precautions now to evade a possible meeting with the enemy. Whatthey needed was haste, haste, always haste. They must risk everythingto carry the news to Jackson. A mere half hour might mean the differencebetween salvation and destruction. 

Harry felt the great tension of the moment. The words of the Northernofficers had made him understand what he already suspected. The wholefate of the Confederacy would waver in the balance on the morrow. IfJackson were surrounded and overpowered, the South would lose its rightarm. Then the armies that engulfed him would join McClellan and pourforward in an overwhelming host on Richmond. 

Their hoofbeats rang in a steady beat on the road, as they went forwardon that long easy gallop which made the miles drop swiftly behind them. The skies brightened, and the great stars danced in a solid sheet ofblue. They were in the gently rolling country, and occasionally theypassed a farmhouse. Now and then, a watchful dog barked at them, butthey soon left him and his bark behind. 

Harry noticed that Billy's figure was beginning to waver slightly, andhe knew that weariness and the lack of sleep were at last gaining themastery over his daring young spirit. It gave him relief, as it solved aproblem that had been worrying him. He rode up by the side of Billy, buthe said nothing. The boy's eyelids were heavy and the youthful figurewas wavering, but it was in no danger of falling. Billy could haveridden his horse sound asleep. 

Harry presently saw the roof of Mrs. Pomeroy's house showing among thetrees. 

"It's less than half a mile to your house, Billy, " he said. 

"But I'm not going to stop there. I'm goin' on with you to GeneralJackson, an' I'm goin' to help him fight the Yankees. "

Harry was silent, but when they galloped up to the Pomeroy house, Billywas nearly asleep. 

The door sprang open as they approached, and the figure of the stalwartwoman appeared. Harry knew that she had been watching there every minutesince they left. He was touched by the dramatic spirit of the moment, and he said:

"Mrs. Pomeroy, we bring back to you the most gallant soldier inStonewall Jackson's army of the Valley of Virginia. He led us straightto the Gap where we were able to learn the enemy's movements, aknowledge which may save the Confederacy from speedy destruction. Webring him back to you, safe and unharmed, and sleeping soundly in hissaddle. "

He lifted Billy from the saddle and put him in his mother's arms. 

"Billy's a hero, Cousin Eliza, " said Dalton. "Few full-grown men havedone as important deeds in their whole lives as he has done to-night. When he awakens he'll be angry because he didn't go with us, but youtell him we'll see that he's a duly enrolled member of General Jackson'sarmy. Stonewall Jackson never forgets such deeds as his. "

"It's a proud woman I am to-night, " said Mrs. Pomeroy. "Good-bye, CousinGeorge, and you, too, Mr. Kenton. I can see that you're in a hurry to beoff, and you ought to be. I want to see both of you in my house again inbetter days. "

She went inside, carrying the exhausted and sleeping boy in her arms, and Harry and Dalton galloped away side by side. 

"How's your horse, Harry?" asked Dalton. 

"Fine. Smooth as silk! How's yours?"

"The machinery moves without a jar. I may be stiff and sore myself, butI'm so anxious to get to General Jackson that I haven't time to thinkabout it. "

"Same here. Suppose we speed 'em up a little more. "

They came into the turnpike, and now the horses lengthened out theirstride as they fled northward. It was yet some time until dawn, but thetwo young riders took the cold food from their knapsacks and ate as theygalloped on. It was well that they had good horses, staunch and true, asthey were pushing them hard now. 

Harry looked toward the west, where the dark slope of Little NorthMountain closed in the valley from that side, and he felt a shiverwhich he knew did not come from the night air. He knew that a powerfulNorthern force was off there somewhere, and he wondered what it wasdoing. But he and Dalton had done their duty. They had uncovered onehostile force, and doubtless other men who rode in the night for Jacksonwould attend to the rest. 

Both Harry and Dalton had been continuously in the saddle for many hoursnow, but they did not notice their weariness. They were still upborneby a great anxiety and a great exaltation, too. Feeling to the fullthe imminence and immensity of the crisis, they were bending themselvesheart and soul to prevent it, and no thought of weariness could entertheir minds. Each was another Billy, only on a larger and older scale. 

Later on, the moon and all the stars slipped away, and it became verydark. Harry felt that it was merely a preliminary to the dawn, and heasked Dalton if he did not think so, too. 

"It's too dark for me to see the face of my watch, " said Dalton, "but Iknow you're right, Harry. I can just feel the coming of the dawn. It'ssome quality in the air. I think it grows a little colder than it hasbeen in the other hours of the night. "

"I can feel the wind freshening on my face. It nips a bit for a Maymorning. "

They slackened speed a little, wishing to save their horses for a finalburst, and stopped once or twice for a second or two to listen for thesound of other hoofbeats than their own. But they heard none. 

"If the Yankee armies are already on the turnpike they're not near us. That's sure, " said Dalton. 

"Do you know how many men they have?"

"Some of the spies brought in what the general believed to be prettystraight reports. The rumors said that Shields was advancing to ManassasGap with ten thousand men, and from what we heard we know that is true. A second detachment, also ten thousand strong, from McDowell's army iscoming toward Front Royal, and McDowell has twenty thousand men eastof the Blue Ridge. What the forces to the west are I don't know but theenemy in face of the general himself on the Potomac must now number atleast ten thousand. "

Harry whistled. 

"And at the best we can't muster more than fifteen thousand fit to carryarms!" he exclaimed. 

Dalton leaned over in the dark, and touched his comrade on the shoulder. 

"Harry, " he said, "don't forget Old Jack. Where Little Sorrel leadsthere is always an army of forty thousand men. I'm not setting myself upto be very religious, but it's safe to say that he was praying to-night, and when Old Jack prays, look out. "

"Yes, if anybody can lead us out of this trap it will be Old Jack, " saidHarry. "Look, there's the dawn coming over the Blue Ridge, George. "

A faint tint of gray was appearing on the loftiest crests of the BlueRidge. It could scarcely be called light yet, but it was a sign to thetwo that the darkness there would soon melt away. Gradually the grayshredded off and then the ridges were tipped with silver which soonturned to gold. Dawn rushed down over the valley and the pleasantforests and fields sprang into light. 

Then they heard hoofbeats behind them coming fast. The experienced earsof both told them that it was only a single horseman who came, and, drawing their pistols, they turned their horses across the road. Whenthe rider saw the two threatening figures he stopped, but in a moment herode on again. They were in gray and so was he. 

"Why, it's Chris Aubrey of the general's own staff!" exclaimed Dalton. "Don't you know him, Harry?"

"Of course I do. Aubrey, we're friends. It's Dalton and Kenton. "

Aubrey dashed his hands across his eyes, as if he were clearing amist from them. He was worn and weary, and his look bore a singularresemblance to that of despair. 

"What is it, Chris?" asked Dalton with sympathy. 

"I was sent down the Luray Valley to learn what I could and I discoveredthat Ord was advancing with ten thousand men on Front Royal, whereGeneral Jackson left only a small garrison. I'm going as fast as myhorse can take me to tell him. "

"We're on the same kind of a mission, Chris, " said Harry. "We've seenthe vanguard of Shields, ten thousand strong coming through ManassasGap, and we also are going as fast as our horses can take us to tellGeneral Jackson. "

"My God! Does it mean that we are about to be surrounded?"

"It looks like it, " said Harry, "but sometimes you catch things that youcan't hold. George and I never give up faith in Old Jack. "

"Nor do I, " said Aubrey. "Come on! We'll ride together! I'm glad I metyou boys. You give me courage. "

The three now rode abreast and again they galloped. One or two earlyfarmers going phlegmatically to their fields saw them, but they passedon in silence. They had grown too used to soldiers to pay much attentionto them. Moreover, these were their own. 

The whole valley was now flooded with light. To east and to west loomedthe great walls of the mountains, heavy with foliage, cut here and thereby invisible gaps through which Harry knew that the Union troops werepouring. 

They caught sight of moving heads on a narrow road coming from the westwhich would soon merge into theirs. They slackened speed for a moment ortwo, uncertain what to do, and then Aubrey exclaimed:

"It's a detachment of our own cavalry. See their gray uniforms, andthat's Sherburne leading them!"

"So it is!" exclaimed Harry, and he rode forward joyfully. Sherburnegave all three of them a warm welcome, but he was far from cheerful. Heled a dozen troopers and they, like himself, were covered with dustand were drooping with weariness. It was evident to Harry that they hadridden far and hard, and that they did not bring good news. 

"Well, Harry, " said Sherburne, still attempting the gay air, "chance hasbrought us together again, and I should judge from your appearance thatyou've come a long way, bringing nothing particularly good. "

"It's so. George and I have been riding all night. We were in ManassasGap and we learned definitely that Shields is coming through the passwith ten thousand men. "

"Fine, " said Sherburne with a dusty smile. "Ten thousand is a good roundnumber. "

"And if we'll give him time enough, " continued Harry, "McDowell willcome with twice as many more. "

"Look's likely, " said Sherburne. 

"We've been riding back toward Jackson as fast as we could, " continuedHarry, "and a little while ago Aubrey riding the same way overtook us. "

"And what have you seen, Aubrey?" asked Sherburne. 

"I? Oh, I've seen a lot. I've been down by Front Royal in the night, and I've seen Ord with ten thousand men coming full tilt down the LurayValley. "

"What another ten thousand! It's funny how the Yankees run to even tensof thousands, or multiples of that number. "

"I've heard, " said Harry, "that the force under Banks and Saxton infront of Jackson was ten thousand also. "

"I'm sorry, boys, to break up this continuity, " said Sherburne witha troubled laugh, "but it's fifteen thousand that I've got to report. Fremont is coming from the west with that number. We've seen 'em. I'veno doubt that at this moment there are nearly fifty thousand Yankees inthe valley, with more coming, and all but ten thousand of them are inGeneral Jackson's rear. "

It seemed that Sherburne, daring cavalryman, had lost his courage forthe moment, but the faith of the stern Presbyterian youth, Dalton, neverfaltered. 

"As I told Harry a little while ago, we have at least fifty thousandmen, " he said. 

"What do you mean?" asked Sherburne. 

"I count Stonewall Jackson as forty thousand, and the rest will bringthe number well over fifty thousand. "

Sherburne struck his gauntleted hand smartly on his thigh. 

"You talk sense, Dalton!" he exclaimed. "I was foolish to despair! Iforgot how much there was under Stonewall Jackson's hat! They haven'tcaught the old fox yet!"

They galloped on anew, and now they were riding on the road, over whichthey had pursued so hotly the defeated army of Banks. They would soonbe in Jackson's camp, and as they approached their hearts grew lighter. They would cast off their responsibilities and trust all to the leaderwho appeared so great to them. 

"I see pickets now, " said Aubrey. "Only five more minutes, boys, but assoon as I give my news I'll have to drop. The excitement has kept me up, but I can't last any longer. "

"Nor I, " said Harry, who realized suddenly that he was on the vergeof collapse. "Whether our arrival is to be followed by a battle or aretreat I'm afraid I won't be fit for either. "

They gave the password, and the pickets pointed to the tent of Jackson. They rode straight to him, and dismounted as he came forth from thetent. They were so stiff and sore from long riding that Dalton andAubrey fell to their knees when they touched the ground, but theyquickly recovered, and although they stood somewhat awkwardly theysaluted with the deepest respect. Jackson's glance did not escape theirmishap, and he knew the cause, but he merely said:

"Well, gentlemen. "

"I have to report, sir, " said Sherburne, speaking first as the seniorofficer, "that General Fremont is coming from the west with fifteenthousand men, ready to fall upon your right flank. "

"Very good, and what have you seen, Captain Aubrey?"

"Ord with ten thousand men is in our rear and is approaching FrontRoyal. "

"Very good. You have done faithful work, Captain Aubrey. What have youseen, Lieutenant Kenton and Lieutenant Dalton?"

"General Shields, sir, is in Manassas Gap this morning with ten thousandmen, and he and General Ord can certainly meet to-day if they wish. Welearned also that General McDowell can come up in a few days with twentythousand more. "

The face of Stonewall Jackson never flinched. It looked worn and wearybut not more so than it did before this news. 

"I thank all of you, young gentlemen, " he said in his quiet level tones. "You have done good service. It may be that you're a little weary. You'dbetter sleep now. I shall call you when I want you. "

The four saluted and General Jackson went back into the tent. Aubreymade a grimace. 

"We may be a little tired!" he said. "Why, I haven't been out of thesaddle for twenty-four hours, and I felt so anxious that every one ofthose hours was a day long. "

"But it's a lot to get from the general an admission that you may beeven a little tired, " said Dalton. "Remember the man for whom you ride. "

"That's so, " said Aubrey, "and I oughtn't to have said what I did. We'vegot to live up to new standards. "

Sherburne, Aubrey and Dalton picked out soft spots on the grass andalmost instantly were sound asleep, but Harry lingered a minute or twolonger. He saw across the river the glitter of bayonets and the darkmuzzles of cannon. He also saw many troops moving on the hills and heknew that he was looking upon the remains of Banks' army reinforced byfresh men, ready to dispute the passage or fight Jackson if he marchednorthward in any other way, while the great masses of their comradesgathered behind him. 

Harry felt again for a moment that terrible sinking of the heart whichis such close kin to despair. Enemies to the north of them, enemies tothe south of them, and to the east and to the west, enemies everywhere. The ring was closing in. Worse than that, it had closed in already andStonewall Jackson was only mortal. Neither he nor any one else couldlead them through the overwhelming ranks of such a force. 

But the feeling passed quickly. It could not linger, because the bandof the Acadians was playing, and the dark men of the Gulf were singing. Even with the foe in sight, and a long train of battles and marchesbehind them, with others yet worse to come, they began to dance, claspedin one another's arms. 

Many of the Acadians had already gone to a far land and they would neveragain on this earth see Antoinette or Celeste or Marie, but the sun ofthe south was in the others and they sang and danced in the brief restallowed to them. 

Harry liked to look at them. He sat on the grass and leaned his backagainst a tree. The music raised up the heart and it was wonderfullylulling, too. Why worry? Stonewall Jackson would tell them what to do. 

The rhythmic forms grew fainter, and he slept. He was awakened thenext instant by Dalton. Harry opened his eyes heavily and lookedreproachfully at his friend. 

"I've slept less than a minute, " he said. 

Dalton laughed. 

"So it seemed to me, too, when I was awakened, " he said, "but you'veslept a full two hours just as I did. What do you expect when you'reworking for Stonewall Jackson. You'll be lucky later on whenever you geta single hour. "

Harry brushed the traces of sleep from his eyes and stood up straight. 

"What's wanted?" he asked. 

"You and I and some others are going to take a little railroad trip, escorted by Stonewall Jackson. That's all I know and that's all anybodyknows except the general. Come along and look your little best. "

Harry brushed out his wrinkled uniform, straightened his cap, and ina minute he and Dalton were with the group of staff officers aboutJackson. There was still a section of railway in the valley held by theSouth, and Jackson and his aides were soon aboard a small train on theirway back to Winchester. Harry, glancing from the window, saw the troopsgathering up their ammunition and the teamsters hitching up theirhorses. 

"It's going to be a retreat up the valley, " he whispered to Dalton. "Butmasses more than three to one are gathering about us. "

"I tell you again, you just trust Old Jack. "

Harry looked toward the far end of the coach where Jackson sat with theolder members of his staff. His figure swayed with the train, buthe showed no sign of weariness or that his dauntless soul dwelt in aphysical body. He was looking out at the window, but it was obvious thathe did not see the green landscape flashing past. Harry knew that hewas making the most complex calculations, but like Dalton he ceased towonder about them. He put his faith in Old Jack, and let it go at that. 

There was very little talking in the train. Despite every effort, Harry's eyes grew heavy and he began to doze a little. He would wakenentirely at times and straighten up with a jerk. Then he would see thefields and forests still rushing past, now and then a flash as theycrossed a stream, and always the sober figure of the general, staring, unseeing, through the window. 

He suddenly became wide-awake, when he heard sharp comment in the coach. All the older officers were gazing through the windows with the greatestinterest. Harry saw a man in Confederate uniform galloping across thefields and waving his hands repeatedly to the train which was alreadychecking speed. 

"A staff officer with news, " said Dalton. 

"Yes, " said Harry, "and I'm thinking it will seem bad news to you andme. "

The train stopped in a field, and the officer, panting and covered withdust and perspiration, rode alongside. Jackson walked out on the steps, followed by his eager officers. 

"What is it?" asked Jackson. 

"The Northern army has retaken Front Royal. The Georgia regiment youleft in garrison there has been driven out and without support ismarching northward. I have here, sir, a dispatch from Colonel Connor, the commander of the Georgians. "

He handed the folded paper to the general, who received it but did notopen it for a moment. There was something halfway between a sigh and agroan from the officers, but Jackson said nothing. He smiled, but, asHarry saw it, it was a strange and threatening smile. Then he opened thedispatch, read it carefully, tore it into tiny bits and threw them away. Harry saw the fragments picked up by the wind and whirled across thefield. Jackson nearly always destroyed his dispatches in this manner. 

"Very good, " he said to the officer, "you can rejoin Colonel Connor. "

He went back to his seat. The train puffed, heaved and started again. Jackson leaned against the back of the seat and closed his eyes. Heseemed to be asleep. But the desire for sleep was driven from Harry. The news of the retaking of Front Royal had stirred the whole train. Officers talked of it in low tones, but with excitement. The Northerngenerals were acting with more than their customary promptness. Alreadythey had struck a blow and Ord with his ten thousand men had undoubtedlypassed from the Luray Valley into the main Valley of Virginia to form ajunction with Shields and his ten thousand. 

What would Jackson do? Older men in the train than Harry and Dalton wereasking that question, but he remained silent. He kept his eyes closedfor some time, and Harry thought that he must be fast asleep, althoughit seemed incredible that a man with such responsibilities could sleepat such a time. But he opened his eyes presently and began to talk witha warm personal friend who occupied the other half of the seat. 

Harry did not know the tenor of this conversation then, but he heard ofit later from the general's friend. Jackson had remarked to the man thathe seemed to be surrounded, and the other asked what he would do if theNorthern armies cut him off entirely. Jackson replied that he would goback toward the north, invade Maryland and march straight on Baltimoreand Washington. Few more daring plans have ever been conceived, but, knowing Jackson as he learned to know him, Harry always believed that hewould have tried it. 

But the Southern leaders within that mighty and closing ring in thevalley were not the only men who had anxious minds. At the Union capitalthey did not know what had become of Jackson. They knew that he wassomewhere within the ring, but where? He might pounce upon a division, deal another terrible blow and then away! In a week he had drawnthe eyes of the world upon him, and his enemies no longer consideredanything impossible to him. Many a patriot who was ready to die ratherthan see the union of the states destroyed murmured: "If he were only onour side!" There was already talk of recalling McClellan's great army todefend Washington. 

The object of all this immense anxiety and care was riding peacefully ina train to Winchester, talking with a friend but conscious fully of hisgreat danger. It seemed that the Northern generals with their separatearmies were acting in unison at last, and must close down on their prey. 

They came again into Winchester, the town torn so often by battle andits anxieties, and saw the Presbyterian minister, his face gray withcare, greet Jackson. Then the two walked toward the manse, followed at arespectful distance by the officers of the staff. 

Harry soon saw that the whole of Winchester was in gloom. They knewthere of the masses in blue converging on Jackson, and few had hope. While Jackson remained at the manse he sat upon the portico within call. There was little sound in Winchester. The town seemed to have passedinto an absolute silence. Most of the doors and shutters were closed. 

And yet the valley had never seemed more beautiful to Harry. Far offwere the dim blue mountains that enclosed it on either side, and thebright skies never bent in a more brilliant curve. 

He felt again that overpowering desire to sleep, and he may have dozed alittle when he sat there in the sun, but he was wide awake when Jacksoncalled him. 

"I want you to go at once to Harper's Ferry with this note, " he said, "and give it to the officer in command. He will bring back the troops toWinchester, and you are to come with him. You can go most of the way onthe train and then you must take to your horse. The troops will marchback by the valley turnpike. "

Harry saluted and was off. He soon found that other officers were goingto the various commands with orders similar to his, and he no longer hadany doubt that the whole force would be consolidated and would withdrawup the valley. He was right. Jackson had abandoned the plan of enteringMaryland and marching on Baltimore and Washington, and was now aboutto try another, fully as daring, but calling for the most sudden andcomplicated movements. He had arranged it all, as he rode in the train, most of it as he leaned against the back of the seat with his eyes shut. 

Harry was soon back in Harper's Ferry, and the troops there immediatelybegan their retreat. Most all of them knew of the great danger thatmenaced their army, but Harry, a staff officer, understood better thanthe regimental commanders what was occurring. The Invincibles were intheir division and he rode with the two colonels, St. Clair and HappyTom Langdon. They went at a swift pace and behind them came the steadybeat of the marching troops on the turnpike. 

"You have been with General Jackson in Winchester, Harry, " said ColonelLeonidas Talbot in his precise manner, "and I judge that you must haveformed some idea of his intentions. This indicates a general retreatsouthward, does it not?"

"I think so, sir. General Jackson has said nothing, but I know thatorders have been sent to all our detachments to draw in. He must havesome plan of cutting his way through toward the south. What do youthink, Colonel St. Hilaire?"

"It must be so, " replied Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, "buthow he will do it is beyond me. When I look around at all these bluemountains, Leonidas, it seems to me that we're enclosed by livingbattlements. "

"Or that Jackson is like the tiger in the bush, surrounded by thebeaters. "

"Yes, and sometimes it's woe to the beaters when they come too near. "

Harry dropped back with his younger friends who were by no means of saddemeanor. St. Clair had restored his uniform to its usual immaculateneatness or in some manner he had obtained a new one. Tom Langdon wasHappy Tom again. 

"We've eaten well, and we've slept well, " said Langdon, "and Arthur andI are restored completely. He's the finest dandy in the army again, and I'm ready for another week's run with Jackson. I know I won't getanother chance to rest in a long time, but Old Stonewall needn't think Ican't march as long as he can. "

"You'll get your fill of it, " said Harry, "and of fighting, too. Take alook all around you. No, not a half circle, but a complete circle. "

"Well, I've twisted my neck until my head nearly falls off. Whatsignifies the performance?"

"There was no time when you were turning around the circle that youreyes didn't look toward Yankees. Nearly fifty thousand of 'em are in thevalley. We're in a ring of steel, Happy. "

"Well, Old Jack will just take his sword and slash that steel ringapart. And if he should fail I'm here. Lead me to 'em, Harry. "

Langdon's spirits were infectious. Even the marching men who heard HappyTom laugh, laughed with him and were more cheerful. They marchedfaster, too, and from other points men were coming quickly to Jacksonat Winchester. They were even coming into contact with the ring ofsteel which was closing in on them. Fremont, advancing with his fifteenthousand from the mountains, met a heavy fire from a line of ambushedriflemen. Not knowing where Jackson was or what he was doing, andfearing that the great Confederate commander might be before him withhis whole army, he stopped at Cedar Creek and made a camp of defense. 

Shields, in the south, moving forward, found a swarm of skirmishersin his front, and presently the Acadians, sent in that direction byJackson, opened up with a heavy fire on his vanguard. Shields drew back. He, too, feared that Jackson with his entire army was before him andrumor magnified the Southern force. Meanwhile the flying cavalry ofAshby harassed the Northern advance at many points. 

All the time the main army of Jackson was retreating toward Winchester, carrying with it the prisoners and a vast convoy of wagons filled withcaptured ammunition and stores. Jackson had foreseen everything. He haddirected the men who were leading these forces to pass around Winchesterin case he was compelled to abandon it, circle through the mountains andjoin him wherever he might be. 

But Harry when he returned to Winchester breathed a little more freely. He felt in some manner that the steel ring did not compress so tightly. Jackson, acting on the inside of the circle, had spread consternation. The Northern generals could not communicate with one another becauseeither mountains or Southern troops came between. Prisoners whom theSouthern cavalry brought in told strange stories. Rumor in their rankshad magnified Jackson's numbers double or triple. Many believed thata great force was coming from Richmond to help him. Jackson wassurrounded, but the beaters were very wary about pressing in on him. 

Yet the Union masses in the valley had increased. McDowell himself hadnow come, and he sent forward cavalry details which, losing the way, were compelled to return. Fremont on the west at last finding the lineof riflemen before him withdrawn, pushed forward, and saw the longcolumns of the Southern army with their wagons moving steadily towardthe south. His cavalry attacking were driven off and the Southerndivision went on. 

Harry with the retreating division wondered at these movements andadmired their skill. Jackson's army, encumbered as it was with prisonersand stores, was passing directly between the armies of Fremont andShields, covering its flanks with clouds of skirmishers and cavalry thatbeat off every attack of the hostile vanguards, and that kept the twoNorthern armies from getting into touch. 

Jackson had not stopped at Winchester. He had left that town once moreto the enemy and was still drawing back toward the wider division of thevalley west of the Massanuttons. The great mind was working very fastnow. The men themselves saw that warlike genius incarnate rode on theback of Little Sorrel. Jackson was slipping through the ring, carryingwith him every prisoner and captured wagon. 

His lightning strokes to right and to left kept Shields and Fremontdazed and bewildered, and McDowell neither knew what was passing norcould he get his forces together. Harry saw once more and with amazementthe dark bulk of the Massanuttons rising on his left and he knew thatthese great isolated mountains would again divide the Union force, whileJackson passed on in the larger valley. 

He felt a thrill, powerful and indescribable. Jackson in very truth hadslashed across with his sword that great ring of steel and was passingthrough the break, leaving behind not a single prisoner, nor a singlewagon. Sixty-two thousand men had not only failed to hold sixteenthousand, but their scattered forces had suffered numerous severedefeats from the far smaller army. It was not that the Northern men wereinferior to the Southern in courage and tenacity, but the Southern armywas led by a genius of the first rank, unmatched as a military leader inmodern times, save by Napoleon and Lee. 

It was the last day of May and the twilight was at hand. The dark massesof Little North Mountain to the west and of the Massanuttons to the eastwere growing dim. Harry rode by the side of Dalton a few paces in therear of Jackson, and he watched the somber, silent man, riding silentlyon Little Sorrel. There was nothing bright or spectacular about him. Thebattered gray uniform was more battered than ever. In place of the worncap an old slouched hat now shaded his forehead and eyes. But Harryknew that their extraordinary achievements had not been due to luck orchance, but were the result of the mighty calculations that had beenmade in the head under the old slouched hat. 

Harry heard behind him the long roll and murmur of the marching army, the wheels of cannon and wagons grating on the turnpike, the occasionalneigh of a horse, the rattle of arms and the voices of men talking low. Most of these men had been a year and a half ago citizens untrained forwar. They were not mere creatures of drill, but they were intelligent, and they thought for themselves. They knew as well as the officers whatJackson had done and henceforth they looked upon him as something almostsuperhuman. Confident in his genius they were ready to follow whereverJackson led, no matter what the odds. 

These were exactly the feelings of both Harry and Dalton. They wouldnever question or doubt again. Both of them, with the hero worship ofyouth felt a mighty swell of pride, that they should ride with so greata leader, and be so near to him. 

The army marched on in the darkening hours, leaving behind it sixtythousand men who closed up the ring only to find their game gone. 

Harry heard from the older staff officers that they would go on upthe valley until they came to the Gaps of the Blue Ridge. There inan impregnable position they could turn and fight pursuit or take therailway to Richmond and join in the defense against McClellan. Itall depended on what Jackson thought, and his thoughts were uniformlydisclosed by action. 

Meanwhile the news was spreading through the North that Jackson hadescaped, carrying with him his prisoners and captured stores. Odds hadcounted for nothing. All the great efforts directed from Washington hadbeen unavailing. All the courage and energy of brave men had been invain. But the North did not cease her exertions for an instant. Lincoln, a man of much the same character as Jackson, but continually thwartedby mediocre generals, urged the attack anew. Dispatches were sent to allthe commanders ordering them to push the pursuit of Jackson and to bringhim to battle. 

Cut to the quick by their great failure, Fremont, Shields, Ord, Banks, McDowell and all the rest, pushed forward on either side of theMassanuttons, those on the west intending to cross at the gap, jointheir brethren, and make another concerted attempt at Jackson'sdestruction. 

But Harry ceased to think of armies and battles as he rode on in thedark. He was growing sleepy again and he dozed in his saddle. Halfconsciously he thought of his father and wondered where he was. He hadreceived only one letter from him after Shiloh, but he believed that hewas still with the Confederate army in the west, taking an active part. Much as he loved his father it was the first time that he had been inhis thoughts in the last two weeks. How could any one think of anythingbut the affair of the moment at such a time, when the seconds wereticked off by cannon-shots!

In this vague and pleasant dream he also remembered Dick Mason, hiscousin, who was now somewhere there in the west fighting on the otherside. He thought of Dick with affection and he liked him none the lessbecause he wore the blue. Then, curiously enough, the last thing thathe remembered was his Tacitus, lying in his locked desk in the PendletonAcademy. He would get out that old fellow again some day and finish him. Then he fell sound asleep in his saddle, and the horse went steadily on, safely carrying his sleeping master. 

He did not awake until midnight, when Dalton's hand on his shouldercaused him to open his eyes. 

"I've been asleep, too, Harry, " said Dalton, "but I woke up first. We'regoing into camp here for the rest of the night. "

"I'm glad to stop, " said Harry, "but I wonder what the dawn will bring. "

"I wonder, " said Dalton. 

CHAPTER XIII. THE SULLEN RETREAT

Harry, like the rest of the army, slept soundly through the rest of thenight and they rose to a brilliant first day of June. The scouts saidthat the whole force of Fremont was not far behind, while the army ofShields was marching on a parallel line east of the Massanuttons, andready at the first chance to form a junction with Fremont. 

Youth seeks youth and Harry and Dalton found a little time to talk withSt. Clair and Langdon. 

"We've broken their ring and passed through, " said Langdon, "but as sureas we live we'll all be fighting again in a day. If the Yankees followtoo hard Old Jack will turn and fight 'em. Now, why haven't the Yankeesgot sense enough to let us alone and go home?"

"They'll never do it, " said Dalton gravely. "We've got to recognize thatfact. I'm never going to say another word about the Yankees not beingwilling to fight. "

"They're too darned willing, " said Happy Tom. "That's the trouble. "

"I woke up just about the dawn, " said Dalton. "Everybody was asleep, butthe general, and I saw him praying. "

"Then it means fighting and lots of it, " said St. Clair. "I'm going tomake the best use I can of this little bit of rest, as I don't expectanother chance for at least a month. Stonewall Jackson thinks that onehour a day for play keeps Jack from being a dull boy. "

"Just look at our colonels, will you?" said Happy Tom. "They'rebelievers in what Arthur says. "

Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire weresitting in a corner of a rail fence opposite each other, and their bentgray heads nearly touched. But their eyes were on a small board betweenthem and now and then they moved carved figures back and forth. 

"They're playing chess, " whispered Happy Tom. "They found the board andset of men in the captured baggage, and this is their first chance touse them. "

"They can't possibly finish a game, " said Harry. 

"No, " said Tom, "they can't, and it's just as well. Why anybody wants toplay chess is more than I can understand. I'd rather watch a four-milerace between two turtles. It's a lot swifter and more thrilling. "

"It takes intelligence to play chess, Happy, " said St. Clair. 

"And time, too, " rejoined Happy. "If a thing consumes a lifetime anyway, what's the use of intelligence?"

A bugle sounded. The two colonels raised their gray heads and gave thechess men and the board to an orderly. The four boys returned to theirhorses, and in a few minutes Jackson's army was once more on the march, the Acadian band near the head of the column playing as joyously asif it had never lost a member in battle. The mountains and the valleybetween were bathed in light once more. The heavy dark green foliage onthe slopes of the Massanuttons rested the eye and the green fields ofthe valley were cheering. 

"I don't believe I'd ever forget this valley if I lived to be athousand, " said Harry. "I've marched up and down it so much and everysecond of the time was so full of excitement. "

"Here's one day of peace, or at least it looks so, " said Dalton. 

But Jackson beckoned to Harry, bade him ride to the rear and report ifthere was any sign of the enemy. They had learned to obey quickly andHarry galloped back by the side of the marching army. Even now the menwere irrepressible and he was saluted with the old familiar cries:

"Hey, Johnny Reb, come back! You're going toward the Yankees, not awayfrom 'em. "

"Let him go ahead, Bill. He's goin' to tell the Yankees to stop or he'llhurt 'em. "

"That ain't the way to ride a hoss, bub. Don't set up so straight in thesaddle. "

Harry paid no attention to this disregard of his dignity as an officer. He had long since become used to it, and, if they enjoyed it, he wasglad to furnish the excuse. He reached the rear guard of scouts andskirmishers, and, turning his horse, kept with them for a while, butthey saw nothing. Sherburne, with a detachment of the cavalry was there, and Ashby, who commanded all the horse, often appeared. 

"Fremont's army is not many miles behind, " said Sherburne. "If we wereto ride a mile or two toward it we could see its dust. But the Yanksare tired and they can't march fast. I wish I knew how far up the LurayShields and his army are. We've got to look out for that junction ofShields and Fremont. "

"We'll pass the Gap before they can make the junction, " said Harryconfidently. 

"How's Old Jack looking?"

"Same as ever. "

"That is, like a human sphinx. Well, you can never tell from his facewhat he's thinking, but you can be sure that he's thinking somethingworth while. "

"You think then I can report to him that the pursuit will not catch upto-day?"

"I'm sure of it. I've talked with Ashby also about it and he saysthey're yet too far back. Harry, what day is this?"

Harry smiled at the sudden question, but he understood how Sherburne, amid almost continuous battle, had lost sight of time. 

"I heard someone say it was the first of June, " he replied. 

"No later than that? Why, it seemed to me that it must be nearly autumn. Do you know, Harry, that on this very day, two years ago, I was up therein those mountains to the west with a jolly camping party. I was just aboy then, and now here I am an old man. "

"About twenty-three, I should say. "

"A good guess, but anyway I've been through enough to make me feelsixty. I promise you, Harry, that if ever I get through this war aliveI'll shoot the man who tries to start another. Look at the fields! Howfine and green they are! Think of all that good land being torn up bythe hoofs of cavalry and the wheels of cannon!"

"If you are going to be sentimental I'll leave you, " said Harry, and theaction followed the word. He rode away, because he was afraid he wouldgrow sentimental himself. 

The army continued its peaceful march up the valley and most of thenight that followed. Harry was allowed to obtain a few hours sleep inthe latter part of the night in one of the captured wagons. It was acovered wagon and he selected it because he noticed that the night, evenif it was the first of June, was growing chill. But he had no time to beparticular about the rest. He did not undress--he had not undressed indays--but lying between two sacks of meal with his head on a third sackhe sank into a profound slumber. 

When Harry awoke he felt that the wagon was moving. He also heard thepatter of rain on his canvas roof. It was dusky in there, but he saw infront of him the broad back of the teamster who sat on the cross seatand drove. 

"Hello!" exclaimed Harry, sitting up. "What's happened?"

A broad red face was turned to him, and a voice issuing from a slitalmost all the way across its breadth replied:

"Well, if little old Rip Van Winkle hasn't waked up at last! Why, you'veslept nigh on to four hours, and nobody in Stonewall Jackson's army isever expected to sleep more'n three and that's gospel truth, as shore'smy name is Sam Martin. "

"But, Sam, you don't tell me what's happened!"

"It's as simple as A, B, C. We're movin' ag'in, and that fine June dayyestiddy that we liked so much is gone forever. The second o' June ain'tone little bit like the first o' June. It's cold and it's wet. Can't youhear the rain peltin' on the canvas? Besides, the Yanks are comin' up, too. I done heard the boomin' o' cannon off there toward the rear. "

"Oh, why wasn't I called! Here I am sleeping away, and the enemy isalready in touch with us!"

"Don't you worry any 'bout that, sonny. Don't you be so anxious to gitinto a fight, 'cause you'll have plenty of chances when you can't keepout o' it. 'Sides, Gin'ral Jackson ain't been expectin' you. We're upnear the head o' the line an' 'bout an hour ago when we was startin'a whiskered man on a little sorrel hoss rid up an' said: 'Which o' mystaff have you got in there? I remember 'signin' one to you last night. 'I bows very low an' I says: 'Gin'ral Jackson, I don't know his name. Hewas too sleepy to give it, but he's a real young fellow, nice an' quiet. He ain't give no trouble at all. He's been sleepin' so hard I think hehas pounded his ear clean through one o' them bags o' meal. ' Gin'ralJackson laughs low an' just a little, and then he takes a peek into thewagon. 'Why, it's young Harry Kenton!' he says. 'Let him sleep on tillhe wakes. He deserves it!' Then he lets fall the canvas an' he upsan' rides away. An' if I was in your place, young Mr. Kenton, I'd feelmighty proud to have Stonewall Jackson say that I deserved more rest. "

"I am proud, but I've got to go now. I don't know where I'll find myhorse. "

"I know, an' what's more I'll tell. An orderly came back with himsaddled an' bridled an' he's hitched to this here wagon o' mine. Good-bye, Mr. Kenton, I'm sorry you're goin' 'cause you've been a nice, pleasant boarder, sayin' nothin' an' givin' no trouble. "

Harry thanked him, and then in an instant was out of the wagon and onhis horse. It required only a few minutes to overtake Jackson and hisstaff, who were riding soberly along in the rain. He noticed with reliefthat he was not the last to join the chief. Two or three others came uplater. Jackson nodded pleasantly to them all as they came. 

But the morning was gloomy in the extreme. Harry was glad to shelterhimself with the heavy cavalry cloak from the cold rain. All the skieswere covered with sullen clouds, and the troops trudged silently onin deep mud. Now and then a wind off the mountains threshed the rainsharply into their faces. From the rear came the deep, sullen mutterwhich Harry so readily recognized as the sound of the big guns. SamMartin was right. The enemy was most decidedly "in touch. "

Dalton handed Harry some cold food and he ate it in the saddle. Jacksonrode on saying nothing, his head bowed a little, his gaze far away. Theofficers of his staff were also silent. Jackson after a while reined hishorse out of the road, and his staff, of course, followed. The troopsfiled past and Jackson said:

"We will soon pass the Gap in the Massanuttons, and Shields cannot comeout there ahead of us. That danger is left behind. "

"What of the junction between Shields and Fremont, General?" asked oneof the older officers. 

Jackson cast one glance at the somber heavens. 

"Providence favors us, " he said. "The south fork of the Shenandoah flowsbetween Fremont and Shields. It is swollen already by the rains and therushing torrents from the mountains, and if I read the skies right we'regoing to have other long and heavy rains. They can't ford the Shenandoahand they can't stop to bridge it. It will be a long time before they canbring a united force against us. "

But while he spoke the mutter of the guns grew louder. Jackson listenedattentively a long time, and then sent several of his staff officers tothe rear with orders to the cavalry, the Invincibles under Talbot, andone other regiment to hold the enemy off at all costs. As Harry gallopedback the mutter of the cannon grew into thunder. There was also thesharper crash of rifle fire. Presently he saw the flash of the firingand numerous spires of smoke rising. 

His own message was to the Invincibles and he delivered the brief noteto Colonel Talbot, who read it quickly and then tore it up. 

"Stay with us a while, Harry, " he said, "and you can then report morefully to the general what is going on. They crowd us hard. Look howtheir sharpshooters are swarming in the woods and fields yonder. "

An orchard to the left of the road and only a short distance away wasfilled with the Union riflemen. Running from tree to tree and along thefences they sent bullets straight into the ranks of the Invincibles. Four guns were turned and swept the orchard with shell, but the warysharpshooters darted to another point, and again came the hail ofbullets. Colonel Talbot bade his weary men turn, but at the moment, Sherburne, with a troop of cavalry, swept down on the riflemen and sentthem flying. Harry saw Colonel Talbot's lips moving, and he knew that hewas murmuring thanks because Sherburne had come so opportunely. 

"We're not having an easy time, " he said to Harry. "They press us hard. We drive them back for a time, and they come again. They have fieldguns, too, and they are handled with great skill. If I do not mistakegreatly, they are under the charge of Carrington, who, you remember, fought us at that fort in the valley before Bull Run, John Carrington, old John Carrington, my classmate at West Point, a man who wouldn't hurta fly, but who is the most deadly artillery officer in the world. "

Harry remembered that famous duel of the guns in the hills and ColonelTalbot's admiration of his opponent, Carrington. Now he could see itshining in his eyes as strongly as ever. 

"Why are you so sure, colonel, that it's Carrington?" he asked. 

"Because nobody else could handle those field guns as he does. Hebrings 'em up, sends the shot and shell upon us, then hitches up likelightning, is away before we can charge, and in a minute or two isfiring into our line elsewhere. Trust Carrington for such work, and I'mglad he hasn't been killed. John's the dearest soul in the world, asgentle as a woman. Down! Down! all of you! There are the muzzles of hisguns in the bushes again!"

Colonel Talbot's order was so sharp and convincing that most of theInvincibles mechanically threw themselves upon their faces, just as fourfield pieces crashed and the shell and shrapnel flew over their heads. That rapid order had saved them, but the officers on horseback werenot so lucky. A captain was killed, Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire wasgrazed on the shoulder, and the horse of Colonel Talbot was killed underhim. 

But Colonel Talbot, alert and agile, despite his years, sprang clearof the falling horse and said emphatically to his second in command, Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire:

"The last doubt is gone! It's Carrington as sure as we live!"

Then he gave a quick order to his men to rise and fire with the rifles, but the woods protected the gunners, and, when Sherburne with hiscavalry charged into the forest, Carrington and his guns were gone. 

Colonel Talbot procured another horse, and the Invincibles, sore of bodyand mind, resumed their slow and sullen retreat. Harry left them androde further along the front of the rear guard. Under the somber skiesand in the dripping rain there was a long line of flashing rifles andthe flaming of big guns at intervals. 

Fremont was pushing the pursuit and pushing it hard. Harry recognizedanew the surpassing skill of Jackson in keeping his enemies separated bymountains and streams, while his own concentrated force marched on. Hefelt that Fremont would hold Jackson in battle if he could until theother Northern armies came up, and he felt also that Jackson wouldlead Fremont beyond a junction with the others and then turn. Yet theseNorthern men were certainly annoying. They did not seem to mind defeats. Here they were fighting as hard as ever, pursuing and not pursued. 

Harry, turning to the left, saw a numerous body of cavalry under Ashby, supported by guns also, and he joined them. Ashby on his famous whitehorse was riding here and there, exposing himself again and again to thefire of the enemy, who was pressing close. He nodded to Harry, whom heknew. 

"You can report to General Jackson, " he said, "that the enemy iscontinually attacking, but that we are continually beating him off. "

Just as he spoke a trumpet sounded loud and clear in the edge of a woodonly three or four hundred yards away. There was a tremendous shout frommany men, and then the thunder of hoofs. A cavalry detachment, more thana thousand strong, rushed down upon them, and to right and left of thehorse, regiments of infantry, supported by field batteries, chargedalso. 

The movement was so sudden, so violent and so well-conceived thatAshby's troops were swept away, despite every effort of the leader, whogalloped back and forth on his white horse begging them to stand. Sopowerful was the rush that the cavalry were finally driven in retreatand with them the Invincibles. 

Some of the troops, worn by battles and marches until the will weakenedwith the body, broke and ran up the road. Harry heard behind him thetriumphant shouts of their pursuers and he saw the Northern bayonetsgleaming as they came on in masses. Ashby was imploring his men to standbut they would not. The columns pressing upon them were too heavy andthey scarcely had strength enough left to fight. 

More and yet more troops came into battle. The Northern success for thetime was undoubted. The men in blue were driving in the Southern rearguard, and Ashby was unable to hold the road. 

But the two colonels at last succeeded in drawing the Invincibles acrossthe turnpike, where they knelt in good order and sent volley aftervolley into the pursuing ranks. Fremont's men wavered and then stopped, and Ashby, upbraiding his horsemen and calling their attention to theresolute stand of the infantry, brought them into action again. Infantryand cavalry then uniting, drove back the Northern vanguard, and, for thetime being, the Southern rear guard was safe once more. 

But the Invincibles and the cavalry were almost exhausted. Harry foundSt. Clair wounded, not badly, but with enough loss of blood for ColonelTalbot to send him to one of the wagons. He insisted that he wasstill fit to help hold the road, but Colonel Talbot ordered two of thesoldiers to put him in the wagon and he was compelled to submit. 

"We can't let you die now from loss of blood, you young fire-eater, "said Colonel Talbot severely, "because you may be able to serve usbetter by getting killed later on. "

St. Clair smiled wanly and with his formal South Carolina politenesssaid:

"Thanks, sir, it helps a lot when you're able to put it in such asatisfactory way. "

Harry, who was unhurt, gave St. Clair a strong squeeze of the hand. 

"You'll be up and with us again soon, Arthur, " he said consolingly, andthen he rode away to Ashby. 

"You may tell General Jackson that we can hold them back, " said thecavalry leader grimly. "You have just seen for yourself. "

"I have, sir, " replied Harry, and he galloped away from the rear. Buthe soon met the general himself, drawn by the uncommonly heavy firing. Harry told him what had happened, but the expression of Jackson's facedid not change. 

"A rather severe encounter, " he said, "but Ashby can hold them. "

All that day, nearly all that night and all the following day Harrypassed between Jackson and Ashby or with them. It was well for theVirginians that they were practically born on horseback and were trainedto open air and the forests. For thirty-six hours the cavalry were inthe saddle almost without a break. And so was Harry. He had forgottenall about food and rest. He was in a strange, excited mood. He seemed tosee everything through a red mist. In all the thirty-six hours the crashof rifles or the thud of cannon ceased scarcely for a moment. It went onjust the same in day or in night. The Northern troops, although led byno such general as Stonewall Jackson, showed the splendid stuff of whichthey were made. They were always eager to push hard and yet harder. 

The Southern troops burnt the bridges over the creeks as they retreated, but the Northern men waded through the water and followed. The cloudsof cavalry were always in touch. A skirmish was invariably proceedingat some point. Toward evening of the second day's pursuit, they came toMount Jackson, to which they had retreated once before, and there wentinto camp in a strong place. 

But the privates themselves knew that they could not stay there long. They might turn and beat off Fremont's army, but then they would haveto reckon with the second army under Shields and the yet heavier massesthat McDowell was bringing up. But Jackson himself gave no signof discouragement. He went cheerfully among the men, and saw thatattention, as far as possible at such a time, was given to their needs. Harry hunted up St. Clair and found him with a bandaged shoulder sittingin his wagon. He was sore but cheerful. 

"The doctor tells me, Harry, that I can take my place in the line inthree more days, " he said, "but I intend to make it two. I fancy that weneed all the men we can get now, and that I won't be driven back to thiswagon. "

"If I were as well fixed as you are, Arthur, " said Langdon, who appearedat this moment on the other side of the wagon, "I'd stay where I was. But it's so long since I've been hauled that I'm afraid the luxury wouldoverpower me. Think of lying on your back and letting the world floatpeacefully by! Did I say 'think of it'? I was wrong. It is unthinkable. Now, Harry, what plans has Old Jack got for us?"

"I don't know. "

"Well, he'll get us out of this. We're sure of that. But when? That'sthe question. "

The question remained without an answer. Early the next morning theywere on the march again under lowering skies. The heavens from horizonto horizon were a sodden gray and began to drip rain. Harry was sentagain to the rear-guard, where Ashby's cavalry hung like a curtain, backed by the Invincibles and one or two other skeleton regiments. 

Harry joined Sherburne and now the drip of the rain became a steadybeat. Chilling winds from the mountains swept over them. He hadpreserved through thick and thin, through battle and through march thatbig cavalry cloak, and now he buttoned it tightly around him. 

He saw down the road puffs of smoke and heard the lashing fire ofrifles, but it did not make his pulses beat any faster now. He had grownso used to it that it seemed to be his normal life. A bullet fired froma rifle of longer range than the others plumped into the mud at the feetof his horse, but he paid no attention to it. 

He joined Sherburne, who was using his glasses, watching through theheavy, thick air the Northern advance. The brilliant young cavalryman, while as bold and enduring as ever, had changed greatly in the last twoor three weeks. The fine uniform was stained and bedraggled. Sherburnehimself had lost more than twenty pounds and his face was lined andanxious far more than the face of a mere boy of twenty-three should havebeen. 

"I think they'll press harder than ever, " said Sherburne. 

"Why?"

"The Shenandoah river, or rather the north fork of it, isn't far ahead. They'd like to coop us up against it and make us fight, while theirarmy under Shields and all their other armies--God knows how many theyhave--are coming up. "

"The river is bridged, isn't it?"

"Yes, but it takes a good while to get an army such as ours, loaded downwith prisoners and spoil, across it, and if they rushed us just when wewere starting over it, we'd have to turn and give battle. Jupiter, howit rains! Behold the beauties of war, Harry!"

The wind suddenly veered a little, and with it the rain came hard andfast. It seemed to blow off the mountains in sheets and for a moment ortwo Harry was blinded. The beat of the storm upon leaves and earthwas so hard that the cracking of the rifles was dulled and deadened. Nevertheless the rifle fire went on, and as well as Harry could judge, without any decrease in violence. 

"Hear the bugles now!" said Sherburne. "Their scouts are warning them ofthe approach to the Shenandoah. They'll be coming up in a minute or twoin heavier force. Ah, see, Ashby understands, too! He's massing the mento hold them back!"

The rain still poured with all the violence of a deluge, but theNorthern force, horse and cannon, pushed forward through the mud andopened with all their might. Ashby's cavalry and the infantry in supportreplied. There was something grim and awful to Harry in this fight inthe raging storm. Now and then, he could not see the flame of the firingfor the rain in his eyes. By a singular chance a bullet cut the buttonof his cloak at the throat and the cloak flew open there. In a minute hewas soaked through and through with water, but he did not notice it. 

The cavalry, the Invincibles and the other regiments were making adesperate stand in order that the army might cross the bridge of theShenandoah. Harry was seized with a sort of fury. Why should these mentry to keep them from getting across? It was their right to escape. Presently he found himself firing with his pistols into the great pillarof fire and smoke and rain in front of him. Mud splashed up by thehorses struck him in the face now and then, and stung like gunpowder, but he began to shout with joy when he saw that Ashby was holding backthe Northern vanguard. 

Ahead of him the Southern army was already rumbling over the bridge, while the swollen and unfordable waters of the Shenandoah raced beneathit. But the Northern brigades pressed hard. Harry did not know whetherthe rain helped them or hurt them, but at any rate it was terriblyuncomfortable. It poured on them in sheets and sheets and the earthseemed to be a huge quagmire. He wondered how the men were able to keeptheir ammunition dry enough to fire, but that they did was evident fromthe crash that went on without ceasing. 

"In thinking of war before I really knew it, " said Harry, "I neverthought much of weather. "

"Does sound commonplace, but it cuts a mighty big figure I can tell you. If it hadn't rained so hard just before Waterloo Napoleon would have gotup his big guns more easily, winning the battle, and perhaps changingthe history of the world. Confound it, look at that crowd pushingforward through the field to take us in the flank!"

"Western men, I think, " said Harry. "Here are two of our field guns, Sherburne! Get 'em to throw some grape in there!"

It was lucky that the guns approached at that moment. Their commander, as quick of eye as either Harry or Sherburne, unlimbered and swept backthe western men who were seeking to turn their flank. Then Sherburne, with a charge of his cavalry, sent them back further. But at the call ofAshby's trumpet they turned quickly and galloped after Jackson's army, the main part of which had now passed the bridge. 

"I suppose we'll burn the bridge after we cross it, " said Harry. 

"Of course. "

"But how on earth can we set fire to it with this Noah's flood comingdown?"

"I don't know. They'll manage it somehow. Look, Harry, see the flamesbursting from the timbers now. Gallop, men! Gallop! We may get our facesscorched in crossing the bridge, but when we're on the other side itwon't be there for the Yankees!"

The Invincibles and the other infantry regiments all were advancing atthe double quick, with the cavalry closing up the rear. Behind them manybugles rang and through the dense rain they saw the Northern cavalryleaders swinging their sabers and cheering on their men, and they alsosaw behind them the heavy masses of infantry coming up. 

Harry knew that it was touch-and-go. The bulk of the army was across, and if necessary they must sacrifice Ashby's cavalry, but that sacrificewould be too great. Harry had never seen Ashby and his gallant captainsshow more courage. They fought off the enemy to the very last and thengalloped for the bridge, under a shower of shell and grape and bullets. Ashby's own horse was killed under him, falling headlong in the mud, but in an instant somebody supplied him with a fresh one, upon whichhe leaped, and then they thundered over the burning bridge, Ashby andSherburne the last two to begin the crossing. 

Harry, who was just ahead of Ashby and Sherburne, felt as if the flameswere licking at them. With an involuntary motion he threw up his handsto protect his eyes from the heat, and he also had a horrible sensationlest the bridge, its supporting timbers burned through, should fall, sending them all into the rushing flood. 

But the bridge yet held and Harry uttered a gasp of relief as the feetof his horse struck the deep mud on the other side. They galloped on fortwo or three hundred yards, and then at the command of Ashby turned. 

The bridge was a majestic sight, a roaring pyramid that shot forthclouds of smoke and sparks in myriads. 

"How under the sun did we cross it?" Harry exclaimed. 

"We crossed it, that's sure, because here we are, " said Sherburne. "Iconfess myself that I don't know just how we did it, Harry, but it'squite certain that the enemy will never cross it. The fire's too strong. Besides, they'd have our men to face. "

Harry looked about, and saw several thousand men drawn up to dispute thepassage, but the Northern troops recognizing its impossibility at thattime, made no attempt. Nevertheless their cannon sent shells curvingover the stream, and the Southern cannon sent curving shells in reply. But the burning bridge roared louder and the pyramid of flame rosehigher. The rain, which had never ceased to pour in a deluge, merelyseemed to feed it. 

"Ah, she's about to go now, " exclaimed Sherburne. 

The bridge seemed to Harry to rear up before his eyes like a livingthing, and then draw together a mass of burning timbers. The next momentthe whole went with a mighty crash into the river, and the blazingfragments floated swiftly away on the flood. The deep and rapidShenandoah flowed a barrier between the armies of Jackson and Fremont. 

"A river can be very beautiful without a bridge, Harry, can't it?" saida voice beside him. 

It was St. Clair, a heavy bandage over his left shoulder, but a smokingrifle in his right hand, nevertheless. 

"I couldn't stand it any longer, Harry, " he said. "I had to get up andjoin the Invincibles, and you see I'm all right. "

Harry was compelled to laugh at the sodden figure, from which the rainran in streams. But he admired St. Clair's spirit. 

"It was by a hair's breadth, Arthur, " he said. 

"But we won across, just the same, and now I'm going back to that wagonto finish my cure. I fancy that we'll now have a rest of six or eighthours, if General Jackson doesn't think so much time taken from war amere frivolity. "

The Southern army drew off slowly, but as soon as it was out of sightthe tenacious Northern troops undertook to follow. They attempted tobuild a bridge of boats, but the flood was so heavy that they were sweptaway. Then Fremont set men to work to rebuild the bridge, which theycould do in twenty-four hours, but Jackson, meanwhile, was using everyone of those precious hours. 

CHAPTER XIV. THE DOUBLE BATTLE

The twenty-four hours were a rest, merely by comparison. There was nopursuit, at least, the enemy was not in sight, but the scouts broughtword that the bridge over the Shenandoah would be completed in a day andnight, and that Fremont would follow. Jackson's army triumphantly passedthe last defile of the Massanuttons and the army of Shields did notappear issuing from it. It was no longer possible for them to be struckin front and on the flank at the same time, and the army breathed amighty sigh of relief. At night of the next day Harry was sitting by thecamp of the Invincibles, having received a brief leave of absence fromthe staff, and he detailed the news to his eager friends. 

"General Jackson is stripping again for battle, " he said to ColonelLeonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. "He's sentall the sick and wounded across a ferry to Staunton, and he's dispatchedhis prisoners and captured stores by another road. So he has nothingleft but men fit for battle. "

"Which includes me, " said St. Clair proudly, showing his left shoulderfrom which the bandage had been taken, "I'm as well as ever. "

"Men get well fast with Stonewall Jackson, " said Colonel Talbot. "I'llconfess to you lads that I thought it was all up with us there in thelower valley, when we were surrounded by the masses of the enemy, and Idon't see yet how we got here. "

"But we are here, Leonidas, " said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, "and that's enough for us to know. "

"Right, Hector, old friend. It's enough for us to know. Do you by chancehappen to have left two of those delightful cigarettes?"

"Just two, Leonidas, one for you and one for me, and now is a chance tosmoke 'em. "

The young lieutenants drew to one side while the two old friends smokedand compared notes. They did not smoke, but they compared notes also, asthey rested on the turf. The rain had ceased and the grass was dry. Theysaw through the twilight the dark mass of the Massanuttons, the extremesouthern end, and Happy Tom Langdon waved his hand toward the mountain, like one who salutes a friend. 

"Good old mountain, " he said. "You've been a buffer between us and theenemy more than once, but it took a mind like Stonewall Jackson's tokeep moving you around so you would stand between the armies of theenemy and make the Yankees fight, only one army at a time. "

"You're right, " said Harry, who was enjoying the deep luxury of rest. "Ididn't know before that mountains could be put to such good use. Look, you can see lights on the ridge now. "

They saw lights, evidently those of powerful lanterns swung to and fro, but they did not understand them, nor did they care much. 

"Signals are just trifles to me now, " said Happy Tom. "What do I carefor lights moving on a mountain four or five miles away, when for amonth, day and night without stopping, a million Yankees have beenshooting rifle bullets at me, and a thousand of the biggest cannon evercast have been pouring round shot, long shot, shell, grape, canister anda hundred other kinds of missiles that I can't name upon this innocentand unoffending head of mine. "

"They'll be on us tomorrow, Happy, " said St. Clair, more gravely. "Thispicnic of ours can't last more than a day. "

"I think so, too, " said Harry. "So long, boys, I've got to join CaptainSherburne. The general has detached me for service with him under Ashby, and you know that when you are with them, something is going to happen. "

Harry slept well that night, partly in a camp and partly in a saddle, and he found himself the next day with Ashby and Sherburne near a littletown called Harrisonburg. They were on a long hill in thick forest, andthe scouts reported that the enemy was coming. The Northern armies wereuniting now and they were coming up the valley, expecting to crush allopposition. 

"Take your glasses, Harry, " said Sherburne, "and you'll see a strongforce crossing the fields, but it's not strong enough. We've a splendidposition here in the forest and you just watch. Ah, here come yourfriends, the Invincibles. See, Ashby is forming them in the center, while we, of the horse, take the flanks. "

The men in blue, catching sight of the Confederate uniforms in the wood, charged with a shout, but they did not know the strength of the forcebefore them. The Invincibles poured in a deadly fire at close range, andthen Ashby's cavalry with a yell charged on either flank. The Northerntroops, taken by surprise, gave way, and the Southern force followed, firing continuously. 

They came within a half mile of Harrisonburg, and the main Northern armyof Fremont was at hand. The general who had pursued so long, saw hismen retreating, and, filled with chagrin and anger, he hurried forwardheavier forces of both cavalry and infantry. Other troops came to therelief of Ashby also, and Harry saw what he thought would be only aheavy skirmish grow into a hot battle of size. 

Fremont, resolved that the North should win a battle in the open field, and rejoiced that he had at last brought his enemy to bay, never ceasedto hurry his troops to the combat. Formidable lines of the westernriflemen rushed on either flank, and before their deadly rifles Ashby'scavalry wavered. Harry saw with consternation that they were about togive way, but Ashby galloped up to the unbroken lines of infantry andordered them to charge. 

The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when his horse, shot through, fell to the ground. Ashby fell with him, but he sprang instantly to hisfeet, and shouted in a loud voice:

"Charge men, for God's sake! Charge! Charge!" With a rush and roar, theInvincibles and their comrades swept forward, but at the same instantHarry saw Ashby fall again. With a cry of horror he leaped from hishorse and ran to him, lifting him in his arms. But he quickly laid himback on the grass. Ashby had been shot through the heart and killedinstantly. 

Harry gazed around him, struck with grief and dismay, but he saw onlythe resistless rush of the infantry. The Invincibles and their comradeswere avenging the death of Turner Ashby. Tired of retreating and hotfor action they struck the Northern division with a mighty impact, shattering it and driving it back rapidly. The Southern cavalry, recovering also, struck it on the flank, and the defeat was complete. Fremont's wish was denied him. After so much hard marching and such agallant and tenacious pursuit, he had gone the way of the other Northerngenerals who opposed Jackson, and was beaten. 

Although they had driven back the vanguard, winning a smart littlevictory, and telling to Fremont and Shields that the pursuit of Jacksonhad now become dangerous, there was gloom in the Southern army. Thehorsemen did not know until they trotted back and saw Harry kneelingbeside his dead body, that the great Ashby was gone. For a while theycould not believe it. Their brilliant and daring leader, who had ledJackson's vanguard in victory, and who had hung like a covering curtainin retreat, could not have fallen. It seemed impossible that the man whohad led for days and days through continuous showers of bullets couldhave been slain at last by some stray shot. 

But they lifted him up finally and carried him away to a house in thelittle neighboring village of Port Republic, Sherburne and the othercaptains, hot from battle, riding with uncovered heads. He was put upona bed there, and Harry, a staff officer, was selected to ride to Jacksonwith the news. He would gladly have evaded the errand, but it wasobvious that he was the right messenger. 

He rode slowly and found Jackson coming up with the main force, Dr. McGuire, his physician, and Colonel Crutchfield, his chief of artillery, riding on either side of him. The general gave one glance at Harry'sdrooping figure. 

"Well, " he said, "have we not won the victory? From a hilltop ourglasses showed the enemy in flight. "

"Yes, general, " said Harry, taking off his hat, "we defeated the enemy, but General Ashby is dead. "

Jackson and his staff were silent for a moment, and Harry saw thegeneral shrink as if he had received a heavy blow. 

"Ashby killed! Impossible!" he exclaimed. 

"It's true, sir. I helped to carry his body to a house in Port Republic, where it is now lying. "

"Lead us to that house, Mr. Kenton, " said Jackson. 

Harry rode forward in silence, and the others followed in the samesilence. At the house, after they had looked upon the body, Jacksonasked to be left alone awhile with all that was left of Turner Ashby. The others withdrew and Harry always believed that Jackson prayed withinthat room for the soul of his departed comrade. 

When he came forth his face had resumed its sternness, but was withoutother expression, as usual. 

"He will not show grief, now, " said Sherburne, "but I think that hissoul is weeping. "

"And a bad time for Fremont and Shields is coming, " said Harry. 

"It's a risk that we all take in war, " said Dalton, who was more of afatalist than any of the others. 

The chief wrote a glowing official tribute to Ashby, saying that his"daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost incredible, hischaracter heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining thepurposes and movements of the enemy. " Yet deeply as Harry had beenaffected by Ashby's death, it could not remain in his mind long, becausethey had passed the Massanuttons now, and Fremont and Shields followingup the valley must soon unite. 

Harry believed that Jackson intended to strike a blow. The situationof the Confederacy was again critical--it seemed to Harry that it wasalways critical--and somebody must wield the sword, quick and strong. McClellan with his great and well-trained army was before Richmond. Itwas only the rapid marches and lightning strokes of Jackson that hadkept McDowell with another great army from joining him, but to keep backthis force of McDowell until they dealt with McClellan, there must beyet other rapid marches and lightning strokes. 

Harry's sleep that night was the longest in two weeks, but he was upat dawn, and he was directed by Jackson to ride forward with Sherburnetoward the southern base of the Massanuttons, observe the approach ofboth Fremont and Shields and report to him. 

Harry was glad of his errand. He always liked to ride with Sherburne, who was a fount of cheerfulness, and he was still keyed up to thatextraordinary intensity and pitch of excitement that made all thingspossible. He now understood how the young soldiers of Napoleon inItaly had been able to accomplish so much. It was the man, a leader ofinspiration and genius, surcharging them all with electrical fire. 

Sherburne's troop was a portion of a strong cavalry force, which dividedas it reached the base of the Massanuttons, a half passing on eitherside. Sherburne and Harry rode to the right in order to see the armyof Shields. The day was beautiful, with a glorious June sun and gentlewinds, but Harry, feeling something strange about it, realized presentlythat it was the silence. For more than two weeks cannon had beenthundering and rifles crashing in the valley, almost without cessation. Neither night nor storm had caused any interruption. 

It seemed strange, almost incredible now, but they heard birds singingas they flew from tree to tree, and peaceful rabbits popped up in thebrush. Yet before they went much further they saw the dark masses of theNorthern army under Shields moving slowly up the valley, and anxious forthe junction with Fremont. 

But the Northern generals were again at a loss. Jackson had turnedsuddenly and defeated Fremont's vanguard with heavy loss, but whathad become of him afterward? Fremont and Shields were uncertain ofthe position of each other, and they were still more uncertain aboutJackson's. He might fall suddenly upon either, and they grew verycautious as they drew near to the end of the Massanuttons. 

Sherburne and Harry, after examining the Northern army throughtheir glasses, rode back with a dozen men to the south base ofthe Massanuttons. Most of them were signal officers, and Harry andSherburne, dismounting, climbed the foot of the mountain with them. Whenthey stood upon the crest and looked to right and left in the clear Juneair, they beheld a wonderful sight. 

To the south along Mill Creek lay Jackson's army. To the west massedin the wider valley was the army of Fremont, which had followed them sotenaciously, and to the east, but just separated from it by the base ofthe Massanuttons, were the masses of Shields advancing slowly. 

Harry through his powerful glasses could see the horsemen in frontscouting carefully in advance of either army, and once more heappreciated to the full Jackson's skill in utilizing the mountains andrivers to keep his enemies apart. But what would he do now that theywere passing the Massanuttons, and there was no longer anything toseparate Shields and Fremont. He dismissed the thought. There was anintellect under the old slouch hat of the man who rode Little Sorrelthat could rescue them from anything. 

"Quite a spectacle, " said Sherburne. "A man can't often sit at ease ona mountaintop and look at three armies. Now, Barron, you are to signalfrom here to General Jackson every movement of our enemies, but justbefore either Shields or Fremont reaches the base of the mountain, you're to slip down and join us. "

"We'll do it, sir, " said Barron, the chief signal officer. "We're notlikely to go to sleep up here with armies on three sides of us. "

Sherburne, Harry and two other men who were not to stay slowly descendedthe mountain. Harry enjoyed the breathing space. On the mountainside hewas lifted, for a while, above the fierce passions of war. He saw thingsfrom afar and they were softened by distance. He drew deep breaths ofthe air, crisp and cool, on the heights, and Sherburne, who saw the glowon his face, understood. The same glow was on his own face. 

"It's a grand panorama, Harry, " he said, "and we'll take our fill of itfor a few moments. " They stood on a great projection of rock and lookedonce more and for a little while into the valley and its divisions. Thetwo Northern armies were nearer now, and they were still moving. Harrysaw the sun flashing over thousands of bayonets. He almost fancied hecould hear the crack of the teamsters' whips as the long lines of wagonsin the rear creaked along. 

They descended rapidly, remounted their horses and galloped back toJackson. 

They buried Ashby that day, all the leading Southern officers followinghim to his grave, and throughout the afternoon the silence wascontinued. But the signals on the mountain worked and worked, and thesignalmen with Jackson replied. No movement of the two pursuing armieswas unknown to the Southern leader. 

Harry, with an hour's leave, visited once more his friends of theInvincibles. He had begged a package of fine West Indian cigarettesfrom Sherburne, and he literally laid them at the feet of the twocolonels--he found them sitting together on the grass, lean gray men whoseemed to be wholly reduced to bone and muscle. 

"This is a great gift, Harry, perhaps greater than you think, " saidColonel Leonidas Talbot gravely. "I tried to purchase some from thecommissariat, but they had none--it seems that General Stonewall Jacksondoesn't consider cigarettes necessary for his troops. Anyhow, the wayour Confederate money is going, I fancy a package of cigarettes willsoon cost a hundred dollars. Here, Hector, light up. We divide this box, half and half. That's right, isn't it, Harry?"

"Certainly, sir. "

Harry passed on to the junior officers and found St. Clair and Happy Tomlying on the grass. Happy pretended to rouse from sleep when Harry came. 

"Hello, old omen of war, " he said. "What's Old Jack expecting of usnow?"

"I told you never to ask me such a question as that again. The generalisn't what you'd call a garrulous man. How's your shoulder, Arthur?"

"About well. The muscles were not torn. It was just loss of blood thattroubled me for the time. "

"I hear, " said Langdon, "that the two Yankee armies are to join soon. The Massanuttons won't be between them much longer, and then they'llhave only one of the forks of the river to cross before they fall uponeach other's breasts and weep with joy. Harry, it seems to me that we'realways coming to a fork of the Shenandoah. How many forks does it haveanyhow?"

"Only two, but the two forks have forks of their own. That's the reasonwe're always coming to deep water and by the same token the Yankees arealways coming to it, too, which is a good thing for us, as we get therefirst, when the bridges are there, and when the Yankees come they aregone. "

But not one of these boys understood the feeling in the Northernarmies. Late the day before a messenger from Shields had got through theMassanuttons to Fremont, and had informed him that an easy triumphwas at hand. Jackson and his army, he said, fearing the onset ofoverwhelming numbers, was retreating in great disorder. 

The two generals were now convinced of speedy victory. They hadcommunicated at last, and they could have some concert of movement. Jackson was less than thirty miles away, and his army was now but aconfused mass of stragglers which would dissolve under slight impact. Both had defeats and disappointments to avenge, and they pushed forwardnow with increased speed, Shields in particular showing the greatestenergy in pursuit. But the roads were still deep in mud, and his armywas forced to toil on all that day and the next, while the signalmenon the top of the Massanuttons told every movement he made to StonewallJackson. 

The signals the second evening told Jackson that the two Northern armieswere advancing fast, and that he would soon have before him an enemyoutnumbering him anywhere from two to three to one. He had been talkingwith Ewell just before the definite news was brought, and Harry, Daltonand other officers of the staff stood near, as their duty bade them. 

Harry knew the nature of the information, as it was not a secret fromany member of the staff, and now they all stood silently on one sideand watched Jackson. Even Ewell offered no suggestion, but kept hiseyes fixed anxiously on his chief. Harry felt that another one of thosecritical moments, perhaps the most dangerous of all, had arrived. Theyhad fought army after army in detail, but now they must fight armiesunited, or fly. He did not know that the silent general was preparingthe most daring and brilliant of all his movements in the valley. In theface of both Shields and Fremont his courage flamed to the highest, andthe brain under the old slouch hat grew more powerful and penetratingthan ever. And flight never for a moment entered into his scheme. 

Jackson at length said a few words to Ewell, who sprang upon his horseand rode away to his division. Then, early in the morning, Jacksonled the rest of the army into a strange district, the Grottoes of theShenandoah. It was a dark region, filled beneath with great caves andcovered thickly with heavy forest, through the leaves of which thetroops caught views of the Massanuttons to the north or of the greatmasses of the Blue Ridge to the east, while far to the west lay othermountains, range on range. But all around them the country was woodedheavily. 

The army did not make a great amount of noise when it camped in theforest over the caves, and the fires were few. Perhaps some of the menwere daunted by the dangers which still surrounded them so thickly afterso many days of such fierce fighting. At any rate, they were silent. TheAcadians had played no music for a day now, and the band lay upon theground sunk in deep slumber. 

Harry had not been sent on any errand, and he was sitting on a stone, finishing his supper, when Dalton, who had been away with a message, returned. 

"What's happened, George?" asked Harry. 

"Nothing yet, but a lot will happen soon. "

"Where have you been?"

"I've been on the other side of the Shenandoah. You needn't open youreyes. It's so. Moreover, Ewell's whole division is over there, and itwill meet the vanguard of Fremont as he advances. I think I begin to seethe general's scheme. "

"I do, too. Ewell will fight off Fremont, holding him there untilJackson can annihilate Shields. Then he will retreat over the river toJackson, burning the bridge behind him. "

Dalton nodded. 

"Looks that way to a man up a tree, " he said. 

"It's like the general, " said Harry. "He could bring his whole army onthis side, burn the bridge, and in full force attack Shields, but heprefers to defeat them both. "

"Yes; but I wish to Heaven we had more men. "

"Sh! Here comes the general, " said Harry. 

The two were silent as General Jackson and an officer passed. Thegeneral spoke a word or two to the boys and went on. They were butordinary words, but both felt uplifted because he had spoken to them. 

Morning found them motionless in the forest, over the caves. They ate ahasty breakfast and waited. But the scouts were all out, and presentlyHarry and Dalton were sent toward the Shenandoah. Finding nothing there, they crossed over the bridge and came to Ewell's division, where theyhad plenty of acquaintances. 

The sun was now high, and while they were talking with their friends, they heard the faint report of rifle shots far in their front. Presentlythe scouts came running back, and said that the enemy was only two milesaway and was advancing to the attack. 

Ewell took off his hat and his bald head glistened in the sun's rays. But, like Jackson, he was always cool, and he calmly moved his troopsinto position along a low ridge, with heavy woods on either flank. Harryknew the ground, alas, too well. It was among the trees just behind theridge that Turner Ashby had been slain. Ewell had before him Fremontwith two to one, and the rest of the army under Jackson's immediatecommand was four miles away, facing Shields. 

"Do you hear anything behind you, Harry?" asked Dalton. 

"No, why do you ask?"

"If we heard the booming of guns, and we'd hear 'em at four miles, we'dknow that General Jackson himself was engaged. But as there's no sound, Shields hasn't come up, and we'll wait here a while to see if we can'thave something important to report. "

"I don't think so, " said Harry. "We know that the enemy is about toattack here in full force, and that's enough to know about this side ofthe river. We ought to gallop back to General Jackson and tell him. "

"You're right, Harry, " said the Virginian, in whom the sense of duty wasstrong. "The general may be attacked by the time we get there, and he'llwant to know exactly how things are. "

They galloped back as fast as they could and found that General Jacksonhad moved his headquarters to the little village of Port Republic. Theyfound him and told him the news as he was mounting his horse, but atthe same time an excited and breathless messenger came galloping upfrom another direction. The vanguard of Shields had already routedhis pickets, and the second Northern army was pressing forward in fullforce. 

As he spoke, the Northern cavalry came in sight, and if those Northernhorsemen had known what a prize was almost within their hands, theywould have spared no exertion. 

"Make for the bridge! Make for the bridge, general!" cried Dalton. 

The horsemen in blue were not coming fast. They rode cautiously throughthe streets. Southern villages were not friendly to them, and thiscaution saved Stonewall Jackson. He was on his horse in an instant, galloping for the bridge, and Harry and Dalton were hot behind him. Theythundered over the bridge with the Northern cavalry just at their heels, and escaped by a hair's breadth. But the chief of artillery and Dr. McGuire and one of the captains, Willis, were captured, and the rest ofthe staff was dispersed. 

"My God!" exclaimed Harry, when the Northern cavalry stopped at thebridge. "What an escape!"

He was thinking of Jackson's escape, not his own, and while he waswondering what the general would do, he saw him ride to the bank of theriver and watch the Northern cavalry on the other side. Then Harry andDalton uttered a shout as they saw a Southern battery push forward fromthe village and open on the cavalry. An infantry regiment, which hadbeen forming in the town, also came up at full speed, uttering the long, high-pitched rebel yell. 

The Northern vanguard, which had come so near to such a highachievement, was driven back with a rush, and a Southern batteryappearing on its flank, swept it with shell as it retreated. So heavywas the Southern attack, that the infantry also were driven back andtheir guns taken. The entire vanguard was routed, and as it received nosupport, even Harry and Dalton knew that the main army under Shields hadnot yet come up. 

"That was the closest shave I ever saw, " said Dalton. "So it was, " saidHarry. "But just listen to that noise behind you!"

A tremendous roar and crash told them that the battle between Ewell andFremont had opened. Jackson beckoned to Harry, Dalton and the membersof his staff who had reassembled. The three, who were captured, subsequently escaped in the confusion and turmoil and rejoined theirgeneral. Setting a powerful force to guard the bridge, Jackson said tohis staff:

"While we are waiting for Shields to come up with his army, we'll rideover and see how the affair between Ewell and Fremont is coming on. "

The roar and crash told them it was coming on with great violence, butFremont, so strong in pursuit was not so strong in action. Now that hewas face to face with the enemy, he did not attack with all his might. He hesitated, not from personal fear, but from fear on account of hisarmy. The whole force of Jackson might be in front of him, and theapprehensions that he did not feel in pursuit assailed him when helooked at the ridge covered with the enemy. 

Harry and Dalton watched with breathless interest. A portion ofFremont's army, but not all of it, just when it was needed most, wassent to the charge. Led by the pickets and skirmishers they came forwardgallantly, a long line of glittering bayonets. In the thick woods ontheir flank lay three Southern regiments, ambushed and not yet stirring. No sunlight penetrated there to show their danger to the soldiers whowere breasting the slope. 

Harry foresaw all, and he drew a long breath for brave men who weremarching to a certain fate. 

"Why don't they look! Why don't they look!" he found himself exclaiming. 

The next instant the entire wood burst into flame. Picking their aim andfiring at short range, the Southern riflemen sent sheet after sheet ofbullets into the charging ranks. It was more than human blood and fleshcould stand, and the Northern regiments gave way. But it was not a rout. They retreated on their reserves, and stood there recovering themselves, while the Southern riflemen reloaded, but did not pursue. The regimentswhich had done the deadly work sank back in the woods, and seemingly thebattle was over. 

Harry had not been under fire. He and Dalton, the rest of Jackson'sstaff and the general himself merely watched. Nor did Jackson give anyfurther orders to his able lieutenant, Ewell. He allowed him to make thebattle his own, and in Harry's opinion he was making it right. 

There came a silence that seemed interminably long to Harry. Thesunlight blazed down, and the two armies stood looking at each otheracross a field that was strewn with the fallen. It would have been follyfor the men in blue to charge again, and it was the chief business ofthe Southern troops to hold them back. Therefore they stood in theirpositions and watched. Harry judged that the bulk of Fremont's army wasnot yet up. It was this failure to bring superior numbers to bear atthe right time that was always the ruin of the Northern generals in thevalley, because the genius on the other side invariably saw the mistakeand profited by it. 

Harry and Dalton still waited, wondering. Jackson himself sat quietly onhis horse, and issued no order. The Northern troops were motionless, andHarry, who knew how precious time was, with the rest of Fremont's armycoming up, wondered again. But Trimble, the commander of the Southernriflemen hidden in the wood, saw a chance. He would send his men undercover of the forest and hurl them suddenly upon the Northern flank. Ewell gave his consent, and said that he would charge, too, if themovement were successful. 

Harry, watching, saw the Southern regiments in the wood steal from theforest, pass swiftly up a ravine, and then, delivering a shattering fireat short range, charge with the bayonet upon the Northern flank. The menin blue, surprised by so fierce an onset, gave way. Uttering the rebelyell, the Southerners followed and pushed them further and further. Ewell's quick eye, noting the success, sent forward his own center in aheavy charge. 

Fremont, from the rear, hurried forward new troops, but they were beatenas fast as they arrived. The batteries were compelled to unlimber andtake to flight, the fresh brigade dispatched by Fremont was routed, and the whole Southern line pressed forward, driving the Northern armybefore it. 

"General Jackson was wise in trusting to General Ewell, " said Dalton toHarry. "He's won a notable victory. I wonder how far he'll push it. "

"Not far, I think. All Ewell's got to do is to hold Fremont, and he hassurely held him. There's Shields on the other side of the river withwhom we have to deal. Do you know, George, that all the time we've beensitting here, watching that battle in front of us, I've been afraid we'dhear the booming of the guns on the other side of the river, tellingthat Shields was up. "

"We scorched their faces so badly there in Cross Keys that they must behesitating. Lord, Harry, how old Stonewall plays with fire. To attackand defeat one army with the other only a few miles away must takenerves all of steel. "

"But if Ewell keeps on following Fremont he'll be too far away when weturn to deal with Shields. "

"But he won't go too far. There are the trumpets now recalling hisarmy. "

The mellow notes were calling in the eager riflemen, who wished tocontinue the pursuit, but the army was not to retire. It held thebattlefield, and now that the twilight was coming the men began to buildtheir fires, which blazed through the night within sight of those of theenemy. The sentinels of the two armies were within speaking distanceof one another, and often in the dark, as happened after many anotherbattle in this war, Yank and Reb passed a friendly word or two. Theymet, too, on the field, where they carried away their dead and wounded, but on such errands there was always peace. 

Those hours of the night were precious, but Fremont did not use them. Defeated, he held back, magnifying the numbers of his enemy, fearingthat Jackson was in front of him with his whole army, and once more outof touch with his ally, Shields. 

But Stonewall Jackson was all activity. The great war-like intellect wasworking with the utmost precision and speed. Having beaten back Fremont, he was making ready for Shields. The first part of the drama, as hehad planned it, had been carried through with brilliant success, and hemeant that the next should be its equal. 

Harry was not off his horse that night. He carried message after messageto generals and colonels and captains. He saw the main portion ofEwell's army withdrawn from Fremont's front, leaving only a singlebrigade to hold him, in case he should advance at dawn. But he saw thefires increased, and he carried orders that the men should build themhigh, and see that they did not go down. 

When he came back from one of these errands about midnight, just afterthe rise of the moon, he found General Jackson standing upon the bankof the river, giving minute directions to a swarm of officers. His mindmissed nothing. He directed not only the movements of the troops, but hesaw also that the trains of ammunition and food were sent to the properpoints. About half way between midnight and morning he lay down andslept in a small house near the river bank. Shortly before dawn thecommander of a battery, looking for one of his officers, entered thehouse and saw Jackson, dressed for the saddle, sword, boots, spurs andall, lying on his face upon the bed, asleep. On a small table near himstood a short piece of tallow candle, sputtering dimly. But the officersaw that it was Jackson, and he turned on tiptoe to withdraw. 

The general awoke instantly, sat up and demanded who was there. When theofficer explained, he said he was glad that he had been awakened, askedabout the disposition of the troops, and gave further commands. He didnot go to sleep again. 

But Harry's orders carried him far beyond midnight, and he had nothought of sleep. Once more repressed but intense excitement hadcomplete hold of him. He could not have slept had the chance beengiven to him. The bulk of the army was now in front of Shields, andthe pickets were not only in touch, but were skirmishing actively. Allthrough the late hours after midnight Harry heard the flash of theirfiring in front of him. 

The cavalry under Sherburne and other daring leaders were exchangingshots with the equally daring cavalry of the enemy. 

As the dawn approached the firing was heavier. Harry knew that the daywould witness a great battle, and his heart was filled with anxiety. The army led by Shields showed signs of greater energy and tenacity thanthat led by Fremont. The Northern troops that had fought so fiercely atKernstown were there, and they also had leaders who would not be dauntedby doubts and numbers. Harry wondered if they had heard of the defeat ofFremont at Cross Keys. 

He looked at the flashing of the rifles in the dusk, and before dawnrode back to the house where his commander slept. He was ready andwaiting when Jackson came forth, and Dalton appearing from somewhere inthe dusk, sat silently on his horse by his side. 

The general with his staff at once rode toward the front, and the massesof the Southern army also swung forward. Harry saw that, according toJackson's custom, they would attack, not wait for it. It was yet dusky, but the firing in their front was increasing in intensity. There was asteady crash and a blaze of light from the rifle muzzles ran through theforest. 

He took an order to the Acadians to move forward behind two batteries, and as he came back he passed the Invincibles, now a mere skeletonregiment, but advancing in perfect order, the two colonels on theirflanks near their head. He also saw St. Clair and Langdon, but hehad time only to wave his hand to them, and then he galloped back toJackson. 

The dusk rapidly grew thinner. Then the burnished sun rose over thehills, and Harry saw the Northern army before them, spread across alevel between the river and a spur of the Blue Ridge, and also on theslopes and in the woods. A heavy battery crowned one of the hills, another was posted in a forest, and there were more guns between. Harrysaw that the position was strong, and he noted with amazement that theNorthern forces did not seem to outnumber Jackson's. It was evident thatShields, with the majority of his force was not yet up. He glanced atJackson. He knew that the fact could not have escaped the general, buthe saw no trace of exultation on his face. 

There was another fact that Harry did not then know. Nearly all the menwho had fought successfully against Jackson at Kernstown were in thatvanguard, and Tyler, who had deemed himself a victor there, commandedthem. Everybody else had been beaten by Stonewall Jackson, but not they. Confident of victory, they asked to be led against the Southern army, and they felt only joy when the rising sunlight disclosed their foe. There were the men of Ohio and West Virginia again, staunch and sturdy. 

Harry knew instinctively that the battle would be fierce, pushed to theutmost. Jackson had no other choice, and as the sunlight spread overthe valley, although the mountains were yet in mist, the cannon onthe flanks opened with a tremendous discharge, followed by crash aftercrash, North and South replying to each other. A Southern column alsomarched along the slope of the hills, in order to take Tyler's men inflank. Harry looked eagerly to see the Northern troops give way, butthey held fast. The veterans of Ohio and West Virginia refused to giveground, and Winder, who led the Southern column, could make no progress. 

Harry watched with bated breath and a feeling of alarm. Were they tolose after such splendid plans and such unparalleled exertions? The sun, rising higher, poured down a flood of golden beams, driving the mistsfrom the mountains and disclosing the plain and slopes below wrapped infire, shot through with the gleam of steel from the bayonets. 

Tyler, who commanded the Northern vanguard, proved himself here, as atKernstown, a brave and worthy foe. He, too, had eyes to see and a brainto think. Seeing that his Ohio and West Virginia men were standing fastagainst every attack made by Winder, he hurried fresh troops to theiraid that they might attack in return. 

The battle thickened fast. At the point of contact along the slopes andin the woods, there was a continued roar of cannon and rifles. Enemiescame face to face, and the men of Jackson, victorious on so many fields, were slowly pressed back. A shout of triumph rose from the Union lines, and the eager Tyler brought yet more troops into action. Two of Ewell'sbattalions heard the thunder of the battle and rushed of their ownaccord to the relief of their commander. But they were unable to stemthe fury of Ohio and West Virginia, and they were borne back with theothers, hearing as it roared in their ears that cry of victory fromtheir foe, which they had so often compelled that foe himself to hear. 

But it was more bitter to none than to Harry. Sitting on his horse inthe rear he saw in the blazing sunlight everything that passed. He sawfor the first time in many days the men in gray yielding. The incrediblewas happening. After beating Fremont, after all their superb tactics, they were now losing to Shields. 

He looked at Jackson, hoping to receive some order that would take himinto action, but the general said nothing. He was watching the battleand his face was inscrutable. Harry wondered how he could preservehis calm, while his troops were being beaten in front, and the armyof Fremont might thunder at any moment on his flank or rear. Truly thenerves that could remain steady in such moments must be made of steeltriply wrought. 

The Northern army, stronger and more resolute than ever, was comingon, a long blue line crested with bayonets. The Northern cannon, postedwell, and served with coolness and precision, swept the Southern ranks. The men in gray retreated faster and some of their guns were taken. The Union troops charged upon them more fiercely than ever, and theregiments threatened to fall into a panic. 

Then Jackson, shouting to his staff to follow, spurred forward into themob and begged them to stand. He rode among them striking some with theflat of his sword and encouraging others. His officers showed the sameenergy and courage, but the columns, losing cohesion seemed on the pointof dissolving, in the face of an enemy who pressed them so hard. Harryuttered a groan which nobody heard in all the crash and tumult. Hisheart sank like lead. Hope was gone clean away. 

But at the very moment that hope departed he heard a great cheer, followed a moment later by a terrific crash of rifles and cannon. Thenhe saw those blessed Acadians charging in the smoke along the slope. They had come through the woods, and they rushed directly upon the greatNorthern battery posted there. But so well were those guns handledand so fierce was their fire that the Acadians were driven back. Theyreturned to the charge, were driven back again, but coming on a thirdtime took all the battery except one gun. Then with triumphant shoutsthey turned them on their late owners. 

The whole Southern line seemed to recover itself at once. The remainderof Ewell's troops reached the field and enabled their comrades to turnand attack. The Stonewall Brigade in the center, where Jackson was, returned to the charge. In a few minutes fickle fortune had faced aboutcompletely. The Union men saw victory once more snatched from theirhands. Their columns in the plain were being raked by powerful batterieson the flank, many of the guns having recently been theirs. They mustretreat or be destroyed. 

The brave and skillful Tyler reluctantly gave the order to retreat, andwhen Harry saw the blue line go back he shouted with joy. Then the rebelyell, thrilling, vast and triumphant, swelled along the whole line, which lifted up itself and rushed at the enemy, the cavalry chargingfiercely on the flanks. 

Shields got up fresh troops, but it was too late. The men in gray werepouring forward, victorious at every point, and sweeping everythingbefore them, while the army of Fremont, arriving at the river at noon, saw burned bridges, the terrible battlefield on the other side strewnwith the fallen, and the Southern legions thundering northward inpursuit of the second army, superior in numbers to their own, that theyhad defeated in two days. 

Every pulse in Harry beat with excitement. His soul sprang up at oncefrom the depths to the stars. This, when hope seemed wholly gone, wasthe crowning and culminating victory. The achievement of Jackson equaledanything of which he had ever heard. While the army of Fremont was heldfast on the other side of the river, the second army under Shields, beaten in its turn, was retreating at a headlong rate down the valley. The veterans of Kernstown had fought magnificently, but they had beenoutgeneralled, and, like all others, had gone down in defeat beforeJackson. 

Jackson, merciless alike in battle and pursuit, pushed hard after themen in blue for nine or ten miles down the river, capturing cannon andprisoners. The Ohio and West Virginia men began at last to reform again, and night coming on, Jackson stopped the pursuit. He still could notafford to go too far down the valley, lest the remains of Fremont's armyappear in his rear. 

As they went back in the night, Harry and Dalton talked together in lowtones. Jackson was just ahead of them, riding Little Sorrel, silent, hisshoulders stooped a little, his mind apparently having passed on fromthe problems of the day, which were solved, to those of the morrow, which were to be solved. He replied only with a smile to the members ofhis staff who congratulated him now upon his extraordinary achievement, surpassing everything that he had done hitherto in the valley. ForHarry and Dalton, young hero-worshippers, he had assumed a stature yetgreater. In their boyish eyes he was the man who did the impossible overand over again. 

The great martial brain was still at work. Having won two freshvictories in two days and having paralyzed the operations of hisenemies, Jackson was preparing for other bewildering movements. Harryand Dalton and all the other members of the staff were riding forthpresently in the dusk with the orders for the different brigades andregiments to concentrate at Brown's Gap in the mountains, from whichpoint Jackson could march to the attack of McClellan before Richmond, orreturn to deal blows at his opponents in the valley, as he pleased. Butwhichever he chose, McDowell and sixty thousand men would not be presentat the fight for Richmond. Jackson with his little army had hurled backthe Union right, and the two Union armies could not be united in time. 

The whole Southern army was gathered at midnight in Brown's Gap, and themen who had eaten but little and slept but little in forty-eight hoursand who had fought two fierce and victorious battles in that time, throwing themselves upon the ground slept like dead men. 

While they slept consternation was spreading in the North. Lincoln, everhopeful and never yielding, had believed that Jackson was in disorderlyflight up the valley, and so had his Secretary of War, Stanton. The factthat this fleeing force had turned suddenly and beaten both Fremont andShields, each of whom had superior forces, was unbelievable, but it wastrue. 

But Lincoln and the North recalled their courage and turned hopeful eyestoward McClellan. 

CHAPTER XV. THE SEVEN DAYS

Harry did not awaken until late the next morning. Jackson, for once, allowed his soldiers a long rest, and they were entitled to it. When herose from his blankets, he found fires burning, and the pleasant odorof coffee, bacon and other food came to his nostrils. Many wounded werestretched on blankets, but, as usual, they were stoics, and made nocomplaint. 

The army, in truth, was joyous, even more, it was exultant. Every onehad the feeling that he had shared in mighty triumphs, unparalleledexploits, but they gave the chief credit to their leader, and they spokeadmiringly and affectionately of Old Jack. The whole day was passedin luxury long unknown to them. They had an abundance of food, mostlycaptured, and their rations were not limited. 

The Acadian band reappeared and played with as much spirit as ever, andonce more the dark, strong men of Louisiana, clasped in one another'sarms, danced on the grass. Harry sat with St. Clair, Happy Tom andDalton and watched them. 

"I was taught that dancing was wicked, " said Dalton, "but it doesn'tlook wicked to me, and I notice that the general doesn't forbid it. "

"Wicked!" said St. Clair, "why, after we take Washington, you oughtto come down to Charleston and see us dance then. It's good instead ofwicked. It's more than that. It's a thing of beauty, a grace, a joy, almost a rite. "

"All that Arthur says is true, " said Happy Tom. "I'm a Sea Islandermyself, but we go over to Charleston in the winter. Still, I thinkyou'll have to do without me at those dances, Arthur. I shall probablybe kept for some time in the North, acting as proconsul for Pennsylvaniaor Massachusetts. "

"Which way do you think we are going from here, Harry?" asked St. Clair. "I don't think it's possible for General Jackson to stay longer thantwenty-four hours in one place, and I know that he always goes to youfor instructions before he makes any movement. "

"That's so. He spoke to me this morning asking what he ought to do, butI told him the troops needed a rest of one day, but that he mustn't makeit more than one day or he'd spoil 'em. "

Happy Tom, who was lying on the ground, sat up abruptly. 

"If ever you hear of Old Stonewall spoiling anybody or anything, " hesaid, "just you report it to me and I'll tell you that it's not so. "

"I believe, " said Dalton, "that we're going to leave the valley. BothShields and Fremont are still retreating. Our cavalry scouts broughtin that word this morning. We've heard also that Johnston and McClellanfought a big battle at a place called Seven Pines, and that after itMcClellan hung back, waiting for McDowell, whom Old Jack has kept busy. General Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines and General Robert EdwardLee is now in command of our main army. "

"That's news! It's more! It's history!" exclaimed St. Clair. "I thinkyou're right, Harry. Two to one that we go to Richmond. And for one I'llbe glad. Then we'll be right in the middle of the biggest doings!"

"I'm feeling that way, too, " said Happy Tom. "But I know one thing. "

"What's that?"

"Not a soul in all this army, except Old Jack himself, will know a thingabout it, until it's done, and maybe we won't know very much then. Ipassed Old Jack about an hour ago and he saw me as clearly and plainlyas I see you, but he did not tell me a thing about his plans. He did noteven say a word. Did not speak. Just cut me dead. "

Not one of the four was destined for some days to learn what Jacksonintended. His highest officers even were kept in the same ignorance. While the bulk of the army did little, the cavalry under Munford, whohad succeeded Ashby, were exceedingly active. The horsemen were like aswarm of hornets in front of Jackson, and so great was their activitythat the Northern leaders were unable to gauge their numbers. Fremont, exposed to these raids, retreated farther down the valley, leaving twohundred of his wounded and many stores in the hands of Munford. 

Then Jackson crossed South River and marched into extensive woods bythe Shenandoah, where his army lay for five full days. It was almostincredible to Harry and his friends that they should have so long arest, but they had it. They luxuriated there among the trees in thebeautiful June weather, listening to the music of the Acadians, eatingand drinking and sleeping as men have seldom slept before. 

But while the infantry was resting the activity of the cavalry neverceased. These men, riding over the country in which most of them wereborn, missed no movement of the enemy, and maintained the illusion thattheir numbers were four or five times the fact. Harry, trying to fathomJackson's purpose, gave it up after that comparatively long stay besidethe Shenandoah. He did not know that it was a part of a complicatedplan, that Lee and Jackson, although yet apart, were now beginning theircelebrated work together. Near Richmond, Northern prisoners saw longlines of trains moving north and apparently crowded with soldiers. For Jackson, of course! And intended to help him in his great march onWashington! But Jackson hung a complete veil about his own movements. His highest officers told one another in confidence things that theybelieved to be true, but which were not. It was the general opinionamong them that Jackson would soon leave in pursuit of Fremont. 

The pleasant camp by the Shenandoah was broken up suddenly, and the menbegan to march--they knew not where. Officers rode among them with sternorders, carried out sternly. In front, and on either flank, rode linesof cavalry who allowed not a soul to pass either in or out. An equallystrong line of cavalry in the rear drove in front of it every straggleror camp follower. There was not a single person inside the whole army ofJackson who could get outside it except Jackson himself. 

An extraordinary ban of ignorance was also placed upon them, and it wasenforced to the letter. No soldier should give the name of a village ora farm through which he passed, although the farm might be his father's, or the village might be the one in which he was born. If a man wereasked a question, no matter what, he must answer, "I don't know. "

The young Southern soldiers, indignant at first, enjoyed it as theirnatural humor rose to the surface. 

"Young fellow, " said Happy Tom to St. Clair, "what's your name?"

"I don't know. "

"Don't know your own name. Why, you must be feeble minded! Are you?"

"I don't know. "

"Well, you may not know, but you look it. Do you think Old Jack is agood general?"

"I don't know. "

"Do you think he's feeble-minded like yourself?"

"I don't know. "

"What! You dare to intimate that Stonewall Jackson, the greatest generalthe world has ever known, is feeble-minded! You have insulted him, andin his name I challenge you to fight me, sir. Do you accept?"

"I don't know. "

The two looked at each other and grinned. The ignorance of the army grewdense beyond all computation. Long afterward, "I don't know, " became afavorite and convenient reply, even when the knowledge was present. 

It was nearly two weeks after Port Republic before the troops had anyidea where they were going. They came to a little place called HanoverJunction and they thought they were going to turn there and meetMcDowell, but they passed on, and one evening they encamped in a wood. As they were eating supper they heard the muttering thunder of gunstoward the south, and throughout the brigades the conviction spread thatthey were on the way to Richmond. 

The next night, Harry, who was asleep, was touched by a light hand. Heawoke instantly, and when he saw General Jackson standing over him, hesprang up. 

"I am going on a long ride, " said the general briefly, "and I want onlyone man to go with me. I've chosen you. Get your horse. We start in fiveminutes. "

Harry, a little dazed yet from sleep and the great honor that had beenthrust upon him, ran, nevertheless, for his horse, and was ready with aminute to spare. 

"Keep by my side, " said Jackson curtly, and the two rode in silence fromthe camp, watched in wonder by the sentinels, who saw their general andhis lone attendant disappear in the forest to the south. 

It was then one o'clock in the morning of a moonlight night, and theerrand of Jackson was an absolute secret. Three or four miles from thecamp a sentinel slipped from the woods and stopped them. He was oneof their own pickets, on a far out-lying post, but to the amazement ofHarry, Jackson did not tell who he was. 

"I'm an officer on Stonewall Jackson's staff, carrying dispatches, " hesaid. "You must let me pass. "

"It's not enough. Show me an order from him. "

"I have no order, " replied the equable voice, "but my dispatches are ofthe greatest importance. Kindly let me pass immediately. "

The sentinel shook his head. 

"Draw back your horses, " he said. "Without an order from the general youdon't go a step further. "

Harry had not spoken a word. He had ceased to wonder why Jacksonrefused to reveal his identity. If he did not do so it must be for someexcellent reason, and, meanwhile, the boy waited placidly. 

"So you won't let us pass, " said Jackson. "Is the commander of thepicket near by?"

"I can whistle so he'll hear me. "

"Then will you kindly whistle?"

The sentinel looked again at the quiet man on the horse, put his fingersto his lips and blew loudly. An officer emerged from the woods and said:

"What is it, Felton?"

Then he glanced at the man on the horse and started violently. 

"General Jackson!" he exclaimed. 

The sentinel turned pale, but said nothing. 

"Yes, I'm General Jackson, " said the general, "and I ride with thislieutenant of my staff on an errand. But both of you must swear to methat you have not seen me. "

Then he turned to the sentinel. 

"You did right to stop us, " he said. "I wish that all our sentinels wereas faithful as you. "

Then while the man glowed with gratitude, he and Harry rode on. Jacksonwas in deep thought and did not speak. Harry, a little awed by thisstrange ride, looked up at the trees and the dusky heavens. He heardthe far hoot of an owl, and he shivered a little. What if a troop ofNorthern cavalry should suddenly burst upon them. But no troop of theNorthern horse, nor horse of any kind, appeared. Instead, Jackson's ownhorse began to pant and stumble. Soon he gave out entirely. 

It was not yet day, but dimly to the right they saw the roof of a houseamong some trees. It was a poor Virginia farm that did not have horseson it, and Jackson suggested to Harry that they wake up the people andsecure two fresh mounts. 

The commander of an army and his young aide walked a little distancedown a road, entered a lawn, drove off two barking dogs, and knockedloud on the front door of the house with the butts of their ridingwhips. A head was at last thrust out of an upper window, and a sleepyand indignant voice demanded what they wanted. 

"We're two officers from General Jackson's army riding on importantduty, " replied the general, in his usual mild tones. "Our horses havebroken down and we want to obtain new ones. "

"What's your names? What's your rank?" demanded the gruff voice. 

"We cannot give our names. "

"Then clear out! You're frauds! If I find you hanging about here I'llshoot at you, and I tell you for your good that I'm no bad shot. "

The shutter of the window closed with a bang, but the two dogs that hadbeen driven off began to bark again at a safe distance. Harry glanced athis general. 

"Isn't that a stable among the trees?" asked Jackson. 

"Yes, sir. "

"Then we'll find our horses there. Get the other two and bring themhere. "

Harry obeyed promptly, and they opened the stable, finding good horses, of which they selected the two best to which they changed their saddlesand bridles. 

"We'll leave our own horses for our inhospitable friends, " said GeneralJackson, "and he'll not suffer by the exchange. "

Mounting the fresh horses they rode rapidly, and, after the coming ofthe dawn, Harry saw that they were approaching Richmond, and he guessednow what was coming. 

General Jackson had in his pocket a pass sent to him by General Lee, and they swiftly went through the lines of pickets, and then on throughRichmond. People were astir in the streets of the Southern capital, andmany of them saw the bearded man in an old uniform and a black slouchhat riding by, accompanied by only a boy, but not one of them knew thatthis was Stonewall Jackson, whose fame had been filling their ears for amonth past. Nor, if they had known him would they have divined how muchill his passage boded to the great army of McClellan. 

They went through Richmond and on toward the front. Midday passed, andat three o'clock they reached the house in which Lee had established hisheadquarters. 

"Who is it?" asked a sentinel at the door. 

"Tell General Lee that General Jackson is waiting. "

The sentinel hurried inside, General Jackson and his aide dismounted, and a moment later General Lee came out, extending his hand, whichJackson clasped. The two stood a moment looking at each other. It wasthe first time that they had met in the war, but Harry saw by the glancethat passed that each knew the other a man, not an ordinary man, noreven a man of ten thousand, but a genius of the kind that appears butseldom. It was all the more extraordinary that the two should appear atthe same time, serving together in perfect harmony, and sustaining forso long by their united power and intellect a cause that seemed lostfrom the first. 

It was not any wonder that Harry gazed with all his eyes at thememorable meeting. He knew Jackson, and he was already learning much ofLee. 

He saw in the Confederate commander-in-chief a man past fifty, ruddy ofcountenance, hair and beard short, gray and thick, his figure talland powerful, and his expression at once penetrating and kind. He wasdressed in a fine gray uniform, precise and neat. 

Such was Robert Edward Lee, and Harry thought him the most impressivehuman being upon whom he had ever looked. 

"General Jackson, " said General Lee, "this is a fortunate meeting. Youhave saved the Confederacy. "

General Jackson made a gesture of dissent, but General Lee took him bythe arm and they went into the house. General Jackson turned a momentat the door and motioned to Harry to follow. The boy went in, and foundhimself in a large room. Three men had risen from cane chairs to meetthe visitor. One, broad of shoulders, middle-aged and sturdy, wasLongstreet. The others more slender of figure were the two Hills. 

The major generals came forward eagerly to meet Jackson, and they alsohad friendly greetings for his young aide. Lee handed them glasses ofmilk which they drank thirstily. 

"You'll find an aide of mine in the next room, " said General Lee toHarry. "He's a little older than you are but you should get alongtogether. "

Harry bowed and withdrew, and the aide, Charlie Gordon, gave him ahearty welcome. He was three or four years Harry's senior, somethingof a scholar, but frank and open. When they had exchanged names, Gordonsaid:

"Stretch out a bit on this old sofa. You look tired. You've been ridinga long distance. How many miles have you come?"

"I don't know, " replied Harry, as he lay luxuriously on the sofa, "butwe started at one o'clock this morning and it is now three o'clock inthe afternoon. "

"Fourteen hours. It's like what we've been hearing of Stonewall Jackson. I took a peep at him from the window as you rode up. "

"I suppose you didn't see much but dust. "

"They certainly tell extraordinary things of General Jackson. It can'tbe possible that all are true!"

"It is possible. They're all true--and more. I tell you, Gordon, whenyou hear anything wonderful about Stonewall Jackson just you believe it. Don't ask any questions, or reasons but believe it. "

"I think I shall, " said Gordon, convinced, "but don't forget, Kenton, that we've got a mighty man here, too. You can't be with General Leelong without feeling that you're in the presence of genius. "

"And they're friends, not jealous of each other. You could see that at aglance. "

"The coming of Jackson is like dawn bursting from the dark. I feel, Kenton, that McClellan's time is at hand. "

Harry slept a little after a while, but when he awoke the generals werestill in council in the great room. 

"I let you sleep because I saw you needed it, " said Gordon with a smile, "but I think they're about through in there now. I hear them movingabout. "

General Jackson presently called Harry and they rode away. The youngaide was sent back to the valley army with a message for it to advanceas fast as possible in order that it might be hurled on McClellan'sflank. Others carried the same message, lest there be any default ofchance. 

While the army of Jackson swept down by Richmond to join Lee it was lostagain to the North. At Washington they still believed it in the valley, advancing on Fremont or Shields. Banks and McDowell had the same belief. McClellan was also at a loss. Two or three scouts had brought in reportsthat it was marching toward Richmond, but he could not believe them. 

The Secretary of War at Washington telegraphed to McClellan that theUnion armies under McDowell, Banks, Fremont and Shields were to beconsolidated in one great army under McDowell which would crush Jacksonutterly in the valley. At the very moment McClellan was reading thistelegram the army of Jackson, far to the south of McDowell, was drivingin the pickets on his own flank. 

Jackson's men had come into a region quite different from the valley. There they marched and fought over firm ground, and crossed riverswith hard rocky banks. Now they were in a land of many deep rivers thatflowed in a slow yellow flood with vast swamps between. Most of it washeavy with forest and bushes, and the heat was great. At night vastquantities of mosquitoes and flies and other insects fed bounteouslyupon them. 

The Invincibles lifted up their voices and wept. 

"Can't you persuade Old Jack to take us back to the valley, Harry?" saidHappy Tom. "If I'm to die I'd rather be shot by an honest Yankee soldierthan be stung to death by these clouds of bloodsuckers. Oh, for ourhappy valley, where we shot at our enemy and he shot at us, bothstanding on firm ground!"

"You won't be thinking much about mosquitoes and rivers soon, " saidHarry. "Listen to that, will you! You know the sound, don't you?"

"Know it! Well, I ought to know it. It's the booming of cannon, but itdoesn't frighten these mosquitoes and flies a particle. A cannon ballwhistling by my head would scare me half to death, but it wouldn'tdisturb them a bit. They'd look with an evil eye at that cannon ball asit flew by and say to it in threatening tones: 'What are you doing here?Let this fellow alone. He belongs to us. '"

"Which way is McClellan coming, Harry?" asked St. Clair. 

"Off there to the east, where you hear the guns. "

"How many men has he?"

"Anywhere from a hundred thousand to a hundred and thirty thousand. There are various reports. "

Langdon, who had been listening, whistled. 

"It doesn't look like a picnic for the Invincibles, " he said. "When Ivolunteered for this war I didn't volunteer to fight a pitched battleevery day. What did you volunteer for, Harry?"

"I don't know. "

The three laughed. Jackson's famous order certainly fitted well there. 

"And you don't know, either, " said Happy Tom, "what all that thunderoff there to the south and east means. It's the big guns, but who arefighting and where?"

"There's to be a general attack on McClellan along the line of theChickahominy river, " said Harry, "and our army is to be a part of theattacking force, but my knowledge goes no further. "

"Then I'm reckoning that some part of our army has attacked already, "said Happy Tom. "Maybe they're ahead of time, or maybe the rest arebehind time. But there they go! My eyes, how they're whooping it up!"

The cannonade was growing in intensity and volume. Despite the sunsetthey saw an almost continuous flare of red on the horizon. The threeboys felt some awe as they sat there and listened and looked. Well theymight! Battle on a far greater scale than anything witnessed before inAmerica had begun already. Two hundred thousand men were about to meetin desperate conflict in the thickets and swamps along the Chickahominy. 

Richmond had already heard the crash of McClellan's guns more than once, but apprehension was passing away. Lee, whom they had learned so quicklyto trust, stood with ninety thousand men between them and McClellan, andwith him was the redoubtable Jackson and his veterans of the valley withtheir caps full of victories. 

McClellan had the larger force, but Lee was on the defensive in his owncountry, a region which offered great difficulties to the invader. 

Harry and his comrades wondered why Jackson did not move, but heremained in his place, and when Harry fell asleep he still heard thethudding of the guns across the vast reach of rivers and creeks, swampsand thickets. When he awoke in the morning they were already at workagain, flaring at intervals down there on the eastern horizon. The wholewet, swampy country, so different from his own, seemed to be desertedby everything save the armies. No rabbits sprang up in the thickets andthere were no birds. Everything had fled already in the presence of war. 

But the army marched. After a brief breakfast the brigades moved downthe road, and Harry saw clearly that these veterans of the valley weretremulous with excitement. Youthful, eager, and used to victory, theywere anxious to be at the very center of affairs which were now on agigantic scale. And the throbbing of the distant guns steadily drew themon. 

"We'll get all we want before this is through, " said Dalton gravely toHarry. 

"I think so, too. Listen to those big guns, George! And I think I canhear the crack of rifles, too. Our pickets and those of the enemy mustbe in contact in the forest there on our left. "

"I haven't a doubt of it, but if we rode that way like as not we'dstrike first a swamp, or a creek twenty feet deep. I get all tangled upin this kind of a country. "

"So do I, but it doesn't make any difference. We just stick along withOld Jack. "

The army marched on a long time, always to the accompaniment of thatsinister mutter in the southeast. Then they heard the note of a buglein front of them and Jackson with his staff rode forward near a littlechurch called Walnut Grove, where Lee and his staff sat on their horseswaiting. Harry noticed with pride how all the members of Lee's staffcrowded forward to see the renowned Jackson. 

It was his general upon whom so many were looking, but there wascuriosity among Stonewall's men, too, about Lee. As Harry drew back alittle while the two generals talked, he found himself again with theofficers of the Invincibles. 

"He has grown gray since we were with him in Mexico, Hector, " he heardColonel Leonidas Talbot say to Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. 

"Yes, Leonidas, grayer but stronger. What a brow and eye!"

St. Clair and Langdon, who had never seen Lee before, were eager. 

"Is he the right man for Old Jack to follow, Harry?" asked Happy Tom. 

"I don't think there's any doubt of it, Happy. I saw how they agreed thefirst time they met, and you can see it now. You'll find them workingtogether as smooth as silk. Ah, here we go again!"

"Then if it's as you say I suppose it's all up with McClellan, and Ineedn't trouble my mind about the matter any more. Hereafter I'll justgo ahead and obey orders. "

The words were light, but there was no frivolity in the minds of thethree. Despite the many battles through which they had already gonetheir hearts were beating hard just then, while that roaring was goingon on the horizon, and they knew that a great battle was at hand. 

Lee and his staff rode toward the battle, and then, to the amazement ofhis men, Jackson led his army into the deep woods away from the sound ofthe thundering guns which had been calling to them so incessantly. Harrywas mystified and the general vouchsafed no word, even to his own staff. They marched on through woods, across fields, along the edges of swamps, and that crash of battle grew fainter behind them, but never died out. 

"What do you think it means?" Harry whispered to Dalton. 

"Don't know. I'm not thinking. I'm not here to think at such times. Allthe thinking we need is going on under the old slouch hat there. Harry, didn't we go with him all through the valley? Can't we still trust him?"

"I can and will. "

"Same here. "

The army curved about again. Harry, wholly unfamiliar with the country, did not notice it until the roar of the battle began to rise again, showing that they were coming nearer. Then he divined the plan. Jacksonwas making this circuit through the woods to fall on the Northern flank. It was the first of the great turning movements which Lee and Jacksonwere to carry through to brilliant success so often. 

"Look at the red blaze beyond those bushes, " said Dalton, "and listenhow rapidly the sound of the battle is growing in volume. I don't knowwhere we are, but I do know now that Old Jack is leading us right intothe thick of it. "

The general rode forward and stopped his horse on the crest of a lowhill. Then Harry and Dalton, looking over the bushes and swamps, saw agreat blue army stationed behind a creek and some low works. 

"It's McClellan!" exclaimed Dalton. 

"Or a part of him, " said Harry. 

It was a wing of the Northern army. McClellan himself was not there, butmany brave generals were, Porter, Slocum and the others. The batteriesof this army were engaged in a heavy duel with the Southern batteriesin front, and the sharpshooters in the woods and bushes kept up acontinuous combat that crackled like the flames of a forest fire. 

Harry drew a long breath. 

"This is the biggest yet, " he said. 

Dalton nodded. 

The soldiers of Jackson were already marching off through the woods, floundering through deep mud, crossing little streams swollen by heavyrains, but eager to get into action. 

It was very difficult for the mounted men, and Harry and Dalton at lastdismounted and led their horses. The division made slow progress andas they struggled on the battle deepened. Now and then as they toiledthrough the muck they saw long masses of blue infantry on a ridge, andwith them the batteries of great guns which the gunners of the Northknew so well how to use. 

Their own proximity was discovered after a while, and shell and bulletsbegan to fly among them, but they emerged at last on firm ground and onthe Northern flank. 

"It's hot and growing hotter, " said Dalton. 

"And we'll help increase the heat if we ever get through thesemorasses, " said Harry. 

He felt the bridle suddenly pulled out of his hand, and turned to catchhis runaway horse, but the horse had been shot dead and his body hadfallen into the swamp. Dalton's horse also was killed presently by apiece of shell, but the two plunged along on foot, endeavoring to keepup with the general. 

The fire upon them was increasing fast. Some of the great guns on theridge were now searching their ranks with shell and shrapnel and many aman sank down in the morass, to be lost there forever. But Jackson neverceased to urge them on. They were bringing their batteries that way, too, and men and horses alike tugged at the cannon. 

"If we ever get through, " said Harry, "we're bound to do big things. "

"We'll get through, never fear, " said Dalton. "Isn't Old Jack drivingus?"

"Here we are!" Harry shouted suddenly as his feet felt firm ground. 

"And here's the whole division, too!" exclaimed Dalton. 

The regiments and brigades of Jackson emerged from the forest, and withthem came six batteries of cannon which they had almost carried over theswamp. The whole battlefield now came into sight, but the firing and thesmoke were so great that it seemed to change continuously in colorand even in shape. At one moment there was a ridge where none had beenbefore, then where Harry had seen a creek there was only dry land. Buthe knew that they were illusions of the eyes, due to the excited brainbehind them. 

Harry saw the six batteries of Jackson planted in a long row on thehard ground, and then open with a terrific crash on the defenders ofthe ridge. The sound was so tremendous that he was deafened for a fewmoments. By the time his hearing was restored fully the batteries firedagain and the Northern batteries on the hill replied. Then the mass ofinfantry charged and Harry and Dalton on foot, waving their swords andwild with excitement, charged with them. 

The plans of Lee and Jackson, working together for the first time in agreat battle, went through. When Lee heard the roar of Jackson's guns onthe flank he, too, sent word to his division commanders to charge withtheir full strength. In an instant the Northern army was assailed bothin front and on the side, by a great force, rushing forward, sure ofvictory and sending the triumphant rebel yell echoing through the woodsof the Chickahominy. 

Harry felt the earth tremble beneath him as nearly a hundred thousandmen closed in deadly conflict. He could hear nothing but the continuedroar, and he saw only a vast, blurred mass of men and guns. But he wasconscious that they were going forward, up the hill, straight toward theenemy's works, and he felt sure of victory. 

He had grounds for his faith. Lee with the smaller army, hadnevertheless brought superior numbers upon the field at the point ofaction. Porter and Slocum were staunch defenders. The Northern army, though shattered by cannon and rifle fire, stood fast on the ridge untilthe charging lines were within ten feet of them. Then they gave way, but carried with them most of their cannon, reformed further back, andfought again. 

Harry found himself shouting triumphantly over one of the capturedguns, but the Southern troops were allowed no time to exult. The sun wasalready sinking over the swamps and the battlefield, but Lee and Jacksonlifted up their legions and hurled them anew to the attack. McClellanwas not there when he was needed most, but Porter did all that a mancould do. Only two of his eighty guns had been taken, and he might yethave made a stand, but the last of Jackson's force suddenly emerged fromthe forest and again he was struck with terrible impact on the flank. 

The Northern army gave way again. The Southern brigades rushed forwardin pursuit, capturing many prisoners, and giving impulse to the flightof their enemies. Their riflemen shot down the horses drawing theretreating cannon. Many of the guns were lost, twenty-two of themfalling into Southern hands. Some of the newer regiments melted entirelyaway under an attack of such fierceness. Nothing stopped the advance ofLee and Jackson but the night, and the arrival of a heavy reinforcementsent by McClellan. The new force, six thousand strong, was stationed ina wood, the guns that had escaped were turned upon the enemy, Porter andSlocum rallied their yet numerous force, and when the dark came down thebattle ceased with the Northern army in the east defeated again, but notdestroyed. 

As Harry rode over the scene of battle that night he shuddered. Thefields, the forests and the swamps were filled with the dead and thewounded. Save Shiloh, no other such sanguinary battle had yet beenfought on American soil. Nearly ten thousand of the Southern youths hadfallen, killed or wounded. The North, standing on the defensive, had notlost so many, but the ghastly roll ran into many thousands. 

That night, as had happened often in the valley, the hostile sentinelswere within hearing of each other, but they fired no shots. Meanwhile, Lee and Jackson, after the victory, which was called Gaines' Mill, planned to strike anew. 

Harry awoke in the morning to find that most of the Northern army wasgone. The brigades had crossed the river in the night, breaking down thebridges behind them. He saw the officers watching great columns ofdust moving away, and he knew that they marked the line of the Northernmarch. But the Southern scouts and skirmishers found many stragglers inthe woods, most of them asleep or overpowered by weariness. Thus theyfound the brilliant General Reynolds, destined to a glorious deathafterward at Gettysburg, sound asleep in the bushes, having been lostfrom his command in the darkness and confusion. The Southern army restedthrough the morning, but in the afternoon was on the march again. Harryfound that both St. Clair and Langdon had escaped without harm thistime, but Happy Tom had lost some of his happiness. 

"This man Lee is worse than Jackson, " he lamented. "We've just foughtthe biggest battle that ever was, and now we're marching hot-foot afteranother. "

Happy Tom was right. Lee and Jackson had resolved to give McClellan norest. They were following him closely and Stuart with the cavalry hungin a cloud on his flanks. They pressed him hard the next day at WhiteOak Swamp, Jackson again making the circular movement and falling on hisflank, while Longstreet attacked in front. There was a terrible battlein thick forest and among deep ravines, but the darkness again saved theNorthern army, which escaped, leaving cannon and men in the hands of theenemy. 

Harry lay that night in a daze rather than sleep. He was feverish andexhausted, yet he gathered some strength from the stupor in which helay. All that day they marched along the edge of a vast swamp, and theyheard continually the roar of a great battle on the horizon, which theywere not able to reach. It was Glendale, where Longstreet and one ofthe Hills fought a sanguinary draw with McClellan. But the Northerncommander, knowing that a drawn battle in the enemy's country wasequivalent to a defeat, continued his retreat and the Southern armyfollowed, attacking at every step. The roar of artillery resoundedcontinuously through the woods and the vanguard of one army and the rearguard of the other never ceased their rifle fire. 

Neither Harry nor his young comrades could ever get a clear pictureof the vast, confused battle amid the marshes of the Chickahominy, extending over so long a period and known as the Seven Days, but it wasobvious to them now that Richmond was no longer in danger. The comingof Jackson had enabled Lee to attack McClellan with such vigor andfierceness that the young Northern general was forced not only toretreat, but to fight against destruction. 

But the Union mastery of the water, always supreme, was to come oncemore to the relief of the Northern army. As McClellan made his retreat, sometimes losing and sometimes beating off the enemy, but always leavingRichmond further and further behind, he had in mind his fleet in theJames, and then, if pushed to the last extremity, the sea by which theyhad come. 

But there were many staunch fighters yet in his ranks, and the Southernleaders were soon to find that they could not trifle with the Northernarmy even in defeat. He turned at Malvern Hill, a position of greatstrength, posted well his numerous and powerful artillery, and beat offall the efforts of Lee and Jackson and Longstreet and the two Hills, andArmistead and the others. More than five thousand of the Southern troopsfell in the fruitless charges. Then McClellan retreated to the JamesRiver and his gunboats and the forces of the North were not to come asnear Richmond again for nearly three years. 

The armies of Lee and Jackson marched back toward the Southern capital, for the possession of which forty thousand men had fallen in the SevenDays. Harry rode with Dalton, St. Clair and Langdon. They had comethrough the inferno unhurt, and while they shared in the rejoicingsof the Virginia people, they had seen war, continued war, in its mostterrible aspects, and they felt graver and older. 

By the side of them marched the thin ranks of the Invincibles, with thetwo colonels, erect and warlike, leading them. Just ahead was StonewallJackson, stooped slightly in the saddle, the thoughtful blue eyeslooking over the heads of his soldiers into the future. 

"If he hadn't made that tremendous campaign in the valley, " said Dalton, "McClellan allied with McDowell would have come here with two hundredthousand men and it would have been all over. "

"But he made it and he saved us, " said Harry, glancing at his hero. 

"And I'm thinking, " said Happy Tom Langdon, glancing toward the North, "that he'll have to make more like it. The Yankees will come again, stronger than ever. "

Appendix: Transcription notes:

This etext was transcribed from a volume of the 21st printing

The following modifications were applied while transcribing the printedbook to e-text:

 While the other books in this series are consistently printed with a hyphen in "lieutenant-colonel", some chapters in this book were printed with and some without. I added the hyphen where missing in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 14. 

 chapter 1 - Page 20, para 10, changed "its" to "it's"

 chapter 2 - Page 45, para 6, removed extraneous quotation mark

 chapter 6 - Page 132, para 3, moved a comma - my general policy is not to add/remove/move commas, even though I often find commas which seem to me out of place, but this one was just too bad to ignore

 chapter 8 - Page 159, para 2, fixed typo ("enmy") - Page 167, para 5, missing quotation mark

 chapter 10 - Page 211, para 4, missing quotation mark - Page 216, para 6, changed "his section" to "this section"

 chapter 11 - Page 225, para 4, fixed typo ("Generel")

 chapter 12 - Page 249, para 4, fixed typo ("exerienced") - Page 261, para 4, fixed typo ("woud") - Page 262, para 1, removed excess quotation mark

 chapter 13 - Page 277, para 3, missing quotation mark - Page 292, para 3, apostrophe printed instead of quotation mark

 chapter 14 - Page 298, para 4, changed "Its" to "It's" - Page 312, para 6, missing quotation mark - Page 314, para 4, changed ". " to ":" - Page 315, para 5, removed excess period

 chapter 15 - Page 329, para 5, fixed typo ("painly") - Page 331, para 1, fixed typo ("caried") - Page 331, para 11, changed apostrophe to quotation mark

 Limitations imposed by converting to plain ASCII: 8-bit characters were converted to their 7-bit equivalents: - chapter 9, page 186, "melee" - chapter 11, page 241, "Themopylae" ("ae" ligature)

I did not modify:

 - As with all the books in this series, commas often seem to me to be missing or misplaced. Often one comma is printed where either no comma or two commas would seem more appropriate, for example:

 A pleasant month for Harry, and all the young staff officers passed at Winchester.