THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESSA STORY OF LEE'S GREAT STAND

by JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER

FOREWORD

"The Shades of the Wilderness" is the seventh volume of the Civil WarSeries, of which the predecessors have been "The Guns of Bull Run, ""The Guns of Shiloh, " "The Scouts of Stonewall, " "The Sword of Antietam", "The Star of Gettysburg" and "The Rock of Chickamauga. " The romancein this story reverts to the Southern side and deals with the fortunesof Harry Kenton and his friends. It takes them on the retreat fromGettysburg, gives the hero a short period of social life in Richmond, describes the great battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania, andends with the deadlock in the trenches before Petersburg. 

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 CARDEN, 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 E. 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. THE SOUTHERN RETREAT

 II. THE NORTHERN SPY

 III. THE FLOODED RIVER

 IV. A HERALD TO LEE

 V. THE DANGEROUS ROAD

 VI. TESTS OF COURAGE

 VII. IN THE WAGON

 VIII. THE CROSSING

 IX. IN SOCIETY

 X. THE MISSING PAPER

 XI. A VAIN PURSUIT

 XII. IN WINTER QUARTERS

 XIII. THE COMING OF GRANT

 XIV. THE GHOSTLY RIDE

 XV. THE WILDERNESS

 XVI. SPOTTSYLVANIA

THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESS

CHAPTER I

THE SOUTHERN RETREAT

A train of wagons and men wound slowly over the hills in the darkness andrain toward the South. In the wagons lay fourteen or fifteen thousandwounded soldiers, but they made little noise, as the wheels sank suddenlyin the mud or bumped over stones. Although the vast majority of themwere young, boys or not much more, they had learned to be masters ofthemselves, and they suffered in silence, save when some one, lost infever, uttered a groan. 

But the chief sound was a blended note made by the turning of wheels, and the hoofs of horses sinking in the soft earth. The officers gavebut few orders, and the cavalrymen who rode on either flank lookedsolicitously into the wagons now and then to see how their woundedfriends fared, though they seldom spoke. The darkness they did not mind, because they were used to it, and the rain and the coolness were a relief, after three days of the fiercest battle the American continent had everknown, fought in the hottest days that the troops could recall. 

Thus Lee's army drew its long length from the fatal field of Gettysburg, although his valiant brigades did not yet know that the clump of treesupon Cemetery Hill had marked the high tide of the Confederacy. All thatmemorable Fourth of July, following the close of the battle they had lain, facing Meade and challenging him to come on, confident that while theinvasion of the North was over they could beat back once more theinvasion of the South. 

They had no word of complaint against their great commander, Lee. The faith in him, which was so high, remained unbroken, as it wasdestined to remain so to the last. But men began to whisper to oneanother, and say if only Jackson had been there. They mourned anewthat terrible evening in the Wilderness when Lee had lost his mightylieutenant, his striking arm, the invincible Stonewall. If the man inthe old slouch hat had only been with Lee on Seminary Ridge it would nowbe the army of Meade retreating farther into the North, and they would bepursuing. That belief was destined to sink deep in the soul of the South, and remain there long after the Confederacy was but a name. 

The same thought was often in the mind of Harry Kenton, as he rode nearthe rear of the column, whence he had been sent by Lee to observe andthen to report. It was far after midnight now, and the last of theSouthern army could not leave Seminary Ridge before morning. But Harrycould detect no sign of pursuit. Now and then, a distant gun boomed, and the thunder muttered on the horizon, as if in answer. But therewas nothing to indicate that the Army of the Potomac was moving fromGettysburg in pursuit, although the President in Washington, his heartfilled with bitterness, was vainly asking why his army would not reap thefruits of a victory won so hardly. Fifty thousand men had fallen on thehills and in the valleys about Gettysburg, and it seemed, for the time, that nothing would come of such a slaughter. But the Northern army hadsuffered immense losses, and Lee and his men were ready to fight againif attacked. Perhaps it was wiser to remain content upon the field withtheir sanguinary success. At least, Meade and his generals thought so. 

Harry, toward morning came upon St. Clair and Langdon riding together. Both had been wounded slightly, but their hurts had not kept them fromthe saddle, and they were in cheerful mood. 

"You've been further back than we, Harry, " said St. Clair. "Is Meade hotupon our track? We hear the throb of a cannon now and then. "

"It doesn't mean anything. Meade hasn't moved. While we didn't win westruck the Yankees such a mighty blow that they'll have to rest, andbreathe a while before they follow. "

"And I guess we need a little resting and breathing ourselves, " saidLangdon frankly. "There were times when I thought the whole world hadjust turned itself into a volcano of fire. "

"But we'll come back again, " said St. Clair. "We'll make thesePennsylvania Dutchmen take notice of us a second time. "

"That's the right spirit, " said Langdon. "Arthur had nearly all of hisfine uniform shot off him, but he's managed to fasten the pieces together, and ride on, just as if it were brand new. "

But Harry was silent. The prescient spirit of his famous greatgrandfather, Henry Ware, had descended upon his valiant great grandson. Hope had not gone from him, but it did not enter his mind that theyshould invade Pennsylvania again. 

"I'm glad to leave Gettysburg, " he said. "More good men of ours havefallen there than anywhere else. "

"That's true, " said St. Clair, "but Marse Bob will win for us, anyhow. You don't think any of these Union generals here in the East can whip ourLee, do you?"

"Of course not!" said Happy Tom. "Besides, Lee has me to help him. "

"How are Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire?" asked Harry. 

"Sound asleep, both of 'em, " replied St. Clair. "And it's a strangething, too. They were sitting in a wagon, having resumed that gameof chess which they began in the Valley of Virginia, but they were soexhausted that both fell sound asleep while playing. They are sittingupright, as they sleep, and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire's thumb andforefinger rest upon a white pawn that he intended to move. "

"I hope they won't be jarred out of their rest and that they'll sleep on, "said Harry. "Nobody deserves it more. "

He waved a hand to his friends and continued his ride toward the rear. The column passed slowly on in silence. Now and then gusts of rainlashed across his face, but he liked the feeling. It was a fillip to hisblood, and his nerves began to recover from the tremendous strain andexcitement of the last four days. 

Obeying his orders he rode almost directly back toward the field ofGettysburg from which the Southern forces were still marching. Afriendly voice from a little wood hailed him, and he recognized it atonce as that of Sherburne, who sat his horse alone among the trees. 

"Come here, Harry, " he said. 

"Glad to find you alive, Sherburne. Where's your troop?"

"What's left of it is on ahead. I'll join the men in a few minutes. But look back there!"

Harry from the knoll, which was higher than he had thought, gazed upon avast and dusky panorama. Once more the field of Gettysburg swam beforehim, not now in fire and smoke, but in vapors and misty rain. When heshut his eyes he saw again the great armies charging on the slopes, the blazing fire from hundreds of cannon and a hundred thousand rifles. There, too, went Pickett's brigades, devoted to death but neverflinching. A sob burst from his throat, and he opened his eyes again. 

"You feel about it as I do, " said Sherburne. "We'll never come back intothe North. "

"It isn't merely a feeling within me, I know it. "

"So do I, but we can still hold Virginia. "

"I think so, too. Come, we'd better turn. There goes the field ofGettysburg. The rain and mist have blotted it out. "

The panorama, the most terrible upon which Harry had ever looked, vanished in the darkness. The two rode slowly from the knoll and intothe road. 

"It will be daylight in an hour, " said Sherburne, "and by that time thelast of our men will be gone. "

"And I must hasten to our commander-in-chief, " said Harry. 

"How is he?" asked Sherburne. "Does he seem downcast?"

"No, he holds his head as high as ever, and cheers the men. They saythat Pickett's charge was a glorious mistake, but he takes all the blamefor it, if there is any. He doesn't criticize any of his generals. "

"Only a man of the greatest moral grandeur could act like that. It'sbecause of such things that our people, boys, officers and all, willfollow him to the death. "

"Good-by, Sherburne, " said Harry. "Hope I'll see you again soon. "

He urged his horse into a faster gait, anxious to overtake Lee and reportthat all was well with the rear guard. He noticed once more, and withthe greatest care that long line of the wounded and the unwounded, winding sixteen miles across the hills from Gettysburg to Chambersburg, and his mind was full of grave thoughts. More than two years in the verythick of the greatest war, then known, were sufficient to make a boy aman, at least in intellect and responsibility. 

Harry saw very clearly, as he rode beside the retreating but valiantarmy that had failed in its great attempt, that their role would be thedefensive. For a little while he was sunk in deep depression. Theninvincible youth conquered anew, and hope sprang up again. The nightwas at the darkest, but dawn was not far away. Fugitive gusts of winddrenched him once more, but he did not mind it, nor did he pay anyattention to the occasional growl of a distant gun. He was strong in thebelief that Meade would not pursue--at least not yet. A general who hadjust lost nearly one-third of his own army was not in much condition tofollow his enemy. 

He urged his horse to increased speed, and pressed on toward the head ofthe column. The rain ceased and cool puffs of wind came out of the east. Then the blackness there turned to gray, which soon deepened into silver. Through the silver veil shot a bolt of red fire, and the sun came overthe hills. 

Although the green world had been touched with brown by the hot sun ofJuly it looked fresh and beautiful to Harry. The brown in the morningsunlight was a rosy red, and the winds of dawn were charged with life. His horse, too, felt the change and it was easy now to force him into agallop toward a fire on a low hill, which Harry felt sure had been builtto cook breakfast for their great commander. 

As he approached he saw Lee and his generals standing before the blaze, some eating, and others drinking. An orderly, near by, held thecommander's famous horse, Traveller, and two or three horses belonging tothe other generals were trying to find a little grass between the stonyoutcrops of the hills. Harry felt an overwhelming curiosity, but he keptit in restraint, dismounting at a little distance, and approaching onfoot. 

He could not observe much change in the general's appearance. Hishandsome gray suit was as neat as ever, and the three stars, the onlymarks of his rank that he wore, shone untarnished upon his collar. The dignified and cheerful manner that marked him before Gettysburgmarked him also afterward. To Harry, so young and so thoroughly chargedwith the emotions of his time and section, he was a figure to beapproached with veneration. 

He saw the stalwart and bearded Longstreet and other generals whom heknew, among them the brilliant Stuart in his brilliant plumage, butrather quiet and subdued in manner now, since he had not come toGettysburg as soon as he was needed. Harry hung back a little, fearinglest he might be regarded as thrusting himself into a company so muchhis superior in rank, but Lee saw him and beckoned to him. 

"I sent you back toward Gettysburg to report on our withdrawal, Lieutenant Kenton, " he said. 

"Yes, sir. I returned all the way to the field. The last of our troopsshould be leaving there just about now. The Northern army had made nopreparation for immediate pursuit. "

"Your report agrees with all the others that I have received. How longhave you been without sleep?"

"I don't know, sir, " he said at last. "I can't remember. Maybe it hasbeen two or three days. "

Stuart, who held a cup of coffee in his hand, laughed. "The times havebeen such that there are generals as well as lieutenants, " he said, "who can't remember when they've slept. "

"You're exhausted, my lad, " said Lee gravely and kindly, "and there'snothing more you can do for us just now. Take some breakfast with us, and then you must sleep in one of the wagons. An orderly will look afteryour horse. "

Lee handed him a cup of coffee with his own hand, and Harry, thanking him, withdrew to the outer fringe of the little group, where he took hisbreakfast, amazed to find how hungry he was, although he had not thoughtof food before. Then without a word, as he saw that the generals wereengrossed in a conference, he withdrew. 

"You'll find Lieutenant Dalton of the staff in the covered wagon overthere, " said the orderly who had taken his horse. "The general sent himto it more'n two hours ago. "

"Then I'll be inside it in less than two minutes, " said Harry. 

But with rest in sight he collapsed suddenly. His head fell forward ofits own weight. His feet became lead. Everything swam before his eyes. He felt that he must sleep or die. But he managed to drag himself to thewagon and climbed inside. Dalton lay in the center of it so sound asleepthat he was like one dead. Harry rolled him to one side, making room forhimself, and lay down beside him. Then his eyes closed, and he, too, slept so soundly that he also looked like one dead. 

He was awakened by Dalton pulling at him. The young Virginian wassitting up and looking at Harry with curiosity. He clapped his handswhen the Kentuckian opened his eyes. 

"Now I know that you're not dead, " he said. "When I woke up and foundyou lying beside me I thought they had just put your body in here forsafekeeping. As that's not the case, kindly explain to me and at oncewhat you're doing in my wagon. "

"I'm waking up just at present, but for an hour or two before that I wassleeping. "

"Hour or two? Hour or two? Hear him! An orderly who I know is no liartold me that you got in here just after dawn. Now kindly lift thatcanvasflap, look out and tell me what you see. "

Harry did as he was told, and was amazed. The same rolling landscapestill met his eyes, and the sun was just about as high in the sky asit was when he had climbed into the wagon. But it was in the west nowinstead of the east. 

"See and know, young man!" said Dalton, paternally. "The entire dayhas elapsed and here you have lain in ignorant slumber, careless ofeverything, reckless of what might happen to the army. For twelve hoursGeneral Lee has been without your advice, and how, lacking it, he hasgot this far, Heaven alone knows. "

"It seems that he's pulled through, and, since I'm now awake, you canhurry to him and tell him I'm ready to furnish the right plans to stopthe forthcoming Yankee invasion. "

"They'll keep another day, but we've certainly had a good sleep, Harry. "

"Yes, a provision or ammunition wagon isn't a bad place for a wornoutsoldier. I remember I slept in another such as this in the Valley ofVirginia, when we were with Jackson. "

He stopped suddenly and choked. He could not mention the name of Jackson, until long afterward, without something rising in his throat. 

The driver obscured a good deal of the front view, but he suddenly turneda rubicund and smiling face upon them. 

"Waked up, hev ye?" he exclaimed. "Wa'al it's about time. I've lookedback from time to time an' I wuzn't at all shore whether you two gen'ralswuz alive or dead. Sometimes when the wagon slanted a lot you would rollover each other, but it didn't seem to make no diffunce. Pow'ful goodsleepers you are. "

"Yes, " said Harry. "We're two of the original Seven Sleepers. "

"I don't doubt that you are two, but they wuz more'n seven. "

"How do you know?"

"'Cause at least seven thousand in this train have been sleepin' as hardas you wuz. I guess you mean the 'rig'nal Seventy Thousand Sleepers. "

Harry's spirits had returned after his long sleep. He was a lad again. The weight of Gettysburg no longer rested upon him. The Army of NorthernVirginia had merely made a single failure. It would strike again andagain, as hard as ever. 

"It's true that we've been slumbering, " he said, "but we're as wide awakenow as ever, Mr. Driver. "

"My name ain't Driver, " said the man. 

"Then what is it?"

"Jones, Dick Jones, which I hold to be a right proper name. "

"Not romantic, but short, simple and satisfying. "

"I reckon so. Leastways, I've never wanted to change it. I'm from No'thCalliny, an' I've been followin' Bobby Lee a pow'ful long distance fromhome. Fine country up here in Pennsylvany, but I'd ruther be back inthem No'th Calliny mountains. You two young gen'rals may think it's aneasy an' safe job drivin' a wagon loaded with ammunition. But s'pose youhave to drive it right under fire, as you most often have to do, an' thenif a shell or somethin' like it hits your wagon the whole thing goes offkerplunk, an' whar are you?"

"It's a sudden an' easy death, " said Dalton, philosophically. 

"Too sudden an' too easy. I don't mind tellin' you that seein' menkilled an' wounded is a spo't that's beginnin' to pall on me. ReckonI've had enough of it to last me for the next thousand years. I'veforgot, if I ever knowed, what this war wuz started about. Say, youngfellers, I've got a wife back thar, a high-steppin', fine-lookin' gal notmore'n twenty years old--I'm just twenty-five myself, an' we've got ayear-old baby the cutest that wuz ever born. Now, when I wuz lookin' atthat charge of Pickett's men, an' the whole world wuz blazin' with fire, an' all the skies wuz rainin' steel and lead, an' whar grass growedbefore, nothin' but bayonets wuz growin' then, do you know what I seedsometimes?"

"What was it?" asked Harry. 

"Fur a secon' all that hell of fire an' smoke an' killin' would floataway, an' I seed our mountain, with the cove, an' the trees, an' thegreen grass growin' in it, an' the branch, with the water so clear youcould see your face in it, runnin' down the center, an' thar at the headof the cove my cabin, not much uv a buildin' to look at, no towerin'mansion, but just a stout two-room log cabin that the snows an' hails ofwinter can't break into, an' in the door wuz standin' Mary with the hairflyin' about her face, an' her eyes shinin', with the little feller inher arms, lookin' at me 'way off as I come walkin' fast down the covetoward 'em, returnin' from the big war. "

There was a moment's silence, and Dalton said gruffly to hide hisfeelings:

"Dick Jones, by the time this war is over, and you go walking down thecove toward your home, a man with mustache and side whiskers will comeforward to meet you, and he'll be that son of yours. "

But Dick Jones cheerfully shook his head. 

"The war ain't goin' to last that long, " he said confidently, "an' Iain't goin' to git killed. What I saw will come true, 'cause I feel itso strong. "

"There ought to be a general law forbidding a man with a young wife andbaby to go to a war, " said Harry. 

"But they ain't no sich law, " said Dick Jones, in his optimistic tone, "an' so we needn't worry 'bout it. But if you two gen'rals should happenalong through the mountains uv western No'th Calliny after the war I'dlike fur you to come to my cabin, an' see Mary an' the baby an' me. Our cove is named Jones' Cove, after my father, an' the branch that runsthrough it runs into Jones' Creek, an' Jones' Creek runs into the YadkinRiver an' our county is Yadkin. Oh, you could find it plumb easy, if two sich great gen'rals as you wuzn't ashamed to eat sweet pertatersan' ham an' turkey an' co'n pone with a wagon driver like me. "

Harry saw, despite his playful method of calling them generals, that hewas thoroughly in earnest, and he was more moved than he would have beenwilling to confess. 

"Too proud!" he said. "Why, we'd be glad!"

"Mebbe your road will lead that way, " said Jones. "An' ef you do, jest remember that the skillet's on the fire, an' the latch string ishangin' outside the do'. "

The allusion to the mountains made Harry's mind travel far back, overan almost interminable space of time now, it seemed, when he was yet anovice in war, to the home of Sam Jarvis, deep in the Kentucky mountains, and the old, old woman who had said to him as he left: "You will comeagain, and you will be thin and pale, and in rags, and you will fall atthe door. I see you coming with these two eyes of mine. "

A little shiver passed over him. He knew that no one could penetratethe future, but he shivered nevertheless, and he found himself sayingmechanically:

"It's likely that I'll return through the mountains, and if so I'll lookyou up at that home in the cove on the brook that runs into Jones' Creek. "

"That bein' settled, " said Jones, "what do you gen'rals reckon to do jestnow, after havin' finished your big sleep?"

"Your wagon is about to lose the first two passengers it has evercarried, " replied Harry. "Orderlies have our horses somewhere. Webelong on the staff of General Lee. "

"An' you see him an' hear him talk every day? Some people are pow'fullucky. I guess you'll say a lot about it when you're old men. "

"We're going to say a lot about it while we're young men. Good-by, Mr. Jones. We've been in some good hotels, but we never slept betterin any of them than we have in this moving one of yours. "

"Good-by, you're always welcome to it. I think Marse Bob is on ahead. "

The two left the wagon and took to a path beside the road, which wasmuddy and rutted deeply by innumerable hoofs and wheels. But grass andfoliage were now dry after the heavy rains that followed the Battle ofGettysburg, and the sun was shining in late splendor. The army, takingthe lack of pursuit and attack as proof that the enemy had suffered asmuch as they, if not more, was in good spirits, and many of the men sangtheir marching songs. A band ahead of them suddenly began to play mellowmusic, "Partant Pour La Syrie, " and other old French songs. The airsbecame gay, festive, uplifting to the soul, and they tickled the feet ofthe young men. 

"The Cajun band!" exclaimed Harry. "It never occurred to me that theyweren't all dead, and here they are, playing us into happiness!"

"And the Invincibles, or what's left of them, won't be far away, " saidDalton. 

They walked on a little more briskly and beside them the vast length ofthe unsuccessful army still trailed its slow way back into the South. The sun was setting in uncommon magnificence, clothing everything in ashower of gold, through which the lilting notes of the music came toHarry and Dalton's ears. Presently the two saw them, the short, dark menfrom far Louisiana, not so many as they had been, but playing with allthe fervor of old, putting their Latin souls into their music. 

"And there are the Invincibles just ahead of them!" exclaimed Dalton. "The two colonels have left the wagon and are riding with their men. See, how erect they sit. "

"I do see them, and they're a good sight to see, " said Harry. "I hopethey'll live to finish that chess game. "

"And fifty years afterward, too. "

A shout of joy burst from the road, and a tall young man, slender, dark and handsome, rushed out, and, seizing the hands of first one andthen the other, shook them eagerly, his dark eyes glittering with happysurprise. 

"Kenton! Dalton!" he exclaimed. "Both alive! Both well!"

It was young Julien de Langeais, the kinsman of Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire, and he too was unhurt. The lads returned his grasp warmly. They could not have kept from liking him had they tried, and theycertainly did not wish to try. 

"You don't know how it rejoices me to see you, " said Julien, speakingvery fast. "I was sad! very sad! Some of my best friends have perishedback there in those inhospitable Pennsylvania hills, and while the bandwas playing it made me think of the homes they will never see any more!Don't think I'm effusive and that I show grief too much, but my heart hasbeen very heavy! Alas, for the brave lads!"

"Come, come, de Langeais, " said Harry, putting his hand on his shoulder. "You've no need to apologize for sorrow. God knows we all have enoughof it, but a lot of us are still alive and here's an army ready to fightagain, whenever the enemy says the word. "

"True! True!" exclaimed de Langeais, changing at once from shadow tosunshine. "And when we're back in Virginia we'll turn our faces oncemore to our foe!"

He took a step or two on the grass in time to the music which was nowthat of a dance, and the brilliant beams of the setting sun showed a facewithout a care. Invincible youth and the invincible gayety of the partof the South that was French were supreme again. Dalton, looking at him, shook his Presbyterian head. Yet his eyes expressed admiration. 

"I know your feelings, " said Harry to the Virginian. 

"Well, what are they?"

"You don't approve of de Langeais' lightness, which in your stern codeyou would call levity, and yet you envy him possession of it. You don'tthink it's right to be joyous, without a care, and yet you know it wouldbe mighty pleasant. You criticize de Langeais a little, but you feel itwould be a gorgeous thing to have that joyous spirit of his. "

Dalton laughed. 

"You're pretty near the truth, " he said. "I haven't known de Langeaisso very long, but if he were to get killed I'd feel that I had lost ayounger brother. "

"So would I. "

Two immaculate youths, riding excellent horses, approached them, andfavored them with a long and supercilious stare. 

"Can the large fair person be Lieutenant Kenton of the staff of thecommander-in-chief?" asked St. Clair. 

"It can be and it is, although we did not think to see him again so soon, "replied Happy Tom Langdon, "and the other--I do not allude to de Langeais--is that spruce and devout young man, Lieutenant George Dalton, also ofthe staff of the commander-in-chief. "

"Why do we find them in such humble plight, walking on weary feet in apath beside the road?"

"For the most excellent reason in the world, Arthur. "

"And what may that reason be, Tom?"

"Because at last they have come down to their proper station in life, just as surely as water finds its level. "

"But we'll not treat them too sternly. We must remember that they alsoserve who walk and wait. "

But St. Clair and Langdon, their chaff over, gave them happy greeting, and told them that the two colonels would be rejoiced to see them again, if they could spare a few minutes before rejoining their commander. 

"And here is an orderly with both your horses, " said St. Clair, "so, under the circumstances, we'll sink our pride and let you ride with us. "

De Langeais, with a cheerful farewell until the next day, returned to hiscommand, and Harry and Dalton, mounting, were in a few minutes besidethe Invincibles. Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire turned their horses from the road into the path and salutedthem with warmth. 

"We caught a glimpse of you just after our departure, Harry, " saidColonel Talbot, "but we did not know what had happened since. There isalways a certain amount of risk attending the removal of a great army. "

"I am glad, Leonidas, that you used the word 'removal' to describe ouroperations after our great victory at Gettysburg, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. "I have been feeling about for the right word orphrase myself, but you have found it first. "

"Do you think it was a victory, sir?" asked Harry. 

"Undoubtedly. We have won several vast and brilliant triumphs, but thisis the greatest of them all. We have gone far into the enemy's country, where we have struck him a terrible blow, and now, of our own choice--understand it is of our own choice--we withdraw and challenge him to comeand repeat on our own soil our exploit if he can. It is like a skilledand daring prize fighter who leaps back and laughingly bids his foe comeon. Am I not right, Leonidas?"

"Neither Aristotle nor Plato was ever more right, Hector, old friend. Usually there is more to a grave affair than appears upon the surface. We could have gone on, after the battle, to Philadelphia, had we chosen, but it was not alone a question of military might that General Lee had todecide. He was bound to give weight to some very subtle considerations. You boys remember your Roman history, do you not?"

"Fragments of it, sir, " replied Harry. 

"Then you will recall that Hannibal, a fine general, to be named worthilywith our great Lee so far as military movements are concerned, afterfamous victories over greatly superior numbers of Romans, went into campat Capua, crowded with beauty, wine and games, and the soldiers becameenervated. Their fiber was weakened and their bodies softened. Theywere quicker to heed the call to a banquet than the call to arms. "

"Unless it was the arms of beauty, Leonidas. "

"Well spoken, Hector. The correction is most important, and I accept it. But to take up again the main thread of my discourse. General Leeundoubtedly had the example of the Carthaginian army and Capua in mindwhen he left Gettysburg and returned toward the South. Philadelphia is agreat city, far larger and richer than any in our section. It is filledwith magnificent houses, beautiful women, luxury of every description, ease and softness. Our brave lads, crowned with mighty exploits andarriving there as conquerors, would have been received with immenseadmiration, although we are official enemies. And the head of youth iseasily turned. The Army of Northern Virginia, emerging from Philadelphia, to achieve the conquest of New York and Boston would not be the army thatit is to-day. It would lack some of that fire and dash, some of theextraordinary courage and tenacity which have enabled it to surpass thedeeds of the veterans of Hannibal and Napoleon. "

"But, sir, I've heard that the people of Philadelphia are mostly Quakers, very sober in dress and manner. "

"Harry, my lad, when you've lived as long as I have you will know that amerry heart may beat beneath a plain brown dress, and that an ugly hoodcannot wholly hide a sweet and saucy face. The girls--God bless 'em--have been the same in all lands since the world began, and will continueso to the end. While this war is on you boys cannot go a-courting, either in the North or South. Am I not right, Hector, old friend?"

"Right, as always, Leonidas. I perceive, though, that the sun is aboutto set; not a new thing, I admit, but we must not delay our young friends, when the general perhaps needs them. "

"Well spoken again, Hector. You are an unfailing fount of wisdom. Good night, my brave lads. Not many of the Invincibles are left, butevery one of them is a true friend of you both. "

As they rode across the darkening fields Harry and Dalton knew that thecolonel spoke the truth about the Invincibles. 

"I like a faith such as theirs, " said Dalton. 

"Yes, it can often turn defeat into real victory. "

They quickly found the general's headquarters, and as usual, whenever theweather permitted, he had made arrangements to sleep in the open air, his blankets spread upon soft boughs. Harry and Dalton, having sleptall day, would be on night duty, and after supper they sat at a littledistance, awaiting orders. 

Coolness had come with the dark. A good moon and swarms of bright starsrode in the heavens, turning the skies to misty silver, and softening thescars of the army, which now lay encamped over a great space. Lee wastalking with Stuart, who evidently had just arrived from a swift ride, as an orderly near by was holding his horse, covered with foam. Thefamous cavalryman was clothed in his gorgeous best. His hat was heavywith gold braid, and the broad sash about his waist was heavy with gold, also. Dandy he was, but brilliant cavalryman and great soldier too!Both friend and foe had said so. 

Harry, sitting on the grass, with his back against a tree, watched thetwo generals as they talked long and earnestly. Now and then Stuartnervously switched the tops of his own high riding boots with the littlewhip that he carried, but the face of Lee, revealed clearly in the neartwilight, remained grave and impassive. 

After a long while Stuart mounted and rode away, and Sherburne, who hadbeen sitting among the trees on the far side of the fire, came over andjoined Harry and Dalton. He too was very grave. 

"Do you know what has happened?" he said in a low tone to the two lads. 

"Yes, there was a big battle at Gettysburg, and as we failed to win itwe're now retreating, " replied Harry. 

"That's true as far as it goes, but it's not all. We've heard--andthe news is correct beyond a doubt--that Grant has taken Vicksburg andPemberton's army with it. "

"Good God, Sherburne, it can't be so!"

"It shouldn't be so, but it is! Oh, why did Pemberton let himself betrapped in such a way! A whole army of ours lost and our greatestfortress in the West taken! Why, the Yankee men-of-war can steam up theMississippi untouched, all the way from the Gulf to Minnesota. "

Harry and Dalton were appalled, and, for a little while, were silent. 

"I knew that man Grant would do something terrible to us, " Harry said atlast. "I've heard from my people in Kentucky what sort of a general heis. My father was at Shiloh, where we had a great victory on, but Grantwouldn't admit it, and held on, until another Union army came up andturned our victory into defeat. My cousin, Dick Mason, has been withGrant a lot, and I used to get a letter from him now and then, even if heis in the Yankee army. He says that when Grant takes hold of a thing henever lets go, and that he'll win the war for his side. "

"Your cousin may be right about Grant's hanging on, " said Dalton withsudden angry emphasis, "but neither he nor anybody else will win this warfor the Yankees. We've lost Vicksburg, and an army with it, and we'veretreated from Gettysburg, with enough men fallen there to make anotherarmy, but they'll never break through the iron front of Lee and hisveterans. "

"Hope you're right, " said Sherburne, "but I'm off now. I'm in the saddleall night with my troop. We've got to watch the Yankee cavalry. Custerand Pleasanton and the rest of them have learned to ride in a way thatwon't let Jeb Stuart himself do any nodding. "

He cantered off and the lads sat under the trees, ready for possibleorders. They saw the fire die. They heard the murmur of the camp sink. Lee lay down on his bed of boughs, other generals withdrew to similarbeds or to tents, and the two boys still sat under the trees, waiting andwatching, and never knowing at what moment they would be needed. 

CHAPTER II

THE NORTHERN SPY

But the night remained very quiet. Harry and Dalton, growing tired ofsitting, walked about the camp, and looked again to their horses, which, saddled and bridled, were nevertheless allowed to nip the grass as bestthey could at the end of their lariats. The last embers of the firewent out, but the moon and stars remained bright, and they saw dimly thesleeping forms of Lee and his generals. Harry, who had seen nothingstrange in Meade's lack of pursuit, now wondered at it. Surely when thenews of Vicksburg came the exultant Army of the Potomac would follow, and try to deliver a crushing blow. 

It was revealed to him as he stood silent in the moonlight that a gulfhad suddenly yawned before the South. The slash of Grant's sword in theWest had been terrible, and the wound that it made could not be curedeasily. And the Army of Northern Virginia had not only failed in itssupreme attempt, but a great river now flowed between it and Virginia. If the Northern leaders, gathering courage anew, should hurl their massesupon Lee's retreating force, neither skill nor courage might avail tosave them. He suddenly beheld the situation in all its desperation;he shivered from head to foot. 

Dalton saw the muscles of Harry's face quivering, and he noticed a pallorthat came for an instant. 

"I understand, " he said. "I had thought of it already. If a Northerngeneral like Lee or Stonewall Jackson were behind us we might never getback across the Potomac. It's somewhat the same position that we were inafter Antietam. "

"But we've no Stonewall Jackson now to help us. "

Again that lump rose in Harry's throat. The vision of the sober figureon Little Sorrel, leading his brigades to victory, came before him, but it was a vision only. 

"It's strange that we've not come in contact with their scouts orcavalry, " he said. "In that fight with Pleasanton we saw what horsementhey've become, and a force of some kind must be hanging on our rear. "

"If it's there, Sherburne and his troop will find it. "

"I think I can detect signs of the enemy now, " said Harry, putting hisglasses to his eyes. "See that hill far behind us. Can't you catch thegleam of lights on it?"

"I think I can, " replied Dalton, also using glasses. "Four lights arethere, and they are winking, doubtless to lights on another hill too faraway for us to see. "

"It shows that the enemy at least is watching, and that while we mayretreat unattacked it will not be unobserved. Hark! do you hear that, George? It's rifle shots, isn't it?"

"Yes, and a lot of 'em, but they're a long distance away. I don't thinkwe could hear 'em at all if it were not night time. "

"But it means something! There they go again! I believe it's a heavyskirmish and it's in the direction in which Sherburne rode. "

"The general's up. It's likely that one of us will be sent to see whatit's all about. "

General Lee and his whole staff had risen and were listening attentively. The faint sound of many shots still came, and then a sharper, morepenetrating crash, as if light field guns were at work. The commanderbeckoned to Harry. 

"Ride toward it, " he said briefly, "and return with a report as soon asyou can. "

Harry touched his cap, sprang upon his horse and galloped away. He knewthat other messengers would be dispatched also, but, as he had been sentfirst, he wished to arrive first. He found a path among the trees alongwhich he could make good speed, and, keeping his mind fixed on the firing, he sped forward. 

Thousands of soldiers lay asleep in the woods and fields on either sideof him, but the thud of the horse's hoofs awakened few of them. Nor didthe firing disturb them. They had fought a great battle three days long, and then after a tense day of waiting under arms, they had marched hard. What to them was the noise made by an affair of outposts, when they hadheard so long the firing of a hundred and fifty thousand rifles and threeor four hundred big guns? Not one in a hundred stood up to see. 

The country grew rougher, and Harry was compelled to draw his horse downto a walk. But the firing, a half-mile or more ahead, maintained itsvolume, and as he approached through thick underbrush, being able to findno other way, he dismounted and led his horse. Presently he saw beads offlame appearing among the bushes, seen a moment, then gone like a firefly, and as he went further he heard voices. He had no doubt that it was theSouthern pickets in the undergrowth, and, calling softly, he receivedconfirmatory replies. 

A rifleman, a tall, slender fellow in ragged butternut, appeared besidehim, and, recognizing Harry's near-gray uniform as that of an officer, said:

"They're dismounted cavalry on the other side of a creek that runs alongover there among the bushes. I don't think they mean any real attack. They expect to sting us a little an' find out what we're about. "

"Seems likely to me too. They aren't strong enough, of course, for anattempt at rushing us. What troops are in here in the woods on our side?"

"Captain Sherburne's cavalry, sir. They're a bit to our right, an'they're dismounted too. You'll find the captain himself on a littleknoll about a hundred yards away. "

"Thanks, " said Harry, and leading his horse he reached the knoll, to findthe rifleman's statement correct. Sherburne was kneeling behind somebushes, trying with the aid of glasses and moonlight to pick out theenemy. 

"That you, Harry?" he said, glancing back. 

"Yes, Captain. The general has sent me to see what you and the rest ofyou noisy fellows are doing. "

"Shooting across a creek at an enemy who first shot at us. It's onlyunder provocation that we've roused the general and his staff from sleep. Use your glasses and see what you can make out in those bushes on theother side! Keep down, Harry! For Heaven's sake keep down! That bulletdidn't miss you more than three inches. You wouldn't be much loss to thearmy, of course, but you're my personal friend. "

"Thanks for your advice. I intend to stay so far down that I'll liealmost flat. "

He meant to keep his word, too. The warning had been a stern one. Evidently the sharpshooters who lay in the thickets on the Union side ofthe creek were of the first quality. 

"There's considerable moonlight, " whispered Sherburne, "and you mustn'texpose an inch of your face. I take it that we have Custer's cavalryover there, mixed with a lot of scouts and skirmishers from the Northwest, Michigan and Wisconsin, most likely. They're the boys who can use therifles in the woods. Had to do it before they came here, and they're abad lot to go up against. "

"It's a pretty heavy fire for a mere scouting party. If they want todiscover our location they can do it without wasting so much powder andlead. "

"I think it's more than a scout. They must have discovered long sincejust where we are. I imagine they mean to shake our nerve by constantbuzzing and stinging. I fancy that Meade and his generals after decidingnot to pursue us have changed their minds, perhaps under pressure fromWashington, and mean to cut us off if they can. "

"A little late. "

"But not too late. We're still in the enemy's country. The wholepopulation is dead against us, and we can't make a move that isn't knownwithin an hour to the Union leaders. I tell you, Harry, that if wedidn't have a Lee to lead I'd be afraid that we'd never get out ofPennsylvania. "

"But we have a Lee and the question is settled. What a volley that was!Didn't you feel the twigs and leaves falling on your face?"

"Yes, it went directly over our heads. It's a good thing we're lying soclose. Perhaps they intend to force a passage of the creek and stampedeat least a portion of our camp. "

"And you're here to prevent it. "

"I am. They can't cross that creek in face of our fire. We're goodnight-hawks. Every boy in the South knows the night and the woods, and here in the bush we're something like Indians. "

"I'm the descendant of a famous Indian fighter myself, " said Harry. And there, surrounded by deep gloom and danger, the spirit of his mightyancestor, the great Henry Ware, descended upon him once more. An orderlyhad taken their horses to the rear, where they would be out of range ofthe bullets, and, as they crouched low in the bushes, Sherburne lookedcuriously at him. 

Harry's face as he turned from the soldier to the Indian fighter of oldhad changed. To Sherburne's fascinated gaze the eyes seemed amazinglyvivid and bright, like those of one who has learned to see in the dark. The complexion was redder--Henry Ware had always burned red instead ofbrown--like that of one who sleeps oftener in the open air than in ahouse. His whole look was dominant, compelling and fierce, as he leanedon his elbows and studied the opposing thickets through his glasses. 

The glasses even did not destroy the illusion. To Sherburne, who hadlearned Harry's family history, the great Henry Ware was alive, and inthe flesh before him. He felt with all the certainty of truth that theUnion skirmishers in the thicket could not escape the keen eyes thatsought them out. 

"I can see at least twenty men creeping about among the bushes, andseeking chances for shots, " whispered Harry. 

"I knew that you would see them. "

It was Harry's turn to give a look of curiosity. 

"What do you mean, Captain?" he asked. 

"I knew that you had good eyes and I believed that with the aid of theglasses you would be able to trace figures, despite the shelter of thebushes. Study the undergrowth again, will you, Harry, and tell me whatmore you can see there?"

"I don't need to study it. I can tell at one look that they're gatheringa force. Maybe they mean to rush the creek at a shallow place. "

"Is that force moving in any direction?"

"Yes, it's going down the creek. "

"Then we'll go down the creek with it. We mustn't be lacking inhospitality. "

Sherburne drew a whistle from his pocket and blew a low call upon it. Scores of shadowy figures rose from the undergrowth, and followed hislead down the stream. Harry was still able to see that the force on theother side was increasing largely in numbers, but Sherburne reminded himthat his duties, as far as the coming skirmish was concerned, were over. 

"General Lee didn't send you here to get killed, " he said. "He wants youinstead to report how many of us get killed. You know that while thegeneral is a kind man he can be stern, too, and you're not to take therisk. The orderly is behind that hill with your horse and mine. "

Harry, with a sigh, fell back toward the hill. But he did not yet gobehind it, where the orderly stood. Instead he lay down among the treeson the slope, where he could watch what was going forward, and once morehis face turned to the likeness of the great Indian fighter. 

He saw Sherburne's dismounted troop and others, perhaps five hundred inall, moving slowly among the bushes parallel with the stream, and he sawa force which he surmised to be of about equal size, creeping along inthe undergrowth on the other side. He followed both bodies with hisglasses. With long looking everything became clearer and clearer. The moonlight had to him almost the brilliancy of day. 

His eyes followed the Union force, until it came to a point where thecreek ran shallow over pebbles. Then the Union leader raised his sword, uttered a cry of command, and the whole force dashed at the ford. The cry met its response in an order from Sherburne, and the thicketsflamed with the Southern rifles. 

The advantage was wholly with the South, standing on the defense in darkundergrowth, and the Union troop, despite its desperate attempts at theford, was beaten back with great loss. 

Harry waited until the result was sure, and then he walked slowly overthe hill toward the point, where the orderly was waiting with the horses. The man, who knew him, handed him the reins of his mount, saying at thesame time:

"I've a note for you, sir. "

"For me?"

"Yes, sir. It was handed to me about fifteen minutes ago by a large manin our uniform, whom I didn't know. "

"Probably a dispatch that I'm to carry to General Lee. "

"No, sir. It's addressed to you. "

The note was written in pencil on a piece of coarse gray paper, foldedseveral times, but with a face large enough to show Harry's name upon it. He wondered, but said nothing to the sentinel, and did not look at thenote again, until he had ridden some distance. 

He stopped in a little glade where the moonlight fell clearly. He stillheard scattered firing behind him, but he knew that the skirmish wasin reality over, and he concluded that no further attempt by Uniondetachments to advance would be made in the face of such vigilance. He could report to General Lee that the rear of his army was safe. So he would delay and look at the letter that had come to him out of themysterious darkness. 

The superscription was in a large, bold hand, and read:

 LIEUTENANT HARRY KENTON, STAFF OF GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE, C. S. A. , COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. 

He felt instinctively that something uncommon was coming, and, as mostpeople do when they are puzzled at the appearance of a letter, he lookedat it some seconds before opening it. Then he read:

MR. KENTON:

I have warned you twice before, once when Jefferson Davis was inauguratedat Montgomery, and once again in Virginia. I told you that the Southcould never win. I told you that she might achieve brilliant victories, and she may achieve them even yet, but they will avail her nothing. Victories permit her to maintain her position for the time being, butthey do not enable her to advance. A single defeat causes her to loseground that she can never regain. 

I tell you this as a warning. Although your enemy, I have seen you morethan once and talked with you. I like you and would save your life if Icould. I would induce you, if I could, to leave the army and return toyour home, but that I know to be impossible. So, I merely tell you thatyou are fighting for a cause now lost. Perhaps it is pride on my part toremind you that my early predictions have come true, and perhaps it isa wish that the thought I may plant in your mind will spread to others. You have lost at Gettysburg a hope and an offensive that you can neverregain, and Grant at Vicksburg has given a death blow to the Western halfof the Confederacy. 

As for you, I wish you well. 

 WILLIAM J. SHEPARD. 

Harry stared in amazement at this extraordinary communication, and readit over two or three times. He was not surprised that Shepard shouldbe near, and that he should have been inside the Confederate lines, butthat he should leave a letter, and such a letter, for him was uncanny. His first feeling, wonder, was succeeded by anger. Did Shepard reallythink that he could influence him in such a way, that he could plant inhis mind a thought that would spread to others of his age and rank andweaken the cause for which he fought? It was a singular idea, butShepard was a singular man. 

But perhaps pride in recalling the prediction that he had made long agowas Shepard's stronger motive, and Harry took fire at that also. TheConfederacy was not beaten. A single defeat--no, it was not a defeat, merely a failure to win--was not mortal, and as for the West, theConfederacy would gather itself together there and overwhelm Grant!

Then came a new emotion, a kind of gratitude to Shepard. The man wasreally a friend, and would do him a service, if it could be done, withoutinjuring his own cause! He could not feel any doubt of it, else the spywould not have taken the risk to send him such a letter. He read it forthe last time, then tore it into little pieces which he entrusted to thewinds. 

The firing behind him had died completely, and there was no sound but therustle of dry leaves in the light wind, nothing to tell that there hadbeen sharp fighting along the creek, and that men lay dead in the forest. The moon and the stars clothed everything in a whitish light, that seemedsurcharged with a powerful essence, and this essence was danger. 

The spirit of the great forest ranger descended upon him once more, and he read the omens, all of which were sinister. He foresaw terriblecampaigns, mighty battles in the forest, and a roll of the dead so longthat it seemed to stretch away into infinity. 

Then he shook himself violently, cast off the spell, and rode rapidlyback with his report. Lee had risen and was standing under a tree. He was fully dressed and his uniform was trim and unwrinkled. Harrythought anew as he rode up, what a magnificent figure he was. He wasthe only great man he ever saw who really looked his greatness. Nothingcould stir that calm. Nothing could break down that loftiness of manner. Harry was destined to feel then, as he felt many times afterward, thatwithout him the South had never a chance. And the choking came in histhroat again, as he thought of him who was gone, of him who had been theright arm of victory, the hammer of Thor. 

But he hid all these feelings as he quickly dismounted and saluted thecommander-in-chief. 

"What have you seen, Lieutenant Kenton?" asked Lee. 

"A considerable detachment of the enemy tried to force the passage ofthe creek in our right rear. They were met by Captain Sherburne's troopdismounted, and three companies of infantry, and were driven back after asharp fight. "

"Very good. Captain Sherburne is an alert officer. "

He turned away, and Harry, giving his horse to an orderly, again resumedhis old position under a tree, out of hearing of the generals, but insight. Dalton was not there, but he knew that skirmishing had occurredin other directions, and doubtless the Virginian had been sent on anerrand like his own. 

He had a sense of rest and realization as he leaned back against thetree. But it was mental tension, not physical, for which relief came, and Shepard, much more than the battle at the creek, was in his thoughts. 

The strong personality of the spy and his seeming omniscience oppressedhim again. Apparently he was able to go anywhere, and nothing could behidden from him. He might be somewhere in the circling shadows at thatvery moment, watching Lee and his lieutenants. His pulses leaped. Shepard had achieved an extraordinary influence over him, and he wasprepared to believe the impossible. 

He stood up and stared into the bushes, but sentinels stood there, and no human being could pass their ring unseen. Presently Dalton came, made a brief report to General Lee and joined his comrade. Harry wasglad of his arrival. The presence of a comrade brought him back to earthand earth's realities. The sinister shadows that oppressed him meltedaway and he saw only the ordinary darkness of a summer night. 

The two sat side by side. Dalton perhaps drew as much strength as Harryfrom the comradeship, and they watched other messengers arrive withdispatches, some of whom rolled themselves in their blankets at once, and went to sleep, although three, who had evidently slept in the day, joined Harry and Dalton in their vigil. 

Harry saw that the commander-in-chief was holding a council at that hour, nearer morning than midnight. A general kicked some of the pieces ofburned wood together and fanned them into a light flame, enough to takeaway the slight chill that was coming with the morning. The men stoodaround it, and talked a long time, although it seemed to Harry that Leesaid least. Nevertheless his tall figure dominated them all. Now andthen Harry saw his face in the starshine, and it bore its habitual graveand impassive look. 

The youth did not hear a word that was said, but his imaginative powerenabled him to put himself in the place of the commander-in-chief. He knew that no man, however great his courage, could fail to appreciatehis position in the heart of a hostile country, with a lost field behindhim, and with superior numbers hovering somewhere in his rear or onhis flank. He realized then to the full the critical nature of theirposition and what a mighty task Lee had to save the army. 

One of his young comrades whispered to him that the Potomac, the barrierbetween North and South, was rising, flooded by heavy rains in bothmountains and lowlands, and that a body of Northern cavalry had alreadydestroyed a pontoon bridge built by the South across it. They might behemmed in, with their backs to an unfordable river, and an enemy two orthree times as numerous in front. 

"Don't you worry, " whispered Dalton, with sublime confidence. "Thegeneral will take us to Virginia. "

Harry projected his imagination once more. He sought to put himself inthe place of Lee, receiving all the reports and studying them, trying tomeasure space that could not be measured, and to weigh a total that couldnot be weighed. Greatness and responsibility were compelled to paythrice over for themselves, and he was glad that he was only a younglieutenant, the chief business of whom was to fetch and carry orders. 

Shafts of sunlight were piercing the eastern foliage when the councilbroke up, and shortly after daylight the Southern army was again on themarch, with Northern cavalry and riflemen hanging on its flanks and rear. Harry was permitted to rejoin, for a while, his friends of theInvincibles and he found Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-ColonelHector St. Hilaire riding very erect, a fine color in their faces. 

"You come from headquarters, Harry, and therefore you are omniscient, "said Colonel Talbot. "We heard firing in the night. What did it mean?"

"Only skirmishers, Colonel. I think they wanted to annoy us, but theypaid the price. "

"Inevitably. Our general is as dangerous in retreat as in advance. I fancy that General Meade will not bring up his lagging forces untilwe near the Potomac. "

"They say it's rising, sir, and that it will be very hard to cross. "

"That creates a difficulty but not an impossibility. Ordinary men yieldto difficulties, men like our commander-in-chief are overcome only byimpossibilities. But the further we go, Harry, the more reconciled Igrow to our withdrawal. I have seen scarcely a friendly face among thepopulation. I would not have us thrust ourselves upon people who do notlike us. It would go very hard with our kindly Southern nature to haveto rule by force over people who are in fact our brethren. Defensivewars are the just wars, and perhaps it will be really better for us toretire to Virginia and protect its sacred soil from the tread of theinvader. Eh, Hector?"

"Right, as usual, Leonidas. The reasons for our retirement are mostexcellent. We have already spoken of the fact that Philadelphia mightprove a Capua for our young troops, and now we are relieved from thechance of appearing as oppressors. It can never be said of us by thepeople of Pennsylvania that we were tyrants. It's an invidious task torule over the unwilling, even when one rules with justice and wisdom. It's strange, perhaps, Leonidas, but it's a universal truth, that peoplewould rather be ruled by themselves in a second rate manner than by theforeigner in a first rate manner. Now, the government of our states isattacked by Northern critics, but such as it is, it is ours and it's ourfirst choice. Do we bore you, Harry?"

"Not at all, sir. I never listen to either you or Colonel Talbot withoutlearning something. "

The two colonels bowed politely. 

"I have wished for some time to speak to you about a certain matter, Hector, " said Colonel Talbot. 

"What is it, Leonidas?"

"During the height of that tremendous artillery fire from Little RoundTop I was at a spot where I could see the artillerymen very well wheneverthe smoke lifted. Several times, I noticed an officer directing thefire of the guns, and I don't think I could have been mistaken in hisidentity. "

"No, Leonidas, you were not. I too observed him, and we could notpossibly be mistaken. It was John Carrington, of course. "

"Dear old John Carrington, who was with us at West Point, the greatestartilleryman in the world. And he was facing us, when the fortunes ofthe South were turning on a hair. If any other man had been there, directing those guns, we might have taken Cemetery Hill. "

"That's true, Leonidas, but it was not possible for any other man to bein such a place at such a time. Granting that such a crisis should ariseand that it should arise at Gettysburg you and I would have known longbefore that John would be there with the guns to stop us. Why, we sawthat quality in him all the years we were with him at West Point. The world has never seen and never will see another such artilleryman asJohn Carrington. "

"Good old John. I hope he wasn't killed. "

"And I hope so too, from the bottom of my heart. But we'll know beforemany days. "

"How will you find out?" asked Harry curiously. 

Both colonels laughed genially. 

"Because he will send us signs, unmistakable signs, " replied ColonelTalbot. 

"I don't understand, sir. "

"His signs will be shells, shrapnel and solid shot. We may not have abattle this week or next week, but a big one is bound to come some timeor other and then if any section of the Northern artillery shows uncommondeadliness and precision we'll know that Carrington is there. Why, we can recognize his presence as readily as the deer scents the hunter. We'll have many notes to compare with him when the war is over. "

Harry sincerely hoped that the three would meet in friendship aroundsome festive table, and he was moved by the affection and admiration thetwo colonels held for Carrington. Doubtless the great artilleryman'sfeelings toward them were the same. 

They went into camp once more that night in a pleasant rolling country ofhigh hills, rich valleys, scattered forests, and swift streams of clearwater. Harry liked this Northern land, which was yet not so far from theSouth. It was not more beautiful than his own Kentucky, but it was muchtrimmer and neater than the states toward the Gulf. He saw all abouthim the evidences of free labor, the proof that man worked more readily, and with better results, when success or failure were all his own. 

He was too young to spend much time in concentrated thinking, but as helooked upon the neat Pennsylvania houses and farms and the cultivatedfields he felt the curse of black slavery in the South, but he felt alsothat it was for the South itself to abolish it, and not for the armedhand of the outsider, an outsider to whom its removal meant no financialloss and dislocation. 

Despite himself his mind dwelt upon these things longer than before. He disliked slavery, his father disliked it, and nearly all their friendsand relatives, and here they were fighting for it, as one of the twogreat reasons of the Civil War. He felt anew how strangely things comeabout, and that even the wisest cannot always choose their own coursesas they wish them. 

A fire, chiefly for cooking purposes, had been built for the general andhis staff in a cove surrounded by trees. A small cold spring gushed fromthe side of a hill, flowed down the center of the cove, and then made itsway through the trees into the wider world beyond. It was a fine littlespring, and before the general came, the younger members of the staffknelt and drank deeply at it. It brought thoughts of home to all theseyoung rovers of the woods, who had drunk a thousand times before at justsuch springs as this. 

Soon Lee and his generals sat there on the stones or on the moss. Longstreet, Stuart, Pickett, Alexander, Ewell, Early, Hill and manyothers, some suffering from wounds, were with their commander, while theyoung officers who were to fetch and carry sat on the fringe in the woods, or stretched themselves on the turf. 

Harry was in the group, but except in extreme emergency he would notbe on duty that night, as he had already been twenty-four hours in thesaddle. Nevertheless he was not yet sleepy, and lying on his blanket, he watched the leaders confer, as they had conferred every other nightsince the Battle of Gettysburg. He was aware, too, that the air washeavy with suspense and anxiety. He breathed it in at every breath. Cruel doubt was not shown by words or actions, but it was an atmospherewhich one could not mistake. 

Word had been brought in the afternoon by hard riders of Stuart that thePotomac was still rising. It could not be forded and the active Northerncavalry was in between, keeping advanced parties of the Southern armyfrom laying pontoons. Every day made the situation more desperate, and it could not be hidden from the soldiers, who, nevertheless, marchedcheerfully on, in the sublime faith that Lee would carry them through. 

Harry knew that if the Army of the Potomac was not active in pursuit itscavalrymen and skirmishers were. As on the night before, he heard thefaint report of shots, and he knew that rough work was going forwardalong the doubtful line, where the fringes of the two armies almost met. But hardened so much was he that he fell asleep while the generals werestill in anxious council, and the fitful firing continued in the distantdark. 

CHAPTER III

THE FLOODED RIVER

Harry and Dalton were aroused before daylight by Colonel Peyton of Lee'sstaff, with instructions to mount at once, and join a strong detachment, ready to go ahead and clear a way. Sherburne's troop would lead. The Invincibles, for whom mounts had been obtained, would follow. There were fragments of other regiments, the whole force amounting toabout fifteen hundred men, under the command of Sherburne, who had beenraised the preceding afternoon to the rank of Colonel, and whose skilland valor were so well known that such veterans as Colonel Talbot andLieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire were glad to serve under him. Harry andDalton would represent the commander-in-chief, and would return wheneverColonel Sherburne thought fit to report to him. 

Harry was glad to go. While he had his periods of intense thought, and his character was serious, he was like his great ancestor, essentially a creature of action. His blood flowed more swiftly with thebeat of his horse's hoofs, and his spirits rose as the free air of thefields and forests rushed past him. Moreover he was extremely anxious tosee what lay ahead. If barriers were there he wanted to look upon them. If the Union cavalry were trying to keep them from laying bridges acrossthe Potomac he wanted to help drive them away. 

Harry and Dalton had a right as aides and messengers of Lee to ride withSherburne, but before they joined him they rode among the Invincibles, who were in great feather, because they too, for the time being, rode, and toiled in neither dust nor mud. 

"Colonel Sherburne may think a good deal of his own immediate troop, "said St. Clair to Harry, "but if the men of the Invincibles could achieveso much on foot they'll truly deserve their name on horseback. Where isthis enemy of ours? Lead us to him. "

"You'll find him soon enough, " said Harry. "You South Carolina talkershave learned many times that the Yankees will fight. "

"Yes, Harry, I admit it freely. But you must admit on your part that theSouth Carolinians will fight as well as talk, although at present most ofthe South Carolinians in this regiment are Virginians. "

"But not our colonel and lieutenant-colonel, " said Happy Tom. "Real oldSouth Carolina still leads. "

"May they always lead!" said Harry heartily, looking at the two grayfigures. 

"Tell Colonel Sherburne, " said Happy Tom, who was in splendid spirits, "that we congratulate him on his promotion and are ready to obey himwithout question. "

"All right. He'll be glad to know that he has your approval. "

"He might have the approval of worse men. I feel surging within me thetalents of a great general, but I'm too young to get 'em recognized. "

"You'll have to wait until the sections are not fighting each other, but are united against a common foe. But meanwhile I'll tell ColonelSherburne that if he gets into a tight pinch not to lose heart as you arehere. "

Saluting Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, Harry andDalton rode to the head of the column, where Sherburne led. They atetheir breakfast on horseback, and went swiftly down a valley in thegeneral direction of the Potomac. The dawn had broadened into fullmorning, clear and bright, save for a small cloud that hung low in thesouthwest, which Sherburne noticed with a frown. 

"That's a little cloud and it looks innocent, " he said to Harry, "but Idon't like it. "

"Why not?"

"Because in the ten minutes that I've been watching it I've been able tonotice growth. I'm weather-wise and we may have more rain. More rainmeans a higher Potomac. A higher Potomac means more difficulty incrossing it. More difficulty in crossing it means more danger of ourdestruction, and our destruction would mean the end of the Confederacy. "

He spoke with deadly earnestness as he continued to look at the tinydusky spot on the western sky. Harry had a feeling of awe. Again herealized that such mighty issues could turn upon a single hair. Theincrease or decrease of that black splotch might mean the death or lifeof the Confederacy. As he rode he watched it. 

His heart sank slowly. The little baby cloud, looking so harmless, was growing. He said to himself in anger that it was not, but he knewthat it was. Black at the center, it radiated in every direction untilit became pale gray at the edges, and by and by, as it still spread, it gave to the southwest an aspect that was distinctly sinister. 

Sherburne shook his head and the gravity of his face increased. As thecloud grew alarm grew with it in his mind. 

"Maybe it will pass, " said Harry hopefully. 

"I don't think so. It's not moving away. It just hangs there and growsand grows. You're a woodsman, Harry, and you ought to feel it. Don'tyou think the atmosphere has changed?"

"I didn't have the courage to say so until you asked me, but it's damper. If I were posing as a prophet I should say that we're going to have rain. "

"And so should I. Usually at this period of the year in our country wewant rain, but now we dread it like a pestilence. At any other time thePotomac could rise or fall, whenever it pleased, for all I cared, but nowit's life and death. "

"Our doubts are decided and we've lost. Look, sir the whole southwest isdark now!"

"And here come the first drops!"

Sherburne sent hurried orders among the men to keep their ammunition andweapons dry, and then they bent their heads to the storm which would beatalmost directly in their faces. Soon it came without much preliminarythunder and lightning. The morning that had been warm turned cold andthe rain poured hard upon them. Most of the horsemen were wet through ina short time, and they shivered in their sodden uniforms, but it was acondition to which they were used, and they thought little of themselvesbut nearly all the while of the Potomac. 

Few words were spoken. The only sounds were the driving of the rain andthe thud of many hoofs in the mud. Harry often saw misty figures amongthe trees on the hills, and he knew that they were watched by hostileeyes as the Northern armies in Virginia, were always watched with thesame hostility. It was impossible for Lee's men to make any secretmarch. The population, intensely loyal to the Union, promptly carriednews of it to Meade or his generals. 

Twice he pointed out the watchers to Sherburne who merely shrugged hisshoulders. 

"I might send out men and cut off a few of them, " he said, "but for whatgood? Hundreds more would be left and we'd merely be burdened withuseless prisoners. Here's a creek ahead, Harry, and look how muddy andfoamy it is! It's probably raining harder higher up in the hills thanit is here, and all these creeks and brooks go to swell the Potomac. "

The swift water rose beyond their stirrups and there was a vast splashingas fifteen hundred men rode through the creek. It was a land of manystreams, and a few miles farther on they crossed another, equally swollenand swift. 

They had hoped that the rain, like the sudden violence of a summer shower, would pass soon, but the skies remained a solid gray and it settled intoa steady solemn pour, cold and threatening, and promising to continue allday long. They could see that every stream they crossed was far aboveits normal mark, and the last hope that they might find the Potomac lowenough for fording disappeared. 

The watchers on the hills were still there, despite the rain, but theydid no sharpshooting. Nor did the Southern force do damage to anybody oranything, as it passed. Near noon Sherburne resolved to build a fire ina cove protected by cliffs and heavy timber, and give his men warm foodlest they become dispirited. 

It was a task to set the wet wood, but the men of his command, used toforest life, soon mastered it. Then they threw on boughs and whole treetrunks, until a great bonfire blazed and roared merrily, thrusting outinnumerable tongues of red and friendly flame. 

"Is there anything more beautiful than a fine fire at such a time?"said St. Clair to Harry. "As it blazes and eats into the wood itcrackles and those crackling sounds are words. "

"What do the words say?"

"They say, 'Come here and stand before me. So long as you respect me anddon't come too close I'll do you nothing but good. I'll warm you andI'll dry you. I'll drive the wet from your skin and your clothes, and I'll chase the cold out of your body and bones. I'll take hold ofyour depressed and sunken heart and lift it up again. Where you saw onlygray and black I'll make you see gold and red. I'll warm and cook yourfood for you, giving you fresh life and strength. With my cracklingcoals and my leaping flames I'll change your world of despair into aworld of hope. '"

"Hear! Hear!" said Happy Tom. "Arthur has turned from a sodden soldierinto a giddy poet! Is any more poetry left in the barrel, Arthur?"

"Plenty, but I won't turn on the tap again to-day. I've translated foryou. I've shown you where beauty and happiness lie, and you must do therest for yourself. "

They crowded about the huge fire which ran the entire length of the cove, and watched the cooks who had brought their supplies on horseback. Great quantities of coffee were made, and they had bacon and hardbiscuits. 

Although the rain still reached them in the cove they forgot it as theyate the good food--any food was good to them--and drank cup after cup ofhot coffee. Youthful spirits rose once more. It wasn't such a bad dayafter all! It had rained many times before and people still lived. Also, the Potomac had risen many times before, but it always fell again. They were riding to clear the way for Lee's invincible army which couldgo wherever it wanted to go. 

"Men on horseback looking at us!" hailed Happy Tom. "About fifty on alow hill on our right. Look like Yankee cavalrymen. Wonder what theytake us for anyway!"

Harry, St. Clair, Langdon and Dalton walked to the edge of the cove, every one holding a cup of hot coffee in his hand. Sherburne was alreadythere and with his glasses was examining the strange group, as well as hecould through the sweeping rain. 

"A scouting party undoubtedly, " he said, "but weather has made theiruniforms and ours look just about alike. It's equally certain thoughthat they're Yankees. No troop of ours so small would be found here. "

Harry was also watching them through glasses, and he took particular noteof one stalwart figure mounted upon a powerful horse. The distance wastoo great to recognize the face, but he knew the swing of the broadshoulders. It was Shepard and once more he had the uneasy feeling winchthe man always inspired in him. He appeared and reappeared with suchfacility, and he was so absolutely trackless that he had begun to appearto him as omniscient. Of course the man knew all about Sherburne'sadvance and could readily surmise its purpose. 

"They're an impudent lot to sit there staring at us in that superciliousmanner, " said Colonel Talbot. "Shall I take the Invincibles, sir, and teach them a lesson?"

Sherburne smiled and shook his head. 

"No, Colonel, " he said, "although I thank you for the offer. They'd meltaway before you and we'd merely waste our energies. Let them look asmuch as they please, and now that the boys have eaten their bread andbacon and drunk their coffee, and are giants again, we'll ride on towardthe Potomac. "

"Do we reach it to-day, sir?" asked Colonel Talbot. 

"Not before to-morrow afternoon, even if we should not be interrupted. This is the enemy's country and we may run at any time into a force aslarge as our own if not larger. "

"Thank you for the information, Colonel Sherburne. My ignorance ofgeography may appear astonishing to you, although we had to study it veryhard at West Point. But I admit my weakness and I add, as perhaps someexcuse, that I have lately devoted very little attention to the Northernstates. It did not seem worth my time to spend much study on the rivers, and creeks and mountains of what is to be a foreign country--although Imay never be able to think of John Carrington and many other of my oldfriends in the army as the foreigners they're sure to become. Has thethought ever occurred to you, Colonel, that by our victories we're makinga tremendous lot of foreigners in America?"

"It has, Colonel Talbot, but I can't say that the thought has ever been aparticularly happy one. "

"It's the Yankees who are being made into foreigners, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. "The gallant Southern people, of course, remainwhat they are. "

"They're going, " said Harry. "They've seen enough of us. "

The distant troop disappeared over the crest of the hill. Harry hadnoticed that Shepard led the way as if he were the ruling spirit, but hedid not consider it necessary to say anything to the others about him. The trumpet blew and Sherburne's force, mounting, rode away from thecove. Harry cast one regretful glance back at the splendid fire whichstill glowed there, and then resigned himself to the cold and rain. 

They did not stop again until far in the night. The rain ceased, but thewhole earth was sodden and the trees on the low ridge, on which Sherburnecamped, dripped with water. Spies might be all around them, but for thesake of physical comfort and the courage that he knew would come with it, he ordered another big fire built. Vigilant riflemen took turns inbeating up the forests and fields for possible enemies, but the youngofficers once more enjoyed the luxury of the fire. Their clothing wasdried thoroughly, and their tough and sinewy frames recovered all theirstrength and elasticity. 

"To enjoy being dry it is well to have been wet, " said Daltonsententiously. 

"That's just like you, you old Presbyterian, " said Happy Tom. "I supposeyou'll argue next that you can't enjoy Heaven unless you've first burnedin the other place for a thousand years. "

"There may be something in that, " said Dalton gravely, "although the test, of course, would be an extremely severe one. "

"I know which way you're headed, George. "

"Then tell me, because I don't know myself. "

"As soon as this war is over you'll enter the ministry, and no sin willget by you, not even those nice little ones that all of us like toforgive. "

"Maybe you're right, Happy, and if I do go into the ministry I shallat once begin long and earnest preparation for the task which wouldnecessarily be the most difficult of my life. "

"And may I make so bold as to inquire what it is, George?"

"Your conversion, Happy. "

Langdon grinned. 

"But why do you want to convert me, George? I'm perfectly happy as I am. "

"For your own well being, Tom. Your happiness is nothing to me, but Iwant to make you good. "

Both laughed the easy laugh of youth, but Harry looked long at Dalton. He thought that he detected in him much of the spirit of StonewallJackson, and that here was one who had in him the makings of a greatminister. The thought lingered with him. 

St. Clair was carefully smoothing out his uniform and brushing from itthe least particle of mud. His first preoccupation always asserteditself at the earliest opportunity, and in a very short time he was theneatest looking man in the entire force. Harry, although he often jestedwith him about it, secretly admired this characteristic of St. Clair's. 

"You boys sleep while you can, " said Sherburne, "because we can't affordto linger in this region. Our safety lies in rapid marching, giving theenemy no chance to gather a large force and trap us. Make the best ofyour time because we're up and away an hour after midnight. "

The young officers were asleep within ten minutes, but the vigilantriflemen patrolled the country in a wide circuit about them. Sherburnehimself, although worn by hard riding, slept but little. Anxiety kepthis eyes open. He knew that his task to find a passage for the armyacross the swollen Potomac was of the utmost importance and he meant toachieve it. He understood to the full the dangerous position in whichthe chief army of the Confederacy stood. His own force might be attackedat any moment by overwhelming numbers and be cut off and destroyed orcaptured, but he also knew the quality of the men he led, and he believedthey were equal to any task. 

As he sat by the fire thinking somberly, a figure in the brush no greatdistance away was watching him. Shepard, the spy, in the darkness hadpassed with ease between the sentinels, using the skill of an Indian instalking or approaching, and now, lying well hidden, almost flat upon hisstomach, he surveyed the camp. He looked at Sherburne, sitting on a logand brooding, and he made out Harry's figure wrapped in a blanket andlying with his feet to the fire. 

Shepard's mind was powerfully affected. An intense patriot, somethingremote and solitary in his nature had caused him to undertake this mostdangerous of all trades, to which he brought an intellectual power andcomprehension that few spies possess. As Harry had discovered long since, he was a most uncommon man. 

Now Shepard as he gazed at this little group felt no hatred for them ortheir men. He had devoted his life to the task of keeping the Unionintact. His work must be carried out in obscure ways. He could neverhope for material reward, and if he perished it would be in someout-of-the-way corner, perhaps at the end of a rope, a man known to sofew that there would be none to forget him. And yet his patriotism wasso great and of such a fine quality that he viewed his enemies around thefire as his brethren. He felt confident that the armies of the Northwould bring them back into the Union, and when that occurred they mustcome as Americans on an equal footing with other Americans. They couldnot be in the Union and not of it. 

But Shepard's feeling for his official enemies would not keep him fromacting against them with all the skill, courage and daring that hepossessed in such supreme measure. He knew that it was Sherburne's taskto open a way for the Army of Northern Virginia to the Potomac and tofind a ford, or, in cooperation with some other force, to build a bridge. It was for him to defeat the plan if he could. 

While the rain all the day before had brought gloom to the hearts ofSherburne and his men it had filled his with joy, as he thought of theinnumerable brooks and creeks that were pouring their swollen waters intothe Potomac, already swollen too. He meant now to follow Sherburne'sforce, see what plan it would attempt, what point, perhaps, it wouldselect for the bridge, and then bring the Union brigades in haste todefeat it. 

It is said that men often feel when they are watched, although thewatcher is invisible, but it was not so in Sherburne's case. He did notin the least suspect the presence of Shepard or of any foe, and the spy, after he had seen all he wished, withdrew, with the same stealth that hadmarked his coming. 

An hour after midnight all were awakened and they rode away. The nextday they reached the Potomac near Williamsport, where their pontoonbridge had been destroyed, and looked upon the wide stream of the Potomac, far too deep for fording. 

"If General Lee is attacked on the banks of this river by greatlysuperior forces, " said Sherburne, "he'll have no time to build bridges. If we didn't happen to be victorious our forces would have to scatterinto the mountains, where they could be hunted down, man by man. "

"But such a thing as that is unthinkable, sir, " said Harry. "We may notwin always, but here in the East we never lose. Remember Antietam andthe river at our back. "

"Right you are, Harry, " said Sherburne more cheerfully. "The generalwill get us out of this, and here is where we must cross. The river mayrun down enough in two or three days to permit of fording. God grantthat it will!"

"And so say I!" repeated Harry with emphasis. 

"I mean to hold this place for our army, " continued Sherburne. 

"A reserved seat, so to speak. "

"Yes, that's it. We must keep the country cleared until our mainforce comes up. It shouldn't be difficult. I haven't heard of anyconsiderable body of Union troops between us and the river. "

They made camp rapidly in a strong position, built their fires forcooking, set their horses to grazing and awaited what would come. It was a dry, clear night, and Harry, who had no duties, save to ridewith a message at the vital moment, looked at once for his friends, the Invincibles. 

St. Clair met him and held up a warning hand, while Happy touched his lipwith his finger. Before the double injunction of silence and caution, Harry whispered:

"What's happened?"

"A tragedy, " replied St. Clair. 

"And a victory, too, " said Happy Tom. 

"I don't understand, " said Harry. 

"Then look and you will, " said St. Clair. 

He pointed to a small clear space in which Colonel Leonidas Talbot andLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire sat on their blankets facing eachother with an empty cracker box between them, upon which their chess menwere spread. The firelight plainly revealed a look of dismay upon theface of Colonel Talbot, and with equal plainness a triumphant expressionupon that of Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. 

"Colonel Talbot has lost his remaining knight, " whispered St. Clair. "I don't know how it came about, but when the event occurred we heardthem both utter a cry. Listen!"

"I fail even yet, Hector, to see just how it occurred. " said ColonelTalbot. 

"But it has occurred, Leonidas, and that's the main thing. A general inbattle does not always know how he is whipped, but the whipping hurtsjust as much. "

"You should not show too much elation over your triumph, Hector. Remember that he laughs best who laughs last. "

"I take my laugh whenever I can, Leonidas, because no one knows who isgoing to laugh last. It may be that he who laughs in the present willalso laugh at the end. What do you mean by that move, Leonidas?"

"That to you is a mystery, Hector. It's like one of Stonewall Jackson'sflanking marches, and in due time the secret will be revealed withterrible results. "

"Pshaw, Leonidas, you can't frighten a veteran like me. That for yourmove, and here's mine in reply. "

The two gray heads bent lower over the board as the colonels made moveafter move. The youths standing in the shadow of the trees watched untilthe second time that night the two uttered a simultaneous cry. But theywere very different in quality. Now Colonel Talbot's expressed victoryand Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire's consternation. 

"Your bishop, Hector!" exclaimed Colonel Talbot. "Pious and ablegentleman as he is, an honor to his cloth, he is nevertheless my captive. "

"I admit that it was most unexpected, Leonidas. You have matched myvictory with one of yours. It was indeed most skillful and I don't yetsee what led to it. "

"Did I not warn you a little while ago that you couldn't frighten me?I prepared a trap for you, and thus I rise from defeat to victory. "

"At any rate we are about even on the evening's work, Leonidas, and wehave made more progress than for the whole six months preceding. Itseems likely now that we can finish our game soon. "

A sudden crash of rifle fire toward the east and from a point not distanttold them no. They rose to their feet, but they put the chessmen awayvery deliberately, while the young officers hastened to their posts. The fire continued and spread about them in a half circle, accompaniednow and then by the deeper note of a light field gun. Sherburne made hisdispositions rapidly. All the men remained on foot, but a certain numberwere told off to hold the horses in the center of the camp. 

"We're attacked by a large force, " said Sherburne, "Our scouts gave uswarning in time. Evidently they wish to drive us away from here becausethis will be the ford in case the river falls in time. "

"Then you look for a sharp fight?"

"Without question. And remember that you're to avoid all risk if youcan. It's not your business to get shot here, but it is your business, and your highly important business, to ride back to General Lee with thenews of what's happening. In order to do that it's necessary for you toremain alive. "

"I obey orders, " said Harry reluctantly. 

"Of course you do. Keep back with the men who are holding the horses. That fire is growing fast! I'm glad we were able to find a camp sodefensible as this hill. "

He hurried away to watch his lines and Harry remained at his station nearthe horses, where Dalton was compelled by the same responsibility to staywith him. It was the first time that Harry had been forced to remain amere spectator of a battle raging around him, and while not one whosought danger for danger's sake, it was hard work to control himself andremain quiet and unmoved. 

"I suspect they're trying to cut us off completely from our own army, "he said to Dalton. 

"Seems likely to me, too, " said Dalton. "Wipe us out here, and hold theriver for themselves. Our scouts assured us that there was no largeforce of the enemy in this region. It must have been gathered in greathaste. "

"In whatever way it was gathered, it's here, that's sure. "

There was a good moon now, and, using his glasses, Harry saw many detailsof the battle. The attack was being pressed with great vigor andcourage. He saw in a valley numerous bodies of cavalry, firing theircarbines, and he saw two batteries, of eight light guns each, moveforward for a better range. Soon their shells were exploding near thehill on which Harry stood, and the fire of the rifles, unbroken now, grew rapidly in volume. 

But the men under Sherburne, youthful though most of them might be, were veterans. They knew every trick of war, and columns of infantryswept forward to meet the attack, preceded by the skirmishers, who tookheavy toll of the foe. 

"If they'd been able to make it a surprise they might have rushed us, "said Harry. 

"Nobody catches Sherburne sleeping, " said Dalton. 

"That's true, and because they can't they won't be able to overcome himhere. Now there go our rifles! Listen to that crash. I fancy thatabout a thousand were fired together, and they weren't fired for nothing. "

"No, " said Dalton, "but the Yankees don't give way. You can see by theirline of fire that they're still coming. Look there! A powerful body ofhorse is charging!"

It was unusual to see cavalry attack at night, and the spectacle wasremarkable, as the moonlight fell on the raised sabers. But the defiantrebel yell, long and fierce, rose from the thicket, and, as the riflescrashed, the entire front of the charging column was burned away, as ifby a stroke of lightning. But after a moment of hesitation they came on, only to ride deeper into a rifle fire which emptied saddles so fast thatthey were at last compelled to turn and gallop away. 

"Brave men, " said Harry. "A gallant charge, but it had to meet too manySouthern rifles, aimed by men who know how to shoot. "

"But their infantry are advancing through that wood, " said Dalton. "Hear them cheering above the rifle fire!"

The Northern shout rang through the forest, and the rebel yell, againfull of defiance, replied. The cavalry had been driven off, but theinfantry and artillery were far from beaten. The sixteen guns of thetwo batteries were massed on a hill and they began to sweep the Southernlines with a storm of shells and shrapnel. The forest and the dark wereno protection, because the guns searched every point of the Southern linewith their fire. Sherburne's men were forced to give ground, beforecannon served with such deadly effect. 

"What will the colonel do?" asked Dalton. "The big guns give the Yankeesthe advantage. "

"He'll go straight to the heart of the trouble, " said Harry. "He'llattack the guns themselves. "

He did not know actually in what manner Sherburne would proceed, but hewas quite sure that such would be his course. The wary Southern leaderinstantly detailed a swarm of his best riflemen to creep through thewoods toward the cannon. In a few minutes the gunners themselves wereunder the fire of hidden marksmen who shot surpassingly well. Thegunners, the cannoneers, the spongers, the rammers and the ammunitionpassers were cut down with deadly certainty. 

The captain of the guns, knowing that the terrible rifle fire was comingfrom the thickets, deluged the woods and bushes with shells and shrapnel, but the riflemen lay close, hugging the ground, and although a few werekilled and more wounded, the vast majority crept closer and closer, shooting straight and true in the moonlight. The fire from the batteriesbecame scattered and wild. Their crews were cut down so fast that notenough men were left to work the guns, and their commander reluctantlygave the order to withdraw to a less exposed position. 

"Rifles triumphant over artillery, " said Harry, who studied everythingthrough his glasses; "but of course the dusk helped the riflemen. "

"That's true, " said Dalton, "but it takes good men like Sherburne to usethe favoring chances. Now our boys are charging!"

The tremendous rebel yell swelled through the forest, and the Southerninfantry rushed to the attack. Harry saw that the charge was successful, and his ears told him so too. The firing moved further and further away, and soon declined in volume. 

"They've been beaten off, " said Harry. 

"At least for the time, " said Dalton, "but I've an idea they'll hang onour front and may attack again in a day or so. "

"How then are you and I to get through and tell General Lee that this isthe place to bridge the Potomac, if it's to be bridged at all?"

Dalton shook his head. 

"I don't know, " he replied, "and I won't think about it until ColonelSherburne gives his orders. "

The sounds of battle died in the distant woods. The last shot, whetherfrom cannon or rifle, was fired, and the Southern troops returned totheir positions, which they began to fortify strongly. Sherburneappeared presently, his uniform cut by bullets in two or three places, but his body untouched. He drew Harry and Dalton aside, where theirwords could not be heard by anybody else. 

"You two, " he said, "were to report to General Lee when I thought fit. Well, the time has come; Harry, you go first, and, at a suitable moment, George will follow. We have news of surpassing importance. We tooka number of prisoners in that battle and we were also lucky enough torescue several of our men who had been held as captives. We've learnedfrom them that General Meade, after making up his mind to pursue, followed straight behind us for a while, but he has now turned and gonesouthward in the direction of Frederick. He will cross South Mountain, advance toward Sharpsburg, and attempt to smash us here, with our backsto this swollen river. Why, some of the Federal leaders consider theArmy of Northern Virginia as good as destroyed already!"

He spoke with angry emphasis. 

"But it isn't, " said Harry. 

"No, it isn't. Doubtless General Lee will learn from scouts of his ownof General Meade's flanking movement, but we mustn't take the chance. Moreover, we must tell him that this is the place for our army to cross. If the river runs down in two or three days we'll have a ford here. "

"I'm ready to go at any moment, " said Harry. "Night helping me, I may beable to ride through the lines of our enemies out there. "

"No, Harry, you must not go that way. They're so vigilant that you wouldnot have any possible chance. Nor can you ride. You must leave yourhorse behind. "

"What way then must I go, sir?"

"By the river. We have gathered up a few small boats, used at thecrossing here. You can row, can't you?"

"Fairly well, sir. "

"'Twill do, because you're not to stay in the boat long. I want you todrop down the stream until you're well beyond the Federal lines. Thenleave the boat and strike out across the country for General Lee. You know the way. You can buy or seize a horse, and you must not fail. "

"I will not fail, " said Harry confidently. 

"You'll succeed if anybody will, and now you must be off. Your pistolsare loaded, Harry? You may have to use them. "

They did not delay a minute, going down the shelving shore to the Potomac, where a man held a small boat against the bank. 

"Get in, Harry, " said Sherburne. "You'd better drop down three or fourmiles, at least. Good-by and good luck. "

He shook hands with his colonel and Dalton, took the oars and pulled farout into the stream. 

CHAPTER IV

A HERALD TO LEE

When he swept out upon the sullen bosom of the Potomac, Harry looked backonly once. He saw two dim figures going up the bank, and, at its crest, a line of lights that showed the presence of the Southern force. Therewas no sound of firing, and he judged that the enemy had withdrawn to adistance of two or three miles. 

The night had turned darker since the battle ceased, and not many starswere out. Clouds indicated that flurries of rain might come, but he didnot view them now with apprehension. Darkness and rain would help aherald to Lee. The current was strong, and he did not have to pull hard, but, observing presently that the far shore was fringed with bushes, he sent the boat into their shadow. 

He did not anticipate any danger from the southern shore, but the oldinherited caution of the forest runners was strong within him. Under thehanging bushes he was well hidden, but, in some places, the flood in theriver had turned the current back upon itself, and he was compelled topull with vigor on the oars. 

The clouds that had threatened did not develop much, and while theforests were dark, the surface of the river showed clearly in the faintmoonlight. Any object upon it could be seen from either bank, and Harrywas glad that he had sought the shelter of the overhanging bushes. He realized now that in this region, which was really the theater of war, many scouts and skirmishers must be about. 

The bank above him was rather high and quite steep, for which he was glad, as it afforded protection. A half mile farther down he came to the mouthof a creek coming in from the South, and just as he passed it he heardvoices on the bank. He held his boat among the bushes on the cliff andlistened. Several men were talking, but he judged them to be farmers, not soldiers. Yet they talked of the battle that night, and Harrysurmised that they were looking at the lights in the Southern camp whichmight yet be visible from the high point on which they stood. He couldnot gather from their words whether they were Northern or Southernsympathizers, but it did not matter, as he had no intention of speakingto them, hoping only that they would go away in a few minutes and let himcontinue his journey unseen. 

His hope speedily came to pass. He heard their voices sinking in thedistance, and leaving the shelter of the bushes he pulled down the streamonce more. Then he found that he had deceived himself about the clouds. If they had retired, they had merely recoiled, to use the French phrase, in order to gather again with greater force. 

During his short stay among the bushes at the foot of the cliff the wholeheavens had blackened and the air was surcharged with the heavy damp andtensity that betoken a coming storm. The lightning blazed across theriver thrice, and he heard a mutter which was not that of cannon. Then came rain and a rushing wind and the surface of the river wastroubled grievously. It rose up in waves like those of a lake, andHarry's boat rocked and tumbled so badly that in a few minutes it washalf-full of water. 

Fearing he might sink, carrying with him his great message, he pulledagain, but fiercely now, for the southern bank and the shelter of thebushes, which, fortunately for him, grew here in the water's edge. He shoved his boat with all his might among them, as their tops snappedand crackled in the hurricane. But he knew he was safe there, and hecontinued to push until it reached the edge of the land. 

The river would be swollen by another storm, but for the present it didnot bother him greatly. He was more immediately concerned with his wishto get back to Lee as soon as possible, and he was grateful for thatdense clump of bushes, growing in the very water's edge, because the windwas blowing like a hurricane and the waves were chasing one another onthe Potomac, like the billows on a lake. He was a fair oarsman, but itwould have taken greater skill than his to have kept his boat afloat inthe tempestuous river. 

The bushes formed an absolute protection. His boat swayed with them, which saved it from being damaged, and the overhanging lee of the cliffkept most of the rain from him. He also wrapped about his body the pairof blankets that he always carried, and he sat there not only in safety, but with a certain physical pleasure. 

Once more amid surroundings with the like of which Henry Ware had been sofamiliar, the soul of his great ancestor seemed to have descended uponhim. Most young officers, no matter how brave or how skilled in war, would have been awed and alarmed. He had no comrades at his elbow. There was no light, no friendly sound to encourage him, he was as trulyalone, so far as his present situation was concerned, as any pioneer hadever been in the heart of the wilderness. But for him there was pleasureat that moment in being alone. He did not quiver when the thunder rolledand crashed above his head, and the lightning blazed in one Titanicsword slash after another across the surface of the river. Rather, thewilderness and majesty of the scene appealed to him. Leaning well backin his boat with his blankets closely wrapped about him, he watched it, and his soul rose with the storm. 

Harry knew from its sudden violence that the rain would soon pass, and if the waves abated a little he would certainly take his boat intothe river and try his fortunes again. Yet a precious hour was lost, and nothing could replace it. The thunder ceased by and by and there wasonly dim lightning on the far horizon. The waves began to abate, and, taking off his blankets, he pushed his boat once more into the stream. 

It rocked prodigiously and shipped water, but by strenuous effort he keptit afloat, and as the wind sank still further he decided that he wouldseek the northern shore and disembark as soon as possible. It would beeasier to steal through the thickets than to navigate what amounted toa wild sea. But the banks were yet too high and steep for a landing, and he continued to row, keeping now near the middle of the stream. 

Wind and rain were dying fast, and he heard a sound behind uncommonlylike the distant swish of oars. It sent an unpleasant thrill through him, because he wished to be alone on the river at that particular time, but his eyes, tracing a course through all the dusk and gloom, restedupon another boat, about two hundred yards away, containing a singleoccupant. 

A farmer or a riverman, Harry thought, but to his great astonishmentthe man suddenly raised himself up a little and shouted to him in atremendous voice to halt. Harry had not the least idea of stopping foranybody. He bent to his oars and rowed swiftly on. Again came thatshout to halt, and it seemed more insolent to him than before. He put afew more ounces of strength into his arms and shoulders and increased hisspeed. 

The pursuer, suddenly drawing in his oars, raised a rifle from the bottomof his boat, and fired point blank at the fugitive. The bullet whistledso near Harry that he felt his ear burn, and at first thought he was hit. He would have been glad to fire back, but his pistols could not carrylike his enemy's rifle, and there was nothing to do but flee. Once againhe sought to draw a few more ounces of energy from his body. But theman behind him was a much greater oarsman than he and gained rapidly. The stranger, shouting another command to halt, to which no attentionwas paid, fired a second time, and the bullet went through the side ofHarry's boat, barely scraping his knee as it passed. 

His rage became intense. He had been shot at many times in battle, and many times he had fired his pistols into the opposing masses, buthere upon this river a man sought his life, as the savages of old soughtthe hunter. Another glance showed him that pursuer had closed up halfthe distance between them, and, snatching one of the pistols from hisbelt, he fired. He knew that he had missed, as he saw the water spurt upbeside the boat, but he thought that his bullet and the probability ofmore might delay the pursuit. Nevertheless the man came on as boldly andas fast as ever. If he fired a third time he could scarcely miss at suchshort range. 

It seemed to Harry the gift of Heaven, that a whole pack of clouds shoulddrift above them at that moment, deepening the obscurity and making thepursuing boat, although it was so near, a shapeless form in the mist. He could not see the features of the man, but he was able to discern hislarge and powerful figure, and he noticed the rhythmic manner in whichhis arms and shoulders worked at the oars. Obviously he had no chance toescape him by flight, and drawing his second pistol he fired. The bulletstruck the boat but did no damage. The man came on faster than ever. Harry took a desperate resolution, and, whirling his boat about, herowed it straight at his pursuer, who was now almost level with him. Heintended to ram and take his chances. His movement was so quick andunexpected that it succeeded. The bow of his boat, helped perhaps by awave, struck the other with such violence that both were shattered andsank instantly. 

Harry went down with his craft, but in a few seconds came up again, his mouth and eyes full of muddy water. He was a splendid swimmer, and his eyes clearing in a moment he looked toward the northern shore, seeking an easy place for landing. They encountered ten feet away alarge sun-browned face and two burning eyes. 

"Shepard!" Harry gasped. 

"And so it was you, Lieutenant Kenton. Perhaps if I had known it was youI wouldn't have fired upon you. "

"Don't let that deter you. We're enemies. "

"I merely said 'perhaps!' I like you, but that wouldn't keep me fromstopping you by any method I could from reaching Lee. "

"I'm sure it wouldn't. I like you, too, Mr. Shepard, but we're enemieshere in this river, deadly enemies, and I mean to beat you off. "

"One may mean to do a thing and yet not do it. I'm the larger and themore powerful. Besides, I'm toughened by superior age. You'd bettersurrender, Mr. Kenton. I don't want to do you any bodily harm. "

"I admit that you're larger and stronger, but on land only. I'm thebetter swimmer. We're both floating now, but if you'll make a comparison, Mr. Shepard, you'll find that I'm doing it with the greatest ease. Take my advice, and swim to the southern bank of the river while I go tothe northern. I say it in all good faith. "

"I've no doubt of that, but the young are likely to over-estimate theirpowers. I'm a good swimmer, and you can't escape me. "

"The important point is not whether I can escape you, but whether you canescape me. Since you have lost your boat and your rifle and we're insuch a treacherous and unstable element as water, I occupy the superiorposition. The young may indeed over-estimate their powers, but inswimming at least I'm a competent critic. For instance, you're holdingyour shoulders too high, and you kick too much. You're splashing water, a useless waste of energy. Now observe me. The surface of this river isrough. Little waves are yet running upon it, but I float as easily as afish, come up to see by the moon what time it is. It is not egotism onmy part, merely a recognition of the facts, but I warn you, Mr. Shepard, to swim to the other shore and let me alone. "

The two were not ten feet apart, and, despite the lightness of their talk, their eyes burned with eagerness and intensity. Harry knew that Shepardwould not dream of turning back. Yet in the water he awaited the resultwith a confidence that he would not have felt on land. 

"It's your move, Mr. Shepard, " he said. 

The intensity of Shepard's gaze increased, and Harry never took his eyesfrom those of his enemy. He intended like a prize fighter to read therewhat the man's next effort would be. 

"I don't see that it's my move, " said Shepard, as he floated calmly. 

"You're following me for the purpose of capturing me. "

"To capture you, or delay you. Meanwhile, it seems to me that I'mdelaying you very successfully. I can't see that you're making muchprogress towards Lee. "

"That depends upon which way this river is flowing. You note that wefloat gently with the stream. "

"It's a poor argument. The Potomac flows directly by Washington, andif we were to float on we'd float into the heart of great Northernfortresses instead of Lee's camp. "

"That's true as far as it goes, but it doesn't go far enough. I'mleaving the river soon. You can have it all then. "

"Thanks, but I think I'll go with you, Lieutenant Kenton. "

"Then come to the bottom!" exclaimed Harry, as he dived forward like aflash, seized Shepard by the ankles and headed for the bottom of theriver with him. The water gurgled in his eyes and ears and nose, but heheld on for many seconds, despite the man's desperate struggles. Thenhe was forced to let go and rise. 

As his head shot above the stream he saw another shooting up in the samemanner about fifteen feet away. Both were choked and gasping, but Harrymanaged to say:

"I didn't intend for you to come up so soon. "

"I suppose not, but perhaps you didn't pause to think that when you roseI'd rise with you. "

"Yes, that's true. It seems to me that matters grow complicated. Can't you persuade yourself, Mr. Shepard, to go and leave me alone?I really have no use for you here. "

"I'd like to oblige you, Lieutenant Kenton, but I intend to see that youdon't reach General Lee. "

"Still harping upon that? It seems to me that you're a stupidly stubbornman. Don't you know that I'm going anyhow?"

Harry had never ceased to watch his eyes, and he saw there the signal ofa coming movement. Shepard dived suddenly for him, intending to repeathis own trick, but the youth was like a fish in the water, and he dartedto the right. The man came up grasping nothing. Harry laughed. Thechagrin of Shepard compelled his amusement, although he liked the man. 

"I wish you'd go away, Mr. Shepard, " he said. "On land you could, perhaps, overpower me, but in the water I think I'm your master. Allthrough my boyhood I devoted a great deal of my time to swimming. Dr. Russell of the Pendleton Academy--but you never knew him--used to saythat if I would swim less and study more I could make greater pretensionsto scholarship. "

Shepard, swimming rather easily, regarded him thoughtfully. 

"While we talk to each other in this more or less polite manner, Mr. Kenton, " he said, "we must not forget that we're in deadly earnest. I mean to take you, and our scouts mean to take every other messenger whogoes out from Colonel Sherburne's camp. You know, and I know, that ifthe Army of Northern Virginia does not reach in a few days that camp, where there is a ford in ordinary weather, it will be driven up againstthe Potomac and we can accumulate such great forces against it that itcannot possibly escape. Even at Sherburne's place its escape is morethan doubtful, if it has to linger long. "

"Yes, I know these things quite well, Mr. Shepard. I know also, as youdo, that General Meade's army is not in direct pursuit, and, that in aflanking movement, he is advancing across South Mountain and towardSharpsburg. It is a march well calculated and extremely dangerous toGeneral Lee, if he does not hear of it in time. But he will hear of itsoon enough. A comrade of mine, George Dalton, will tell him. Othersfrom Colonel Sherburne's camp will tell him, and I mean to tell him too. I hope to be the first to do so. "

Harry never deceived himself for a moment. He knew that although Shepardliked him, he would go to the uttermost to stop him, and as for himself, while he had a friendly feeling for the spy, he meant to use every weaponhe could against him. Realizing that he could not linger much longer, as the chill of the water was already entering his body, he swam closerto Shepard, still staring directly into his eyes. How thankful he wasnow for those innumerable swimmings in the little river that ran nearPendleton! Everything learned well justifies itself some day. 

Although there was but little moonlight they were so close together thatthey could see the eyes of each other clearly, and Harry detected atrace of uneasiness in those of Shepard. A good swimmer, the waternevertheless was not his element, and although a man of great physiqueand extraordinary powers, he longed for the solid earth under his feet. 

Harry drew himself together as if he were going to dive, but instead ofdoing so suddenly raised himself in the water and shot forth his clenchedtight fist with all his might. Shepard was taken completely by surpriseand he sank back under the water, leaving a blood stain on its surface. Harry watched anxiously, but Shepard came up again in a moment or two, gasping and swimming wildly. The point of his jaw was presented fairlyand Harry struck again as hard as he could in the water. Shepard witha choked cry went under and Harry, diving forward, seized his body, bringing it to the surface. 

Shepard was senseless, but getting an arm under his shoulders Harry wasable to swim with him to the northern shore, although it took nearly allhis strength. Then he dragged him out upon the bank, and sank down, panting, beside him. 

The great Civil War in America, the greatest of all wars until nearlyall the nations of Europe joined in a common slaughter, was a humane warcompared with other wars approaching it in magnitude. It did not occurto Harry to let Shepard drown, nor did he leave him senseless on thebank. As soon as his own strength returned he dragged him into ahalf-sitting position, and rubbed the palms of his hands. The spy openedhis eyes. 

"Good-by, Mr. Shepard, " said Harry. "I'm bound to leave before yourecover fully because then I wouldn't be your match. I'm sorry I had tohit you so hard, but there was nothing else to do. "

"I don't blame you. It was man against man. "

"The water was in my favor. I'm bound to admit that on land you'd havewon. "

"At any rate I thank you for dragging me out of the river. "

"You'd have done as much for me. "

"So I would, but our personal debts of gratitude can't be allowed tointerfere with our military duty. "

"I know it. Therefore I take a running start. Good-by. "

"We'll meet again. "

"But not on this side of the Potomac. It may happen when the Army ofNorthern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac go into battle on the otherside of the river. "

Harry darted into the forest, and ran for a half-hour. He meant to putas much distance as possible between Shepard and himself before thelatter's full strength returned. He knew that Shepard would follow, if he could, but it was not possible to trail one who had a long startthrough dark and wet woods. 

He came through the forest and into a meadow surrounded by a rail fence, on which he sat until his breath came back again. He had forgotten allabout his wet uniform, but the run was really beneficial to him as itsent the blood leaping through his veins and warmed his body. 

"So far have I come, " said Harry, "but the omens promise a hard march. "

He had his course fixed very clearly, and a veteran now in experience, he could guide himself easily by the moon and stars. The clouds wereclearing away and a warm wind promised him dry clothing, soon. Longafterward he thought it a strange coincidence that his cousin, Dick Mason, in the far South should have been engaged upon an errand very similar innature, but different in incident. 

He crossed the meadow, entered an orchard and then came to a narrow road. The presence of the orchard indicated the proximity of a farmhouse, and it occurred to Harry that he might buy a horse there. The farmerwas likely to be hostile, but risks must be taken. He drew his pistols. He knew that neither could be fired after the thorough wetting in theriver, but the farmer would not know that. He saw the house presently, a comfortable two-story frame building, standing among fine shade trees. Without hesitation he knocked heavily on the door with the butt of apistol. 

He was so anxious to hasten that his blows would have aroused the bestsleeper who ever slept, and the door was quickly opened by an elderly man, not yet fully awake. 

"I want to buy a horse. "

"Buy a horse? At this time of the night?"

He was about to slam the door, but Harry put his foot over the sill andthe muzzle of his pistol within six inches of the man's nose. 

"I want to buy a horse, " he repeated, "and you want to sell one to me. I think you realize that fact, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, " replied the man, looking down the muzzle of the big horsepistol. 

"Come outside and close the door behind you. I know you haven't on manyclothes, but the night's warm, and you need fresh air. "

The man with the muzzle of the pistol still near his nose, obeyed. But as he looked at the weapon he also had a comprehensive view of theone who held it. 

"Wet ain't you?" he said. 

"Do you think it necessary to put it in the form of a question?"

"I don't like to say, unless I'm shore. "

"Where do you keep your horses?"

"In the barn here to the left. What kind of a horse did you think you'dkeer fur most, stranger?"

"The biggest, the strongest and fastest you've got"

"I thought mebbe you'd want one with wings, you 'pear to be in such apow'ful hurry. I wish you wouldn't keep that pistol so near to my nose. 'Sides, you've gethered so much mud an' water 'bout you that you ain't sovery purty to look at!"

"It's your own mud and water. I didn't bring it into this country withme. "

"Which means that you don't belong in these parts. I reckon lookin' atyou that you wuz one o' them rebels that went to Gettysburg and then comeback ag'in. "

"Exactly right, Mr. Farmer. I'm an officer in General Lee's army. "

"Then I wuz right 'bout you needin' a horse with wings. An' I guess allthe men in your army need horses with wings. Don't be in such a tarnalhurry. You're goin' to stay right up here with us, boarders, so to speak, till the war is over. "

Harry laughed. 

"Kind of you, " he said, "but here is the stable and do you open the stalldoors one by one, and let me see the horses. At the first sign of anytrick I pull the trigger. "

"Well, as I don't like violence I'll show you the horses. Here's thegray mare, five years old, swift but can't last long. This is old Rube, nigh onto ten, mighty strong, but as balky as a Johnny Reb hisself. Don't want him! No? Then I think that's about all. "

"No it's not! You open that last stall door at once!"

The farmer made a wry face, and threw back the door with a slam. Harrystill covering the man with the pistol that couldn't go off, saw asplendid bay horse about four years old. 

"Holding out on me, were you?" he said. "Did you think a Confederateofficer could be fooled in that manner?"

"I reckon I oughtn't to have thought so. I've always heard that therebels had mighty good eyes for Yankee horseflesh. "

"I'll let that pass, because maybe it's true. Now, saddle and bridle himquicker than ever before in your life. "

The farmer did so, and Harry took care to see that the girth was secure. 

"At how much did you value this horse?" he asked. 

"I did put him down at two hundred dollars, but I reckon he's worthnothin' to me now. "

"Here's your money. When General Lee goes through the enemy's country hepays for what he takes. "

He thrust a roll of good United States bills into the astonished man'shand, and sprang upon the horse. Then he turned from the stable and rodeswiftly up the road, but not so swiftly that he did not hear a bulletsinging past his ears. A backward glance showed him an elderly farmer inhis night clothes standing on his porch and reloading his rifle. 

"Well, I can't blame you, I suppose, " said Harry. "You can guess prettywell what I am, and it's your business to stop me. "

But he rode fast enough to be far beyond the range of a second bullet, and maintained a good pace for a long time, through hilly and woodedcountry. His uniform dried upon him, and his hardy form felt no illresult from the struggle in the river. The horse was strong and spirited, and Harry knew that he could carry him without weariness to Lee. Helooked upon his mission as already accomplished, but his ambition toreach the commander-in-chief first was yet strong. 

He rode throughout the rest of the night and dawn and the pangs of hungercame together. But he decided that he would not turn from his path toseek food. He would go on straight for Lee and let hunger have its way. He had a splendid horse under him and he was faring quite as well as hehad a right to expect. He thought of Shepard, and felt pity for him. The man had only striven to do his duty, and while he had used forcehe had been very courteous and polite about it. Harry was bound toacknowledge that his had been a very chivalrous enemy and only hissuperiority in swimming had enabled him to win over Shepard. He was gladthat he had saved him and had left him on the bank, so to speak, to dry. 

Then Shepard faded away with the mists and vapors that were retreatingbefore a brilliant dawn. The country was high, rolling, and the foliage, although much browned by the July sun, which was unusually hot that year, was still dense. Most of the hills were heavy with forest, but all thevalleys between were fertile and well cultivated. With the dew of themorning fresh upon it the whole region was refreshing and soothing to theeye with a look of peace, where in reality there was no peace. Many thincolumns of smoke lying blue against the silver sky told where farmhousesstood, and hunger suddenly seized upon Harry again. 

Hunger is natural to youth, and his severe exertions all through thenight had greatly increased it. It became both a pain and a weakness. His shoulders drooped with fatigue, and he felt that he must have foodor faint by the way. 

He was ashamed of his physical weakness, but he knew that unless he foundfood his faintness would increase, and hunger alone would stop him, where so able a man as Shepard could not. His uniform, faded anyhow, was so permeated with the dried mud of the river that it would take akeen eye to tell whether it was Federal or Confederate, and he need notdisclose his identity in this region, which was so strongly for theUnion. He made up his mind quickly and rode for the nearest farmhouse. 

Harry knew that he was inviting risks. His pistols were still uselessbut they would be handy for threats, and he should be able to take careof himself at a farmhouse. 

The house that he had chosen was only a few hundred yards away, its whitewalls visible among trees, and the clatter of his horse's hoofs brought aman from a barn in the rear. Harry noted him keenly. He was youngish, stalwart and the look out of his blue eyes was fearless. He cameforward slowly, examining his visitor, and his manner was not altogetherhospitable. Harry decided that he had to deal with a difficult customerbut he had no idea of turning back. 

"Good morning, " he said politely. 

"Good morning. "

"I wish some breakfast and I will pay. I've ridden all night in ourservice. "

"You've so much dried mud on you that you look as if you'd been passin'through a river. "

"Correct. That's exactly what happened. "

"But there's none on your horse. "

"He didn't pass with me. I'm willing to answer any reasonable number ofquestions, but, as I told you before, I ride on an important service. I must have breakfast at once, and I'll pay. "

"Whose service? Ours or Reb's?"

"A military messenger can't answer the chance questions of those by theroadside. I tell you I want breakfast at once. "

"Fine horse you ride, stranger. How long have you had him?"

"All this year. "

"Funny. When I saw him last week he belonged to Jim Kendall down by thePotomac, an' livin' on this very road, too. "

"It isn't half as funny as you think. Hands up! Now call to your wifeas loud as you can to bring me coffee and food at the gate! I knowthey're ready in the kitchen. I can smell 'em here. Out with it, call as fast as and as loud as you can, or off goes the top of your head!"

Although a horse pistol held in a firm hand was thrust under his nose, the man's blue eyes glared hate and defiance, and his mouth did not open. Harry, in his excitement and anger, forgot that the charge in his weaponwas ruined and hence it was no acting with him when his own eyes blazeddown at the other and he fairly shouted:

"I give you until I can count ten to call your wife! One! two! three!four! five! six! seven! eight! nine!--"

"Sophy! Sophy!" cried the farmer, who saw death flaming in the eyes thatlooked into his, "Come! Come a-runnin'!"

A good looking young woman threw open a door and ran, frightened, towardthe gate, where she saw her husband under the pistol muzzle of a wild andsavage looking man on horseback. 

"Sophy, " said the farmer, "bring this infernal rebel a cup of coffee anda plate of bread and meat. If it weren't for his pistol I'd drag him offhis horse and carry him to General Meade, but he's got the drop on me!"

"And Sophy, " said Harry, who was growing cooler, "you make it a big tincup of coffee and you see that the plate is piled high with meat andbread. Now don't you make one mistake. Don't you come back with anyweapon in your hand in place of food, and don't you fire on me from thehouse with the family rifle. You're young and you're good looking, and, doubtless the widow of our friend here with the upraised hands, wouldn'thave to wait long for another husband just as good as he is. "

The woman paled a little, and Harry knew that some thought of the familyrifle had been in her mind. The husband's glare became ferocious. 

"You can take your hands down, " said Harry. "I've no wish to torture you, and I'm satisfied now that you're not armed. "

The man dropped his arms and the woman hurried to the kitchen. Harry didnot watch her, but kept his eyes continually upon the man, who he knewwould take advantage of his first careless moment, and spring for himlike a tiger. A pistol that he couldn't fire wouldn't be of much use tohim then. 

But the woman returned with a big tin cup of smoking coffee and a platepiled high with bread and bacon and beefsteak. It was a welcome sight. The aspect of the whole world became brighter at once, and the pulse ofhope beat high. But happiness did not make him relax caution. 

"Stand back about ten feet more, " he said to the man, "I don't like yourlooks. "

"What's the matter with my looks?"

"It's not exactly your looks I mean, though they're scarcely worthy ofthe lady, your wife, but it's rather your attitude or position whichreminds me of a lion or a tiger about to spring upon something it hates. "

The man, with a savage growl, withdrew a little. 

"I'd like to put a bullet through you, " he said. 

"I've no doubt of it, your eyes show it, but before I take a polite leaveof you I want to tell you that I did not steal this horse from yourfriend, Jim Kendall. I paid for it at his own valuation. "

"Confederate money that won't be worth a dollar a bale before long. "

"Oh, no, bills that were made and stamped at Washington, and I pay forthis breakfast in silver. "

He dropped it into the hand of the woman, as he took the huge cup ofcoffee from her. Then he drank deep and long, and again and again, draining the last drop of the brown liquid. 

"I hope it's burnt the lining out of your throat, " said the man savagely. 

"It was warm, but I like it that way. It was good indeed, and I'm sorry, Madame, that you have such a violent and ill-tempered husband. Maybeyour next will be a much better man. "

"John is neither violent nor ill-tempered. He's never said a harsh wordto me since we were married. But he hates the rebels dreadfully. "

"That's too bad. I don't hate him and I'm glad you can give him a goodcharacter. A man's own wife knows best. Now, I'm going to eat thisbreakfast as I ride on. You'll find the plate on the fence a quarter ofa mile ahead. "

He bowed to both, and still keeping a wary eye on the man, thrust hispistol into his belt, and as his horse moved forward at a swift and easygait he began to eat with a ravenous appetite. 

A backward glance showed husband and wife still gazing at him. But itwas only for a moment. They ran into the house and a little further onHarry looked back again. They had reappeared and he almost expected tohear again the whistle of a rifle shot, fired from a window. But thedistance was much too great, and he devoted renewed attention to thedemands of hunger. 

When he had finished his breakfast he put the plate upon the fence as hehad promised, and, looking back for the last time, he saw an Americanflag wave to and fro on the roof of the house. He felt a thrill ofalarm. It must be a signal concerning him and it could be made only tohis enemies. Speaking sharply to his horse, he urged him into a gallop. 

CHAPTER V

THE DANGEROUS ROAD

The road led in the general direction of Lee's army and Harry knew thatif he followed it long enough he was bound to reach his commander, but the two words "long enough" might defeat everything. Undoubtedly aFederal force was near, or the farmer and his wife would not be signalingfrom the roof of their house. 

A plucky couple they were and he gave them all credit, but he was awarethat while he had secured breakfast from them they had put the wolvesupon his trail. There were high hills on both the right and left of theroad, and, as he galloped along he examined them through his glasses forflags answering the signal on the house. But he saw nothing and thethickness of the forest indicated that even if the signals were madethere it was not likely he could see them. 

Now he wisely restrained the speed of his horse, so full of strength andspirit that it seemed willing to run on forever, and brought him down toa walk. He had an idea that he would soon be pursued, and then a freshhorse would be worth a dozen tired ones. 

The road continued to run between high, forested hills, splendid forambush, and Harry saw what a danger it was not to have knowledge of thecountry. He understood how the Union forces in the South were so oftenat a loss on ground that was strange to them. 

The road now curved a little to the left, and a few hundred yards aheadanother from the east merged with it. Along this road the forest wasthinner, and upon it, but some distance away, he saw bobbing heads incaps, twenty, perhaps, in number. He knew at once that they were theenemy, called by the signal, and leaning forward he spoke in the ear ofhis good horse. 

"You and I haven't known each other long, " he said, "but we're goodfriends. I paid honest and sufficient money for you, when I could haveridden away on you without paying a cent. I know you have a powerfulframe and that your speed is great. I really believe you're the fastestrunner in all this part of the state. Now, prove it!"

The horse stretched out his neck, and the road flew behind him, his bodyworking like a mighty machine perfectly attuned, even to its minutestpart. Harry's words had met a true response. He heard a cry on thecross road, and the bobbing heads came forward much faster. Either theyhad seen him or they had heard the swift beat of his horse's hoofs. Loud shouts arose, but he saw the uniforms of the men, and he knew thatthey belonged to the Northern army. 

He went past the junction of the roads, as if he were flying, but he wasnot a bit too soon, as he heard the crack of rifles, and bullets struckin the earth behind him. He knew that they would follow, hang onpersistently, but he had supreme confidence in the speed and strength ofhis horse, and youth rode triumphant. It was youth more than anythingelse that made him raise himself a little in his saddle, look back to hispursuers and fling to them a long, taunting cry, just as Henry Ware morethan once had taunted his Indian pursuers before disappearing in a flightthat their swiftest warriors could not match. 

But the little band of Union troopers clung to the chase. They toohad good horses, and they knew that the man before them was a Southernmessenger, and in those hot July days of 1863 all military messagescarried on the roads north of the Potomac were important. The fate of anarmy or a nation might turn upon any one of them, and the lieutenant wholed the little Union troop was aware of it. He was a man of intelligenceand a consuming desire to overtake the lone horseman lay hold of him. He knew, as well as any general, that since Gettysburg the fate of theSouth was verily trembling in the balance, and the slightest weightsomewhere might decide the scales. So he resolved to hang on througheverything and the chances were in his favor. It was his own country. The Federal troops were everywhere, and any moment he might have aid incutting off the fugitive. 

When Harry eased his horse's flight he saw the troop, very distant butstill pursuing, and he read the mind of the Union leader. He was savinghis mounts, trailing merely, in the hope that Harry would exhaust his ownhorse, after which he and his men would come on at great speed. 

Harry looked down at his horse and saw that he was heaving with his greateffort. He knew that he had made a mistake in driving him so hard atfirst, and with the courage of which only a young veteran would have beencapable he brought the animal almost to a walk, and resolutely kept himthere, while the enemy gained. When they were almost within rifle shothe increased his speed again, but he did not seek for the present toincrease his gain. 

As long as their bullets could not reach him his horse should merely gostride for stride with theirs, and when the last stretch was reached, he would send forward the brave animal at his utmost speed. His were thetrue racing tactics drawn from his native state. He had no doubt of hisability to leave his pursuers far behind when the time came, but his truedanger was from interference. He too knew that many Union cavalry troopswere abroad, and he watched on either flank for them as he rode on. At the crest of every little hill he swept the whole country, but as yethe saw nothing but peaceful farmhouses. 

The day was clear and bright, not so warm as its predecessors, and hecalculated by the sun that he was going straight toward Lee. He knewthat a great army always marched slowly, and he was able to reckon withaccuracy just how far the Army of Northern Virginia had come sinceGettysburg. He should reach it in the morning, with full informationabout the Potomac, and the best place for a crossing. 

He arrived at the crest of a hill higher than the others, and saw theUnion troop, about a quarter of a mile behind, stop beside a clump oftall trees. Their action surprised Harry, who had thought they wouldnever quit as long as they could find his trail. To his further surprisehe saw one of the men dismount and begin to climb the tallest of thetrees. Then he brought his glasses into play. 

He saw the climber go up, up, until he had reached the last bough thatwould support him. Then he drew some thing from his pocket which heunrolled and began to wave rapidly. It was a flag and through hispowerful glasses Harry clearly saw the Stars and Stripes. It was evidentthat they were signaling, but when one signals one usually signals tosomebody. His breath shortened for a moment. He believed that the manin the tree was talking with his flag about the fugitive. Where was theone to whom he was talking?

He looked to both left and right, searching the fields and the forests, and saw nothing. Then, as he was sweeping his glasses again in a halfcurve he caught a glimpse of something straight ahead that made the greatpulse in his throat beat hard. About a mile in front of him another manin a tree was waving a flag and beneath the tree were horsemen. 

Harry knew now that the two flags were talking about the Confederatemessenger between. The one behind said: "Look out! He's young, riding abay horse and he's coming directly toward you, " to which the one in frontreplied, "We're waiting. He can't escape us. There are fields with highfences on either side of the road and if he manages to break through thefence he's an easy capture in the soft and muddy ground there. "

Harry thought hard and fast, while the two flags talked so contemptuouslyabout him. The fields were unquestionably deep with mud from the heavyrains, but he must try them. It was lucky that he had seen the flagswhile both forces were out of rifle shot. He decided for the westernside, sprang from his horse and threw down a few rails. In a half minutehe was back on his horse, leaped him over the fence, and struck acrossthe field. 

It had been lately plowed and the going was uncommonly heavy. It wouldbe just as heavy however for his pursuers, and his luck in seeing theirsignals would put him out of range before they reached the field. But it was a wide field and his horse's feet sank so deep in the mud thathe dismounted and led him. When he was two-thirds of the way across ashout told him that the two forces had met, and had discovered the ruseof the fugitive. It did not take much intelligence to understand what hehad done, because he was yet in plain sight, and a few of the cavalrymentook pot shots at him, their bullets falling far short. Harry in hisexcited condition laughed at these attempts. Almost anything was atriumph now. He shook his fist at them and regretted that he could notsend back a defiant shot. 

The cavalrymen conferred a little. Then a part pursued across the field, and two detachments rode along its side, one to the north and the otherto the south. Harry understood. If the mud held him back sufficientlythey might pass around the field and catch him on the other side. He continued to lead his horse, encouraging him with words of entreatyand praise. 

"Come on!" he cried. "You won't let a little mud bother you. Youwouldn't let yourself be overtaken by a lot of half-bred horses not fitto associate with you?"

The brave animal responded nobly, and what had been the far edge of thefield was rapidly coming nearer. Beyond it lay woods. But the flankingmovement threatened. The two detachments were passing around the fieldon firm ground, and Harry knew that he and his good horse must hasten. He talked to him continually, boasting about him, and together theyreached the fence, which he threw down in all haste. Then he led hisweary horse out of the mud, sprang upon his back and galloped into thebushes. 

He knew that the horses passing around the field on firm ground would befresh, and that he must find temporary hiding, at least as soon as hecould. He was in deep thickets now and he galloped on, careless howthe bushes scratched him and tore his uniform. The Union cavalry wouldsurely follow, but he wanted a little breathing time for his horse, and in eight or ten minutes he stopped in the dense undergrowth. Thehorse panted so hard that any one near would have heard him, but therewas no other sound in the thicket. The rest was valuable for both. Harry was able to concentrate his mind and consider, while the panting ofthe horse gradually ceased, and he breathed with regularity. The younglieutenant patted him on the nose and whispered to him consolingly. 

"Good, old boy, " he said, "you've brought me safely so far. I knew thatI could trust you. "

Then he stood quite still, with his hand stroking the horse's nose tokeep him silent. He had heard the first sounds of search. To his rightwas the distant beat of hoofs and men's voices. Evidently they weregoing to make a thorough search for him, and he decided to resume hisflight, even at the risk of being heard. 

He led the horse again, because the forest was so dense that one couldscarcely ride in it, and he thought, for a while, that he had thrown offthe pursuit, but the voices came again, and now on his left. They hadnever relaxed the hunt for an instant. They had a good leader, and Harryadmitted that in his place he would have done the same. 

The country grew rougher, being so steep and hilly that it was noteasy of cultivation, and hence remained clothed in dense forest andundergrowth. Twice more Harry heard the sound of pursuing voices andhoofs, and then the noise of running water came to his ears. Twentyyards farther and he came to a creek flowing between high banks, on whichthe forest grew so densely that the sun was scarcely able to reach thewater below. 

The creek at first seemed to be a bar to his advance, but thinking itover he led his horse carefully down into the stream, mounted him androde with the current, which was not more than a foot deep. Fortunatelythe creek had a soft bottom and there was no ringing of hoofs on stones. 

He went slowly, lest the water splash too much, and kept a wary watch onthe banks above, which were growing higher. He did not know where thecreek led, but it offered both a road and concealment, and it seemed thatProvidence had put it there for his especial help. 

He rode in the bed of the stream fully an hour, and then emerged fromthe hills into a level and comparatively bare country. It was a regionutterly unknown to him, but with his splendid idea of direction and thesun to guide him he knew his straight course to Lee. The country beforehim seemed to be given up wholly to grass, as he noticed neither corn norwheat. He saw several farm hands, but decided to keep away from them. That was no country for the practice of horsemanship by a loneConfederate soldier, nor did he like to be the fox in a fox hunt. 

Yet the fox he was. He chose a narrow road leading between cedars, and when he had advanced upon it a few hundred yards he heard the soundof a trumpet behind him, and at the edge of the woods that he had left. He saw horsemen in blue emerging and he had no doubt that they were thesame men whom he had eluded in the thickets. 

"Their pursuit of me is getting to be a habit, " he said to himself withthe most intense annoyance. "It's a good thing, my brave horse, thatyou've had a long rest. "

He shook up the reins and began to gallop. He heard a faint shout in thedistance and saw the troopers in pursuit. But he did not fear them now. Numerous fences would prevent them from flanking him, and he saw that theroad led on, straight and level. He shook the reins again and the horselengthened his stride. 

He felt so exultant that he laughed. It would be easy enough now todistance this Union troop. Then the laugh died suddenly on his lips. A bullet whistled so near his face that it almost took away his breath. An elderly farmer standing in his own door had fired it, and Harrysnatched one of the pistols from his own belt, remembering then with ragethat it could not be fired. He shouted to his horse and made him runfaster. 

A bullet struck the pommel of his saddle and glanced off. A boy in anorchard had fired it. A load of bird-shot, a handful it seemed to Harry, flew about his ears. A bent old man who ought to have been sitting ona porch in a rocking chair had discharged it from the edge of a wood. A squirrel hunter on a hill took a pot shot at him and missed. 

Harry was furious with anger. Decidedly this was no place for a visitorfrom the South. He did not detect the faintest sign of hospitality. Men and women alike seemed to dislike him. A powerful virago hurled astone at his head, which would have struck him senseless had it notmissed, and a farmer standing by a fence had a shotgun cocked and readyto be fired as he passed, but Harry, snatching one of the useless pistolsfrom his belt, hurled it at him with all his might. It struck the man aglancing blow on the head, felling him as if he had been shot, and thenHarry, thinking quickly, acted with equal quickness. 

He reined in his horse with such suddenness that he nearly shot from thesaddle. Then he leaped down, seized the shotgun from under the hands ofthe fallen man, sprang on his horse and was away again, sending back acry of defiance. 

Harry had never before in his life been so furious. To be hunted thus bya whole countryside, as if he were a mad dog, was intolerable. It wasnot only a threat to one's life, it was also an insult to one's dignityto be treated as an animal. Although he was armed now the insultcontinued. The call of the trumpet sounded almost without ceasing, and the Union troopers uttered many shouts as do those who chase the fox, although Harry knew that their cries were intended to rouse the farmerswho might head him off. 

The chase grew hotter, but he felt better with the shotgun. It was afine double-barreled weapon of the latest make, and he hoped that it wasloaded with buckshot. He was a sharpshooter, and he could give a goodaccount of any one who came too near. 

Yet with the trumpet shrilling continually behind him the huntsmengathered fast on either flank. It was yet the day when nearly everyhouse in America, outside a town, contained a rifle, and bullets firedfrom a distance began to patter around Harry and his horse. Theriflemen were too far away to be reached with the shotgun, and it seemedinevitable to him that in time a bullet would strike him. He was trulythe fox, and he knew that nothing could save him but forest. 

It was in his favor that the country was so broken and wooded so heavily, and fixing his eyes on trees a half-mile ahead he raced for them. If none of this yelling pack dragged him down he felt sure that he mightescape again in the forest. The trees swiftly came nearer, but the shotson either flank increased. More than ever he felt like the fox with thehounds all about him, and just one slender chance to reach the burrowahead. 

He felt his horse shake and knew that he had been hit. Yet the braveanimal ran on as well as ever, despite the triumphant shout behind, which showed that he must be leaving a trail of blood. But the woods, thick and inviting, were near, and he believed that he would reach them. The horse shook again, much more violently than before, and then fell tohis knees. Harry leaped off, still clutching the shotgun, just as thebrave animal fell over on his side and began to breathe out his life. 

He heard again that shout of triumph, but he was one who never gave up. He had alighted easily on his feet. The trees were not more than fifteenyards away and he disappeared among them as bullets clipped bark andtwigs about him. 

He breathed a deep sigh of thankfulness when he entered the forest. It was so dense, and there was so much undergrowth that the horsemencould not follow him there. If they came on foot, and spread out, as they must, to hunt him, he had the double-barreled shotgun and itwas a deadly weapon. The fox had suddenly become the panther, alert, powerful, armed with claws that killed. 

Harry went deep into the thickets before he sat down. He had no doubtthat they would follow him, but at present he was out of their sight andhearing. He felt a mixture of elation and sadness, elation over histemporary escape, and sadness over the loss of his gallant horse. But one could not dwell long on regrets at such a time, and, advancing alittle farther, he sat down among the densest bushes that he could findwith the shotgun across his knees. 

Now Harry saw that the horse had really done all that it was possiblefor him to do. He had brought him to the wood, and within he would havebeen a drawback. A man on foot could conceal himself far more easily. Everything favored him. There were bushes and vines everywhere and hecould be hidden like a deer in its covert. 

He looked up at the sun shining through the tops of the trees and sawthat he had kept to his true course. His flight had taken him directlytoward Lee at a much faster pace than he would have come otherwise. The enemy had driven him on his errand at double speed. He felt that hecould spare a little time now, while he waited to see what the pursuitwould do. 

His feeling of exultation was now unalloyed. Deep in the forest withhis foes looking for him in vain, the spirit of Henry Ware was oncemore strong within him. He was the reincarnation of the great hunter. He lay so still, clasping the shotgun, that the little creatures of thewoods were deceived. A squirrel ran up the trunk of an oak six feet away, and stood fearlessly in a fork with his bushy tail curved over his back. A small gray bird perched on a bough just over Harry's head and pouredout a volume of song. Farther away sounded the tap tap of a woodpeckeron the bark of a dead tree. 

Harry, although he did not move, was watching and listening with intenseconcentration, but his ears now would be his surest signals. He couldnot see deep in the thickets, but he could hear any movement in theunderbrush a hundred yards away. So far there was nothing but thehopping of a rabbit. The bird over his head sang on. There was nowind among the branches, not even the flutter of leaves to distract hisattention from anything that might come on the ground. 

He rejoiced in this period of rest, of the nerves, rather than purelyphysical. He had been keyed so high that now he relaxed entirely, and soon lay perfectly flat, but with the shotgun still clasped in hisarms. He had a soft couch. Under him were the dead leaves of last year, and over him was the pleasant gloom of thick foliage, already turningbrown. The bird sang on. His clear and beautiful note came from a pointdirectly over his head, but Harry could not see his tiny body among theleaves. He became, for a little while, more interested in trying to seehim than in hearing his pursuers. 

It was annoying that such a volume of sound should come from a body thatcould be hidden by a leaf. If a man could shout in proportion to his ownsize he might be heard eight to ten miles away. It was an interestingspeculation and he pursued it. While he was pursuing it his mind relaxedmore and more and traveled farther and farther away from his flight andhiding. Then his heavy eyelids pulled down, and, while his pursuers yetsearched the thickets for him, he slept. 

But his other self, which men had thought of as far back as Socrates, kept guard. When he had slept an hour a tiny voice in his ear, no louderthan the ticking of a watch, told him to awake, that danger was near. He obeyed the call, sleep was lifted from him and he opened his eyes. But with inherited caution he did not move. He still lay flat in hiscovert, trusting to his ears, and did not make a leaf move about him. 

His ears told him that leaves were rustling not very far away, not morethan a hundred feet. His power of hearing was great, and the forestseemed to make it uncommonly sensitive and delicate. 

He knew that the rustling of the leaves was made by a man walking. By and by he heard his footfalls, and he knew that he wore heavy boots, or his feet would not have crushed down in such a decisive manner. He was looking for something, too, because the footfalls did not gostraight on, but veered about. 

Harry was well aware that it was a Union soldier, and that he was theobject of his search. He was a clumsy man, not used to forests, becauseHarry heard him stumble twice, when his feet caught on vines. Norwas any comrade near, or he would have called to him for the sake ofcompanionship. Harry judged that he was originally a mill hand, andhe did not feel the least alarm about him, laughing a little at hisclumsiness and awkwardness, as he trod heavily among the bushes, trippedagain on the vines, and came so near falling that he could hear the riflerattle when it struck a tree. He did not have the slightest fear of theman, and at last, raising his head, he took a look. 

All his surmises were justified. He saw a great hulking youth of heavyand dull countenance, carrying a rifle awkwardly, his place obviouslyaround some town and not in the depths of a forest, looking for a waryenemy, who knew more of the wilderness than he could ever learn in allhis life. Harry saw that he was perspiring freely and that he lookedmore like the hunted than the hunter. His eyes expressed bewilderment. He was obviously lonely and apprehensive, not because he was a coward, but because the situation was so strange to him. 

Besides his rifle he carried a large knapsack, so much distended thatHarry knew it to be full of food. It was this that decided him. Asoldier, like an army, must travel on his stomach, and he wanted thatknapsack. Moreover he meant to get it. He leveled his shotgun andcalled in a low tone, but a tone so sharp that it could be hearddistinctly by the one to whom it was addressed:

"Throw up your hands at once!"

The man threw them up so abruptly that the rifle fell from his shoulderinto the bushes, and he turned around, staring face toward the point fromwhich the command had come. Harry saw at once that he was of foreignbirth, probably. The features inclined to the Slav type, although Slavswere not then common in this country, even in the mill towns of the North. 

"Are you an American?" asked Harry, standing up. 

"All but two years of my life. "

"The first two years then, as I see you speak good English. What's yourname?"

"Michael Stanislav. "

"Do you think that anybody named Michael Stanislav has the right tointerfere in the quarrel of the Northern and Southern states? Don't theStanislavs have trouble enough in the country where the Stanislavs grow?"

The big youth stared at him without understanding. 

"Do you know who I am?" asked Harry, severely. 

"The running rebel that we all look for. "

"Rebels don't run. Besides, there are no rebels. Anyway I'm not the manyou're looking for. My name is Robin Hood. "

"Robin Hood?"

"Yes, Robin Hood! Didn't you ever hear of him?"

"Never. "

"Then you have the honor of hearing of him and meeting him at the sametime. As I said, my name is Robin Hood and my trade is that of abenevolent robber. I lie around in the greenwood, and I don't work. I've a lot of followers, Friar Tuck and others, but they're away for awhile. They're as much opposed to work as I am. That's why they're myfollowers. We're the friends of the poor, because they have nothing wewant, and we're the enemies of the rich because they have a lot we dowant and that we often take. Still, we couldn't get along very well, if there were no rich for us to rob. It's like taking sugar water froma maple tree. We won't take too much, because it would kill the treeand we want to take its sugar water again, and many times. Do youunderstand?"

"Yes, " replied the big youth, but Harry knew he didn't. Harry meanwhilewas listening keenly to all that was passing in the forest, and he wassure that no other soldier had wandered near. It was perhaps partly afeeling of loneliness on his own part that caused him to linger in histalk with Michael Stanislav. 

"Michael, " he continued, "you appreciate our respective positions, don't you?"

"Ah!" said Michael, in a puzzled voice. 

"I've explained carefully to you that I'm Robin Hood, and you at thepresent moment represent the rich. "

"I am not rich. Before I turn soldier I work in a mill at Bridgeport. "

"That's all very well, but you can't get out of it by referring to yourpast. Just now you are a proxy of the rich, and it's my duty to rob you. "

The mouth of the big fellow expanded into a wide grin. 

"You won't rob me, " he said. "I have not a cent. "

"But I'm going to rob you just the same. Don't you dare to drop a handtoward the pistols in your belt. If you do I'll blow your head off. I'm covering you with a double-barreled shotgun. Each barrel containsabout twenty buckshot, and at close range their blast would be soterrific that you'd make an awful looking corpse. "

"I hold up my hands a long time. Don't want to be any kind of a corpse. "

"That's the good boy. Steady now. Don't move a muscle. I'm going torob you. It's a brief and painless operation, much easier than pulling atooth. "

He deftly removed the two pistols and the accompanying ammunition fromthe man's belt, placing them in his own. His belt of cartridges he puton the ground beside the fallen rifle, and then as he felt a glow oftriumph he passed the well-filled knapsack from the stalwart shouldersof the other to his own shoulders, equally stalwart. 

"Is everything in it first class, Michael?" he demanded with muchseverity. 

"The best. Our army feeds well. "

"It's a good thing for you that it's so. Robin Hood is never satisfiedwith anything second class, and he's likely to be offended if you offerit to him. On the whole, Michael, I think I like you and I'm glad youcame this way. But do you care for good advice?"

"Yes, sir. "

"That's right. Say 'sir' to me. It pleases my robber's heart. Then, my advice to you is never again to go into the woods alone. All theforest looks alike to those who don't know it, and you're lost in aminute. Besides, it's filled with strange and terrible creatures, Robin Hood--that's me, though I have some redeeming qualities--theErymanthean boar, the Hydra-headed monster, Medusa of the snaky locks, Cyclops, Polyphemus with one awful eye, the deceitful Sirens, the Old Manof the Mountain, Wodin and Osiris, and, last and most terrible of all, the Baron Munchausen. "

A flicker of fear appeared in the eyes of the captive. 

"But I'll see that none of these monsters hurt you, " said Harryconsolingly. "The open is directly behind you, about a mile. Rightabout! Wheel! Well done! Now, you won't see me again, but you'll hearme giving commands. Forward, march! Quit stumbling! No true foresterever does! Nor is it necessary for you to run into more than threetrees! Keep going! No, don't curve! Go straight ahead, and rememberthat if you look back I shoot!"

Michael walked swiftly enough. He deemed that on the whole he had faredwell. The great brigand, Robin Hood, had spared his life and he had lostnothing. The army would replace his weapons and ammunition and he wasglad enough to escape from that terrible forest, even if he were drivenout of it. 

Harry watched him until he was out of sight, and then picking up therifle and belt of cartridges he fled on soundless feet deeper into theforest. Two or three hundred yards away he stopped and heard a greatshouting. Michael, no longer covered by a gun, had realized thatsomething untoward had happened to him, and he was calling to hiscomrades. Harry did not know whether Michael would still call the manwho had held him up, Robin Hood, nor did he care. He had secured anexcellent rifle which would be much more useful to him than a shotgun, and his course still led straight toward the point where he should findLee's army on the march. He felt that he ought to throw away the shotgun, as two weapons were heavy, but he could not make up his mind to do so. 

A hundred yards farther and he heard replies to Michael's shouts, andthen several shots, undoubtedly fired by the Union troops themselves, as signals of alarm. He laughed to himself. Could such men as theseovertake one who was born to the woods, the great grandson of Henry Ware, the most gifted of the borderers, who in the woods had not only a sixthsense, but a seventh as well? And his great grandson had inherited manyof his qualities. 

Harry, in the forest, felt only contempt for these youths of CentralEurope who could not tell one point of the compass from another. Heguided his own course by the sun, and continued at a good pace until hecould hear shouts and shots no longer. Then in the dense woods, wherethe shadows made a twilight, he came to a tiny stream flowing fromunder a rock. He knelt and drank of the cool water, and then he openedMichael's knapsack. It was truly well filled, and he ate with deepcontent. Then he drank again and rested by the side of the pool. 

As he reflected over his journey Harry concluded that Providence hadwatched over him so far, but there was much yet to do before he reachedLee. Providence had a strange way of watching over a man for a while, and then letting him go. He would neglect no precaution. The forestwould not continue forever and then he must take his chances in the open. 

Still burning with the desire to be the first to reach Lee, he put therifle and the shotgun on either shoulder, and set off at as rapid a paceas the thickets would permit. But he soon stopped because a sound almostlike that of a wind, but not a wind, came to his ears. There was abreeze blowing directly toward him, but he paid no attention to it, because to him most breezes were pleasant and friendly. But the othersound had in it a quality that was distinctly sinister like the hissingof a snake. 

Harry paused in wonder and alarm. All his instincts warned him that anew danger was at hand. The breath of the wind suddenly grew hot, and sparks carried by it blew past him. He knew, in an instant, that theforest was on fire behind him and that tinder dry, it would burn fast andfurious. Changing from a walk to a run, he sped forward as swiftly as hecould, while the flames suddenly sprang high, waved and leaped forward inchase. 

CHAPTER VI

TESTS OF COURAGE

Harry did not know how the woods had been set on fire, and he never knew. He did not credit it to the intent of Michael and his comrades, but hethought it likely that some of these men, ignorant of the forest, hadbuilt a campfire. His first thought was of himself, and his second wasregret that so fine a stretch of timber should be burned over for nothing. 

But he knew that he must hurry. Nor could he choose his way. He mustget out of that forest even if he ran directly into the middle of a Unionbrigade. The wind was bringing the fire fast. It leaped from one treeto another, despite the recent rains, gathering volume and power as itcame. Sparks flew in showers, and fragments of burned twigs rained down. Twice Harry's face was scorched lightly and he had a fear that one ofthe blazing twigs would set his hair on fire. He made another effort, and ran a little faster, knowing full well that his life was at stake. 

The fire was like a huge beast, and it reached out threatening red clawsto catch him. He was like primeval man, fleeing from one of the vastmonsters, now happily gone from the earth. He was conscious soon thatanother not far from him was running in the same way, a man in a fadedblue uniform who had dropped his rifle in the rapidity of his flight. 

Harry kept one eye on him but the stranger did not see him until theywere nearly out of the wood. Then Harry, with a clear purpose in view, veered toward him. He saw that they would escape from the fire. Openfields showed not far ahead, and while the sparks were numerous andsometimes scorched, the roaring red monster behind them would soon be atthe end of his race. He could not follow them into the open fields. 

When the two emerged from the forest Harry was not more than fifteen feetfrom the stranger, who evidently took him for a friend and who was gladto have a comrade at such a time. They raced across fields in which thewheat had been cut, and then sank down four or five hundred yards fromthe fire, which was crackling and roaring in the woods with greatviolence, and sending up leaping flames. 

"I was glad enough to get out of that. Do you think the rebels set it onfire?"

"I don't think so, but I was as pleased as you to escape from it, Mr. Haskell. "

"Why, how did you know my name?" exclaimed the man in wonder. 

"Why should I forget you? I've seen you often enough. Your name is JohnHaskell and you belong to the Fifth Pennsylvania. "

"That's right, but I don't seem to recall you. "

"It takes a lot of us some time to clear up our minds wholly after such abattle as Gettysburg. In some ways I've been in a sort of confused statemyself. I dare say you've seen me often enough. "

"That's likely. "

"Pity you had your horse shot under you, Mr. Haskell. A man who iscarrying important messages at a time like this can't do very wellwithout his horse. "

"How did you know I'd lost my horse?"

"Oh, I'm a mind reader. I can tell you a lot now. You carry yourdispatch in the left-hand pocket of your waistcoat, just over your heart. And it hasn't been long, either, since you lost your horse, perhaps notmore than an hour. "

Haskell stared at him, but Harry's face was innocent. Nevertheless hehad read Haskell's name and regiment on his canteen, cut there with hisown knife. It was a mere guess that he was a dispatch bearer, but hehad located the dispatch, because at the mention of the word "message"the man's hand had involuntarily gone to his left breast to see if thedispatch were still there. Boots with little dirt on them indicated thathe had been riding. 

"A mind reader!" said Haskell, with suspicion. "What business has a mindreader in this war?"

"He could be of enormous value. If he were a real mind reader he couldtell his general exactly what the opposing general intended to do. I'm employed at a gigantic salary for that particular purpose. "

"I guess you're trying to be funny. Why do you carry both a rifle and ashotgun?"

"In order to hit the target with one, if the other misses. I always usethe rifle first, because if the bullet doesn't get home the shotgun, spreading its charge over a much wider area, is likely to do something. "

"Now I know you're trying to be funny. As I'm going about my business asfast as I can, I'll leave you here. "

"I like you so well that I can't bear to see you go. Don't move. My rifle covers your heart exactly and you are not more than ten feetaway. I shall have no possible need of the shotgun. Keep your handsaway from your belt. You're in a dangerous position, Mr. Haskell. "

"I believe you're an infernal rebel. "

"Take out the objectionable adjective 'infernal' and you're right. Keep those hands still, I tell you. "

"What do you want?"

"Your dispatches! Oh, I must have 'em. Unbutton your coat and waistcoatand hand 'em to me at once. I hate to take human life, but war demands aterrible service, and I mean what I say!"

His voice rang with determination. The man slowly unbuttoned hiswaistcoat and took out a folded dispatch. 

"Put it on the ground in front of you. That's right, and don't you reachfor it again. Now, lay your canteen beside it!"

"What in thunder do you want with my canteen? It's empty!"

"I can fill it again. This is a well watered country. That's right;put it beside the dispatch. Now you walk about one hundred yards to theright with your back to me. If you look around at all I fire, and I'ma good marksman. Stand there ten minutes, and then you can move on!That's right! Now march!"

The man walked away slowly and when he had gone about half the distanceHarry, picking up the dispatch, took flight again across the fields. Climbing a fence, he looked back and saw the figure of John Haskell, standing motionless on a hill. He knew that the man was not likely toremain in that position more than half the allotted time. It was certainthat he would soon turn, despite the risk, but Harry was already beyondhis reach. 

He leaped from the fence, crossed another field and entered a wood. There he paused among the trees and saw Haskell returning. But when hehad come a little distance, he shook his head doubtfully, and then walkedtoward the north. 

"A counsel of wisdom, " chuckled Harry, who was going in quite anotherdirection. "I think I'll read my dispatch now. "

He opened it and blessed his luck. It was from Meade to Pleasanton, directing him to cut in with all the cavalry he could gather on theenemy's flank. The Potomac was in great flood and the Army of NorthernVirginia could not possibly cross. If it were harried to the utmost bythe Union cavalry the task of destroying it would be much easier. 

"So it would, " said Harry to himself. "But Pleasanton won't get thisdispatch. Providence has not deserted me yet; and it's true that fortunefavors the brave. I'm John Haskell of the Fifth Pennsylvania and I canprove it. "

He had put the canteen over his shoulder and the name upon it was apowerful witness in his favor. The dispatch itself was another, and hisfaded uniform told nothing. 

Harry had passed through so much that a reckless spirit was growing uponhim, and he had succeeded in so much that he believed he would continueto succeed. Regretfully he threw the shotgun away, as it would notappear natural for a messenger to carry it and a rifle too. 

He went forward boldly now, and, when an hour later he saw a detachmentof Union cavalry in a road, he took no measures to avoid them. Insteadhe went directly toward the horsemen and hailed them in a loud voice. They stopped and their leader, a captain, looked inquiringly at Harry, who was approaching rapidly. 

Harry held up both hands as a sign that he was a friend, and called in aloud voice:

"I want a horse! And at once, if you please, sir!"

He had noticed that three led horses with empty saddles, probably theresult of a brush with the enemy, and he meant to be astride one of themwithin a few minutes. 

"You're a cool one, " said the captain. "You come walking across thefield, and without a word of explanation you say you want a horse. Don't you want a carriage too?"

"I don't need it. But I must have a horse, Captain. I ride with amessage and it must be of great importance because I was told to go withit at all speed and risk my life for it. I've risked my life already. My horse was shot by a band of rebels, but luckily it was in the woodsand I escaped on foot. "

As he spoke he craftily moved the canteen around until the inscriptionshowed clearly in the bright sunlight. The quick eyes of the captaincaught it at once. 

"You do belong to the Fifth Pennsylvania, " he said. "Well, you're along way from your regiment. It's back of that low mountain over there, a full forty miles from here, I should say. "

Harry felt a throb of relief. It was his only fear that these menthemselves should belong to the Fifth Pennsylvania, a long chance, but if it should happen to go against him, fatal to all his plans. 

"I don't want to join my regiment, " he said. "I'm looking for GeneralPleasanton. "

"General Pleasanton! What can you happen to want with him?"

Harry gave the officer a wary and suspicious look, and then his eyesbrightened as if he were satisfied. 

"I told you I was riding with a message, " he said, "and that message isfor General Pleasanton. It's from General Meade himself and it's no harmfor me to show it to so good a patriot as you. "

"No, I think not, " said the captain, flattered by the proof of respectand confidence. 

Harry took the letter from his pocket. It had been sealed at first, but the warmth of the original bearer's body with a little help fromHarry later had caused it to come open. 

"Look at that, " said Harry proudly as he took out the paper. 

The captain read it, and was mightily impressed. He was, as Harry hadsurmised, a thoroughly staunch supporter of the Union. He would not onlyfurnish this valiant messenger with a good horse, but he would help himotherwise on his way. 

"Dexter, " he called to an orderly, "bring the sorrel mare. She wasridden by a good man, Mr. Haskell, but he met a sharpshooter's bullet. Jump up. "

Harry sprang into the saddle, and, astride such a fine piece ofhorseflesh, he foresaw a speedy arrival in the camp of General Lee. 

"I'll not only mount you, " said the captain, "but we'll see you on theway. General Pleasanton is on Lee's left flank and, as our course is inthat direction, we'll ride with you, and protect you from stray rebelsharpshooters. "

Harry could have shouted aloud in anger and disappointment. While thecaptain trusted him fully, he would not be much more than a prisoner, nevertheless. 

"Thank you very much, Captain, " he said, "but you needn't troubleyourself about me. Perhaps I'd better go on ahead. One rides fasteralone. "

"Don't be afraid that we'll hold you back, " said the captain, smiling. "We're one of the hardest riding detachments in General Pleasanton'swhole cavalry corps, and we won't delay you a second. On the contrary, we know the road so well that we'll save you wandering about and losingtime. "

Harry did not dare to say more. And so Providence, which had beenwatching over him so well, had decided now to leave him and watch overthe other fellow. But he had at least one consolation. Pleasanton wason Lee's flank and their ride did not turn him from the line of his trueobjective. Every beat of his horse's hoofs would bring him nearer toLee. Invincible youth was invincibly in the saddle again, and he saidconfidently to the captain:

"Let's start. "

"All right. You keep by my side, Haskell. You appear to be brave andintelligent and I want to ask you questions. "

The tone, though well meant, was patronizing, but Harry did not resent it. 

"This troop is made up of Massachusetts men, and I'm from Massachusettstoo, " continued the captain. "My name is Lester, and I had justgraduated from Harvard when the war began. "

"Good stock up there in Massachusetts, " said Harry boldly, "but I've oneobjection to you. "

"What's that?"

"Everything wonderful in our history was done by you. No chance was leftfor anybody else. "

"Well, not everything, but almost everything. Good old Massachusetts!As Webster said, 'There she stands!'"

"It was mostly New York and Pennsylvania that stood at Gettysburg. "

"Yes, you did very well there. "

"Don't you think, Captain, that a nation or a state is often lucky in itspossession of writers?"

"I don't catch your drift exactly. "

"I'll make an illustration. I've often wondered what were the Persianaccounts of Marathon and Thermopylae, of Salamis and Plataea. Now mostof our history has been written by Massachusetts men. "

"And you insinuate that they have glorified my state unduly?"

"The expression is a trifle severe. Let's say that they have dwelledrather long upon the achievements of Massachusetts and not so long uponthose of New York and Pennsylvania. "

"Then let New York and Pennsylvania go get great writers. No state canbe truly great without them. There's another detachment of ours justahead, but we'll talk to them only a minute or two. "

The second detachment reported that Pleasanton, with a heavy cavalryforce, was about six miles farther west and that there was a fair roadall the way. They should overtake him in an hour. 

Harry's heart beat hard. Unless something happened within that hour hewould never reach Lee, and his brain began to work with extraordinaryactivity. Plans passed in review before it as rapidly as pictures ona film, but all were rejected. He was in despair. They were trottingrapidly down a smooth road. A quarter of an hour passed and then ahalf-hour. A low bare hill appeared immediately on their right, andHarry saw beyond it the tops of trees. 

"Captain Lester, " he said, "suppose that you and I ride to the crest ofthe hill. You have strong glasses, so have I, and we may see somethingworth while. The men will ride on, but we can easily overtake them. "

"Not a bad idea, Haskell, " said the captain, still in that slightlypatronizing tone. "I judge by your speech that you're a well educatedman, and you appear to think. "

They rode quickly to the summit, and Lester, putting his glasses to hiseyes, gazed westward over a vast expanse of cultivated country. ButHarry looking immediately down the slope, saw the forest that he wished. 

Lester swept the glasses in a wide circle, looking for Union troops. His own troop was about a hundred yards ahead and the hoofbeats weregrowing fainter. Then Harry's courage almost failed him, but necessitywas instant and cruel. Still he modified the blow, nor did he use anyweapon, save one that nature had given him. 

"Look out!" he cried, and as Lester turned in astonishment he struck himon the point of the jaw. Even as his fist flashed forward he held back alittle and his full strength was not in the blow. 

Nevertheless it was sufficient to strike Lester senseless, and he slidfrom his horse. Harry caught him by the shoulder and eased him in hisfall. Then he lay stretched on his back in the grass like one asleep, with his horse staring at him. Harry knew that he would revive in aminute or two, and with a "Farewell, Captain Lester, " he galloped downthe slope and into the covering woods. 

He knew that Lester's men, finding that they did not follow, wouldquickly come back, and he raced his horse among the trees as fast as hedared. A couple of miles between him and the hill and he felt safe, at least so far as the troop of Captain Lester was concerned. Fortuneseemed to have made him a favorite again, but he knew that dangers werestill as thick around him as leaves in Vallombrosa. 

He tied his horse, climbed a tree, and used his glasses. Two miles tothe west the bright sun flashed on long lines of mounted men, obviouslythe horsemen of Pleasanton. How was he to get through that cavalryscreen and reach Lee? He did not see a way, but he knew that to find, one must seek. His desire to get through, intense as it always had been, was now doubled. He not only carried the news to Lee about the possibleford, but he also bore Meade's dispatch to Pleasanton, directing amovement which, if successful, must be most dangerous to the Army ofNorthern Virginia. 

He descended the tree and waited a while in the forest. He found aspring at which he drank, and he filled the canteen. It was a preciouscanteen with the name of John Haskell engraved upon it, and he meant thatit should carry him through all dangers into his camp. But he did notmean to use it yet. If he rode into Pleasanton's ranks they would merelytake his letter to the general, and that would be the failure of his realmission. 

Night was now not far distant, and, concluding that he had a much betterchance to run the gantlet under its cover, he still waited in the wooduntil the twilight came. 

Wrapped in a coil of dangers he was ready to risk anything. Quickness, resource and boldness, of which the last had been most valuable, hadbrought him so far, and, encouraged by success, he rode forward full ofconfidence. 

On his right was a small house standing among the usual shade trees, and, approaching it without hesitation, he spoke to a man who stood in theyard. 

"Which way is General Pleasanton?" he asked. 

The man hesitated. 

"I belong to the Fifth Pennsylvania, " said Harry, pointing to the name onthe canteen, still visible in the twilight. The man's eyes brightenedand he replied:

"Down there, " pointing toward the southwest. 

"I've a message for him and I don't want to run into any of the rebelraiders. "

"Then you keep away from there, " he said, pointing due west. 

"What's the trouble in that direction?"

"Jim Hurley was here about an hour ago. The whole country is terriblyexcited about these big armies marching over it, and he said that ourcavalry was riding on fast. A lot of it was ahead of the rebel army, but straight there in the west some of the rebel horsemen had spread outon their own flank. If you went that way in the night you'd be sure torun right into a nest of 'em. "

"So the Johnnies are west of us, your friend Hurley said. Tell me againwhat particular point I have to watch in order to keep away from them. "

"Almost as straight west as you can make it. A valley running east andwest cuts in there and it's full of the rebels. It's the only place allalong here where they are. "

"And consequently the only place for me to avoid. Thanks. Yourinformation may save me from capture. Good night. "

"Good night and good luck. "

Harry rode toward the southwest until a dip in the valley hid him frompossible view of the man at the house. Then he turned and rode due west, determined to reach as soon as possible those "rebel raiders" in thevalley, but fully aware that he must yet use every resource of skill, courage and patience. 

The twilight turned into night, clear, dry and bright. Unless itwas raining in the mountains the flood in the Potomac could not beincreasing. Here, at last, the conditions were all that he wished. The captured haversack still contained plenty of food, and, as he rode, he ate. He had learned long ago that food was as necessary as weaponsto a soldier, and that one should eat when one could. Moreover, he wasalways hungry. 

He kept among trees wherever possible, and, as the night grew, and thestars came out in the dusky blue, he enjoyed the peace. Even though hesearched with his glasses he could not see soldiers anywhere, although heknew they were in the hollows and the forests. A pleasant breeze blew, and an owl, reckless of armies, sent forth its lonesome hoot. 

But he kept his horse's head straight for the narrow valley where the"rebel raiders" rode. He met presently a small detachment of Connecticutmen, but the sight of his canteen and letter was sufficient for them. Again he rode southwest, merely to turn due west once more, after he hadpassed from their sight, and near the head of the valley he encounteredtwo men in blue on horseback watching. They were alert, well-builtfellows and examined Harry closely, a process to which long usage hadreconciled him. 

"I hear that the rebels are down in that valley, comrade, " he said. 

"So they are, " replied the elder and larger of the men. "We've got toask you who you are and which way you're going. "

"John Haskell, Fifth Pennsylvania, with dispatches from General Meade toGeneral Pleasanton. They're tremendously important, too, and I've got tobe in a hurry. "

"More haste less speed. You know the old saying. In a time like thisit's sometimes better for a man to know where he's going than it is toget there, 'cause he may arrive at the wrong place. "

"Good logic, comrade, but I must hurry just the same. Which is my bestway to find General Pleasanton?"

"Southwest. But I'm bound to tell you a few things first. "

"All right. What are they?"

"You and I must be kinsfolk. "

"How do you make that out?"

"Because my name is William Haskell, and I belong to the FifthPennsylvania, the same regiment that you do. "

"Is that so? It's strange that we haven't met before. But funny thingshappen in war. "

"So they do. Awfully funny. Now my brother's name is John Haskell, and you happen to be carrying his canteen, but you've changed looks a lotin the last few days, Brother John. "

Haskell's voice had been growing more menacing, and Harry, with nativequickness, was ready to act. When he saw the man's pistol flash from hisbelt he went over the side of his horse and the bullet whistled wherehis body had been. His own rifle cracked in reply, but Haskell's horse, not he, took the bullet, and, screaming with pain and fright, ran intothe woods as the rider slipped from his back. 

Harry, realizing that his peril was imminent and deadly, fired one of hispistols at the second man, who fell from his horse, too badly wounded inthe shoulder to take any further part in the fight. 

But Harry found in Haskell an opponent worthy of all his skill andcourage. The Union soldier threw himself upon the ground and fired atHarry's horse, which instantly jerked the bridle from his hand and fledas the other had done. Harry dropped flat in the grass and leaves andlistened, his heart thumping. 

But luck had favored him again. He lay in a slight depression and anybullet fired at him would be sure to go over him unless he raised hishead. He could not see his enemies, but he could depend upon hiswonderful power of hearing, inherited and cultivated, which gave him anadvantage over his opponents. 

He heard the wounded man groan ever so lightly, and then the otherwhisper to him, "Are you much hurt, Bill?" The reply came in a moment:"My right shoulder is put out for the time, and I can't help you now. "Presently he heard the slight sound of the other crawling toward him. Evidently this Haskell was a fearless fellow, bound to get him, and hecalled from the shadow in which he lay. 

"You'd better stop, Haskell! I've got the best pair of ears in all thisregion, and I hear you coming! Crawl another step and you meet a bullet!But I want to tell you first that your interesting brother John is allright. I didn't kill him. I merely robbed him. "

"Robbed him of what?"

"Oh, of several things. "

"What things?"

"They don't concern you, Haskell. These are matters somewhat above you. "

"They are, are they? Well, maybe they are, but I'm going to see that youdon't get away with the proceeds of your robbery. "

Harry didn't like his tone. It was fierce and resolute, and he realizedonce more that he had a man of quality before him. If Haskell hadbehaved properly he would have withdrawn with his wounded comrade. But then he was an obstinate Yankee. 

He raised up ever so little and glanced across the intervening space, seeing the muzzle of a rifle not many yards away. There could be nodoubt that Haskell was watchful and would continue watching. He drewhis head back again and said:

"Let's call it a draw. You go back to your army, Mr. Haskell, and I'llgo back to mine. "

"Couldn't think of it. As a matter of fact, I'm with my army now;that is, I'm in its lines, while you can't reach yours. All I've got todo is to hold you here, and in the course of time some of our people willcome along and take you. "

"Do you think I'm worth so much trouble?"

"In a way it's a sort of personal affair with me. You admit havingrobbed my brother, and I feel that I must avenge him. He has been actingas a dispatch rider, and I can make a pretty shrewd guess about what youtook from him. So I think I'll stay here. "

Harry blamed himself bitterly for his careless and unfortunateexpressions. He did not fear the result of a duel with this man, beingthe master of woodcraft that he was, but he was losing time, valuabletime, time more precious than gold and diamonds, time heavy with thefate of armies and a nation. He grew furiously angry at everything, andangriest at Haskell. 

"Mr. Haskell, " he called, "I'm getting tired of your society, and I makeyou a polite request to go away. "

"Oh, no, you're not tired. You merely think you are, and I couldn'tconsider conceding to your request. It's for your good more than mine. My society is elevating to any Johnny Reb. "

"Then I warn you that I may have to hurt you. "

"How about getting hurt yourself?"

Harry was silent. His acute ears brought him the sound of Haskell movinga little in his own particular hollow. The lonesome owl hooted twicemore, but there was no sound to betoken the approach of Union troops inthe forest. The duel of weapons and wits would have to be fought outalone by Haskell and himself. 

He went over everything again and again and he concluded that he mustrely upon his superior keenness of ear. He could hear Haskell, butHaskell could not hear him, and there was Providence once more taking himinto favor. Summer clouds began to drift before the moon, and many ofthe stars were veiled. It was possible that Haskell's eyes also were notas keen as his own. 

When the darkness increased, he began to crawl from the little shallow. Despite extreme precautions he made a slight noise. A pistol flashed anda bullet passed over him. It made his muscles quiver, but he called in acalm voice:

"Why did you do such a foolish thing as that? You wasted a perfectlygood bullet. "

"Weren't you trying to escape? I thought I heard a movement in thegrass. "

"Wasn't thinking of such a thing. I'm just waiting here to see whatyou'll do. Why don't you come on and attack?"

"I'm satisfied with things as they are. I'll hold you until morning andthen our men will be sure to come and pick you up. "

"Maybe it will be our men who will come and pick you up. "

"Oh, no; they're too busy leaving Gettysburg behind 'em. "

Harry nevertheless had succeeded in leaving the shallow and was now lyingon its farther bank. Then he resumed the task of crawling forward on hisface, and without making any noise, one of the most difficult feats thata human being is ever called upon to do. 

At the end of a dozen feet, he paused both to rest and to listen. His acute ears told him that Haskell had not moved from his own place, and his eyes showed him that the darkness was increasing. Thosewonderful, kindly clouds were thickening before the moon, and the starsin troops were going out of sight. 

But he did not relax his caution. He knew that he could not afford tomake any sound that would arouse the suspicions of Haskell, and it wasa quarter of an hour before he felt himself absolutely safe. Then hepassed around a big tree and arose behind its trunk, appreciating what atremendous luxury it was to be a man and to stand upon one's own feet. 

He had triumphed again! The stars surely were with him. They might playlittle tricks upon him now and then to tantalize him, but in the moreimportant matters they were on his side. He stretched himself again andagain to relieve the terrible stiffness caused by such long and painfulcrawling, and then, unable to resist an exultant impulse, he calledloudly:

"Good-by, Haskell!"

There was a startled exclamation and a bullet fired at random cut theleaves twenty yards away. Harry, making no reply, fled swiftly throughthe forest toward the valley where the rebel raiders rode. 

CHAPTER VII

IN THE WAGON

He ran at first, reckless of impediments, and there was a sound ofcrashing as he sped through the bushes. He was not in the least afraidof Haskell. He had his rifle and pistols and in the woods he wasinfinitely the superior. He did not even believe that Haskell wouldpursue, but he wanted to get far beyond any possible Federal sentinelsas soon as possible. 

After a flight of a few hundred yards he slackened speed, and began to gosilently. The old instincts and skill of the forester returned to him. He knew that he was safe from immediate pursuit and now he would approachhis own lines carefully. He was grateful for the chance or series ofchances that always took him toward Lee. It seemed now that his enemieshad merely succeeded in driving him at an increased pace in the way hewanted to go. 

He was descending a slope, thickly clothed with undergrowth. A fewhundred yards farther his knees suddenly crumpled under him and he sankdown, seized at the same time with a fit of nervous trembling. He hadpassed through so many ordeals that strong and seasoned as he was andhigh though his spirits, the collapse came all at once. He knew what wasthe matter and, quietly stretching himself out, he lay still that thespell might pass. 

The lonesome owl, probably the same one that he had heard earlier, began to hoot, and now it was near by. Harry thought he could make outits dim figure on a branch and he was sure that the red eyes, closed byday, were watching him, doubtless with a certain contempt at his weakness. 

"Old man, if you had been chased by the fowler as often as I have, "were the words behind his teeth, addressed to the dim and fluffy figure, "you wouldn't be sitting up there so calm and cocky. Your tired headwould sink down between your legs, your feathers would be wet withperspiration and you'd be so tired you'd hardly be able to hang on tothe tree. "

Came again the lonesome hoot of the owl, spreading like a sinister omenthrough the forest. It made Harry angry, and, raising himself up alittle, he shook his fist again at the figure on the branch, now growingclearer in outline. 

"'Bird or devil?'" he quoted. 

The owl hooted once more, the strange ominous cry carrying far in thesilence of the night. 

"Devil it is, " said Harry, "and quoth your evil majesty 'never more. 'I won't be scared by a big owl playing the part of the raven. It's not'nevermore' with me. I've many a good day ahead and don't you dare tellme I haven't. "

Came the solemn and changeless hoot of the owl in reply. 

Harry's exertions and excitement had brought too much blood to his headand he was seeing red. He raised himself upon his elbows and staredat the owl which stared back from red rimmed eyes, cold, emotionless, implacable. He had been terribly shaken, and now a superstitious frightovercame him. The raven and the albatross were in his mind and hemurmured under his breath passages from their ominous poems. The scholarhad his raven, the mariner had his albatross and now he alone in theforest had his owl, to his mind the most terrible bird of the three. 

Came again that solemn and warning cry, the most depressing of all in thewilderness, while the changeless and sinister eyes stared steadily athim. Then Harry remembered that he had a rifle, and he sat up. He wouldslay this winged monster. There was light enough for him to draw a bead, and he was too good a marksman to miss. 

He dropped the muzzle of the rifle in a sudden access of fear as heremembered the albatross. A shiver ran through every nerve and muscle, and so heavily was he oppressed that he felt as if he had just escapedcommitting murder. He rubbed his hand across his damp forehead and theact brought him out of that dim world in which he had been living for thelast ten or fifteen minutes. 

"Bird of whatever omen you may be, I'll not shoot you. That's certain, "he said, "but I'll leave you to your melancholy predictions just as soonas I can. "

He stood up somewhat unsteadily, and renewed the descent of the slope. Near its foot he came to a brook and bathing his face plentifully in thecool water he felt wonderfully refreshed. All his strength was flowingback swiftly. 

Then he entered the valley, pressing straight toward the west, and soonheard the tread of horses. He knew that they must be the cavalry of hisown army, but he withdrew into the bushes until he was assured. A dozenmen riding slowly and warily came into view, and though the moonlight waswan he recognized them at once. When they were opposite him he steppedfrom his ambush and said:

"A happy night to you, Colonel Talbot. "

Colonel Leonidas Talbot was a brave man, but seldom in his life had hebeen so shaken. 

"Good God, Hector!" he cried. "It's Harry Kenton's ghost!"

Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire turned pale. 

"I don't believe in ghosts, Leonidas, " he said, "but this one certainlylooks like that of Harry Kenton. "

"Colonel Talbot, " called Harry, "I'm not a ghost. I'm the real HarryKenton, hunting for our army. "

"Pale but substantial, " said St. Clair, who rode just behind the twocolonels. "He's our old Harry himself, and I'd know him anywhere. "

"No ghost at all and the Yankee bullets can't make him one, " said HappyTom. 

A weakness seized Harry and a blackness came before his eyes. When herecovered St. Clair was holding him up, and Colonel Talbot was trying topour strong waters down his throat. 

"How long have I been this way?" he asked anxiously. 

"About sixty seconds, " replied Colonel Talbot, "but what difference doesit make?"

"Because I'm in a big hurry to get to General Lee! Oh! Colonel!Colonel! You must speed me on my way! I've got a message from ColonelSherburne to General Lee that means everything, and on the road Icaptured another from General Meade to General Pleasanton. Put me on ahorse, won't you, and gallop me to the commander-in-chief!"

"Are you strong enough to ride alone?"

"I'm strong enough to do anything now. "

"Then up with you! Here, on Carter's horse! Carter can ride behindHubbell! St. Clair, you and Langdon ride on either side of him! Youshould reach the commander-in-chief in three-quarters of an hour, Harry!"

"And there is no Yankee cavalry in between?"

"No, they're thick on the slopes above us! You knew that, but hereyou're inside our own lines. Judging by your looks you've had quite atime, Harry. Now hurry on with him, boys!"

"So I have had, Colonel, but the appearance of you, Lieutenant-ColonelSt. Hilaire and the boys was like a light from Heaven. Good-by!"

"Good-by!" the two colonels called back, but their voices were alreadydying in the distance as Harry and his comrades were now riding rapidlydown the valley, knee to knee, because St. Clair and Langdon meant tokeep very close to him. They saw that he was a little unsteady, and thathis eyes were unnaturally bright. They knew, too, that if he said hehad great news for General Lee he told the truth, and they meant that heshould get there with it in the least time possible. 

The valley opened out before them, broadening considerably as theyadvanced. The night was far gone, there was not much moonlight, buttheir eyes had grown used to the dark, and they could see well. Theypassed sentinels and small detachments of cavalry, to whom St. Clair andLangdon gave the quick password. They saw fields of wheat stubble andpastures and crossed two brooks. The curiosity of Langdon and St. Clairwas overwhelming but they restrained it for a long time. They could tellby his appearance that he had passed through unimaginable hardships, but they were loath to ask questions. 

An owl on their right hooted, and both of them saw Harry shiver. 

"What makes an owl's cry disturb you so, Harry?" asked Langdon. 

"Because one of them tried to put the hoodoo on me as they say down inyour country, Happy. I was lying back there in the forest on the hilland the biggest and reddest-eyed owl that was ever born sat on a boughover head, and kept telling me that I was finished, right at the endof my rope. But he was a liar, because here I am, with you fellowson either side of me, inside our lines and riding to the camp of thecommander-in-chief. "

"I think you're a bit shaky, Harry, " said St. Clair, "and I don't wonderat it. If I had been through all I think you've been through I'd tumbleoff that horse into the road and die. "

"Has any messenger come from Colonel Sherburne at the river to GeneralLee?"

"Not that I've heard of. No, I'm sure that none's come, " repliedSt. Clair. 

"Then I'll get to him first. Don't think, Arthur, it's just a foolishambition of mine to lead, but the sooner some one reaches the general thebetter. "

"We'll see that you're first old man, " said Langdon. "It's not more thana half-hour now. "

But Harry reeled in his saddle. The singular weakness that he had felta while back returned, and the road grew dark before him. With a mightyeffort he steadied himself in the saddle and St. Clair heard him say in afierce undertone: "I will go through with it!" St. Clair looked acrossat Langdon and the signaling look of Happy Tom replied. They drew injust a little closer. Now and then they talked to him sharply andbriskly, rousing him again and again from the lethargy into which he wasfast sinking. 

"Look! In the woods over there, Harry!" exclaimed St. Clair. "See themen stretched asleep on the grass! They're the survivors of Pickett'sbrigades that charged at Gettysburg. "

"And I was there!" said Harry. "I saw the greatest charge ever made inthe history of the world!"

He reeled a little toward St. Clair, who caught him by the shoulder andstraightened him in the saddle. 

"Of course you had a pleasant, easy ride from the Potomac, " said HappyTom, "but I don't understand how as good a horseman as you lost yourhorse. I suppose he ran away while you were picking berries by theroadside. "

"Me pick berries by the roadside, while I'm on such a mission!" exclaimedHarry indignantly, rousing himself up until his eyes flashed, which wasjust what Happy wished. "I didn't see any berries! Besides I didn'tstart on a horse. I left in a boat. "

"A boat? Now, Harry, I know you've turned romancer. I guess your mystictroubles with the owl--if you really saw an owl--have been a sort of spurto your fancy. "

"Do you mean to say, Tom Langdon, that I didn't see an owl and talk withhim? I tell you I did, and his conversation was a lot more intelligentthan yours, even if it was unpleasant. "

"Of course it was, " said St. Clair. "Happy's chief joy in life istalking. You know how he chatters away, Harry. He hates to sleep, because then he loses good time that he might use in talk. I'll wageryou anything against anything, Harry, that when the Angel Gabriel blowshis horn Happy will rise out of his grave, shaking his shroud and furiouswith anger. He'll hold up the whole resurrection while he argues withGabriel that he blew his horn either too late or too early, or that itwas a mighty poor sort of a horn anyhow. "

"I may do all that, Harry, " said Happy, "but Arthur is sure to be the onewho will raise the trouble about the shroud. You know how finicky heis about his clothes. He'll find fault with the quality of his shroud, and he'll say that it's cut either too short or too long. Then he'llinsist, while all the billions wait, on draping the shroud in the finestGreek or Roman toga style, before he marches up to his place on thegolden cloud and receives his harp. "

Harry laughed. 

"That'll be old Arthur, sure, " he said. Then his head drooped again. Fatigue was overpowering him. St. Clair and Langdon put a hand on eithershoulder and held him erect, but Harry was so far sunk in lethargy thathe was not conscious of their grasp. Men looked curiously at the threeyoung officers riding rapidly forward, the one in the center apparentlyheld on his horse by the other two. 

St. Clair took prompt measures. 

"Harry Kenton!" he called sharply. 

"Here!"

"Do you know what they do with a sentinel caught asleep?"

"They shoot him!"

"What of a messenger, bearing great news who has ridden two or three daysand nights through a thousand dangers, and then becomes unconscious inhis saddle within five hundred yards of his journey's end?"

"The stake wouldn't be too good for him, " replied Harry as with a mightyeffort he shook himself, both body and mind. Once more his eyes clearedand once more he sat erect in his saddle without help. 

"I won't fail, Arthur, " he said. "Show the way. "

"There's a big tree by the roadside almost straight ahead, " saidSt. Clair. "General Lee is asleep under that, but he'll be as wide awakeas any man can be a half-minute after you arrive. "

They sprang from their horses, St. Clair spoke quickly with a watchingofficer who went at once to awaken Lee. Harry dimly saw the form of thegeneral who was sleeping on a blanket, spread over small boughs. Nearhim a man in brilliant uniform was walking softly back and forth, and nowand then impatiently striking the tops of his high yellow-topped bootswith a little riding whip. Harry knew at once that it was Stuart, but the cavalry leader had not yet noticed him. 

Harry saw the officer bend over the commander-in-chief, who rose in aninstant to his feet. He was fully dressed and he showed gray in thedusky light, but he seemed as ever calm and grave. Harry felt instantlythe same swell of courage that the presence of Jackson had always broughtto him. It was Lee, the indomitable, the man of genius, who could notbe beaten. He heard him say to the officer who had awakened him, "Bringhim immediately!" and he stepped forward, strengthening himself anew andfilled with pride that he should be the first to arrive, as he felt thathe certainly now was. 

"Lieutenant Kenton!" said Lee. 

"Yes, sir, " said Harry, lifting his cap. 

"You were sent with Colonel Sherburne to see about the fords of thePotomac. "

"I was, sir. "

"And he has sent you back with the report?"

"He has, sir. He did not give me any written report for fear that Imight be captured. He did me the honor to say that my verbal messagewould be believed. "

"It will. I know you, as I do the other members of my staff. Proceed. "

"The Potomac is in great flood, sir, and the bridge is destroyed. It can't be crossed until it runs down to its normal depth. "

Harry saw other generals of high rank drawing near. One he recognized asLongstreet. They were all silent and eager. 

"Colonel Sherburne ordered me to say to you, sir, " continued Harry, "that the best fords would be between Williamsport and Hagerstown whenthe river ran down. "

"When did you leave him?"

"Nearly two days ago, sir. "

"You have made good speed through a country swarming with our enemy. You are entitled to rest. "

"It's not all, sir?"

"What else?"

"On my way I captured a messenger with a letter from General Meade toGeneral Pleasanton. I have the message, sir. "

He brought forth the paper from his blouse and extended it to General Lee, who took it eagerly. Some one held up a torch and he read it aloud tohis generals. 

"And so Meade means to trap me, " he said, "by coming down on our flank!"

"Since the river is unfordable he'll have plenty of time to attack usthere, " said Longstreet. 

"But will he dare to attack?" said Stuart defiantly. "He was able tohold his own in defense at Gettysburg, but it's another thing to take theoffensive. We hear that General Meade is cautious and that he makes manycomplaints to his government. A complainer is not the kind of man whocan destroy the Army of Northern Virginia. "

"Sometimes it's well to be cautious, General, " said Lee. 

Then he turned to Harry and said:

"Again I commend you. "

Harry saluted proudly, and then fell unconscious at the feet of GeneralLee. 

When the young staff officer awoke, he was lying in a wagon which wasmoving slowly, with many jolts over a very rough road. It was perhapsone of these jolts that awoke him, because his eyes still felt very heavywith sleep. His position was comfortable as he lay on a heap of blankets, and the sides of the wagon looked familiar. Moreover the broad back ofthe driver was not that of a stranger. Moving his head into a higherplace on the blankets he called. 

"Hey you, Dick Jones, where are you taking me?"

Jones turned his rubicund and kindly face. 

"Don't it beat all how things come about?" he said. "This wagon wasn'tbuilt for passengers, but I have you once and then I have you twice, sleepin' like a prince on them blankets. I guess if the road wasn't sorough you'd have slept all the way to Virginia. But I'm proud to haveyou as a passenger. They say you've been coverin' yourself with glory. I don't know about that, but I never before saw a man who was so allfired tuckered out. "

"Where did you find me?"

"I didn't exactly find you myself. They say you saluted General Lee sodeep and so strong that you just fell down at his feet an' didn't move, as if you intended to stay there forever. But four of your friendsbrought you to my wagon feet foremost, with orders from General Lee ifI didn't treat you right that I'd get a thousand lashes, be tarred an'feathered, an' hung an' shot an' burned, an' then be buried alive. For all of which there was no need, as I'm your friend and would treatyou right anyway. "

"I know you would, " laughed Harry. "You can't afford to lose your bestpassenger. How long have I been sleeping in this rough train of yours?"

"Since about three o'clock in the morning. "

"And what time might it be now. "

"Well it might be ten o'clock in the morning or it might be noon, but itain't either. "

"Well, then, what time is it?"

"It's about six o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Kenton, and I judge thatyou've slept nigh on to fifteen hours, which is mighty good for a man whowas as tired as you was. "

"And what has the army been doing while I slept?"

"Oh, it's been marchin' an' marchin' an' marchin'. Can't you hear thewagons an' the cannons clinkin' an' clankin'? An' the hoofs of thehorses beatin' in the road? An the feet of forty or fifty thousand mencomin' down ker-plunk! ker-plunk! an' all them thousands talkin' off an'on? Yes, we're still marchin', Mr. Kenton, but we're retreatin' with allour teeth showin' an' our claws out, sharpened specially. Most of theboys don't care if Meade would attack us. They'd be glad of the chanceto get even for Gettysburg. "

There was a beat of hoofs and St. Clair rode up by the side of the wagon. 

"All right again, Harry?" he said cheerfully. "I'm mighty glad of it. Other messengers have got through from Sherburne, confirming what yousaid, but you were the first to arrive and the army already was on themarch because of the news you brought. Dalton arrived about noon, dead beat. Happy is coming with a horse for you, and you can rejoin thestaff now. "

"Before I leave I'll have to thank Mr. Jones once more, " said Harry. "He runs the best passenger service that I know. "

"Welcome to it any time, either you or your friend, " said Jones, salutingwith his whip. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE CROSSING

Harry left the wagon at midnight and overtook the staff, an orderlyproviding him with a good horse. Dalton, who had also been sleeping ina wagon, came an hour or two later, and the two, as became modest youngofficers, rode in the rear of the group that surrounded General Lee. 

Although the darkness had come fully, the Army of Northern Virginia hadnot yet stopped. The infantry flanked by cavalry, and, having no fearof the enemy, marched steadily on. Harry closely observed General Lee, and although he was well into his fifties he could discern no weakness, either physical or mental, in the man who had directed the fortunes ofthe South in the terrific and unsuccessful three days at Gettysburg andwho had now led his army for nearly a week in a retreat, threatened, at any moment, with an attack by a veteran force superior in numbers. All the other generals looked worn and weary, but he alone sat erect, his hair and beard trimmed neatly, his grave eye showing no sign ofapprehension. 

He seemed once more to Harry--youth is a hero-worshiper--omniscient andomnipotent. The invasion of the North had failed, and there had been aterrible loss of good men, officers and soldiers, but, with Lee standingon the defensive at the head of the Army of Northern Virginia, inVirginia, the South would be invincible. He had always won there, and he always would win there. 

Harry sighed, nevertheless. He had two heroes, but one of them was gone. He thought again if only Stonewall Jackson had been at Gettysburg. Lee's terrible striking arm would have smitten with the hammer of Thor. He would have pushed home the attack on the first day, when the Unionvanguard was defeated and demoralized. He would have crushed the enemyon the second day, leaving no need for that fatal and terrific charge ofPickett on the third day. 

"You reached the general first, " said Dalton, "but I tried my best tobeat you. "

"But I started first, George, old fellow. That gave me the advantageover you. "

"It's fine of you to say it. The army has quickened its pace since wecame. A part of it, at least, ought to arrive at the river to-morrow, though their cavalry are skirmishing continually on our flanks. Don'tyou hear the rifles?"

Harry heard them far away to right and left, like the faint buzzing ofwasps, but he had heard the same sound so much that it made no impressionupon him. 

"Let 'em buzz, " he said. "They're too distant to reach any of us, and the Army of Northern Virginia is passing on. "

Those were precious hours. Harry knew much, but he did not divine thefull depths of the suspense, suffered by the people beyond the veil thatclothed the two armies. Lincoln had been continually urging Meade topursue and destroy his opponent, and Meade, knowing how formidable Leewas, and how it had been a matter of touch and go at Gettysburg, pursued, but not with all the ardor of one sure of triumph. Yet the man at theWhite House hoped continually for victory, and the Southern people fearedthat his hopes would come true. 

It became sure the next day that they would reach the Potomac beforeMeade could attack them in flank, but the scouts brought word that thePotomac was still a deep and swollen river, impossible to be crossedunless they could rebuild the bridges. 

Finally the whole army came against the Potomac and it seemed to Harrythat its yellow flood had not diminished one particle since he left. But Lee acted with energy. Men were set to work at once building a newbridge near Falling Waters, parts of the ruined pontoon bridges wererecovered, and new boats were built in haste. But while the workmentoiled the army went into strong positions along the river betweenWilliamsport and Hagerstown. 

Harry found himself with all of his friends again, and he was proud ofthe army's defiant attitude. Meade and the Army of the Potomac werenot far away, it was said, but the youthful veterans of the South wereentirely willing to fight again. The older men, however, knew theirdanger. The disproportion of forces would be much greater than atGettysburg, and even if they fought a successful defensive action withtheir back to the river the Army of the Potomac could bide its time andawait reinforcements. The North would pour forth its numbers withoutstint. 

Harry rode to Sherburne with a message of congratulation from General Lee, who told him that he had selected the possible crossing well, and thathe had shown great skill and valor in holding it until the army came up. Sherburne's flush of pride showed under his deep tan. 

"I did my best, " he said to Harry, who knew the contents of the letter, "and that's all any of us can do. "

"But General Lee has a way of inspiring us to do our best. "

"It's so, and it's one of the reasons why he's such a great general. Watch those bridge builders work, Harry! They're certainly putting theirsouls and strength into it. "

"And they have need to do so. The scouts say that the Army of thePotomac will be before us to-morrow. Don't you think the river hasfallen somewhat, Colonel?"

"A little but look at those clouds over there, Harry. As surely as wesit here it's going to rain. The rivers were low that we might crossthem on our march into the North, just smoothing our way to Gettysburg, and now that Gettysburg has happened they're high so we can't get backto the South. It looks as if luck were against us. "

"But luck has a habit of changing. "

Harry rode back to headquarters, whence he was sent with another dispatch, to Colonel Talbot, whom he found posted well in advance with theInvincibles. 

"This note, " said the colonel, "bids us to watch thoroughly. GeneralMeade and his army are expected on our front in the morning, and theremust be no chance for a surprise in the night, say a dash by theircavalry which would cut up our rear guard or vanguard--upon my soul Idon't know which to call it. Harry, as you can see by the note itself, you're to remain with us until about midnight, and then make a fullreport of all that you and I and the rest of us may have observed uponthis portion of the front or rear, whichever it may be. Meanwhile weshare with you our humble rations. "

Harry was pleased. He was always glad when chance or purpose brought himagain into the company of the Invincibles. St. Clair and Langdon werehis oldest comrades of the war, and they were like brothers to him. His affection for the two colonels was genuine and deep. If the two ladswere like brothers to him, the colonels were like uncles. 

"Is the Northern vanguard anywhere near?" asked Harry. 

"Skirmishing is going on only four or five miles away, " replied ColonelLeonidas Talbot. "It is likely that the sharp shooters will be pickingoff one another all through the night, but it will not disturb us. That is a great curse of war. It hardens one so for the time being. I'm a soldier, and I've been one all my life, and I suppose soldiers arenecessary, but I can't get over this feeling. Isn't it the same way withyou, Hector?"

"Exactly the same, Leonidas, " replied Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire. "You and I fought together in Mexico, Leonidas, then on theplains, and now in this gigantic struggle, but under whatever guise and, wherever it may be, I find its visage always hideous. I don't think wesoldiers are to blame. We don't make the wars although we have to fight'em. "

"Increasing years, Hector, have not dimmed those perceptive faculties ofyours, which I may justly call brilliant. "

"Thanks, Leonidas, you and I have always had a proper conception of theworth of each other. "

"If you will pardon me for speaking, sir, " said St. Clair, "there is oneman I'd like to find, when this war is over. "

"'What is the appearance of this man, Arthur?" asked Colonel Talbot. 

"I don't know exactly how he looks, sir, though I've heard of him often, and I shall certainly know him when I meet him. You understand, sir, that, while I've not seen him, he has very remarkable characteristics ofmanner. "

"And what may those be, Arthur? Are they so salient that you wouldrecognize them at once?"

"Certainly, sir. He has an uncommonly loud voice, which he uses nearlyall the time and without restraint. Words fairly pour from his tongue. Facts he scorns. He soars aloft on the wings of fancy. Many people whohave listened to him have felt persuaded by his talk, but he is perhapsnot so popular now. "

"An extraordinary person, Arthur. But why are you so anxious to findhim?"

"Because I wish, sir, to lay upon him the hands of violence. I wouldthrash him and beat him until he yelled for mercy, and then I wouldthrash him and beat him again. I should want the original pair ofseven-leagued boots, not that I might make such fast time, but that Imight kick him at a single kick from one county to another, and back, and then over and over past counting. I'd duck him in a river until hegasped for breath, I'd drag him naked through a briar patch, and thenI'd tar and feather him, and ride him on a rail. "

"Heavens, Arthur! I didn't dream that your nature contained so muchcruelty! Who is this person over whose torture you would gloat like ared Indian?"

"It is the man who first said that one Southerner could whip fiveYankees. "

"Arthur, " said Colonel Talbot, "your anger is just and becomes you. When the war is over, if we all are spared we'll form a group and huntthis fellow until we find him. And then, please God, if the gallows ofHaman is still in existence, we'll hang him on it with promptness anddispatch. I believe in the due and orderly process of the law, but inthis case lynching is not only justifiable, but it's an honor to thecountry. "

"Well spoken, Leonidas! Well spoken!" said Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire. "I'm glad that Arthur mentioned the matter, and we'll bearit in mind. You can count upon me. "

"And here is coffee, " said Happy Tom. "I made this myself, the camp cookliking me and giving me a chance. I'd really be a wonderful cook if Ihad the proper training, and I may come to it, if we lose the war. Still, the chance even then is slight, because my father, when red warshowed its edge over the horizon, put all his money in the best Britishsecurities. So we could do no more than lose the plantation. "

"Happy, " said Colonel Talbot, gravely rebuking, "I am surprised at yourfather. I thought he was a patriot. "

"He is, sir, but he's a financier first, and I may be thankful for itsome day. I'll venture the prediction right now that if we lose this warnot a single Confederate bill will be in the possession of Thomas Langdon, Sr. Others may have bales of it, worth less per pound than cotton, but not your humble servant's father, who, I sometimes think, has lotsmore sense than your humble servant's father's son. "

Colonel Leonidas Talbot shook his head slowly. 

"Finance is a mystery to me, " he said. "In the dear old South thatI have always known, the law, the army and the church were and areconsidered the high callings. To speak in fine, rounded periods wasconsidered the great gift. In my young days, Harry, I went with myfather by stage coach to your own State, Kentucky, to hear that sublimeorator, the great Henry Clay. "

"What was he speaking about, sir?" asked Harry. 

"I don't remember. That's not important. But surely he was the noblestorator God ever created in His likeness. His words flowing like musicand to be heard by everybody, even those farthest from the speaker, made my pulse beat hard, and the blood leap in my veins. I was heart andsoul for his cause, whatever it was, and, yet I fear me, though I do notwish to hurt your feelings, Harry, that the state to which he was suchornament, has not gone for the South with the whole spirit that sheshould have shown. She has not even seceded. I fear sometimes that youKentuckians are not altogether Southern. You border upon the North, and stretching as you do a long distance from east to west and acomparatively short distance from north to south, you thus face threeNorthern States across the Ohio--Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and thepull of three against one is strong. You see your position, don't you?Three Yankee states facing you from the north and only one Southern state, Tennessee, lying across your whole southern border, that is three againstone. I fear that these odds have had their effect, because if Kentuckyhad sent all of her troops to the South, instead of two-thirds of themto the North, the war would have been won by us ere this. "

"I admit it, " said Harry regretfully. "My own cousin, who was more likea brother to me, is fighting on the other side. Kentucky troops on theUnion side have kept us from winning great victories, and many of theUnion generals are Kentuckians. I grieve over it, sir, as much as youdo. "

"But you and your people should not take too much blame to yourselves, Harry, " said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, who had a very softheart. "Think of the many influences to which you were exposed daily. Think of those three Yankee states sitting there on the other side ofthe Ohio--Ohio, Indiana and Illinois--and staring at you so long and sosteadily that, in a way, they exerted a certain hypnotic force upon you. No, my boy, don't feel badly about it, because the fault, in a way, is not so much yours as it is that of your neighbors. "

"At any rate, " said Happy Tom, with his customary boldness and frankness, "we're bound to admit that the Yankees beat us at making money. "

"Which may be more to our credit than theirs, " said Colonel Talbot, with dignity. "I have found it more conducive to integrity and a loftymind to serve as an officer at a modest salary in the army rather thanto gain riches in trade. "

"But somebody has to pay the army, sir. "

"Thomas, I regret to tell you that inquiry can be pushed to the point ofvulgarity. I have been content with things as they were, and so shouldyou be. Ah, there are our brave boys singing that noble battle song ofthe South! Listen how it swells! It shows a spirit unconquerable!"

Along the great battle front swelled the mighty chorus:

 "Come brothers! Rally for the right! The bravest of the brave Sends forth her ringing battle cry Beside the Atlantic wave! She leads the way in honor's path; Come brothers, near and far, Come rally round the bonnie blue flag That bears a single star. "

"A fine song! A fine song most truly, " said Colonel Talbot. "Itheartens one gloriously!"

But Harry, usually so quick to respond, strangely enough felt depression. He felt suddenly in all its truth that they had not only failed in theirinvasion, but the escape of the army was yet a matter of great doubt. The mood was only momentary, however, and he joined with all his heart asthe mighty chorus rolled out another verse:

 "Now Georgia marches to the front And 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!"

They sang it all through, and over again, and then, after a littlesilence, came the notes of a trumpet from a far-distant point. It wasplayed by powerful lungs and the wind was blowing their way but theyheard it distinctly. It was a quaint syncopated tune, but not one of theInvincibles had any doubt that it came from some daring detachment of theUnion Army. The notes with their odd lilt seemed to swell through theforest, but it was strange to both of the colonels. 

"Do any of you know it?" asked Colonel Talbot. 

All shook their heads except Harry. 

"What is it, Harry?" asked Talbot. 

"It's a famous poem, sir, the music of which has not often been heard, but I can translate from music into words the verse that has just beenplayed:

 "In their ragged regimentals Stood the old Continentals Yielding not, When the grenadiers were lunging And like hail fell the plunging Cannon shot; When the files of the isles From the smoky night encampment Bore the banner of the rampant Unicorn And grummer, grummer, Rolled the roll of the drummer, Through the morn!"

The bugler played on. It was the same tune, curious, syncopated andpiercing the night shrilly. Whole brigades of the South stood in silenceto listen. 

"What do you think is its meaning?" asked Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. 

"It's in answer to our song and at the same time a reproach, " repliedHarry, who had jumped at once to the right conclusion. "The buglerintends to remind us that the old Continentals who stood so well werefrom both North and South, and perhaps he means, too, that we shouldstand together again instead of fighting each other. "

"Then let the North give up at once, " snapped Colonel Talbot. 

"But in the trumpeter's opinion that means we should be apart forever. "

"Then let him play on to ears that will not heed. "

But the bugler was riding away. The music came faintly, and then died inone last sighing note. It left Harry grave and troubled, and he beganto ask himself new questions. If the South succeeded in forcing aseparation, what then? But the talk of his comrades drove the thoughtfrom his mind. Colonel Talbot sent St. Clair, Langdon and a small partyof horsemen forward to see what the close approach of the daring buglermeant. Harry went with them. 

Scouts in the brushwood quickly told them that a troop of Union cavalryhad appeared in a meadow some distance ahead of them, and that it was oneof their number who had played the song on the bugle. Should they stalkthe detachment and open fire? St. Clair, who was in command, shook hishead. 

"It would mean nothing now, " he said, and rode on with his men, knowingthat the watchful Southern sharpshooters were on their flanks. It wasnight now, and a bright moon was coming out, enabling them to use theirglasses with effect. 

"There they are!" exclaimed Harry, pointing to the strip of forest on thefar side of the opening, "and there is the bugler, too. "

He was studying the party intently. The brilliant moonlight, and thestrength of his glasses made everything sharp and clear and his gazeconcentrated upon the bugler. He knew that man, his powerful chest andshoulders, and the well-shaped head on its strong neck. Nor did he denyto himself that he had a feeling of gladness when he recognized him. 

"It's none other, " he said aloud. 

"None other what?" asked St. Clair. 

"Our warning bugler was Shepard, the Union spy. I can make him outclearly on his horse with his bugle in his hand. You'll remember mytelling you how I had that fight with him in the river. "

"And perhaps it would have been better for us all if you had finished himoff then. "

"I couldn't have done it, Arthur, nor could you, if you had been in myplace. "

"No, I suppose not, but these Yankees are coming up pretty close. It's sure proof that Meade's whole army will be here in the morning, and the bridge won't be built. "

"It may be built, but, if Meade chooses a battle, a battle there will be. Heavy forces must be very near. You can see them now signaling to oneanother from hill to hill. "

"So I do, and this is as far as we ought to go. A hundred yards ortwo farther and we'll be in the territory of the enemy's sharpshootersinstead of our own. "

They remained for a while among some bushes, and secured positiveknowledge that the bulk of the Army of the Potomac was drawing near. Toward midnight Harry returned to his commander-in-chief and found himawake and in consultation with his generals, under some trees near thePotomac. Longstreet, Rhodes, Pickett, Early, Anderson, Pender and adozen others were there, all of them scarred and tanned by battle, and most of them bearing wounds. 

Harry stood back, hesitating to invade this circle, even when he camewith dispatches, but the commander-in-chief, catching sight of him, beckoned. Then, taking off his cap, he walked forward and presented anote from Colonel Talbot. It was brief, stating that the enemy was near, and Lee read it aloud to his council. 

"And what were your own observations, Lieutenant Kenton?" asked thecommander-in-chief. 

"As well as I could judge, sir, the enemy will appear on our whole frontsoon after daybreak. "

"And will be in great enough force to defeat us. "

"Not while you lead us, sir. "

"A courtier! truly a courtier!" exclaimed Stuart, smoothing the greatfeather of his gorgeous hat, which lay upon his knee. 

Harry blushed. 

"It may have had that look, " he said, "but I meant my words. "

"Don't tease the lad, " said the crippled Ewell. "I knew him well onJackson's staff, and he was one of our bravest and best. "

"A jest only, " said Stuart. "Don't I know him as well as you, Ewell?The first time I saw him he was riding alone among many dangers to bringrelief to a beleaguered force of ours. "

"And you furnished that relief, sir, " said Harry. 

"Well, so I did, but it was my luck, not merit. "

"Be assured that you have no better friend than General Stuart, " saidGeneral Lee, smiling. "You have done your duty well, Lieutenant Kenton, and as these have been arduous days for you you may withdraw, and joinyour young comrades of the staff. "

Harry saluted and retired. Before he was out of ear shot the generalsresumed their eager talk, but they knew, even as Harry himself, thatthere was but one thing to do, stand with their backs to the river andfight, if Meade chose to offer battle. 

He slept heavily, and when he awoke the next day Dalton, who was upbefore him, informed him that the Northern army was at hand. Snatchingbreakfast, he and Dalton, riding close behind the commander-in-chief, advanced a little distance and standing upon a knoll surveyed thethrilling spectacle before them. Far along the front stretched the Armyof the Potomac, horse, foot and guns, come up with its enemy again. Harry was sure that Meade was there, and with him Hancock and Buford andWarren and all the other valiant leaders whom they had met at Gettysburg. It was nine days since the close of the great battle, and doubtless theNorth had poured forward many reinforcements, while the South had noneto send. 

Harry appreciated the full danger of their situation, with the largerarmy in front of them, and the deep and swollen torrent of the Potomacbehind them. But he did not believe that Meade would attack. Lee hadlost at Gettysburg, but in losing he had inflicted such losses upon hisopponent, that most generals would hesitate to force another battle. The one who would not have hesitated was consolidating his great triumphat Vicksburg. Harry often thought afterward what would have happened hadGrant faced Lee that day on the wrong side of the Potomac. 

His opinion that Meade would not attack came from a feeling that mighthave been called atmospheric, an atmosphere created by the lack ofinitiative on the Union side, no clouds of skirmishers, no attacks ofcavalry, very little rifle firing of any kind, merely generals andsoldiers looking at one another. Harry saw, too, that his own opinionwas that of his superior officer. Watching the commander-in-chiefintently he saw a trace of satisfaction in the blue eyes. Presentlyall of them rode back. 

Thus that day passed and then another wore on. Harry and Dalton hadlittle to do. The whole Army of Northern Virginia was in position, defiant, challenging even, and the Army of the Potomac made no movementforward. Harry watched the strange spectacle with an excitement that hedid not allow to appear on his face. It was like many of those periodsin the great battles in which he had taken a part, when the combat died, though the lull was merely the omen of a struggle, soon to come morefrightful than ever. 

But here the struggle did not come. The hours of the afternoon fellpeacefully away, and the general and soldiers still looked at one another. 

"They're working on the bridge like mad, " said Dalton, who had been awaywith a message, "and it will surely be ready in the morning. Besides, the Potomac is falling fast. You can already see the muddy lines thatit's leaving on its banks. "

"And Meade's chance is slipping, slipping away!" said Harry exultingly. "In three hours it will be sunset. They can't attack in the night andto-morrow we'll be gone. Meade has delayed like McClellan at Antietam, and, doubtless as McClellan did, he thinks our army much larger than itreally is. "

"It's so, " said Dalton. "We're to be delivered, and we're to bedelivered without a battle, a battle that we could ill afford, even ifwe won it. "

Both were in a state of intense anxiety and they looked many times at thesun and their watches. Then they searched the hostile army with theirglasses. But nothing of moment was stirring there. Lower and lower sankthe sun, and a great thrill ran through the Army of Northern Virginia. In both armies the soldiers were intelligent men--not mere creaturesof drill--who thought for themselves, and while those in the Army ofNorthern Virginia were ready, even eager to fight if it were pushed uponthem, they knew the great danger of their position. Now the word ranalong the whole line that if they fought at all it would be on their sideof the river. 

Harry and Dalton did not sleep that night. They could not have doneso had the chance been offered. They like others rode all through thedarkness carrying messages to the different commands, insuring exactcooperation. As the hours of the night passed the aspect of everythinggrew better. The river had fallen so fast that it would be fordablebefore morning. 

But after midnight the clouds gathered, thunder crashed, lightning playedand the violent rain of a summer storm enveloped them again. Harryviewed it at first with dismay, and then he found consolation. Thedarkness and the storm would cover their retreat, as it had covered theretreat of their enemy, Hooker, after Chancellorsville. 

Harry and Dalton rode close behind Lee, who sat erect on his white horse, supervising the first movement of troops over the new and shaking bridge. Harry noted with amazement that despite his enormous exertions, physicaland mental, and an intense anxiety, continuous for many days, he did notyet show signs of fatigue. Word had come that a part of the army wasalready fording the river, near Williamsport, but this bridge nearFalling Waters was the most important point. General Lee and his staffsat there on their horses a long time, while the rain beat unheeded uponthem. 

Few scenes are engraved more vividly upon the mind of Harry Kenton thanthose dusky hours before the dawn, the flashes of lightning, the almostincessant rumble of thunder, the turbid and yellow river across whichstretched the bridge, a mere black thread in the darkness, swaying anddipping and rising and creaking as horse and foot, and batteries andammunition wagons passed upon it. 

There were torches, but they flared and smoked in the rain and cast alight so weak and fitful that Harry could not see the farther shore. The Army of Northern Virginia marched out upon a shaking bridge anddisappeared in the black gulf beyond. Only the lack of an alarm comingback showed that it was reaching the farther shore. 

"Dawn will soon be here, " said Dalton. 

"So it will, " said Harry, "and most of the troops are across. Ah, there go the Invincibles! Look how they ride!"

Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire at thehead of their scanty band were just passing. They took off their hats, and swept a low bow to the great chief who sat silently on his whitehorse within a few yards of them. Then, side by side, they rode upon theshaking bridge, followed by Langdon, St. Clair and their brave comrades, and disappeared, where the bridge disappeared, in the rain and mist. 

"Brave men!" murmured Lee. 

Harry, always watching his commander-in-chief, saw now for the first timesigns of fatigue and nervousness. The tremendous strain was wearing himdown. But while the rain still poured and ran in streams from his grayhair and gray beard, the rear guard of the Army of Northern Virginiapassed upon the bridge, and Stuart, all his plumes bedraggled, rode up tohis chief, a smoking cup of coffee in his hand. 

"Drink this, General, won't you?" he said. 

He seized it, drank all of the coffee eagerly, and then handing back thecup, said:

"I never before in my life drank anything that refreshed me so much. "

Then he, with his staff, Stuart and some other generals rode over thebridge, disappearing in their turn into the darkness and mist that hadswallowed up the others, but emerging, as the others had done, into thesafety of the Southern shore. 

Meade and his generals had held a council the night before but nearly allthe officers advised against attack. This night he made up his mind tomove against Lee anyhow, and was ready at dawn, only to find the wholeSouthern army gone. 

CHAPTER IX

IN SOCIETY

Harry, when the dawn had fully come, was sent farther away toward theford to see if the remainder of the troops had passed, and, when hereturned with the welcome news, the rain had ceased to fall. Thearmy was rapidly drying itself in the brilliant sunshine, and marchedleisurely on. He felt an immense relief. He knew that a great crisishad been passed, and, if the Northern armies ever reached Richmond, it would be a long and sanguinary road. Meade might get across andattack, but his advantage was gone. 

The same spirit of relief pervaded the ranks, and the men sang theirbattle songs. There had been some fighting at one or two of the fords, but it did not amount to much, and no enemy hung on their rear. But nostop was made by the staff until noon, when a fire was made and food wascooked. Then Harry was notified that he and Dalton were to start thatnight with dispatches for Richmond. They were to ride through dangerouscountry, until they reached a point on the railroad, wholly within theSouthern lines, when they would take a train for the Confederate capital. 

They were glad to go. They felt sure that no great battles would befought while they were gone. Neither army seemed to be in a mood forfurther fighting just yet, and they longed for a sight of the little citythat was the heart of the Confederacy. They were tired of the rifle andmarch, of cannon and battles. They wished to be a while where civilizedlife went on, to hear the bells of churches and to see the faces of women. 

It seemed to them both that they had lived almost all their lives in war. Even Jeb Stuart's ball, stopped by the opening guns of a great battle, was far, far away, and to Harry, it was at least a century since he hadclosed his Tacitus in the Pendleton Academy, and put it away in his desk. That old Roman had written something of battles, but they were no suchstruggles as Chancellorsville and Gettysburg had been. The legions, he admitted in his youthful pride, could fight well, but they never couldhave beaten Yank or Reb. 

He and Dalton slept through the afternoon and directly after dark, well equipped and well-armed, they made their start into the South. But in going they did not neglect to pass the camp of the Invincibleswho were now in the apex of the army farthest south. They had found anunusually comfortable place on a grassy plot beside a fine, cool spring, and most of them were lying down. But Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire sat on empty kegs, with a board on an emptybox between them. The great game which ran along with the war had beenrenewed. St. Clair and Langdon sat on the grass beside them, watchingthe contest. 

The two colonels looked up at the sound of hoofs and paused a moment. 

"I'm getting his king into a close corner, Harry, " said Colonel Talbot, "and he'll need a lot of time for thinking. Where are you two going, or perhaps I shouldn't ask you such a question?"

"There's no secret about it, " replied Harry. "We're going to Richmondwith dispatches. "

"He was incorrect in saying that he was getting my king into a closecorner, as I'll presently show him, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire;"but you boys are lucky. I suppose you'll stay a while in the capital. You'll sleep in white beds, you'll eat at tables, with tablecloths on'em. You'll hear the soft voices of the women and girls of the South, God bless 'em!"

"And if you went on to Charleston you'd find just as fine women there, "said Colonel Leonidas Talbot. 

He sighed and a shade of sadness crossed his face. Harry heard and sawand understood. He remembered a night long, long ago in that heat ofrebellion, when he had looked down from the window of his room, and, in the dark, had seen two figures, a man and a woman, upon a piazza, Colonel Talbot and Madame Delaunay, talking softly together. He had feltthen that he was touching almost unconsciously upon the thread of an oldromance. A thread slender and delicate, but yet strong enough in itsvery tenderness and delicacy to hold them both. The perfume of theflowers and of the old romance that night in the town so far away cameback. He was moved, and when his eyes met Colonel Talbot's some kindof an understanding passed between them. 

"The good are never rewarded, " said Happy Tom. 

"How so?" asked Harry. 

"Because the proof of it sits on his horse here before us. Why should aman like George Dalton be sent to Richmond? A sour Puritan who does notknow how to enjoy a dance or anything else, who looks upon the beautifulface of a girl as a sin and an abomination, who thinks to be ugly is tobe good, who is by temperament and education unfit to enjoy anything, while Thomas Langdon, who by the same measurements is fit to enjoyeverything, is left here to hold back the Army of the Potomac. It'sundoubtedly a tribute to my valor, but I don't like it. "

"Thomas, " said Colonel Leonidas Talbot, gravely, "you're entirely toosevere with our worthy young friend, Dalton. The bubbles of pleasurealways lie beneath austere and solemn exteriors like his, seeking tobreak a way to the surface. The longer the process is delayed the morenumerous the bubbles are and the greater they expand. If scandalousreports concerning a certain young man in Richmond should reach us herein the North, relating his unparalleled exploits in the giddier circlesof our gay capital, I should know without the telling that it was ourprim young George Dalton. "

"You never spoke truer words, Leonidas, " said Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire. "A little judicious gallantry in youth is good for any one. It keeps the temperature from going too high. I recall now the case ofAuguste Champigny, who owned an estate in Louisiana, near the Louisianaestate of the St. Hilaires, and the estates of those cousins of mine whomI visited, as I told you once. 

"But pardon me. I digress, and to digress is to grow old, so I will notdigress, but remain young, in heart at least. I go back now. I wasspeaking of Auguste Champigny, who in youth thought only of making moneyand of making his plantation, already great, many times greater. Theblood in his veins was old at twenty-two. He did not love the vices thatthe world calls such. But yet there were times, I knew, when he wouldhave longed to go with the young, because youth cannot be crushedwholly at twenty-two. There was no escape of the spirits, no wholesomeblood-letting, so to speak, and that which was within him became corrupt. He acquired riches and more riches, and land and more land, and at fiftyhe went to New Orleans, and sought the places where pleasures abound. But his true blossoming time had passed. The blood in his veins nowbecame poison. He did the things that twenty should do, and left undonethe things that fifty should do. Ah! Harry, one of the saddest thingsin life is the dissipated boy of fifty! He should have come with us whenthe first blood of youth was upon him. He could have found time then forplay as well as work. He could have rowed with us in the slender boatson the river and bayous with Mimi and Rosalie and Marianne and all thoseother bright and happy ones. He could have danced, too. It was nostrain, we never danced longer than two days and two nights withoutstopping, and the festivals, the gay fete days, not more than one a week!But it was not Auguste's way. A man when he should have been a boy, and then, alas! a boy when he should have been a man!"

"You speak true words, Hector, " said Colonel Leonidas Talbot, "though attimes you seem to me to be rather sentimental. Youth is youth and it hasthe pleasures of youth. It is not fitting that a man should be a boy, but middle-age has pleasures of its own and they are more solid, perhapsmore satisfying than those of youth. I can't conceive of twenty gettingthe pleasure out of the noble game of chess that we do. The mostbrilliant of your young French Creole dancers never felt the thrill thatI feel when the last move is made and I beat you. "

"Then if you expect to experience that thrill, Leonidas, continue thepursuit of my king, from which you expect so much, and see what willhappen to you. "

Colonel Talbot looked keenly at the board, and alarm appeared on hisface. He made a rapid retreat with one of his pieces, and Harry andDalton, knowing that it was time for them to go, reached down from theirsaddles, shook hands with both, then with St. Clair and Happy Tom, and were soon beyond the bounds of the camp. 

They rode on for many hours in silence. They were in a friendly land now, but they knew that it was well to be careful, as Federal scouts andcavalry nevertheless might be encountered at any moment. Two or threetimes they turned aside from the road to let detachments of horsemenpass. They could not tell in the dark and from their hiding places towhich army they belonged, and they were not willing to take the delaynecessary to find out. They merely let them ride by and resumed theirown place on the road. 

Harry told Dalton many more details of his perilous journey from theriver to the camp of the commander-in-chief, and he spoke particularlyof Shepard. 

"Although he's a spy, " he said, "I feel that the word scarcely fits him, he's so much greater than the ordinary spy. That man is worth more thana brigade of veterans to the North. He's as brave as a lion, and hiscraft and cunning are almost superhuman. "

He did not tell that he might easily have put Shepard forever out of theway, but that his heart had failed him. Yet he did not feel remorse norany sense of treachery to his cause. He would do the same were the samechance to come again. But it seemed to him now that a duel had begunbetween Shepard and himself. They had been drifting into it, eitherthrough chance or fate, for a long time. He knew that he had a mostformidable antagonist, but he felt a certain elation in matching himselfagainst one so strong. 

They rode all night and the next day across the strip of Maryland intoVirginia and once more were among their own people, their undoubted own. They were now entering the Valley of Virginia where the great Jackson hadleaped into fame, and both Harry and Dalton felt their hearts warm at thegreetings they received. Both armies had marched over the valley againand again. It was torn and scarred by battle, and it was destined tobe torn and scarred many times more, but its loyalty to the South stoodevery test. This too was the region in which many of the great Virginialeaders were born, and it rejoiced in the valor of its sons. 

Food and refreshment were offered everywhere to the two young horsemen, and the women and the old men--not many young men were left--wanted tohear of Gettysburg. They would not accept it as a defeat. It was merelya delay, they said. General Lee would march North once more next year. Harry knew in his heart that the South would never invade again, thatthe war would be for her henceforth a purely defensive one, but he saidnothing. He could not discourage people who were so sanguine. 

Every foot of the way now brought back memories of Jackson. He saw manyfamiliar places, fields of battle, sites of camps, lines of advance orretreat, and his heart grew sad within him, because one whom he admiredso much, and for whom he had such a strong affection, was gone forever, gone when he was needed most. He saw again with all the vividness ofreality that terrible night at Chancellorsville, when the wounded Jacksonlay in the road, his young officers covering his body with their own toprotect him from the shells. 

When they reached the strip of railroad entering Richmond they left theirhorses to be sent later, and each took a full seat in the short train, where he could loosen his belt, and stretch his limbs. It was a crudecoach, by the standards of to-day, but it was a luxury then. Harryand Dalton enjoyed it, after so much riding horseback, and watched thepleasant landscape, brown now from the July sun, flow past. 

Their coach did not contain many passengers, several wounded officersgoing to Richmond on furlough, some countrymen, carrying provisions tothe capital for sale, and a small, thin, elderly woman in a black dress, to whom Harry assigned the part of an old maid. He noticed that herfeatures were fine and she had the appearance of one who had suffered. When they reached Richmond and their passes were examined, he hastenedto carry her bag for her and to help her off the train. She thanked himwith a smile that made her almost handsome, and quickly disappeared inthe streets of the city. 

"A nice looking old maid, " he said to Dalton. 

"How do you know she's an old maid?"

"I don't know. I suppose it's a certain primness of manner. "

"You can't judge by appearances. Like as not she's been married thirtyyears, and it's possible that she may have a family of at least twelvechildren. "

"At any rate, we'll never know. But it's good, George, to be here inRichmond again. It's actually a luxury to see streets and shop windows, and people in civilian clothing, going about their business. "

"Looks the same way to me, Harry, but we can't delay. We must be off tothe President, with the dispatches from the Army of Northern Virginia. "

But they did not hurry greatly. They were young and it had been a longtime since they had been in a city of forty thousand inhabitants, wherethe shop windows were brilliant to them and nobody on the streets wasshooting at anybody else. It was late July, the great heats were gonefor the time at least, and they were brisk and elated. They paused alittle while in Capitol Square, and looked at the Bell Tower, risinglike a spire, from the crest of which alarms were rung, then at the finestructure of St. Paul's Church. They intended to go into the StateHouse now used as the Confederate Capitol, but that must wait until theyreported to President Davis. 

They arrived at the modest building called the White House of theConfederacy, and, after a short wait in the anteroom, they were receivedby the President. They saw a tall, rather spare man, dressed in a suitof home-knit gray. He received them without either warmth or coldness. Harry, although it was not the first time he had seen him, looked at himwith intense curiosity. Davis, like Lincoln, was born in his own State, Kentucky, but like most other Kentuckians, he did not feel any enthusiasmover the President of the Confederacy. There was no magnetism. He feltthe presence of intellect, but there was no inspiration in that aridpresence. 

A man of Oriental features was sitting near with a great bunch of papersin his hand. Mr. Davis did not introduce Harry and Dalton to him, and he remained silent while the President was asking questions of themessengers. But Harry watched him when he had a chance, interestedstrongly in that shrewd, able, Eastern face, the descendant of animmemorial and intellectual race, the man who while Secretary of Statewas trying also to help carry the tremendous burden of Confederatefinance. What was he thinking, as Harry and Dalton answered thePresident's questions about the Army of Northern Virginia?

"You say that you left immediately after our army crossed the Potomac?"asked the President. 

"Yes, sir, " replied Harry. "General Meade could have attacked, but heremained nearly two days on our front without attempting to do so. "

A thin gray smile flitted over the face of the President of theConfederacy. 

"General Meade was not beaten at Gettysburg, but I fancy he remembered itwell enough. "

Harry glanced at Benjamin, but his Oriental face was inscrutable. The lad wondered what was lurking at the back of that strong brain. He was shrewd enough himself to know that it was not always the generalson the battlefield who best understood the condition of a state at war, and often the man who held the purse was the one who measured it best ofall. But Benjamin never said a word, nor did the expression of his facechange a particle. 

"The Army of Northern Virginia is safe, " said the President, "and it willbe able to repel all invasion of Virginia. General Lee gives especialmention of both of you in his letters, and you are not to return to himat once. You are to remain here a while on furlough, and if you will goto General Winder he will assign you to quarters. "

Both Harry and Dalton were delighted, and, although thanks were reallydue to General Lee, they thanked the President, who smiled dryly. Then they saluted and withdrew, the President and the Secretary of Stategoing at once into earnest consultation over the papers Mr. Benjamin hadbrought. 

Harry felt that he had left an atmosphere of depression and said so, when they were outside in the bright sunshine. 

"If you were trying to carry as much as Mr. Davis is carrying you'd bedepressed too, " said Dalton. 

"Maybe so, but let's forget it. We've got nothing to do for a few daysbut enjoy ourselves. General Winder is to give us quarters, but we'renot to be under his command. What say you to a little trip through thecapitol?"

"Good enough. "

Congress had adjourned for the day, but they went through the building, admiring particularly the Houdon Washington, and then strolled againthrough the streets, which were so interesting and novel to them. Richmond was never gayer and brighter. They were sure that the hatedYankees could never come. For more than two years the Army of NorthernVirginia had been an insuperable bar to their advance, and it wouldcontinue so. 

Harry suddenly lifted his cap as some one passed swiftly, and Daltonglancing backward saw a small vanishing figure. 

"Who was it?" he asked. 

"The thin little old maid in black whom we saw on the train. She mayhave nodded to me when I bowed, but it was such a little nod that I'm notcertain. "

"I rather like your being polite to an insignificant old maid, Harry. I'd expect you, as a matter of course, to be polite to a young and prettygirl, overpolite probably. "

"That'll do, George Dalton. I like you best when you're preaching least. Come, let's go into the hotel and hear what they're talking about. "

After the custom of the times a large crowd was gathered in the spaciouslobby of Richmond's chief hotel. Among them were the local celebritiesin other things than war, Daniel, Bagby, Pegram, Randolph, and ahalf-dozen more, musicians, artists, poets, orators and wits. Peoplewere quite democratic, and Harry and Dalton were free to draw theirchairs near the edge of the group and listen. Pegram, the humorist, gave them a glance of approval, when he noticed their uniforms, the deeptan of their faces, their honest eyes and their compact, strong figures. 

Harry soon learned that a large number of English and French newspapershad been brought by a blockade runner to Wilmington, North Carolina, and had just reached the capital, the news of which these men werediscussing with eagerness. 

"We learn that the sympathies of both the French and English governmentsare still with us, " said Randolph. 

"But these papers were all printed before the news of Vicksburg andGettysburg had crossed the Atlantic, " said Daniel. 

"England is for us, " said Pegram, "only because she likes us little andthe North less. The French Imperialists, too, hate republics, and are infor anything that will damage them. When we beat off the North, untilshe's had enough, and set up our own free and independent republic, we'll have both England and France annoying us, and demanding favors, because they were for us in the war. Sympathy is something, but itdoesn't win any battles. "

"A nation has no real friend except itself, " said Bagby. "Whatever theSouth gets she'll have to get with her own good right arm. "

"I can predict the first great measure to be put through by the SouthernGovernment after the war. "

"What will it be?"

"The abolition of slavery. "

"Why, that's one of the things we're fighting to maintain!"

"Exactly so. You're willing to throw away a thing of your own accord, when you're not willing to throw it away because another orders you to doso. Wars are due chiefly to our misunderstanding of human nature. "

Then Pegram turned suddenly to Harry. "You're from the field?" he said. "From the Army of Northern Virginia?"

"Yes, " replied Harry. "My name is Kenton and I'm a lieutenant on thestaff of General Lee. My friend is George Dalton, also of the commander-in-chief's staff. "

"Are you from Kentucky?" asked Daniel curiously. 

"Yes, from a little town called Pendleton. "

"Then I fancy that I've met a relative of yours. I returned recentlyfrom a small town in North Georgia, the name of which I may not give, owing to military reasons, necessary at the present time, and I met whileI was there a splendid tall man of middle years, Colonel George Kentonof Kentucky. "

"That's my father!" said Harry eagerly. "How was he?"

"I thought he must be your father. The resemblance, you know. I shouldsay that if all men were as healthy as he looked there would be nodoctors in the world. He has a fine regiment and he'll be in the battlethat's breeding down there. Grant has taken Vicksburg, as we all know, but a powerful army of ours is left in that region. It has to be dealtwith before we lose the West. "

"And it will fight like the Army of Northern Virginia, " said Harry. "I know the men of the West. The Yankees win there most of the time, because we have our great generals in the East and they have theirs inthe West. "

"I've had that thought myself, " said Bagby. "We've had men of geniusto lead us in the East, but we don't seem to produce them in the West. People are always quoting Napoleon's saying that men are nothing, a manis everything, which I never believed before, but which I'm beginning tobelieve now. "

Then the talk veered away from battle and back to social, literary andartistic affairs, to all of which Harry and Dalton listened eagerly. Both had minds that responded to the more delicate things of life, and they were glad to hear something besides war discussed. It washard for them to think that everything was going on as usual in Europe, that new books and operas and songs were being written, and that menand women were going about their daily affairs in peace. Yet both weredestined to live to see the case reversed, the people of the Statessetting the world an example in moderation and restraint, while thegovernments of Europe were deluging that continent with blood. 

"If this war should result in our defeat, " said Bagby, "we won't geta fair trial before the world for two or three generations, and maybenever. "

"Why?" asked Dalton. 

"Because we're not a writing people. Oh, yes, there's Poe, I know, the nation's greatest literary genius, but even Europe honored him beforethe South did. We've devoted our industry and talents to politics, oratory and war. We don't write books, and we don't have any newspapersthat amount to much. Why, as sure as I'm sitting here, the moment thiswar is over New England and New York and Pennsylvania, particularly NewEngland, will begin to pour out books, telling how the wicked Southernersbrought on the war, what a cruel and low people we are, the way in whichwe taught our boys, when they were strong enough, how to beat slaves todeath, and the whole world will believe them. Maybe the next generationof Southerners will believe them too. "

"Why?" asked Harry. 

"Why? Why? Because we don't have any writers, and won't have any for along time! The writer has not been honored among us. Any fellow witha roaring voice who can get up on the stump and tell his audience thatthey're the bravest and best and smartest people on earth is the man forthem. You know that old story of Andy Jackson. Somebody taunted himwith being an uneducated man, so at the close of his next speech hethundered out: _E pluribus unum! Multum in parvo! Sic semper tyrannis!_So it was all over. Old Andy to that audience, and all the others thatheard of it, was the greatest Latin scholar in the world. "

"But that may apply to the North, too, " objected Harry. 

"So it would. Nevertheless they'll write this war, and they'll get theirside of it fastened on the world before our people begin to write. "

"But if we win we won't care, " said Randolph. "Success speaks foritself. You can squirm and twist all you please, and make all theexcuses for it that you can think up, but there stands success glaringcontemptuously at you. You're like a little boy shooting arrows at theSphinx. "

Thus the conversation ran on. Both Harry and Dalton were glad to bein the company of these men, and to feel that there was something inthe world besides war. All the multifarious interests of peace andcivilization suddenly came crowding back upon them. Harry rememberedPendleton with its rolling hills, green fields, and clear streams, and Dalton remembered his own home, much like it, in the Valley ofVirginia, not so far away. 

"Do you remain long in Richmond?" asked Randolph. 

"A week at least, " replied Harry. 

"Then you ought to see a little of social life. Mrs. John Curtis, a leading hostess, gives a reception and a dance to-morrow night. I can easily procure invitations for both of you, and I know that shewould be glad to have two young officers freshly arrived from ourglorious Army of Northern Virginia. "

"But our clothes!" said Dalton. "We have only a change of uniform apiece, and they're not fresh by any means. "

All the men laughed. 

"You don't think that Richmond is indulging in gorgeous apparel do you?"said Daniel. "We never manufactured much ourselves, and since all therest of the world is cut off from us where are the clothes to come fromeven for the women? Brush up your uniforms all you can and you'll bemore than welcome. Two gallant young officers from the Army of NorthernVirginia! Why, you'll be two Othellos, though white, of course. "

Harry glanced at Dalton, and Dalton glanced at Harry. Each saw that theother wanted to go, and Daniel, watching them, smiled. 

"I see that you'll come, " he said, "and so it's settled. Have youquarters yet?"

"Not yet, " replied Harry, "but we'll see about it this afternoon. "

"I'll have the invitations sent to you here at this hotel. All of uswill be there, and we'll see that you two meet everybody. "

Both thanked him profusely. They were about to go, thinking it time toreport to General Winder, when Harry noticed a thin woman in a blackdress, carrying a large basket, and just leaving the hotel desk. Hecaught a glimpse of her face and he knew that it was the old maid of thetrain. Then something else was impressed upon his mind, something whichhe had not noticed at their first meeting, but which came to him at theirsecond. He had seen a face like hers before, but the resemblance wasso faint and fleeting that he could not place it, strive as he would. But he was sure that it was there. 

"Who is that woman?" he asked. 

Daniel shook his head and so did Randolph, but Bagby spoke up. 

"Her name is Henrietta Carden, " he said, "and she's a seamstress. I've seen her coming to the hotel often before, bringing new clothes tothe women guests, or taking away old ones to be repaired. I believe thatthe ladies account her most skillful. It's likely that she'll be atthe Curtis house, in a surgical capacity, to-morrow night, as a quickrepairer of damaged garments, those fine linen and silk and lace affairsthat we don't know anything about. Mrs. Curtis relies greatly upon herand I ought to tell you, young gentlemen, that Mr. Curtis is a mostsuccessful blockade runner, though he takes no personal risk himself. The Curtis house is perhaps the most sumptuous in Richmond. You'll seeno signs of poverty there, though, as I told you, officers in old andfaded clothes are welcome. "

Harry saw Henrietta Carden carrying the large basket of clothes, go outat a side door, and he felt as if a black shadow like a menace had passedacross the floor. But it was only for an instant. He dismissed itpromptly, as one of those thoughts that come out of nothing, like idlepuffs of summer air. He and Dalton bade a brief farewell to their newfriends and left for the headquarters of General Winder. An elderly andchildless couple named Lanham had volunteered to take two officers intheir house near Capitol Square, and there Harry and Dalton were sent. 

They could not have found a better place. Mr. And Mrs. Lanham were quietpeople, who gave them an excellent room and a fine supper. Mrs. Lanhamshowed a motherly solicitude, and when she heard that they were going tothe Curtis ball on the following night she demanded that their spare andbest uniforms be turned over to her. 

"I can make them look fresh, " she insisted, "and your appearance must bethe finest possible. No, don't refuse again. It's a pleasure to me todo it. When I look at you two, so young and strong and so honest inmanner and speech, I wish that I had sons too, and then again I'm glad Ihave not. "

"Why not, Mrs. Lanham?" asked Harry. 

"Because I'd be in deadly fear lest I lose them. They'd go to the war--I couldn't help it--and they'd surely be killed. "

"We won't grieve over losing what we've never had, " smiled Mr. Lanham. "That's morbid. "

Harry and Dalton did their best to answer all the questions of theirhosts, who they knew would take no pay. The interest of both Mr. AndMrs. Lanham was increased when they found that their young guests were onthe staff of General Lee and before that had been on the staff of thegreat Stonewall Jackson. These two names were mighty in the South, untouched by any kind of malice or envy, and with legends to clusteraround them as the years passed. 

"And you really saw Stonewall Jackson every day!" said Mrs. Lanham. "You rode with him, talked with him, and went into battle with him?"

"I was in all his campaigns, Mrs. Lanham, " replied Harry, modestly, but not without pride. "I was with him in every battle, even to the last, Chancellorsville. I was one of those who sheltered him from the shells, when he was shot by our own men. Alas! what an awful mistake. I--"

He stopped suddenly. He had choked with emotion, and the tears came intohis eyes. Mrs. Lanham saw, and, understanding, she quickly changed thesubject to Lee. They talked a while after supper, called dinner now, and then they went up to their room on the second floor. 

It was a handsome room, containing good furniture, including two singlebeds. Their baggage had preceded them and everything was in order. Two large windows, open to admit the fresh air, looked out over Richmond. On a table stood a pitcher of ice water and glasses. 

"Our lot has certainly been cast in a pleasant place, " said Dalton, taking a chair by one of the windows. 

"You're right, " said Harry, sitting in the chair by the other window. "The Lanhams are fine people, and it's a good house. This is luxury, isn't it, George, old man?"

"The real article. We seem to be having luck all around. And we'regoing to a big ball to-morrow night, too. Who'd have thought such athing possible a week ago?"

"And we've made friends who'll see that we're not neglected. "

"It's an absolute fact that we've become the favorite children offortune. "

"No earthly doubt of it. "

Then ensued a silence, broken at length by a scraping sound as each movedhis chair a little nearer to the window. 

"Close, George, " said Harry at length. 

"Yes, a bit hard to breathe. "

"When fellows get used to a thing it's hard to change. "

"Fine room, though, and those are splendid beds. "

"Great on a winter night. "

"You've noticed how the commander-in-chief himself seldom sleeps under atent, but takes his blankets to the open?"

"Wonder how an Indian who has roamed the forest all his life feels whenhe's shut up between four walls for the first time. "

"Fancy it's like a prison cell to him. "

"Think so too. But the Lanhams are fine people and they're doing theirbest for us. "

"Do you think they'd be offended if I were to take my blankets, and sleepon the grass in the back yard?"

"Of course they would. You mustn't think of such a thing. After thiswar is over you've got to emerge slowly from barbarism. Do you rememberwhether at supper we cut our food with our knives and lifted it to ourmouths with forks, or just tore and lifted with our fingers?"

"We used knife and fork, each in its proper place. I happened to thinkof it and watched myself. You, I suppose, did it through the force of anancient habit, recalled by civilized surroundings. "

"I'm glad you remember about it. Now I'm going to bed, and maybe I'llsleep. I suppose there's no hope of seeing the stars through the roof. "

"None on earth! But my bed is fine and soft. We'd be all right ifwe could only lift the roof off the house. I'd like to hear the windrubbing the boughs together. "

"Stop it! You make me homesick! We've got no right to be pining forblankets and the open, when these good people are doing so much for us!"

Each stretched himself upon his bed, and closed his eyes. They had notbeen jesting altogether. So long a life in the open made summer skiesat night welcome, and roofs and walls almost took from them the power ofbreathing. 

But the feeling wore away after a while and amid pleasurable thoughts ofthe coming ball both fell asleep. 

CHAPTER X

THE MISSING PAPER

Harry and Dalton did not awake until late the next morning and they foundthey had not suffered at all from sleeping between four walls and under aroof. Their lungs were full of fresh air, and youth with all its joyousirresponsibility had come back. Harry sprang out of bed. 

"Up! up! old boy!" Harry cried to Dalton. "Don't you hear the buglescalling? not to battle but to pleasure! There is no enemy in our front!We don't have to cross a river with an overwhelming army pressing downupon us! We don't have to ride before the dawn on a scout which maylead us into a thicket full of hostile riflemen. We're in a city, boy, and our business now is beauty and pleasure!"

"Harry, " said Dalton, "you ought to go far. "

"Why, George? What induces you to assume the role of a prophetconcerning me?"

"Because you're so full of life. You're so keen about everything. You must have a heart and lungs of extra steam power. "

"But I notice you don't say anything about brain power. Maybe you thinkit's the quiet, rather silent fellows like yourself, George, who have anexcess of that. "

"None of your irony. Am I not looking forward to this ball as much asyou are? I was a boy when I entered the war, Harry, but two years offighting day and night age one terribly. I feel as if I could patronizeany woman under twenty-five, and treat her as quite a simple young thing. "

"Try it, George, and see what happens to you. "

"Oh, no! I merely said I felt that way. I've too much sense to put itinto action. "

"Do you know, George, that when this war is over it will be really timefor us to be thinking about girls. We'll be quite old enough. They saythat many of the Yankee maidens in Philadelphia and New York are finefor looks. I wonder if they'll cast a favoring eye on young Southernofficers as our conquering armies go marching down their streets!"

"It's too remote. Don't think about it, Harry. Richmond will do us forthe present. "

"But you can let a fellow project his mind into the future. "

"Not so far that we'll be marching as conquerors through Philadelphia andNew York. Let's deal with realities. "

"I've always thought there was something of the Yankee about you, George, not in political principles--I never question your devotion to the cause--but in calculating, weighing everything and deciding in favor of the onethat weighs an ounce the most. "

"Are you about through dressing? You've taken a minute longer than theregular time. "

There was a knock at the door, and, when Dalton opened it a few inches, a black head announced through the crack that breakfast was ready. 

"See what a disgrace you're bringing upon us, " said Dalton. "Delayingeverything. Mrs. Lanham will say that we're two impostors, that suchmalingerers cannot possibly belong to the Army of Northern Virginia. "

"Lead on, " said Harry. "I'm ready, and I'm hungry as every soldier inthe Southern army always is. "

They had a warm greeting from their hospitable hosts, followed by anabundant breakfast. Then at Mrs. Lanham's earnest solicitation theyturned over their dress uniforms to her to be repaired and pressed. Then they went out into the streets again, and spent the whole dayrambling about, enjoying everything with the keen and intense delightthat can come only to the young, and after long abstinence. Richmond wasnot depressed. Far from it. There had been a wonderful transformationsince those dark days when the army of McClellan was near enough to seethe spires of its churches. The flood of battle had rolled far awaysince then, and it had never come back. It could never come back. It was true that the Army of Northern Virginia had failed at Gettysburg, but it was returning to the South unassailed, and was ready to repeat itsformer splendid achievements. 

Harry went to the post office, and found there, to his great surpriseand delight, a letter from his father, written three or four days afterVicksburg. 

My dear son: [he wrote]

The news has just come to us that the Army of Northern Virginia, whileperforming prodigies of valor, has failed to carry all the Northernpositions at Gettysburg. Only complete success could warrant a furtheradvance. I assume therefore that General Lee is retreating and I assumealso that you, Harry, my beloved son, are alive, that you came unharmedout of that terrible battle. It does not seem possible to me that itcould be otherwise. I cannot conceive of you fallen. It may be thatit's because you are my son. The sons of others may fall, but not mine, just as we know that all others are doomed to die, but get into the habitof thinking ourselves immortal. So, I address this letter to you in thefull belief that it will reach you somewhere, and that you will read it. 

You know, of course, of our great loss at Vicksburg. It is disastrousbut not irreparable. We still have a powerful army in the West, hardy, indomitable, one with which the enemy will have to reckon. As for myselfI have been spared in many battles and I am well. It seems the sport ofchance that you and I, while fighting on the same side, should have beenseparated in this war, you in the East and I in the West. But it hasbeen done by One who knows best, and after all I am glad that you havebeen in such close contact with two of the greatest and highest-mindedsoldiers of the ages, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. I do notthink of them merely as soldiers, but as knights and champions withflaming swords. One of them, alas! is gone, but we have the other, and if man can conquer he will. Here in the West we repose our faith inLee, as surely as do you in the East, you who see his face and hear hisvoice every day. 

I have had two or three letters from Pendleton. That part of the Stateis for the present outside the area of conflict, though I hear that theguerilla bands to the east in the mountains still vex and annoy, andthat Skelly is growing bolder. I foresee the time when we shall have toreckon with this man, who is a mere brigand. 

I hear that the prospects for fruit in our orchards were never finer. You will remember how you prowled in them when you were a little boy, Harry, and what a pirate you were among the apples and peaches and pearsand good things that grew on tree and bush and briar in that beautifulold commonwealth of ours. I often upbraided you then, but I should liketo see you now, far out on a bough as of old, reaching for a big yellowpear, or a red, red bunch of cherries! Alas! there are many lads whowill never return, who will never see the pear trees and the cherry treesagain, but I repeat I cannot feel that you will be among them. Who wouldever have dreamed when this war began that it could go so far? More thantwo years of fierce and deadly battles and I can see no end. A deadlockand neither side willing to yield! How glad would be the men who madethe war to see both sections back where they were two and a half yearsago! and that's no treason. 

Water rose in Harry's eyes. He knew how terribly his father's hearthad been torn by the quarrel between North and South, and that he hadthoughts which he did not tell to his son. Harry was beginning at lastto think some of the same thoughts himself. If the South succeeded, then, after the war, what? Another war later on or reunion. 

The rest of the letter was wholly personal, and in the end it directedHarry, when writing to him, to address his letters care of the WesternArmy under General Bragg. Harry was moved and he responded at once. He went to the hotel in which he had met the young men who constitutedthe leading lights in what was called the Mosaic Club, and, securingwriting materials, made a long reply, which he posted with every hopethat it would soon reach its destination. 

Early in the evening he rejoined Dalton at the house of the Lanhams andthey found that Mrs. Lanham had done wonders with their best uniforms. When they were dressed in them they felt that it was no harder to chargethe Curtis house than to rush a battery. 

"You young men go early, " said Mr. Lanham. "Mrs. Lanham and I willappear later. "

They departed, daring to practice their dance steps in the street to thedelight of small boys who did not hesitate to chaff them. But Harryand Dalton did not care. They answered the chaff in kind, and soonapproached the Curtis home, all the windows of which were blazing withlight. 

The house stood in extensive grounds, and lofty white pillars gave it animposing appearance. Guests were arriving fast. Most of the men weremilitary, but there was a fair sprinkling of civilians nevertheless. The lads saw their friends of the Mosaic Club pass in just ahead of them, all dressed with extreme care. Generals and colonels and other officerswere in most favor now, but these men, with their swift and incisive witand their ability to talk well about everything, fully made up for thelack of uniform. 

Harry and Dalton, before passing through the side gateway that led to thehouse, paused awhile to look at those who came. Many people, and theyranked among the best in Richmond, walked. They had sent all theirhorses to the front long ago to be ridden by cavalrymen or to drawcannon. Others, not so self-sacrificing, came in heavy carriages withnegroes driving. 

Harry noticed that in many cases the clothing of the men showed a littlewhite at the seams, and there were cuffs the ends of which had beentrimmed with great care. But it was these whom he respected most. He remembered that Virginia had not really wanted to go into the war, and that she had delayed long, but, being in it, she was making supremesacrifices. 

And there were many young girls who did not need elaborate dress. In their simple white or pink, often but cotton, their cheeks showing thedelicate color that is possessed only by the girls in the border statesof the South, they seemed very beautiful to Harry and George, who hadknown nothing but camps and armies so long. 

It was the healthy admiration of the brave youth of one sex for the fairyouth of the other, but there was in it a deeper note, too. Age canstand misfortune. Youth wonders why it is stricken, and Harry felt asthey passed by, bright of face and soft of voice, that the clouds weregathering heavily over them. 

But he was too young himself for the feeling to endure long. Dalton wasproposing that they go in and they promptly joined the stream of enteringguests. Randolph soon found them and presented them to Mrs. Curtis, a large woman of middle years, and dignified manner, related to nearlyall the old families of Virginia, and a descendant of a collateral branchof the Washingtons. Her husband, William Curtis, seemed to be of adifferent type, a man of sixty, tall, thin and more reserved than mostSoutherners of his time. His thin lips were usually compressed and hispale blue eyes were lacking in warmth. But the long strong line of hisjaw showed that he was a man of strength and decision. 

"A Northern bough on a Southern tree, " whispered Dalton, as they passedon. "He comes from some place up the valley and they say that the Northitself has not his superior in financial skill. "

"I did not warm to him at first, " said Harry, "but I respect him. As you know, George, we've put too little stress upon his kind ofability. We'll need him and more like him when the Confederacy isestablished. We'll have to build ourselves up as a great power, andthat's done by trade and manufactures more than by arms. "

"It's so, Harry. But listen to that music!"

A band of four pieces placed behind flowers and shrubbery was playing. Here was no blare of trumpets or call of bugles. It was the music of thedance and the sentimental old songs of the South, nearly all of which hada sad and wailing note. Harry heard the four black men play the songsthat he had heard Samuel Jarvis sing, deep in the Kentucky mountains, and his heart beat with an emotion that he could not understand. Wasit a cry for peace? Did his soul tell him that an end should come tofighting? Then throbbed the music of the lines:

 Soft o'er the fountain lingering falls the Southern moon Far o'er the mountain breaks the day too soon. In thy dark eyes' splendor, where the moonlight loves to dwell Weary looks, yet tender, speak their fond farewell. Nita, Juanita! Ask thy soul if we should part, Nita, Juanita! Lean thou on my heart!

The music of the sad old song throbbed and throbbed, and sank deep intoHarry's heart. At another time he might not have been stirred, but atthis moment he was responsive in every fiber. He saw once more the greenwilderness, and he heard once more the mellow tones of the singer comingback in far echoes from the gorges. 

"Nita, Juanita! Ask thy soul if we should part, " hummed Dalton, butHarry was still far away in the green wilderness, listening to the singerof the mountains. Then the singer stopped suddenly, and he was listeningonce more to the startling prediction of the old, old woman:

"I am proud that our house has sheltered you, but it is not for the lasttime. You will come again, and you will be thin and pale and in rags, and you will fall at the door. I see you coming with these two eyes ofmine. "

That prediction had been made a long time ago, years since, it seemed, but whenever it returned to him, and it returned at most unexpected times, it lost nothing of its amazing vividness and power; rather they wereincreased. Could it be true that the supremely old had a vision orsecond sight? Then he rebuked himself angrily. There was nothingsupernatural in this world. 

"Wake up, Harry! What are you thinking about?" whispered Dalton sharply. "You seem to be dreaming, and here's a house full of pretty girls, with more than a half-dozen looking at you, the gallant young officer ofthe Army of Northern Virginia, the story of whose romantic exploits hadalready reached Richmond. "

"I was dreaming and I apologize, " said Harry. That minute in which hehad seen so much, so far away, passed utterly, and in another minute bothhe and Dalton were dancing with Virginia girls, as fair as dreams tothese two, who had looked so long only upon the tanned faces of soldiers. 

Both he and Dalton were at home in a half-hour. People in the Old Souththen, as in the New South now, are closely united by ties of kinshipwhich are acknowledged as far as they run. One is usually a member of ahuge clan and has all the privileges that clanship can confer. Kentuckywas the daughter of Virginia, and mother and daughter were fond of eachother, as they are to-day. 

After the third dance Harry was sitting with Rosamond Lawrence ofPetersburg in a window seat. She was a slender blonde girl, and thedancing had made the pink in her cheeks deepen into a flush. 

"You're from Kentucky, I know, " said Miss Lawrence, "but you haven't yettold me your town. "

"Pendleton. It's small but it's on the map. My father is a colonel inthe Western army. "

"Aren't you a Virginian by blood? Most all Kentuckians are. "

"Partly. My great grandfather, though, was born in Maryland. "

"What was his name, Lieutenant Kenton?"

"Henry Ware!"

"Henry Ware! Kentucky's first and greatest governor. "

"Yes, he was my great grandfather. I'm proud to be his descendant. "

"I should think you would be. "

"But his wife, who was Lucy Upton, my great grandmother, was of Virginiablood, and all of the next two generations intermarried with people ofVirginia stock. "

"Then you are a Kentuckian and a Virginian, too. I knew it! You have amiddle name, haven't you?"

"Yes. "

"Will you tell me what it is?"

"Cary. "

The girl laughed. 

"Harry Cary Kenton. Why Cary is one of our best old Virginia names. Will you tell me too what was your mother's name before she was married?"

"Parham. "

"Another. Oh, all this unravels finely. And what was your grandmother'sname?"

"Brent. "

"Nothing could be more Virginian than Brent. Oh, you're one of us, Lieutenant Kenton, a real Virginian of the true blood. "

"And heart and soul too!" giving her one of his finest young militaryglances. 

She laughed. It was only quick friendship between them and no more, and a half-hour later he was dancing with another Virginia girl, notso blonde, but just as handsome, and their talk was quite as friendly. Her name was Lockridge, and as they sat down near the musicians to rest, and listen a while, Harry saw a figure, slender and black-robed, pass. He knew at once who she was, and it had been predicted that he might meether there, but she had stirred his curiosity a little, and thinking hemight obtain further information he asked Miss Lockridge:

"Who is the woman who just passed us?"

"That's Miss Carden, Miss Henrietta Carden, a sewing woman, very capabletoo, who always helps at the big balls. Mrs. Curtis relies greatly uponher. The door through which she went leads to the ladies' dressing-room. "

"A native of Richmond?"

"I don't know. But why are you so curious about a sewing woman, Lieutenant Kenton?"

Harry flushed. There was a faint tinge of rebuke in her words, and heknew that he merited it. 

"It was just an idle question, " he replied quickly, and with an air ofindifference. "I noticed her on the train when we came into the capital, and we are so little used to women that we are inquisitive about everyone whom we see. Why, Miss Lockridge, I didn't realize until I came tothis ball that women could be so extraordinarily beautiful. Every one ofyou looks like an angel, just lowered gently from Heaven. "

"If you're not merely a flatterer then it's long absence that givescharm. I assure you, Lieutenant Kenton, that we're very, very commonclay. You should see us eat. "

"I'll get you an ice at once. "

"Oh, I don't mean that. I mean substantial things!"

"A healthy appetite doesn't keep a girl from being an angel. "

"When men marry us they find out that we're not angels. "

"The word 'angel' is with me merely a figure of speech. I don't want anyreal angel. I want my wife, if I ever marry, to be thoroughly human. "

Harry's progress was rapid. A handsome figure and face, and an ingenuousmanner made him a favorite. After midnight he wandered into a room whereolder men were smoking and talking. They were mostly officers, some ofhigh rank, one a general, and they talked of that which they could neverget wholly from their minds, the war. All knew Harry, and, as he wantedfresh air, they gave him a place by a window which looked upon a smallcourt. 

Harry was tired. In dancing he had been compelled to bring into playmuscles long unused, and he luxuriated in the cushioned chair, while thepleasant night breeze blew upon him. They were discussing Lee's probableplans to meet Meade, who would certainly follow him in time acrossthe Potomac. They spoke with weight and authority, because they wereexperienced men who had been in many battles, and they were here onfurlough, most of them recovering from wounds. 

Harry heard them, but their words were like the flowing of a river. He paid no heed. They did not bring the war back to him. He wasthinking of the music and of the brilliant faces of the girls whom heloved collectively. What that Lawrence girl had said was true. He was aVirginian as well as a Kentuckian, and the Kentuckians and Virginianswere all one big family. All those pretty Virginia girls were hiscousins. It might run to the thirty-second degree, but they were hiscousins just the same, and he would claim them with confidence. 

He smiled and his eyelids drooped a little. It was rather dark outside, and he was looking directly into the court in which rosebushes and tallflowering plants grew. A shadow passed. He did not see whence it cameor went, but he sat up and laughed at himself for dozing and conjuring upphantoms when he was at his first real ball in ages. 

All the civilians had gone out and only five or six of the officers, the most important, were left. Their talk had grown more eager, and onthe center of the table around which they sat lay a large piece of whitecanvas upon which they were drawing a map expressing their collectiveopinion. Every detail was agreed upon, after much discussion, and Harry, as much interested as they, began to watch, while the lines grew upon thecanvas. He ventured no opinion, being so much younger than the others. 

"We don't know, of course, exactly what General Lee will do, " said acolonel, "but we do know that he's always dangerous. He invariably actson the offensive, even if he's retreating. I should think that he'dstrike Meade about here. "

"Not there, but not far from it, " said the general. "Make a dot at thatpoint, Bathurst, and make another dot here about twenty miles to the east, which represents my opinion. "

Bathurst made the dots and the men, wholly absorbed, bent lower overtheir plans, which were growing almost unconsciously into a map, and agood one too. Harry was as much interested as they, and he still kepthimself in the background, owing to his youth and minor rank. 

The door to the room was open a little and the music, a waltz, came ina soft ripple from the drawing room. It was rhythmic and languorous, and Harry's feet would have moved to its tune at any other time, but hewas too deeply absorbed in the conjectures and certainties that they weredrawing with their pencils on the white canvas. 

Many of the details, he knew, were absolutely true, and others he wasquite sure must be true, because these were men of high rank who carriedin their minds the military secrets of the Confederacy. 

"I think we're pretty well agreed on the general nature of the plan, "said Bathurst. "We differ only in details. "

"That's so, " said the general, "but we're lingering too long here. God knows that we see little enough of our women folks, and, when we havethe chance to see them, and feel the touch of their hands, we waste ourtime like a lot of fools making military guesses. If I'm not too oldto dance to the tune of the shells I'm not too old to dance to the tuneof the fiddle and the bow. That's a glorious air floating in from theballroom. I think I can show some of these youngsters like Kenton herehow to shake a foot. "

"After you, General, " laughed Bathurst. "We know your capacity on boththe field and the floor, and how you respond to the shell and the bow. Come on! The ballroom is calling to us, and I doubt whether we'llexplain to the satisfaction of everybody why we've been away from it solong. You, too, Harry!"

They rose in a group and went out hastily. Harry was last, and his handwas on the bolt of the door, preparatory to closing it, when the generalturned to Bathurst and said:

"You've that diagram of ours, haven't you, Bathurst? It's not a thing tobe left lying loose. "

"Why, no, sir, I thought you put it in your pocket. "

The general laughed. 

"You're suffering from astigmatism, Bathurst, " he said. "Doubtless itwas Colton whom you saw stowing it away. I think we'd better tear itinto little bits as we have no further use for it. "

"But I haven't it, sir, " said Colton, a veteran colonel, just recoveringfrom a wound in the arm. "I supposed of course that one of the otherstook it. "

An uneasy look appeared in the general's eyes, but it passed in aninstant. 

"You have it, Morton?"

"No, sir. Like Bathurst I thought one of the others took it. "

"And you, Kitteridge?"

"I did not take it, sir. "

"You surely have it, Johnson?"

"No, sir, I was under the impression that you had taken it away with you. "

"And you, McCurdy?"

McCurdy shook his head. 

"Then Kenton, as you were the last to rise, you certainly have it. "

"I was just a looker-on; I did not touch it, " said Harry, whose hand wasstill on the bolt of the partly opened door. 

The general laughed. 

"Another case of everybody expecting somebody else to do a thing, andnobody doing it, " he said. "Kenton, go back and take it from the table. In our absorption we've been singularly forgetful, and that plan must bedestroyed at once. "

Harry reentered the room, and in their eagerness all of the officersfollowed. Then a simultaneous "Ah!" of dismay burst from them all. There was nothing on the table. The plan was gone. They looked at oneanother, and in the eyes of every one apprehension was growing. 

"The window is partly open, " said the general, affecting a laugh, although it had an uneasy note, "and of course it has blown off thetable. We'll surely find it behind the sofa or a chair. "

They searched the room eagerly, going over every inch of space, everypossible hiding place, but the plan was not there. 

"Perhaps it's in the court, " said the general. "It might have flutteredout there. Raise the sash higher, Kenton. Let nobody make any noise. We must be as quiet as possible about this. Luckily there's enoughmoonlight now for us to find even a small scrap of paper in the court. "

They stole through the window silently, one by one, and searched everyinch of the court's space. But nothing was in it, save the grass and theflowers and the rosebushes that belonged there. They returned to theroom, and once more looked at one another in dismay. 

"Shut the window entirely and lock the door, Kenton, " said the general. 

Harry did so. Then the general looked at them all, and his face was setand very firm. 

"We must all be searched, " he said. "I know that every one of you is thesoul of honor. I know that not one of you has concealed about his personthis document which has suddenly become so valuable. I know that notone of you would smuggle through to the enemy such a plan at any price, no matter how large. Nevertheless we must know beyond the shadow of adoubt that none of us has the map. And I insist, too, that I be searchedfirst. Bathurst, Colton, begin!"

They examined one another carefully in turn. Every pocket or possibleplace of concealment was searched. Harry was the last and when they weredone with him the general heaved a huge sigh of relief. 

"We know positively that we are not guilty, " he said. "We knew it before, but now we've proved it. That is off our minds, but the mystery ofthe missing map remains. What a strange combination of circumstances. I think, gentlemen, that we had best say nothing about it to outsiders. It's certainly to the interest of every one of us not to do so. It'salso to the interest of all of us to watch the best we can for asolution. You're young, Kenton, but from what I hear of you you're ableto keep your own counsel. "

"You can trust me, sir, " said Harry. 

"I know it, and now unlock the door. We've held ourselves prisoners longenough, and they'll be wondering about us in the ballroom. "

Harry turned the key promptly enough and he was glad to escape from theroom. He felt that he had left behind a sinister atmosphere. He had notmentioned to the older men the faint shadow that he thought he had seencrossing the courtyard. But then it was only fancy, nothing more, an idle figment of the brain! There was the music now, softer and moretempting than ever, an irresistible call to flying feet, and anotherdance with Rosamond Lawrence was due. 

"I thought you weren't coming, Lieutenant Kenton, " she said. "Some onesaid that you had gone into the smoking-room and that you were talkingwar with middle-aged generals and colonels. "

"But I escaped as soon as I could, Miss Rosamond, " he said--he wasthinking of the locked door and the universal search. 

"Well, you came just in time. The band is beginning and I was about togive your dance to that good-looking Lieutenant Dalton. "

"You wouldn't treat me like that! Throw over your cousin in such amanner! I can't think it!"

"No, I wouldn't!"

Then the full swell of the music caught them both, and they glided away, as light and swift as the melody that bore them on. 

CHAPTER XI

A VAIN PURSUIT

Youth was strong in Harry, and, while he danced and the music played, he forgot all about the incident in the smoking-room. With him it wasjust one pretty girl after another. He had heart enough for them all, and only one who was so young and who had been so long on battlefieldscould well understand what a keen, even poignant, pleasure it was to bewith them. 

Those were the days when a ball lasted long. Pleasures did not comeoften, but when they came they were to be enjoyed to the full. But asthe morning hours grew the manner of the older people became slightlyfeverish and unnatural. They were pursuing pleasure and forgetfulnesswith so much zeal and energy that it bore the aspect of force rather thanspontaneity. Harry noticed it and divined the cause. Beneath his highspirits he now felt it himself. It was that looming shadow in the Northand that other in that far Southwest hovering over lost Vicksburg. Serious men and serious women could not keep these shadows from theireyes long. 

The incident of the smoking-room and the missing map came back to himwith renewed force. It could not have walked away. They had searchedthe room and the court so thoroughly that they would have found it, had it been there. The disappearance of a document, which men ofauthority and knowledge had built up almost unconsciously, puzzled andalarmed him. 

It was almost day when he and Dalton left. They paid their respectsto Mr. And Mrs. Curtis, and said many good-bys to "the girls they leftbehind them. " Then they went out into the street, and inhaled greatdraughts of the cool night air. 

"A splendid night, " said Dalton. 

"Yes, truly, " said Harry. 

"I hope you didn't propose to more than six girls. "

"To none. But I love them all together. "

"I'm glad to hear it, because you're entirely too young to marry, andyour occupation is precarious. "

"You needn't be so preachy. You're not more'n a hundred years oldyourself. "

"But I'm two months older than you are and often two months makes avast difference, particularly in our cases. I notice about you, Harry, at times, a certain juvenility which I feel it my duty to repress. "

"Don't do it, George. Let's enjoy it while we can, because as you say myoccupation is precarious and yours is the same. "

They stopped at the corner of the iron fence enclosing the Curtis home, in which many lights were still shining. It was near a dark alleyopening on the street and running by this side of the house. 

"I'm going to see what's behind Mr. Curtis's house, " said Harry. 

Dalton stared at him. 

"What's got into your head, Harry!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to be aburglar prowling about the home of the man who has entertained you?"

Harry hesitated. He was sorry that Dalton was with him. Then he couldhave gone on without question, but he must make some excuse to Dalton. 

"George, " he said at last, "will you swear to keep a secret, a mostimportant one which I am pledged to tell to nobody, but which I mustconfide in you in order to give a good reason for what I am about to do. "

"If you are pledged to keep such a secret, " replied Dalton, "then don'texplain it to me. Your word is good enough, Harry. Go ahead and do whatyou want to do. I'll ask nothing about any of your actions, no matterhow strange it may look. "

"You're a man in a million, George. Come on, your confidence is going tobe tested. Besides, you'll run the danger of being shot. "

But Dalton followed him fearlessly as he led the way down the alley. Richmond was not lighted then, save along the main streets, and a fewsteps took them into the full dark. The brilliant windows threw brightbands across the lines, but they themselves were in darkness. 

The alley ran through the next street and so did the Curtis grounds. They were as extensive in the rear of the house as in front, andcontained small pines carefully trimmed, banks of roses and two grapearbors. Harry could hear no sound of any one stirring among them, but people, obviously the cooks and other servants, were talking in thebig kitchen at the rear of the house. 

The street itself running in the rear of the building was as well lightedas it was in front, but Harry saw no one in it save a member of the citypolice, who seemed to be keeping a good watch. But as he did not wish tobe observed by the man he waited a little while in the mouth of the alley, until he had moved on and was out of sight. 

"Now, George, " he said, "you and I are going to do a little scouting. You know I'm descended from the greatest natural scout and trailer everknown in the West, one whose senses were preternaturally acute, one whocould almost track a bird in the air by its flight. "

"Yes, I've heard of the renowned Henry Ware, and I know that you'veinherited a lot of his skill and intuition. Go ahead. I promised thatI would help you and ask no questions. I keep my word. "

Harry climbed silently over the low fence, and Dalton followed in thesame manner. The light from the street and house did not penetrate thepines and rosebushes, where Harry quickly found a refuge, Dalton as usualfollowing him. 

"What next?" whispered Dalton. 

"Now, I do my trailing and scouting, and you help me all you can, George, but be sure you don't make any noise. There's enough moonlight filteringthrough the pines to show the ground to me, but not enough to disclose usto anybody twenty feet away. "

He dropped to his hands and knees, and, crawling back and forth, began toexamine every inch of ground with minute care, while Dalton stared at himin amazement. 

"I'd help, " whispered Dalton, "if I only knew what you were doing. "

"Suppose, George, that somebody wanted to see the Curtis house, and yetnot be seen, wanted to observe as well as he could, without detection, what was going on there. He'd watch his chance, jump over the fence aswe have done and enter this group of pines. He could ask no finer pointof observation. We are perfectly hidden and yet we can see the wholerear of the house and one side of it. "

"So we can. I infer that you are looking for some one who you think hasbeen acting as a spy. "

"Ah! here we are. The earth is a bit soft by this pine, and I see thetrace of a footstep! And here is another trace, close by it, undoubtedlythe imprint of the other foot. It's as plain as day. "

Dalton knelt, looked at the traces, and shook his head. "I can't makeout any of them, " he said. "I see nothing but a slight displacement ofthe grass caused by the wind. "

"That's because you haven't my keen eye, an inherited and natural abilityas a trailer, although you may beat me out of sight in other things. The shape of these traces indicates that they were made by human feet, and their closeness together shows that the man stood looking at thehouse. If he had been walking along they would be much wider apart. "

He examined the traces again with long and minute care. 

"The toes point toward the house, consequently he was looking at it, "he said. "He was a heavy man, and he stood here a long time, not movingfrom his tracks. That's why he left these traces, which are so clear andevident to me, George, although they're hidden from a blind man like you. "

"Well, what of it?"

"Nothing much to you, but a lot to me. "

He rose to his feet and examined the boughs of the pine. 

"As I thought, " he whispered with great satisfaction. "Despite hiscourage and power over himself, both of which were very great, he becamea little excited. Doubtless he saw something that stirred him deeply. "

"What under the stars are you talking about, Harry?"

"See, he broke off three twigs of the pine. Just snapped them in twowith nervous fingers. Here are pieces lying on the ground. Now, a mandoes that sort of thing almost unconsciously. He will not reach up forthe twig or down for it, but he breaks it because it presents itself tohim at the corner of his eye. This man was six feet in height or moreand built very powerfully. I think I know him! Yes, I'm sure I knowhim! Nor is it at all strange that he should be here. "

"Shall we make a thorough search for him among the pines? You say he'stall and built powerfully. But maybe the two of us could master him, and if not we could call for help. "

"Too late, George. He left a long time ago, and he took with him what hewanted. We needn't look any farther. "

"Lead on, then, King of Trailers and Master of Secrets! If the mightyCaliph, Haroun al Kenton, wishes to prowl in these grounds, seeking theheart of some great conspiracy, it is not for his loyal vizier, theSheikh Ul Dalton to ask him questions. "

"I'm not certain that a vizier is a sheikh. "

"Nor am I, but I'm certain that I want to go home and go to bed. Vikingsof the land like ourselves can't stand much luxury. It weakens thetissues, made strong on the march and in the fields. "

They left the grounds silently and unobserved and soon were in their ownquarters, where they slept nearly the whole day. Then they spent threeor four days more in the social affairs which were such a keen pleasureto them after such a long deprivation. But wherever they went, and theywere in demand everywhere, Harry was always looking for somebody, a man, tall, heavy and broad shouldered, not a man who would come into a roomwhere he was, or who would join a company of people that he had joined, but one who would hang upon the outskirts, and hide behind the corners ofbuildings or trees. He did not see the shadow, but once or twice he feltthat it was there. 

The officer, Bathurst, told him one night that some important papers hadbeen stolen from the White House of the Confederacy itself. 

"They pertain to our army, " said Bathurst, "and they will be of value tothe enemy, if they reach him. "

"I'm quite certain that the most daring and dangerous of all northernspies is in Richmond, " said Harry. 

Then he told Bathurst of Shepard and of the trails that he had seen amongthe pines behind Curtis's house. 

"Do you think this man got our map?" asked Bathurst. 

"It may have been so. Perhaps he was hidden in the court and when he sawus go out, leaving the map on the table, he slipped in at the window andseized it. "

"But the court was enclosed. He would have had to go with the paperthrough the house itself. "

"That's where my theory fails. I can provide for his taking the paper, but I can't provide for his escape. "

"I'll tell the General about it. I think you're right, Harry. I'veheard of Shepard myself, and he's worth ten thousand men to the Yankees. It's more than that. At such a critical stage of our affairs he mightruin us. We'll make a general search for him. We'll rake the city witha fine tooth comb. "

The search was made everywhere. Soldiers pried in every possible place, but they found nobody who could not give an adequate account of hispresence in Richmond. Harry felt sure nevertheless that Shepard wassomewhere in the capital, protected by his infinite daring and resource, and they received the startling news the next day after the search that amessenger sent northward with dispatches for Lee had been attacked onlya short distance from the city. He had been struck from behind, and didnot see his assailant, but the wound in the head--the man had been foundunconscious--and the missing dispatches were sufficient proof. 

A night later precious documents were purloined from the office of theSecretary of War and a list of important earthworks on the North andSouth Carolina coast disappeared from the office of the Secretary ofthe Navy. Alarm spread through all the departments of the Confederacy. Some one, spy and burglar too, had come into the very capital, and he washaving uncommon success. 

Harry had not the least doubt that it was Shepard, and he was filled withan ambition to capture this man, whom he really liked. If Shepard werecaught he would certainly be hanged, but then a spy must take his chances. 

They heard meanwhile that General Lee had gone to a former camp of his onthe Opequan, but that later in response to maneuvers by General Meade, he moved to a position near Front Royal. No orders came for Harry orDalton to rejoin him, and, as a period of inactivity seemed to be at hand, they were glad to remain a while longer in Richmond. They still stayedwith the Lanhams, who refused to take any pay, although the two youngofficers, chipping together, bought for Mrs. Lanham a little watch whichhad just come through the blockade from England. 

Thus their days lengthened in Richmond, and, despite the shadow of thespy and his doings which was over Harry, they were still very pleasant. The members of the Mosaic Club, although older men, made much of them, and Harry and Dalton, being youths of sprighty wit, were able to holdtheir own in such company. The time had now passed into August, and theysat one afternoon in the lobby of the big hotel with their new friends. Richmond without was quiet and blazing in the sun. Harry had received asecond letter from his father from an unnamed point in Georgia. It didnot contain much news, but it was full of cheerfulness, and it intimatedin more than one place that Bragg's army was going to strike a great blow. 

All eyes were turned toward the West. The opinion had been spreading inthe Confederacy that the chief danger was on that line. It seemed thatthe Army of Northern Virginia could take care of anything to the northand east, but in the south and west affairs did not go well. 

"It's a pity that General Bragg is President Davis' brother-in-law, "said Randolph. 

"Why?" asked Daniel. 

"Then he wouldn't be in command of our Western Army. "

"Bragg's a fighter, though. "

"But not a reaper. "

"What do you mean?"

"He wins the victory, but lets the enemy take it. "

"It may be so. But to come closer home, what about the Yankee spy inRichmond? It's an established fact that a man of most uncommon daringand skill is here. "

"No doubt of it, what's the latest from him?"

"The house of William Curtis was entered last night and robbed. "

"Robbed of what?"

"Papers. The man never takes any valuables. "

"But Curtis is not in the government!"

"No, but he carries on a lot of blockade running, chiefly through Norfolkand Wilmington. I think the papers related to several blockade runningvessels coming out from England, and of course the Yankee blockadingships will be ready for them. There's not a trace of the man who tookthem. "

"Something is deucedly sinister about it, " said Bagby. "It seems to bethe work of one man, and he must have a hiding place in Richmond, butwe can't find it. Kenton, you and Dalton are army officers, supposedlyof intelligence. Now, why don't you find this mysterious terror? Ah, will you excuse me for a minute! I see Miss Carden leaving the counterwith her basket, and there is no other seamstress in Richmond who can putthe ruffles on a man's finest shirt as she can. She's been doing workfor me for some time. "

He arose, and, leaving them, bowed very politely to the seamstress. Her face, although thin and lined, was that of an educated woman ofstrong character. Harry thought it probable that she was a lady in theconventional meaning of the word. Many a woman of breeding and culturewas now compelled to earn her own living in the South. She and Bagbyexchanged only a few words, he returning to his chair, and she leavingthe hotel at a side door, walking with dignity. 

"I've seen Miss Carden three times before, once on the train, once atthis hotel and once at Mr. Curtis's house; can you tell me anything abouther?" said Harry. 

"It's an ordinary tale, " replied Bagby. "I think she lived well up thevalley and her house being destroyed in some raid of the Federal troopsshe came down to the capital to earn a living. She's been doing work forme and others I know for a year past, and I know she's not been out ofRichmond in that time. "

The talk changed now to the books that had come through from Europe inthe blockade runners. There was a new novel by Dickens and another byThackeray, new at least to the South, and the members of the Mosaic Clubwere soon deep in criticism and defense. 

Harry strolled away after a while. He did not tell his friends--nothingwas to be gained by telling them--that he was absolutely sure of theidentity of the spy, that it was Shepard. The question of identity didnot matter if they caught him, and his old feeling that it was a duelbetween Shepard and himself returned. He believed that the duty to catchthe man had been laid upon him. 

He began to haunt Richmond at all hours of the night. More than once hehad to give explanations to watchmen about public buildings, but he clungto the task that he had imposed upon himself. He explained to Dalton andthe Virginian found no fault except for Harry's loss of time that mightbe devoted to amusement. Harry sometimes rebuked himself for his ownpersistency, but Bagby's taunt had stung a little, and he felt that itapplied more to himself than to Dalton. He knew Shepard and he knewsomething of his ways. Moreover, his was the blood of the greatest ofall trailers, and it was incumbent upon him to find the spy. Yet he wastrailing in a city and not in a forest. In spite of everything he clungto his work. 

On a later night about one o'clock in the morning he was near thebuilding that housed army headquarters, and he noticed a figure come fromsome bushes near it. He instantly stepped back into the shadow and sawa man glance up and down the street, probably to see if it was clear. It was a night to favor the spy, dark, with heavy clouds and gusts ofrain. 

The figure, evidently satisfied that no one was watching, walked brisklydown the street, and Harry's heart beat hard against his side. He knewthat it was Shepard, the king of spies, against whom he had matchedhimself. He could not mistake, despite the darkness, his figure, hiswalk and the swing of his powerful shoulders. 

His impulse was to cry for help, to shout that the spy was here, butat the first sound of his voice Shepard would at once dart into theshrubbery, and escape through the alleys of Richmond. No, his oldfeeling that it was a duel between Shepard and himself was right, and sothey must fight it out. 

Shepard walked swiftly toward the narrower and more obscure streets, and Harry followed at equal speed. The night grew darker and the rain, instead of coming in gusts, now fell steadily. Twice Shepard stoppedand looked back. But on each occasion Harry flattened himself against aplank fence and he did not believe the spy had seen him. 

Then Shepard went faster and his pursuer had difficulty in keeping him inview. He went through an alley, turned into a street, and Harry ran inorder not to lose sight of him. 

The alley came into the street at a right angle, and, when Harry turnedthe corner, a heavy, dark figure thrust itself into his path. 

"Shepard!" he cried. 

"Yes!" said the man, "and I hate to do this, but I must. "

His heavy fist shot out and caught his pursuer on the jaw. Harry sawstars in constellations, then floated away into blackness, and, when hecame out of it, found himself lying on a bed in a small room. His jawwas bandaged and very sore, but otherwise he felt all right. A candlewas burning on a table near him and an unshuttered window on the otherside of the room told him that it was still night and raining. 

Harry looked leisurely about the room, into which he had been wafted onthe magic carpet of the Arabian genii, so far as he knew. It was smalland without splendor and he knew at once from the character of itsbelongings that it was a woman's room. 

He sat up. His head throbbed, but touching it cautiously he knew that hehad sustained no serious injury. But he felt chagrin, and a lot of it. Shepard had known that he was following him and had laid a trap, intowhich he had walked without hesitation. The man, however, had spared hislife, although he could have killed him as easily as he had stunned him. Then he laughed bitterly at himself. A duel between them, he had calledit! Shepard wouldn't regard it as much of a duel. 

His head became so dizzy that he lay down again rather abruptly and beganto wonder. What was he doing in a woman's room, and who was the womanand how had he got there? This would be a great joke for Dalton andSt. Clair and Happy Tom. 

He was fully dressed, except for his boots, and he saw them standingon the floor against the wall. He surveyed once more the immaculateneatness of the room. It was certainly a woman's, and most likely thatof an old maid. He sat up again, but his head throbbed so fearfully thathe was compelled to lie down quickly. Shepard had certainly put a lotin that right hand punch of his and he had obtained a considerablepercentage of revenge for his defeat in the river. 

Then Harry forgot his pain in the intensity of his curiosity. He hadsustained a certain temporary numbing of the faculties from the blow andhis fancy, though vivid now, was vague. He was not at all sure thathe was still in Richmond. The window still showed that it was night, and the rain was pouring so hard that he could hear it beating againstthe walls. At all events, he thought whimsically, he had secured shelter, though at an uncommon high price. 

He heard a creak, and a door at the end of the room opened, revealing thefigure and the strong, haggard features of Henrietta Carden. Evidentlyshe had taken off a hood and cloak in an outer room, as there were raindrops on her hair and her shoes were wet. 

"How are you feeling, Mr. Kenton?" she asked. 

"Full of aches and wonder. "

"Both will pass. "

She smiled, and, although she was not young, Harry thought her distinctlyhandsome, when she smiled. 

"I seem to have driven you out of your room and to have taken your bedfrom you, Miss Carden, " he said, "but I assure you it was unintentional. I ran against something pretty hard, and since then I haven't beenexactly responsible for what I was doing. "

She smiled again, and this time Harry found the smile positively winning. 

"I'm responsible for your being here, " she said. 

Then she went back to the door and said to some one waiting in the outerroom:

"You can come in, Lieutenant Dalton. He's all right except for hisheadache, and an extraordinary spell of curiosity. "

Dalton stalked solemnly in, and regarded Harry with a stern and reprovingeye. 

"You're a fine fellow, " he said. "A lady finds you dripping blood fromthe chin, and out of your head, wandering about the street in thedarkness and rain. Fortunately she knows who you are, takes you into herown house, gives you an opiate or some kind of a drug, binds up your jawwhere some man good and true has hit you with all his goodness and truth, and then goes for me, your guardian, who should never have let you out ofhis sight. I was awakened out of a sound sleep in our very comfortableroom at the Lanham house, and I've come here through a pouring rain withMiss Carden to see you. "

"I do seem to be the original trouble maker, " said Harry. "How did youhappen to find me, Miss Carden?"

"I was sitting at my window, working very late on a dress thatMrs. Curtis wants to-morrow. It was not raining hard then, and I couldsee very well outside. I saw a dark shadow in the street at the mouth ofthe alley. I saw that it was the figure of a man staggering very much. I ran out and found that it was you, Lieutenant Kenton. You werebleeding at the chin, where apparently some one had struck you very hard, and you were so thoroughly dazed that you did not know where you were orwho you were. "

"Yes, he hit me very hard, just as you supposed, Miss Carden, " said Harry, feeling gently his sore and swollen chin. 

"I half led and half dragged you into my house--there was nowhere elseI could take you--and, as you were sinking into a stupor, I managed tomake you lie down on my bed. I bound up your wound, while you wereunconscious, and then I went for Lieutenant Dalton. "

"And she saved your life, too, you young wanderer. No doubt of that, "said Dalton reprovingly. "This is what you get for roaming away from mycare. Lucky you were that an angel like Miss Carden saved you from dyingof exposure. If I didn't know you so well, Harry, I should say that youhad been in some drunken row. "

"Oh, no! not that!" exclaimed Miss Carden. "There was no odor of liquoron his breath. "

"I was merely joking, Miss Carden, " said Dalton. "Old Harry here is oneof the best of boys, and I'm grateful to you for saving him and coming tome. If there is any way we can repay you we'll do it. "

"I don't want any repayment. We must all help in these times. "

"But we won't forget it. We can't. How are you feeling, Harry?"

"My head doesn't throb so hard. The jarred works inside are graduallygetting into place, and I think that in a half-hour I can walk again, that is, resting upon that stout right arm of yours, George. "

"Then we'll go. I've brought an extra coat that will protect you fromthe rain. "

"You are welcome to stay here!" exclaimed Miss Carden. "Perhaps you'd bewiser to do so. "

"We thank you for such generous hospitality, " said Dalton gallantly, "but it will be best for many reasons that we go back to Mrs. Lanham'sas soon as we can. But first can we ask one favor of you, Miss Carden?"

"Of course. "

"That you say nothing of Mr. Kenton's accident. Remember that he was onmilitary duty and that in the darkness and rain he fell, striking uponhis jaw. "

"I'll remember it. Our first impression that he had been struck bysomebody was a mistake, of course. You can depend upon me, both of you. Neither of you was ever in my house. The incident never occurred. "

"But we're just as grateful to you as if it had happened. "

A half-hour later they left the cottage, Miss Carden holding open thedoor a little to watch them until they were out of sight. But Harryhad recovered his strength and he was able to walk without Dalton'sassistance, although the Virginian kept close by his side in case ofnecessity. 

"Harry, " said Dalton, when they were nearly to the Lanham house, "are youwilling to tell what happened?"

"As nearly as I know. I got upon the trail of that spy who has beeninfesting Richmond. I knew at the time that it couldn't have been anyone else. I followed him up an alley, but he waited for me at the turn, and before I could defend myself he let loose with his right. When Icame drifting back into the world I was lying upon the bed in MissCarden's cottage. "

"He showed you some consideration. He might have quietly put you out ofthe way with a knife. "

"Shepard and I don't care to kill each other. Each wants to defeat theother's plans. It's got to be a sort of duel between us. "

"So I see, and he has scored latest. "

"But not last. "

"We'd better stick to the tale about the fall. Such a thing could happento anybody in these dark streets. But that Miss Carden is a fine woman. She showed true human sympathy, and what's more, she gave help. "

"She's all that, " agreed Harry heartily. 

They had their own keys to the Lanham house and slipped in withoutawakening anybody. Their explanations the next day were received withoutquestion and in another day Harry's jaw was no longer sore, though hisspirit was. Yet the taking of important documents ceased suddenly, and Harry was quite sure that his encounter with Shepard had at leastcaused him to leave the city. 

CHAPTER XII

IN WINTER QUARTERS

Harry was sent a few days later with dispatches from the president toGeneral Lee, who was still in his camp beside the Opequan. Dalton washeld in the capital for further messages, but Harry was not sorry to makethe journey alone. The stay in Richmond had been very pleasant. Thespirits of youth, confined, had overflowed, but he was beginning to feela reaction. One must return soon to the battlefield. This was merelya lull in the storm which would sweep with greater fury than ever. TheNorth, encouraged by Gettysburg and Vicksburg, was gathering vast masseswhich would soon be hurled upon the South, and Harry knew how thin thelines there were becoming. 

He thought, too, of Shepard, who was the latest to score in their duel, and he believed that this man had already sent to the Northern leadersinformation beyond value. Harry felt that he must strive in some mannerto make the score even. 

It was late in the summer when he rejoined the Army of Northern Virginiaand delivered the letters to the commander-in-chief, who sat in the shadeof a large tree. Harry observed him closely. He seemed a little grayerthan before the Battle of Gettysburg, but his manner was as confident asever. He filled to both eye and mind the measure of a great general. After asking Harry many questions he dismissed him for a while, to play, so he said. 

The young Kentuckian at once, and, as a matter of course, sought theInvincibles. St. Clair and Langdon hailed him with shouts of joy, but to his great surprise, Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-ColonelHector St. Hilaire were not playing chess. 

"We were getting on with the game last night, Harry, " explained ColonelTalbot, "but we came to a point where we were about to develop heat overa projected move. Then, in order to avoid such a lamentable occurrence, we decided to postpone further play until to-night. But we find youlooking uncommonly well, Harry. The flesh pots of Egypt have agreed withyou. "

"I had a good time in Richmond, sir, a fine one, " replied Harry. "Thepeople there have certainly been kind to me, as they are to all theofficers of the Army of Northern Virginia. "

"What have you done with the grave Dalton, who was your comrade on yourjourney to the capital?"

"They've kept him there for the present. They think he's stronger proofagainst the luxuries and temptations of a city than I am. "

"Youth is youth, and I'm glad that you've had this little fling, Harry. Perhaps you'll have another, as I think you'll be sent back to Richmondvery soon. "

"What has been going on here, Colonel?"

"Very little. Nothing, in fact, of any importance. When we crossedthe swollen Potomac, although threatened by an enemy superior to us innumbers, I felt that we would not be pushed. General Meade has beendeliberate, extremely deliberate in his offensive movements. Up Norththey call Gettysburg a great victory, but we're resting here calmly andpeacefully. Hector and I and our young friends have found rural peaceand ease among these Virginia hills and valleys. You, of course, foundRichmond very gay and bright?"

"Very gay and bright, Colonel, and full of handsome ladies. "

Colonel Talbot sighed and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire sighedalso. 

"Hector and I should have been there, " said Colonel Talbot. "Althoughwe've never married, we have a tremendous admiration for the ladies, and in our best uniforms we're not wholly unpopular among them, eh, Hector?"

"Not by any means, Leonidas. We're not as young as Harry here, butI know that you're a fine figure of a man, and you know that I am. Moreover, our experience of the dangerous sex is so much greater thanthat of mere boys like Harry and Arthur and Tom here, that we know howto make ourselves much more welcome. You talk to them about frivolousthings, mere chit chat, while we explain grave and important matters tothem. "

"Are you sure, sir, " asked St. Clair, "that the ladies don't reallyprefer chit chat?"

"I was not speaking of little girls. I was alluding to those ornamentsof their sex who have arrived at years of discretion. Ah, if Leonidasand I were only a while in Richmond! It would be the next best thing tobeing in Charleston. "

"Maybe the Invincibles will be sent there for a while. "

"Perhaps. I don't foresee any great activity here in the autumn. How do they regard the Army of Northern Virginia in Richmond now, Harry?"

"With supreme confidence. "

The talk soon drifted to the people whom Harry had met at the capital, and then he told of his adventure with Shepard, the spy. 

"He seems to be a most daring man, " said Talbot; "not a mere ordinary spy, but a man of a higher type. I think he's likely to do us great harm. But the woman, Miss Carden, was surely kind to you. If she hadn't foundyou wandering around in the rain you'd have doubtless dropped down anddied. God bless the ladies. "

"And so say we all of us, " said Harry. 

He returned to Richmond in a few days, bearing more dispatches, and tohis great delight all that was left of the Invincibles arrived a weeklater to recuperate and see a little of the world. St. Clair and HappyTom plunged at once and with all the ardor of youth into the gayeties ofsocial life, and the two colonels followed them at a more dignified butnone the less earnest pace. All four appeared in fine new uniforms, for which they had saved their money, and they were conspicuous uponevery occasion. 

Harry was again at the Curtis house, and although it was not a greatball this time the assemblage was numerous, including all his friends. The two colonels had become especial favorites everywhere, and they weretelling stories of the old South, which Harry had divined was passing;passing whether the South won or not. 

Although there had been much light talk through the evening and anabundance of real gayety, nearly every member of the company, nevertheless, had serious moments. The news from Tennessee and Georgiawas heavy with import. It was vague in some particulars, but it wasdefinite enough in others to tell that the armies of Rosecrans and Braggwere approaching each other. All eyes turned to the West. A greatbattle could not be long delayed, and a powerful division of the Army ofNorthern Virginia under Longstreet had been sent to help Bragg. 

Harry found himself late at night once more in that very room in whichthe map had disappeared so mysteriously. The two colonels, St. Clair andLangdon, and one or two others had drifted in, and the older men weresmoking. Inevitably they talked of the battle which they foresaw withsuch certainty, and Harry's anxiety about it was increased, because heknew his father would be there on one side, and the cousin, for whom hecared so much, would be on the other. 

"If only General Lee were in command there, " said Colonel Talbot, "wemight reckon upon a great and decisive victory. "

"But Bragg is a good general, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. 

"It's not enough to be merely a good general. He must have the soulof fire that Lee has, and that Jackson had. Bragg is the SouthernMcClellan. He is brave enough personally, but he always overrates thestrength of the enemy, and, if he is victorious on the field, he doesnot reap the fruits of victory. "

"Where were the armies when we last heard from them?" asked a captain. 

"Bragg was turning north to attack Rosecrans, who stood somewhere betweenhim and Chattanooga. "

"I'm glad that it's Rosecrans and not Grant who commands the Northernarmy there, " said Harry. 

"Why?" asked Colonel Talbot. 

"I've studied the manner in which he took Vicksburg, and I've heard abouthim from my father, and others. He won't be whipped. He isn't like theother Northern generals. He hangs on, whatever happens. I heard someone quoting him as saying that no matter how badly his army was sufferingin battle, the army of the other fellow might be suffering worse. It seems to me that a general who is able to think that way is verydangerous. "

"And so he is, Harry, " said Colonel Talbot. "I, too, am glad that it'sRosecrans and not Grant. If there's any news of a battle, we're not in abad place to hear it. It's said that Mr. Curtis always knows as soon asour government what's happened. "

The talk drifted on to another subject and then a hum came from thelarger room. A murmur only, but it struck such an intense and earnestnote that Harry was convinced. 

"It's news of battle! I know it!" he exclaimed. 

They sprang to their feet and hurried into the ballroom. William Curtis, his habitual calm broken, was standing upon a chair and all the peoplehad gathered in front of him. A piece of paper, evidently a telegram, was clutched in his hand. 

"Friends, " he said in a strained, but exultant voice, "a great battle hasbeen fought near Chattanooga on a little river called the Chickamauga, and we have won a magnificent victory. "

A mighty cheer came from the crowd. 

"The army of Rosecrans, attacked with sudden and invincible force byBragg, has been shattered and driven into Chattanooga. "

Another cheer burst forth. 

"No part of the Union army was able to hold fast, save one wing underThomas. "

A third mighty cheer arose, but this time Harry did not join in it. He felt a sudden sinking of the heart at the words, "save one wing underThomas. " Then the victory was not complete. It could be complete onlywhen the whole Union army was driven from the field. As long as Thomasstood, there was a flaw in the triumph. He had heard many times of thisman, Thomas. He had Grant's qualities. He was at his best in apparentdefeat. 

"Is there anything else, Mr. Curtis?" asked Colonel Talbot. 

"That is all my agent sends me concerning its results, but he saysthat it lasted two days, and that it was fierce and bloody beyond allcomparison with anything that has happened in the West. He estimatedthat the combined losses are between thirty and forty thousand men. "

A heavy silence fell upon them all. The victory was great, but theprice for it was great, too. Yet exultation could not be subdued long. They were soon smiling over it, and congratulating one another. ButHarry was still unable to share wholly in the joy of victory. 

"Why this gloom in your face, when all the rest of us are so happy?"asked St. Clair. 

"My father was there. He may have fallen. How do I know?"

"That's not it. He always comes through. What's the real cause?Out with it!"

"You know that part of the dispatch saying, 'No part of the Union armywas able to hold fast save one wing under Thomas. ' How about that wing!You heard, too, what the colonel said about General Bragg. He alwaysoverestimates the strength of the enemy, and while he may win a victoryhe will not reap the fruits of it. That wing under Thomas still may bestanding there, protecting all the rest of the Union army. "

"Come now, old Sober Face! This isn't like you. We've won a grandvictory! We've more than paid them back for their Gettysburg. "

Harry rejoiced then with the others, but at times the thought came tohim that Thomas with one wing might yet be standing between Bragg andcomplete victory. When he and Dalton went back home--they were againwith the Lanhams--they found the whole population of Richmond ablaze withtriumph. The Yankee army in the West had been routed. Not only wasChickamauga an offset for Gettysburg, but for Vicksburg as well, and oncemore the fortunes of the South were rising toward the zenith. 

Dalton had returned from the army a little later this time than Harry, but he had joined him at the Lanhams', and he too showed gravity amid thealmost universal rejoicing. 

"I see that you're afraid the next news won't be so complete, Harry, "he said. 

"That's it, George. We don't really know much, except that Thomas washolding his ground. Oh, if only Stonewall Jackson were there! Rememberhow he came down on them at the Second Manassas and at Chancellorsville!Thomas would be swept off his feet and as Rosecrans retreated intoChattanooga our army would pour right on his heels!"

They waited eagerly the next day and the next for news, and whileRichmond was still filled with rejoicings over Chickamauga, Harry sawthat his fears were justified. Thomas stood till the end. Bragg had notfollowed Rosecrans into Chattanooga. The South had won a great battle, but not a decisive victory. The commanding general had not reaped allthe rewards that were his for the taking. Bragg had justified in everyway Colonel Talbot's estimate of him. 

And yet Richmond, like the rest of the South, felt the great uplift ofChickamauga, the most gigantic battle of the West. It told South aswell as North that the war was far from over. The South could no longerinvade the North, nor could the North invade the South at will. Even onthe northernmost border of the rebelling section the Army of NorthernVirginia under its matchless leader, rested in its camp, challenging anddefiant. 

Harry was glad to return with his friends to the army. His brief periodof festival was over, and his fears for his father had been relieved bya letter, stating that he had received no serious harm in the great andterrible battle of Chickamauga. 

After the failure of the armies of Lee and Meade to bring about adecisive battle at Mine Run, the Army of Northern Virginia establishedits autumn and winter headquarters on a jutting spur of the great rangecalled Clarke's Mountain, Orange Court House lying only a few miles tothe west. The huge camp was made in a wide-open space, surrounded bydense masses of pines and cedars. Tents were pitched securely, and, feeling that they were to stay here a long time many of the soldiersbuilt rude log cabins. 

General Lee himself continued to use his tent, which stood in the centerof the camp, the streets of tents and cabins radiating from it like thespokes of a wheel. Close about Lee's own tent were others occupied byColonel Taylor, his adjutant general, Colonel Peyton, Colonel Marshall, and other and younger officers, including Harry and Dalton. A littledistance down one of the main avenues, which they were pleased to callVictory Street, the Invincibles were encamped, and Harry saw them almostevery day. 

The troops were well fed now, and the brooks provided an abundance ofclear water. The days were still warm, but the evenings were cold, and, inhaling the healing odors of the pines and cedars, wounded soldiersreturned rapidly to health. 

It was a wonderful interval for Harry and his friends associated with himso closely. Save for the presence of armies, it seemed at times thatthere was no war. Deep peace prevailed along the Rapidan and the slopesof the mountain. It was the longest period of rest that he and hiscomrades were to know in the course of the mighty struggle. The actionof the war was now chiefly in the Southwest, where Grant, taking theplace of Rosecrans, was seeking to recover all that was lost atChickamauga. 

Harry had another letter from his father, telling him that his own hadbeen received, and giving personal details of the titanic struggle on theChickamauga. He did not speak out directly, but Harry saw in his wordsthe vain regret that the great opportunity won at Chickamauga at such aterrible price had not been used. In his belief the whole Federal armymight have been destroyed, and the star of the South would have risenagain to the zenith. 

Here Harry sighed and remembered his own forebodings. Oh, if only aStonewall Jackson had been there! His mighty sweep would have drivenThomas and the rest in a wild rout. A tear rose in his eye as heremembered his lost hero. He sincerely believed then and always that theConfederacy would have won had he not fallen on that fatal evening atChancellorsville. It was an emotion with him, a permanent emotion withwhich logic could not interfere. 

Harry was conscious, too, that the long quiet on the Eastern front wasbut a lull. There was nothing to signify peace in it. If the North hadever felt despair about the war Gettysburg and Vicksburg had removedevery trace of it. He knew that beyond the blue ranges of mountains, both to east and west, vast preparations were going forward. The North, the region of great population, of illimitable resources, of free accessto the sea, and of mechanical genius that had counted for so much inarming her soldiers, was gathering herself for a supreme effort. Thegreat defeats of the war's first period were to be ignored, and herarmies were to come again, more numerous, better equipped and perhapsbetter commanded than ever. 

Nevertheless, his mind was still the mind of youth, and he could notdwell continuously upon this prospect. The camp in the hills waspleasant. The heats had passed, and autumn in the full richness of itscoloring had come. The forests blazed in all the brilliancy of red andyellow and brown. The whole landscape had the color and intensity thatonly a North American autumn can know, and the October air had thefreshness and vitality sufficient to make an old man young. 

The great army of youth--it was composed chiefly of boys, like the oneopposing it--enjoyed itself during these comparatively idle months. The soldiers played rural games, marbles even, pitching the horseshoe, wrestling, jumping and running. It was to Harry like Hannibal in winterquarters at Capua, without the Capua. There was certainly no luxuryhere. While food was more abundant than for a long time, it was of thesimplest. Instead of dissipation there was a great religious revival. Ministers of different creeds, but united in a common object, appeared inthe camp, and preached with power and energy. The South was emotionalthen and perhaps the war had made it more so. The ministers securedthousands of converts. All day long the preaching and singing could beheard through the groves of pine and cedar, and Harry knew that whenthe time for battle came they would fight all the better because of it. Yielding to the enemy was no part of the Christianity that theseministers preached. 

Harry also saw the growth of the hero-worship accorded to his greatcommander. He did not believe that any other general, except perhapsNapoleon in his earlier career, had ever received such trust andadmiration. Many soldiers who had felt his guiding hand in battle nowsaw him for the first time. He had an appearance and manner to inspirerespect, and, back of that, was something much greater, a firm convictionin the minds of all that he had illimitable patience, a willingnessto accept responsibility, and a military genius that had never beensurpassed. Such was the attitude of the Southern people toward theirgreat leader then, and, to an even greater degree now, when his figure, like that of Lincoln, instead of becoming smaller grows larger as itrecedes into the past. 

Harry often rode with him. He seemed to have an especial liking for thevery young members of his staff, or for old private soldiers, bearded andgray like himself, whom he knew by name. Far in October he rode downtoward the Rapidan where Stuart was encamped, taking with him only Harryand Dalton. He was mounted on his great white war horse, Traveller, which the soldiers knew from afar. Cheering arose, but when he raisedhis hand in a deprecating way the soldiers, obedient to his wish, ceased, and they heard only the murmur of many voices, as they went on. Thegeneral made the lads ride, one on his right and the other on his lefthand, and brilliant October coloring and crisp air seemed to put him ina mood that was far from war. 

"I pine for Arlington, " he said at length to Harry, "that ancestral homeof mine that is held by the enemy. I should like to see the ripeningof the crops there. We Virginians of the old stock hold to the land, and you Kentuckians, who are really of the same race, hold to it, too. "

"It is true, sir, " said Harry. "My father loves the land. After hisretirement from the army, following the Mexican war, he worked harderupon our place in Kentucky than any slave or hired man. He was goingto free his slaves, but I suppose, sir, that the war has made him feeldifferent about it. "

"Yes, we're often willing to do things by our own free will, but notunder compulsion. The great Washington himself wrote of the evils ofslave labor. The 'old fields' scattered all over Virginia show what ithas done for this noble commonwealth. "

Harry remembered quite well similar "old fields" in Kentucky. Slaveswere far less numerous there than in Virginia, and he was old enough tohave observed that, in addition to the wrong of slavery, they were aliability rather than an asset. But he too felt anew the instinctiverebellion against being compelled to do what he would perhaps do anyhow. 

General Lee talked more of the land and Harry and Dalton listenedrespectfully. Harry saw that his commander's heart turned stronglytoward it. He knew that Jefferson had dreamed of the United States as anagricultural community, having no part in the quarrels of other nations, but he knew that it was only a dream. The South, the section that hadfollowed Jefferson's dream, was now at a great disadvantage. It had noships, and it did not have the mills to equip it for the great war it waswaging. He realized more keenly than ever the one-sided nature of theSouth's development. 

The general turned his horse toward the banks of the Rapidan, and aresplendent figure came forward to meet him. It was that incarnation ofyouth and fantastic knighthood, Jeb Stuart, who had just returned from aride toward the north. He wore a new and brilliant uniform and the usualbroad yellow sash about his waist. His tunic was embroidered, too, and his epaulets were heavy with gold. The thick gold braid about hishat was tied in a gorgeous loop in front. His hands were encased in longgloves of the finest buckskin, and he tapped the high yellow tops of hisriding boots with a little whip. 

Harry always felt that Stuart did not really belong to the present. His place was with the medieval knights who loved gorgeous armor, whofought by day for the love of it and who sat in the evening on the castlesteps with fair ladies for the love of it, and who in the dark listenedto the troubadours below, also for the love of it. A great cavalryleader, he shone at his brightest in the chase, and, when there was nofighting to be done, his were the spirits of a boy, and he was as quickfor a prank as any lad under his own command. 

But Stuart, although he had joked with Jackson, never took any libertieswith Lee. He instantly swept the ground with his plumed hat and said inhis most respectful manner:

"General, will you honor us by dining with us? We've just returned froma long ride northward and we've made some captures. "

Lee caught a twinkle in his eye, and he smiled. 

"I see no prisoners, General Stuart, " he replied, "and I take it thatyour captures do not mean human beings. "

"No, sir, there are other things just now more valuable to us thanprisoners. We raided a little Yankee outpost. Nobody was hurt, but, sir, we've captured some provisions, the like of which the Army of NorthernVirginia has not tasted in a long time. Would you mind coming with meand taking a look? And bring Kenton and Dalton with you, if you don'tmind, sir. "

"This indeed sounds tempting, " said the commander-in-chief of the Army ofNorthern Virginia. "I accept your invitation, General Stuart, in behalfof myself and my two young aides. "

He dismounted, giving the reins of Traveller to an orderly, and walkedtoward Stuart's tent, which was pitched near the river. The "captures"were heaped in a grassy place. 

"Here, sir, " said General Stuart, "are twenty dozen boxes of the finestFrench sardines. I haven't tasted sardines in a year and I love them. "

"I've always liked them, " said General Lee. 

"And here, sir, are several cases of Yorkshire ham, brought all theway across the sea--and for us. It isn't as good as our Virginia ham, which is growing scarce, but we'll like it. And cove oysters, cases andcases of 'em. I like 'em almost as well as sardines. "

"Most excellent. "

"And real old New England pies, baked, I suppose, in Washington. We canwarm 'em over. "

"I see that you have the fire ready. "

"And jars of preserves, a half-dozen kinds at least, and all of 'em lookas if two likely youngsters like Kenton and Dalton would be anxious toget at 'em. "

"You judge us rightly, General, " said Harry. "We'll show no mercy tosuch prisoners as we have here. "

"You wouldn't be boys and you wouldn't be human if you did, " rejoinedStuart, "would they, General?"

"They would not, " replied Lee. "One of the principal recollections of myboyhood is that I was always hungry. Our regular three meals a day werenot enough for us, however much we ate at one time. Virginia, like yourown Kentucky, Harry, is full of forage, and we moved in groups. Now, didn't you find a lot of food in the woods and fields?"

"Oh, yes, sir, " rejoined Harry with animation. "I was hungry all thetime, too. An hour after breakfast I was hungry again, and an hour afterdinner, which we had in the middle of the day, I was hungry once more. "

"But you knew where to go for supplies. "

"Yes, sir; we had berries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, dewberries, cherries, all of them growing wild althoughsome of them started tame. And then we could forage for pears, peaches, plums, damsons, all kinds of apples, paw paws, and then later for thenuts, hickory nuts, walnuts, chestnuts, hazel nuts, chinquapins, and alot more. We could have almost lived in the woods and fields from earlyspring until late fall. "

"We did the same in Virginia, " said the commander-in-chief. "I've oftenthought that our forest Indians did not develop a higher civilization, because it was so easy for them to live, save in the depths of a hardwinter. They had most of the berries and fruits and nuts that we whiteboys had. The woods were full of game, and the lakes and rivers fullof fish. They were not driven by the hard necessity that createscivilization. "

"Dinner is ready, sir, " announced General Stuart, who had been directingthe orderlies. "I can offer you and the others nothing but boxes andkegs to sit on, but I can assure you that this Northern food, some ofwhich comes in cans, is excellent. "

The two lads and General Stuart fell to work with energy. General Leeate more sparingly. Stuart was a boy himself, talking much and runningover with fun. 

"Have you heard what happened to General Early, sir?" he asked thecommander-in-chief. 

"Not yet. "

"But you will, sir, to-morrow. Early will be slow in sending youthat dispatch. He hasn't had time to write it yet. He's not throughswearing. "

"General Early is a valiant and able man, but I disapprove of hisswearing. "

"Why, sir, 'Old Jube' can't help it. It's a part of his breathing, and man cannot live without breath. He sent one of his best aides witha dispatch to General Hill, who is posted some distance away. Passingthrough a thick cedar wood the aide was suddenly set upon by a genuinestage villain, large, dark and powerful, who clubbed him over the headwith the butt of a pistol, and then departed with his dispatch. "

"And what happened then?"

"The aide returned to General Early with his story, but without hisdispatch. The general believed his account, of course, but he calledhim names for allowing himself to be surprised and overcome by a singleYankee. He cursed until the air for fifty yards about him smelledstrongly of sulphur and brimstone. "

"Did he do anything more?"

"Yes, General. He sent a duplicate of the dispatch by an aide whom hesaid he could trust. In an hour the second man came back with the samebig lump on his head and with the same story. He had been ambushed atthe crossing of a ravine full of small cedars, and the highwayman wasundoubtedly the same, too, a big, powerful fellow, as bold as you please. "

Harry's pulse throbbed hard for a few moments, when he first heardmention of the man. The description, not only physical, but of mannerand action as well, answered perfectly. He had not the slightest doubtthat it was Shepard. 

"A daring deed, " said General Lee. "We must see that it is not repeated. "

"But that wasn't all of the tale, sir. While the second man was sittingon the bank, nursing his broken head, the Yankee Dick Turpin read thedispatch and saw that it was a duplicate of the first. He became red-hotwith wrath, and talked furiously about the extra and unnecessary workthat General Early was forcing upon him. He ended by cramming thedispatch into the man's hands, directing him to take it back, and to tellGeneral Early to stop his foolishness. The aide was a bit dazed from theblow he received and he delivered that message word for word. Why, sir, General Early exploded. People who have heard him swear for years andwho know what an artist he is in swearing, heard him then utter swearwords that they had never heard before, words invented on the spur of themoment, and in the heat of passion, words full of pith and meaning. "

"And that was all, I suppose?"

"Not by any means, sir. General Early picked two sharpshooters and sentthem with another copy of the dispatch. They passed the place of thefirst hold-up, and next the ravine without seeing anybody. But as theywere riding some distance further on both of their horses were killed byshots from a small clump of pines. Before they could regain their feetDick Turpin came out and covered them with his rifle--it seems that hehad one of those new repeating weapons. 

"The men saw that his eye was so keen and his hand so steady that theydid not dare to move a hand to a pistol. Then as he looked down thesights of his rifle he lectured them. He told them they were foolish tocome that way, when the two who came before them had found out that itwas a closed road. He said that real soldiers learned by experience, and would not try again to do what they had learned to be impossible. 

"Then he said that after all they were not to blame, as they had beensent by General Early, and he made one of them who had the stub of apencil write on the back of the dispatch these words: 'General JubalEarly, C. S. A. : This has ceased to be a joke. After your first man wasstopped, it was not necessary to do anything more. I have the dispatch. Why insist on sending duplicate after duplicate?' And the two had towalk all the way back to General Early with that note, because theydidn't dare make away with the dispatch. 

"I have a certain respect for that man's skill and daring, but GeneralEarly had a series of spells. He retired to his tent and if the reportsare not exaggerated, a continuous muttering like low thunder came fromthe tent, and all the cloth of it turned blue from the lightningsimprisoned inside. "

General Lee himself smiled. 

"It was certainly annoying, " he said. "I hope the dispatch was not ofimportance. "

"It contained nothing that will help the Yankees, but it shows that theenemy has some spies--or at least one spy--who are Napoleons at theirtrade. "

CHAPTER XIII

THE COMING OF GRANT

The little dinner ended. Despite his disapproval of General Early'sswearing, General Lee laughed heartily at further details of the strangeYankee spy's exploits. But it was well known that in this particularGeneral Early was the champion of the East. Harry did not know that inthe person of Colonel Charles Woodville, his cousin, Dick Mason, hadencountered one of equal ability in the Southwest. 

Presently General Lee and his two young aides mounted their horses forthe return. The commander-in-chief seemed gayer than usual. He wasalways very fond of Stuart, whose high spirits pleased him, and beforehis departure he thanked him for his thoughtfulness. 

"Whenever we get any particularly choice shipments from the North I shallalways be pleased to notify you, General, and send you your share, "said Stuart, sweeping the air in front of him again with his great plumedhat. With his fine, heroic face and his gorgeous uniform he had neverlooked more a knight of the Middle Ages. 

General Lee smiled and thanked him again, and then rode soberly back, followed at a short distance by his two young aides. Although theview of hills and mountains and valleys and river and brooks was nowmagnificent, the sumach burning in red and the leaves vivid in manycolors, Lee, deeply sensitive, like all his rural forbears, to ruralbeauty, nevertheless seemed not to notice it, and soon sank into deepthought. 

It is believed by many that Lee knew then that the Confederacy hadalready received a mortal blow. It was not alone sufficient for theSouth to win victories. She must keep on winning them, and the failureat Gettysburg and the defeat at Vicksburg had put her on the defensiveeverywhere. Fewer blockade runners were getting through. Above all, there was less human material upon which to draw. But he roused himselfpresently and said to Harry:

"There was something humorous in the exploits of the man who held upGeneral Early's messengers, but the fellow is dangerous, exceedinglydangerous at such a time. "

"I've an idea who he is, sir, " said Harry. 

"Indeed! What do you know?"

Then Harry told nearly all that he knew about Shepard, but not all--that struggle in the river, and his sparing of the spy and the filchingof the map at the Curtis house, for instance--and the commander-in-chieflistened with great attention. 

"A bold man, uncommonly bold, and it appears uncommonly skilled, too. We must send out a general alarm, that is, we must have all our ownscouts and spies watching for him. "

Harry said nothing, but he did not believe that anybody would catchShepard. The man's achievements had been so startling that they hadcreated the spell of invincibility. His old belief that he was worth tenthousand men on the Northern battle line returned. No movement of theArmy of Northern Virginia could escape him, and no lone messenger couldever be safe from him. 

Lee returned to his camp on Clarke's Mountain, and, a great revivalmeeting being in progress, he joined it, sitting with a group ofofficers. Fitzhugh Lee, W. H. F. Lee, Jones, Rosser, Wickham, Munford, Young, Wade Hampton and a dozen others were there. Taylor and Marshalland Peyton of his staff were also in the company. 

The preacher was a man of singular power and earnestness, and afterthe sermon he led the singing himself, in which often thirty or fortythousand voices joined. It was a moving sight to Harry, all these men, lads, mostly, but veterans of many fields, united in a chorus mightierthan any other that he had ever heard. It would have pleased StonewallJackson to his inmost soul, and once more, as always, a tear rose to hiseye as he thought of his lost hero. 

Harry and Dalton left their horses with an orderly and came back to theedge of the great grove, in which the meeting was being held. They hadexpected to find St. Clair and Happy Tom there, but not seeing them, wandered on and finally drifted apart. Harry stood alone for a while onthe outskirts of the throng. They were all singing again, and the mightyvolume of sound rolled through the wood. It was not only a singular, it was a majestic scene also to Harry. How like unto little childrenyoung soldiers were! and how varied and perplexing were the problems ofhuman nature! They were singing with the utmost fervor of Him who hadpreached continuously of peace, who was willing to turn one cheek whenthe other was smitten, and because of their religious zeal they wouldrush the very next day into battle, if need be, with increased fire andzeal. 

He saw a heavily built, powerful man on the outskirts, but some distanceaway, singing in a deep rolling voice, but something vaguely familiar inthe figure drew his glance again. He looked long and well and then beganto edge quietly toward the singer, who was clothed in the faded butternutuniform that so many of the Confederate soldiers wore. 

The fervor of the singer did not decrease, but Harry noticed that he toowas moving, moving slowly toward the eastern end of the grove, the samedirection that Harry was pursuing. Now he was sure. He would havecalled out, but his voice would not have been heard above the vast volumeof sound. He might have pointed out the singer to others, but, althoughhe felt sure, he did not wish to be laughed at in case of mistake. But strongest of all was the feeling that it had become a duel betweenShepard and himself. 

He walked slowly on, keeping the man in view, but Shepard, although henever ceased singing, moved away at about the same pace. Harry inferredat once that Shepard had seen him and was taking precautions. Thetemptation to cry out at the top of his voice that the most dangerousof all spies was among them was almost irresistible, but it would onlycreate an uproar in which Shepard could escape easily, leaving to him aload of ridicule. 

He continued his singular pursuit. Shepard was about a hundred yardsaway, and they had made half the circuit of this huge congregation. Then the spy passed into a narrow belt of pines, and when Harry movedforward to see him emerge on the other side he failed to reappear. He hastened to the pines, which led some distance down a little gully, and he was sure that Shepard had gone that way. He followed fast, but he could discover no sign. He had vanished utterly, like thin smokeswept away by a breeze. 

He returned deeply stirred by the appearance and disappearance--easy, alike--of Shepard. His sense of the man's uncanny powers and of hisdanger to the Confederacy was increased. He seemed to come and goabsolutely as he pleased. It was true that in the American Civil War theopportunities for spies were great. All men spoke the same language, and all looked very much alike. It was not such a hard task to enter theopposing lines, but Shepard had shown a daring and success beyond allcomparison. He seemed to have both the seven league boots and theinvisible cloak of very young childhood. He came as he pleased, andwhen pursuit came he vanished in thin air. 

Harry bit his lips in chagrin. He felt that Shepard had scored on himagain. It was true that he had been victorious in that fight in theriver, when victory meant so much, but since then Shepard had triumphed, and it was bitter. He hardened his determination, and resolved thathe would always be on the watch for him. He even felt a certain glow, because he was one of two in such a conflict of skill and courage. 

The meeting having been finished, he went down one of the streets oftents to the camp of the Invincibles. Colonel Leonidas Talbot andLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire were not playing chess. Insteadthey were sitting on a pine log with Happy Tom and St. Clair and otherofficers, listening to young Julien de Langeais, who sat on another log, playing a violin with surpassing skill. Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, knowing his prowess as a violinist, had asked him to come and play forthe Invincibles. Now he was playing for them and for several thousandmore who were gathered in the pine woods. 

Young de Langeais sat on a low stump, and the great crowd made a solidmass around him. But he did not see them, nor the pine woods nor theheavy cannon sitting on the ridges. He looked instead into a region offancy, where the colors were brilliant or gay or tender as he imaginedthem. Harry, with no technical knowledge of music but with a great loveof it, recognized at once the touch of a master, and what was more, the soul of one. 

To him the violin was not great, unless the player was great, but whenthe player was great it was the greatest musical instrument of all. He watched de Langeais' wrapt face, and for him too the thousands ofsoldiers, the pines and the cannon on the ridges melted away. He did notknow what the young musician was playing, probably some old French air ora great lyric outburst of the fiery Verdi, whose music had already spreadthrough America. 

"A great artist, " whispered Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire in his ear. "He studied at the schools in New Orleans and then for two years inParis. But he came back to fight. Nothing could keep Julien from thearmy, but he brought his violin with him. We Latins, or at least wewho are called Latins, steep our souls in music. It's not merelyintellectual with us. It's passion, fire, abandonment, triumph and allthe great primitive emotions of the human race. "

Harry's feelings differed somewhat from those of Lieutenant-ColonelSt. Hilaire--in character but not in power--and as young de Langeaisplayed on he began to think what a loss a stray bullet could make. Why should a great artist be allowed to come on the battle line? Therewere hundreds of thousands of common men. One could replace another, but nobody could replace the genius, a genius in which the whole worldshared. It was not possible for either drill or training to do it, and yet a little bullet might take away his life as easily as it wouldthat of a plowboy. They were all alike to the bullets and the shells. 

De Langeais finished, and a great shout of applause arose. The cheeringbecame so insistent that he was compelled to play again. 

"His family is well-to-do, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire justbefore he began playing once more, "and they'll see that he goes back toParis for study as soon as the war is over. If they didn't I would. "

It did not seem to occur to Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire that youngde Langeais could be killed, and Harry began to share his confidence. De Langeais now played the simple songs of the old South, and there wasmany a tear in the eyes of war-hardened youth. The sun was setting ina sea of fire, and the pine forests turned red in its blaze. In thedistance the waters of the Rapidan were crimson, too, and a light windout of the west sighed among the pines, forming a subdued chorus to theviolin. 

De Langeais began to play a famous old song of home, and Harry's mindtraveled back on its lingering note to his father's beautiful house andgrounds, close by Pendleton, and all the fine country about it, in whichhe and Dick Mason and the boys of their age had roamed. He rememberedall the brooks and ponds and the groves that produced the best hickorynuts. When should he see them again and would his father be there, and Dick, and all the other boys of their age! Not all! Certainly notall, because some were gone already. And yet this plaintive note ofthe homes they had left behind, while it brought a tear to many an eye, made no decrease in martial determination. It merely hardened theirresolution to win the victory all the sooner, and bring the homecomingmarch nearer. 

De Langeais ended on a wailing note that died like a faint sigh in thepine forest. Then he came back to earth, sprang up, and put his violinin its case. Applause spread out and swelled in a low, thunderous note, but de Langeais, who was as modest as he was talented, quickly hidhimself among his friends. 

The sun sank behind the blue mountains, and twilight came readily overthe pine and cedar forests. Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-ColonelSt. Hilaire, who had a large tent together, invited the youths to stayawhile with them as their guests and talk. All the soldiers dispersed totheir own portions of the great camp, and there would be an hour of quietand rest, until the camp cooks served supper. 

It had been a lively day for Harry, his emotions had been much stirred, and now he was glad to sit in the peace of the evening on a stone nearthe entrance of the tent, and listen to his friends. War drew comradestogether in closer bonds than those of peace. He was quite sure thatSt. Clair, Dalton and Happy Tom were his friends for life, as he wastheirs, and the two colonels seemed to have the same quality of youth. Simple men, of high faith and honor, they were often childlike in theways of the world, their horizons sometimes not so wide as those of thelads who now sat with them. 

"As I told Harry, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire to Julien, "youshall have that talent of yours cultivated further after the war. Two years more of study and you will be among the greatest. You mustknow, lads, that for us who are of French descent, Paris is the world'scapital in the arts. "

"And for many of English blood, too, " said Colonel Talbot. 

Then they talked of more immediate things, of the war, the armies andthe prospect of the campaigns. Harry, after an hour or so, returned toheadquarters and he found soldiers making a bed for the commander-in-chief under the largest of the pines. Lee in his campaigns alwayspreferred to sleep in the open air, when he could, and it required severeweather to drive him to a tent. Meanwhile he sat by a small fire--the October nights were growing cold--and talked with Peyton and othermembers of his staff. 

Harry and Dalton decided to imitate his example and sleep between theblankets under the pines. Harry found a soft place, spread his blanketsand in a few minutes slept soundly. In fact, the whole Army of NorthernVirginia was a great family that retired early, slept well and rose early. 

The next morning there was frost on the grass, but the lads were so hardythat they took no harm. The autumn deepened. The leaves blazed for awhile in their most vivid colors and then began to fall under the strongwest winds. Brown and wrinkled, they often whirled past in clouds. The air had a bite in it, and the soldiers built more and larger fires. 

The Army of Northern Virginia never before had been quiescent so long. The Army of the Potomac was not such a tremendous distance away, butit seemed that neither side was willing to attack, and as the autumnadvanced and began to merge into winter the minds of all turned towardthe Southwest. 

For the valiant soldiers encamped on the Virginia hills the news was notgood. Grant, grim and inflexible, was deserving the great name that wasgradually coming to him. He had gathered together all the broken partsof the army defeated at Chickamauga and was turning Union defeat intoUnion victory. 

Winter closed in with the knowledge that Grant had defeated the Southdisastrously on Lookout Mountain and all around Chattanooga. Chickamaugahad gone for nothing, the whole flank of the Confederacy was turned andthe Army of Northern Virginia remained the one great barrier against theinvading legions of the North. Yet the confidence of the men in thatarmy remained undimmed. They felt that on their own ground, and undersuch a man as Lee, they were invincible. 

In the course of these months Harry, as a messenger and often as asecretary, was very close to Lee. He wrote a swift and clear hand, and took many dispatches. Almost daily messages were sent in onedirection or another and Harry read from them the thoughts of his leader, which he kept locked in his breast. He knew perhaps better than many anolder officer the precarious condition of the Confederacy. These letters, which he took from dictation, and the letters from Richmond that he readto his chief, told him too plainly that the limits of the Confederacywere shrinking. Its money declined steadily. Happy Tom said that he hadto "swap it pound for pound now to the sutlers for groceries. " Yet itis the historical truth that the heart of the Army of Northern Virginianever beat with more fearless pride, as the famous and "bloody" year of'63 was drawing to its close. 

The news arrived that Grant, the Sledge Hammer of the West, had been putby Lincoln in command of all the armies of the Union, and would comeeast to lead the Army of the Potomac in person, with Meade still as itsnominal chief, but subject, like all the others, to his command. 

Harry heard the report with a thrill. He knew now that decisive actionwould come soon enough. He had always felt that Meade in front of themwas a wavering foe, and perhaps too cautious. But Grant was of anotherkind. He was a pounder. Defeats did not daunt him. He would attackand then attack again and again, and the diminishing forces of theConfederacy were ill fitted to stand up against the continued blows ofthe hammer. Harry's thrill was partly of apprehension, but whenever helooked at the steadfast face of his chief his confidence returned. 

Winter passed without much activity and spring began to show its firstbuds. The earth was drying, after melting snows and icy rains, and Harryknew that action would not be delayed much longer. Grant was in the Eastnow. He had gone in January to St. Louis to visit his daughter, wholay there very ill, and then, after military delays, he had reachedWashington. 

Harry afterward heard the circumstances of his arrival, so characteristicof plain and republican America. He came into Washington by train as asimple passenger, accompanied only by his son, who was but fourteen yearsof age. They were not recognized, and arriving at a hotel, valise inhand, with a crowd of passengers, he registered in his turn: "U. S. Grantand son, Galena, Ill. " The clerk, not noticing the name, assigned themodest arrival and his boy to a small room on the fifth floor. Then theymoved away, a porter carrying the valise. But the clerk happened to lookagain at the register, and when he saw more clearly he rushed after themwith a thousand apologies. He did not expect the victor of great battles, the lieutenant-general commanding all the armies of the Union, a battlefront of more than a million men, to come so modestly. 

When Harry heard the story he liked it. It seemed to him to be the samesimple and manly quality that he found in Lee, both worthy of republicaninstitutions. But he did not have time to think about it long. Thesigns were multiplying that the advance would soon come. The North hadnever ceased to resound with preparations, and Grant would march withveterans. All the spies and scouts brought in the same report. Butlerwould move up from Fortress Monroe toward Richmond with thirty thousandmen and Grant with a hundred and fifty thousand would cross the Rapidan, moving by the right flank of Lee until they could unite and destroy theConfederacy. Such was the plan, said the scouts and spies in gray. 

Longstreet with his corps had returned from the West and Lee gathered hisforce of about sixty thousand men to meet the mighty onslaught--he aloneperhaps divined how mighty it would be--and when he was faced by thegreatest of his adversaries his genius perhaps never shone more brightly. 

May and the full spring came. It was the third day of the month, and thecamp of the Army of Northern Virginia was as usual. Many of the youngsoldiers played games among the trees. Here and there they lay in groupson the new grass, singing their favorite songs. The cooks were preparingtheir suppers over the big fires. Several bands were playing. Hadit not been for the presence of so many weapons the whole might havebeen taken for one vast picnic, but Harry, who sat in the tent of thecommander-in-chief, was writing as fast as he could dispatch afterdispatch that the Southern leader was dictating to him. He knewperfectly well, of course, that the commander-in-chief was gatheringhis forces and that they would move quickly for battle. He knew, too, how inadequate was the equipment of the army. Only a short time beforehe had taken from the dictation of his chief a letter to the Presidentof the Confederacy a part of which ran:

My anxiety on the subject of provisions for the army is so great that Icannot refrain from expressing it to your Excellency. I cannot see howwe can operate with our present supplies. Any derangement in theirarrival or disaster to the railroad would render it impossible for me tokeep the army together and might force a retreat into North Carolina. There is nothing to be had in this section for men or animals. We haverations for the troops to-day and to-morrow. I hope a new supply arrivedlast night, but I have not yet had a report. 

Harry had thought long over this letter and he knew from his ownobservation its absolute truth. The depleted South was no longer able tofeed its troops well. The abundance of the preceding autumn had quicklypassed, and in winter they were mostly on half rations. 

Lee, better than any other man in the whole South, had understood whatlay before them, and his foes both of the battlefield and of the spirithave long since done him justice. Less than a week before this eve ofmighty events he had written to a young woman in Virginia, a relative:

I dislike to send letters within reach of the enemy, as they might serve, if captured, to bring distress on others. But you must sometimes castyour thoughts on the Army of Northern Virginia, and never forget it inyour prayers. It is preparing for a great struggle, but I pray and trustthat the great God, mighty to deliver, will spread over it His Almightyarms and drive its enemies before it. 

Harry had seen this letter before its sending, and he was not surprisednow when Lee was sending messengers to all parts of his army. With allthe hero-worshiping quality of youth he was once more deeply gratefulthat he should have served on the staffs and been brought into closepersonal relations with two men, Stonewall Jackson and Lee, who seemedto him so great. As he saw it, it was not alone military greatness butgreatness of the soul, which was greater. Both were deeply religious--Lee, the Episcopalian, and Jackson, the Presbyterian, and it was a pietythat contained no trace of cant. 

Harry felt that the crisis of the great Civil War was at hand. It hadbeen in the air all that day, and news had come that Grant had broken uphis camps and was crossing the Rapidan with a huge force. He knew howsmall in comparison was the army that Lee could bring against him, and yet he had supreme confidence in the military genius of his chief. 

He had written a letter with which an aide had galloped away, and then hesat at the little table in the great tent, pen in hand and ink and paperbefore him, but Lee was silent. He was dressed as usual with greatneatness and care, though without ostentation. His face had its usualserious cast, but tinged now with melancholy. Harry knew that he nolonger saw the tent and those around him. His mind dwelled for a fewmoments upon his own family and the ancient home that he had loved sowell. 

The interval was very brief. He was back in the present, and theprincipal generals for whom he had sent were entering the tent. Hill, Longstreet, Ewell, Stuart and others came, but they did not stay long. They talked earnestly with their leader for a little while, and thenevery one departed to lead his brigades. 

The secretaries put away pen, ink and paper. Twilight was advancing inthe east and night suddenly fell outside. The songs ceased, the bandsplayed no more, and there was only the deep rumble of marching men andmoving cannon. 

"We'll ride now, gentlemen, " said Lee to his staff. 

Traveller, saddled and bridled, was waiting and the commander-in-chiefsprang into the saddle with all the agility of a young man. The othersmounted, too, Harry and Dalton as usual taking their places modestly inthe rear. 

A regiment, small in numbers but famous throughout the army for valor, was just passing, and its colonel and its lieutenant-colonel, erect men, riding splendidly, but gray like Lee, drew their swords and gave theproud and flashing salute of the saber as they went by. Lee and hisstaff almost with involuntary impulse returned the salute in likefashion. Then the Invincibles passed on, and were lost from view in thedepths of the forest. 

Harry felt a sudden constriction of the heart. He knew that he mightnever see Colonel Leonidas Talbot nor Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire again, nor St. Clair, nor Happy Tom either. 

But his friends could not remain long in his mind at such a time. They were marching, marching swiftly, the presence of the man on thegreat white horse seeming to urge them on to greater speed. As the starscame out Lee's brow, which had been seamed by thought, cleared. His planwhich he had formed in the day was moving well. His three corps werebearing away toward the old battlefield of Chancellorsville. Grant wouldbe drawn into the thickets of the Wilderness as Hooker had been the yearbefore, although a greater than Hooker was now leading the Army of thePotomac. 

Harry, who foresaw it all, thrilled and shuddered at the remembrance. It was in there that the great Jackson had fallen in the hour of supremetriumph. Not far away were the heights of Fredericksburg, where Burnsidehad led the bravest of the brave to unavailing slaughter. As Belgium hadbeen for centuries the cockpit of Europe, so the wild and sterile regionin Virginia that men call the Wilderness became the cockpit of NorthAmerica. 

While Lee and his army were turning into the Wilderness Grant and thegreatest force that the Union had yet assembled were seeking him. It was composed of men who had tasted alike of victory and defeat, veterans skilled in all the wiles and stratagems of war, and with heartsto endure anything. In this host was a veteran regiment that had comeEast to serve under Grant as it had served under him so valiantly inthe West. Colonel Winchester rode at its head and beside him rode hisfavorite aide, young Richard Mason. Not far away was Colonel Hertford, with a numerous troop of splendid cavalry. 

Grant, alert and resolved to win, carried in his pocket a letter which hehad received from Lincoln, saying:

Not expecting to see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish toexpress in this way my entire satisfaction with what you have done up tothis time, so far as I understand it. The particulars of your plans Ineither know nor seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any constraints or restraintsupon you. While I am very anxious that any great disaster or the captureof our men in great numbers should be avoided, I know these points areless likely to escape your attention than they would mine. If there isanything wanting which is within my power to give, do not fail to let meknow it. And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustainyou. 

A noble letter, breathing the loftiest spirit, and showing that moralgrandeur which has been so characteristic of America's greatest men. He had put all in Grant's hands and he had given to him an army, thelike of which had never been seen until now on the American continent. Never before had the North poured forth its wealth and energy in suchabundance. 

Four thousand wagons loaded with food and ammunition followed the army, and there was a perfect system by which a wagon emptied of its contentswas sent back to a depot to be refilled, while a loaded wagon took itsplace at the front. Complete telegram equipments, poles, wires, instruments and all were carried with every division. The wires could bestrung easily and the lieutenant-general could talk to every part of hisarmy. There were, also, staffs of signalmen, in case the wires shouldfail at any time. Grant held in his hand all the resources of the North, and if he could not win no one could. 

All through the night the hostile armies marched, and before them wentthe spies and scouts. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE GHOSTLY RIDE

Harry and Dalton kept close together during the long hours of the ghostlyride. Just ahead of them were Taylor and Marshall and Peyton, and infront Lee rode in silence. Now and then they passed regiments, and atother times they would halt and let regiments pass them. Then the troops, seeing the man sitting on the white horse, would start to cheer, butalways their officers promptly subdued it, and they marched on feelingmore confident than ever that their general was leading them to victory. 

Many hours passed and still the army marched through the forests. The trees, however, were dwindling in size and even in the night theysaw that the earth was growing red and sterile. Dense thickets greweverywhere, and the marching became more difficult. Harry felt a suddenthrill of awe. 

"George, " he whispered, "do you know the country into which we're riding?"

"I think I do, Harry. It's the Wilderness. "

"It can't be anything else, George, because I see the ghosts. "

"What are you talking about, Harry? What ghosts?"

"The thousands and thousands who have fallen in that waste. Why theWilderness is so full of dead men that they must walk at night to giveone another room. I only hope that the ghost of Old Jack will ridebefore us and show us the way. "

"I almost feel like that, too, " admitted Dalton, who, however, was of aless imaginative mind than Harry. "As sure as I'm sitting in the saddlewe're bound for the Wilderness. Now, what is the day going to give us?"

"Marching mostly, I think, and with the next noon will come battle. Grant doesn't hesitate and hold back. We know that, George. "

"No, it's not his character. "

Morning came and found them still in the forests, seeking the deepthickets of the Wilderness, and Grant, warned by his scouts and spies, and most earnestly by one whose skill, daring and judgment were unequaled, turned from his chosen line of march to meet his enemy. Once more Leehad selected the field of battle, where his inferiority in numbers wouldnot count so much against him. 

It was nearly morning when the march ceased, and officers and troops, save those on guard, lay down in the forest for rest. Harry, a seasonedveteran, could sleep under any conditions and with a blanket over him anda saddle for a pillow closed his eyes almost immediately. Lee and hisolder aides, Taylor and Peyton and Marshall, slept also. Around them thebrigades, too, lay sleeping. 

A while before dawn a large man in Confederate uniform, using the soft, lingering speech of the South, appeared almost in the center of the armyof Northern Virginia. He knew all the pass words and told the officerscommanding the watch that the wing under Ewell was advancing more rapidlythan any of the others. Inside the line he could go about almost as hechose, and one could see little of him, save that he was large of figureand deeply tanned, like all the rest. 

He approached the little opening in which Lee and his staff lay, althoughhe kept back from the sentinels who watched over the sleeping leader. But Shepard knew that it was the great Confederate chieftain who lay inthe shadow of the oak and he could identify him by the glances of thesentinels so often directed toward the figure. 

There were wild thoughts for a moment or two in the mind of Shepard. A single bullet fired by an unerring hand would take from the Confederacyits arm and brain, and then what happened to himself afterward would notmatter at all. And the war would be over in a month or two. But he putthe thought fiercely from him. A spy he was and in his heart proud ofhis calling, but no such secret bullet could be fired by him. 

He turned away from the little opening, wandered an hour through the campand then, diving into the deep bushes, vanished like a shadow through theConfederate lines, and was gone to Grant to report that Lee's army wasadvancing swiftly to attack, and that the command of Ewell would come intouch with him first. 

Not long after dawn Harry was again on the march, riding behind hisgeneral. From time to time Lee sent messengers to the various divisionsof his army, four in number, commanded by Longstreet, Early, Hill andStuart, the front or Stuart's composed of cavalry. Harry's own time came, when he received a dispatch of the utmost importance to take to Ewell. He memorized it first, and, if capture seemed probable, he was to tearit into bits and throw it away. Harry was glad he was to go to Ewell. In the great campaign in the valley he had been second to Jackson, his right arm, as Jackson had been Lee's right arm. Ewell had lost a legsince then, and his soldiers had to strap him in the saddle when he ledthem into battle, but he was as daring and cheerful as ever, trustedimplicitly by Lee. 

Harry with a salute to his chief rode away. Part of the country wasfamiliar to him and in addition his directions were so explicit that hecould not miss the way. 

The four divisions of the army were in fairly close touch, but in acountry of forests and many waters Northern scouts might come between, and he rode with caution, his hand ever near the pistol in his belt. The midday sun however clouded as the afternoon passed on. The thicketsand forests grew more dense. From the distance came now and then thefaint, sweet call of a trumpet, but everything was hidden from sight bythe dense tangle of the Wilderness, a wilderness as wild and dangerous asany in which Henry Ware had ever fought. How it all came back to him!Almost exactly a year ago he had ridden into it with Jackson and here thearmies were gathering again. 

Imagination, fancy, always so strong in him, leaped into vivid life. The year had not passed and he was riding to meet Stonewall Jackson, who was somewhere ahead, preparing for his great curve about Hooker andthe lightning stroke at Chancellorsville. Rabbits sprang out of theundergrowth and fled away before his horse's hoofs. In the lonelywilderness, which nevertheless had little to offer to the hunter, birdschattered from every tree. Small streams flowed slowly between densewalls of bushes. Here and there in the protection of the thickets wildflowers were in early bloom. 

It was spring, fresh spring everywhere, but the bushes and the grassalike were tinged with red for Harry. The strange mental illusion thathe was riding to Chancellorsville remained with him and he did not seekto shake it off. He almost expected to see Old Jack ahead on a hill, bent over a little, and sitting on Little Sorrel, with the old slouch hatdrawn over his eyes. They had talked of the ghost of Jackson leadingthem in the Wilderness. He shivered. Could it be so? All the time heknew it was an illusion, but he permitted it to cast its spell over him, as one who dreams knowingly. 

And Harry was dreaming back. Old Jack, the earlier of his two heroes, was leading them. He foresaw the long march through the thickets of theWilderness, Stonewall forming the line of battle in the deep roads latein the evening, almost in sight of Hooker's camp, the sudden rush of hisbrigades and then the terrible battle far into the night. 

He shook himself. It was uncanny. The past was the past. Dreamswere thin and vanished stuff. Once more he was in the present and sawclearly. Old Jack was gone to take his place with the great heroes ofthe past, but the Army of Northern Virginia was there, with Lee leadingthem, and the most formidable of all the Northern chiefs with the mostformidable of all the Northern armies was before them. 

He heard the distant thud of hoofs and with instinctive caution drew backinto a dense clump of bushes. A half-dozen horsemen were near and theireager looks in every direction told Harry that they were scouts. Therewas little difference then between a well worn uniform of blue or gray, and they were very close before Harry was able to tell that they belongedto Grant's army. 

He was devoutly glad that his horse was trained thoroughly and stoodquite still while the Northern scouts passed. A movement of the busheswould have attracted their attention, and he did not wish to be capturedat any time, least of all on the certain eve of a great battle. After abattle he always felt an extra regret for those who had fallen, becausethey would never know whether they had won or lost. 

They were alert, keen and vigorous men, or lads rather, as young ashimself, and they rode as if they had been Southern youths almost bornin the saddle. Harry was not the only one to notice how the Northerncavalry under the whip hand of defeat had improved so fast that it wasnow a match, man for man, for that of the South. 

The young riders rode on and the tread of their hoofs died in theundergrowth. Then Harry emerged from his own kindly clump of bushes andincreased his speed, anxious to reach Ewell, without any more of thoseencounters. He made good progress through the thickets, and soon aftersundown saw a glow which he took to be that of campfires. He advancedcautiously, met the Southern sentinels and knew that he was right. 

The very first of these sentinels was an old soldier of Jackson, who knewhim well. 

"Mr. Kenton!" he exclaimed. 

"Yes, Thorn! It's you!" said Harry without hesitation. 

The soldier was pleased that he should be recognized thus in the dusk, and he was still more pleased when the young aide leaned down and shookhis hand. 

"I might have known, Thorn, that I'd find you here, rifle on your arm, watching, " he said. 

"Thank you, Mr. Kenton. You'll find the general over there on a log bythe fire. "

Harry dismounted, gave his horse to a soldier and walked into the glade. Ewell sat alone, his crutch under his arms, his one foot kicking back thecoals, his bald head a white disc in the glow. 

"General Ewell, sir, " said Harry. 

General Ewell turned about and when he saw Harry his face clearly showedgladness. He could not rise easily, but he stretched out a welcominghand. 

"Ah! Kenton, " he said, "you're a pleasant sight to tired eyes like mine. You bring back the glorious old days in the valley. So it's a messagefrom the commander-in-chief?"

"Yes, sir. Here it is. "

Ewell read it rapidly by the firelight and smiled. 

"He tells us we're nearest to the enemy, " he said, "and to hold fast, if we're attacked. You're to remain with us and report what happens, but doubtless you knew all this. "

"Yes, I had to commit it to memory before I started. "

"Then stay here with me. I may want to report to General Lee at anytime. The enemy is in our front only three or four miles away. He knowswe're here and it was a villainous surprise to him to find us in his way. They say this man Grant is a pounder. So is Lee, when the time comes topound, but he's that and far more. I tell you, young man, that GeneralLee has had to trim a lot of Northern generals. McClellan and Pope andBurnside and Hooker and Meade have been going to school to him, and nowGrant is qualifying for his class. "

"But Grant is a great general. So our men in the West themselves say. "

"He may be, but Lee is greater, greatest. And, Harry, you and I, whoknew him and loved him, wish that another who alone was fit to ride byhis side was here with him. "

"I wish it from the bottom of my heart, " said Harry. 

"Well, well, regrets are useless. Help me up, Harry. I'm only part of aman, but I can still fight. "

"We saw you do that at Gettysburg, " said Harry, as he put his arm underEwell's shoulder. Then Ewell took his crutch and they walked to the farside of the glade, where several officers of his staff gathered aroundhim. 

"Lieutenant Kenton, whom you all know, " said General Ewell, "has broughta message from the commander-in-chief that we will be attacked first, and to be on guard. We consider it an honor, do we not, my lads?"

"Yes, let them come, " they said. 

"Harry, you may want to see the enemy. Clayton, you and Campbell takehim forward through the pickets. But don't go too far. We don't wantto lose three perfectly good young officers before the battle begins. After that it may be your business to get yourselves shot. "

The two rode nearly two miles to the crest of a hill and then, usingtheir strong glasses in the moonlight, they were able to see the lightsof a vast camp. 

"We hear that it is Warren's corps, " said Clayton. "As General Ewelldoubtless has told you, the enemy know that we're in front, but I don'tbelieve they know our exact location. I believe we'll be in battle withthose men in the morning. "

Harry thought so too. In truth, it was inevitable. Warren would advanceand Ewell would stand in his way. Yet he slept soundly when he went backto camp, although he was awakened long before dawn the next day. Then heate breakfast, mounted and sat his horse not far away from Ewell, whomtwo soldiers had strapped into his saddle, and who was watching witheager eyes for the sunrise. 

Harry, listening intently, heard no sound in front of them, save the windrippling through the dwarfed forests of the Wilderness, and he knew thatno battle had yet begun elsewhere. Sound would come far on that placidMay morning, and it was a certainty that Ewell was nearest to contactwith the enemy. 

But Ewell did not yet move. All his men had been served with earlybreakfast, such as it was, and remained in silent masses, partly hiddenby the forest and thickets. The dawn was cold, and Harry felt a littlechill, but it soon passed, as the red edge of the sun showed over theeastern border of the Wilderness. Then the light spread toward thezenith, but the golden glow failed to penetrate the somber thickets. 

"It's going to be a good day, " said Harry to an aide. 

"A good day for a battle. "

"We'll hear from the Yankees soon. They can't fail to discover our exactlocation by sunrise, and they'll fight. Be sure of that. "

It was now nearly six o'clock, and General Ewell, growing impatient, rode forward a little. Harry followed with his staff. A half-dozenSouthern sharpshooters rose suddenly out of the thickets, and one of themdared to lay his hands on the reins of the general's horse. But Ewellwas not offended. He looked down at the man and said:

"What is it, Strother?"

"Riflemen of the enemy are not more than three or four hundred yardsaway. If you go much farther, General, they will certainly see you andfire upon you. "

"Thanks, Strother. So they've located us?"

"They're about to do it. They're feeling around. We've seen 'em in thebushes. We ask you not to go on, General. We wouldn't know what to dowithout you. There, sir! They're firing on our pickets!"

A half-dozen shots came from the front, and then a half-dozen or soin reply. Harry saw pink flashes, and then spirals of smoke rising. More shots were fired presently on their right, and then others on theirleft. The Northern riflemen were evidently on a long line, and intendedto make a thorough test of their enemy's strength. Harry had no doubtthat Shepard was there. He would surely come to the point where hisenemy was nearest, and his eyes and ears would be the keenest of all. 

The little skirmish continued for a few minutes, extending along awinding line of nearly a mile through the thickets. Only two or threewere wounded and nobody killed on the Southern side. Harry understoodthoroughly, as Ewell had said, that the sharpshooters of the enemy weremerely feeling for them. They wanted to know if a strong force was there, and now they knew. 

The firing ceased, not in dying shots, but abruptly. The Wilderness infront of them returned to silence, broken only by the rippling leaves. Harry knew that the Northern sharpshooters had discovered all they wanted, and were now returning to their leaders. 

Ewell turned his horse and rode back toward the main camp, his stafffollowing. The cooking fires had been put out, the lines were formedand every gun was in position. As little noise as possible was allowed, while they waited for Grant; not for Grant himself, but for one of hislieutenants, pushed forward by his master hand. 

Harry and most of the staff officers dismounted, holding their horses bythe bridle. The young lieutenant often searched the thickets with hisglasses, but he saw nothing. Nevertheless he knew that the enemy wouldcome. Grant having set out to find his foe, would never draw back whenhe found him. 

A much longer period of silence than he had expected passed. The sun, flaming red, was moving on toward the zenith, and no sounds of battlecame from either right or left. The suspense became acute, almostunbearable, and it was made all the more trying by the blindness of thatterrible forest. Harry felt at times as if he would rather fight in theopen fields; but he knew that his commander-in-chief was right when hedrew Grant into the shades of the Wilderness. 

When the suspense became so great that heavy weights seemed to bepressing upon his nerves, rifle shots were fired in front, andskirmishers uttered the long, shrill rebel yell. Then above both shotsand shouts rose the far, clear call of a bugle. 

"Here they come!" Harry heard Ewell say to himself, and the next momentthe sound of human voices was drowned in the thunder of great guns andthe crash of fifty thousand rifles. The battle was so sudden and thecharge so swift that it seemed to leap into full volume in an instant. Warren, a resolute and daring general, led the Northern column and itstruck with such weight and force that the Southern division was drivenback. Harry felt it yielding, as if the ground were sliding under hisfeet. 

There was so much flame and smoke that he could not see well, but thesensation of slipping was distinct. General Ewell was near him, shoutingorders. His hat had fallen off, and his round, bald head had turned red, either from the rush of blood or the cannon's glare. It shone like a reddome, but Harry knew that there was no better man in such a crisis thanthis veteran lieutenant of Stonewall Jackson. 

The Wilderness, usually so silent, was an inferno now. The battle, despite its tremendous beginning, increased in violence and fury. Although Grant himself was not there, the spirit that had animated himat Shiloh and Vicksburg was. He had communicated it to his generals, and Warren brought every ounce of his strength into action. The longline of his bayonets gleamed through the thickets and the Northernartillery, superb as usual, rained shells upon the Southern army. 

Ewell's men, fighting with all the courage and desperation that they hadshown on so many a field, were driven back further and further. Ewell, strapped in his saddle, flourishing his sword, his round, bald headglowing, rode among them, bidding them to stand, that help would sooncome. They continued to go backward, but those veterans of so manycampaigns never lost cohesion nor showed sign of panic. Their ownartillery and rifles replied in full volume. The heads of the chargingcolumns were blown away, but other men took their places, and Warren'sforce came on with undiminished fire and strength. 

Harry wondered if the attack at other points had been made with suchimpetuosity, but there was such a roar and crash about him that it wasimpossible to hear sounds of battle elsewhere. Men were falling veryfast, but the general was unharmed, and neither the young lieutenant norhis horse was touched. 

A sudden shout arose, and it was immediately followed by the piercingrebel yell, swelling wild and fierce above the tumult of the battle. Help was coming. Regiments in gray were charging down the paths and onthe left flank rose the thunder of hoofs as a formidable body of cavalryunder Sherburne, sabers aloft, swept down on the Northern flank. 

Ewell's entire division stopped its retreat and, reinforced by the newmen, charged directly upon the Northern bayonets. Men met almost face toface. The saplings and bushes were mown down by cannon and rifles andthe air was full of bursting shells. From time to time Ewell's menuttered their fierce, defiant yell, and with a great bound of the heartHarry saw that they were gaining. Warren was being driven back. Two ofhis cannon were captured already, and the Southern men, feeling the glowof the advance after retreat, charged again and again, reckless of death. But Harry soon saw that ultimate victory here would rest with the South. The troops of Warren, exhausted by their early rush, were driven fromone position to another by the seasoned veterans who faced them. TheConfederates retained the captured cannon and thrust harder and harder. It became obvious that Warren must soon fall back to the main Northernline, and though the battle was still raging with great fury Ewellbeckoned Harry to him. 

"Don't stay here any longer, " he shouted in his ear. "Ride to GeneralLee and tell him we're victorious at this point for the day at least!"

Harry saluted and galloped away through the thickets. Behind him thebattle still roared and thundered. A stray shell burst just in front ofhim, and another just behind him, but he and his horse were untouched. Once or twice he glanced back and it looked as if the Wilderness were onfire, but he knew that it was instead the blaze of battle. He saw alsothat Ewell was still moving forward, winning more ground, and his heartswelled with gladness. 

How proud Jackson would have been had he been able to see the valor andskill of his old lieutenant! Perhaps his ghost did really hover overthe Wilderness, where a year before he had fallen in the moment ofhis greatest triumph! Harry urged his horse into a gallop. All hisfaculties now became acute. He was beyond the zone of fire, but the roarof the battle behind him seemed as loud as ever. Yet it was steadilymoving back on the main Union lines, and there could be no doubt ofEwell's continued success. 

The curves of the low hills and the thick bushes hid everything fromHarry's sight, as he rode swiftly through the winding paths of theWilderness. When the tumult sank at last he heard a new thunder in frontof him, and now he knew that the Southern center under Hill had beenattacked also, and with the greatest fierceness. 

As Harry approached, the roar of the second battle became terrific. Uncertain where General Lee would now be, he rode through the sleet ofsteel, and found Hill engaged with the very flower of the Northern army. Hancock, the hero of Gettysburg, was making desperate exertions to crushhim, pouring in brigade after brigade, while Sheridan, regardless ofthickets, made charge after charge with his numerous cavalry. 

Harry remained in the rear on his horse, watching this furious struggle. The day had become much darker, either from clouds or the vast volume ofsmoke, and the thickets were so dense that the officers often could notsee their enemy at all, only their own men who stood close to them. The struggle was vast, confused, carried on under appalling conditions. The charging horsemen were sometimes swept from the saddle by bushes andnot by bullets. Infantrymen stepped into a dark ooze left by springrains, and pulling themselves out, charged, black to the waist with mud. Sometimes the field pieces became mired, and men and horses togetherdragged them to firmer ground. 

Grant here, as before Ewell, continually reinforced his veterans, butHill, although he was not able to advance, held fast. The difficultnature of the ground that Lee had chosen helped him. In marsh andthickets it was impossible for the more numerous enemy to outflank him. Harry saw Hill twice, a slender man, who had suffered severe wounds butone of the greatest fighters in the Southern army. He had been orderedto hold the center, and Harry knew now that he would do it, for the dayat least. Night was not very far away, and Grant was making no progress. 

He rode on in search of Lee and before he was yet beyond the range offire he met Dalton, mounted and emerging from the smoke. 

"The commander-in-chief, where is he?" asked Harry. 

"On a little hill not far from here, watching the battle. I'm justreturning with a dispatch from Hill. "

"I saw that Hill was holding his ground. "

"So my dispatch says, and it says also that he will continue to hold it. You come from Ewell?"

"Yes, and he has done more than stand fast. He was driven back at first, but when reinforcements came he drove Warren back in his turn, and tookguns and prisoners. "

"The chief will be glad to hear it. We'll ride together. Look out foryour horse! He may go knee deep into mire at any time. Harry, theWilderness looks even more somber to me than it did a year ago when wefought Chancellorsville. "

"I feel the same way about it. But see, George, how they're fighting!General Hill is making a great resistance!"

"Never better. But if you look over those low bushes you can see GeneralLee on the hill. "

Harry made out the figure of Lee on Traveller, outlined against the sky, with about a dozen men sitting on their horses behind him. He hurriedforward as fast as he could. The commander-in-chief was reading adispatch, while the fierce struggle in the thickets was going on, butwhen Harry saluted and Marshall told him that he had come to report thegeneral put away the dispatch and said:

"What news from General Ewell?"

"General Ewell was at first borne back by the enemy's numbers, but whenhelp came he returned to the charge, and has been victorious. He hasgained much ground. "

A gleam of triumph shot from Lee's eyes, usually so calm. 

"Well done, Ewell!" he said. "The loss of a leg has not dimmed his ardoror judgment. I truly believe that if he were to lose the other one alsohe would still have himself strapped into the saddle and lead his men tovictory. We thank you for the news you have brought, Lieutenant Kenton. "

He put his glasses to his eyes and Harry and Dalton as usual withdrew tothe rear of the staff. But they used their glasses also, bringing nearerto them the different phases of the battle, which now raged throughthe Wilderness. They saw at some points the continuous blaze of guns, and the acrid powder smoke, lying low, was floating through all thethickets. 

But Harry now knew that the combat, however violent and fierce, was onlya prelude. The sun was already setting, and they could not fight atnight in those wild thickets, where men and guns would become miredand tangled beyond extrication. The great struggle, with both leadershurling in their full forces, would come on the morrow. 

The sun already hung very low, and in the twilight and smoke the savageryof the Wilderness became fiercer than ever. The dusk gathered around Lee, but his erect figure and white horse still showed distinctly through it. Harry, his spirit touched by the tremendous scenes in the very centerof which he stood, regarded him with a fresh measure of respect andadmiration. He was the bulwark of the Confederacy, and he did not doubtthat on the morrow he would stop Grant as he had stopped the others. 

The darkness increased, sweeping down like a great black pall over theWilderness. The battle in the center and on the left died. Lee and hisstaff dismounting, prepared for the labors of the night. 

CHAPTER XV

THE WILDERNESS

When night settled down over the Wilderness the two armies lay almostface to face on a long line. The preliminary battle, on the whole, had favored the Confederacy. Hill had held his ground and Ewell hadgained, but Grant had immense forces, and, though naturally kind of heart, he had made up his mind to strike and keep on striking, no matter whatthe loss. He could afford to lose two men where the Confederacy lost one. 

Harry, like many others, felt that this would be the great Northerngeneral's plan. To-morrow's battle might end in Southern success, but Grant would be there to fight the following day with undiminishedresolution. He was as sure of this as he was sure that the day wouldcome. 

The night itself was somber and sinister, the heavens dusky and a rawchill in the air. Heavy vapors rose from the marshes, and clouds ofsmoke from the afternoon's battle floated about over the thickets, poisoning the air as if with gas, and making the men cough as theybreathed it. It made Harry's heart beat harder than usual, and his headfelt as if it were swollen. Everything seemed clothed in a black mistwith a slightly reddish tint. 

A small fire had been built in a sheltered place for the commander-in-chief and his staff, and the cooks were preparing the supper, which wasof the simplest kind. While they ate the food and drank their coffee, the darkness increased, with the faint lights of other fires showing hereand there through it. Around the muddy places frogs croaked in defianceof armies, and, from distant points, came the crackling fire ofskirmishers prowling in the dusk. 

Harry's horse, saddled and bridled, was tied to a bush not far away. He knew that it was to be no night of rest for him, or any other memberof the staff. Lee would be sending messages continually. Longstreet, although he had been marching hard, was not yet up on the right, and heand his veterans must be present when the shock of Grant's mighty attackcame in the morning. 

Hill, thin and pale, yet suffering from the effects of his wounds, but burning as usual with the fire of battle, rode up and consulted longand earnestly with Lee. Presently he went back to his own place nearerthe center, and then Lee began to send away his staff one by one withmessages. Harry was among the last to go, but he bore a dispatch toLongstreet. 

He had heard that Longstreet had criticized Lee for ordering Pickett'sfamous charge at Gettysburg, but if so, Lee had taken no notice of it, and Longstreet had proved himself the same stalwart fighter as of old. He and the prompt arrival of his veterans had enabled Bragg to winChickamauga, and it was not Longstreet's fault that the advantage gainedthere was lost afterward. Now Harry knew that he would be up in timewith his seasoned veterans. 

As the young lieutenant rode away he saw General Lee walking back andforth before the low fire, his hands clasped behind him, and his eyesas serious as those of any human being could be. Harry appreciated theimmensity of his task, and in his heart was a sincere pity for the manwho bore so great a burden. He was familiar with the statement that toLee had been offered the command of the Northern armies at the beginningof the war, but believing his first duty was to his State he had gonewith Virginia when Virginia reluctantly went out of the Union. Truly noone could regret the war more than he, and yet he had struck giant blowsfor its success. 

A moment more and the tall figure standing beside the low fire waslost to sight. Then Harry rode among the thickets in the rear of theConfederate line and it was a weird and ghastly ride. Now and then hishorse's feet sank in mud, and the frogs still dared to croak around thepools, making on such a night the most ominous of all sounds. It seemeda sort of funeral dirge for both North and South, a croak telling of theruin and death that were to come on the morrow. 

Damp boughs swept across his face, and the vapors, rising from the earthand mingled with the battle smoke, were still bitter to the tongue andpoisonous to the breath. Rotten logs crushed beneath his horse's feetand Harry felt a shiver as if the hoofs had cut through a body of thedead. Riflemen rose out of the thickets, but he always gave them thepassword, and rode on without stopping. 

Then came a space where he met no human being, the gap between Hill andLongstreet, and now the Wilderness became incredibly lonely and dreary. Harry felt that if ever a region was haunted by ghosts it was this. The dead of last year's battle might be lying everywhere, and as thebreeze sprang up the melancholy thickets waved over them. 

He was two-thirds of the way toward the point where he expected to findLongstreet when he heard the sough of a hoof in the mud behind him. 

Harry listened and hearing the hoof again he was instantly on his guard. He did not know it, but the character of the night and the wild aspect ofthe Wilderness were bringing out all the primeval and elemental qualitiesin his nature. He was the great borderer, Henry Ware, in the Indian-haunted forest, feeling with a sixth sense, even a seventh sense, thepresence of danger. 

He was following a path, scarcely traceable, used by charcoal burners andwood-cutters, but when he heard the hoof a second time he turned asideinto the deepest of the thickets and halted there. The hoofbeat came athird time, a little nearer, and then no more. Evidently the horsemanbehind him knew that he had turned aside, and was waiting and watching. He was surely an enemy of great skill and boldness, and it was equallysure that he was Shepard. Harry never felt a doubt that he was pursuedby the formidable Union spy, and he felt too that he had never been ingreater danger, as Shepard at such a moment would not spare his bestfriend. 

But he was not afraid. Danger had become so common that one looked uponit merely as a risk. Moreover, he was never cooler or more ample ofresource. He dismounted softly, standing beside his horse's head, holding the reins with one hand and a heavy pistol with the other. He suspected that Shepard would do the same, but he believed that hiseyes and ears were the keener. The man must have been inside theConfederate lines all the afternoon. Probably he had seen Harry ridingaway, and, deftly appropriating a horse, had followed him. There wasno end to Shepard's ingenuity and daring. 

Harry's horse was trained to stand still indefinitely, and the young man, with the heavy pistol, who held the reins was also immovable. Thesilence about him was so deep that Harry could hear the frogs croakingat a distant pool. 

He waited a full five minutes, and now, like the wild animals, he reliedmore upon ear than eye. He had learned the faculty of concentration andhe bent all his powers upon his hearing. Not the slightest sound couldescape the tightly drawn drums of his ears. 

He was motionless a full ten minutes. Nor did the horse beside him stir. It was a test of human endurance, the capacity to keep himself absolutelysilent, but with every nerve attuned, while he waited for an invisibledanger. And those minutes were precious, too. The value of not a singleone of them could have been measured or weighed. It was his duty toreach Longstreet at speed, because the general and his veterans must bein line in the morning, when the battle was joined. Yet the incessantduel between Shepard and himself was at its height again, and he did notyet see how he could end it. 

Harry felt that it must be essentially a struggle of patience, but whenhe waited a few minutes longer, the idea to wait with ears close to theearth, one of the oldest devices of primitive man, occurred to him. It was fairly dry in the bushes, and he lay down, pressing his ear to thesoil. Then he heard a faint sound, as if some one crawling through thegrass, like a wild animal stalking its prey. It was Shepard, of course, and then Harry planned his campaign. Shepard had left his horse, and wasendeavoring to reach him by stealth. 

Leaving his own horse, he crept a little to the right, and then risingcarefully in another thicket he picked out every dark spot in the gloom. He made out presently the figure of a riderless horse, standing partlybehind the trunk of an oak, larger than most of those that grew in theWilderness. 

Harry knew that it was Shepard's mount and that Shepard himself was somedistance in front of it creeping toward the thicket which he supposedsheltered his foe. There was barely enough light for Harry to see thehorse's head and regretfully he raised his heavy pistol. But it had tobe done, and when his aim was true he pulled the trigger. 

The report of the pistol was almost like the roar of a cannon in thedesolate Wilderness and made Harry himself jump. Then he promptly threwhimself flat upon his face. Shepard's answering fire came from a pointabout thirty yards in front of the horse, and the bullet passed veryclose over Harry's head. It was a marvelous shot to be made merely atthe place from which a sound had come. It all passed in a flash, andthe next moment Harry heard the sound of a horse falling and kicking alittle. Then it too was still. 

He remained only a half minute in the grass. Then he began to creep back, curving a little in his course, toward his own horse. He did not believethat Shepard's faculty of hearing was as keen as his own, and he movedwith the greatest deftness. He relied upon the fact that Shepard had notyet located the horse, and if Harry could reach it quickly it would notbe hard for him, a mounted man, to leave behind Shepard, dismounted. It might be possible, too, that Shepard had gone back to see about hisown horse, not knowing that it was slain. 

He saw the dusky outline of his horse, and, rising, made two or threejumps. Then he snatched the rein loose, sprang upon his back, and lyingdown upon his neck to avoid bullets, crashed away, reckless of bushes andbriars. He heard one bullet flying near him, but he laughed in delightand relief as his horse sped on toward Longstreet. 

He did not diminish his speed until he had gone two or three miles, and then, knowing that Shepard had been left hopelessly behind, evenif he had attempted pursuit, he brought his horse down to a walk, andlaughed. There was a bit of nervous excitement in the laugh. He hadoutwitted Shepard again. He had never seen the man, but it did not enterhis mind that it was not he. Each had scored largely over the other fromtime to time, but Harry believed that he was at least even. 

He steadied his nerves now and rode calmly toward Longstreet, coming soonupon his scouts, who informed him that the heavy columns were not farbehind, marching with stalwart step to their appointed place in the line. But it was Harry's business to see Longstreet himself, and he continuedhis way toward the center of the division, where they told him thegeneral could be found. 

He rode forward and in the moonlight recognized Longstreet at once, a heavy-set, bearded man, mounted on a strong bay horse. He had a verysmall staff, and he was first to notice the young lieutenant advancing. He knew Harry well, having seen him with Lee at Gettysburg and withJackson before. He stopped and said abruptly:

"You come from the commander-in-chief, do you not?"

"Yes, sir, " replied Harry, "and I've been coming as fast as I could. "

He did not deem it necessary to say anything about his encounter withShepard. 

"There has been heavy fighting. What are his orders?"

Harry told him, also giving him a written message, which the general readby the light of a torch an aide held. 

"You can tell General Lee that all my men will be in position for battlebefore dawn, " said the Georgian crisply. 

Even as he spoke, Harry heard the heavy, regular tread of the brigadesmarching forward through the Wilderness. He saluted General Longstreet. 

"I shall return at once with your message, " he said. 

But Harry, having had one such experience, was resolved not to riskanother. He would make a wider circuit in the rear of the army. Shepard, on foot, and anxious to avenge his defeat, might be waiting for him, but he would go around him. So when he started back he made a wide curve, and soon was in the darkness and silence again. 

He had a good horse and his idea of direction being very clear he rodeswiftly in the direction he had chosen. But his curve was so great thatwhen he reached the center of it he was so far in the rear of the armythat no sound came from it. If the skirmishers were still firing thereports of their rifles were lost in the distance. Where he rode theonly noises were those made by the wild animals that inhabited theWilderness, creatures that had settled back into their usual haunts afterthe armies had passed beyond. 

Once a startled deer sprang from a clump of bushes and crashed awaythrough the thickets. Rabbits darted from his path, and an owl, wondering what all the disturbance was about, hooted mournfully from abough. 

Long before dawn Harry reached the Southern sentinels in the center andwas then passed to General Lee, who remained at the same camp, sitting ona log by some smothered coals. Several other members of his staff hadreturned already, and the general, looking up when Harry came forward, merely said:

"Well!"

"I have seen General Longstreet, sir, " said Harry, "and he bids me tellyou that he and his men will be in position before dawn. He was nearlyup when I left, and he has also sent you this note. "

He handed the note to General Lee, who, bending low over the coals, read it. 

"Everything goes well, " he said with satisfaction. "We shall be readyfor them. What time is it, Peyton?"

"Five minutes past four o'clock, sir. "

"Then I think the attack should come within an hour. "

"Perhaps before daybreak, sir. "

"Perhaps. And even after the sun begins to rise it will be like twilightin this gloomy place. "

Grant, in truth, prompt and ready as always, had ordered the advance tobe begun at half-past four, but Meade, asking more time for arrangementsand requesting that it be delayed until six, he had consented to apostponement until five o'clock and no more. 

Harry had one more message to carry, a short distance only, and on hisreturn he found the Invincibles posted on the commander-in-chief's right, and not more than two hundred yards away. 

"You must be a body guard for the general, " he said to Colonel LeonidasTalbot. 

"There could be no greater honor for the Invincibles, nor could GeneralLee have a better guard. "

"I'm sure of that, sir. "

"What's happening, Harry? Tell us what's been going on in the night!"

"Our line of battle has been formed. General Longstreet and his men onthe right are soon to be in touch with General Hill. I returned from hima little while ago. I can't yet smell the dawn, but I think the battlewill come before then. "

Harry rode back and resumed his place beside Dalton. The troopseverywhere were on their feet, cannon and rifles ready, because it was acertainty that the two armies would meet very early. 

In fact, the Army of Northern Virginia began to slide slowly forward. It was not the habit of these troops to await attack. Lee nearly alwayshad taken the offensive, and the motion of his men was involuntary. They felt that the enemy was there and they must go to meet him. 

"What time is it now?" whispered Dalton. 

Harry was barely able to discern the face of his watch. 

"Ten minutes to five, " he replied. 

"And the dawn comes early. It won't be long before Grant comes pokinghis nose through the Wilderness. "

Harry was silent. A few minutes more, and there was a sudden crackle ofrifles in front of them. 

"The dawn isn't here, but Grant is, " said Harry. 

The crackling fire doubled and tripled, and then the fire of the Southernrifles replied in heavy volume. The lighter field guns opened with acrash, and the heavier batteries followed with rolling thunder. Leavesand twigs fell in showers, and men fell with them. The deep Northerncheer swelled through the Wilderness and the fierce rebel yell replied. 

Gray dawn, rising as if with effort, over the sodden Wilderness found twohundred thousand men locked fast in battle. It might have been a brightsun elsewhere, but not here among the gloomy shades and the pine barrens. The firing was already so tremendous that the smoke hung low and thick, directly over the tops of the bushes, and the men, as they fought, breathed mixed and frightful vapors. 

Both sides fought for a long time in a heavy, smoky dusk, that waspractically night. Officers coming from far points, led, compass in hand, having no other guide save the roar of battle. As the Southern leadershad foreseen, Grant was throwing in the full strength of his powerfularmy, hoping with superior numbers and better equipment to crush Leeutterly that day. 

The great Northern artillery was raking the whole Southern front. Hancock, the superb, was hurling the heavy Northern masses directly uponthe main position of the South. He had half the Army of the Potomac, and at other points Warren, Wadsworth, Sedgwick and Burnside wereadvancing with equal energy and contempt of death. Fiercer and fiercergrew the conflict. Hancock, remembering how he had held the fatal hillat Gettysburg, and resolved to win a complete victory now, poured inregiment after regiment. But in all the fire and smoke and excitementand danger he did not neglect to keep a cool head. Hearing that aportion of Longstreet's corps was near, he sent a division and numerousheavy artillery to attack it, driving it back after a sanguinary struggleof more than an hour. 

Then he redoubled his attack upon the Southern center, compelling it togive ground, though slowly. Harry felt that gliding movement backwardand a chill ran through his blood. The heavy masses of Grant and hispowerful artillery were prevailing. The strongest portion of theSouthern army was being forced back, and a gap was cut between Hill andLongstreet. Had Hancock perceived the gap that he had made he might havesevered the Southern army, inflicting irretrievable retreat, but thesmoke and the dusk of the Wilderness hid it, and the moment passed intoone of the great "Ifs" of history. 

Harry, on horseback, witnessed this conflict, all the more terriblebecause of the theater in which it was fought. The batteries and theriflemen alike were frequently hidden by the thickets. The great banksof smoke hung low, only to be split apart incessantly by the flashes offire from the big guns. But the bullets were more dangerous than thecannon balls and shells. They whistled and shrieked in thousands andcountless thousands. 

Lee sat on his horse impassive, watching as well as he could the tide ofbattle. Messengers covered with smoke and sweat had informed him of thegap between Hill and Longstreet, and he was dispatching fresh troops toclose it up. Harry saw the Invincibles march by. The two colonels attheir head beheld Lee on his white horse, and their swords flew fromtheir scabbards as they made a salute in perfect unison. Close behindthem rode St. Clair and Happy Tom, and they too saluted in like manner. Lee took off his hat in reply and Harry choked. "About to die, we salutethee, " he murmured under his breath. 

Then with a shout the Invincibles, their officers at their head, plungedinto the fire and smoke, and were lost from Harry's view. But he couldnot stay there long and wonder at their fate. In a few minutes he wasriding to Longstreet with a message for him to bear steadily toward Hill, that the gap might be closed entirely, and as soon as possible. 

He galloped behind the lines, but bullets fell all around him, and oftena shell tore the earth. The air had become more bitter and poisonous. Fumes from swamps seemed to mingle with the smoke and odors of burnedgunpowder. His lips and his tongue were scorched. But he kept on, without exhaustion or mishap, and reached Longstreet, who had divined hismessage. 

"The line will be solid in a few minutes, " he said, and while the battlewas still at its height on the long front he touched hands with Hill. Then both drove forward with all their might against Hancock, rushing tothe charge, with the Southern fire and recklessness of death that hadproved irresistible on so many fields. The advance, despite the mostdesperate efforts of Hancock and his generals, was stopped. Then he wasdriven back. All the ground gained at so much cost was lost and theSouthern troops, shouting in exultation, pushed on, pouring in a terriblerifle fire. Longstreet, in his eagerness, rode a little ahead of histroops to see the result. Turning back, he was mistaken in the smokeby his own men for a Northern cavalryman, and they fired upon him, justas Jackson had been shot down by his own troops in the dusk atChancellorsville. 

The leader fell from his horse, wounded severely, and the troopsadvancing to victory became confused. The rumor spread that Longstreethad been killed. There was no one to give orders, and the chargestopped. Harry and a half-dozen others who had seen the accident orheard of it, galloped to Lee, who at once rode into the very thick of thecommand, giving personal orders and sending his aides right and left withothers. The whole division was reformed under his eye, and he sent itanew to the attack. 

The battle now closed in with the full strength of both armies. Hancockstrove to keep his place. The valiant Wadsworth had been killed already. The dense thickets largely nullified Grant's superior numbers. Leepoured everything on Hancock, who was driven from every position. Fighting furiously behind a breastwork built the night before, he wasdriven from that too. 

Often in the dense shades the soldiers met one another face to face andfurious struggles hand-to-hand ensued. Bushes and trees, set on fire bythe shells, burned slowly like torches put there to light up the ghastlyscene of man's bravery and folly. Jenkins, a Confederate general, was killed and colonels and majors fell by the dozen. But neither sidewould yield, and Grant hurried help to his hard-pressed troops. 

Harry had been grazed on the shoulder by a bullet, but his horse wasunharmed, and he kept close to Lee, who continued to direct the battlepersonally. He knew that they were advancing. Once more the genius ofthe great Confederate leader was triumphing. Grant, the redoubtable andtenacious, despite his numbers, could set no trap for him! Instead hehad been drawn into battle on a field of Lee's own choosing. 

The conflict had now continued for a long time, and was terrible in allits aspects. It was far past noon, and for miles a dense cloud of smokehung over the Wilderness, which was filled with the roar of cannon, the crash of rifles and the shouts of two hundred thousand men in deadlyconflict. The first meeting of the two great protagonists of the war, Lee and Grant, was sanguinary and terrible, beyond all expectation. 

Hundreds fell dead, their bodies lying hidden under the thickets. The forest burned fiercely here and there, casting circles of lurid lightover the combatants, while the wind rained down charred leaves and twigs. The fires spread and joined, and at points swept wide areas of the forest, yet the fury of the battle was not diminished, the two armies forgettingeverything else in their desire to crush each other. 

Harry's horse was killed, as he sat near Lee, but he quickly obtainedanother, and not long afterward he was sent with a second message toEwell. He rode on a long battle front, not far behind the lines, and heshuddered with awe as he looked upon the titanic struggle. The smokewas often so heavy and the bushes so thick that he could not see thecombatants, except when the flame of the firing or the burning treeslighted up a segment of the circle. 

Halfway to Ewell and he stopped when he saw two familiar figures, sittingon a log. They were elderly men in uniforms riddled by bullets. Theright arm of one and the left leg of the other were tightly bandaged. Their faces were very white and it was obvious that they were sittingthere, because they were not strong enough to stand. 

Harry stopped. No message, no matter how important, could have kept himfrom stopping. 

"Colonel Talbot! Colonel St. Hilaire!" he cried. 

"Yes, here we are, Harry, " replied Colonel Leonidas Talbot in a voice, thin but full of courage. "Hector has been shot through the leg and haslost much blood, but I have bound up his wound, and he has done as muchfor my arm, which has been bored through from side to side by a bullet, which must have been as large as my fist. "

"And so for a few minutes, " said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, valiantly, "we must let General Lee conduct the victory alone. "

"And the Invincibles!" exclaimed Harry, horrified. "Are they all gonebut you?"

"Not at all, " replied Colonel Talbot. "There is so much smoke about thatyou can't see much, but if it clears a little you will behold LieutenantSt. Clair and the youth rightly called Happy Tom and some three scoreothers, lying among the bushes, not far ahead of you, giving thoroughattention to the enemy. "

"And is that all that's left of the Invincibles?"

"It's a wonder that they're so many. You were right about this man, Grant, Harry. He's a fighter, and their artillery is numerous andwonderful. John Carrington himself must be in front of us. We have notseen him, but the circumstantial evidence is conclusive. Nobody else inthe world could have swept this portion of the Wilderness with shell andshrapnel in such a manner. Why, he has mowed down the bushes in longswathes as the scythe takes the grass and he has cut down our men withthem. How does the battle go elsewhere?"

"We're succeeding. We're driving 'em back. I can stop only a momentnow. I'm on my way to General Ewell. "

"Then hurry. Don't be worried about us. I'll help Hector and Hectorwill help me. And do you curve further to the rear, Harry. The worstthing that a dispatch bearer can do is to get himself shot. "

Waving his hand in farewell Harry galloped away. He knew that ColonelTalbot had given him sound advice, and he bore back from the front, coming once more into lonely thickets, although the flash of the battlewas plainly visible in front of him, and its roar filled his ears. Yet when he rode alone he almost expected to see Shepard rise up beforehim, and bid him halt. His encounters with this man had been undersuch startling circumstances that it now seemed the rule, and not theexception, for him to appear at any moment. 

But Shepard did not come. Instead Harry began to see the badly woundedof his own side drifting to the rear, helping one another as hurtsoldiers learn to do. Two of them he allowed to hang on his stirrups alittle while. 

"They're fighting hard, " said one, a long, gaunt Texan, "an' they're somany they might lap roun' us. This man of theirs, Grant, ain't much of afellow to get scared, but I guess Marse Bob will take care of him just ezhe has took care of the others who came into Virginia. "

"They're led in the main attack by Hancock, " said the other, a Virginian. "I caught a glimpse of him through the smoke, just as I had a view of himfor a minute back there by the clump of trees on the ridge at Gettysburg. "

"Are you one of Pickett's men?" asked Harry. 

"I am, sir, one of the few that's left. I went clear to the clump oftrees and how I got back I've never known. It was a sort of red dream, in which I couldn't pick out anything in particular, but I was back withthe army, carrying three bullets that the doctors took away from me, and here I've gathered up two more they'll rob me of in just the sameway. "

He spoke quite cheerfully, and when Harry, curving again, was compelledto release them, both, although badly wounded, wished him good luck. 

He found General Ewell in front, stamping back and forth on his crutches, watching the battle with excitement. 

"And so you're here again, Harry. Well it's good news at present!"he cried. "It seems that their man, Grant, is going to school to Leejust like the others. "

"But some pupils learn too fast, sir!"

"That's so, but, Harry, I wish I could see more of the field. Aninvisible battle like this shakes my nerves. Batteries that we can't seesend tornadoes of shot and shell among us. Riflemen, by the thousands, hidden in the thickets rain bullets into our ranks. It's inhuman, wicked, and our only salvation lies in the fact that it's as bad for them as itis for us. If we can't see them they can't see us. "

"You can hold your ground here?"

"Against anything and everything. Tell General Lee that we intend to eatour suppers on the enemy's ground. "

"That's all he wants to know. "

As Harry rode back he saw that the first fires were spreading, passingover new portions of the battlefield. Sparks flew in myriads and fine, thin ashes were mingled with the powder smoke. The small trees, burntthrough, fell with a crash, and the flames ran as if they were alive upboughs. Other trees fell too, cut through by cannon balls, and some wereactually mown down by sheets of bullets, as if they had been grass. 

His way now led through human wreckage, made all the more appalling by anapproaching twilight, heavy with fumes and smoke, and reddened with thecannon and rifle blaze. His frightened horse pulled wildly at the bit, and tried to run away, but Harry held him to the path, although hestepped more than once in hot ashes and sprang wildly. The dead werethick too and Harry was in horror lest the hoof of his horse be plantedupon some unheeding face. 

He knew that the day was waning fast and that the dark was due in somedegree to the setting sun, and not wholly to the smoke and ashes. Yet the fury of the battle was sustained. The southern left maintainedthe ground that it had gained, and in the center and right it could notbe driven back. It became obvious to Grant that Lee was not to be beatenin the Wilderness. His advance suffered from all kinds of disadvantages. In the swamps and thickets he could mass neither his guns nor his cannon. Communications were broken, the telegraph wires could be used but littleand as the twilight darkened to night he let the attack die. 

Harry was back with the commander-in-chief, when the great battle of theWilderness, one of the fiercest ever fought, sank under cover of thenight. It was not open and spectacular like Gettysburg, but it had agloomy and savage grandeur all its own. Grant had learned, like theothers before him, that he could not drive headlong over Lee, but sittingin silence by his campfire, chewing his cigar, he had no thought, unlikethe others, of turning back. Nearly twenty thousand of his men hadfallen, but huge resources and a President who supported him absolutelywere behind him and he was merely planning a new method of attack. 

In the Southern camp there was exultation, but it was qualified andrather grim. These men, veterans of many battles and able to judge forthemselves, believed that they had won the victory, but they knew that itwas by no means decisive. The numerous foe with his powerful artillerywas still before them. They could see his campfires shining throughthe thickets, and their spies told them that, despite his great losses, there was no sign of retreat in Grant's camp. 

An appalling night settled down on the Wilderness. The North AmericanContinent never saw one more savage and terrible. Twenty thousandwounded were scattered through the thickets and dense shades, andspreading fires soon brought death to many whom the bullets had notkilled at once. The smoke, the mists and vapors gathered into one densecloud, that hung low and made everything clammy to the touch. 

Lee stood under the boughs of an oak, and ate food that had been preparedfor him hastily. But, as Harry saw, the act was purely mechanical. He was watching as well as he could what was going on in front, and hewas giving orders in turns to his aides. Harry's time had not yet come, and he kept his eyes on his chief. 

There was no exultation in the face of Lee. He had drawn Grant into theWilderness and then he had held him fast in a battle of uncommon size andfierceness. But nothing was decided. He had studied the career of Grant, and he knew that he had a foe of great qualities with whom to deal. He would have to fight him again, and fight very soon. He heard too witha sorrow, hard to conceal, the reports of his own losses. They wereheavy enough and the gaps now made could never be refilled. The Army ofNorthern Virginia, which had been such a powerful instrument in his hands, must fight with ever diminishing numbers. 

Harry was sent to inquire into the condition of Longstreet, whom he foundweak physically and suffering much pain. But the veteran was upborne bythe success of the day and his belief in ultimate victory. He bade Harrytell the commander-in-chief that his men were fit to fight again andbetter than ever, at the first shoot of dawn. 

Harry rode back in the night, the burning trees serving him for torches. Nearly all the soldiers were busy. Some were gathering up the woundedand others were building breastworks. His eyes were reddened by thepowder-smoke, and often the heavy black masses of vapor were impenetrable, save where the forest burned. Now he came to a region where the dead andwounded were so thick that he dismounted and led his horse, lest a hoofbe planted upon any one of them. But he noticed that here as in otherbattles the wounded made but little complaint. They suffered in silence, waiting for their comrades to take them away. 

Then he passed around a section of forest that was burning fiercely. Here Southern and Union soldiers had met on terms of peace and weremaking desperate efforts to save their helpless comrades. Harry wouldhave been glad to give aid himself, but he was too well trained now toturn aside when he rode for Lee. 

He saw many dark figures passing before the flaming background, and ashe walked more slowly than he thought, he saw one that looked remarkablyfamiliar to him. It was impossible to see the face, but he knew thewalk and the lift of the shoulders. Discipline gave way to impulse now, and he ran forward crying:

"Dick! Dick!"

Dick Mason, who had just dragged a wounded man beyond the range of theflames, turned at the sound of the voice. Even had Harry seen his faceat first he would not have known him nor would Dick have known Harry. Both were black with ashes, smoke and burned gunpowder. But Dick knewthe voice in an instant. Once more were the two cousins to meet in peaceon an unfinished battlefield. 

Each driven by the same impulse stepped forward, and their hands met inthe strong grasp of blood kindred and friendship, which war itself couldnot sever. 

"You're alive, Harry!" said Dick. "It seems almost impossible after whathas happened to-day. "

"And you too are all right. Not harmed, I see, though your face is anAfrican black. "

"I should call your own color dark and smoky. "

"I wasn't sure that you were in the East. When did you come?"

"With General Grant, and I knew that you were on General Lee's staff. I've a message to give him by you. Oh! you needn't laugh. It's a goodstraight talk. "

"Go ahead then and say it to me. "

"You say to General Lee that it's all over. Tell him to quit and sendhis soldiers home. If he doesn't he'll be crushed. "

Harry laughed again and waved his finger at the somber battlefield, upon which he stood. 

"Does this look like it?" he asked. "We're farther forward to-night thanwe were this morning. Wouldn't General Grant be glad if he could say asmuch?"

"It makes no difference. I know you don't believe me, but it's so. The North is prepared as it never was before. And Grant will hammer andhammer forever. We know what a man Lee is. The whole North admits it, but I tell you the sun of the South is setting. "

"You're growing poetical and poetry is no argument. "

"But unlimited men, unlimited cannon and rifles, unlimited ammunition andsupplies and a general who is willing to use them, are. Of course I knowthat you can't carry any such message to General Lee, but I feel it to bethe truth. "

"We've a great general and a great army that say, no. "

Nobody paid any attention to the two. It was merely another one of thoseoccasions when men of the opposing sides stood together amid the dead andwounded, and talked in friendly fashion. But Harry knew that he couldnot delay long. 

"I've got to go, Dick, " he said. "And I've a message too, one that Iwant you to deliver to General Grant. "

"What is it?"

"Tell him that we've more than held our own to-day, and that we'll thrashhim like thunder to-morrow, and whenever and wherever he may choose, no matter what the odds are against us. "

Dick laughed. 

"I see that you won't believe even a little bit of what I tell you, "he said "and maybe if I were in your place I wouldn't either. But it'strue all the same. Good-by, Harry. "

The two hands, covered with battle grime, met again in the strong graspof blood kindred and friendship. 

"Take care of yourself, old man!"

The words, exactly alike, were uttered by the two simultaneously. 

Both were stirred deeply. Harry sprang on his horse, looked back once, waving his hand, and rode rapidly to General Lee. Later in the night, he received permission to hunt up the Invincibles, his heart full of fearthat they had perished utterly in the gloomy pit called the Wilderness, lit now only by the fire of death. 

He left his horse with an orderly and walked toward the point where hehad last seen them. He passed thousands of soldiers, many wounded, but silent as usual, while the unhurt were sleeping where they haddropped. The Invincibles were not at the point where he had seen themlast, and the colonels of several scattered regiments could not tell himwhat had become of them. But he continued to seek them although the fearwas growing in his heart that the last man of the Invincibles had diedunder the Northern cannon. 

His search led toward the enemy's lines. Almost unconsciously he went inthat direction, however, his knowledge of the two colonels telling himthat they would take the same course. He turned into a little cove, partly sheltered by the dwarfed trees and he heard a thin voice saying:

"Nonsense, Leonidas. I scarcely felt it, but yours, old friend, ispretty bad. You must let me attend to it. Keep still! I'll adjust thebandage. "

"Hector, why do you make a fuss over me, when I'm only slightly hurt, and sacrifice yourself, a severely injured man!"

"With all due respect you'd better let me attend to you both, " said avoice that Harry recognized as St. Clair's. 

"And maybe I could help a little, " said another that he knew to be HappyTom's. But their voices, like those of the colonels, were weak. Stillhe had positive proof that they were alive, and, as his heart gave ajoyful throb or two, he stepped into the glade. There was enough lightfor him to see Colonel Leonidas Talbot, and Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire, sitting side by side on the grass with their backs againstthe earthly wall, very pale from loss of blood, but with heads erect andeyes shining with a certain pride. St. Clair and Langdon lay on thegrass, one with an old handkerchief, blood-soaked, bound about his headand the other with a bandage tightly fastened over his left shoulder. Beyond them lay a group of soldiers. 

"Good evening, heroes!" said Harry lightly as he stepped forward. 

He was welcomed with an exclamation of joy from them all. 

"We meet again, Harry, " said Colonel Talbot, "and it is the second timesince morning. I fancy that second meetings to-day have not been common. We have the taste of success in our mouths, but you'll excuse us for notrising to greet you. We are all more or less affected by the missiles ofthe enemy and for some hours at least neither walking nor standing willbe good for us. "

"Mohammed must come to all the mountains, " said St. Clair, weakly holdingout a hand. 

Harry greeted them all in turn, and sat down with them. He wasoverflowing with sympathy, but it was not needed. 

"A glorious day, " said Colonel Leonidas Talbot. 

"Truly, " said Harry. 

"A most glorious day, " said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. 

"Most truly, " said Harry. 

"An especially glorious day for the Invincibles, " said Colonel Talbot. 

"The most glorious of all possible days for the Invincibles, " saidLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. 

There was an especial emphasis to their words that aroused Harry'sattention. 

"The Invincibles have had many glorious days, " he said. "Why should thisbe the most glorious of them all?"

"We went into battle one hundred and forty-seven strong, " replied ColonelTalbot quietly, "and we came out with one hundred and forty-sevencasualties, thirty-nine killed and one hundred and eight wounded. We lay no claim to valor, exceeding that of many other regiments inGeneral Lee's glorious army, but we do think we've made a fairlyexcellent record. Do you see those men?"

He pointed to a silent group stretched upon the turf, and Harry nodded. 

"Not one of them has escaped unhurt, but most of us will muster upstrength enough to meet the enemy again to-morrow, when our great generalcalls. "

Harry's throat contracted for a moment. 

"I know it, Colonel Talbot, " he said. "The Invincibles have provedthemselves truly worthy of their name. General Lee shall hear of this. "

"But in no boastful vein, Harry, " said Colonel Talbot. "We would nothave you to speak thus of your friends. "

"I do not have to boast for you. The simple truth is enough. I shallsee that a surgeon comes here at once to attend to your wounded. Goodnight, gentlemen. "

"Good night, " said the four together. Harry walked back toward GeneralLee's headquarters, full of pride in his old comrades. 

CHAPTER XVI

SPOTTSYLVANIA

Harry secured a little sleep toward morning, and, although his nervoustension had been very great, when he lay down, he felt greatlystrengthened in body and mind. He awakened Dalton in turn, and the two, securing a hasty breakfast, sat near the older members of the staff, awaiting orders. The commander-in-chief was at the edge of the littleglade, talking earnestly with Hill, and several other important generals. 

Harry often saw through the medium of his own feelings, and the rim ofthe sun, beginning to show over the eastern edge of the Wilderness, was blood red. The same crimson and sinister tinge showed through thewest which was yet in the dusk. But in east and west there were certainareas of light, where the forest fires yet smoldered. 

Both sides had thrown up hasty breastworks of earth or timber, but thetwo armies were unusually silent. A space of perhaps a mile and a halflay between them, but as the light increased neither moved. There was nocrackle of rifle fire along their fronts. The skirmishers, usually soactive, seemed to be exhausted, and the big guns were at rest. Thefierce and tremendous fighting of the two days before seemed to havetaken all the life out of both North and South. 

Harry, inured to war, understood the reasons for silence and lack ofmovement. Grant had been drawn into a region that he did not like, where he could not use his superior numbers to advantage, and he must beshuddering at the huge losses he had suffered already. He would seekbetter ground. Lee too, was in no condition to take advantage of hissuccessful defense. The old days when he could send Jackson on a greatturning movement, to fall with all the crushing impact of a surprise uponthe Northern flank, were gone forever. Stuart, the brilliant cavalryman, was there, but his men were not numerous enough, and, however brilliant, he was not Jackson. 

The sun rose higher. Midmorning came, and the two armies still layclose. Harry grew stronger in his opinion that they would not fightagain that day, although he watched, like the others, for any sign ofmovement in the Northern camp. 

Noon came, and the same dead silence. The fires had burned themselvesout now and the dusk that had reigned over the Wilderness, before thebattle, recovered its ground, thickened still further by the vastquantities of smoke still hanging low under a cloudy sky. But the aspectof the Wilderness itself was more mournful than ever. Coals smoldered inthe burned areas, and now and then puffs of wind picked up the hot ashesand sent them in the faces of the soldiers. Thickets and bushes had beencut down by bullets and cannon balls, and lay heaped together in tangledconfusion. Back of the lines, the surgeons, with aching backs, toiledover the wounded, as they had toiled through the night. 

Harry saw nearly the whole Southern front. The members of Lee's staffwere busy that day, carrying orders to all his generals to rectify theirlines, and to be prepared, to the last detail, for another tremendousassault. It was not until the afternoon that he was able to look up theInvincibles again. The two colonels and the two lieutenants were doingwell, and the colonels were happy. 

"We've already been notified, " said Colonel Talbot, "that we're to retainour organization as a regiment. We're to have about a hundred new mennow, the fragments of destroyed regiments. Of course, they won't be likethe veterans of the Invincibles, but a half-dozen battles like that ofyesterday should lick them into shape. "

"I should think so, " said Harry. 

"Do you believe that Grant is retreating?" asked Lieutenant-ColonelSt. Hilaire. 

"Our scouts don't say so. "

"Then he is merely putting off the evil day. The sooner he withdraws themore men he will save. No Yankee general can ever get by General Lee. Keep that in your mind, Harry Kenton. "

Harry was silent, but rejoicing to find that his friends would soonrecover from their wounds, he went back to his place, and saw all theafternoon pass, without any movement indicating battle. 

Night came again and the scouts reported to Lee that the Union armywas breaking camp, evidently with the intention of getting out of theWilderness and marching to Fredericksburg. Harry was with the generalwhen he received the news, and he saw him think over it long. Otherscouts brought in the same evidence. 

Harry did not know what the general thought, but as for himself, althoughhe was too young to say anything, it was incredible that Grant shouldretreat. It was not at all in accordance with his character, now testedon many fields, and his resources also were too great for withdrawal. 

But the night was very dark and no definite knowledge yet came out of it. Lee stayed by his little campfire and received reports. Far after duskHarry saw the look of doubt disappear from his eyes, and then he beganto send out messengers. It was evident that he had formed his opinion, and intended to act upon it at once. 

He beckoned to Harry and Dalton, and bade them go together with writteninstructions to General Anderson, who had taken the place of GeneralLongstreet. 

"You will stay with General Anderson subject to his orders, " he said, as Harry and Dalton, saluting, rode toward Anderson's command. 

Their way led through torn, tangled and burned thickets. Sometimes ahorse sprang violently to one side and neighed in pain. His hoof hadcome down on earth, yet so hot that it scorched like fire. Now and thensparks fell upon them, but they pursued their way, disregarding allobstacles, and delivered their sealed orders to General Anderson, who atonce gathered up his full force, and marched away from the heart of theWilderness toward Spottsylvania Court House. 

Harry surmised that Grant was attempting some great turning movement, and Lee, divining it, was sending Anderson to meet his advance. He neverknew whether it was positive knowledge or a happy guess. 

But he was quite sure that the night's ride was one of the most singularand sinister ever made by an army. If any troops ever marched throughthe infernal regions it was they. In this part of the Wilderness thefires had been of the worst. Trees still smoldered. In the hollows, where the bushes had grown thickest, were great beds of coals. The smokewhich the low heavy skies kept close to the earth was thick and hot. Gusts of wind sent showers of sparks flying, and, despite the greatestcare to protect the ammunition, they marched in constant danger ofexplosion. 

Harry thought at one time that General Anderson intended to camp inthe Wilderness for the night, but he soon saw that it was impossible. One could not camp on hot ground in a smoldering forest. 

"I believe it's a march till day, " he said to Dalton. "It's bound to be. If a man were to lie down here, he'd find himself a mass of cinders inthe morning, and it will take us till daylight and maybe past to get outof the Wilderness. "

"If he didn't burn to death he'd choke to death. I never breathed suchsmoke before. "

"That's because it's mixed with ashes and the fumes of burned gunpowder. A villainous compound like this can't be called air. How long is ituntil dawn?"

"About three hours, I think. "

"You remember those old Greek stories about somebody or other going downto Hades, and then having a hard climb out again. We're the modernimitators. If this isn't Hades then I don't know what it is. "

"It surely is. Phew, but that hurt!"

"What happened?"

"I brushed my hand against a burning bush. The result was not happy. Don't imitate me. "

Dalton's horse leaped to one side, and he had difficulty in keeping thesaddle. His hoof had been planted squarely in the midst of a mass of hottwigs. 

"The sooner I get out of this Inferno or Hades of a place the happierI'll be!" said Dalton. 

"I've never seen the like, " said Harry, "but there's one thing about itthat makes me glad. "

"And what's the saving grace?"

"That it's in Virginia and not in Kentucky, though for the matter of thatit couldn't be in Kentucky. "

"And why couldn't it be in Kentucky?"

"Because there's no such God-forsaken region in all that state of mine. "

"It certainly gets upon one's soul, " said Dalton, looking at the gloomyregion, so terribly torn by battle. 

"But if we keep going we're bound to come out of it some time or other. "

"And we're not stopping. A man can't make his bed on a mass of coals, and there'll be no rest for us until we're clear out of the Wilderness. "

They marched on a long time, and, as day dawned, hundreds of voicesunited in a shout of gladness. Behind them were the shades of theWilderness, that dismal region reeking with slaughter and ruin, andbefore them lay firm soil, and green fields, in all the flush of abrilliant May morning. 

"Well, we did come out of Hades, Harry, " said Dalton. 

"And it does look like Heaven, but the trouble with our Hades, George, is that the inmates will follow us. Put your glasses to your eyes andlook off there. "

"Horsemen as sure as we're sitting in our own saddles. "

"And Northern horsemen, too. Their uniforms are new enough for me totell their color. I take it that Grant's vanguard has moved by our rightflank and has come out of the Wilderness. "

"And our surmises that we were to meet it are right. Spottsylvania CourtHouse is not far away, and maybe we are bound for it. "

"And maybe the Yankees are too. "

Harry's words were caused by the sound of a distant and scattering fire. In obedience to an order from Anderson, he and Dalton galloped forward, and, from a ridge, saw through their glasses a formidable Union columnadvancing toward Spottsylvania. As they looked they saw many men falland they also saw flashes of flame from bushes and fences not far fromits flank. 

"Our sharpshooters are there, " said Harry. And he was right. While theUnion force was advancing in the night Stuart had dismounted many of hismen and using them as skirmishers had incessantly harassed the march ofGrant's vanguard led by Warren. 

"Each army has been trying to catch the other napping, " said Dalton. 

"And neither has succeeded, " said Harry. 

"Now we make a race for the Spottsylvania ridge, " said Dalton. "You seeif we don't! I know this country. It's a strong position there, andboth generals want it. "

Dalton was right. A small Union force had already occupied Spottsylvania, but the heavy Southern division crossing the narrow, but deep, river Po, drove it out and seized the defensive position. 

Here they rested, while the masses of the two armies swung toward them, as if preparing for a new battlefield, one that Harry surveyed with greatinterest. They were in a land of numerous and deep rivers. Here werefour spreading out, like the fingers of a human hand, without the thumb, and uniting at the wrist. The fingers were the Mat, the Ta, the Po, and the Nye, and the unit when they united was called the Mattopony. 

Lee's army was gathering behind the Po. A large Union force crossed iton his flank, but, recognizing the danger of such a position, withdrew. Lee himself came in time. Hill, overcome by illness and old wounds, was compelled to give up the command of his division, and Early took hisplace. Longstreet also was still suffering severely from his injuries. Lee had but few of the able and daring generals who had served him inso many fields. But Stuart, the gay and brilliant, the medieval knightwho had such a strong place in the commander-in-chief's affections, wasthere. Nor was his plumage one bit less splendid. The yellow featherstood in his hat. There was no speck or stain on the broad yellow sashand his undimmed courage was contagious. 

But Harry with his sensitive and imaginative mind, that leaped ahead, knew their situation to be desperate. His opinion of Grant had proved tobe correct. Although he had found in Lee an opponent far superior to anyother that he had ever faced, the Union general, undaunted by his repulseand tremendous losses in the Wilderness, was preparing for a new battle, before the fire from the other had grown cold. 

He knew too that another strong Union army was operating far to the southof them, in order to cut them off from Richmond, and scouts had broughtword that a powerful force of cavalry was about to circle upon theirflank. The Confederacy was propped up alone by the Army of NorthernVirginia, which having just fought one great battle was about to beginanother, and by its dauntless commander. 

The Southern admiration for Lee, both as the general and as the man, can never be shaken. How much greater then was the effect that hecreated in the mind of impressionable youth, looking upon him withyouth's own eyes in his moments of supreme danger! He was in very truthto Harry another Hannibal as great, and better. The long list of histriumphs, as youth counted them, was indeed superior to those of thegreat Carthaginian, and he believed that Lee would repel this new danger. 

Nearly all that day the two armies constructed breastworks which stoodfor many years afterward, but neither made any attempt at serious work, although there was incessant firing by the skirmishers and an occasionalcannon shot. Harry, whether carrying an order or not, had ample chanceto see, and he noted with increasing alarm the growing masses of theUnion army, as they gathered along the Spottsylvania front. 

"Can we beat them?" "Can we beat them?" was the question that hecontinually asked himself. He wondered too where the Winchester regimentand Dick Mason lay, and where the spy, Shepard, was. But Shepard was notlikely to remain long in one place. Skill and courage such as his wouldbe used to the utmost in a time like this. Doubtless he was somewhere inthe Confederate lines, discovering for Grant the relatively small size ofthe army that opposed him. 

Near dusk and having the time he followed his custom and sought theInvincibles. Both colonels had recovered considerable strength, and, although one of them could not walk, he would be helped upon his horsewhenever the battle began, and would ride into the thick of it. But thefaces of St. Clair and Happy Tom glowed and their wounds apparently wereforgotten. 

"Lieutenant Arthur St. Clair and Lieutenant Thomas Langdon are goneforever, " said Colonel Talbot. "In their places we have Major ArthurSt. Clair and Captain Thomas Langdon. All our majors and captains havebeen killed, and with our reduced numbers these two will fill theirplaces, as best they can; and that they can do so most worthily we allknow. They received their promotions this afternoon. "

Harry congratulated them both with the greatest warmth. They were veryyoung for such rank, but in this war the toll of officers was so greatthat men sometimes became generals when they were but little older. 

"Is it to be to-morrow?" asked Colonel Talbot. 

"I think it likely that we'll fight again then, " said Harry. 

"And Grant has not yet had enough. He wants a little more of the same, does he!"

"It would appear so, sir. "

"Then I take it without consulting General Lee that he is ready to dealwith the Yankees as he dealt with them in the Wilderness. "

"I hope so. Good night. "

"Good night!" they called to him, and Harry returned to the staff. Taylor, the adjutant general, told him and Dalton to lie down and seeka little sleep. Harry was not at all averse, as he was completelyexhausted again after the tremendous excitement of the battle, and thelong hours of strain and danger. But his nerves were so much on edgethat he could not yet sleep. His eyes were red and smarting from thesmoke and burned powder, and he felt as if accumulated smoke and dustencased him like a suit of armor. 

"I'd give a hundred dollars for a good long drink, just as long as Iliked to make it, " he groaned, "and I mean a drink of pure cold water, too. "

"Confederate paper or money?" said Dalton. 

"I mean real money, but at the same time you oughtn't to make invidiouscomparisons. "

"Then the money's mine, but you can pay me whenever you feel like it, which I suppose will be never. There's a spring in the thick woods justback of your quarters. It flows out from under rocks, at the distance ofseveral yards makes a deep pool, and then the overflow of the pool goeson through the forest to the Po. Come on, Harry! We'll luxuriate andthen tell the others. "

Harry found that it was a most glorious spring, indeed; clear and cold. He and Dalton drank slowly at first, and then deeply. 

"I didn't know I could hold so much, " said Dalton. 

"Nor I, " said Harry. 

"Let's take another. "

"I'm with you. "

"Let's make it two more. "

"I still follow you. "

"Horace wrote about his old Falernian, and the other wines which heenjoyed, as he and the leading Roman sports sat around the fountain, flirting with the girls, " said Dalton, "but I don't believe any wine everbrewed in Latium was the equal of this water. "

"I've always had an idea that Horace wasn't as gay as he pretended to be, else he wouldn't have written so much about Chloe and her comrades. I imagine that an old Roman boy would keep pretty quiet about his dancingand singing, and not publish it to the public. "

"Well, let him be. He's dead and the Romans are dead, and the Americansare doing their best to kill off one another, but let's forget it for afew minutes. That pool there is about four feet deep, the water is clearand the bottom is firm ground; now do you know what I'm going to do?"

"Yes, and I'm going to do the same. Bet you even that I beat you intothe water. "

"Taken. "

They threw off their clothes rapidly, but the splashes were simultaneousas their bodies struck the water. Although the limits of the pool werenarrow they splashed and paddled there for a while, and it was a longtime since they had known such a luxury. Then they walked out, driedthemselves and spread the good news. All night long the pool was filledwith the bathers, following one another in turn. 

The water taken internally and externally soothed Harry's nerves. His excitement was gone. A great army with which they were sure to fighton the morrow was not far away, but for the time he was indifferent. The morrow could take care of itself. It was night, and he hadpermission to go to sleep. Hence he slumbered fifteen minutes later. 

He slept almost through the night, and, when he was awakened shortlybefore dawn, he found that his strength and elasticity had returned. He and Dalton went down to the spring again, drank many times, and thenate breakfast with the older members of the staff, a breakfast thatdiffered very little from that of the common soldiers. 

Then a day or two of waiting, and watching, and of confused but terriblefighting ensued. The forests were again set on fire by the burstingshells and they were not able to rescue many of the wounded from theflames. Vast clouds again floated over the whole region, drawing a veilof dusk between the soldiers and the sun. But neither army was willingto attack the other in full force. 

Grant commanding all the armies of the East was moving meanwhile. A powerful cavalry division, he heard, had got behind Beauregard, who wasto protect Richmond, and was tearing up an important railway line usedby the Confederacy. The daring Sheridan with another great division ofcavalry had gone around Lee's left and was wrecking another railway, and with it the rations and medical supplies so necessary to theConfederates. Grant, recognizing his antagonist's skill and courage andknowing that to succeed he must destroy the main Southern army, resolvedto attack again with his whole force. 

The day had been comparatively quiet and the Army of Northern Virginiahad devoted nearly the whole time to fortifying with earthworks andbreastworks of logs. The young aides, as they rode on their missions, could easily see the Northern lines through their glasses. Harry's heartsank as he observed their extent. The Southern army was sadly reducedin numbers, and Grant could get reinforcement continually. 

But such is the saving grace of human nature that even in these momentsof suspense, with one terrible battle just over and another about tobegin, soldiers of the Blue and Gray would speak to one another infriendly fashion in the bushes or across the Po. It was on the banks ofthis narrow river that Harry at last saw Shepard once more. He happenedto be on foot that time, the slope being too densely wooded for his horse, and Shepard hailed him from the other side. 

"Good day, Mr. Kenton. Don't fire! I want to talk, " he said, holding upboth hands as a sign of peace. 

"A curious place for talking, " Harry could not keep from saying. 

"So it is, but we're not observed here. It was almost inevitable whilethe armies remained face to face that we should meet in time. I wantto tell you that I've met your cousin, Richard Mason, here, and hiscommanding officer, Colonel Winchester. Oh, I know much more about youand your relationships than you think. "

"How is Dick?"

"He has not been hurt, nor has Colonel Winchester. Mr. Mason hasreceived a letter from his home and your home in Pendleton in Kentucky. The outlaws to the eastward are troublesome, but the town is occupied byan efficient Union garrison and is in no danger. His mother and all ofhis and your old friends, who did not go to the war, are in good health. He thought that in my various capacities as ranger, scout and spy I mightmeet you, and he asked me, if it so happened, to tell these things toyou. "

"I thank you, " said Harry very earnestly, "and I'm truly sorry, Mr. Shepard, that you and I are on different sides. "

"I suppose it's too late for you to come over to the Union and the truecause. "

Harry laughed. 

"You know, Mr. Shepard, there are no traitors in this war. "

"I know it. I was merely jesting. "

He slipped into the underbrush and disappeared. Harry confessed tohimself once more that he liked Shepard, but he felt more strongly thanever that it had become a personal duel between them, and they would meetyet again in violence. 

That night he had little to do. It was a typical May night in Virginia, clear and beautiful with an air that would have been a tonic to thenerves, had it not been for the bitter smoke and odors that yet lingeredfrom the battle of the Wilderness. 

Before dawn the scouts brought in a rumor that there was a heavy movementof Federal troops, although they did not know its meaning. It mightportend another flank march by Grant, but a mist that had begun to riseafter midnight hid much from them. The mist deepened into a fog, whichmade it harder for the Southern leaders to learn the meaning of theNorthern movement. 

Just as the dawn was beginning to show a little through the fog, Hancockand Burnside, with many more generals, led a tremendous attack upon theSouthern right center. They had come so silently through the thicketsthat for once the Southern leaders were surprised. The Union veterans, rushing forward in dense columns, stormed and took the breastworks withthe bayonet. 

Many of the Southern troops, sound asleep, awoke to find themselves inthe enemy's hands. Others, having no time to fire them, fought withclubbed rifles. 

Harry, dozing, was awakened by the terrific uproar. Even before the dawnhad fairly come the battle was raging on a long front. The center ofLee's army was broken, and the Union troops were pouring into the gap. Grant had already taken many guns and thousands of prisoners, and thebulldog of Shiloh and Vicksburg and Chattanooga was hurrying freshdivisions into the combat to extend and insure his victory. Through theforests swelled the deep Northern cry of triumph. 

Harry had never before seen the Southern army in such danger, and helooked at General Lee, who had now mounted Traveller. The turmoil andconfusion in front of them was frightful and indescribable. The Uniontroops had occupied an entire Confederate salient, and their generals, feeling that the moment was theirs, led them on, reckless of life, and swept everything before them. 

Harry never took his eyes from Lee. The rising sun shot golden beamsthrough the smoke and disclosed him clearly. His face was calm and hisvoice did not shake as he issued his orders with rapidity and precision. The lion at bay was never more the lion. 

A new line of battle was formed, and the fugitives formed up with it. Then the Southern troops, uttering once more the fierce rebel yell, charged directly upon their enemy and under the eye of the great chiefwhom they almost worshiped. 

Now Harry for the first time saw his general show excitement. Leegalloped to the head of one of the Virginia regiments, and ranging hishorse beside the colors snatched off his hat and pointed it at the enemy. It was a picture which with all the hero worship of youth he neverforgot. It did not even grow dim in his memory--the great leader onhorseback, his hat in his hand, his eyes fiery, his face flushed, hishand pointing the way to victory or death. 

It was an occasion, too, when the personal presence of a leader meanteverything. Every man knew Lee and tremendous rolling cheers greetedhis arrival, cheers that could be heard above the thunder of cannon andrifles. It infused new courage into them and they gathered themselvesfor the rush upon their victorious foe. 

Gordon of Georgia, spurring through the smoke, seized Lee's horse by thebridle. He did not mean to have their commander-in-chief sacrificed in acharge. 

"This is no place for you, General Lee!" he cried. "Go to the rear!"

Lee did not yet turn, and Gordon shouted:

"These men are Virginians and Georgians who have never failed. Go back, I entreat you!"

Then Gordon turned to the troops and cried, as he rose on his toes in hisstirrups:

"Men, you will not fail now!"

Back came the answering shout:

"No! No!" and the whole mass of troops burst into one thunderous, echoingcry:

"Lee to the rear! Lee to the rear! Lee to the rear!"

Nor would they move until Lee turned and rode back. Then, led by Gordon, they charged straight upon their foe, who met them with an equal valor. All day long the battle of Spottsylvania, equal in fierceness anddesperation to that of the Wilderness, swayed to and fro. To Harry as heremembered them they were much alike. Charge and defense, defense andcharge. Here they gained a little, and there they lost a little. Now they were stumbling through sanguinary thickets, and then they rushedacross little streams that ran red. 

The firing was rapid and furious to an extraordinary degree. The airrained shell and bullets. Areas of forest between the two armies weremowed down. More than one large tree was cut through entirely by riflebullets. Other trees here, as in the Wilderness, caught fire and flamedhigh. 

Midnight put an end to the battle, with neither gaining the victoryand both claiming it. Harry had lost another horse, killed under him, and now he walked almost dazed over the terrible field of Spottsylvania, where nearly thirty thousand men had fallen, and nothing had yet beendecided. 

Yet in Harry's heart the fear of the grim and silent Grant was growing. The Northern general had fought within a few days two battles, each theequal of Waterloo, and Harry felt sure that he was preparing for a third. The combat of the giants was not over, and with an anxious soul he waitedthe next dawn. They remained some days longer in the Wilderness, or thecountry adjacent to it, and there was much skirmishing and firing ofheavy artillery, but the third great pitched battle did not come quite assoon as Harry expected. Even Grant, appalled by the slaughter, hesitatedand began to maneuver again by the flank to get past Lee. Then thefighting between the skirmishers and heavy detached parties becamecontinuous. 

During the days that immediately followed Harry was much with Sherburne. The brave colonel was one of Stuart's most trusted officers. Despite theforests and thickets there was much work for the cavalry to do, while thetwo armies circled and circled, each seeking to get the advantage of theother. 

Sheridan, they heard, was trying to curve about with his horsemen andreach Richmond, and Stuart, with his cavalry, including Sherburne's, was sent to intercept him, Harry riding by Sherburne's side. It was nearthe close of May, but the air was cool and pleasant, a delight to breatheafter the awful Wilderness. 

Stuart, despite his small numbers, was in his gayest spirits, and whenhe overtook the enemy at a little place called Yellow Tavern he attackedwith all his customary fire and vigor. In the height of the charge, Harry saw him sink suddenly from his horse, shot through the body. He died not long afterward and the greatest and most brilliant horsemanof the South passed away to join Jackson and so many who had gone before. Harry was one of the little group who carried the news to Lee, and he sawhow deeply the great leader was affected. So many of his brave generalshad fallen that he was like the head of a family, bereft. 

Nevertheless the lion still at bay was great and terrible to strike. It was barely two weeks after Spottsylvania when Lee took up a strongposition at Cold Harbor, and Grant, confident in his numbers and powerfulartillery, attacked straightaway at dawn. 

Harry was in front during that half-hour, the most terrible ever seen onthe American continent, when Northern brigade after brigade charged tocertain death. Lee's men, behind their earthworks, swept the field witha fire in which nothing could live. The charging columns fairly meltedaway before them and when the half-hour was over more than twelvethousand men in blue lay upon the red field. 

Grant himself was appalled, and the North, which had begun to anticipatea quick and victorious end of the war, concealed its disappointment asbest it could, and prepared for another campaign. 

Grant and Lee, facing each other, went into trenches along the linesof Cold Harbor, and the hopes of the young Southern soldiers after thevictory there rose anew. But Harry was not too sanguine, although hekept his thoughts to himself. 

The officers of the Invincibles had recovered from their wounds, andColonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, sitting in a trench, resumed their game of chess. 

Colonel Talbot took a pawn, the first man captured by either since earlyspring. 

"That was quite a victory, " he said. 

"Not important! Not important, Leonidas!"

"And why not, Hector?"

"Because you've left the way to your king easier. I shall promptly movealong that road. "

"As Grant moved through the Wilderness. "

"Don't depreciate Grant, Leonidas. He never stops pounding. We'vefought two great battles with him in the Wilderness and a third at ColdHarbor, but he's still out there facing us. Can't you see the Yankeeswith your glasses, Harry?"

"Yes, sir, quite clearly. They're about to fire a shot from a big gun ina wood. There it goes!"

The deep note of the cannon came to them, passed on, and then rolled backin echoes like a threat. 

Appendix: Transcription notes:

The following modifications were applied while transcribing theprinted book to etext:

 Chapter 1 Page 6, para 1, change "criticise" to "criticize", for consistency Page 20, para 6, fix typo, "calvaryman" Page 21, para 8, change "things" to "thing"

 Chapter 2 Page 35, para 2, add missing hyphen in "commander-in-chief"

 Chapter 3 Page 48, para 1, change "where-ever" to "wherever" Page 49, para 2, fix typo, period should be comma Page 49, para 2, change "gaints" to "giants", which is my best guess as to what it should be

 Chapter 4 Page 74, para 7, add missing period

 Chapter 7 Page 124, para 6, fix typo "qouth" Page 132, para 14, "Pleasonton" should be "Pleasanton"

 Chapter 10 Page 182, para 5, add missing close-quotes

 Chapter 11 Page 208, para 6, add missing close-quotes

 Chapter 12 Page 229, para 3, fix typo, "dulplicate"

 Chapter 13 Page 245, para 3, change "with" to "was"

 Chapter 14 Page 260, para 2, removed a badly-misplaced comma

 Chapter 16 Page 301, para 4, moved a badly-misplaced comma

Chapter 2, page 34, para 3 contains the phrase "rest and realization". Probably should be "relaxation", but maybe not, so I left it as is. 

The following words were printed with accented vowels or with the "ae"ligature, but these few occurrences hardly warrant an 8-bit version ofthe text: cooperation fete reentered Plataea Thermopylae

As with all the books in this series, there are many instances wherecommas seem to be missing or misplaced, but, except as noted above, I refrained from "fixing" these.