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Altsheler + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Tree of Appomattox + A Story of the Civil War's End + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Posting Date: August 24, 2014 [EBook #17677] +First Posted: February 4, 2006 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX *** + + + + +Produced by Ken Reeder. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> +THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX +</h1> + +<p class="t3b"> +A STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR'S CLOSE +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +by JOSEPH A. ALTSHELER +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t4"> +This book, now in the public domain in the USA, was originally:<br /> +<br /> + COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br /> +<br /> + Copyright, 1944, By Sallie B. Altsheler<br /> +<br /> + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA<br /> +<br /> + APPLETON-CENTURY-CROFTS, INC.<br /> +<br /> + NEW YORK<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<h3> +FOREWORD +</h3> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +"The Tree of Appomattox" concludes the series of connected romances +dealing with the Civil War, begun in "The Guns of Bull Run," and +continued successively through "The Guns of Shiloh," "The Scouts of +Stonewall," "The Sword of Antietam," "The Star of Gettysburg," "The +Rock of Chickamauga" and "The Shades of the Wilderness" to the present +volume. It has been completed at the expense of vast labor, and the +author has striven at all times to be correct, wherever facts are +involved. So far, at least, no historic detail has been challenged by +critic or reader. +</p> + +<p> +More than half a century has passed since the Civil War's close. Not +many of the actors in it are left. It was one of the most tremendous +upheavals in the life of any nation, and it was the greatest of all +struggles, until the World War began, but scarcely any trace of +partisan rancor or bitterness is left. So, it has become easier to +write of it with a sense of fairness and detachment, and the lapse of +time has made the perspective clear and sharp. +</p> + +<p> +However lacking he may be in other respects, the author perhaps had an +advantage in being born, and having grown up in a border state, where +sentiment was about equally divided concerning the Civil War. He was +surrounded during his early youth by men who fought on one side or the +other, and their stories of camp, march and battle were almost a part +of the air he breathed. So he hopes that this circumstance has aided +him to give a truthful color to the picture of the mighty combat, waged +for four such long and terrible years. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +THE CIVIL WAR SERIES +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="noindent"> + VOLUMES IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + THE GUNS OF BULL RUN.<br /> + THE GUNS OF SHILOH.<br /> + THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL.<br /> + THE SWORD OF ANTIETAM.<br /> + THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG.<br /> + THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA.<br /> + THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESS.<br /> + THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX.<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="noindent"> + PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + HARRY KENTON, A Lad Who Fights on the Southern Side.<br /> + DICK MASON, Cousin of Harry Kenton, Who Fights on the Northern Side.<br /> + COLONEL GEORGE KENTON, Father of Harry Kenton.<br /> + MRS. MASON, Mother of Dick Mason.<br /> + JULIANA, Mrs. Mason's Devoted Colored Servant.<br /> + COLONEL ARTHUR WINCHESTER, Dick Mason's Regimental Commander.<br /> + COLONEL LEONIDAS TALBOT, Commander of the Invincibles,<br /> + a Southern Regiment.<br /> + LIEUTENANT COLONEL HECTOR ST. HILAIRE, Second in Command of the<br /> + Invincibles.<br /> + ALAN HERTFORD, A Northern Cavalry Leader.<br /> + PHILIP SHERBURNE, A Southern Cavalry Leader.<br /> + WILLIAM J. SHEPARD, A Northern Spy.<br /> + DANIEL WHITLEY, A Northern Sergeant and Veteran of the Plains.<br /> + GEORGE WARNER, A Vermont Youth Who Loves Mathematics.<br /> + FRANK PENNINGTON, A Nebraska Youth, Friend of Dick Mason.<br /> + ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, A Native of Charleston, Friend of Harry Kenton.<br /> + TOM LANGDON, Friend of Harry Kenton.<br /> + GEORGE DALTON, Friend of Harry Kenton.<br /> + BILL SKELLY, Mountaineer and Guerrilla.<br /> + TOM SLADE, A Guerrilla Chief.<br /> + SAM JARVIS, The Singing Mountaineer.<br /> + IKE SIMMONS, Jarvis' Nephew.<br /> + AUNT "SUSE," A Centenarian and Prophetess.<br /> + BILL PETTY, A Mountaineer and Guide.<br /> + JULIEN DE LANGEAIS, A Musician and Soldier from Louisiana.<br /> + JOHN CARRINGTON, Famous Northern Artillery Officer.<br /> + DR. RUSSELL, Principal of the Pendleton School.<br /> + ARTHUR TRAVERS, A Lawyer.<br /> + JAMES BERTRAND, A Messenger from the South.<br /> + JOHN NEWCOMB, A Pennsylvania Colonel.<br /> + JOHN MARKHAM, A Northern Officer.<br /> + JOHN WATSON, A Northern Contractor.<br /> + WILLIAM CURTIS, A Southern Merchant and Blockade Runner.<br /> + MRS. CURTIS, Wife of William Curtis.<br /> + HENRIETTA CARDEN, A Seamstress in Richmond.<br /> + DICK JONES, A North Carolina Mountaineer.<br /> + VICTOR WOODVILLE, A Young Mississippi Officer.<br /> + JOHN WOODVILLE, Father of Victor Woodville.<br /> + CHARLES WOODVILLE, Uncle of Victor Woodville.<br /> + COLONEL BEDFORD, A Northern Officer.<br /> + CHARLES GORDON, A Southern Staff Officer.<br /> + JOHN LANHAM, An Editor.<br /> + JUDGE KENDRICK, A Lawyer.<br /> + MR. CULVER, A State Senator.<br /> + MR. BRACKEN, A Tobacco Grower.<br /> + ARTHUR WHITRIDGE, A State Senator.<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="noindent"> + HISTORICAL CHARACTERS<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States.<br /> + JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Southern Confederacy.<br /> + JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, Member of the Confederate Cabinet.<br /> + U. S. GRANT, Northern Commander.<br /> + ROBERT E. LEE, Southern Commander.<br /> + STONEWALL JACKSON, Southern General.<br /> + PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, Northern General.<br /> + GEORGE H. THOMAS, "The Rock of Chickamauga."<br /> + ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Southern General.<br /> + A. P. HILL, Southern General.<br /> + W. S. HANCOCK, Northern General.<br /> + GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Northern General.<br /> + AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE, Northern General.<br /> + TURNER ASHBY, Southern Cavalry Leader.<br /> + J. E. B. STUART, Southern Cavalry Leader.<br /> + JOSEPH HOOKER, Northern General.<br /> + RICHARD S. EWELL, Southern General.<br /> + JUBAL EARLY, Southern General.<br /> + WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS, Northern General.<br /> + SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, Southern General.<br /> + LEONIDAS POLK, Southern General and Bishop.<br /> + BRAXTON BRAGG, Southern General.<br /> + NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, Southern Cavalry Leader.<br /> + JOHN MORGAN, Southern Cavalry Leader.<br /> + GEORGE J. MEADE, Northern General.<br /> + DON CARLOS BUELL, Northern General.<br /> + W. T. SHERMAN, Northern General.<br /> + JAMES LONGSTREET, Southern General.<br /> + P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, Southern General.<br /> + WILLIAM L. YANCEY, Alabama Orator.<br /> + JAMES A. GARFIELD, Northern General, afterwards President of<br /> + the United States.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + And many others<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="noindent"> + IMPORTANT BATTLES DESCRIBED IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + BULL RUN<br /> + KERNSTOWN<br /> + CROSS KEYS<br /> + WINCHESTER<br /> + PORT REPUBLIC<br /> + THE SEVEN DAYS<br /> + MILL SPRING<br /> + FORT DONELSON<br /> + SHILOH<br /> + PERRYVILLE<br /> + STONE RIVER<br /> + THE SECOND MANASSAS<br /> + ANTIETAM<br /> + FREDERICKSBURG<br /> + CHANCELLORSVILLE<br /> + GETTYSBURG<br /> + CHAMPION HILL<br /> + VICKSBURG<br /> + CHICKAMAUGA<br /> + MISSIONARY RIDGE<br /> + THE WILDERNESS<br /> + SPOTTSYLVANIA<br /> + COLD HARBOR<br /> + FISHER'S HILL<br /> + CEDAR CREEK<br /> + APPOMATTOX<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t3b"> +CONTENTS +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + I. <a href="#chap01">THE APPLE TREE</a><br /> + II. <a href="#chap02">THE WOMAN AT THE HOUSE</a><br /> + III. <a href="#chap03">OVER THE HILLS</a><br /> + IV. <a href="#chap04">THE FIGHT AT THE CROSSWAYS</a><br /> + V. <a href="#chap05">AN OLD ENEMY</a><br /> + VI. <a href="#chap06">THE FISHERMEN</a><br /> + VII. <a href="#chap07">SHERIDAN'S ATTACK</a><br /> + VIII. <a href="#chap08">THE MESSENGER FROM RICHMOND</a><br /> + IX. <a href="#chap09">AT GRIPS WITH EARLY</a><br /> + X. <a href="#chap10">AN UNBEATEN FOE</a><br /> + XI. <a href="#chap11">CEDAR CREEK</a><br /> + XII. <a href="#chap12">IN THE COVE</a><br /> + XIII. <a href="#chap13">DICK'S GREAT EXPLOIT</a><br /> + XIV. <a href="#chap14">THE MOUNTAIN SHARPSHOOTER</a><br /> + XV. <a href="#chap15">BACK WITH GRANT</a><br /> + XVI. <a href="#chap16">THE CLOSING DAYS</a><br /> + XVII. <a href="#chap17">APPOMATTOX</a><br /> + XVIII. <a href="#chap18">THE FINAL RECKONING</a><br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER I +</h3> + +<h3> +THE APPLE TREE +</h3> + +<p> +Although he was an officer in full uniform he was a youth in years, and +he had the spirits of youth. Moreover, it was one of the finest apple +trees he had ever seen and the apples hung everywhere, round, ripe and +red, fairly asking to be taken and eaten. Dick Mason looked up at them +longingly. They made him think of the orchards at home in his own +state, and a touch of coolness in the air sharpened his appetite for +them all the more. +</p> + +<p> +"If you want 'em so badly, Dick," said Warner, "why don't you climb the +tree and get 'em? There's plenty for you and also for Pennington and +me." +</p> + +<p> +"I see. You're as anxious for apples as I am, and you wish me to +gather 'em for you by making a strong appeal to my own desires. It's +your clever New England way." +</p> + +<p> +"We're forbidden to take anything from the people, but it won't hurt to +keep a few apples from rotting on the ground. If you won't get 'em +Pennington will." +</p> + +<p> +"I understand you, George. You're trying to play Frank against me, +while you keep yourself safe. You'll go far. Never mind. I'll gather +apples for us all." +</p> + +<p> +He leaped up, caught the lowest bough, swung himself lightly into the +fork, and then climbing a little higher, reached for the reddest and +ripest apples, which he flung down in a bountiful supply. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, gluttons," he said, "satiate yourselves, but save a lot for me." +</p> + +<p> +Then he went up as far as the boughs would sustain him and took a look +over the country. Apple trees do not grow very tall, but Dick's tree +stood on the highest point in the orchard, and he had a fine view, a +view that was in truth the most remarkable the North American continent +had yet afforded. +</p> + +<p> +He always carried glasses over his shoulder, and lately Colonel +Winchester had made him a gift of a splendid pair, which he now put +into use, sweeping the whole circle of the horizon. With their +powerful aid he was able to see the ancient city of Petersburg, where +Lee had thrown himself across Grant's path in order to block his way to +Richmond, the Southern capital, and had dug long lines of trenches in +which his army lay. It was Lee who first used this method of defense +for a smaller force against a larger, and the vast trench warfare of +Europe a half century later was a repetition of the mighty struggle of +Lee and Grant on the lines of Petersburg. +</p> + +<p> +Dick through his glasses saw the trenches, lying like a brown bar +across the green country, and opposite them another brown bar, often +less than a hundred yards away, which marked where the Northern troops +also had dug in. The opposing lines extended a distance of nearly +forty miles, and Richmond was only twenty miles behind them. It was +the nearest the Army of the Potomac had come to the Southern capital +since McClellan had seen the spires of its churches, and that was more +than two years away. +</p> + +<p> +Warner and Pennington were lying on the ground, eating big red apples +with much content and looking up lazily at Mason. +</p> + +<p> +"You're curving those glasses about a lot. What do you see, Dick?" +asked Pennington at length. +</p> + +<p> +"I see Petersburg, an old, old town, half buried in foliage, and with +many orchards and gardens about it. A pity that two great armies +should focus on such a pleasant place." +</p> + +<p> +"No time for sentiment, Dick. What else do you see?" +</p> + +<p> +"Jets of smoke and flame from the trenches, an irregular sort of +firing, sometimes a half-dozen shots at one place, and then a long and +peaceful break until you come to another place, where they're +exchanging bullets." +</p> + +<p> +"What more do you see, Brother Richard?" +</p> + +<p> +"I see a Johnny come out of his trench hands up and advance toward one +of our Yanks opposite, who also has come out of his trench hands up." +</p> + +<p> +"What are they trading?" asked Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"The Reb offers a square of plug tobacco, and the Yank a bundle of +newspapers. Now they've made the exchange, now they've shaken hands +and each is going back to his own trench." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a merry world, my masters, as has been said before," resumed +Warner, "but I should add that it's also a mad wag of a world. Here we +are face to face for forty miles, at some points seeking to kill one +another in a highly impersonal way, and at other points conducting sale +and barter according to the established customs of peace. People at +home wouldn't believe it, and later on a lot more won't believe it, +when the writers come to write about it. But it's true just the same. +What else do you see from the apple tower, Brother Richard?" +</p> + +<p> +"A long line of wagons approaching a camp some distance behind the +Confederate trenches. They must be loaded pretty heavily, because the +drivers are cracking their whips over the horses and mules." +</p> + +<p> +"That's bad. Provisions, I suppose," said Warner. "The more these +Johnnies get to eat the harder they fight, and they're not supposed to +be receiving supplies now. Our cavalry ought to have cut off that +wagon train. I shall have to speak to Sheridan about it. This is no +way to starve the Johnnies to death. Seest aught more, Brother +Richard?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do! I do! Jump up, boys, and use your own glasses! I behold a +large man on a gray horse, riding slowly along, as if he were +inspecting troops away behind the trenches. Wherever he passes the +soldiers snatch off their caps and, although I can't hear 'em, I know +they're cheering. It's Lee himself!" +</p> + +<p> +Both Warner and Pennington swung themselves upon the lower boughs of +the tree and put their glasses to their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"It's surely Lee," said Warner. "I'm glad to get a look at him. He's +been giving us a lot of trouble for more than three years now, but I +think General Grant is going to take his measure." +</p> + +<p> +"They're terribly reduced," said Pennington, "and if we stick to it +we're bound to win. Still, you boys will recall for some time that +we've had a war. What else do you see from the heights of the apple +tree, Dick?" +</p> + +<p> +"Distant dust behind our own lines, and figures moving in it dimly. +Cavalry practicing, I should say. Have you fellows fruit enough?" +</p> + +<p> +"Plenty. You can climb down and if the farmer hurries here with his +dog to catch you we'll protect you." +</p> + +<p> +"This is a fine apple tree," said Dick, as he descended slowly. "Apple +trees are objects of beauty. They look so well in the spring all in +white bloom, and then they look just as well in the fall, when the red +or yellow apples hang among the leaves. And this is one of the finest +I've ever seen." +</p> + +<p> +He did not dream then that he should remember an apple tree his whole +life, that an apple tree, and one apple tree in particular, should +always call to his mind a tremendous event, losing nothing of its +intensity and vividness with the passing years. But all that was in +the future, and when he joined his comrades on the ground he made good +work with the biggest and finest apple he could find. +</p> + +<p> +"Early apples," he said, looking up at the tree. "It's not the end of +July yet." +</p> + +<p> +"But good apples, glorious apples, anyhow," said Pennington, taking +another. "Besides, it's fine and cool like autumn." +</p> + +<p> +"It won't stay," said Dick. "We've got the whole of August coming. +Virginia is like Kentucky. Always lots of hot weather in August. Glad +there's no big fighting to be done just now. But it's a pity, isn't +it, to tear up a fine farming country like this. Around here is where +the United States started. John Smith and Rolfe and Pocahontas and the +rest of them may have roamed just where this orchard stands. And later +on lots of the great Americans rode about these parts, some of the +younger ones carrying their beautiful ladies on pillions behind them. +You are a cold-blooded New Englander, Warner, and you believe that +anyone fighting against you ought to burn forever, but as for me I feel +sorry for Virginia. I don't care what she's done, but I don't like to +see the Old Dominion, the Mother of Presidents, stamped flat." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not cold-blooded at all, but I don't gush. I don't forget that +this state produced George Washington, but I want victory for our side +just the same, no matter how much of Virginia we may have to tread +down. Is that farm house over there still empty?" +</p> + +<p> +"Of course, or we wouldn't have taken the apples. It belongs to a man +named Haynes, and he left ahead of us with his family for Richmond. I +fancy it will be a long time before Haynes and his people sleep in +their own rooms again. Come, fellows, we'd better be going back. +Colonel Winchester is kind to us, but he doesn't want his officers to +be prowling about as they please too long." +</p> + +<p> +They walked together toward the edge of the orchard and looked at the +farm house, from the chimneys of which no smoke had risen in weeks. +Dick felt sure it would be used later on as headquarters by some +general and his staff, but for the present it was left alone. And +being within the Union lines no plunderer had dared to touch it. +</p> + +<p> +It was a two-story wooden house, painted white, with green shutters, +all closed now. The doors were also locked and sealed until such time +as the army authorities wished to open them, but on the portico, facing +the Southern lines were two benches, on which the three youths sat, and +looked again over the great expanse of rolling country, dotted at +intervals by puffs of smoke from the long lines of trenches. Where +they sat it was so still that they could hear the faint crackle of the +distant rifles, and now and then the heavier crash of a cannon. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's mind went back to the Wilderness and its gloomy shades, the +sanguinary field of Spottsylvania, and then the terrific mistake of +Cold Harbor. The genius of Lee had never burned more brightly. He had +handled his diminishing forces with all his old skill and resolution, +but Grant had driven on and on. No matter what his losses the North +always filled up his ranks again, and poured forward munitions and +supplies in a vast and unbroken stream. A nation had summoned all its +powers for a supreme effort to win, and Dick felt that the issue of the +war was not now in doubt. The genius of Lee and the bravery of his +devoted army could no longer save the South. The hammer strokes of +Grant would surely crush it. +</p> + +<p> +And then what? He had the deepest sympathy for these people of +Virginia. What would become of them after the war? Defeat for the +South meant nearer approach to destruction than any nation had suffered +in generations. To him, born south of the Ohio River, and so closely +united by blood with these people, victory as well as defeat had its +pangs. +</p> + +<p> +Warner and Pennington rose and announced that they would return to the +regiment which was held in reserve in a little valley below, but Dick, +their leave not having run out yet, decided to stay a while longer. +</p> + +<p> +"So long," said Warner. "Let the orchard alone. Leave apples for +others. Remember that they are protected by strict orders against all +wandering and irresponsible officers, but ourselves." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, be good, Dick," said Pennington, and the two went down the slope, +leaving Dick on the portico. He liked being alone at times. The +serious cast of mind that he had inherited from his famous great +grandfather, Paul Cotter, demanded moments of meditation. It was +peaceful too on the portico, and a youth who had been through Grant's +Wilderness campaign, a month of continuous and terrible fighting, was +glad to rest for a while. +</p> + +<p> +The distant rifle fire and the occasional cannon shot had no +significance and did not disturb him. They blended now with the breeze +that blew among the leaves of the apple trees. He had never felt more +like peace, and the pleasant open country was soothing to the eye. +What a contrast to that dark and sodden Wilderness where men fought +blindly in the dusk. He shuddered as he remembered the forests set on +fire by the shells, and burning over the fallen. +</p> + +<p> +A light step aroused him and a large man sat down on the bench beside +him. Dick often wondered at the swift and almost noiseless tread of +Shepard, with whom he was becoming well acquainted. He was tall, built +powerfully and must have weighed two hundred pounds, yet he moved with +the ease and grace of a boy of sixteen. Dick thought it must come from +his trade. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't want to intrude, Mr. Mason," said Shepard, "but I saw you +sitting here, looking perhaps too grave and thoughtful for one of your +years." +</p> + +<p> +"You're most welcome, Mr. Shepard, and I was thinking, that is in a +vague sort of way." +</p> + +<p> +"I saw your face and you were wondering what was to become of Virginia +and the Virginians." +</p> + +<p> +"So I was, but how did you know it?" +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't know it. It was just a guess, and the guess was due to the +fact that I was having the same thoughts myself." +</p> + +<p> +"So you regard the war as won?" asked Dick, who had a great respect for +Shepard's opinion. +</p> + +<p> +"If the President keeps General Grant in command, as he will, it's a +certainty, but it will take a long time yet. We can't force those +trenches down there. Remember what Cold Harbor cost us." +</p> + +<p> +Dick shuddered. +</p> + +<p> +"I remember it," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"It would be worse if we tried to storm Lee's lines. After Cold Harbor +the general won't attempt it, and I see a long wait here. But we can +afford it. The South grows steadily weaker. Our blockade clamps like +a steel band, and presses tighter and tighter all the time. Food is +scarce in the Confederacy. So is ammunition. They receive no +recruits, and every day the army of Lee is smaller in numbers than it +was the day before." +</p> + +<p> +"You go into Richmond, Mr. Shepard. I've heard from high officers that +you do. How do they feel there with our army only about twenty miles +away?" +</p> + +<p> +"They're quiet and seem to be confident, but I believe they know their +danger." +</p> + +<p> +"Have you by any chance seen or heard of my cousin, Harry Kenton, who +is a lieutenant on the staff of the Southern commander-in-chief?" +</p> + +<p> +Shepard smiled, as if the question brought memories that pleased him. +</p> + +<p> +"A fine youth," he said. "Yes, I've seen him more than once. I'm free +to tell you, Lieutenant Mason, that I know a lot about this rebel +cousin of yours. He and I have come into conflict on several +occasions, and I did not win every time." +</p> + +<p> +"Nobody could beat Harry always," exclaimed Dick with youthful loyalty. +"He was always the strongest and most active among us, and the best in +forest and water. He could hunt and fish and trail like the scouts of +our border days." +</p> + +<p> +"I found him in full possession of all these qualities and he used them +against me. I should grieve if that cousin of yours were to fall, Mr. +Mason. I want to know him still better after the war." +</p> + +<p> +Dick would have asked further questions about the encounters between +Harry and the spy, but he judged that Shepard did not care to answer +them, and he forbore. Yet the man aroused the most intense curiosity +in him. There were spies and spies, and Shepard was one of them, but he +was not like the others. He was unquestionably a man of great mental +power. His calm, steady gaze and his words to the point showed it. No +one patronized Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +"I should like to go into Richmond with you some dark night," said +Dick, who hid a strong spirit of adventure under his quiet exterior. +</p> + +<p> +"You're not serious, Lieutenant Mason?" +</p> + +<p> +"I wasn't, maybe, when I began to say it, but I believe I am now. Why +shouldn't I be curious about Richmond, a place that great armies have +been trying to take for three years? Just at present it's the center +of the world to me in interest." +</p> + +<p> +"You must not think of such a thing, Mr. Mason. Detection means +certain death." +</p> + +<p> +"No more for me than for you." +</p> + +<p> +"But I have had a long experience and I have resources of which you +can't know. Don't think of it again, Mr. Mason." +</p> + +<p> +"I was merely jesting. I won't," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +He involuntarily looked toward the point beyond the horizon where +Richmond lay, and Shepard meanwhile studied him closely. Young Mason +had not come much under his notice until lately, but now he began to +interest the spy greatly. Shepard observed what a strong, well-built +young fellow he was, tall and slender but extremely muscular. He also +bore a marked resemblance to his cousin, Harry Kenton, and such was the +quality of Shepard that the likeness strongly recommended Dick to him. +Moreover, he read the lurking thought that persisted in Dick's mind. +</p> + +<p> +"You mustn't dream of such a thing as entering Richmond, Mr. Mason," he +said. +</p> + +<p> +"It was just a passing thought. But aren't you going in again?" +</p> + +<p> +"Later on, no doubt, but not just now. I understand that we're +planning some movement. I don't know what it is, but I'm to wait here +until it's over. Good-by, Mr. Mason. Since things are closing in it's +possible that you and I will see more of each other than before." +</p> + +<p> +"Of course, when I'm personally conducted by you on that trip into +Richmond." +</p> + +<p> +Shepard, who had left the portico, turned and shook a warning finger. +</p> + +<p> +"Dismiss that absolutely and forever from your mind, Mr. Mason," he +said. +</p> + +<p> +Dick laughed, and watched the stalwart figure of the spy as he strode +away. Again the singular ease and lightness of his step struck him. To +the lad's fancy the grass did not bend under his feet. Upon Dick as +upon Harry, Shepard made the impression of power, not only of strength +but of subtlety and courage. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad that man's on our side," said Dick to himself, as Shepard's +figure disappeared among the trees. Then he left the portico and went +down in the valley to Colonel Winchester's regiment, where he was +received with joyous shouts by several young men, including Warner and +Pennington, who had gone on before. Colonel Winchester himself smiled +and nodded, and Dick saluted respectfully. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchesters, as they loved to call themselves, were faring well at +this particular time. Like the Invincibles on the other side, this +regiment had been decimated and filled up again several times. It had +lost heavily in the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania, but its colonel +had escaped without serious hurt and had received special mention for +gallantry and coolness. It had been cut up once more at Cold Harbor, +and because of its great services and losses it was permitted to remain +a while in the rear as a reserve, and obtain the rest it needed so +sorely. +</p> + +<p> +The brave youths were recovering fast from their wounds and exertions. +Their camp was beside a clear brook and there were tents for the +officers, though they were but seldom used, most of them, unless it +should be raining, preferring to sleep in their blankets under the +trees. The water was good to drink, and farther down were several deep +pools in which they bathed. Food, as usual in the Northern army, was +good and plentiful, and for the Winchesters it seemed more a period of +play than of war. +</p> + +<p> +"What did you see at the house, Dick?" asked Colonel Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"The spy, Shepard. I talked a while with him. He says the Confederacy +is growing weaker every day, but if we try to storm Lee's lines we'll +be cut to pieces." +</p> + +<p> +"I think he's right in both respects, although I feel sure that some +kind of a movement will soon be attempted. But Dick, a mail from the +west has arrived and here is a letter for you." +</p> + +<p> +He handed the lad a large square envelope, addressed in tall, slanting +script, and Dick knew at once that it was from his mother. He seized +it eagerly, and Colonel Winchester, suppressing the wish to know what +was inside, turned away. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +I have not heard from my dearest boy since the terrible battles in the +east [Mrs. Mason wrote], but I hope and pray that you have come safely +through them. You have escaped so many dangers that I feel you must +escape all the rest. The news reaches us that the fighting in Virginia +has been of the most dreadful character, but when it arrives in +Pendleton it has two meanings. Those of our little town who are for +the Confederacy say General Grant's losses have been so enormous that +he can go no farther, and that the last and greatest effort of the +North has failed. +</p> + +<p> +Those who sympathize with the Union say General Lee has been reduced so +greatly that he must be crushed soon and with him the Confederacy. As +you know, I wish the latter to be true, but I suspect that the truth is +somewhere between the two statements. +</p> + +<p> +But the truth either way brings me great grief. I cannot hate the +Southern people. We are Southern ourselves in all save this war, and, +although our dear little town is divided in feeling, I have received +nothing but kindness from those on the other side. Dr. Russell often +asks about you. He says you were the best Latin scholar in the +Academy, and he expects you to have a great future, as a learned man, +after the war. He speaks oftenest of you and Harry Kenton, and I +believe that you two were his favorite pupils. He says that Harry's is +the best mathematical mind he has ever found in his long years of +teaching. +</p> + +<p> +Your room remains just as it was when you left. Juliana brushes and +airs it every day, and expects at any time to see her young Master Dick +come riding home. She keeps in her mind two pictures of you, +absolutely unlike. In one of these pictures you are a great officer, +carrying much of the war's weight on your shoulders, consulted +continually by General Grant, who goes wrong only when he fails to take +your advice. In the other you are a little boy whom she alternately +scolds and pets. And it may be that I am somewhat like Juliana in this +respect. +</p> + +<p> +The garden is very fine this year. The vegetables were never more +plentiful, and never of a finer quality. I wish you were here for your +share. It must be a trial to have to eat hard crackers and tough beef +and pork day after day. I should think that you would grow to hate the +sight of them. Sam, the colored man who has been with us so long, has +proved as faithful and trustworthy as Juliana. He makes a most +excellent farmer, and the yield of corn in the bottom land is going to +be amazing. +</p> + +<p> +They say that since the Federal successes in the West the operations of +Skelly's band of guerrillas have become bolder, but he has not +threatened Pendleton again. They say also that a little farther south +a band of like character, who call themselves Southern, under a man +named Slade, are ravaging, but I suppose that you, who see great +generals and great armies daily, are not much concerned about outlaws. +</p> + +<p> +Always keep your feet dry and warm if you can, and never fail to spread +a blanket between you and the damp grass. Give my respects to Colonel +Winchester. Tell him that we hear of him now and then in Kentucky and +that we hear only good. Don't forget about the blanket. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +There was more, but it was these passages over which Dick lingered +longest. +</p> + +<p> +He read the letter three times—letters were rare in those years, and +men prized them highly—and put it away in his strongest pocket. +Colonel Winchester was standing by the edge of the brook, and Dick, +saluting him, said: +</p> + +<p> +"My mother wishes me to deliver to you her respects and best wishes." +</p> + +<p> +A flush showed through the tan of the colonel's face, and Dick, +noticing it, was startled by a sudden thought. At first his feeling +was jealousy, but it passed in an instant, never to come again. There +was no finer man in the world than Colonel Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"She is well," he added, "and affairs could go no better at Pendleton." +</p> + +<p> +"I am glad," said Colonel Winchester simply. Then he turned to a man +with very broad shoulders and asked: +</p> + +<p> +"How are the new lads coming on?" +</p> + +<p> +"Very well, sir," replied Sergeant Daniel Whitley. "Some of 'em are a +little awkward yet, and a few are suffering from change of water, but +they're good boys and we can depend on 'em, sir, when the time comes." +</p> + +<p> +"Especially since you have been thrashing 'em into shape for so many +days, sergeant." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, sir." +</p> + +<p> +An orderly came with a message for Colonel Winchester, who left at +once, but Dick and the sergeant, his faithful comrade and teacher, +stood beside the stream. They could easily see the bathers farther +down, splashing in the water, pulling one another under, and, now and +then, hurling a man bodily into the pool. They were all boys to the +veteran. Many of them had been trained by him, and his attitude toward +them was that of a school teacher toward his pupils. +</p> + +<p> +"You have ears that hear everything, sergeant," said Dick. "What is +this new movement that I've heard two or three men speak of? Something +sudden they say." +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard too," replied Sergeant Whitley, "but I can't guess it. +Whatever it is, though, it's coming soon. There's a lot of work going +on at a point farther down the line, but it's kept a secret from the +rest of us here." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant went away presently, and Dick, going down stream, joined +some other young officers in a pool. He lay on the bank afterward, +but, shortly after dark, Colonel Winchester returned, gave an order, +and the whole regiment marched away in the dusk. Dick felt sure that +the event Sergeant Whitley had predicted was about to happen, but the +colonel gave no hint of its nature, and he continued to wonder, as they +advanced steadily in the dusk. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER II +</h3> + +<h3> +THE WOMAN AT THE HOUSE +</h3> + +<p> +The men marched on for a long time, and, after a while, they heard the +hum of many voices and the restless movements that betokened the +presence of numerous troops. Dick, who had dismounted, walked forward +a little distance with Colonel Winchester, and, in the moonlight, he +was able to see that a large division of the army was gathered near, +resting on its arms. It was obvious that the important movement, of +which he had been hearing so much, was at hand, but the colonel +volunteered nothing concerning its nature. +</p> + +<p> +The troops were allowed to lie down, and, with the calmness that comes +of long experience, they soon fell asleep. But the officers waited and +watched, and Dick saw other regiments arriving. Warner, who had pushed +through some bushes, came back and said in a whisper: +</p> + +<p> +"I've seen a half-dozen great mounds of fresh earth." +</p> + +<p> +"Earth taken out to make a trench, no doubt," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +But Warner shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"There's too much of it," he said, "and it's been carried too far to +the rear. In my opinion extensive mining operations have been going on +here." +</p> + +<p> +"For what?" asked Pennington. "Not for silver or gold. We're no +treasure hunters, and besides, there's none here." +</p> + +<p> +Warner shook his head again. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know," he replied, "but I'm quite sure that it has something +to do, perhaps all to do, with the movement now at hand. To the right +of us, regiments, including several of colored troops, are already +forming in line of battle, and I've no doubt our turn will come before +long." +</p> + +<p> +"We must be intending to make an attack," said Dick, "but I don't +suppose we'll move until day." +</p> + +<p> +He had learned long since that night attacks were very risky. Friend +was likely to fire into friend and the dusk and confusion invariably +forbade victory. But the faculties that create anxiety and alarm had +been dulled for the time by immense exertions and dangers, and he +placidly awaited the event, whatever it might be. +</p> + +<p> +"What time is it?" asked Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"Half past three in the morning," replied Dick, who was able to see the +face of his watch. +</p> + +<p> +"Not such a long wait then. Day comes early this time of the year." +</p> + +<p> +"You lads can sit down and make yourselves comfortable," said Colonel +Winchester. "It's desirable for you to be as fresh as possible when +you're wanted. I'm glad to see the men sleeping. They'll receive a +signal in ample time." +</p> + +<p> +The young officers followed his suggestion, but they kept very wide +awake, talking for a little while in whispers and then sinking away +into silence. The noise from the massed troops near them decreased +also and Dick's curiosity began to grow again. He stood up, but he saw +no movement, nothing to indicate the nature of any coming event. He +looked at his watch again. Dawn was almost at hand. A narrow band of +gray would soon rim the eastern hills. An aide arrived, gave a +dispatch to Colonel Winchester, and quickly passed on. +</p> + +<p> +The men were awakened and stood up, shaking the sleep from their eyes +and then, through habit, looking to their arms and ammunition. The +thread of gray showed in the east. +</p> + +<p> +"Whatever it is, it will come soon," whispered Warner to Dick. +</p> + +<p> +The gray thread broadened and became a ribbon of silver. The silver, +as it widened, was shot through with pink and red and yellow, the +colors of the morning. Dick caught a glimpse of massed bayonets near +him, and of the Southern trenches rising slowly out of the dusk not far +away. Then the earth rocked. +</p> + +<p> +He felt a sudden violent and convulsive movement that nearly threw him +from his feet, and the whole world in front of him blazed with fire, as +if a volcano, after a long silence, had burst suddenly into furious +activity. Black objects, the bodies of men, were borne upon the mass +of shooting flames, and the roar was so tremendous that it was heard +thirty miles away. +</p> + +<p> +Dick had been expecting something, but no such red dawn as this, and +when the fires suddenly sank, and the world-shaking crash turned to +echoes he stood for a few moments appalled. He believed at first that +a magazine had exploded, but, as the dawn was rapidly advancing, he +beheld in front of them, where Southern breastworks had stood, a vast +pit two or three hundred feet long and more than thirty feet deep. At +the bottom of it, although they could not be seen through the smoke, +lay the fragments of Confederate cannon and Confederate soldiers who +had been blown to pieces. +</p> + +<p> +"A mine breaking the rebel line!" cried Warner, "and our men are to +charge through it!" +</p> + +<p> +Trumpets were already sounding their thrilling call, and blue masses, +before the smoke had lifted, were rushing into the pit, intending to +climb the far side and sever the Southern line. But Colonel Winchester +did not yet give the word to his own regiment, and Dick knew that they +were to be held in reserve. +</p> + +<p> +Into the great chasm went white troops and black troops, charging +together, and then Dick suddenly cried in horror. Those were veterans +on the other side, and, recovering quickly from the surprise, they +rushed forward their batteries and riflemen. Mahone, a little, alert +man, commanded them, and in an instant they deluged the pit, afterward +famous under the name of "The Crater," with fire. The steep slope held +back the Union troops and from the edges everywhere the men in gray +poured a storm of shrapnel and canister and bullets into the packed +masses. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester groaned aloud, and looked at his men who were eager +to advance to the rescue, but it was evident to Dick that his orders +held him, and they stood in silence gazing at the appalling scene in +the crater. A tunnel had been run directly under the Confederates, and +then a huge mine had been exploded. All that part was successful, but +the Union army had made a deep pit, more formidable than the earthwork +itself. +</p> + +<p> +Never had men created a more terrible trap for themselves. The name, +the crater, was well deserved. It was a seething pit of death filled +with smoke, and from which came shouts and cries as the rim of it +blazed with the fire of those who were pouring in such a stream of +metal. Inside the pit the men could only cower low in the hope that the +hurricane of missiles would pass over their heads. +</p> + +<p> +"Good God!" cried Dick. "Why don't we advance to help them!" +</p> + +<p> +"Here we go now, and we may need help ourselves!" said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +Again the trumpets were sending forth their shrill call to battle and +death, and, as the colonel waved his sword, the regiment charged +forward with others to rescue the men in the crater. A bright sun was +shining now, and the Southern leaders saw the heavy, advancing column. +They were rapidly bringing up more guns and more riflemen, and, +shifting a part of their fire, a storm of death blew in the faces of +those who would go to the rescue. +</p> + +<p> +As at Cold Harbor, the men in blue could not live before such a fire at +close quarters, and the regiments were compelled to recoil, while those +who were left alive in the crater surrendered. The trumpets sounded +the unwilling call to withdraw, and the Winchester men, many of them +shedding tears of grief and rage, fell back to their old place, while +from some distant point, rising above the dying fire of the cannon and +rifles, came the long, fierce rebel yell, full of defiance and triumph. +</p> + +<p> +The effect upon Dick of the sight in the crater was so overwhelming +that he was compelled to lie down. +</p> + +<p> +"Why do we do such things?" he exclaimed, after the faintness passed. +"Why do we waste so many lives in such vain efforts?" +</p> + +<p> +"We have to try," replied Warner, gloomily. "The thing was all right +as far as it went, but it broke against a hedge of fire and steel, +crowning a barrier that we had created for ourselves." +</p> + +<p> +"Let's not talk about it," said Pennington, who had been faint too. +"It's enough to have seen it. I am going to blot it out of my mind if +I can." +</p> + +<p> +But not one of the three was ever able wholly to forget that hideous +dawn. Luckily the Winchesters themselves had suffered little, but they +were quite content to remain in their old place by the brook, where the +next day a large man in civilian dress introduced himself to Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps you don't remember me, Mr. Mason," he said, "but in such times +as these it's easy to forget chance acquaintances." +</p> + +<p> +Dick looked at him closely. He was elderly, with heavy pouches under +his eyes and a rotund figure, but he looked uncommonly alert and his +pale blue eyes had a penetrating quality. Then Dick recalled him. +</p> + +<p> +"You're Mr. Watson, the contractor," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Right. Shake hands." +</p> + +<p> +Dick shook his hand, and he noticed that, while it was fat, it was +strong and dry. He hated damp hands, which always seemed to him to +have a slimy touch, as if their owner were reptilian. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose business is good with you, Mr. Watson," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"It couldn't be better, and such affairs as the one I witnessed this +morning mean more. But doubtless I have grieved over it as much as +you. I may profit by the great struggle, but I have not wished either +the war or its continuance. Someone must do the work I am doing. +You're a bright boy, Lieutenant Mason, and I want you still to bear in +mind the hint that I gave you once in Washington." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't recall it, this instant." +</p> + +<p> +"That to go into business with me is a better trade than fighting." +</p> + +<p> +"I thank you for the offer, but my mind turns in other directions. I'm +not depreciating your occupation, Mr. Watson, but I'm interested in +something else." +</p> + +<p> +"I knew that you were not, Lieutenant Mason. You have too much sense. +Your kind could not fight if my kind did not find the sinews, and after +the war the woods will be full of generals, and colonels and majors who +will be glad to get jobs from men like me." +</p> + +<p> +"I've no doubt of it," said Dick, "but what happened this morning made +me think the war is yet far from over." +</p> + +<p> +"We shall see what we shall see, but if you ever want a friend write to +me in Washington. General delivery, there will do. Good-by." +</p> + +<p> +"Good-by," said Dick, and, as he watched the big man walk away, he felt +that he was beginning to understand him. He had never been interested +greatly in mercantile pursuits. Public and literary life and the soil +were the great things to him. Now he realized that the vast strength +of the North, a strength that could survive any number of defeats, lay +largely in her trade and commerce. The South, almost stationary upon +the soil, had fallen behind, and no amount of skill and courage could +save her. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester gave the young officers who had been awake all night +permission to sleep, and Dick was glad to avail himself of it. He +still felt weak, and ill, and, with a tender smile, remembering his +mother's advice about the blanket, he spread one in the shade of a +small oak and lay down upon it. +</p> + +<p> +Despite the terrible repulse of the morning most of the men had +regained their usual spirits. Several were playing accordions, and the +others were listening. The Winchesters were known as a happy regiment, +because they had an able colonel, strong but firm, efficient and +tactful minor officers. They seldom got into mischief, and always they +pooled their resources. +</p> + +<p> +One lad was reading now to a group from a tattered copy of "Les +Miserables," which had just reached them. He was deep in Waterloo and +Dick heard their comments. +</p> + +<p> +"You wait till the big writers begin to tell about Chickamauga and +Gettysburg and Shiloh," said one. "They'll class with Waterloo or +ahead of it, and the French and English never fought any such campaign +as that when Grant came down through the Wilderness. What's that about +the French riding into the sunken road? I'm willin' to bet it was +nothing but a skirmish beside Pickett's charge at Gettysburg." +</p> + +<p> +"And both failed," said Warner. "There are always brave men on every +side in any war. I don't know whether Napoleon was right or wrong—I +suppose he was wrong at that time—but it always makes me feel sad to +read of Waterloo." +</p> + +<p> +"Just as a lot of our own people were grieved at the death of Stonewall +Jackson, although next to Lee he was our most dangerous foe," said +Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +The reader resumed, and, although he was interrupted from time to time +by question or comment, his monotone was pleasant and soothing, and +Dick fell asleep. When he awoke his nerves were restored, and he could +think of the crater without becoming faint again. +</p> + +<p> +That night Colonel Hertford of the cavalry came to their camp and +talked with Colonel Winchester in the presence of Dick and his comrades +of the staff. The disastrous failure of the morning, so the cavalryman +said, had convinced all the generals that Lee's trenches could not be +forced, and the commander-in-chief was turning his eye elsewhere. +While the deadlock before Petersburg lasted he would push the +operations in some other field. He was watching especially the Valley +of Virginia, where Early, after his daring raid upon the outskirts of +Washington, was being pursued by Sheridan, though not hard enough in +the opinion of General Grant. +</p> + +<p> +"It's almost decided that help will be sent to Sheridan," said +Hertford, "and in that event my regiment is sure to go. Yours has +served as a mounted regiment, and I think I have influence enough to +see that it is sent again as cavalry, if you wish." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester accepted the offer gladly, and his young officers, +in all eagerness, seconded him. They were tiring of inactivity, and of +the cramped and painful life in the trenches. To be on horseback +again, riding over hills and across valleys, seemed almost Heaven to +them, and, as Colonel Hertford walked away, earnest injunctions to use +his influence to the utmost followed him. +</p> + +<p> +"It will take the sight of the crater from my mind," said Warner. +"That's one reason why I want to go." +</p> + +<p> +Dick, searching his own mind, concluded it was the chief reason with +him, although he, too, was eager enough for a more spacious life than +that of the trench. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to wish so hard for it," said Pennington, "that it'll come +true." +</p> + +<p> +Whether Pennington's wish had any effect or not, they departed two days +later, three mounted regiments under the general command of Hertford, +his right as a veteran cavalry leader. All regiments, despite new men, +had been reduced greatly by the years of fighting, and the three +combined did not number more than fifteen hundred horse. But there was +not one among them from the oldest to the youngest who did not feel +elation as they rode away on the great curve that would take them into +the Valley of Virginia. +</p> + +<p> +"It's glorious to be on a horse again, with the world before you," said +Pennington. "I was born horseback, so to speak, and I never had to do +any walking until I came to this war. The great plains and the free +winds that blow all around the earth for me." +</p> + +<p> +"But you don't have rivers and hills and forests like ours," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"I know it, but I don't miss them. I suppose it's what you're used to +that you like. I like a horizon that doesn't touch the ground anywhere +within fifteen or eighteen miles of me. And think of seeing a buffalo +herd, as I have, that's all day passing you, a million of 'em, maybe!" +</p> + +<p> +"And think of being scalped by the Sioux or Cheyennes, as your people +out there often are," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +Pennington took off his cap and disclosed an uncommonly thick head of +hair. +</p> + +<p> +"You see that I haven't lost mine yet," he said. "If a fellow can live +through big battles as I've lived through 'em he can escape Sioux and +Cheyennes." +</p> + +<p> +"So you should. Look back now, and you can see the armies face to +face." +</p> + +<p> +They were on the highest hill, and all the cavalry had turned for a +last glance. Dick saw again the flashes from occasional rifle fire, +and a dark column of smoke still rising from a spot which he knew to be +the crater. He shuddered, and was glad when the force, riding on +again, passed over the hill. Before them now stretched a desolated +country, trodden under foot by the armies, and his heart bled again for +Virginia, the most reluctant of all the states to secede, and the +greatest of them all to suffer. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Hertford, Colonel Winchester, and the colonel of the third +regiment, a Pennsylvanian named Bedford, rode together and their young +officers were just behind. All examined the country continually +through glasses to guard against ambush. Stuart was gone and Forrest +was far away, but they knew that danger from the fierce riders of the +South was always present. Just when the capital seemed safest Early's +men had appeared in its very suburbs, and here in Virginia, where the +hand of every man and of every woman and child also was against them, +it was wise to watch well. +</p> + +<p> +As they rode on the country was still marked by desolation. The fields +were swept bare or trampled down. Many of the houses and barns and all +the fences had been burned. The roads had been torn up by the passage +of artillery and countless wagons. All the people seemed to have gone +away. +</p> + +<p> +But when they came into rougher and more wooded regions they were shot +at often by concealed marksmen. A half-dozen troopers were killed and +more wounded, and, when the cavalrymen forced a path through the brush +in pursuit of the hidden sharpshooters, they found nothing. The enemy +fairly melted away. It was easy enough for a rifleman, knowing every +gully and thicket, to send in his deadly bullet and then escape. +</p> + +<p> +"Although it's merely the buzzing and stinging of wasps," said Warner, +"I don't like it. They can't stop our advance, but I hate to see any +good fellow of ours tumbled from his horse." +</p> + +<p> +"Makes one think of that other ride we took in Mississippi," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"In one way, yes, but in others, no. This is hard, firm ground, and +we're not persecuted by mosquitoes. Nor is the country suitable for an +ambush by a great force. Ouch, that burnt!" +</p> + +<p> +A bullet fired from a thicket had grazed Warner's bridle hand. Dick +was compelled to laugh. +</p> + +<p> +"You're free from mosquitoes, George," he said, "but there are still +little bullets flying about, as you see." +</p> + +<p> +A dozen cavalrymen were sent into the thicket, but the sharpshooter was +already far away. Colonel Hertford frowned and said: +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I suppose it's the price we have to pay, but I'd like to see the +people to whom we have to pay it." +</p> + +<p> +"Not much chance of that," said Colonel Winchester. "The Virginians +know their own ground and the lurking sharpshooters won't fire until +they're sure of a safe retreat." +</p> + +<p> +But as they advanced the stinging fire became worse. There was no +Southern force in this part of the country strong enough to meet them +in open combat, but there was forest and thicket sufficient to shelter +many men who were not only willing to shoot, but who knew how to shoot +well. Yet they never caught anybody nor even saw anybody. A stray +glimpse or two of a puff of smoke was the nearest they ever came to +beholding an enemy. +</p> + +<p> +It became galling, intolerable. Three more men were killed and the +number of wounded was doubled. The three colonels held a consultation, +and decided to extend groups of skirmishers far out on either flank. +Dick was chosen to lead a band of thirty picked men who rode about a +mile on the right, and he had with him as his second, and, in reality, +as his guide and mentor in many ways, the trusty Sergeant Whitley. It +was altogether likely that Colonel Winchester would not have sent Dick +unless he had been able to send the wise sergeant with him. +</p> + +<p> +"While you are guarding us from ambush," he said to Dick, "be sure you +don't fall into an ambush yourself." +</p> + +<p> +"Not while Whitley, here, is with us," replied Dick. "He learned while +out on the plains, not only to have eyes in the back of his head, but +to have 'em in the sides of it as well. In addition he can hear the +fall of a leaf a mile away." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant shook his head and uttered an emphatic no in protest, but +in his heart he was pleased. He was a sergeant who liked being a +sergeant, and he was proud of all his wilderness and prairie lore. +</p> + +<p> +Dick gave the word and the little troop galloped away to the right, +zealous in its task and beating up every wood and thicket for the +hidden riflemen who were so dangerous. At intervals they saw the +cavalry force riding steadily on, and again they were hidden from it by +forest or bush. More than an hour passed and they saw no foe. Dick +concluded that the sharpshooters had been scared off by the flanking +force, and that they would have no further trouble with them. His +spirits rose accordingly and there was much otherwise to make them rise. +</p> + +<p> +It was like Heaven to be on horseback in the pleasant country after +being cramped up so much in narrow trenches, and there was the thrill +of coming action. They were going to join Sheridan and where he rode +idle moments would be few. +</p> + +<p> +"Ping!" a bullet whistled alarmingly near his head and then cut leaves +from a sapling beyond him. The young lieutenant halted the troop +instantly, and Sergeant Whitley pointed to a house just visible among +some trees. +</p> + +<p> +"That's where it came from, and, since it hasn't been followed by a +second, it's likely that only one man is there, and he is lying low, +waiting a chance for another bullet," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Then we'll rout him out," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +He divided his little troop, in order that it could approach the house +from all sides, and then he and the sergeant and six others advanced +directly in front. He knew that if the marksman were still hidden +inside he would not fire now, but would seek rather to hide, since he +could easily observe from a window that the building was surrounded. +</p> + +<p> +It was a small house, but it was well built and evidently had been +occupied by people of substance. It was painted white, except the +shutters which were green, and a brick walk led to a portico, with fine +and lofty columns. There was nobody outside, but as the shutters were +open it was probable that someone was inside. +</p> + +<p> +Dick disliked to force an entrance at such a place, but he had been +sent out to protect the flank and he could not let a rifleman lie +hidden there, merely to resume his deadly business as soon as they +passed on. They pushed the gate open and rode upon the lawn, an act of +vandalism that he regretted, but could not help. They reached the door +without any apparent notice being taken of them, and as the detachments +were approaching from the other sides, Dick dismounted and knocked +loudly. Receiving no answer, he bade all the others dismount. +</p> + +<p> +"Curley, you hold the horses," he said, "and Dixon, you tell the men in +the other detachments to seize anybody trying to escape. Sergeant, you +and I and the others will enter the house. Break in the lock with the +butt of your rifle, sergeant! No, I see it's not locked!" +</p> + +<p> +He turned the bolt, and, the door swinging in, they passed into an +empty hall. Here they paused and listened, which was a wise thing for +a man to do when he entered the house of an enemy. Dick's sense of +hearing was not much inferior to that of the sergeant, and while at +first they heard nothing, they detected presently a faint click, click. +He could not imagine what made the odd sound, and, listening as hard as +he could, he could detect no other with it. +</p> + +<p> +He pushed open a door that led into the hall and he and his men entered +a large room with windows on the side, opening upon a rose garden. It +was a pleasant room with a high ceiling, and old-fashioned, dignified +furniture. A blaze of sunlight poured in from the windows, and, where +a sash was raised, came the faint, thrilling perfume of roses, a +perfume to which Dick was peculiarly susceptible. Yet, for years +afterward, the odor of roses brought back to him that house and that +room. +</p> + +<p> +He thought at first that the room, although the faint clicking noise +continued, contained no human being. But presently he saw sitting at a +table by the open window a woman whose gray dress and gray hair blended +so nearly with the gray colors of the chamber that even a soldier could +have been excused for not seeing her at once. Her head and body were +perfectly still, but her hands were moving rapidly. She was knitting, +and it was the click of her needles that they had heard. +</p> + +<p> +She did not look up as Dick entered, and, taking off his cap, he stood, +somewhat abashed. He knew at once by her dress and face, and the +dignity, disclosed even by the manner in which she sat, that she was a +great lady, one of those great ladies of old Virginia who were great +ladies in fact. She was rather small, Martha Washington might have +looked much like her, and she knitted steadily on, without showing by +the least sign that she was aware of the presence of Union soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +A long and embarrassed silence followed. Dick judged that she was +about sixty-five years of age, though she seemed strong and he felt +that she was watching them alertly from covert eyes. There was no +indication that anyone else was in the building, but it did not seem +likely that a great lady of Virginia would be left alone in her house, +with a Union force marching by. +</p> + +<p> +He approached, bowed and said: +</p> + +<p> +"Madame!" +</p> + +<p> +She raised her head and looked at him slowly from head to foot, and +then back again. They were fierce old eyes, and Dick felt as if they +burned him, but he held his ground knowing that he must. Then she +turned back to her knitting, and the needles clicked steadily as before. +</p> + +<p> +"Madame!" repeated Dick, still embarrassed. +</p> + +<p> +She lifted the fierce old eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"I should think," she said, "that the business of General Grant's +soldiers was to fight those of General Lee rather than to annoy lone +women." +</p> + +<p> +Dick flushed, but angry blood leaped in his veins. +</p> + +<p> +"Pardon me, madame," he said, "but we have not come here to annoy a +woman. We were fired upon from this house. The man who did it has had +no opportunity to escape, and I'm sure that he's still concealed within +these walls." +</p> + +<p> +"Seek and ye shall—not find," she half quoted. +</p> + +<p> +"I must search the house." +</p> + +<p> +"Proceed." +</p> + +<p> +"First question her," the sergeant whispered in the young lieutenant's +ear. +</p> + +<p> +Dick nodded. +</p> + +<p> +"Pardon me, madame," he said, "but I must obtain information from you. +This is war, you know." +</p> + +<p> +"I have had many rude reminders that it is so." +</p> + +<p> +"Where is your husband?" +</p> + +<p> +She pointed upward. +</p> + +<p> +"Forgive me," said Dick impulsively. "I did not intend to recall a +grief." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't worry. You and your comrades will never intrude upon him there." +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps you have sons here in this house?" +</p> + +<p> +"I have three, but they are not here." +</p> + +<p> +"Where are they?" +</p> + +<p> +"One fell with Jackson at Chancellorsville. It was a glorious death, +but he is not dead to me. I shall always see him, as he was when he +went away, a tall, strong man with brown hair and blue eyes. Another +fell in Pickett's charge at Gettysburg. They told me that his body lay +across one of the Union guns on Cemetery Hill. That, too, was a +glorious death, and like his brother he shall live for me as long as I +live. The third is alive and with Lee." +</p> + +<p> +She had stopped knitting, but now she resumed it, and, during another +embarrassed pause, the click, click of the needles was the only sound +heard in the room. +</p> + +<p> +"I regret it, madame," resumed Dick, "but we must search the house +thoroughly." +</p> + +<p> +"Proceed," she said again in that tone of finality. +</p> + +<p> +"Take the men and look carefully through every room," said Dick to the +sergeant. "I will remain here." +</p> + +<p> +Whitley and the troopers withdrew quietly. When the last of them had +disappeared he walked to one of the windows and looked out. He saw his +mounted men beyond the rose garden on guard, and he knew that they were +as vigilant on the other sides of the house. The sharpshooter could +not escape, and he was firmly resolved not to go without him. Yet his +conscience hurt him. It was hard, too, to wait there, while the woman +said not a word, but knitted on as placidly as if he did not exist. +</p> + +<p> +"Madame," he said at last, "I pray that you do not regard this as an +intrusion. The uses of war are hard. We must search. No one can +regret it more than I do, in particular since I am really a Southerner +myself, a Kentuckian." +</p> + +<p> +"A traitor then as well as an enemy." +</p> + +<p> +Dick flushed deeply, and again there was angry blood in his veins, but +he restrained his temper. +</p> + +<p> +"You must at least allow to a man the liberty of choice," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Provided he has the intelligence and honesty to choose right." +</p> + +<p> +Dick flushed again and bit his lip. And yet he felt that a woman who +had lost two sons before Northern bullets might well be unforgiving. +There was nothing more for him to say, and while he turned back to the +window the knitting needles resumed their click, click. +</p> + +<p> +He waited a full ten minutes and he knew that the sergeant and his men +were searching the house thoroughly. Nothing could escape the notice +of Whitley, and he would surely find the sharpshooter. Then he heard +their footsteps on a stairway and in another minute they entered the +great room. The face of the sergeant clearly showed disappointment. +</p> + +<p> +"There's nobody in the house," he said, "or, if he is he's so cleverly +hidden, that we haven't been able to find him—that is so far. Perhaps +Madame here can tell us something." +</p> + +<p> +"I know nothing," she said, "but if I knew anything I would not tell it +to you." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant smiled sourly, but Dick said: +</p> + +<p> +"We must look again. The man could not have escaped with the guard +that we've set around the house." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant and his men made another search. They penetrated every +place in which a human being could possibly hide. They thrust their +rifle barrels up the chimneys, and they turned down the bed covers, but +again they found nothing. Dick meanwhile remained as before in the +large room, covertly watching the woman, lest she give a signal to the +rifleman who must be somewhere. +</p> + +<p> +All the while the perfume of the roses was growing stronger and more +penetrating, a light wind that had sprung up bringing it through the +open window. It thrilled Dick in some singular manner, and the +strangeness of the scene heightened its effect. It was like standing +in a room in a dim old castle to which he had been brought as a +prisoner, while the terrible old woman was his jailer. Then the click +of the knitting needles brought him back to the present and reality, +but reality itself, despite the sunshine and the perfume of the roses, +was heavy and oppressive. +</p> + +<p> +Dick apparently was looking from the window at the garden, brilliant +with flowers, but in fact he was closely watching the woman out of the +corner of his eye. He had learned to read people by their own eyes, +and he had seen how hers burned when she looked at them. Strength of +will and intent lie in the human eye. Unless it is purposely veiled it +tells the mind and power that are in the brain back of it. +</p> + +<p> +A fear of her crept slowly over him. Perhaps the fear came because, +obviously, she had no fear at all of him, or of Whitley or of the +soldiers. After their short dialogue she had returned to her old +immobility. Neither her body nor her head moved, only her hands, and +the motion was wholly from the wrists. She was one of the three Fates, +knitting steadily and knitting up the destiny of men. +</p> + +<p> +He shook himself. His was a sound and healthy mind, and he would allow +no taint of morbidness to enter it. He knew that there was nothing +supernatural in the world, but he did believe that this woman with the +gray hair, the burning eyes and the sharp chin, looking as if it had +been cut from a piece of steel, was the possessor of uncanny wisdom. +Beyond a doubt she knew where the marksman was hidden, and, unless he +watched her ceaselessly, she would give him a signal of some kind. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps he was hidden in the garden among the rose bushes, and he would +see her hand, if it was raised ever so slightly. Maybe that was why +the window was open, because the clearest glass even could obscure a +signal meant to be faint, unnoticed by all except the one for whom it +was intended. He would have that garden searched thoroughly when the +sergeant returned, and his heart beat with a throb of relief when he +heard the stalwart Whitley's footstep once more at the door. +</p> + +<p> +"We have found nothing, sir," said the sergeant. "We've explored every +place big enough to hide a cat." +</p> + +<p> +"Search the garden out there," said Dick. "Look behind every vine and +bush." +</p> + +<p> +"You will at least spare my roses," said the woman. +</p> + +<p> +"They shall not be harmed," replied the lieutenant, "but my men must +see what, if anything, is in the garden." +</p> + +<p> +She said no more. She had not even raised her head when she spoke, and +the sergeant and his men went into the garden. They looked everywhere +but they damaged nothing. They did not even break off a single flower +for themselves. Dick had felt confident that after the failure to find +the sharpshooter in the house he would be discovered there, but his net +brought in no fish. +</p> + +<p> +He glanced at the sergeant, who happened to glance at him at the same +time. Each read the look in the eyes of the other. Each said that +they had failed, that they were wasting time, that there was nothing to +be gained by hunting longer for a single enemy, that it was time to +ride on, as flankers on the right of the main column. +</p> + +<p> +"Madame," said Dick politely, "we leave you now. I repeat my regret at +being compelled to search your house in this manner. My duty required +it, although we have found nobody." +</p> + +<p> +"You found nobody because nobody is here." +</p> + +<p> +"Evidently it is so. Good-by. We wish you well." +</p> + +<p> +"Good-by. I hope that all of you will be shot by our brave troops +before night!" +</p> + +<p> +The wish was uttered with the most extraordinary energy and fierceness. +For the first time she had raised her level tone, and the lifted eyes +that looked into Dick's were blazing with hate. He uttered an +exclamation and stepped back. Then he recovered himself and said +politely: +</p> + +<p> +"Madame, I do not wish any such ill to you or yours." +</p> + +<p> +But she had resumed her knitting, and Dick, without another word, +walked out of the house, followed by the sergeant and his men. +</p> + +<p> +"I did not know a woman could be so vindictive," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Our army has killed two of her sons," said the sergeant. "To her we, +like all the rest of our troops, are the men who killed them." +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps that is so," said Dick thoughtfully, as he remounted. +</p> + +<p> +They rode beside the walk and out at the open gate. Dick carried a +silver whistle, upon which he blew a signal for the rest of his men to +join them, and then he and the sergeant went slowly up the road. He +was deeply chagrined at the escape of the rifleman, and the curse of +the woman lay heavily upon him. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't see how it was done," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Nor I," said the sergeant, shaking his head. +</p> + +<p> +There was a sharp report, the undoubted whip-like crack of a rifle, and +a man just behind, uttering a cry, held up a bleeding arm. Dick had a +lightning conviction that the bullet was intended for himself. It was +certain also that the shot had come from the house. +</p> + +<p> +"Back with me, sergeant!" he exclaimed. "We'll get that fellow yet!" +</p> + +<p> +They galloped back, sprang from their horses, and rushed in, followed +by the original little troop that had entered, Dick shouting a +direction to the others to remain outside. The fierce little old woman +was sitting as before by the table, knitting, and she had never +appeared more the great lady. +</p> + +<p> +"Once was enough," she said, shooting him a glance of bitter contempt. +</p> + +<p> +"But twice may succeed," Dick said. "Sergeant, take the men and go +through all the house again. Our friend with the rifle may not have +had time to get back into his hidden lair. I will remain here." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant and his men went out and he heard their boots on the +stairway and in the other rooms. The window near him was still open +and the perfume of the roses came in again, strangely thrilling, +overpowering. But something had awakened in Dick. The sixth, and even +the germ of a seventh sense, which may have been instinct, were up and +alive. He did not look again at the rose garden, nor did he listen any +longer to the footsteps of his men. +</p> + +<p> +He had concentrated all his faculties, the known, and the unknown, +which may have been lying dormant in him, upon a single object. He +heard only the click of the knitting needles, and he saw only the +small, strong hands moving swiftly back and forth. They were very +white, and they were firm like those of a young woman. There were none +of the heavy blue veins across the back that betoken age. +</p> + +<p> +The hands fascinated him. He stared at them, fairly pouring his gaze +upon them. They were beautiful, as the hands of a great lady should be +kept, and it was all the more wonderful then that the right should have +across the back of it a faint gray smudge, so tiny that only an eye +like his, and a concentrated gaze like his, could have seen it. +</p> + +<p> +He took four swift steps forward, seized the white hand in his and held +it up. +</p> + +<p> +"Madame," he said, and now his tone was as fierce as hers had ever +been, "where is the rifle?" +</p> + +<p> +She made no attempt to release her hand, nor did she move at all, save +to lift her head. Then her eyes, hard, defiant and ruthless, looked +into his. But his look did not flinch from hers. He knew, and, +knowing, he meant to act. +</p> + +<p> +"Madame," he repeated, "where is the rifle? It is useless for you to +deny." +</p> + +<p> +"Have I denied?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, but where is the rifle?" +</p> + +<p> +He was wholly unconscious of it, but his surprise and excitement were +so great that his hand closed upon hers in a strong muscular +contraction. Thrills of pain shot through her body, but she did not +move. +</p> + +<p> +"The rifle! The rifle!" repeated Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Loose my hand, and I will give it to you." +</p> + +<p> +His hand fell away and she walked to the end of the room where a rug, +too long, lay in a fold against the wall. She turned back the fold and +took from its hiding place a slender-barreled cap-and-ball rifle. +Without a word she handed it to Dick and he passed his hand over the +muzzle, which was still warm. +</p> + +<p> +He looked at her, but she gave back his gaze unflinching. +</p> + +<p> +"I could not believe it, were it not so," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"But it is so. The bullets were not aimed well enough." Dick felt an +emotion that he did not wholly understand. +</p> + +<p> +"Madame," he said, "I shall take the rifle, and again say good-by. As +before, I wish you well." +</p> + +<p> +She resumed her seat in the chair and took up the knitting. But she +did not repeat her wish that Dick and all his men be shot before night. +He went out in silence, and gently closed the door behind him. In the +hall he met Sergeant Whitley and said: +</p> + +<p> +"We needn't look any farther. I know now that the man has gone and we +shall not be fired upon again from this house." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant glanced at the rifle Dick carried and made no comment. But +when they were riding away, he said: +</p> + +<p> +"And so that was it?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, that was it." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER III +</h3> + +<h3> +OVER THE HILLS +</h3> + +<p> +Dick and his little troop rode on through the silent country, and they +were so watchful and thorough that they protected fully the right flank +of the marching column. One or two shots were fired, but the reports +came from such distant points that he knew the bullets had fallen short. +</p> + +<p> +But while he beat up the forests and fields for sharpshooters he was +very thoughtful. He had a mind that looked far ahead, even in youth, +and the incident at the house weighed upon him. He foresaw the coming +triumph of the North and of the Union, a triumph won after many great +disasters, but he remembered what an old man at a blacksmith shop in +Tennessee had told him and his comrades before the Battle of Stone +River. Whatever happened, however badly the South might be defeated, +the Southern soil would still be held by Southern people, and their +bitterness would be intense for many a year to come. The victor +forgives easily, the vanquished cannot forget. His imagination was +active and vivid, often attaining truths that logic and reason do not +reach, and he could understand what had happened at the house, where +the ordinary mind would have been left wondering. +</p> + +<p> +It is likely also that the sergeant had a perception of it, though not +as sharp and clear as Dick's. +</p> + +<p> +"When the war is over and the soldiers all go back, that is them that's +livin'," he said, "it won't be them that fought that'll keep the +grudge. It's the women who've lost their own that'll hate longest." +</p> + +<p> +"I think what you say is true, Whitley," said Dick, "but let's not talk +about it any more. It hurts." +</p> + +<p> +"Me too," said the sergeant. "But don't you like this country that +we're ridin' through, Mr. Mason?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, it's fine, but most of it has been cropped too hard. I remember +reading somewhere that George Washington himself said, away back in the +last century, that slave labor, so careless and reckless, was ruining +the soil of Virginia." +</p> + +<p> +"Likely that's true, sir, but it won't have much chance to keep on +ruinin' it. Wouldn't you say, sir, that was a Johnny on his horse up +there?" +</p> + +<p> +"I can soon tell you," said Dick, unslinging his glasses. +</p> + +<p> +On their right was a hill towering above the rest. The slopes were +wooded densely, but the crest was quite bare. Upon it sat a solitary +figure on horseback, evidently watching the marching column. +</p> + +<p> +Dick put his glasses to his eyes. The hill and the lone sentinel +enlarged suddenly and came nearer. The pulses in his temples beat +hard. Although he could not see the watcher's face clearly, because he +too was using glasses, he knew him instantly. He would have known that +heroic figure and the set of the shoulders and head anywhere. He felt +astonishment at first, but it passed quickly. It was likely that they +should meet again some time or other, since the field of battle had +narrowed so much. +</p> + +<p> +Sergeant Whitley, who invariably saw everything, had seen Dick's slight +start. +</p> + +<p> +"Someone you know, sir?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sergeant. It's my cousin, Harry Kenton. You've heard me talk of +him often. A finer and braver and stronger fellow never lived. He's +using glasses too and I've no doubt he's recognized me." +</p> + +<p> +Dick suddenly waved his glasses aloft, and Harry Kenton replied in like +manner. +</p> + +<p> +"He sees and knows me!" cried Dick. +</p> + +<p> +But the sergeant was very sober. He foresaw that these youths, bound +by such ties of blood and affection, might come into battle against +each other. The same thought was in Dick's mind, despite his pleasure +at the distant view of Harry. +</p> + +<p> +"We exchanged shots in the Manassas campaign," said Dick. "We were +sheltered and we didn't know each other until several bullets had +passed." +</p> + +<p> +"Three more horsemen have joined him," said the sergeant. +</p> + +<p> +"Those are his friends," said Dick, who had put the glasses back to his +eyes. "Look how they stand out against the sun!" +</p> + +<p> +The four horsemen in a row, at equal distances from one another, were +enlarged against a brilliant background of red and gold. Their +attitude was impressive, as they sat there, unmoving, like statues cut +in stone. They were in truth Harry and Dalton, St. Clair and Happy Tom, +and farther on the Invincibles were marching, the two colonels at their +head, to the Valley of Virginia to reinforce Early, and to make +headway, if possible, against Sheridan. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was deeply moved. Kinship and the long comradeship of youth +count for much. Perhaps for more in the South than anywhere else. +Stirred by a sudden emotion he took off his cap and waved it as a +signal of hail and farewell. The four removed their own caps and waved +them also. Then they turned their horses in unison, rode over the hill +and were gone from Dick's sight. +</p> + +<p> +Sergeant Whitley was not educated, but his experience was vast, he knew +men and he had the gift of sympathy. He understood Dick's feelings. +</p> + +<p> +"All civil wars are cruel," he said. "The killing of one's own people +is worst of all." +</p> + +<p> +But as they went on, Dick's melancholy fell from him, and he had only +pleasant recollections of the meeting. Besides, the continued movement +and freedom were inspiriting in the highest degree to youth. Although +it was August the day was cool, and the blue sky of Virginia was never +brighter. A refreshing breeze blew from dim, blue mountains that they +could see far ahead, and, as they entered a wide stretch of open +country where ambush was impossible, the trumpets called in the +flankers. +</p> + +<p> +"We shall make the lower mountains about midnight, and we'd better camp +then until dawn. Don't you think so, gentlemen?" asked Colonel +Hertford of his associate colonels, Winchester and Bedford. +</p> + +<p> +"The plan seems sound to me," replied Bedford, the Pennsylvanian. "Of +course, we want to reach Sheridan as soon as possible, but if we push +the horses too hard we'll break them down." +</p> + +<p> +Dick had dropped back with Warner and Pennington, but he heard the +colonels talking. +</p> + +<p> +"We all saw General Sheridan at the great battles in the West," he +said. "I particularly remember how he planted himself and the batteries +at Perryville and saved us from defeat, but he seems to be looming up +so much more now in the East." +</p> + +<p> +"He's become the Stuart of our side," said Warner. "I've heard some of +the people at Washington don't believe in him, but he has General +Grant's confidence and that's enough for me. Not that I put military +authority over civil rule, but war has to be fought by soldiers. I +look for lively times in the Valley of Virginia." +</p> + +<p> +"Anyway, the Lord has delivered me from the trenches at Petersburg," +said Pennington. "Think of me, used to roaming over a thousand miles +of plains, shut up between mud walls only four or five feet apart." +</p> + +<p> +"I believe that, with Sheridan, you're going to have all the roaming +you want," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +They passed silent farm houses, but took nothing from them. Ample +provision was carried on extra horses or their own, and the three +colonels were anxious not to inflame the country by useless seizures. +Twilight came, and the low mountains sank away in the dusk. But they +had already reached a higher region where nearly all the hills were +covered with forest, and Colonel Hertford once more spread out the +flankers, Dick and the sergeant, as before, taking the right with their +little troop. +</p> + +<p> +The night was fortunately clear, almost as light as day, with a +burnished moon and brilliant stars, and they did not greatly fear +ambush. Dick shrewdly reckoned that Early would need all his men in +the valley, and, after the first day at sharpshooting, they would +withdraw to meet greater demands. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless he took a rather wide circuit and came into a lonely +portion of the hills, where the forest was unbroken, save for the +narrow path on which they rode. The sergeant dismounted once and +examined the ground. +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing has passed here," he said, "and the woods and thickets are so +dense that men can't ride through 'em." +</p> + +<p> +The path admitted of only two abreast, and the forest was so heavy that +it shut out most of the moonlight. But they rode on confidently, Dick +and the sergeant leading. If it had not been for the size of the +trees, Dick would have thought that he was back in the Wilderness. +They heard now and then the wings of night birds among the leaves, and +occasionally some small animal would scuttle across the path. They +forded a narrow but deep stream, its waters black from decayed +vegetation, and continued to push on briskly through the unbroken +forest, until the sergeant said in a low voice to Dick: +</p> + +<p> +"I think I hear something ahead of us." +</p> + +<p> +They pulled back on the reins so suddenly that those behind almost rode +into them. Then they sat there, a solid, compact little group, while +Dick and the sergeant listened intently. +</p> + +<p> +"It's hoofbeats," said Dick, "very faint, because they are far away." +</p> + +<p> +"I think you are right, sir," said the sergeant. +</p> + +<p> +"But they're coming this way." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and at a steady pace. No stops and no hesitation." +</p> + +<p> +"Which shows that it's somebody who doesn't fear any harm." +</p> + +<p> +"The beats are pretty solid. A heavy man on a heavy horse." +</p> + +<p> +"About three hundred yards away, don't you think?" +</p> + +<p> +"About that, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe a farmer going home?" +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe, but I don't think so, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"At any rate, we'll soon see, because our unknown comes on without a +break. There he is now!" +</p> + +<p> +They had a comparatively clear view straight ahead, and the figure of a +man and a horse emerged from the shadows. +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant raised his rifle, but, as the man came on without fear, he +dropped it again. Some strange effect of the moonlight exaggerated the +rider and his horse, making both look gigantic, blending them together +in such manner that a tremendous centaur seemed to be riding them down. +In an instant or two the general effect vanished and as a clear beam +fell upon the man's face Dick uttered an exclamation of relief. +</p> + +<p> +"Shepard!" he said, and he felt then that he should have known before +that it was Shepard who was coming. He, alone of all men, seemed to +have the gift of omniscience and omnipresence. The spy drew his horse +to a halt directly in front of him and saluted: +</p> + +<p> +"Lieutenant Mason, sir?" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad it's you, Mr. Shepard," said Dick. "I think that in this +wood we'll need the hundred eyes that once belonged to Argus, but which +he has passed on to you." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, sir," said Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +But the man at whom he looked most was the sergeant, and the sergeant +looked most at him. One was a sergeant and the other was a spy, but +each recognized in the other a king among men. Eyes swept over +powerful chests and shoulders and open, bold countenances, and +signified approval. They had met before, but they were more than well +met here in the loneliness and the dark, amid dangers, where skill and +courage, and not rank, counted. Then they nodded without speaking, as +an Indian chief would to an Indian chief, his equal. +</p> + +<p> +"You were coming to meet us, Mr. Shepard?" said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"I expected to find you on this path." +</p> + +<p> +"And you have something to tell?" +</p> + +<p> +"A small Confederate force is in the mountains, awaiting Colonel +Hertford. It is inferior to his in numbers, but it knows the country +thoroughly and has the sympathy of all the inhabitants, who bring to it +news of everything." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know these Confederate troops?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir. Their corps is a regiment called in General Lee's army the +Invincibles, but it includes two other skeleton regiments. Colonel +Talbot who leads the Invincibles is the commander of them all. He has, +I should say, slightly less than a thousand men." +</p> + +<p> +"You know a good deal about this regiment called the Invincibles, do +you not, Mr. Shepard?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do, sir. Its colonel, Talbot, and its lieutenant-colonel, St. +Hilaire, are as brave men as any that ever lived, and the regiment has +an extraordinary reputation in the Southern army for courage. Two of +General Lee's young staff officers are also with them now." +</p> + +<p> +"Who are they?" +</p> + +<p> +"Lieutenant Harry Kenton and Lieutenant George Dalton." +</p> + +<p> +Dick with his troop rode at once to Colonel Hertford and reported. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Hertford listened and then glanced at Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Kenton is your cousin, I believe," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir," replied Dick. "He has been in the East all the time. Once +in the second Manassas campaign we came face to face and fired at each +other, although we did not know who was who then." +</p> + +<p> +"And now here you are in opposing forces again. With the war +converging as it is, it was more than likely that you should confront +each other once more." +</p> + +<p> +"But I don't expect to be shooting at Harry, and I don't think he'll be +shooting at me." +</p> + +<p> +"Will you ride into the woods again on the right, Mr. Shepard?" said +Colonel Hertford. "Perhaps you may get another view of this +Confederate force. Dick, you go with him. Warner, you and Pennington +come with me." +</p> + +<p> +Dick and Shepard entered the woods side by side, and the youth who had +a tendency toward self-analysis found that his liking and respect for +the spy increased. The general profession of a spy might be disliked, +but in Shepard it inspired no repulsion, rather it increased his heroic +aspect, and Dick found himself relying upon him also. He felt +intuitively that when he rode into the forest with Shepard he rode into +no danger, or if by any chance he did ride into danger, they would, +under the guidance of the spy, ride safely out of it again. +</p> + +<p> +Shepard turned his horse toward the deeper forest, which lay on the +left, and very soon they were out of sight of the main column, although +the sound of hoofs and of arms, clinking against one another, still +came faintly to them. Yet peace, the peace for which Dick longed so +ardently, seemed to dwell there in the woods. The summer was well +advanced and as the light winds blew, the leaves, already beginning to +dry, rustled against one another. The sound was pleasant and soothing. +He and Harry Kenton and other lads of their age had often heard it on +autumn nights, when they roamed through the forests around Pendleton in +search of the raccoon and the opossum. It all came back to him with +astonishing vividness and force. +</p> + +<p> +He was boy and man in one. But he could scarcely realize the three +years and more of war that had made him a man. In one way it seemed a +century, and in another it seemed but yesterday. The water rose in his +eyes at the knowledge that this same cousin who was like a brother to +him, one with whom he had hunted, fished, played and swum, was there in +the woods less than a mile away, and that he might be in battle with +him again before morning. +</p> + +<p> +"You were thinking of your cousin, Mr. Kenton," said Shepard suddenly. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, but how did you know?" asked Dick in surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"Because your face suddenly became melancholy—the moonlight is good, +enabling me to read your look—and sadness is not your natural +expression. You recall that your cousin, of whom you think so much, is +at hand with your enemies, and the rest is an easy matter of putting +two and two together." +</p> + +<p> +"You're right in all you say, Mr. Shepard, but I wish Harry wasn't +there." +</p> + +<p> +Shepard was silent and then Dick added passionately: +</p> + +<p> +"Why doesn't the South give up? She's worn down by attrition. She's +blockaded hard and fast! When she loses troops in battle she can't +find new men to take their places! She's short in food, ammunition, +medicines, everything! The whole Confederacy can't be anything but a +shell now! Why don't they quit!" +</p> + +<p> +"Pride, and a lingering hope that the unexpected will happen. Yes, +we've won the war, Mr. Mason, but it's yet far from finished. Many a +good man will fall in this campaign ahead of us in the valley, and in +other campaigns too, but, as I see it, the general result is already +decided. Nothing can change it. Look between these trees, and you can +see the Southern force now." +</p> + +<p> +Dick from his horse gazed into a valley down which ran a good turnpike, +looking white in the moonlight. Upon this road rode the Southern force +in close ranks, but too far away, for any sound of their hoof beats to +come to the watchers. The moon which was uncommonly bright now colored +them all with silver, and Dick, with his imaginative mind, easily +turned them into a train of the knights of old, clad in glittering +mail. They created such a sense of illusion and distance, time as well +as space, that the peace of the moment was not disturbed. It was a +spectacle out of the past, rather than present war. +</p> + +<p> +"You are familiar with the country, of course," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," replied Shepard. "Our road, as you know, is now running +parallel with that on which the Southern force is traveling, with a +broad ridge between. But several miles farther on the ridge becomes +narrower and the roads merge. We're sure to have a fight there. Like +you, I'm sorry your cousin Harry Kenton is with them." +</p> + +<p> +"It seems that you and he know a good deal of each other." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, circumstances have brought us into opposition again and again +from the beginning of the war, but the same circumstances have made me +know more about him than he does about me. Yet I mean that we shall be +friends when peace comes, and I don't think he'll oppose my wish." +</p> + +<p> +"He won't. Harry has a generous and noble nature. But he wouldn't +stand being patronized, merely because he happened to be on the beaten +side." +</p> + +<p> +"I shouldn't think of trying to do such a thing. Now, we've seen +enough, and I think we'd better go back to the colonels, with our news." +</p> + +<p> +They rode through the woods again, and, for most of the distance, there +was no sound from the marching troops. The wonderful feeling of peace +returned. The sky was as blue and soft as velvet. The great stars +glittered and danced, and the wind among the rustling leaves was like +the soft singing of a violin. At one point they crossed a little brook +which ran so swiftly down among the trees that it was a foam of water. +They dismounted, drank hastily, and then let the horses take their fill. +</p> + +<p> +"I like these hills and forests and their clear waters," said Dick, +"and judging by the appearance it must be a fine country to which we're +coming." +</p> + +<p> +"It is. It's something like your Kentucky Blue Grass, although it's +smaller and it's hemmed in by sharper and bolder mountains. But I +should say that the Shenandoah Valley is close to a hundred and twenty +miles long, and from twenty-five to forty miles wide, not including its +spur, the Luray Valley, west of the Massanuttons." +</p> + +<p> +"As large as one of the German Principalities." +</p> + +<p> +"And as fine as any of them." +</p> + +<p> +"It's where Stonewall Jackson made that first and famous campaign of +his." +</p> + +<p> +"And it's lucky for us that we don't have to face him there now. Early +is a good general, they say, but he's no Stonewall Jackson." +</p> + +<p> +"And we're to be led by Sheridan. I think he saved us at Perryville in +Kentucky, but they say he's become a great cavalry commander. Do you +know him, Mr. Shepard?" +</p> + +<p> +"Well. A young man, and a little man. Why, you'd overtop him more +than half a head, Mr. Mason, but he has a great soul for battle. He's +the kind that will strike and strike, and keep on striking, and that's +the kind we need now." +</p> + +<p> +"Here are our own men just ahead. I see the three colonels riding +together." +</p> + +<p> +They went forward swiftly and told what they had seen, Shepard also +describing the nature of the ground ahead, and the manner in which the +two roads converged. +</p> + +<p> +"Which column do you think will reach the junction first?" asked +Colonel Hertford. +</p> + +<p> +"They'll come to it about the same time," replied Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +"And so a clash is unavoidable. It was not our purpose to fight before +we reached General Sheridan, but since the enemy wants it, it must be +that way." +</p> + +<p> +Orders were issued for the column to advance as quietly as possible, +while skirmishers were thrown out to prevent any ambush. Shepard rode +again into the forest but Dick remained with Warner and Pennington. +Warner as usual was as cool as ice, and spoke in the precise, scholarly +way that he liked. +</p> + +<p> +"We march parallel with the enemy," he said, "and yet we're bound to +meet him and fight. It's a beautiful mathematical demonstration. The +roads are not parallel in an exact sense but converge to a point. +Hence, it is not our wish, but the convergence of these roads that +brings us together in conflict. So we see that the greatest issues of +our life are determined by mathematics. It's a splendid and romantic +study. I wish you fellows would pay more attention to it." +</p> + +<p> +"Mathematics beautiful and romantic!" exclaimed Pennington. "Why, +George, you're out of your head! There's nothing in the world I hate +more than the sight of an algebra!" +</p> + +<p> +"The trouble is with you and not with the algebra. You were alluding +in a depreciatory manner to my head but it's your own head that fails. +When I said algebra was a beautiful and romantic study I used the +adjectives purposely. Out of thousands of adjectives in the dictionary +I selected those two to fit the case. What could be more delightful +than an abstruse problem in algebra? You never know along what +charming paths of the mind it will lead you. Moreover there is over it +a veil of mystery. You can't surmise what delightful secrets it will +reveal later on. What will the end be? What a powerful appeal such a +question will always make to a highly intelligent and imaginative mind +like mine! No poetry! No beauty! Why every algebraic problem from the +very nature of its being is surcharged with it! It's like the mystery +of life itself, only in this case we solve the mystery! And if I may +change the metaphor, an algebraic formula is like a magnificent +diamond, cutting its way through the thick and opaque glass, which +represents the unknown! I long for the end of the war for many reasons, +but chief among them is the fact that I may return to the romantic and +illimitable fields of the mathematical problem!" +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't know anyone could ever become dithyrambic about algebra," +said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"What's dithyrambic?" asked Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"Spouting, Frank. But George, as we know, is a queer fellow. They +grow 'em in Vermont, where they love steep mountains, deep ravines and +hard mathematics." +</p> + +<p> +They had been speaking in low tones, but now they ceased entirely. +Shepard had come back from the forest, reporting that the junction of +the roads was near, and the Confederate force was marching toward it at +the utmost speed. +</p> + +<p> +The hostile columns might be in conflict in a half hour now, and the +men prepared themselves. Innumerable battles and skirmishes could +never keep their hearts from beating harder when it became evident that +they were to go under fire once more. After the few orders necessary, +there was no sound save that of the march itself. Meanwhile the moon +and stars were doing full duty, and the night remained as bright as +ever. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE FIGHT AT THE CROSSWAYS +</h3> + +<p> +Colonel Hertford was near the head of the Union column, while the three +youths rode a little farther back with Colonel Winchester, the regiment +of Colonel Bedford bringing up the rear. Just behind Dick was Sergeant +Whitley, mounted upon a powerful bay horse. The sergeant had shown +himself such a woodsman and scout, and he was so valuable in these +capacities that Colonel Winchester had practically made him an aide, +and always kept him near for orders. +</p> + +<p> +Dick noticed now that the sergeant leaned a little forward in his +saddle and was using his eyes and ears with all the concentration of +the great plainsman that he was. In that attitude he was a formidable +figure, and, though he lacked the spy's subtlety and education, he +seemed to have much in common with Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +As for Dick himself his nerves had not been so much on edge since he +went into his first battle, nor had his heart beat so hard, and he knew +it was because Harry Kenton and those comrades of his would be at the +convergence of the roads, and they would meet, not in the confused +conflict of a great battle, when a face might appear and disappear the +next second, but man to man with relatively small numbers. The moon +was dimmed a little by fleecy clouds, but the silvery color, instead of +vanishing was merely softened, and when Dick looked back at the Union +column it, like the troop of the South, had the quality of a ghostly +train. But the clouds floated away and then the light gleamed on the +barrels of the short carbines that the horsemen carried. From a point +on the other side of the forest came the softened notes of a trumpet +and the great pulse in Dick's throat leaped. Only a few minutes more +and they would be at the meeting of the ways. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Hertford sent a half dozen mounted skirmishers into the road, +but the column moved forward at its even pace, still silvered in the +moonlight, but ready for battle, wounds and death. Sergeant Whitley +whispered to Dick: +</p> + +<p> +"Other men than our own are moving in the forest. I can hear the tread +of horses' hoofs on the dry leaves and twigs at the far edge. Our +scouts should meet them in a moment or two." +</p> + +<p> +It came as the sergeant had predicted, and Dick saw a tiny flash of +fire, not much larger than a pink dot in the woods, heard the sharp +report of a rifle and then the crack of another rifle in reply. +Silence followed for an instant, but it was evident that the hostile +forces were in touch and then in another moment or two the horses of +the scouts crashed in the brush, as they rode back to the main column. +They had seen enough. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Hertford gave the order and the entire Union force now advanced +at a gallop. Through the woods, narrowing so rapidly, came the swift +beat of hoofs on the other side, and it was apparent that coincidence +would bring the two forces to the point of convergence at the same +time. The moonlight seemed to Dick to grow so bright and intense that +it had almost the quality of sunlight. Nature, in the absence of day, +was making the field of battle as light as possible. +</p> + +<p> +"What's the lay of the land at the point of meeting?" he whispered +hurriedly to Shepard who had ridden up by his side. +</p> + +<p> +"Almost level," came the quick response. +</p> + +<p> +A few more rapid hoofbeats and the shrouding woods between disappeared. +One column saw another column, both clad in the moonlight, in Dick's +fancy, all in silver mail. The two forces wheeled and faced each other +across the open space, their horses staring with red eyes, and the men +looking intently at their opponents. Both were oppressed for an +instant or two by a deep and singular silence. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's eyes swept fearfully along the gray column of the South, and he +saw the one whom he did not wish to see—at least not there—Harry +Kenton himself, sitting on his bay horse with his friends around him. +The two elderly men must be Colonel Leonidas Talbot and +Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, and the three youths beside +Harry were surely St. Clair, Langdon and Dalton. +</p> + +<p> +As he looked, Colonel Leonidas Talbot raised his sword, and at the same +time came the sharp command of Colonel Hertford. Rifles and carbines +flashed from either side across the open space, and two streams of +bullets crossed. In an instant the silver of the moonlight was hidden +by clouds of smoke through which flashed the fire from hundreds of +rifles and carbines. All around Dick's ears was the hissing sound of +bullets, like the alarm from serpents. +</p> + +<p> +The fire at close range was so deadly to both sides that holes were +smashed in the mounted ranks. The shrill screams of wounded horses, +far more terrible than the cries of wounded men, struck like knife +points on the drums of Dick's ears. He saw Shepard's horse go down, +killed instantly by a heavy bullet, but the spy himself leaped clear, +and then Dick lost him in the smoke. A bullet grazed his own wrist and +he glanced curiously at the thin trickle of blood that came from it. +Yet, forgetting it the next instant, he waved his saber above his head, +and began to shout to the men. +</p> + +<p> +Rifles and pistols emptied, the Southern horsemen were preparing to +charge. The lifting smoke disclosed a long line of tossing manes and +flashing steel. At either end of the line a shrill trumpet was +sounding the charge, and the Northern bugles were responding with the +same command. The two forces were about to meet in that most terrible +of all combats, a cavalry charge by either side, when enemies looked +into the eyes of one another, and strong hands swung aloft the naked +steel, glittering in the moonlight. +</p> + +<p> +"Bend low in the saddle," exclaimed the sergeant, "and then you'll miss +many a stroke!" +</p> + +<p> +Dick obeyed promptly and their whole line swept forward over the grass +to meet the men in gray who were coming so swiftly against them. He +saw a thousand sabers uplifted, making a stream of light, and then the +two forces crashed together. It seemed to him that it was the impact +of one solid body upon another as solid, and then so much blood rushed +to his head that he could not see clearly. He was conscious only of a +mighty crash, of falling bodies, sweeping sabers, that terrible neigh +again of wounded horses, of sun-tanned faces, and of fierce eyes +staring into his own, and then, as the red mist thinned a little, he +became conscious that someone just before him was slashing at him with +a long, keen blade. He bent yet lower, and the sword passed over him, +but as he rose a little he cut back. His edge touched only the air, +but he uttered a gasp of horror as he saw Harry Kenton directly before +him, and knew that they had been striking at each other. He saw, too, +the appalled look in Harry's eyes, who at the same time had recognized +his opponent, and then, in the turmoil of battle, other horsemen drove +in between. +</p> + +<p> +That shiver of horror swept over Dick once more, and then came relief. +The charging horsemen had separated them in time, and he did not think +it likely that the chances of battle would bring Harry and him face to +face more than once. Then the red blur enclosed everything and he was +warding off the saber strokes of another man. The air was yet filled +with the noise of shouting men, and neighing horses, of heavy falls and +the ring of steel on steel. Neither gave way and neither could +advance. The three Union colonels rode up and down their lines +encouraging their men, and the valiant Talbot and St. Hilaire were +never more valiant than on that night. +</p> + +<p> +A combat with sabers cannot last long, and cavalry charges are soon +finished. North and South had met in the center of the open space, and +suddenly the two, because all their force was spent, fell back from +that deadly line, which was marked by a long row of fallen horses and +men. They reloaded their rifles and carbines and began to fire at one +another, but it was at long range, and little damage was done. They +fell back a bit farther, the firing stopped entirely, and they looked +at one another. +</p> + +<p> +It was perhaps the effect of the night, with its misty silver coloring, +and perhaps their long experience of war, giving them an intuitive +knowledge, that made these foes know nothing was to be gained by +further combat. They were so well balanced in strength and courage +that they might destroy one another, but no one could march away from +the field victorious. Perhaps, too, it was a feeling that the God of +Battles had already issued his decree in regard to this war, and that +as many lives as possible should now be spared. But whatever it was, +the finger fell away from the trigger, the saber was returned to the +scabbard, and they sat on their horses, staring at one another. +</p> + +<p> +Dick took his glasses from his shoulder and began to scan the hostile +line. His heart leaped when he beheld Harry in the saddle, apparently +unharmed, and near him three youths, one with a red bandage about his +shoulder. Then he saw the two colonels, both erect men with long, gray +hair, on their horses near the center of the line, and talking +together. One gestured two or three times as he spoke, and he moved +his arm rather stiffly. +</p> + +<p> +The three Union colonels were in a little group not far from Dick, and +they also were talking with one another. Dick wondered what they would +do, but he was saved from long wonderment by the call of a trumpet from +the Southern force, and the appearance of a horseman not older than +himself riding forward and bearing a white flag. +</p> + +<p> +"They want a truce," said Colonel Hertford. "Go and meet them, Mason." +</p> + +<p> +Dick, willing enough, turned his horse toward the young man who, +heavily tanned, was handsome, well-built and dressed with scrupulous +care in a fine gray uniform. +</p> + +<p> +"My name is St. Clair," he said, "and I'm an officer on the staff of +Colonel Leonidas Talbot, who commands the force behind me." +</p> + +<p> +"I think we've met once before," said Dick. "My name is Mason, Richard +Mason, and I am with Colonel Arthur Winchester, who commands one of the +regiments that has just been fighting you." +</p> + +<p> +"It's so! Upon my life it's so, and you're the same Dick Mason that's +the cousin of our Harry Kenton, the fellow he's always talking about! +He's on General Lee's staff, but he's been detached for temporary duty +with us. He's over there all right. But I've come to tell you that +Colonel Talbot, who commands us, offers a flag of truce to bury the +dead. He sees that neither side can win, that to continue the battle +would only involve us in mutual destruction. He wishes, too, that I +convey to your commander his congratulations upon his great skill and +courage. I may add, myself, Mr. Mason, that Colonel Talbot knows a +brave man when he sees him." +</p> + +<p> +"I've no doubt the offer will be accepted. Will you wait a moment?" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," replied St. Clair, giving his most elegant salute with his +small sword. +</p> + +<p> +Dick went back to the Union colonels, and they accepted at once. That +long line of dead and wounded, and the mournful song of the wind +through the trees, affected the colonels on both sides. More flags of +truce were hoisted, and the officers in blue or gray rode forward to +meet one another, and to talk together as men who bore no hate in their +hearts for gallant enemies. +</p> + +<p> +The troopers rapidly dug shallow graves with their bayonets in the soft +soil, and the dead were laid away. The feeling of friendship and also +of curiosity among these stern fighters grew. They were anxious to see +and talk a little with men who had fought one another so hard more than +three years. Nearly all of them had lost blood at one time or another, +and the venom of hate had gone out with it. +</p> + +<p> +Dick found Harry dismounted and standing with a group of officers, +among whom were St. Clair and Langdon. The two cousins shook hands +with the greatest warmth. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Dick," said Harry, "we didn't think to meet again in this way, +did we?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, but both of us at least have come out of it alive, and unwounded. +I'm sorry to see that your friend there is hurt." +</p> + +<p> +"It's nothing," said Langdon, whose left arm was in a hasty bandage. "A +scratch only. I'll be able to use my arm as well as ever three days +from now." +</p> + +<p> +"Your force," said St. Clair, "was marching to reinforce General +Sheridan in the Valley of Virginia. I'm not asking for information, +which of course you wouldn't give. I'm merely stating the fact." +</p> + +<p> +"And yours," said Dick, "was marching to reinforce General Early in the +same valley. I, like you, am just making a statement." +</p> + +<p> +"We've met, but you haven't been able to stop us." +</p> + +<p> +"Nor have you been able to stop _us_." +</p> + +<p> +"And so it's checkmate." +</p> + +<p> +"Checkmate it is." +</p> + +<p> +"Why don't you fellows give up and go home?" exclaimed Dick, moved by +an irresistible impulse. "You know that your armies are wearing out, +while ours are growing stronger!" +</p> + +<p> +"We couldn't think of such a thing," replied St. Clair, in a tone of +cool assurance. "My friend Langdon here, has taken an oath to sleep in +the White House. We also intend to make a triumphal march through +Philadelphia, and then down Broadway in New York. You would not have +us break our oaths or change our purposes." +</p> + +<p> +"It's true, Dick," said Harry, "we can't do either. We'd like to +oblige you Yankees, but we must make those triumphal parades through +Philadelphia and New York." +</p> + +<p> +"I should have known that I couldn't reason with you Johnny Rebs," said +Dick, smiling, "but I hope that none of you will get killed, and here +and now I make you a promise." +</p> + +<p> +"What is it, Dick?" asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +"When you suffer your final defeat, and all of you become my prisoners, +I'll treat you well. I'll turn you loose in a Blue-grass pasture, and +you can roam as you please within its limits." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you," said Happy Tom, "but I'm no Nebuchadnezzar. I can't live +on grass. If I become a prisoner at any time I demand the very best of +food, especially as you Yankees already have more than your share." +</p> + +<p> +"There go the trumpets recalling us," said St. Clair. "The men have +finished the gruesome task. I want you to know, Mr. Mason, that we +bear you no animosity, and we're quite sure that you bear us none." +</p> + +<p> +He extended his hand and Dick's met it in a warm grasp. Langdon also +shook hands with him, and as his eyes twinkled he said: +</p> + +<p> +"Don't fail to notice my haughty bearing when I march at the head of a +triumphal troop down Broadway!" +</p> + +<p> +"I promise," said Dick. Then he and Harry gave each other the final +clasp. But with the pride of the young they strove not to show emotion. +</p> + +<p> +"Take care of yourself, Dick, old man!" said Harry. "Don't get in the +way of bullets and shell. Remember they're harder than you are." +</p> + +<p> +"The same to you, Harry. It's not worth while to take any more risks +than necessary." +</p> + +<p> +Then, obeying the call of the trumpets, they mounted and rode to their +own commands. There was something strange in this brief half hour of +friendship, when they buried the dead together. Blue and gray formed +again in long lines facing one another, but midway between was another +long line of fresh earth, and it rose up suddenly, an impassable +barrier to a charge by either force. +</p> + +<p> +"We can't beat them and they can't beat us. That's been proved," said +Colonel Hertford to Colonel Winchester and Colonel Bedford. +</p> + +<p> +"So it has," said Colonel Winchester, "and I'd like to march from here. +I don't care for any more fighting on this spot." +</p> + +<p> +"Nor I. Hark, they've decided it for us!" +</p> + +<p> +The Southern trumpet sounded another call, and the line of men in gray, +turning away, began to march into the southwest. Colonel Hertford +promptly gave an order, the Union trumpet sounded also, and the men in +blue, curving also, rode toward the northwest. +</p> + +<p> +Dick and his comrades were silent a long time. Their feelings were +perhaps the same. To youth a year is a long time, and two years are +almost a life time. Three years and more of it had made war to them a +normal state. They had not thought much before of an end to the great +struggle between North and South, and of what was to come after. Now +they realized that peace, not war, was normal, and that it must return. +</p> + +<p> +The moonlight faded and then the stars were dimmed, as the darkness +that precedes the dawn came. The silvery veil that had been thrown +over them vanished and the column became a ghostly train riding in the +dusk. But the road into which Shepard guided them led over a pleasant +land of hills and clear streams. Although the scouts on their flanks +kept vigilant watch, many of the men slept soundly in their saddles. +Dick himself dozed awhile, and slept awhile, and, when he roused +himself from his last nap, the dawn was breaking over the brown hills +and the column was halting for food and a little rest. +</p> + +<p> +It was August, the time of great heat in Virginia, but they were +already building fires to cook the breakfast and make coffee, and most +of the men had dismounted. Dick sprang down also and turned his horse +loose to graze with the others. Then he joined Warner and Pennington +and fell hungrily to work. When he thought of it afterward he could +scarcely remember a time in the whole war when he was not hungry. +</p> + +<p> +The sense of unreality disappeared with the brilliant dawn, though the +night itself with the battle in the moonlight seemed to be almost a +dream. Yet the combat had been fought, and he had met Harry Kenton and +his friends. The empty saddles proved it. +</p> + +<p> +"I see a great country opening out before us," said Warner. "I suppose +it's this Valley of Virginia, of which we've all heard and seen so +much, and in which once upon a time Stonewall Jackson thumped us so +often." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a branch of it," said Pennington, "but Stonewall Jackson is gone, +God rest his soul—I say that from the heart, even if he was against +us—and I've an idea that instead of getting thumped we're going to do +the thumping. There's something about this man Sheridan that appeals +to me. We've seen him in action with artillery, but now he's a cavalry +commander. They say he rides fast and far and strikes hard. People +are beginning to talk about Little Phil. Well, I approve of Little +Phil." +</p> + +<p> +"He'll be glad to hear of it," said Dick. "It will brace him up a lot." +</p> + +<p> +"He may be lucky to get it," replied Pennington calmly. "There are +many generals in this war, and two or three of them have been +commander-in-chief, of whom I don't approve at all. I think you'll +find, too, that history will have a habit of agreeing with me." +</p> + +<p> +"But don't make predictions," said Dick. "There have been no genuine, +dyed-in-the-wool prophets since those ancient Hebrews were gathered to +their fathers, and that was a mighty long time ago." +</p> + +<p> +"There you're wrong, Dick," said Warner, earnestly. "It's all a matter +of mathematics, the scientific application of a romantic and +imaginative science to facts. Get all your premises right, arrange +them correctly, and the result follows as a matter of course." +</p> + +<p> +The trumpet sounded boots and saddles, and cut him short. In a few +more minutes they were all up and away, riding over the hills and +across the dips toward the main sweep of the famous valley which played +such a great part in the tactics and fighting of the Civil War. It had +already been ravaged much by march and battle and siege, but its +heavier fate was yet to come. +</p> + +<p> +But Dick did not think much of what might happen as he rode with his +comrades across the broken country and saw, rising before them, the dim +blue line of the mountains that walled in the eastern side of the +valley. The day was not so warm as usual, and among the higher hills a +breeze was blowing, bringing currents of fresh, cool air that made the +lungs expand and the pulses leap. The three youths felt almost as if +they had been re-created, and Pennington became vocal. +</p> + +<p> +"Woe is the day!" he said. "I lament what I have lost!" +</p> + +<p> +"If what you have lost was worth keeping I lament with you," said Dick. +"O, woe is the day!" +</p> + +<p> +"O, woe is the day for me, too!" said Warner, "but why do we utter +cries of woe, Frank?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because of the narrow, little, muddy little, ugly little, mean little +trench we've left behind us! O, woe is me that I've left such a +trench, where one could sit in mud to the knees and touch the mud wall +on either side of him, for this open, insecure world, where there is +nothing but fresh air to breathe, nothing but water to drink, nothing +but food to eat, and no world but blue skies, hills, valleys, forests, +fields, rivers, creeks and brooks!" +</p> + +<p> +"O, woe is me!" the three chanted together. "We sigh for our narrow +trench, and its muddy bottom and muddy sides and foul air and lack of +space, and for the shells bursting over our heads, and for the hostile +riflemen ready to put a bullet through us at the first peep! Now, do +we sigh for all those blessings we've left behind us?" +</p> + +<p> +"Never a sigh!" said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Not a tear from me," said Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"The top of the earth for me," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +Their high spirits spread to the whole column. So thoroughly inured +were they to war that their losses of the night before were forgotten, +and they lifted up their voices and sang. Youth and the open air would +have their way and the three colonels did not object. They preferred +men who sang to men who groaned. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know just where we're going, and where we expect to find this +Little Phil of yours?" asked Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard that we're to report to him at Halltown, a place south of +the Potomac, and about four miles from Harper's Ferry," replied Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"As that's a long distance, we'll have a long ride to reach it," said +Warner, "and I'm glad of it. I'm enjoying this great trail, and I hope +we won't meet again those fire-eating friends of yours, Dick, who gave +us so much trouble last night." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope so too," said Dick, "for their sake as well as ours. I don't +like fighting with such close kin. They must be well along on the +southwestern road now to join Early." +</p> + +<p> +"There's no further danger of meeting them, at least before this +campaign opens," said Warner. "Shepard has just come back from a long +gallop and he reports that they are now at least twenty miles away, +with the distance increasing all the time." +</p> + +<p> +Dick felt great relief. He was softening wonderfully in these days, +and while he had the most intense desire for the South to yield he had +no wish for the South to suffer more. He felt that the republic had +been saved and he was anxious for the war to be over soon. His heart +swelled with pride at the way in which the Union states had stood fast, +how they had suffered cruel defeats, but had come again, and yet again, +how mistakes and disaster had been overcome by courage and tenacity. +</p> + +<p> +"A Confederate dollar for your thoughts," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"You can have 'em without the dollar," replied Dick. "I was thinking +about the end of the war and after. What are all the soldiers going to +do then?" +</p> + +<p> +"Go straight back to peace," replied Warner promptly. "I know my own +ambition. I've told you already that I intend to be president of +Harvard University, and, barring death, I'm bound to succeed. I give +myself twenty-five years for the task. If I choose my object now and +bend every energy toward it for twenty-five years I'm sure to obtain +it. It's a mathematical certainty." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to be a great ranchman in Western Nebraska with my father," +said Pennington. "He's under fifty yet, and he's as strong as a horse. +The buffalo in Western Nebraska must go and then Pennington and Son +will have fifty thousand fine cattle in their place. And you, Dick, +have you already chosen the throne on which you're going to sit?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I've been thinking about it for some time. I've made up my mind +to be an editor. After the war I'm going to the largest city in our +state, get a place on a newspaper there and strive to be its head. +Then I'll try to cement the reunion of North and South. That will be +my greatest topic. We soldiers won't hate one another when the war is +over, and maybe the fact that I've fought through it will give weight +to my words." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll tell you what I'll do," said Warner. "When I'm president of +Harvard I'll invite the great Kentucky editor, Richard Mason, to +deliver the annual address to my young men. I like that idea of yours +about making the Union firmer than it was before the war. Since the +Northern States and the Southern States must dwell together the more +peace and brotherly love we have the better it will be for all of us." +</p> + +<p> +"When you give me that invitation, George, you'd better ask my cousin, +Harry Kenton, at the same time, because it's almost a certainty that he +will then be governor of Kentucky. His great grandfather, the famous +Henry Ware, was the greatest governor the state ever had, and, as I +know that Harry intends to study law and enter politics, he's bound to +follow in his footsteps." +</p> + +<p> +"Of course I'll ask him," said Warner in all earnestness, "and he shall +speak too. You can settle it between you who speaks first. It will be +an exceedingly effective scene, the two cousins, the great editor who +fought on the Northern side and the great governor who fought on the +Southern side, speaking from the same stage to the picked youth of New +England. Pennington, the representative of the boundless West, shall +be there too, and if the owner of fifty thousand fine cattle roaming +far and wide wants to make an address he shall do so." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think I'd care to speak, George," said Pennington. "I'm not +cut out for oratory, but I certainly accept right now your invitation +to come. I'll sit on the stage with Dick and the Johnny Reb, his +cousin Harry, and I'll smile and smile and applaud and applaud, and +after it's all over I'll choose a few of your picked youth of New +England, take 'em out west with me, teach 'em how to rope cattle, how +to trail stray steers and how to take care of themselves in a blizzard. +Oh, I'll make men of 'em, I will! Now, what is that on the high hill +to the south?" +</p> + +<p> +The three put their glasses to their eyes and saw a man on horseback +waving a flag. The head of the horse was turned toward some hill +farther south, and the man was evidently making signals to another +patrol there. +</p> + +<p> +"A Johnny," said Pennington. "I suppose they're sending the word on +toward Early that we're passing." +</p> + +<p> +"From hill to hill," said Dick. "A message can be sent a long way in +that manner." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think it will interfere with us," said Warner. "They're +merely telling about us. They don't intend to attack us. They haven't +the men to spare." +</p> + +<p> +"No, they won't attack, they know I'm here," said Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +The three colonels did not stop the column, but they watched the +signals as they rode. Nobody was able to interpret them, not even +Shepard, but they felt that they could ignore them. Colonel Hertford, +nevertheless, sent off a strong scouting party in that direction, but +as it approached the horseman on the hill rode over the other side and +disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +All that day they advanced through a lonely and hostile country. It +was a region intensely Southern in its sympathies, and it seemed that +everybody, including the women and children, had fled before them. +Horses and cattle were gone also and its loneliness was accentuated by +the fact that not so long before it had been a well-peopled land, where +now the houses stood empty and silent. They saw no human beings, save +other watchmen on the hills making signals, but they were far away and +soon gone. +</p> + +<p> +By noon both horses and men showed great fatigue. They had slept but +little the night before, and, toughened as they were by war, they had +reached the limit of endurance. So the trumpet sounded the halt in a +meadow beside a fine stream, and all, save those who were to ride on +the outskirts and watch for the enemy, dismounted gladly. A vast +drinking followed. The water was clear, running over clean pebbles, +and a thousand men knelt and drank again and again. Then the horses +were allowed to drink their fill, which they did with mighty gurglings +of satisfaction, and the men cooked their midday meal. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile they talked of Sheridan. All expected battle and then battle +again when they joined him, and they looked forward to a great campaign +in the valley. That valley was not so far away. The blue walls of the +mountains that hemmed its eastern edge were very near now. Dick looked +at them through his glasses, not to find an enemy, but merely for the +pleasure of bringing out the heavy forests on their slopes. It was +true that the leaves were already touched by the summer's heat, but in +the distance at least the mass looked green. He knew also that under +the screen of the leaves the grass preserved its freshness and there +were many little streams, foaming in white as they rushed down the +steep slopes. It was a marvelously pleasing sight to him, and, as the +wilderness thus called, he was once more deeply grateful that he had +escaped from the muddy trench. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll pass through a gap, sir, tomorrow morning," said Sergeant +Whitley, "and go into the main valley." +</p> + +<p> +"The gap would be the place for the Southern force to meet us." +</p> + +<p> +But Sergeant Whitley shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"There are too many gaps and too few Southern troops," he said. "I +think we'll find this one clear. Besides, Colonel Hertford is sure to +send a scouting party ahead tonight. But if you don't mind taking a +little advice from an old trooper, sir, I'd lie on the grass and sleep +while we're here. An hour even will do a lot of good." +</p> + +<p> +Dick followed his advice gladly and thanked him. He was always willing +to receive instruction from Sergeant Whitley, who had proved himself +his true friend and who in reality was able to teach men of much higher +rank. He lay down upon the brown grass, and despite all the noise, +despite all the excitement of past hours, fell fast asleep in a few +minutes. He slept an hour, but it seemed to him that he had scarcely +closed his eyes, when the trumpets were calling boots and saddles +again. Yet he felt refreshed and stronger when he sprang up, and +Sergeant Whitley's advice, as always, had proved good. +</p> + +<p> +The column resumed its march before mid-afternoon, continuing its +progress through a silent and empty country. The blue wall came closer +and closer and Dick and his comrade saw the lighter line, looking in +the distance like the slash of a sword, that marked the gap. Shepard, +who rode a very swift and powerful horse, came back from another +scouting trip and reported that there was no sign of the enemy, at +least at the entrance to the gap. +</p> + +<p> +Later in the afternoon, as they were passing through a forest several +shots were fired at them from the covert. No damage was done beyond +one man wounded slightly, and Dick, under orders, led a short pursuit. +He was glad that they found no one, as prisoners would have been an +incumbrance, and it was not the custom in the United States to shoot +men not in uniform who were defending the soil on which they lived. He +had no doubt that those who had fired the shots were farmers, but it +had been easy for them to make good their escape in the thickets. +</p> + +<p> +He thought he saw relief on Colonel Hertford's face also, when he +reported that the riflemen had escaped, and, after spreading out +skirmishers a little farther on either flank, the column, which had +never broken its march, went on at increased pace. It was growing warm +now, and the dust and heat of the long ride began to affect them. The +blue line of the mountains, as they came close, turned to green and +Dick, Warner and Pennington looked enviously at the deep shade. +</p> + +<p> +"Not so bad," said Warner. "Makes me think a little of the Green +Mountains of Vermont, though not as high and perhaps not as green." +</p> + +<p> +"Of course," said Dick. "Nothing outside of Vermont is as good as +anything inside of it." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad you acknowledge it so readily, Dick. I have found some +people who would not admit it at first, and I was compelled to talk and +persuade them of the fact, a labor that ought to be unnecessary. The +truth should always speak for itself. Vermont isn't the most fertile +state in the Union and it's not the largest, but it's the best producer +of men, or I should say the producer of the best men." +</p> + +<p> +"What will Massachusetts say to that? I've read Daniel Webster's +speech in reply to Hayne." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Massachusetts, of course, has more people, I'm merely speaking of +the average." +</p> + +<p> +"Nebraska hasn't been settled long," said Pennington, "but you just +wait. When we get a population we'll make both Vermont and +Massachusetts take a back seat." +</p> + +<p> +"And that population, or at least the best part of it," rejoined the +undaunted Warner, "will come from Vermont and Massachusetts and other +New England states." +</p> + +<p> +"Sunset and the gap together are close at hand," said Dick, "and +however the mountains of Virginia may compare with those of Vermont, +it's quite certain that the sun setting over the two states is the +same." +</p> + +<p> +"I concede that," said Warner; "but it looks more brilliant from the +Vermont hills." +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, the sun set in Virginia in a vast and intense glow of +color, and as the twilight came they entered the gap. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER V +</h3> + +<h3> +AN OLD ENEMY +</h3> + +<p> +Despite the brilliant sunset the night came on very dark and heavy with +damp. The road through the gap was none too good and the lofty slopes +clothed in forest looked menacing. Many sharpshooters might lurk +there, and the three colonels were anxious to reach Sheridan with their +force intact, at least without further loss after the battle with +Colonel Talbot's command. +</p> + +<p> +The column was halted and it was decided to send out another scouting +party to see if the way was clear. Twenty men, of whom the best for +such work were Shepard and Whitley, were chosen, and Dick, owing to his +experience, was put in nominal command, although he knew in his heart +that the spy and the sergeant would be the real leaders, a fact which +he did not resent. Warner and Pennington begged to go too, but they +were left behind. +</p> + +<p> +Shepard had received a remount, and, as all of them rode good horses, +they advanced at a swift trot through the great gap. The spy, who knew +the pass, led the way. The column behind, although it was coming +forward at a good pace, disappeared with remarkable quickness. Dick, +looking back, saw a dusky line of horsemen, and then he saw nothing. +He did not look back again. His eyes were wholly for Shepard and the +dim path ahead. +</p> + +<p> +The aspect of the mountains, which had been so inviting before they +came to them, changed wholly. Dick did not long so much for green +foliage now, as a chill wind began to blow. All of them carried cloaks +or overcoats rolled tightly and tied to their saddles, which they +loosed and put on. The wind rose, and, confined within the narrow +limits of the pass, it began to groan loudly. A thin sheet of rain +came on its edge, and the drops were almost as cold as those of winter. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's first sensation of uneasiness and discomfort disappeared +quickly. Like his cousin, Harry, he had inherited a feeling for the +wilderness. His own ancestor, Paul Cotter, had been a great woodsman +too, and, as he drew on the buckskin gauntlets and wrapped the heavy +cloak about his body, his second sensation was one of actual physical +pleasure. Why should he regard the forest with a hostile eye? His +ancestors had lived in it and often its darkness had saved them from +death by torture. +</p> + +<p> +He looked up at the dark slopes, but he could see only the black masses +of foliage and the thin sheets of driven rain. For a little while, at +least, his mind reproduced the wilderness. It was there in all its +savage loneliness and majesty. He could readily imagine that the +Indians were lurking in the brush, and that the bears and panthers were +seeking shelter in their dens. But his own feeling of safety and of +mental and physical pleasure in the face of obstacles deepened. +</p> + +<p> +"I've been just that way myself," said Sergeant Whitley, who was riding +beside him and who could both see and read his face. "On the plains +when we were so well wrapped up that the icy winds whistling around us +couldn't get at us then we felt all the better. But it was best when +we were inside the fort and the winter blizzard was howling." +</p> + +<p> +"A lot of us were talking a little while back about what they were +going to do after the war. What's your plan, sergeant, if you have +any?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do have a plan, Mr. Mason. I was a lumberman, as you know, before I +entered the regular army, and when the fighting's done I think I'll go +back to it. I can swing an axe with the best of 'em, but I mean after +a while to have others swinging axes for me. If I can I'm going to +become a big lumberman. I'd rather be that than anything else." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a just and fine ambition, sergeant, I feel sure that you're going +to become a man of money and power. Mr. Warner means to become +president of Harvard, twenty or twenty-five years from now, and my +cousin Harry Kenton, a reconstructed rebel, is going to deliver an +address there to the new president's young men, while Mr. Pennington +and I, as the president's guests, are going to sit on the stage and +smile. Right now, and with authority from Mr. Warner, I'm going to +invite you as the lumber king of the Northwest to sit on the stage with +us on that occasion, as the guest of President Warner, and smile with +us." +</p> + +<p> +"If I become what you predict I'll accept," said the sergeant. +</p> + +<p> +The chances were a thousand to one against the prophecy, but it all +came true, just as they wished. +</p> + +<p> +The rain increased a little, although it was not yet able to penetrate +Dick's heavy coat, but they were compelled to go more slowly on account +of the thickening darkness. They reached very soon the crest of the +pass and halted there a little while to see or hear any sign of a human +being. But no sound came to them and they resumed the scout in the +darkness, riding now down the slope which would end before long in a +great valley. +</p> + +<p> +The ground softened by the rain deadened the footsteps of their horses, +and they made little noise as they rode down the narrow pass, examining +as well as they could the dripping forest on either side of the road. +Shepard was a bit ahead, and Dick and the sergeant, riding side by +side, came next. Behind were the troopers, a small picked band, daring +horsemen, used to every kind of danger. +</p> + +<p> +They did not really anticipate the presence of an enemy in the pass. +They knew that Colonel Talbot's command had turned toward the +southwest. All the other Confederate forces must be gathering far up +the valley to meet Sheridan, and the South was too much reduced to +raise new men. Yet after a half hour's moderate riding down the slope +Dick became sure that some one was in the narrow belt of forest on +their right, where the slope was less steep than on their left. +</p> + +<p> +At first it seemed to be an intuition, merely a feeling brought on +waves of air that men, enemies, were in the wood. Then he knew that +the feeling was due to sounds as of someone moving lightly through a +wet thicket, but unable to keep the boughs from giving forth a rustle. +He was about to call to Shepard, but before he could do so the spy +stopped. Then all the others stopped also. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you hear it?" Dick whispered to Sergeant Whitley. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," replied the sergeant. "Men are moving in the thicket on our +right. I couldn't hear much, but they must be as numerous as we are. +They're enemies or they'd have come out. They're on foot, too, as they +couldn't manage horses in those deep woods. Likely they've left their +mounts with a guard on top of a ridge, as men on foot wouldn't be +abroad at such a time on such a night." +</p> + +<p> +"Then it's an ambush!" said Dick, and he added in a sharp voice: +</p> + +<p> +"Pull away to the left, men, under cover!" +</p> + +<p> +Shepard was the first to turn and all the others followed instantly. +Three jumps of the horses and they were among the bushes and trees on +the left. It was lucky for them that they had heard the sound of the +wet bushes rustling together, as a dozen rifles flashed in the dusk on +the other side of the road. Bullets cut the leaves about them. Two or +three buried themselves with a plunk in the trunks of trees, one killed +a horse, the trooper springing clear without hurt, and one man was +wounded slightly in the arm. +</p> + +<p> +"Take cover," called Dick, "but don't lose your horses!" +</p> + +<p> +They dismounted and concealed themselves behind the trunks of trees. +Some hastily tethered their horses to bushes, but others hung the +bridle over an arm. They knew that if a combat was to occur it must be +fought on foot, but, for the present, they were compelled to wait. Yet +if their enemy was hidden from them they also were hidden from him. +All the conditions of an old Indian battle in darkness and ambush were +reproduced, and Dick was deeply grateful that he had at his elbow two +redoubtable champions like Whitley and Shepard. They were peculiarly +fitted for such work as that which lay before them, and he was ready +and willing to take advice from either. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a small party," whispered Shepard, "probably not much larger than +ours. They must have expected to make a complete ambush, but we heard +them too soon." +</p> + +<p> +"It's surely not a part of Colonel Talbot's command," said Dick. "If +so, Harry Kenton and his friends would certainly be there and I +shouldn't like to be in battle with them again." +</p> + +<p> +"Never a fear of that," said Sergeant Whitley. "It's more likely to be +some guerrilla band, roaming around as it pleases. The condition of +the country and these mountains give such fellows a chance. I'm going +to lie down and creep forward as we used to do on the plains. I want +to get a sight of those fellows, that is, if you say so, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Of course," said Dick, "but don't take too big risks, sergeant. We +can't afford to let you be shot." +</p> + +<p> +"Never fear," said the sergeant, dropping almost flat upon his face, +and creeping slowly forward. +</p> + +<p> +The dusky figure worming itself through the bushes heightened the +illusion of an old Indian combat. The sergeant was a scout and trailer +feeling for the enemy and he reminded Dick of his famous ancestor, Paul +Cotter. Several more shots were fired by the foe, but they did not +hurt anybody, all of them flying overhead. Dick's men were anxious to +send random bullets in reply into the thickets, but he restrained them. +It would be only a waste, and while it was annoying to be held there, +it could not be helped. Some of the horses reared and plunged with +fright at the shots, but silence soon came. +</p> + +<p> +Dick still watched the sergeant as he edged forward, inch by inch. Had +not his eyes been following the dusky figure he could not have picked +it out from the general darkness. But he still saw it faintly, a +darker blur against the dark earth. Yielding a little to his own +anxiety, he handed the bridle of his horse to his orderly, and moved +toward the edge of the woodland strip, bending low, and using the tree +trunks for shelter. +</p> + +<p> +At the last tree he knelt and looked for those on the other side. The +sergeant was already beyond cover, but he lay so low in the grass that +Dick himself could scarcely discern him. +</p> + +<p> +The wind was still driving the thin sheets of rain before it, and was +keeping up a howling and whistling in the pass, a most sinister sound +to one not used to the forest and darkness, although Dick paid no +attention to it. +</p> + +<p> +Twice the clouds parted slightly and showed a bit of moonlight, but the +gleam was so brief that it was gone in a second or two. Nevertheless +at the second ray Dick saw crouched beside a tree at the far side of +the road a small hunched figure holding a rifle, the head crowned by an +enormous flap-brimmed hat. His imagination also made him see small, +close-set, menacing red eyes, and he knew at once that it was Slade, +the same guerrilla leader who had once pursued him with such deadly +vindictiveness through the Mississippi forest and swamps. He had heard +that he had come farther north and had united his band with that of +Skelly, who pretended to be on the other side. But one could never +tell about these outlaws. When they were distant from the regular +armies nobody was safe from them. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you see?" whispered Dick to the sergeant who had crept to his side. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I caught a glimpse of him. It was Slade, who tried so hard to +kill you down there in the Vicksburg campaign. If we get another ray +of the moonlight I'll pick him off, that is if you say so, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"I've no objection, sergeant. Such a man as Slade cumbers the earth. +Besides, he'll do everything he can now to kill us." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant knelt, carbine raised, and waited for the ray of +moonlight. He was a dead shot, and he believed that he would not miss, +but when the ray came at last Slade was not there. Whitley uttered a +low exclamation of disgust. +</p> + +<p> +"A good chance gone," he said, "and it may never come again. I'd have +saved the lives of a lot of good men." +</p> + +<p> +But a flash came from the thicket, and the sergeant from the grass +replied. A cry followed his shot, showing that some one had received +his bullet, but Dick knew instinctively that it was not Slade, the +crafty leader he was sure now being safe behind the trunk of a tree. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the sergeant fired from another point, and then crept hastily +away lest the flash of his rifle betray him. A dozen shots were fired +by Slade's band, but no harm was done, and then, the sergeant coming +back, Dick held a consultation with his two lieutenants and advisers. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps we may flank them," he said. "We can divide our force, and +taking them by surprise drive them out of the wood." +</p> + +<p> +But Sergeant Whitley, wary and weatherwise, was against it. +</p> + +<p> +"The risk would be too great, sir," he said. "We can afford to wait +while they can't. Our whole column will be up in time, while it's not +likely that anybody can come to help Slade. It's true too, sir, that +this rain is going to stop. The clouds are beginning to clear away, +and when there's light we'll have a fair chance at 'em." +</p> + +<p> +"I think," said Dick, "that it will be best for Mr. Shepard to return +and hurry up a relieving column. What do you say?" +</p> + +<p> +"I think so too, sir," said Shepard. "I can lead my horse back some +distance through the forest, then mount and gallop up the road. They +may be gone before I come again, but if they are not we can soon drive +them away." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll cover you with our rifles against any rush made by Slade's men," +said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +But it did not become necessary to fire. Shepard was able to lead his +horse through the woods without noise, until he was at least three +hundred yards on the return journey. Then he mounted and galloped at +great speed up the pass. Dick heard the distant thud of hoofs growing +fainter and fainter until they died away altogether, and he knew that +Slade must have heard them too. And a man as acute and experienced as +the guerrilla chief would easily divine their meaning. +</p> + +<p> +The rain ceased, and the moaning and whistling of the wind in the pass +became a murmur. The clouds parted and sank away toward every horizon, +leaving the full dome of the sky, shot with a bright moon and millions +of dancing stars. A silvery light over the woods and thickets drove +away the deep darkness, and when Sergeant Whitley crept forward again +to spy out the enemy he found that they were gone. He trailed them up +the lofty slope and discovered, as he had surmised, that they had left +their horses there while they attempted the ambush. He was sure now +that they were far away, and he returned with his story, just as +Shepard arrived with the vanguard of the column, led by Colonel +Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"And so it was Slade!" said the Colonel. +</p> + +<p> +"Undoubtedly, sir," said Dick. "I saw him plainly, and so did Sergeant +Whitley." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not sorry he's here," said Colonel Winchester thoughtfully, "and I +hope the story that he and Skelly have joined bands is true, because if +they are in this region they're so far away from Pendleton that your +people are safe from mischief at their hands." +</p> + +<p> +"I hadn't thought of it in that way, sir, but it's just as you say. I'd +rather have to fight them here than have them attacking our innocent +people at home. In the early part of the war Skelly called himself a +Unionist, did he not?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and he may do so yet, but names are nothing to him. He'd rob, +and murder, too, with equal zest under either flag." +</p> + +<p> +"It's so," said Dick, and he felt the full truth as he thought of +Pendleton, and his beautiful young mother, alone in her house, save for +the gigantic and faithful Juliana. But Juliana was an armed host +herself, and Dick smiled at the recollection of the strong and honest +black face that had bent over him so often. He prayed without words +that these ruthless guerrillas, no matter what flag they bore, should +never come to Pendleton. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think our column on its present march need fear anything from +Slade and his band," said Colonel Winchester. "Such as he can operate +only from ambush, and so far as Virginia is concerned, in the +mountains. Shepard says we'll be out of the pass in another hour, and +by that time it will be day. I'll be glad, too, as the cold rain and +the darkness and the long ride are beginning to affect the men." +</p> + +<p> +The column resumed its march, Dick rode by the side of Colonel +Winchester. Time, propinquity, genuine esteem, and a fourth influence +which Dick did not as yet suspect, were fast knitting these two, +despite the difference in age, into a friendship which nothing could +break. The meeting with Slade was forgotten quickly, by all except +those concerned, and by most of those too, so vast was the war and so +little space did it afford for the memory of brief events. Yet it +lingered a while with Dick. Twice now he had met Slade and he felt +that he would meet him yet again at points far apart. +</p> + +<p> +Dawn came slow and gray in a cloudy sky, but the sun soon broke +through. The heat returned and the earth began to dry. The three +colonels felt it necessary to give their men rest and food, and let +them dry their uniforms, which had become wet in many cases, despite +their overcoats and heavy cloaks. +</p> + +<p> +They were now in a deep cove of the great Valley of Virginia, with the +steep mountains just behind them, and far beyond the dim blue outline +of other mountains enclosing it on the west. As the fires blazed up +and the men made coffee and cooked their breakfasts, Dick's heart +leaped. This was the great valley once more, where so much history had +been made. Lee and Grant were deadlocked in the trenches before +Petersburg, but here in the valley history would be made again. It was +the finest part of Virginia, the greatest state of the Confederacy, and +Dick knew in his heart that some heavy blows would soon be struck, +where fields already had been won and lost in desperate strife. +</p> + +<p> +But the men were very cheerful. The little band of skirmishers or +sharpshooters under Slade had been brushed aside easily, and now that +they were in the valley they did not foresee any further attempt to +stop their march to Sheridan. The three colonels shared in the view, +and when the men had finished breakfast and dried themselves at their +fires they remounted and rode away gaily. High spirits rose again in +youthful veins, and some lad of a mellow voice began to sing. By and +by all joined and a thousand voices thundered out: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Oh, share my cottage, gentle maid,<br /> + It only waits for thee<br /> + To give a sweetness to its shade<br /> + And happiness to me.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Here from the splendid, gay parade<br /> + Of noise and folly free<br /> + No sorrows can my peace invade<br /> + If only blessed with thee.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Then share my cottage, gentle maid,<br /> + It only waits for thee<br /> + To give a sweetness to its shade<br /> + And happiness to me."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Hertford made no attempt to check them as they rode across the +fields, yet green here, despite the summer's heat. +</p> + +<p> +"They're bravest when they sing," he said to Colonel Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"It encourages them," said Colonel Winchester, "and I like to hear it +myself. It's a wonderful effect, a thousand or more strong lads +singing, as they sweep over the valley toward battle." +</p> + +<p> +Dick, Pennington and Warner had joined in the song, but the youth some +distance ahead of them was leader. They finished "Gentle Maid" and +then, with the same lad leading them, swung into a song that made Dick +start and that for a moment made other mountains and another valley +stand out before him, sharp and clear. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Soft o'er the fountain, ling'ring falls the Southern moon<br /> + Far o'er the mountain, breaks the day too soon.<br /> + In thy dark eyes' splendor, where the warm light loves to dwell,<br /> + Weary looks, yet tender, speak their fond farewell.<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Ask thy soul if we should part,<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Lean thou on my heart.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "When in thy dreaming moons like these shall shine again,<br /> + And daylight beaming prove thy dreams are vain,<br /> + Wilt thou not, relenting, for thy absent lover sigh?<br /> + In thy heart consenting to a prayer gone by!<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Let me linger by thy side.<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Be my own fair bride."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +They put tremendous heart and energy into the haunting old song as they +sang, and Dick still saw Sam Jarvis, the singer of the hills, and his +valley, where the paths of Harry Kenton and himself had crossed, though +at times far apart. +</p> + +<p> +"Now!" shouted the young leader, "The last verse again!" and with +increased heart and energy they thundered out: +</p> + +<p> + "When in thy dreaming moons like these shall shine again,<br /> + And daylight beaming prove thy dreams are vain,<br /> + Wilt thou not, relenting, for thy absent lover sigh?<br /> + In thy heart consenting to a prayer gone by!<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Let me linger by thy side.<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Be my own fair bride."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +The mighty chorus sank away and the hills gave it back in echoes until +the last one died. +</p> + +<p> +"It's sung mostly in the South," said Dick to Warner and Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"True," said Warner, "but before the war songs were not confined to one +section. They were the common property of both. We've as much right +to sing Juanita as the Johnnies have." +</p> + +<p> +All that day they rode and sang, going north toward Halltown, where the +forces of Sheridan were gathering, and the valley, although lone and +desolate, continually unfolded its beauty before them. The mountains +were green near by and blue in the distance, and the fertile floor that +they enclosed, like walls, was cut by many streams. Here, indeed, was +a region that had bloomed before the war, and that would bloom again, +no matter what war might do. +</p> + +<p> +They found inhabited houses now and then, but all the men of military +age were gone away and the old men, the women and the children would +answer nothing. The women were not afraid to tell the Yankees what +they thought of them, and in this war which was never a war on women +the troopers merely laughed, or, if they felt anger, they hid it. +</p> + +<p> +On they went through night and day, and now they drew near to Sheridan. +Scouts in blue met them and the gallant column shook their sabers and +saluted. Yes, it was true, they said, that Sheridan was gathering a +fine army and he and all of his men were eager to march, but Colonel +Hertford's force, sent by General Grant to help, would be welcomed with +shouts. The fame of its three colonels had gone on before. +</p> + +<p> +It was bright noon when they approached the northern end of the valley, +and Dick saw a horseman followed by a group of about twenty men +galloping toward them. The leader was a short, slender man, sitting +firmly in his saddle. +</p> + +<p> +"General Sheridan!" exclaimed Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Hertford instantly ordered his trumpeter to sound a signal, and +the troopers, stopping and drawing up in a long line, awaited the man +who was to command them, and who was coming on so fast. Again Dick +examined him closely through his glasses, and he saw the young, tanned +face under the broad brim of his hat, and the keen, flashing eyes. He +noticed also how small he was. Sheridan was but five feet five inches +in height and he weighed in the momentous campaign now about to begin, +only one hundred and fifteen pounds! As slight as a young boy, he +gave, nevertheless, an impression of the greatest vigor and endurance. +</p> + +<p> +He reined in his horse a score of yards in front of the long line and +was about to speak to Colonel Hertford, who sat his saddle before it, +Colonel Winchester and Colonel Bedford on either side of him, but there +was a sudden interruption. +</p> + +<p> +Fifteen hundred sabers flashed aloft, the blazing sunlight glittering +for a moment on their broad blades. Then they swept in mighty curves, +all together, and from fifteen hundred throats thundered: +</p> + +<p> +"Sheridan! Sheridan! Sheridan!" +</p> + +<p> +The sabers made another flashing curve, sank back into their scabbards, +and the men were silent. +</p> + +<p> +Sheridan's tanned face flushed deeply, and a great light leaped up in +his eyes, as he received the magnificent salute. His own sword sprang +out, and made the salute in reply. Then, riding a little closer, he +said in a loud, clear tone that all could hear: +</p> + +<p> +"Men, I have been looking for you! I have come forward to meet you! I +knew that you were great horsemen, gallant soldiers, but I see that you +are even greater and more gallant men than I had hoped. The Army of +the Potomac has sent its best as a gift to the Army of the Shenandoah. +Men, I thank you for this welcome, the warmest I have ever received!" +</p> + +<p> +Again the sabers flashed aloft, made their glittering curve, and again +from muscular throats came the thunderous cheer: +</p> + +<p> +"Sheridan! Sheridan! Sheridan!" +</p> + +<p> +Then the young general shook hands heartily with the three colonels, +the young aides were introduced, and with Sheridan himself at their +head the whole column swept off toward the north, and to the camp of +the Army of the Shenandoah which lay but a little distance away. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VI +</h3> + +<h3> +THE FISHERMEN +</h3> + +<p> +The welcome that the column found in Sheridan's camp was as warm as +they had hoped, and more. Fifteen hundred sabers such as theirs were +not to be valued lightly, and Sheridan knew well the worth of three +such colonels as Hertford, Winchester and Bedford, with all three of +whom he was acquainted personally, and with whose records he was +familiar. Dick, Pennington and Warner also came in for his notice, and +he recalled having seen Dick at the fierce battle of Perryville in +Kentucky, a fact of which Dick was very proud. +</p> + +<p> +"Now don't become too haughty because he remembers you," said Warner +reprovingly. "Bear in mind that trifles sometimes stick longer in our +minds than more important things." +</p> + +<p> +"It's just jealousy on your part," said Dick. "You New Englanders are +able people, but you can't bear for anybody else to achieve +distinction." +</p> + +<p> +"We don't have to feel that jealousy often," said Warner calmly. +</p> + +<p> +"Merit like charity begins with you at home." +</p> + +<p> +"And modesty can't keep us from admitting it, but you Kentuckians do +fight well—under our direction." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't talk with him, Dick," said Pennington. "Against his wall of +mountainous conceit wisdom breaks in vain." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad to see you expressing yourself so poetically, Frank," said +Warner. "The New England seed planted in Nebraska will flower into +bloom some day." +</p> + +<p> +Sergeant Whitley came at that moment and asked them to go and see the +new horses provided for them, and the three went with him, friends +bound to one another by hooks of steel. The horses given to them by +special favor of Sheridan in place of their worn-out mounts, were +splendid animals, and Sergeant Whitley himself had prepared them for +their first appearance before their new masters. +</p> + +<p> +"They'll do! They'll do!" said Dick with enthusiasm. "Grand fellows! +They ought to carry us anywhere!" +</p> + +<p> +"Upon this point I must confess myself somewhat your inferior," said +Warner in his precise manner. "The mountainous character of our state +keeps us from making horses a specialty. You, I believe, in Kentucky, +pay great attention to their breeding, and so I ask you, young Mr. +Mason, if the horse chosen for me is all that he should be." +</p> + +<p> +"He asks it as a matter of condescension, Dick, and not as a favor," +said Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"It's all right any way you take it," laughed Dick. "Yes, George, your +horse has no defect. You can always lead the charge on him against +Early." +</p> + +<p> +"If I'm not at the very front I expect to be somewhere near it," said +Warner. "But don't you like the looks of this camp, boys? It shows +order, method and precision. Everything has been done according to the +best algebraic formulae. I call it mathematics, charged with fire. Our +Little Phil is a great commander. One can feel his spirit in the air +all about us." +</p> + +<p> +Dick himself had noticed the military workmanship and that, too, of a +high order, and he understood thoroughly that Sheridan had gathered a +most formidable army. It was not much short of thirty thousand men, +veteran troops, and he had with him Wright, Emory, Crook, Merritt, +Averill, Torbert, Wilson and Grover, all able generals. Nor had +Sheridan neglected to inform himself of the country over which he +intended to march. With his lieutenant of engineers, Meigs, a man of +great talent, he had spent days and nights studying maps of the valley. +Now he knew all the creeks and brooks and roads and towns, and he +understood the country as well as Early himself, who faced him with as +large a Confederate force as he could gather. +</p> + +<p> +Dick and his comrades expected immediate action, but it did not come. +They lingered for days, due, they supposed, to orders from Washington, +but they did not bother themselves about it, as they liked their new +camp and were making many new friends. September days passed and they +saw the summer turning into autumn. The mountains in the distance +looked blue, but, near at hand, their foliage had turned brown. The +great heat gave way to a crisper air and the lads who had come from the +trenches before Petersburg enjoyed for a little while the luxury of +early autumn and illimitable space. +</p> + +<p> +They rode now and then with the cavalry outposts. Early and his men +stretched across the valley to oppose them, and often Northern and +Southern pickets were in touch, though they seldom fired upon one +another. Dick, whenever he rode with the advanced guard, watched for +Harry Kenton, St. Clair and Langdon, but it was nearly a week before he +saw them. Then they rode with a small group, headed by two elderly but +very upright men, whom he knew to be Colonel Leonidas Talbot and +Lieutenant Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. +</p> + +<p> +He felt genuine gladness, and, shouting at the top of his voice, he +waved his hand. They recognized him, and all waved a welcome in +return. He saw the two colonels studying him through their glasses, but +he knew that no attack would be made upon him and the little party with +which he rode. It was one of those increasing intervals of peace and +friendship between battles. The longer the war and the greater the +losses the less men troubled themselves to shoot one another save when +real battle was joined. +</p> + +<p> +They were about four hundred yards apart and Dick used his glasses +also, enabling him to see that the young Southern officers were +unwounded—Langdon's slight hurt had healed long since—and were strong +and hearty. He thought it likely that they, as well as he, had found +the brief period of rest and freedom from war a genuine luxury. +</p> + +<p> +He waved his hand once more, and they waved back as before. Then the +course of the two little troops took them away from each other, and the +Southerners were hid from his view by a belt of forest. But he was +very glad that he had seen them. It had been almost as if there were +no war. +</p> + +<p> +Dick rode back to the camp, gave his horse to an orderly, and, walking +toward his tent, was met by Warner and Pennington, carrying long +slender rods on their shoulders—Warner in fact carrying two. +</p> + +<p> +"What's this?" he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"We're going fishing," replied Warner. "We've permission for you also. +There's a fine stream about a half mile west of us, running through the +woods, and it's been fished in but little since the war started. Here, +take your rod! You don't expect me to carry it for you any longer do +you? It has a good hook and line and it's easy for us to find bait +under a big stone on soft soil." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, George," said Dick happily. "You couldn't keep me from +going with you two. Do you know, I haven't been fishing in more than +three years, and me not yet of age?" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, now's your chance, and you may not have another until after the +war is over. They say it's a fine stream, though, of course, it's not +like the beautiful little rivers of Vermont, that come dashing down +from the mountains all molten silver, where they're not white foam. +Splendid fish! Splendid rivers! Splendid sport! Dick, do you think +I'm facing now in the exact direction of Vermont?" +</p> + +<p> +He had turned about and was gazing with a rapt look into the northeast. +</p> + +<p> +"I should say," said Dick, "that if your gaze went far enough it would +strike squarely upon the Green Mountains of Vermont." +</p> + +<p> +Warner's hand rose in a slow and majestic salute. +</p> + +<p> +"Great little state, mother of men, I salute thee!" he said. "Thou art +stern and yet beautiful to the eye and thy sons love thee! I, who am +but one among them, love all thy rocks, and clear streams, and noble +mountains and green foliage! Here, from the battle fields and across +the distance I salute thee, O great little state! O mother of men!" +</p> + +<p> +"Quite dithyrambic," said Dick, "and now that your burst of rhetoric is +over let's go on and catch our fish. Will you also use your romantic +science of mathematics in fishing? By the way, what has become of that +little algebra book of yours?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's here," said Warner, taking it from the breast pocket of his +tunic. "I never part with it and I most certainly expect to use its +principles when I reach the fishing stream. Let x express my equipment +and myself, let y equal skill and patience; x we shall say also equals +the number 7, while y equals the number 5. Now the fish are +represented by z which is equal to 12. It is obvious even to slow +minds like yours and Pennington's that neither x nor y alone can equal +z, the fish, otherwise 12, but when combined they represent that value +exactly, that is x plus y equals 12. So, if I and my equipment +coordinate perfectly with my skill and patience, which most certainly +will happen, the fish are as good as caught by me already. The rest is +a mere matter of counting." +</p> + +<p> +"Best give in, Dick," said Pennington. "He'll always prove to you by +his algebra that he knows everything, and that everything he does is +right. Of course, he's the best fisherman in the world!" +</p> + +<p> +"I'd have you to know, Francis Pennington," said Warner, with dignity, +"that I was a very good fisherman when I was five years old, and that +I've been improving ever since, and that Vermont is full of fine deep +streams, in which one can fish with pleasure and profit. What do you +know, you prairie-bred young ruffian, about fishing? I've heard that +your creeks and brooks are nothing but strips of muddy dew. The Platte +River itself, I believe, is nearly two inches deep at its deepest +parts. I don't suppose there's another stream in America which takes up +so much space on the map and so little on the ground." +</p> + +<p> +"The Platte is a noble river," rejoined Pennington. "What it lacks in +depth it makes up in length, and I'll not have it insulted by anybody +in its absence." +</p> + +<p> +While they talked they passed through the brown woods and came to the +creek, flowing with a fine volume of water down from the mountains into +one of the rivers of the valley. +</p> + +<p> +"It's up to its advertisements," said Warner, looking at it with +satisfaction. "It's clear, deep and it ought to have plenty of good +fish. I see a snug place between the roots of that oak growing upon +the bank, and there I sit." +</p> + +<p> +"There are plenty of good places," said Dick, as they seated themselves +and unwrapped their lines, "and I've a notion that our fishing is going +to prove good. Isn't it fine? Why, it's like being back home!" +</p> + +<p> +"Time's rolled back and we're just boys again," said Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't try to be poetic, Frank," said Warner. "I've told you already +that a man who has nothing but muddy streaks of dew to fish in can't +know anything about fishing." +</p> + +<p> +"Stop quarreling, you two," said Dick. "Don't you know that such +voices as yours raised in loud tones would scare away the boldest fish +that ever swam?" +</p> + +<p> +The three cast their lines out into the stream. They were of the +old-fashioned kind, a hook, a lead sinker, and a cork on the line to +keep it from sinking too far. Dick had used just such an equipment +since he was eight years old, in the little river at Pendleton, and now +he was anxious to prove to himself that he had not lost his skill. All +three were as eager to catch a fish as they were to win a battle, and, +for the time, the war was forgotten. It seemed to Dick as he sat on +the brown turf between the enclosing roots of the tree, and leaning +against its trunk, that his lost youth had returned. He was just a boy +again, fishing and with no care save to raise something on his hook. +The wood, although small, was dense, and it shut out all view of the +army. Nor did any martial sounds come to them. The rustle of the +leaves under the gentle wind was soothing. He was back at Pendleton. +Harry Kenton was fishing farther up the stream, and so were other boys, +his old friends of the little town. +</p> + +<p> +The bit of forest was to all intents a wilderness just then, and it was +so pleasant in the comfortable place between the supporting roots of +the tree that Dick fell into a dreamy state, in which all things were +delightful. It was perhaps the power of contrast, but after so much +riding and fighting he felt a sheer physical pleasure in sitting there +and watching the clear stream flow swiftly by. He smiled too at the +way in which his cork bobbed up and down on the water, and he began to +feel that it would not matter much whether he caught any fish or not. +It was just enough to sit there and go through all the motions of +fishing. +</p> + +<p> +A shout from a point twenty yards below and he looked up, startled, +from his dream. +</p> + +<p> +"A bite!" exclaimed Warner, "I thought I had him, but he slipped off +the hook! I raised him to the surface and I know he was two feet long!" +</p> + +<p> +"Nine inches, probably," said Dick. "Allow at least fifteen inches for +your imagination, George." +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose you're right, Dick. At least, I have to do it down here. If +it were a Vermont river he'd be really two feet long." +</p> + +<p> +Dick heard his line and sinker strike the water again, and then silence +returned to the little wood, but it did not endure long. From a point +beyond Warner came a shout, and this was undeniably a cry of triumph. +It was accompanied by a swishing through the air and the sound of an +object striking the leaves. +</p> + +<p> +"I got him! I got him! I got him!" exclaimed Pennington, dancing +about as if he were only twelve years old. +</p> + +<p> +Dick stood up and saw that Pennington, in truth, had caught a fine +fish, at least a foot long, which was now squirming over the leaves, +its silver scales gleaming. +</p> + +<p> +"It seems to me," said Dick, "that the very young Territory of Nebraska +has scored over the veteran State of Vermont." +</p> + +<p> +"A victor merely in a preliminary skirmish," said Warner serenely. "The +fish happened to be there. Frank's baited hook was close by. The fish +was hungry and the result was a mathematical certainty. Frank is +entitled to no credit whatever. As for me, I lure my fish within the +catching area." +</p> + +<p> +As Dick resumed his seat he felt a sharp pull at his own line, and +drawing it in smartly he drew with it a fish as large as Pennington's, +a fact that he announced with pride. +</p> + +<p> +"I think, Frank," he called, "that this is not good old Vermont's day. +Either we're more skillful or the fish like us better than they do +Warner. Which do you think it is?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's both, Dick." +</p> + +<p> +"On second thought, I don't agree with you, Frank. The fish in this +river are entirely new to us. They've never seen us before, and they +know nothing about us by hearsay and reputation. It's a case of skill, +pure skill, Frank. We've got Mr. Vermont down, and we're going to hold +him down." +</p> + +<p> +Warner said nothing, but Dick rose up a little and saw his face. It +was red, the teeth clenched tightly, and the mouth drawn down at the +corners. His eyes were fixed eagerly on his cork in the hope of seeing +it bob for a moment and then be drawn swiftly under. +</p> + +<p> +"Good old George," said Dick, under his breath. "He hates to be +beaten—well, so do we all." +</p> + +<p> +Pennington caught another fish and then Dick drew in his second. +Warner did not have a bite since his first miss and his two comrades +did not spare him. They insinuated that there were no fish in Vermont, +and they doubted whether the state had any rivers either. In any event +it was obvious that Warner had never fished before. For several +minutes they carried on this conversation, the words, in a way, as they +went back and forth, passing directly by his head. But Warner did not +speak. He merely clenched his teeth more tightly and watched his +floating cork. Meanwhile Dick caught his third fish and then Pennington +equaled him. Now their taunts, veiled but little, became more numerous. +</p> + +<p> +Warner never spoke, nor did he take his eyes from his cork. He had +heard every word, but he would not show annoyance. He was compelled to +see Dick draw in yet another fine fellow, while his own cork seemed to +have all the qualities of a lifeboat. It danced and bobbed around, but +apparently it had not the slightest intention of sinking. Why did he +have such luck, or rather lack of it? Was fortune going to prove +unkind to the good old rock-ribbed Green Mountain State? +</p> + +<p> +There came a tremendous jerk upon the line! The cork shot down like a +bullet, but Warner, making a mighty pull and snap with the rod, landed +a glorious gleaming fish upon the bank, a full two feet in length, +probably as large as any that had ever been caught in that stream. He +detached the hook and looked down at his squirming prize, while Dick +and Pennington also came running to see. +</p> + +<p> +"I've been waiting for you, my friend," said Warner serenely to the +fish. "Various small brothers of yours have come along and looked at my +bait, but I've always moved it out of reach, leaving them to fall a +prey to my friends who are content with little things. I had to wait +for you some time, O King of Fishes, but you came at last and you are +mine." +</p> + +<p> +"You can't put him down, Dick, and it's not worth while trying," said +Pennington, and Dick agreeing they went back to their own places. +</p> + +<p> +The fishing now went on with uninterrupted success. Dick caught a big +fellow too, and so did Pennington. Fortune, after wavering in her +choice, decided to favor all three about equally, and they were +content. The silvery heaps grew and they rejoiced over the splendid +addition they would make to their mess. The colonels would enjoy this +fine fresh food, and they were certainly enjoying the taking of it. +</p> + +<p> +They ran out of chaff and fell into silence again, while they fished +industriously. Dick, who was farthest up the stream, noticed a small +piece of wood floating in the center of the current. It seemed to have +been cut freshly. "Loggers at work farther up," he said to himself. +"May be cutting wood for the army." +</p> + +<p> +He caught another fish and a fresh chip passed very near his line. Then +came a second, and a third touched the line itself. Dick's curiosity +was aroused. Loggers at such a time would not take the trouble to +throw their chips into the stream. He lifted his line, caught an +unusually large white chip on the hook and drew it to the land. When +he picked it up and looked at it he whistled. Someone had cut upon its +face with a sharp penknife these clear and distinct words: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Yankees Beware<br /> + This is our River<br /> + Don't Fish in It<br /> + These Fish are Ours.<br /> + JOHNNY REBS.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +"Well, this is surely insolence," said Dick, and calling his comrades +he showed them the chip. Both were interested, but Warner had +admiration for its sender. +</p> + +<p> +"It shows a due consideration for us," he said. "He merely warns us +away as trespassers before shooting at us. And perhaps he's right. +The river and the fish in it really belong to them. We're invaders. +We came down here to crush rebellion, not to take away property." +</p> + +<p> +"But I'm going to keep my fish, just the same," said Pennington. "You +can't crush a rebellion without eating. Nor am I going to quit fishing +either." +</p> + +<p> +"Here comes another big white chip," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +Warner caught it on his hook and towed it in. It bore the inscription, +freshly cut: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Let our river alone<br /> + Take in your lines<br /> + You're in danger,<br /> + As you'll soon see.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +It was unsigned and they stared at it in wonder. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think this is really a warning?" said Pennington, "or is it +some of the fellows playing tricks on us?" +</p> + +<p> +"I believe it's a warning," said Warner soberly. "Probably a farmer a +little distance up the stream has been cutting wood, and these chips +have come from his yard, but he didn't send them. Dick, can you tell +handwriting when it's done with a knife?" +</p> + +<p> +Dick looked at the chip long and critically. +</p> + +<p> +"It may be imagination," he said, "but the words cut there bear some +resemblance to the handwriting of Harry Kenton. He makes a peculiar L +and a peculiar A and they're just the same way on this chip. The +writing is different on the other chip, but on this one I believe +strongly that it's Harry's." +</p> + +<p> +"It looks significant to me," said Warner thoughtfully. "A mile or two +farther up, this stream, so I'm told, makes an elbow, and beyond that +it comes with a rush out of the mountains. Its banks are lined with +woods and thickets and some of the enemy may have slipped in and +launched these chips. I've a sort of feeling, Dick, that it's really +your cousin and his friends who have done it." +</p> + +<p> +"I incline to that belief myself," said Dick. "You know they're ready +to dare anything, and they don't anticipate any great danger, because +we don't care to shoot at one another, until the campaign really +begins." +</p> + +<p> +"At least," said Warner, "it's best to apply to the problem a good +algebraic formula. Here we are in a wood, some distance from our main +camp. Messages, bearing a warning either in jest or in earnest, have +come floating down from a point which may be within the enemy's +country. One of the facts is x and the other is y, but what they amount +to is an unknown quantity. Hence we are left in doubt, and when you're +in doubt it's best to do the safe thing." +</p> + +<p> +"Which means that we should go back to the camp," said Dick. "But +we'll take our fish with us, that's sure." +</p> + +<p> +They began to wind up their lines, but knowing that departure would be +prudent they were yet reluctant to go in the face of a hidden danger, +which after all might not be real. +</p> + +<p> +"Suppose I climb this tree," said Pennington, indicating a tall elm, +"and I may be able to get a good look over the country, while you +fellows keep watch." +</p> + +<p> +"Up you go, Frank," said Dick. "George and I will be on guard, pistols +in one hand and fish in the other." +</p> + +<p> +Pennington climbed the elm rapidly and then announced from the highest +bough able to support him that he saw open country beyond, then more +woods, a glimpse of the stream above the elbow, but no human being. He +added that he would remain a few minutes in the tree and continue his +survey of the country. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's eyes had followed Frank's figure until it disappeared among the +brown leaves, and he had listened to him carefully, while he was +telling the result of his outlook, but his attention now turned back to +the river. No more chips were floating down its stream. Nothing +foreign appeared upon the clear surface of its waters, but Dick's sharp +vision caught sight of something in a thicket on the far shore that +made his heart beat. +</p> + +<p> +It was but little he saw, merely the brown edge of an enormous +flap-brimmed hat, but it was enough. Slade and his men undoubtedly +were there—practically within the Union lines—and he was the danger! +He called up the tree in a fierce sibilant whisper that carried +amazingly far: +</p> + +<p> +"Come down, Frank! Come down at once, for your life!" +</p> + +<p> +It was a call so alarming and insistent that Pennington almost dropped +from the tree. He was upon the ground, breathless, in a half minute, +his fish in one hand and the pistol that he had snatched from his belt +in the other. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" exclaimed Warner, who had not yet seen anything. +</p> + +<p> +"Slade and his men are in the bush on the other side of the river. The +warning was real and I've no doubt Harry sent it. They've seen Frank +come down the tree! Drop flat for your lives!" +</p> + +<p> +Again his tone was so compelling that the other two threw themselves +flat instantly, and Dick went down with them. They were barely in +time. A dozen rifles flashed from the thickets beyond the stream, but +all the bullets passed over their heads. +</p> + +<p> +"Now we run for it!" exclaimed Dick, once more in that tone of +compelling command. All three rose instantly, though not forgetting +their fish and their fishing rods, and ran at their utmost speed for +fifty or sixty yards, when at Dick's order they threw themselves flat +again. Three or four more shots were fired from the thickets, but they +did not come near their targets. +</p> + +<p> +"Thank God for that little river in between us!" said Pennington, +piously and sincerely. "Rivers certainly have their uses!" +</p> + +<p> +Then they heard a sharp, shrill note blown upon a whistle. +</p> + +<p> +"That's Slade recalling his men," said Dick. "I heard him use the same +whistle in Mississippi and I know it. His wicked little scheme to +slaughter us has failed and knowing it he prudently withdraws." +</p> + +<p> +"For which, perhaps, we have a chip to thank," said Warner. "Shall we +rise and run again?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Dick. "I think they've gone, but fifty yards farther and +nobody in those thickets can reach us." +</p> + +<p> +They stooped as they ran, and they ran fast, but, when they dropped +down again, it was behind a little hill, and they knew that all danger +had passed. The thumping of their hearts ceased, and they looked +thankfully at one another. +</p> + +<p> +"Our lives were in danger," said Warner proudly, "but I didn't forget +my fish. See, the silver beauties!" +</p> + +<p> +"And here are mine too!" said Pennington, holding up his string. +</p> + +<p> +"And mine also!" said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't like the way we had to run," said Warner. "We were +practically within our own lines and we were compelled to be +undignified. I've been insulted by that flap-brimmed scoundrel, Slade, +and I shall not forget it. If he hangs upon our flank in this campaign +I shall make a point of it, if I am able, to present him with a bullet." +</p> + +<p> +The sound of thudding hoofs came, and Colonel Winchester and a troop +galloped up. +</p> + +<p> +"We heard shots!" he exclaimed. "What was it?" +</p> + +<p> +Dick held up his fish. +</p> + +<p> +"We've been fishing, sir," he replied, "and as you can see, we've had +success, but we were interrupted by the guerrilla Slade, whom I met in +Mississippi, and his men. We got off, though, unhurt, and brought our +fish with us." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester's troop numbered more than a hundred men, and +crossing the river they beat up the country thoroughly, but they saw no +Confederate sign. When he came back Dick told him all the details of +the episode, and Colonel Winchester agreed with him that Harry had sent +the warning. +</p> + +<p> +"You'd better keep it to yourself," he said. "It's too vague and +mysterious to make a peg upon which to hang anything. Since we've +cleared the bush of enemies we'll go eat the fish you and your friends +have caught." +</p> + +<p> +Sergeant Whitley cooked them, and, as Dick and a score of others sat +around the fire and ate fish for supper, they were so exuberant and +chaffed so much that he forgot for the time all about Slade. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VII +</h3> + +<h3> +SHERIDAN'S ATTACK +</h3> + +<p> +More days passed and the army of Sheridan lay waiting at the head of +the valley, apparently without any aim in view. But Dick knew that if +Little Phil delayed it was with good cause. As Colonel Winchester was +high in the general's confidence Dick saw the commander every day. He +soon learned that he was of an intensely energetic and active nature, +and that he must put a powerful rein upon himself to hold back, when he +had such a fine army to lead. +</p> + +<p> +Many of the younger officers expressed impatience and Dick saw by the +newspapers that the North too was chafing at the delay. Newspapers +from the great cities, New York, Philadelphia and Boston, reached their +camp and they always read them eagerly. Criticisms were leveled at +Sheridan, and from the appearance of things they had warrant, but Dick +had faith in their leader. Yet another period of depression had come +in the North. The loss of life in Grant's campaign through the +Wilderness had been tremendous, and now he seemed to be held +indefinitely by Lee in the trenches before Petersburg. The +Confederacy, after so many great battles, and such a prodigious roll of +killed and wounded, was still a nut uncracked, and Sheridan, who was +expected to go up the valley and turn the Southern flank, was resting +quietly in his camp. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the face of matters, but Dick knew that, beneath, great plans +were in the making and that the armies would soon stir. The more he +saw of Sheridan the more he was impressed by him. He might prove to be +the Stonewall Jackson of the North. Young, eager, brave, he never fell +into the fault some of the other Union commanders had of overestimating +the enemy. He always had a cheery word for his young officers, and +when he was not poring over the maps with his lieutenant of engineers, +Meigs, he was inspecting his troops, and seeing that their equipment +and discipline were carried to the highest pitch. He was the very +essence of activity and the army, although not yet moving, felt at all +times the tonic of his presence. +</p> + +<p> +Cavalry detachments were sent out on a wider circle. Slade and his men +had no opportunity to come so close again, but Shepard informed Dick +that he was in the mountains hemming in the valley on the west, and +that the statement of his having formed a junction with a band under +Skelly from the Alleghanies was true. He had seen the big man and the +little man together and they had several hundred followers. +</p> + +<p> +Shepard in these days showed an almost superhuman activity. He would +leave the camp, disguised as a civilian, and after covering a great +distance and risking his life a dozen times he would return with +precious information. A few hours of rest and he was gone again on a +like errand. He seemed to be burning with an inward fire, not a fire +that consumed him, but a fire of triumph. Dick, who had formed a great +friendship with him and who saw him often, had never known him to speak +more sanguine words. Always cautious and reserved in his opinions, he +talked now of the certainty of victory. He told them that the South +was not only failing in men, having none to fill up its shattered +ranks, but that food also was failing. The time would come, with the +steel belt of the Northern navy about it and the Northern armies +pressing in on every side, when the South would face starvation. +</p> + +<p> +But a day arrived when there were signs of impending movements in the +great Northern camp. Long columns of wagons were made ready and orders +were issued for the vanguard of cavalry to start at an appointed time. +Then, to the intense disappointment of the valiant young troops, the +orders were countermanded and the whole army settled back into its +quarters. Dick, who persistently refused to be a grumbler, knew that a +cause must exist for such an action, but before he could wonder about +it long Colonel Winchester told him, Warner and Pennington to have +their horses saddled, and be ready to ride at a moment's notice. +</p> + +<p> +"We're to be a part of General Sheridan's escort," he said, "and we're +to go to a little place called Charlestown." +</p> + +<p> +The three were delighted. They were eager to move, and above all in +the train of Sheridan. The mission must be of great importance or the +commander himself would not ride upon it. Hence they saddled up in +five minutes, hoping that the call would come in the next five. +</p> + +<p> +"Did Colonel Winchester tell you why we were going to ride?" asked +Warner of Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"No." +</p> + +<p> +"Then perhaps we're going to receive the surrender of Early and all his +men." +</p> + +<p> +Dick laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard that old Jube Early is one of the hardest swearers in the +Southern army," he said, "and I've heard, too, that he's just as hard a +fighter. I don't think he'll be handing us his surrender on a silver +platter at Charlestown or anywhere else." +</p> + +<p> +"I know it," said Warner. "I was only joking, but I'm wondering why we +go." +</p> + +<p> +In ten minutes an orderly came with a message for them and they were in +the saddle as quickly as if they intended to ride to a charge. +Sheridan himself and his staff and escort were as swift as they, and +the whole troop swept away with a thunder of hoofs and the blood +leaping in their veins. It was now almost the middle of September, and +the wind that blew down from the crest of the mountains had a cool +breath. It fanned Dick's face and the great pulse in his throat +leaped. He felt that this ride must portend some important movement. +Sheridan would not gallop away from his main camp, except on a vital +issue. +</p> + +<p> +It was not a long distance to Charlestown, and when they arrived there +they dismounted and waited. Dick saw Colonel Winchester's face express +great expectancy and he must know why they waited, but the youth did +not ask him any questions, although his own curiosity increased. +</p> + +<p> +An hour passed, and then a short, thickset, bearded man, accompanied by +a small staff, appeared. Dick drew a deep breath. It was General +Grant, Commander-in-Chief of all the armies of the Union, and Sheridan +hastened forward to meet him. Then the two, with several of the senior +officers, went into a house, while the younger men remained outside, +and on guard. +</p> + +<p> +"I knew that we were waiting for somebody of importance," said Warner, +"but I didn't dream that it was the biggest man we've got in the field." +</p> + +<p> +"Didn't your algebra give you any hint of it?" asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"No. An algebra reasons. It doesn't talk and waste its time in idle +chatter." +</p> + +<p> +The young officers with their horses walked back and forth a long time, +while Grant and Sheridan talked. Dick, surprised that Grant had left +the trenches before Petersburg and had come so far to meet his +lieutenant, felt that the meeting must be momentous. But it was even +more crowded with the beginnings of great events than he thought. +Grant, as he wrote long afterward, had come prepared with a plan of +campaign for Sheridan, but, as he wrote, "seeing that he was so clear +and so positive in his views I said nothing about this and did not take +it out of my pocket." It was a quality of Grant's greatness, like that +of Lee, to listen to a lieutenant, and when he thought his plan was +better than his own to adopt the lieutenant's and put his own away. +</p> + +<p> +In that memorable interview, from which such stirring campaigns dated, +Grant was impressed more and more by the earnestness and clearness of +the famous Little Phil, and, when they parted, he gave him a free rein +and an open road. Sheridan, when they rode away from the conference, +was sober and thoughtful. He was to carry out his own plan, but the +full weight of the responsibility would be his, and it was very great +for a young man who was not much more than thirty. +</p> + +<p> +But Dick and his comrades felt exultation, and did not try to hide it. +Now that Grant himself had come to see Sheridan the army was bound to +move. Pennington looked toward the South and waved his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"You've been waiting for us a long time, old Jube," he said, "but we're +coming. And you'll see and hear our resistless tread." +</p> + +<p> +"But don't forget, Frank," said Warner soberly, "that we'll have a big +bill of lives to pay. We don't ride unhurt over the Johnnies." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't I know it?" said Pennington. "Haven't I been learning it every +day for three years?" +</p> + +<p> +Action was prompt as the young officers had hoped. The very next day +after the meeting with his superior, Sheridan prepared to march, and +the hopes of Dick and his friends rose very high. They did not know +that daring Southern spies had learned of the meeting of Grant and +Sheridan, and Early, judging that it portended a great movement against +him, was already consolidating his forces and preparing to meet it. +And Jubal Early was an able and valiant general. +</p> + +<p> +Dick did not sleep that night. All had received orders to hold +themselves in readiness for an instant march, and his blood tingled +with expectancy. At midnight the Winchester regiment rode off to the +left to join the cavalry under Wilson which was to lead the advance, +moving along a pike road and then crossing the little river Opequan. +</p> + +<p> +Dick rode close behind Colonel Winchester and Warner and Pennington +were on either side of him. Not far away from them was Sergeant +Whitley, ready for use as a scout. Shepard had disappeared already in +the darkness. They joined Wilson's command and waited in silence. At +three o'clock in the morning the word to advance was given and the +whole division marched forward in the starlight. +</p> + +<p> +They had not gone far before Shepard rode back telling them that the +crossing of the Opequan was guarded by Confederate troops. The cavalry +increased their speed. After the long period of inaction they were +anxious to come to grips with their foe. Dick still rode knee to knee +with Warner and Pennington, as they went on at a rapid pace in the +starlight, the fields and strips of forest gliding past. Men on +horseback talk less at night than in the day and moreover these had +little to say. Their part was action, and they were waiting to see +what the little Opequan would disclose to them. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think they'll have a big force at the river?" asked Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"No," replied Dick. "I fancy from what we've heard of Early's army +that he won't have the men to spare." +</p> + +<p> +"But we can look for a brush there," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +The night began to darken as a premonition of the coming dawn, a veil +of vapor was drawn before the stars, trees blended together and the air +became chill. Then the vapor was pierced in the east by a lance of +light. The rift widened, and the pale light of the first dawn appeared +over the hills. Dick, using his glasses, saw a flash which he knew was +the Opequan. And with that silvery gleam of water came other flashes +of red and rapid crackling reports. The Southern sharpshooters along +the stream were already opening fire. +</p> + +<p> +A great shout went up from the cavalry. All the forces restrained so +long in these young men burst forth. The dawn was now deepening +rapidly, its pallor turning to silver, and the river, for a long +length, lay clear to view before them. Trumpets to right and left and +in the center sounded the charge, the mellow notes coming back in many +echoes. +</p> + +<p> +The horsemen firing their own carbines and swinging aloft their sabers, +galloped forward in a mighty rush. The beat of hundreds of hoofs made +a steady sound, insistent and threatening. The yellow light of the +sun, replacing the silver of the first dawn, gilded them with gold, +glittering on the upraised blades and tense faces. The bullets of the +Southern sharpshooters, in the bushes and trees along the Opequan, +crashed among them, and horses and men went down, but the mighty sweep +of the mass was not delayed for an instant. +</p> + +<p> +Dick was flourishing the cavalry saber that he now carried and was +shouting with the rest. Nearer and nearer came the belt of clear +water, and the fire of the Southern skirmishers increased in volume and +accuracy. No great Southern force was there, but the men were full of +courage and activity. Their rifle fire emptied many of the Northern +saddles. A bullet went through the sleeve of Dick's tunic and grazed +the skin, but he only felt a slight burning touch and then soon forgot +it. +</p> + +<p> +Then the whole column started together, as they swept into the Opequan, +driving before them through sheer weight of mass the skirmishers and +sharpshooters, who were hidden among the trees and thickets. The water +itself proved but little obstacle. It was churned to foam by hundreds +of trampling hoofs, and Dick felt it falling upon him like rain, but +the drops were cool and refreshing. +</p> + +<p> +Still at a gallop, they emerged from the river, wet and dripping, so +much water had been dashed up by the beating hoofs, and charged +straight on, driving the scattered Southern riflemen before them. +Dick's exultation swelled, and so did that of Warner and Pennington. +The young Nebraskan was compelled to give voice to his. +</p> + +<p> +"Hurrah!" he shouted. "We'll gallop the whole length of the valley! +Nothing can stop us!" +</p> + +<p> +But Warner, naturally cautious, despite his rejoicings, would not go so +far. +</p> + +<p> +"Not the whole length of the valley, Frank!" he exclaimed. "Only half +of it!" +</p> + +<p> +"All or nothing!" shouted Pennington, carried away by his enthusiasm. +"Hurrah! Hurrah!" +</p> + +<p> +Before them now lay a small earthwork, from which field pieces began to +send ugly gusts of fire, but so great was the sweep of the cavalry that +they charged directly upon it. The defenders, too few to hold it, +withdrew and retreated in haste, and in a few minutes the Northern +cavalry were in possession. +</p> + +<p> +"Didn't I tell you," exclaimed Pennington, "that we were going to +gallop the whole length of the valley! We've taken a fort with +horsemen!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Warner, "but we'll stop here a while. Listen to the +trumpets sounding the halt, and yonder you can see the main lines of +the Johnnies." +</p> + +<p> +It was obvious that it was unwise to go farther until the whole army +came up, as they heard other trumpets calling now, and they were not +their own but those of their enemies. Early had not been caught +napping. The dark lines of his infantry were advancing to retake the +little fort. The cavalry was reduced in an instant from the offensive +to the defensive, and dismounting and sending their horses to the rear, +where they were held by every tenth man, they waited with carbines +ready, the masses of men in gray bearing down upon them. Dick wondered +if the Invincibles were there before him. Second thought told him that +it was unlikely, as the advancing troops were infantry, and he knew +that the Invincibles were now mounted. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, lads," said Colonel Winchester, going down the ranks, "ready with +your rifles!" +</p> + +<p> +The Southern infantry came on to the steady beating of a drum +somewhere, but as they drew near the fort a sheet of bullets poured +upon them, and drove them back, leaving the ground sprinkled with the +fallen. Again and again they reformed and returned to the charge always +to meet the same fate. +</p> + +<p> +"Brave fellows!" exclaimed Warner, "but they can't retake this fort +from us!" +</p> + +<p> +After the last repulse Colonel Winchester drew out his men, mounted +them, and charging the infantry in flank sent them far down the road +toward Winchester, where heavy columns came to their support. But the +Winchester men had time to breathe, and also to exult, as they had +suffered but little loss. While they remained at the captured fort, +awaiting further orders, they watched the battle elsewhere, flaring in +a long irregular line across the valley. +</p> + +<p> +The rifle fire was heavy and the big guns of Early were sweeping the +roads with shell and grapeshot. As well as Dick could see through his +glasses, the only success yet achieved was that of the cavalry at the +fort. Sheridan himself had not yet appeared, and the hopes of the +three sank a little. They had seen so many triumphs nearly achieved +and then lost that they could believe in nothing until it was done. +</p> + +<p> +But the morning was yet very young. While the east had long been full +of light, the golden glow was just enveloping the west. The rifles +crashed incessantly and the heavy thunder of the cannon gave the steady +sound a deeper note. The fire of the defending Southern force made a +red stream across the hills and fields. +</p> + +<p> +"It's too early to have a battle," said Warner, looking at the sun, +which was not yet far above the horizon. +</p> + +<p> +"Too early for us or too early for the Johnnies?" said Pennington. "I +think, Dick, I see those rebel friends of yours. Turn your glasses to +the right, and look at that regiment of horses by the edge of the +grove. I see at the head of it two men with longish hair. Apparently +they are elderly, and they must be Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant +Colonel St. Hilaire." +</p> + +<p> +Dick turned his glasses eagerly and the officers of the Invincibles +were at once recognizable to his more familiar eye. He could not +mistake Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant Colonel Hector St. +Hilaire, both of whom were watching the progress of the battle through +glasses, and he knew that the four young men who sat their horses just +behind them were Harry, St. Clair, Dalton and Langdon. +</p> + +<p> +As no further attack was made on the fort, and Colonel Winchester's +troop remained stationary for the time, Dick kept his glasses bearing +continually upon the Invincibles. The glasses were powerful and they +told him much. He inferred from the manner in which the men were drawn +up that they would charge soon. Near them a battery of four +Confederate guns was planted on a hill, and it was firing rapidly and +effectively, sending shell and shrapnel into advancing lines of blue +infantry. +</p> + +<p> +A singular feeling took hold of him, one of which he was not then +conscious. He knew six of the officers who sat in the front of the +Invincibles, and one of them was his own cousin, almost his brother. He +did not know a soul in the blue columns advancing upon them, and his +hopes and fears centered suddenly around that little group of six. +</p> + +<p> +The wood was filled with Southern infantry, as it was now spouting +flame, and the battery continued to thunder as fast as the men could +reload and fire. The Invincibles who carried short rifles, much like +the carbines of the North, raised them and pulled the triggers. Many +in the blue column fell, but the others went on without faltering. +</p> + +<p> +Dick knew from long experience what would follow, and he watched it +alike with the eye and the mind that divines. Either his eye or his +fancy saw the Invincibles lean forward a little, fasten their rifles, +shake loose the reins with one hand, and drop the other hand to the +hilt of the saber. It was certain that in the next minute they would +charge. +</p> + +<p> +He saw a trumpeter raise a trumpet to his lips and blow, loud and +shrill. Then the column of the Invincibles leaped forward, the necks of +the horses outstretched, the men raising their sabers and flashing them +above their heads. Dick drew deep breaths and his pulses beat +painfully. Had he realized what his wishes were then he would have +considered himself a traitor. In those swift moments his heart was +with the Invincibles and not with the blue columns that stood up +against them. +</p> + +<p> +He saw the gray horsemen sweep forward into a cloud of fire and smoke, +in which he caught the occasional flash of a saber. The combat behind +the veil lasted only a minute or two, though it seemed an hour to Dick, +and then he saw the blue infantry reeling back, their advance checked +by the charge of the Invincibles. A cheer rose in Dick's throat, but +he checked it, and then, remembering, he trembled in a brief chill, as +if shaken by the knowledge that for a few moments at least he had not +been true to the cause for which he fought. +</p> + +<p> +"A gallant charge those Johnnies made," said Warner, "and it's been +effective, too. Our men are falling back, while the Johnnies are +returning to their place near the wood." +</p> + +<p> +Dick was straining his eyes through the glasses to see whether any one +of the five whom he knew had fallen, but as the Invincibles returned +from their victorious charge in a close mass it was impossible for him +to tell. A number of saddles had been emptied, as riderless horses +were galloping wildly over the plain. He sighed a little and replaced +his glasses in their case. +</p> + +<p> +"Here come more of our cavalry!" said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +They heard the heavy beat of many hoofs and in an instant many horsemen +swarmed about them. It was Sheridan himself who led them, his face +flushed and eager and his eyes blazing. He was a little man, but he +was electric in his energy, and his very presence seemed to communicate +more spirit and fire to the troops. The officers crowded about him, +and, while he swept the field with his glasses, he also gave a rapid +command. +</p> + +<p> +The Southern resistance, despite inferior numbers, was valiant and +enduring. Their heavy guns were pouring a deadly fire upon the +Northern center. Beyond the taking of the fort by the cavalry the Army +of the Shenandoah had made no progress, and the Southern troops were +rapidly concentrating at every critical point. Old Jube Early, mighty +swearer, was proving himself a master of men. +</p> + +<p> +Dick could not watch Sheridan long, as the cavalry were quickly sent +off to the left to clear away skirmishers, and let the infantry and +artillery get up on that front. There were many groups of trees, and +from every one of these the Southern riflemen sent swarms of bullets. +It seemed to Dick that he was preserved miraculously. Many a bullet +coming straight for his head must have turned aside at the last moment +to seek a target elsewhere. To him at least these bullets were +merciful that morning. +</p> + +<p> +But they cleared the ground, though some of their own saddles were +emptied, and the infantry and the artillery came up behind them. The +big guns were planted and began to reply to those of the South. Yet +the Confederate lines still held fast. Clouds of smoke floated over +the field, but whenever they lifted sufficiently Dick saw the gray army +maintaining all its positions. He looked for the Invincibles again but +could not find them. Doubtless they were hid from his view by the +hills. +</p> + +<p> +"It's anybody's fight," said Warner, surveying the field with his cool, +mathematical eye. "We have the greater numbers but our infantry are +coming up slowly and, besides, the enemy has the advantage of interior +lines." +</p> + +<p> +"And the morning wanes," said Dick. "I thought we'd make a grand rush +and sweep over 'em!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, these Johnnies are tough. They have to be. There's not much +marching over the other by either side in this war." +</p> + +<p> +A heavy battle of cannon and rifles, with no advantage to either side, +went on for a long time. Dick saw Sheridan galloping here and there, +and urging on his troops, but the reserves were slow in coming and he +was not yet able to hurl his full strength upon his enemy. Noon came, +the battle already having lasted four or five hours, and Sheridan had +no triumph to show, save the little fort that the cavalry had seized +early in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think we'll have to draw off?" asked Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe we'll have to, but we won't," replied Dick. "Sheridan refuses +to recognize necessities when they're not in his favor. You'll now see +the difference between a man and men." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester's regiment was sent off further to the left to +prevent any flanking movement, but they could still see most of the +field. For the moment they were not engaged, and they watched the +thrilling and terrific panorama as it passed before them. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester himself suddenly broke from his calm and pointed to +the rear of the Union lines. +</p> + +<p> +"Look!" he exclaimed. "All our reserves of artillery and infantry are +coming up! The whole army will now advance!" +</p> + +<p> +They saw very clearly the deepening of the lines in the center. +Sheridan was there massing the new troops for the attack, and soon the +trumpets sounded the charge along the whole front. The Northern +batteries redoubled their fire, and the South, knowing that a heavier +shock of battle was coming, replied in kind. +</p> + +<p> +"Here we go again!" cried Pennington, and the horsemen rode straight at +their enemy. It seemed to Dick that the Southern regiments came +forward to meet them and a battle long, fierce and wavering in its +fortunes ensued. The wing to which the Winchesters belonged pressed +forward, driving their enemy before them, only to be caught when they +went too far by a savage flanking fire of artillery. Early had brought +in his reserve guns, and so powerful was their attack that at this +point the Northern line was almost severed, and a Southern wedge was +driven into the gap. +</p> + +<p> +But Sheridan did not despair. He had a keen eye and a collected mind, +infused with a fiery spirit. Where his line had been weakened he sent +new troops. With charge after charge he drove the Confederates out of +the gap and closed it up. A whole division was then hurled with its +full weight against the Southern line and broke it, although the +gallant general who led the column fell shot through the heart. +</p> + +<p> +But Early formed new lines. It was only a temporary success for +Sheridan. An important division of cavalry sent on a wide flanking +movement had not yet arrived, and he wondered why. Perhaps the thought +came into his own dauntless heart that he might not succeed at all, +but, if so, he hid it, and called up fresh resources of strength and +courage. It was now far into the afternoon but he resolved nevertheless +to win victory before the day was over. Everywhere the call for a new +charge was sounded. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchesters had a good trumpeter, a deep-chested young fellow who +loved to blow forth mellow notes, and now as his brazen instrument sang +the song that summoned men to death the young men unconsciously +tightened the grip of the knee on their horses, and leaned a little +forward, as if they would see the enemy more closely. To the right the +fire grew heavier and heavier, and most of the field was hidden by a +thick veil of smoke. +</p> + +<p> +Dick saw other cavalry massing on either side of the Winchester +regiment, and he knew their charge was to be one of great weight and +importance. +</p> + +<p> +"I feel that we're going to win or lose here," he said to Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"Looks like it," replied the Vermonter, "but I think you can put your +money on the cavalry today. It's Sheridan's great striking arm." +</p> + +<p> +"It'll have to strike with all its might, that's sure," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +He did not know that the force in front of him was commanded by a +general from his own state, Breckinridge, once Vice-President of the +United States and also high in the councils of the Confederacy. +Breckinridge was inspiring his command with the utmost vigor and +already his heavy guns were sweeping the front of the Union cavalry, +while the riflemen stood ready for the charge. +</p> + +<p> +The great mass of Northern horsemen were eager and impatient. A thrill +of anticipation seemed to run through them, as if through one body, and +when the final command was given they swept forward in a mighty, +irresistible line. In Dick's mind then anticipation became knowledge. +He was as sure as he was of his own name that they were going to win. +</p> + +<p> +Again he was knee to knee with Warner and Pennington, and with these +good comrades on his right and left he rode into the Southern fire, +among the shell and shrapnel and grapeshot and bullets that had swept +so often around him. In spite of the most desperate courage, the +Southern troops gave way before the terrific onset—they had to give +ground or they would have been trampled under the feet of the horses. +Cannon and many rifles were taken, and the whole Confederate division +was driven in disorder down the road. +</p> + +<p> +Warner's stern calm was broken, and he shouted in delight "We win! We +win!" Then Dick and Pennington shouted with him: "We win! We win!" +and as the smoke of their own battle lifted they saw that the Union +army elsewhere was triumphant also. Sheridan along his whole line was +forcing the enemy back toward Winchester, raking him with his heavy +guns, and sending charge after charge of cavalry against him. Unable +to withstand the weight hurled upon them the Southern troops gave +ground at an increased rate. +</p> + +<p> +Yet Early and his veterans never showed greater courage than on that +day. His brave officers were everywhere, checking the fugitives and, +his best division turning a front of steel to the enemy, covered the +retreat. Neither infantry nor cavalry could break it, although every +man in the Southern command knew that the battle was lost. Yet they +were resolved that it should not become a rout, and though many were +falling before the Union force they never shrank for a moment from +their terrible task. +</p> + +<p> +The Invincibles were in the division that covered the retreat, and they +were exposed at all times to the full measure of the Union attack. +Dalton had joined them that morning, but the bullets and shells seemed +resolved to spare the four youths and the two colonels, or at least not +to doom them to death. Nearly every one of them bore slight wounds, +and often men had been killed only a few feet away, but the valiant +band, led by its daring officers, fought with undimmed courage and +resolution. +</p> + +<p> +"I fear that we have been defeated, Hector," said Colonel Leonidas +Talbot. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't call it a defeat, Leonidas. It's merely a masterly retreat +before superior numbers, after having inflicted great loss upon the +enemy. As you see, we are protecting our withdrawal. Every attack of +the enemy upon our division has been beaten back, and we will continue +to beat him back as long as he comes." +</p> + +<p> +"True, true, Hector, and the Invincibles are bearing a great part in +this glorious feat of arms! But the Yankee general, Sheridan, is not +like the other Yankee generals who operated in the valley earlier in +the war. We're bound to admit that." +</p> + +<p> +"We do admit it, Leonidas, and alas! we have now no Stonewall Jackson +to meet him, brave and capable as General Early is!" +</p> + +<p> +The two colonels looked at the setting sun, and hoped that it would go +down with a rush. The division could not hold forever against the +tremendous pressure upon it that never ceased, but darkness would put +an end to the battle. The first gray of twilight was already showing +on the eastern hills, and Early's men still held the broad turnpike +leading into the South. Here, fighting with all the desperation of +imminent need, they beat off every effort of the Northern cavalry to +gain their ground, and when night came they still held it, withdrawing +slowly and in good order, while Sheridan's men, exhausted by tremendous +marches and heavy losses, were unable to pursue. Yet the North had +gained a great and important victory. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Darkness closed over a weary but exultant army. It had not destroyed +the forces of Early, and it had been able to pursue only three miles. +It had lost five thousand men in killed and wounded, but the results, +nevertheless, were great and the soldiers knew it. The spell of +Southern invincibility in the famous valley, where Jackson had won so +often, was broken, and the star of Sheridan had flashed out with +brilliancy, to last until the war's close. They knew, too, that they +now held all of the valley north of Winchester, and they were soon to +know that they would continue to hold it. They commanded also a great +railway and a great canal, and the South was cut off from Maryland and +Pennsylvania, neither of which it could ever invade again. +</p> + +<p> +Although a far smaller battle than a dozen that had been fought, it was +one of the greatest and most complete victories the North had yet won. +After a long and seemingly endless deadlock a terrible blow had been +struck at the flank of Lee, and the news of the triumph filled the +North with joy. It was also given on this occasion to those who had +fought in the battle itself to know what they had done. They were not +blinded by the dust and shouting of the arena. +</p> + +<p> +Dick with his two young comrades sat beneath an oak and ate the warm +food and drank the hot coffee the camp cook brought to them. They had +escaped without hurt, and they were very happy over the achievement of +the day. The night was crisp, filled with starshine, and the cooking +fires had been built along a long line, stretching away like a series +of triumphant bonfires. +</p> + +<p> +"I felt this morning that we would win," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"I've felt several times that we would win, when we didn't," said +Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"But this time I felt it right. They say that Stonewall Jackson always +communicated electricity to his men, and I think our Little Phil has +the same quality. Since we first came to him here I haven't doubted +that we would win, and when I saw him and Grant talking I knew that +we'd be up and doing." +</p> + +<p> +"It's the spirit that Grant showed at Vicksburg," said Warner, +seriously. "Little Phil—I intend to call him that when I'm not in his +presence, because it's really a term of admiration—is another Grant, +only younger and on horseback." +</p> + +<p> +"It's fire that does it," said Dick. "No, Frank, I don't mean this +material fire burning before us, but the fire that makes him see +obstacles little, and advantages big, the fire that makes him rush over +everything to get at the enemy and destroy him." +</p> + +<p> +"Well spoken, Dick," said Warner. "A bit rhetorical, perhaps, but that +can be attributed to your youth and the region from which you come." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a great pity, George, about my youth and the region from which I +come. If so many youths in blue didn't come from that same region the +whole Mississippi Valley might now be in the hands of the Johnnies." +</p> + +<p> +"Didn't I tell you, Dick, not to argue with him?" said Pennington. +"What's the use? New England has the writers and when this war is +ended victoriously they'll give the credit of all the fighting to New +England. And after a while, through the printed word, they'll make +other people believe it, too." +</p> + +<p> +"Then you Nebraskans and Kentuckians should learn to read and write. +Why blame me?" said Warner with dignity. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester joined them at that moment, having returned from a +brief council with Sheridan and his officers. Dick, without a word, +passed him a plate of hot ham and a tin cup of sizzling coffee. The +colonel, who looked worn to the bone but triumphant, ate and drank. +Then he settled himself into an easy place before one of the fires and +said: +</p> + +<p> +"A messenger has gone to General Grant with the news of our victory, +and it will certainly be a most welcome message. The news will also be +sent to the nearest telegraph station, and then it will travel on +hundreds of wires to every part of the North, but while it's flashing +through space we'll be riding forward to new battle." +</p> + +<p> +"I expected it, sir," said Dick. "I suppose we advance again at dawn." +</p> + +<p> +"And maybe a little sooner. Now you boys must rest. You've had +eighteen hours of marching and fighting. I've been very proud of my +regiment today, and fortunately we have escaped without large losses." +</p> + +<p> +"And you sleep, too, sir, do you not?" said Warner, respectfully. "If +we've been marching and fighting for eighteen hours so have you." +</p> + +<p> +"I shall do so a little later, but that's no reason why the rest of you +should delay. How that coffee and ham refreshed me! I didn't know I +was so nearly dead." +</p> + +<p> +"Here's more, Colonel!" +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, Dick. I believe I will. But as I say, go to sleep. I +want all my regiment to sleep. We don't know what is before us +tomorrow, but whatever it is it won't be easy. Now you boys have had +enough to eat and drink. Into the blankets with you!" +</p> + +<p> +He did not wait to see his order obeyed, but strode away on another +hasty errand. But it was obeyed and that, too, without delay. The +young warriors rolled themselves in their blankets and hunted a soft +place for their heads. But their nerves were not yet quiet, and sleep +did not come for a little while. The long lines of fires still glowed, +and the sounds of an army came to them. Dick looked up into the +starshine. He was still rejoicing in the victory, not because the +other side had lost, but because, in his opinion, it brought peace much +nearer. He realized as he lay there gazing into the skies that the +South could never win as long as the North held fast. And the North +was holding fast. The stars as they winked at him seemed to say so. +</p> + +<p> +He propped himself upon his elbow and said: +</p> + +<p> +"George, does your little algebra tell you anything about the meaning +of this victory?" +</p> + +<p> +Warner tapped his breast. +</p> + +<p> +"That noble book is here in the inside pocket of my tunic," he replied. +"It's not necessary for me to take it out, but tucked away on the 118th +page is a neat little problem which just fits this case. Let x equal +the Army of Northern Virginia, let y equal the army of Early here in +the valley, and let x plus y equal a possibly successful defense by the +South. But when y is swept away it's quite certain that x standing +alone cannot do so. My algebra tells you on the 118th page, tucked +away neatly in a paragraph, that this is the beginning of the end." +</p> + +<p> +"It sounds more like a formula than a problem, George, but still I'm +putting my faith in your little algebra book." +</p> + +<p> +"George's algebra is all right," said Pennington, "but it doesn't +always go before, it often comes after. It doesn't show us how to do a +thing, but proves how we've done it. As for me, I'm pinning my faith +to Little Phil. He won a great victory today, when all our other +leaders for years have been beaten in the Valley of Virginia, and +sometimes beaten disgracefully too." +</p> + +<p> +"Your argument is unanswerable, Frank," said Dick. "I didn't expect +such logic from you." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I think I'm real bright at times." +</p> + +<p> +"Despite popular belief," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't advertise my talents," said Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"But you ought to. They need it." +</p> + +<p> +Dick laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Frank," he said, "I give you your own advice to me. Don't argue with +him. With him the best proof that he's always right is because he +thinks he is." +</p> + +<p> +"I think clearly and directly, which can be said of very few of my +friends," rejoined Warner. +</p> + +<p> +Then all three of them laughed and lay down again, resting their heads +on soft lumps of turf. +</p> + +<p> +They were under the boughs of a fine oak, on which the leaves were yet +thick. Birds, hidden among the leaves, began to sing, and the three, +astonished, raised themselves up again. It was a chorus, beautiful and +startling, and many other soldiers listened to the sound, so unlike +that which they had been hearing all day. +</p> + +<p> +"Strange, isn't it?" said Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"But fine to hear," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"Likely they were in the tree this morning when the battle began," said +Dick, "and the cannon and the rifles frightened 'em so much that they +stayed close within the leaves. Now they're singing with joy, because +it's all over." +</p> + +<p> +"A good guess, I think, Dick," said Warner, "but isn't it beautiful at +such a time and such a place? How these little fellows must be +swelling their throats! I don't believe they ever sang so well before." +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't think today that I'd be sung to sleep tonight," said Dick, +"but it's going to happen." +</p> + +<p> +When his eyes closed and he floated away to slumberland it was to the +thrilling song of a bird on a bough above his head. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII +</h3> + +<h3> +THE MESSENGER FROM RICHMOND +</h3> + +<p> +It seemed that Dick and his comrades were to see an activity in the +valley under Sheridan much like that which Harry and his friends had +experienced under Stonewall Jackson earlier in the war. All of the men +before they went to sleep that night had felt confirmed in the belief +that a strong hand was over them, and that a powerful and clear mind +was directing them. There would be no more prodigal waste of men and +supplies. No more would a Southern general have an opportunity to beat +scattered forces in detail. The Union had given Sheridan a splendid +army and a splendid equipment, and he would make the most of both. +</p> + +<p> +Their belief in Sheridan's activity and energy was justified fully, +perhaps to their own discomfort, as the trumpets sounded before dawn, +and they ate a hasty breakfast, while the valley was yet dark. Then +they were ordered to saddle and ride at once. +</p> + +<p> +"What, so early?" exclaimed Pennington. "Why, it's not daylight yet. +Isn't this new general of ours overdoing it?" +</p> + +<p> +"We wanted a general who would lead," said Warner, "and we've got him." +</p> + +<p> +"But a battle a day! Isn't that too large an allowance?" +</p> + +<p> +"No. We've a certain number of battles to fight, and the sooner we +fight them the sooner the war will be over." +</p> + +<p> +"Here comes the dawn," said Dick, "and the bugles are singing to us to +march. It's the cavalry that are to show the way." +</p> + +<p> +The long line of horsemen rode on southward, leaving behind them +Winchester, the little city that had been beloved of Jackson, and +approached the Massanuttons, the bold range that for a while divided +the valley into two parts. The valley was twenty miles wide before +they came to the Massanuttons, but after the division the western +extension for some distance was not more than four miles across, and it +was here that they were going. At the narrower part, on Fisher's Hill, +Early had strong fortifications, defended by his finest infantry, and +Colonel Winchester did not deem it likely that Sheridan would make a +frontal attack upon a position so well defended. +</p> + +<p> +It was about noon when the cavalry arrived before the Southern works. +Dick, through his glasses, clearly saw the guns and columns of +infantry, and also a body of Southern horse, drawn up on one flank of +the hill. He fancied that the Invincibles were among them, but at the +distance he could not pick them from the rest. +</p> + +<p> +The regiment remained stationary, awaiting the orders of Sheridan, and +Dick still used his glasses. He swept them again and again across the +Confederate lines, and then he turned his attention to the mountains +which here hemmed in the valley to such a straitened width. He saw a +signal station of the enemy on a culminating ridge called Three Top +Mountain, and as the flags there were waving industriously he knew that +every movement of the Union army would be communicated to Early's +troops below. +</p> + +<p> +Yet the whole scene despite the fact that it was war, red war, appealed +to Dick's sense of the romantic and beautiful. The fertile valley +looked picturesque with its woods and fields, and on either side rose +the ranges as if to protect it. Mountains like trees always appealed +to him, and the steep slopes were wooded densely. Lower down they were +brown, with touches of green that yet lingered, but higher up the +glowing reds and golds of autumn were beginning to appear. The wind +that blew down from the crests was full of life. +</p> + +<p> +Sheridan arrived and, riding before the center of his army, looked long +and well at the Southern defenses. Then he called his generals, and +some of the colonels, including Winchester, and held a brief council. +</p> + +<p> +"It means," said Warner, while the colonel was yet away at the meeting, +"that we won't fight any this afternoon, but that we'll do a lot of +riding tonight. That position is too strong to be attacked. It would +cost us too many men to take it straight away, but having seen a +specimen of Little Phil's quality we know that he'll try something +else." +</p> + +<p> +"You mean get on their flank," said Dick. "Maybe we can make a passage +along the slopes of the mountains." +</p> + +<p> +"As the idea has occurred to me I take it that it will occur to Little +Phil also," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you sure that he hasn't thought of it first?" +</p> + +<p> +"My politeness forbids an answer. I am but a lieutenant and he is our +commander." +</p> + +<p> +The rest of the day was spent in massing the troops across the valley, +the Winchester regiment being sent further west until it was against +the base of the Massanuttons. Here Shepard came in the twilight and +conferred with Colonel Winchester, who called Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Dick," he said, "Mr. Shepard thinks he can obtain information of value +on the mountain. He has an idea that some fighting may occur, and so +it's better for a small detachment to go with him. I've selected you +to lead the party, because you're at home in the woods." +</p> + +<p> +"May I take Lieutenant Warner and Lieutenant Pennington with me? It +would hurt their feelings to be left behind." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes. Under no circumstances must the feelings of those two young men +be hurt," laughed Colonel Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"And Sergeant Whitley, too? He's probably the best scout in our army. +He can follow a trail where there is no trail. He can see in the +pitchy dark, and he can hear the leaves falling." +</p> + +<p> +"High recommendations, but they're almost true. Take the sergeant by +all means. I fancy you'll need him." +</p> + +<p> +The whole party numbered about a dozen, and Shepard was the guide. It +was dismounted, of course, as the first slope they intended to carry +was too steep for a horse to climb. They were also heavily armed, it +being absolutely certain that Southern riflemen were on Massanutton +Mountain. +</p> + +<p> +Dick and Shepard were in the lead, and, climbing up at a sharp angle, +they quickly disappeared from the view of those below. It was as if +night and the wilderness had blotted them out, but every member of the +little party felt relief and actual pleasure in the expedition. +Something mysterious and unknown lay before them, and they were anxious +to find out what it was. +</p> + +<p> +Shepard whispered to Dick of the care that they must take against their +foes, and Warner whispered to Pennington that the mountain was really +fine, although finer ridges could be found in Vermont. +</p> + +<p> +Two hundred yards up, and Shepard, touching Dick's shoulder, pointed to +the valley. The whole party stopped and looked back. Although +themselves buried in brown foliage they saw the floor of the valley all +the way to the mountains on the other side, and it was a wonderful +sight, with its two opposing lines of camp fires that shot up redly and +glowed across the fields. Now and then they saw figures of men moving +against a crimson background, but no sound of the armies came to them. +Peace and silence were yet supreme on the mountain. +</p> + +<p> +"It makes you feel that you're not only above it in the body, but that +you are not a part of it at all," said Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +Dick was not surprised at his words. He had learned long since that +the spy was an uncommon man, much above most of those who followed his +calling. +</p> + +<p> +"It gives me a similar feeling of detachment," he said, "but we know +just the same that they're going to fight again tomorrow, and that +we'll probably be in the thick of it. I hope, Mr. Shepard, that our +victory yesterday marks the beginning of the end." +</p> + +<p> +"I think it does, Mr. Mason. If we clean up the valley, and we'll do +it, Lee's flank and Richmond will be exposed. He'll have to come out +of his trenches then, and that will give Grant a chance to attack him +with an overwhelming force. The Confederacy is as good as finished, +but I've never doubted the result for a moment." +</p> + +<p> +"I've worried a little at times. It seemed to me now and then that all +those big defeats in Virginia might make our people too weary to go on. +Why is that light flaring so high on Fisher's Hill?" +</p> + +<p> +"It may be a signal. Possibly the Southerners are replying to it with +another fiery signal on this mountain. We can't see the crest of +Massanutton from this slope." +</p> + +<p> +"You seem to know every inch of the ground in this region. How did you +manage to learn it so thoroughly?" +</p> + +<p> +"I was born in the valley not far from here. I've climbed over +Massanutton many a time. Not far above us is a grove of splendid nut +trees, and along the edge of it runs a ravine. I mean to lead the way +up the ravine, Mr. Mason. It will give us shelter from the scouts and +spies of the enemy." +</p> + +<p> +"Shelter is what we want. I've no taste for being shot obscurely here +on the side of the mountain." +</p> + +<p> +"Then keep close behind me, all of you," said Shepard. "We're above +the steepest part now, and I know a little path that leads to the +ravine. Don't stumble if you can help it." +</p> + +<p> +The path was nothing more than a trace, but it sufficed to give them a +surer footing, and in eight or ten minutes they reached the ravine +which ran in a diagonal line across the face of the mountain, gradually +ascending to the summit. The ravine itself was not more than three or +four feet deep, but as its banks were thickly lined with dwarfed cedar +they were completely hidden unless they should chance to meet the +Southern riflemen, coming down the mountain by the same way. +</p> + +<p> +The ravine at one point led out on a bare shoulder of the slope, and +looking over the little pines they clearly saw a fire blazing on the +crest and waving flags silhouetted before its glow. Far below, at +Fisher's Hill, flags were waving also. +</p> + +<p> +"Quite a lively talk," whispered Shepard. "I suppose the lookouts are +telling a lot about our army." +</p> + +<p> +"But it won't make much difference," said Dick. "By the time they've +spelled out from the flags what Sheridan is doing he'll be doing +something else." +</p> + +<p> +They resumed their climb and the ravine led again into dense forest. +Sergeant Whitley had moved up by the side of Shepard, as they were now +near the enemy, and his great scouting abilities were needed. It was a +wise precaution, as presently he held up his hand, and then, at a +signal from him, the whole party climbed softly out of the ravine, and +crouched among the little cedars. +</p> + +<p> +Now Dick himself heard what the sergeant had heard perhaps a half +minute earlier, that is, the footsteps of two men coming swiftly down +the ravine. In another minute they came in sight, Confederate +troopers, obviously scouting. Luckily, the ravine being stony and the +light bad, they did not see any trail, left by Shepard's troop, and +they went on down the ravine. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall we go on?" asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Not yet, sir," replied Shepard. "They don't suspect that we're up +here, and it's likely they're trying for a good view of our army. But +I fancy they'll be returning in a few minutes. We'd best be very +quiet, sir." +</p> + +<p> +Dick cautioned the men, and they lay as still as wild animals in their +coverts. In about ten minutes the two riflemen came back up the +ravine, and the hidden troopers could hear them talking. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll try some other part of the slope, Jack," said one. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, that was a bad view," rejoined the other. "We couldn't tell a +thing about the Yankee movements from down there. We can leave the +ravine higher up, and I know a path that leads toward the north." +</p> + +<p> +"There's not much good in finding out about 'em anyway. That fellow +Sheridan is going to press us hard, and they have everything, numbers, +arms, food, while we have next to nothing." +</p> + +<p> +"But we'll fight 'em anyhow. Still, I wish old Stonewall was here." +</p> + +<p> +"But he ain't here, and we'll have to do the best we can without him." +</p> + +<p> +Their voices were lost, as they passed up the ravine and disappeared. +Then Dick and his little party came out cautiously, and followed. +</p> + +<p> +"I gather from what those two said that Early's men are depressed," +said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"They've a right to be," replied Shepard. "Their army is in bad shape, +besides being small, and now that we have a real leader we are, I +think, sure to clean up the valley." +</p> + +<p> +"But there'll be plenty of hard fighting." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes. We'll have to win what we get." +</p> + +<p> +The ravine widened and deepened a little, and they stopped. Sergeant +Whitley in his capacity of chief scout and trailer climbed up the rocky +side and looked about a little, while the others waited. He returned +in two or three minutes, and Dick saw, by the moonlight, that his face +expressed surprise. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it, sergeant?" asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"A woman is on the mountain. She passed by the ravine not long since, +perhaps not a half hour ago." +</p> + +<p> +"A woman at such a time? Why, sergeant, it's impossible!" +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir, it isn't. See here!" +</p> + +<p> +He opened his left hand. Within the palm lay a tiny bit of thin gray +cloth. +</p> + +<p> +"There may not be more than a dozen threads here," he said, "but I +found 'em sticking to a thorn bush not twenty yards away. A half hour +ago they were a part of a woman's dress. A thorn bush grows among the +cedars above. She was in a hurry, and when her dress caught in it she +jerked it loose." +</p> + +<p> +"But how do you know it was only a half hour or less ago?" asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Because she broke two 'or three of the thorns when she jerked, and it +was so late that their wounds are still bleeding, that is, a faint bit +of sap is oozing out at the fractures." +</p> + +<p> +"That sounds conclusive," said Dick, "but likely it was a mountain +woman who lives somewhere along the slope." +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir, it was no mountain woman," he said. "When I found the cloth +on the thorns I knelt and looked for a trail. It's hard ground mostly, +but I thought I might find the trace of a footstep somewhere. I found +several, and not one of them was made by the flat, broad shoe that +mountain women wear. I found small rounded heel prints which the shoes +worn by city women make." +</p> + +<p> +"If any city woman is on this mountain she's a long way from home," +said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"But I'm quite sure of what I say, sir," said the sergeant. +</p> + +<p> +"And so am I," said Shepard, who had been listening with the keenest +attention. "Will you mind letting me lead the way for a little while, +sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Go ahead, of course," said Dick. "In such work as this we rely upon +the sergeant and you." +</p> + +<p> +"Then I'd like to take a look at those heel prints also." +</p> + +<p> +Dick thought he detected a quiver of excitement or emotion in the voice +of Shepard, always so calm and steady hitherto, and he wondered. +Nevertheless he asked no questions as he led the way out of the ravine. +</p> + +<p> +The sergeant showed the heel prints to Shepard, and beyond question +they had been made by a woman. By careful scrutiny they found a half +dozen more leading in a diagonal direction up the side of the mountain, +but beyond that the ground was so hard and rocky that they could +discover no further traces. +</p> + +<p> +"You agree with me that the tracks have just been made?" said the +sergeant to Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +"I do," replied the spy, his voice showing growing excitement, "and I +think I know who made them. I didn't believe it at first. It seemed +incredible. I want to try a little experiment. Will all of you remain +perfectly still?" +</p> + +<p> +"Of course," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +He took a small whistle from his pocket and blew upon it. The sound +was not shrill like that of Slade's whistle, but was very low, soft and +musical. He blew only a few notes. Then he took the whistle from his +lips and waited. Dick saw that his excitement was growing. It showed +clearly in the spy's eyes, and he felt his own excitement increasing, +too. He divined that something extraordinary was going to happen. +</p> + +<p> +Out of the cedars to their right and a little higher up the slope came +the notes of a whistle, exactly similar, low, soft and musical. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, I knew it!" breathed Shepard. He waited perhaps half a minute and +then blew again, notes similar and just the same in number. In a few +moments came the reply, a precise duplicate. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll wait," said Shepard. "She'll be here in a minute or two." +</p> + +<p> +Dick and his comrades looked eagerly toward the point from which the +sound of the second whistle had come. This was something amazing, +something beyond their experience, but the excitement of Shepard seemed +to have passed. His face had become a mask once more, and he was +waiting with certainty. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's sharp ear caught the sound of a light footstep approaching them, +evidently coming straight and with confidence. He realized that until +now he had not really believed, despite the footprints, despite +everything, that a woman was on the mountain. But he knew at last. He +even heard the swish of her skirts once or twice against the bushes. +Then she came through the dwarfed cedars, stepping boldly, and stood +before them. +</p> + +<p> +The stranger stood full in the moonlight, and Dick saw her very +clearly. She was thin, small and elderly, clothed in a gray riding +suit, and with a sort of small gray turban on her head. But despite +her smallness and thinness and years there was nothing insignificant in +her appearance. As she stood there looking at them, she showed a pair +of the brightest and most intelligent eyes that Dick had ever seen. +Her small, pointed chin had the firmness of steel, and figure, manner +and appearance alike betokened courage and resolution in the highest +degree. +</p> + +<p> +All these impressions were made upon Dick in a single instant, as if in +a flash of light, and he also noticed in her face a resemblance to some +one, although he could not recall, for a moment, who it was. But the +silence that endured for a half minute, while the men regarded the +woman and the woman regarded the men, was broken by Shepard, who +uttered a low cry and strode forward. +</p> + +<p> +"Henrietta," he exclaimed, "you here at such a time!" +</p> + +<p> +He put his arms around her and kissed her. +</p> + +<p> +She returned his kiss, laughed a little, and the two turned toward the +others. Then Dick saw whom she resembled. As they stood side by side +the likeness was marked, the same eyes, the same nose, the same mouth, +the same chin, only hers were in miniature, in comparison with his, and +in addition she was eight or ten years older. +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Mason," said Shepard, addressing himself directly to their nominal +leader. "This is my sister. She also serves as I do, and for her, +hardships and dangers are not less than mine for me. She works chiefly +in Richmond itself. But as you see, she has now come alone into the +mountains, and also into the very fringe of the armies." +</p> + +<p> +"Then," said Dick, "she must come on a mission of great importance and +it is for us to honor so brave a messenger." +</p> + +<p> +He and all the others took off their caps in silence. They might have +cheered, but every one knew that the foe was not far away in the +thickets. There was sufficient light for him to see a little flush of +pride appear for a moment on the face of the woman. Strange as her +position was, she seemed easy and confident, lightly swinging in her +hand a small riding whip. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll not ask you for the present, Henrietta, how you come to be here," +said Shepard, "but I'll ask instead what you've brought. These young +men are Lieutenant Mason, Lieutenant Warner and Lieutenant Pennington. +As I've indicated already, Lieutenant Mason leads us." +</p> + +<p> +"I bring information," she replied, "information that you will be glad +to carry to General Sheridan. As a woman I could go where men could +not, and you remember, Brother William, that I know the country." +</p> + +<p> +"Almost as well as I do," said Shepard. "As a girl you rode like a man +and were afraid of nothing. Nor do you fear anything today." +</p> + +<p> +"Tell General Sheridan," she said, turning to Dick, "that the +Confederate numbers are even less than he thinks, that a large area at +the base of Little North Mountain is wholly unoccupied." +</p> + +<p> +"And if we get there," exclaimed Dick, eagerly, "we can crash in on the +flank of Early." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not a soldier," she said, "but that plan was in my mind. A large +division could be hidden in the heavy timber along Cedar Creek, and +then, if the proper secrecy were observed, reach the Confederate flank +tomorrow night, unseen." +</p> + +<p> +"And that's on the other side of the valley," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"But at this point it's only four or five miles across." +</p> + +<p> +"I wasn't making difficulties, I was merely locating the places as you +tell them." +</p> + +<p> +"I've drawn a map of the Confederate position. It's in pencil, but it +ought to help." +</p> + +<p> +"It will be beyond price!" exclaimed Dick. "You will give it to me?" +</p> + +<p> +"Of course! But you must wait a minute! Until I heard my brother's +whistle I didn't know whether it was North or South that I was going to +meet on the mountain." +</p> + +<p> +She disappeared in the bushes, and Dick heard a light rustling, but in +a few moments she returned and held out a broad sheet of heavy paper, +upon which a map had been drawn with care and skill. He had divined +already its great value, and now his opinion was confirmed. +</p> + +<p> +"I can't thank you," he said, as he took it, "but General Sheridan and +General Grant can. And I've no doubt they'll do it when the time +comes." +</p> + +<p> +Again the light flush appeared in her cheeks and she looked actually +handsome. +</p> + +<p> +"Since my present task is finished," she said, "I'd better go." +</p> + +<p> +"Where did you leave your horse?" asked Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +"He's tethered in the bushes about a hundred yards farther down the +side of the mountain. I'll mount and ride back in the direction of +Richmond. I know all the roads." +</p> + +<p> +Sergeant Whitley, who had gone a little higher up and who was watching +while they talked, whistled softly. Yet the whistle, low as it was, +was undoubtedly a signal of alarm. +</p> + +<p> +"Go at once, Henrietta," whispered Shepard, urgently. "It's important +that you shouldn't be held here, that you be left with a free hand." +</p> + +<p> +"It's so," she said. +</p> + +<p> +He stooped and kissed her on the brow, and, without another word, she +vanished among the cedars on the lower slope. Dick thought he heard a +moment later the distant beat of hoofs and he felt sure she was riding +fast and far. Then he turned his attention to the danger confronting +them, because a danger it certainly was, and that, too, of the most +formidable kind. But, first, he gave the map to Shepard to carry. +</p> + +<p> +Sergeant Whitley came down the slope and joined them. +</p> + +<p> +"I think we'd better lie down, all of us," he said. +</p> + +<p> +Now the real leadership passed to the sergeant, scout, trailer and +skilled Indian fighter. It passed to him, because all of them knew +that the conditions made him most fit for the place. They knelt or lay +but held their weapons ready. The sergeant knelt by Dick's side and +the youth saw that he was tense and expectant. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it a band of the Johnnies?" he whispered. +</p> + +<p> +"I merely heard 'em. I didn't see 'em," replied the sergeant, "but I'm +thinkin' from the way they come creepin' through the woods that it's +Slade and his gang." +</p> + +<p> +"If that's so we'd better look out. Those fellows are woodsmen and +they'll be sure to see signs that we're here." +</p> + +<p> +"Right you are, Mr. Mason. It's well the lady left so soon, and that +we're between them and her." +</p> + +<p> +"It looks as if this fellow Slade had set out to be our evil genius. +We're always meeting him." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir, but we can take care of him. I don't specially mind this +kind of fighting, Mr. Mason. We had to do a lot of it in the heavy +timber on the slopes of some of them mountains out West, the names of +which I don't know, and generally we had to go up against the Sioux and +Northern Cheyennes, and them two tribes are king fighters, I can tell +you. Man for man they're a match for anybody." +</p> + +<p> +"Slade's men don't appear to be moving," said Shepard, who was on the +other side of the sergeant. +</p> + +<p> +"Not so's you could hear 'em," said Sergeant Whitley. "They heard us +and they're creeping now so's to see what we are and then fall on us by +surprise. Guess them that's kneeling had better bend down a little +lower." +</p> + +<p> +Warner, who had been crouched on his knees, lay down almost flat. He +did not understand forests and darkness as Dick did, nor did he have +the strong hereditary familiarity with them, and he felt uncomfortable +and apprehensive. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't like it," he said to Pennington. "I'd rather fight in the +open." +</p> + +<p> +"So would I," said Pennington. "It's awful to lie here and feel +yourself being surrounded by dangers you can't see. I guess a man in +the African wilderness stalked at night by a dozen hungry lions would +feel just about as I do." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to creep a little distance up the slope again," said the +sergeant, "and try to spy 'em out." +</p> + +<p> +"A good idea, but be very careful." +</p> + +<p> +"I certainly will, Mr. Mason. I want to live." +</p> + +<p> +He slid among the bushes so quietly that Dick did not hear the noise of +him passing, nor was there any sound until he came back a few minutes +later. +</p> + +<p> +"I saw 'em," he whispered. "They're lying among the bushes, and +they're not moving now, 'cause they're not certain what's become of us. +It's Slade sure. I saw him sitting under a tree, wearing that big +flap-brimmed hat, and sitting beside him was a great, black-haired, +red-faced man, a most evil-looking fellow, too." +</p> + +<p> +"Skelly! Bill Skelly, beyond a doubt!" said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"That's him! From what you said Skelly started out by being for the +Union. Now, as we believed before, he's joined hands with Slade who's +for the South." +</p> + +<p> +"They're just guerrillas, sergeant. They're for themselves and nobody +else." +</p> + +<p> +"I reckon that's true, and they're expecting to get some plunder from +us. But if you'll listen to me, Mr. Mason, we'll burn their faces while +they're about it." +</p> + +<p> +"You're our leader now, sergeant. Tell us what to do." +</p> + +<p> +"Just to our right is a shallow gully, running through the cedars. We +can take shelter in it, crawl up it, and open fire on 'em. They don't +know our numbers, and if we take 'em by surprise maybe we can scatter +'em for the time." +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose we'll have to. I'd like to get away with this map at once, +but they'd certainly follow and force us to a fight." +</p> + +<p> +"That's true. We must deal with 'em, now. I'll have to ask all of you +to be very careful. Don't slip, and look out for the dead wood lying +about. If a piece of it cracks under you Slade and Skelly will be sure +to notice it, and it'll be all up with our surprise." +</p> + +<p> +"You hear," whispered Dick to the others. "If you don't do as the +sergeant says, very likely you'll get shot by Slade's men." +</p> + +<p> +With life as the price it was not necessary to say anything more about +the need of silence, and nobody slipped and no stick broke as they +crept into the gully after the sergeant. The cedars and thickets +almost met over the narrow depression, shutting out the moonlight, but +every one was able to discern the man before him creeping forward like +a wild animal. It was easy enough for Dick to imagine himself that +famous great grandfather of his, Paul Cotter reincarnated, and that the +days of the wilderness and the Indian war bands had come back again. +He even felt exultation as he adapted himself so readily to the +situation, and became equal to it. But Warner was grieved and +exasperated. It hurt his dignity to prowl on his knees through the +dark. +</p> + +<p> +They advanced about two hundred yards in a diagonal course along the +side of the mountain until they came to a point where the cedars +thinned out a little. Then the sergeant whispered to the others to +stop, rose from his knees, and Dick rose beside him. +</p> + +<p> +"See!" he said, nodding his head in the direction in which he wished +Dick to look. +</p> + +<p> +Dick saw a number of dark figures standing among the trees. Two were +in close conference, evidently trying to decide upon a plan. One, a +giant in size, was Skelly, and the other, little, weazened and wearing +an enormous flap-brimmed hat, could be none but Slade. +</p> + +<p> +"A pretty pair," said Dick, "but I don't like to fire on 'em from +ambush." +</p> + +<p> +"Nor do I," said the sergeant, "but we've got to do it, or we won't get +the surprise we need so bad." +</p> + +<p> +But they were saved from firing the first shot as some one in the +gully—they never knew or asked his name—stumbled at last. Slade and +Skelly instantly sprang for the trees and Slade blew sharply upon his +whistle. Twenty shots were fired in the direction of the gully, but +they whistled harmlessly over the heads of its occupants. +</p> + +<p> +It was Dick who gave the command for the return volley, and with a +mighty shouting they swept the woods with their breech-loading rifles. +They were not sure whether they hit anything, but as the gully blazed +with fire they presented all the appearance of a formidable force that +might soon charge. +</p> + +<p> +"Cease firing!" said Dick, presently. +</p> + +<p> +A cloud of smoke rose from the gully, and, as it lifted, they could see +nothing in the woods beyond, but the sergeant announced that for an +instant or two he heard the sound of running feet. +</p> + +<p> +"It means they've gone," said Dick, "and that being the case we'll be +off, too. I fancy we've a great prize in this map. Your sister, Mr. +Shepard, must be a woman of extraordinary daring and ability." +</p> + +<p> +"She's all that," replied the spy earnestly. "I think sometimes that +God gave to me the size and physical strength of the family, but to her +the mind. Think of her life there in Richmond, surrounded by dangers! +She has done great service to our cause tonight, and she has done other +services, equally as great, before." +</p> + +<p> +Shepard was silent for a little while and then he began to chuckle to +himself, almost under his breath, but Dick heard. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I was thinking of my sister," Shepard replied. "Your cousin, Harry +Kenton, if you should ever meet him again—and I know that you +will—could tell you a story of a dark night in Richmond, or at least a +part of it, and he could also tell an interesting story, or a part of +it, of another map, almost as valuable as this, which disappeared +mysteriously from the house of a rich man in Richmond where he and +other Southern officers were being entertained. It vanished almost +from under their hands." +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me now," said Dick, feeling great curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +"I think I'd better wait, if you'll pardon me, sir," said Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll have to wait anyhow," said Dick, "because I hear the tread of men +coming toward us." +</p> + +<p> +"But they're our own," said Sergeant Whitley, who was a little ahead, +peering between the cedars. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose they heard the shots and are hurrying to our relief," said +Dick. "But we routed the enemy, we did not lose a man, and we've +brought away the prize." +</p> + +<p> +The two forces joined and they were shortly back with Colonel +Winchester, who fully appreciated the great value of the information +obtained by such a remarkable coordination of effort. +</p> + +<p> +"Dick," he said, "you and Mr. Shepard shall ride at once with me and +this map to General Sheridan." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IX +</h3> + +<h3> +AT GRIPS WITH EARLY +</h3> + +<p> +Dick felt great excitement and elation as he rode before dawn with +Colonel Winchester and the spy to see Sheridan. They found him sitting +by a small fire receiving or sending reports, and talking with a +half-dozen of his generals. It was not yet day, but the flames lighted +up the commander's thin, eager face, and made him look more boyish than +ever. +</p> + +<p> +Dick felt as he had felt before that he was in the presence of a man. +He had had the same impression when he stood near Grant and Thomas. Did +strong men send off electric currents of will and power which were +communicated to other men, by which they could know them, or was it the +effect of deeds achieved? He could not decide the question for +himself, but he knew that he believed implicitly in their leader. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester paused near Sheridan, but the general's keen eye +caught him at once. +</p> + +<p> +"Good morning, Colonel Winchester!" he exclaimed. "You bring news of +value. I can tell it by your face!" +</p> + +<p> +"I do, sir," replied the colonel, "but it was Mr. Shepard here, whom +you know, and Lieutenant Mason who obtained it. Mr. Shepard, show +General Sheridan the map." +</p> + +<p> +It was characteristic of Colonel Winchester, a man of the finest +feelings, that he should have Shepard instead of himself carry the map +to General Sheridan. He wanted the spy to have the full measure of +credit, including the outward show, for the triumph he had achieved +with the aid of his sister. And Shepard's swift glance of thanks +showed that he appreciated it. He drew the map from his pocket and +handed it to the general. +</p> + +<p> +Sheridan held it down, where the full glow of the flames fell upon it, +and he seemed to comprehend at once the meaning of the lines. A great +light sprang up in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah!" he exclaimed. "The location of the Confederate forces and the +openings between them and the mountains! This is important! Splendid! +Did you make it yourself, Mr. Shepard?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir. It was made by my sister who came from Richmond. We met her +on the mountain." +</p> + +<p> +Sheridan looked at Shepard and the eyes of general and spy met in +complete understanding. +</p> + +<p> +"I know of her," the general murmured. "A noble woman! There are many +such as she who have done great service to our cause that can never be +repaid! But this is a stroke of fortune!" +</p> + +<p> +"Look, Merritt, Averill and all of you," he said aloud. "Here lies our +path! Mr. Shepard, you will go over the details of this with us and, +Colonel Winchester, you and your aide remain also to help." +</p> + +<p> +Dick felt complimented, and so did Colonel Winchester. Sheridan knew +how to handle men. While the sentinels, rifle on shoulder, walked up +and down a little distance away, a dozen eager faces were soon poring +over the map, Shepard filling in details as to the last little hill or +brook. +</p> + +<p> +"Since we know where they are and how many they are," said Sheridan, +"we'll make a big demonstration in front of Fisher's Hill, where +Early's works are too strong to be carried, and while we keep him +occupied there we'll turn his left flank with a powerful force, +marching it just here into the open space that Mr. Shepard's map shows. +Tomorrow—or rather today, for I see the dawn comes—will be a day of +great noise and of much burning of powder. But behind the curtain of +smoke we'll make our movements. Merritt with his cavalry shall go to +the right and Averill will go with him. Crook shall take his two +divisions and hold the north bank of Cedar Creek, and later on Crook +shall be the first to strike. Gentlemen, we've won one victory, and I +know that all of you appreciate the value of a second and a third. The +opportunity of the war lies here before us. We can uncover the entire +left flank of the Confederacy here in Virginia, and who knows what will +follow!" +</p> + +<p> +He looked up, his eyes glowing and his confidence was communicated to +them all. They were mostly young men and they responded in kind to his +burning words. Sheridan knew that he could command from them the +utmost fidelity and energy, and he uttered a little exclamation of +confidence. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall consider the victory already won," he said. +</p> + +<p> +The generals left for their commands, and Sheridan again thanked +Colonel Winchester, Dick and Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +"I recommend that all three of you take some rest," he said, "you won't +have much to do this morning." +</p> + +<p> +They saluted, mounted and rode back. "You take his advice, Dick, and +roll yourself in your blanket," said Colonel Winchester, when they were +on the way. +</p> + +<p> +"I will, sir," said Dick, "although I know that great history is being +made now." +</p> + +<p> +"I feel that way, too," said the colonel. "Look, the sun is coming up, +and you can see the Confederate outposts." +</p> + +<p> +The thin, clear air of September was brilliant with morning light, and +through glasses the Confederate outposts and works around Fisher's Hill +were quite clear and distinct. Some of the Northern and Southern +sentinels were already exchanging compliments with one another, and +they heard the faint popping of rifles. But Dick well knew from +Sheridan's words that this early firing meant nothing. It would grow +much heavier bye and bye and it would yet be but the cover for +something else. +</p> + +<p> +He found Warner and Pennington already sound asleep, and wrapping +himself in his blanket he lay down under a tree and fell asleep to the +distant crackle of rifles and the occasional thud of great guns. He +slept on through the morning while the fire increased, and great +volumes of smoke rolled, as the wind shifted up or down the valley. +But it did not disturb him, nor did he dream. His slumbers were as +sound as if he lay in his distant bed in Pendleton. +</p> + +<p> +While Dick and his comrades slept Sheridan was moving the men on his +chess board. Young in years, but great in experience, he was never +more eager and never more clear of mind than on this, one of the most +eventful days of his life. He saw the opportunity, and he was resolved +that it should not escape him. Two great reputations were made in the +valley by men very unlike, Stonewall Jackson and Little Phil Sheridan. +In the earlier years of the war the Union armies had suffered many +disasters there at the hands of the leader under the old slouch hat, +and now Sheridan was resolved to retrieve everything, not with one +victory alone, but with many. +</p> + +<p> +There was firing in the valley all day long, the crackling of the +rifles, the thudding of the great guns, and the occasional charge of +horsemen. The curtain of smoke hung nearly always. Sometimes it grew +thicker, and sometimes it became thinner, but Sheridan's mind was not +upon these things, they were merely the veil before him, while behind +it, as a screen, he arranged the men on his chess board. When night +came his whole line was pushed forward. His vanguard held the northern +part of the little town of Strasburg, while Early's held the southern +part, only a few hundred yards away. In the night the large force +under Crook was moved into the thick forest along Cedar Creek, where it +was to lie silent and hidden until it received the word of command. +</p> + +<p> +All the next day the movements were continued, while Crook's force, +intended to be the striking arm, was still concealed in the timber. Yet +before dark there was a heavy combat, in which the Southern troops were +driven out of Strasburg, enabling the Northern batteries to advance to +strong positions. That night Crook's whole strength was brought across +Cedar Creek, but was hidden again in heavy timber. To the great +pleasure of its colonel and other officers the Winchester regiment was +sent to join it as a cavalry support. +</p> + +<p> +It was quite dark when they rode their horses across the creek and +Shepard was again with them as guide. Although he concealed it, the +spy felt a great exultation. The map that he had brought from his +sister had proved invaluable. Sheridan was using it every hour, and +Shepard was giving further assistance through his thorough knowledge of +the ground. Dick was glad to ride beside him and whisper with him, now +and then. +</p> + +<p> +"I haven't known things to go so well before," Dick said, when they +were across the creek. +</p> + +<p> +"They're going well, Mr. Mason," said Shepard, "because everything is +arranged. There is provision against every unlucky chance. It's +leadership. The difference between a good general and a bad general is +about fifty thousand men." +</p> + +<p> +The entire division moved forward in the dusk at a fair pace, but so +many troops with cavalry and guns could not keep from making some +noise. Dick with Shepard and the sergeant rode off in the woods towards +the open valley to see if the enemy were observing them. Dick's chief +apprehensions were in regard to Slade and Skelly, but they found no +trace of the guerrillas, nor of any other foes. +</p> + +<p> +The night was fairly bright, and from the edge of the wood they saw far +over hills and fields, dotted with two opposing lines of camp fires. A +dark outline was Fisher's Hill, and lights burned there too. From a +point in front of it a gun boomed now and then, and there was still an +intermittent fire of skirmishers and sharpshooters. +</p> + +<p> +"That hill will be ours inside of twenty-four hours," said Shepard. +"We'll fall upon Early from three sides and he'll have to retreat to +save himself. He hasn't numbers enough to stand against an army driven +forward by a hand like that of General Sheridan." +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +While Dick, the sergeant and the spy looked from the woods upon the +lights of Fisher's Hill the Invincibles lay in an earthwork before it +facing their enemy. Harry Kenton sat with St. Clair, Langdon and +Dalton. The two colonels were not far away. For almost the first time, +Harry's heart failed him. He did not wish to depreciate Early, but he +felt that he was not the great Jackson or anything approaching him. He +knew that the troops felt the same way. They missed the mighty spirit +and the unfaltering mind that had led them in earlier years to victory. +They were ragged and tired, too, and had but little food. +</p> + +<p> +Happy Tom, who concealed under a light manner uncommonly keen +perceptions, noticed Harry's depression. +</p> + +<p> +"What are you thinking about, Harry?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Several things, Happy. Among them, the days when we rode here with +Stonewall from one victory to another." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll have to think of something else. Cheer up. Remember the old +saying that the darkest hour is just before the dawn." +</p> + +<p> +"Whose dawn?" +</p> + +<p> +"That's not like you, Harry. You've usually put up the boldest front +of us all." +</p> + +<p> +"Happy's giving you good advice," said St. Clair. +</p> + +<p> +"So he is," said Harry, as he shook himself. "We'll fight 'em off +tomorrow. They can't beat us again. The spirit of Old Jack will hover +over us." +</p> + +<p> +"If we only had more men," said Dalton. "Then we could spread out and +cover the slopes of the mountains on either side. I wish I knew +whether those dark fringes hid anything we ought to know." +</p> + +<p> +"They hide rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, birds and maybe a black bear +or two," said Happy Tom. "When we shatter Sheridan's army and drive +the fragments across the Potomac I think I'll come back here and do a +little hunting, leaving to Lee the task of cleaning up the Army of the +Potomac." +</p> + +<p> +"I'd like to come with you," said St. Clair, "but I wouldn't bring any +gun. I'd just roam through the woods for a week and disturb nothing. +If I saw a bear I'd point my finger at him and say: 'Go away, young +fellow, I won't bother you if you won't bother me,' and then he'd amble +off peacefully in one direction, and I'd amble off peacefully in +another. I wouldn't want to hear a gun fired during all that week. I'd +just rest, rest, rest my nerves and my soul. I wouldn't break a bough +or a bush. I'd even be careful how hard I stepped on the leaves. Birds +could walk all over me if they liked. I'd drink from those clear +streams, and I'd sleep in my blanket on a bed of leaves." +</p> + +<p> +"But suppose it rained, Arthur?" +</p> + +<p> +"I wouldn't let it rain in that enchanted week of mine. Nothing would +happen except what I wanted to happen. It would be a week of the most +absolute peace and quiet the world has ever known. There wouldn't be +any winds, they would be zephyrs. The skies would all be made out of +the softest and finest of blue satin and any little clouds that floated +before 'em would be made of white satin of the same quality. The +nights would be clear with the most wonderful stars that ever shone. +Great new stars would come out for the first time, and twinkle for me, +and the man in the most silvery moon known in the history of time would +grin down at me and say without words: 'St. Clair, old fellow, this is +your week of peace, everything has been fixed for you, so make the most +of it.' And then I'd wander on. The birds would sing to me and every +one of 'em would sing like a prima donna. Wherever I stepped, wild +flowers would burst into bloom as I passed, and if a gnat should happen +to buzz before my face I wouldn't brush him away for fear of hurting +him. The universe and I would be at peace with each other." +</p> + +<p> +"Hear him! O, hear him!" exclaimed Happy Tom. "Old Arthur grows +dithyrambic and hexametrical. He fairly distills the essence of +highfalutin poetry." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know that he's so far fetched," said sober Dalton. "I feel a +good deal that way myself. I suppose, Thomas Langdon, that the colors +of the world depend upon one's own eyes. What I call green may appear +to you like the color of blue to me. Now, Arthur really sees all these +things that he's telling about, because he has the eye of the mind with +which to see them. I've quit saying that people don't see things, +because I don't see 'em myself." +</p> + +<p> +"Good for you, Professor," said Langdon. "That's quite a lecture you +gave me, long though not windy, and I accept it. Those Elysian fields +that Arthur was painting are real and he's going to have his enchanted +week as he calls it. Arthur is a poet, sure enough." +</p> + +<p> +"I have written a few little verses which were printed in the +Charleston Mercury," said St. Clair. +</p> + +<p> +"What's this? What's this?" asked a mellow voice. "Can it be possible +that young gentlemen are discussing poetry between battles and with the +enemy in sight?" +</p> + +<p> +It was Colonel Leonidas Talbot, coming down the trench, and Lieutenant +Colonel Hector St. Hilaire was just behind him. The young officers +rose and saluted promptly, but they knew there was no reproof in +Colonel Talbot's tone. +</p> + +<p> +"We had to do it, sir," said Harry respectfully. "Something struck +Arthur here, and like a fountain he gushed suddenly into poetry. He +had a most wonderful vision of the Elysian fields and of himself +wandering through them for a week, knee deep in flowers, and playing +the softest of music on a guitar." +</p> + +<p> +"He's put that in about the guitar," protested St. Clair. "I never +mentioned such a thing, but all the rest is true." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, if I had my way," said the colonel, "you should have a guitar, +too, if you wanted it, and I like that idea of yours about a week in +the Elysian fields. We'll join you there and we'll all walk around +among the flowers, and Hector's relative, that wonderful musician, +young De Langeais, shall play to us on his violin, and maybe the famous +Stonewall will come walking to us through the flowers, and he'll have +with him Albert Sidney Johnston, and Turner Ashby and all the great +ones that have gone." +</p> + +<p> +The colonel stopped, and Harry felt a slight choking in his throat. +</p> + +<p> +"In the course of this lull, Leonidas and I had some thought of +resuming our unfinished game of chess," said Lieutenant Colonel St. +Hilaire, "but the time is really unpropitious and too short. It may be +that we shall have to wait until the war is over to conclude the match. +The enemy is pressing us hard, and I need not conceal from you lads +that he will press us harder tomorrow." +</p> + +<p> +"So he will," agreed Colonel Talbot. "There was some heavy and +extremely accurate artillery fire from his ranks this afternoon. The +way the guns were handled and the remarkable rapidity and precision +with which the discharges came convinces me that John Carrington is +here in the valley, ready to concentrate all the fire of the Union +batteries upon us. It is bad, very bad for us that the greatest +artilleryman in the world should come with Sheridan, and yet we shall +have the pleasure of seeing how he achieves wonders with the guns. It +was in him, even in the old days at West Point, when we were but lads +together, and he has shown more than once in this war how the flower +that was budding then has come into full bloom." +</p> + +<p> +As if in answer to his words the deep boom of a cannon rolled over the +hills, and a shell burst near the earthwork. +</p> + +<p> +"That, I think, was John talking to us," said Colonel Talbot. "He was +saying to us: 'Beware of me, old friends. I'm coming tomorrow, not +with one gun but with many!' Well, be it so. We shall give John and +Sheridan a warm welcome, and we shall try to make it so very warm that +it will prove too hot for them. Now, my lads, there is no immediate +duty for you, and if you can sleep, do so. Good-night." +</p> + +<p> +They rose and saluted again as the two colonels went back to their own +particular place. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope those two will be spared," said St. Clair. "I want them to +finish their chess game, and I'd like, too, to see their meeting after +the war with their old friend, John Carrington." +</p> + +<p> +"It will all come to pass," said Harry. "If Arthur is a poet as he +seems to be, then I'm a prophet, as I know I am." +</p> + +<p> +"At least you're an optimist," said Dalton. +</p> + +<p> +"Go to sleep, all of you, as the colonel told you to do," said Harry. +"If you don't stop talking you'll keep the enemy awake all night." +</p> + +<p> +But Harry himself was the last of them to sleep. He could not keep +from rising at times, and, in the starlight, looking at the fires of +the foe and the dark slopes of the mountains. His glasses passed more +than once over the forests along Cedar Creek, but no prevision, no +voice out of the dark, told him that Dick was there, one of a +formidable force that was lying hidden, ready to strike the fatal blow. +His last dim sight, as he fell asleep, was a spectacle evoked from the +past, a vision of Old Jack riding at the head of his phantom legions to +victory. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +At dawn all of Crook's forces marched out of the woods along Cedar +Creek, the Winchester men, Shepard at their head, leading, but they +still kept to the shelter of the forest and wide ravines along the +lower slopes of the mountain. The sun was not clear of the eastern +hills before the heavy thudding of the great guns and the angry buzz of +the rifles came from the direction of Fisher's Hill. +</p> + +<p> +The demonstration had begun and it was a big one, big enough to make +the defenders think it was reality and not a sham. Before Early's +earthworks a great cloud of smoke was gathering. Dick looked over his +shoulder at it. It gave him a curious feeling to be marching past, +while all that crash of battle was going on in the valley. It almost +looked as if they were deserting their general. +</p> + +<p> +"How far are we going?" he asked Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know," replied the Vermonter, "but I fancy we'll go far +enough. My little algebra, although it remains unopened in my pocket, +tells me that we shall continue our progress unseen until we reach the +desired point. These woods have grown up and these gullies have been +furrowed at a very convenient time for us." +</p> + +<p> +The light was yet dim in the forests along the slopes, but the valley +itself was flooded with the sun's rays. The echoes of the firing +rolled continuously through the gorges and multiplied it. Despite the +clouds about the earthworks and the hill, Dick saw continual flashes of +light, and he knew now that the battle below was a reality and not a +sham. Early and all his men would be kept too busy to see the march of +Crook and his force on his flank, and Dick, like Warner, became sure +that the great movement would be a success. +</p> + +<p> +But their progress, owing to the nature of the ground and the need to +keep under cover, was slow. It seemed to Dick that they marched an +interminable time under the trees, while the battle flashed and roared +in the plain. He saw noon pass and the sun rise to the zenith. He saw +the brilliant light dim on the eastern mountains, and they were still +marching through the forests. +</p> + +<p> +The battle was now behind them and the sun was very low, but the +command halted and turned toward the east. Nevertheless, they were +still hidden by the woods and the low hills of the valley. Yet they +lay behind and on the side of their enemy who would speedily be exposed +where he was weakest, to their full weight. The long flanking movement +had been a complete success so far. +</p> + +<p> +Little of the day was left. The sun was almost hidden behind the +eastern mountains but it still flamed in the west, glittering along the +bayonets of the men in the forest, and showing their eager faces. +Dick's heart throbbed. In that moment of anticipated victory he forgot +all about Harry and his friends who were in the closing trap. Then +trumpets sang the charge, and the cavalry thundered out of the wood, +followed by the infantry and the artillery. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time, another powerful division that had been moved forward +by Sheridan, charged, while those in front increased their fire. The +unfortunate Southern army was overwhelmed by troops who had moved +forward in such complete unison. They were swept out of their +earthworks, driven from their fortified hill, and those who did not +fall or were not taken were sent in rapid flight down the valley. +</p> + +<p> +The battle was short. Completeness of preparation and superiority in +numbers and resources made it so. Early and what was left of his army +had no choice but the flight they made. The sun had nearly set when +the deadly charge issued from the wood, and, by the time it had set, +the pursuit was thundering along the valley, the Winchester men in the +very forefront of it. Long after dark it continued. Several miles +from the field the fragments of the Invincibles and some others rallied +on a hill, posted two cannon and made a desperate resistance. But the +attack upon them was so fierce that they were compelled to retreat +again, and they did not have time to take the guns with them. +</p> + +<p> +It was a strange night to Dick, alike joyous and terrible. He believed +that the army of the enemy was practically destroyed, and yet he had a +great sympathy for some who were in it. He was in constant fear lest +he should find them dead, or wounded mortally. But he had no time to +look for them. Sheridan was pressing the pursuit to the utmost. +Midnight did not stop it. Fugitives were captured continually. Here +and there an abandoned cannon was taken. Rifles flashed all through +the darkness, and the horses of the Union cavalry were driven to the +utmost. +</p> + +<p> +Neither Dick nor his companions felt exhaustion. Their excitement was +too great, and the taste of triumph was too strong. They had seen no +such victory before, and eager and willing they still led the advance. +Midnight passed and the pursuit never ceased until it reached +Woodstock, ten miles from Fisher's Hill. By that time Sheridan's +infantry was exhausted, and as Early was beginning to draw together the +remains of his force he would prove too strong for the cavalry alone. +</p> + +<p> +At dawn the army of Sheridan stopped, the troopers almost falling from +their horses in exhaustion, while Early used the opportunity to escape +with what was left of his men, leaving behind many prisoners and twenty +cannon. Yet the triumph had been great, and again, when the telegraph +brought the news of it, the swell of victory passed through the North. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchester regiment was drawn up near Woodstock, already +dismounted, the men standing beside their horses. The camp cooks were +lighting the fires for breakfast, but many of the young cavalrymen fell +asleep first. Dick managed to keep awake long enough for his food, and +then, at the order of the colonel, he slept on the ground, awaiting the +command of Sheridan which might come at any moment. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER X +</h3> + +<h3> +AN UNBEATEN FOE +</h3> + +<p> +Dick's belief that he would not be allowed to sleep long was justified. +In three or four hours the whole Winchester regiment was up, mounted +and away again. Early and his army left the great valley pike, and +took a road leading toward the Blue Ridge, where he eventually entered +a gap, and fortified to await supplies and fresh men from Richmond, +leaving all the great Valley of Virginia, where in former years the +Northern armies had suffered so many humiliations, in the possession of +Sheridan. It was the greatest and most solid triumph that the Union had +yet achieved and Dick and the youths with him rejoiced. +</p> + +<p> +After many days of marching and fighting they lay once more in the +shadow of the mountains, within a great grove of oak and beech, hickory +and maple. The men and then the horses had drunk at a large brook +flowing near by, and both were content. The North, as always, sent +forward food in abundance to its troops, and now, just as the twilight +was coming, the fires were lighted and the pleasant aromas of supper +were rising. Colonel Winchester and his young staff sat by one of the +fires near the edge of the creek. They had not taken off their clothes +in almost a week, and they felt as if they had been living like +cave-men. Nevertheless the satisfaction that comes from deeds well +done pervaded them, and as they lay upon the leaves and awaited their +food and coffee they showed great good humor. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you any objection, sir, to my taking a census?" said Warner to +Colonel Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"No, Warner, but what kind of a census do you mean?" +</p> + +<p> +"I want to count our wounds, separately and individually and then make +up the grand total." +</p> + +<p> +"All right, George, go ahead," said Colonel Winchester, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +"Dick," said Warner, "what hurts have you sustained in the past week?" +</p> + +<p> +"A bullet scratch on the shoulder, another on the side, a slight cut +from a saber on my left arm, about healed now, a spent bullet that hit +me on the head, raising a lump and ache for the time being, and a kick +from one of our own horses that made me walk lame for a day." +</p> + +<p> +"The kick from a horse, as it was one of our horses, doesn't go." +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't put it forward seriously. I withdraw my claim on its +account." +</p> + +<p> +"That allows you four wounds. Now, Pennington, how about you?" +</p> + +<p> +"First I had a terrible wound in the foot," replied the Nebraskan. "A +bullet went right through my left shoe and cut the skin off the top of +my little toe." +</p> + +<p> +"Leave out the 'terrible.' That's no dreadful wound." +</p> + +<p> +"No, but it burned like the sting of a wasp and bled in a most +disgraceful manner all over my sock. Then my belt buckle was shot +away." +</p> + +<p> +"That doesn't count either. A wound's a wound only when you're hit +yourself, not when some piece of your clothing is struck." +</p> + +<p> +"All right. The belt buckle's barred, although it gave me a shock when +the bullet met it. A small bullet went through the flesh of my left +arm just above the elbow. It healed so fast that I've hardly noticed +it, due, of course, to the very healthy and temperate life I've led. I +suppose, George, it would have laid up a fellow of your habits for a +week." +</p> + +<p> +"Never mind about my habits, but go on with the list of your wounds. A +great beauty of mathematics is that it compels you to keep to your +subject. When you're solving one of those delightful problems in +mathematics you can't digress and drag in irrelevant things. Algebra +is the very thing for a confused mind like yours, Frank, one that +doesn't coordinate. But get on with your list." +</p> + +<p> +"When we were in pursuit my horse stumbled in a gully and fell so hard +that I was thrown over his shoulder, giving my own shoulder a painful +bruise that's just getting well." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll allow that, since it happened in battle. What else now? Speak +up!" +</p> + +<p> +"That's all. Three good wounds, according to your own somewhat severe +definition of a wound. I'm one behind Dick, but I believe that when I +was thrown over my horse's head I was hurt worse than he was at any +time." +</p> + +<p> +"Frank Pennington, you're a good comrade, but you're a liar, an +unmitigated liar." +</p> + +<p> +"George, if I weren't so tired and so unwilling to be angry with +anybody I'd get up and belt you on the left ear for that." +</p> + +<p> +"But you're a liar, just the same. You're holding something back." +</p> + +<p> +"What are you driving at, you chattering Green Mountaineer?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why don't you tell something about the time the trooper fell from his +horse wounded, and you, dismounting under the enemy's fire, helped him +on your own horse, although you got two wounds in your body while doing +it, and brought him off in safety? Didn't I say that you were a liar, +a convicted liar from modesty?" +</p> + +<p> +Pennington blushed. +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't want to say anything about that," he muttered. "I had to do +it." +</p> + +<p> +"Lots of men wouldn't have had to do it. You go down for five good +wounds, Frank Pennington." +</p> + +<p> +"Now, then, what about yourself, George?" asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"One in the arm, one on the shoulder and one across the ankle. I don't +waste time in words, like you two, my verbose friends. That gives the +three of us combined twelve wounds, a fair average of four apiece." +</p> + +<p> +"And it's our great good luck that not one of the twelve is a disabling +hurt," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"But we get the credit for the full twelve, all the same," said Warner, +"and we maintain our prestige in the army. Our consciences also are +satisfied. But the last two or three weeks of battles and marches have +fairly made me dizzy. I can't remember them or their sequence. All I +know is that we've cleaned up the valley, and here we are ready at last +to take a couple of minutes of well earned rest." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know," said Pennington, "there were times when I clear forgot +to be hungry, and I've been renowned in our part of Nebraska for my +appetite. But nature always gets even. For all those periods of +forgetfulness memory is now rushing upon me. I'm hungry not only for +the present but from the past. It'll take a lot to satisfy me." +</p> + +<p> +The briskness of the night also sharpened Pennington's appetite. They +were deep in autumn, and the winds from the mountains had an edge. The +foliage had turned and it glowed in vivid reds and yellows on the +slopes, although the intense colors were hidden now by the coming of +night. +</p> + +<p> +The wind was cold enough to make the fires feel good to their relaxed +systems, and they spread out their hands to the welcome flames, as they +had often done at home on wintry nights, when children. Beyond the +trees the horses, under guard, were grazing on what was left of the +late grass, but within the wood the men themselves, save those who were +preparing food, were mostly lying down on the dry leaves or their +blankets, and were talking of the things they had done, or the things +they were going to do. +</p> + +<p> +"I wonder what the bill of fare will be tonight," said Pennington, who +was growing hungrier and hungrier. +</p> + +<p> +"I had several engraved menus," said Warner, "but I lost them, and so +we won't be able to order. We'll just have to take what they offer us." +</p> + +<p> +"A month or so later they'll be having fresh sausage and spare ribs in +old Kentucky," said Dick, "and I wish we had 'em here now." +</p> + +<p> +"And a month later than that," said Pennington, "they'll be having a +roasted bull buffalo weighing five thousand pounds for Christmas dinner +in Nebraska." +</p> + +<p> +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Warner. "No buffalo ever weighed five thousand +pounds." +</p> + +<p> +Pennington looked at him pityingly. +</p> + +<p> +"You have no romance or poetry after all, George," he said. "Why can't +you let me put on an extra twenty-five hundred or three thousand pounds +for the sake of effect?" +</p> + +<p> +"Besides, you don't roast buffaloes whole and bring them in on a +platter!" +</p> + +<p> +"No, we don't, but that's no proof that we can't or won't. Now, what +would you like to have, George?" +</p> + +<p> +"After twelve or fifteen other things, I'd like to finish off with a +whole pumpkin pie, and a few tin cups of cider would go along with it +mighty well. That's the diet to make men, real men, I mean." +</p> + +<p> +"Any way," said Dick, raising a tin cup of hot coffee, "here's to food. +You may sleep without beds, and, in tropical climates, you may go +without clothes, but in whatever part of the world you may be, you must +have food. And it's best when you've ridden hard all day, and, in the +cool of an October evening, to sit down by a roaring fire in the woods +with the dry leaves beneath you, and the clear sky above you." +</p> + +<p> +"Hear! hear!" said Warner. "Who's dithyrambic now? But you're right, +Dick. War is a terrible thing. Besides being a ruthless slaughter +it's an economic waste,—did you ever think of that, you reckless +youngsters?—but it has a few minor compensations, and one of them is +an evening like this. Why, everything tastes good to us. Nothing +could taste bad. Our twelve wounds don't pain us in the least, and +they'll heal absolutely in a few days, our blood being so healthy. The +air we breathe is absolutely pure and the sky over our heads is all +blue and silver, spangled with stars, a canopy stretched for our +especial benefit, and upon which we have as much claim of ownership as +anybody else has. We've lived out of doors so much and we've been +through so much hard exercise that our bodies are now pretty nearly +tempered steel. I doubt whether I'll ever be able to live indoors +again, except in winter." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm the luckiest of all," said Pennington. "Out on the plains we +don't have to live indoors much anyway. I've lived mostly in the +saddle since I was seven or eight years old, but the war has toughened +me just the same. I'll be able to sleep out any time, except in the +blizzards." +</p> + +<p> +"As soon as you finish devouring the government stores," said a voice +behind them, "it would be well for all of you to seek the sleep you're +telling so much about." +</p> + +<p> +It was Colonel Winchester who spoke, and they looked at him, +inquiringly. +</p> + +<p> +"Can I ask, sir, which way we ride?" said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Northward with General Sheridan," replied the Colonel. +</p> + +<p> +"But there is no enemy to the north, sir!" +</p> + +<p> +"That's true, but we go that way, nevertheless. Although you're +discreet young officers I'm not going to tell you any more. Now, as +you've eaten enough food and drunk enough coffee, be off to your +blankets. I want all of you to be fresh and strong in the morning." +</p> + +<p> +Fresh and strong they were, and promptly General Sheridan rode away, +taking with him all the cavalry, his course taking him toward Front +Royal. The news soon spread among the horsemen that from Front Royal +the general would go on to Washington for a conference with the War +Department, while the cavalry would turn through a gap in the +mountains, and then destroy railroads in order to cut off General +Early's communications with Richmond. +</p> + +<p> +"We're to be an escort and then a fighting and destroying force," said +Dick. "But it's quite sure that we'll meet no enemy until we go +through the gap. Meanwhile we'll enjoy a saunter along the valley." +</p> + +<p> +But when they reached Front Royal a courier, riding hard, overtook +them. He demanded to be taken at once to the presence of General +Sheridan, and then he presented a copy of a dispatch which read: +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="letter"> + To Lieutenant-General Early:<br /> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> + Be ready to move as soon as my forces join you, and we will<br /> + crush Sheridan.<br /> + Longstreet, Lieutenant-General.<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +Sheridan read the dispatch over and over again, and pondered it +gravely. The courier informed him that it was the copy of a signal made +by the Confederate flags on Three Top Mountain, and deciphered by Union +officers who had obtained the secret of the Confederate code. General +Wright, whom he had left in command, had sent it to him in all haste +for what it was worth. +</p> + +<p> +The young general not only pondered the message gravely, but he +pondered it long. Finally he called his chief officers around him and +consulted with them. If the grim and bearded Longstreet were really +coming into the valley with a formidable force, then indeed it would be +the dance of death. Longstreet, although he did not have the genius of +Stonewall Jackson, was a fierce and dangerous fighter. All of them +knew how he had come upon the field of Chickamauga with his veterans +from Virginia, and had turned the tide of battle. His presence in the +valley might quickly turn all of Sheridan's great triumphs into +withered laurels. +</p> + +<p> +But Sheridan had a great doubt in his mind. The Confederate signal +from Three Top Mountain that his own officers had read might not be +real. It might have been intended to deceive, Early's signalmen +learning that the Union signalmen had deciphered their code, or it +might be some sort of a grim joke. He did not believe that the Army of +Northern Virginia could spare Longstreet and a large force, as it would +be weakened so greatly that it could no longer stand before Grant, even +with the aid of the trenches. +</p> + +<p> +His belief that this dispatch, upon which so much turned, as they were +to learn afterward, was false, became a conviction and most of his +officers agreed with him. He decided at last that the coming of +Longstreet with an army into the valley was an impossibility, and he +would go on to Washington. But Sheridan made a reservation, and this, +too, as the event showed, was highly important. He ordered all the +cavalry back to General Wright, while he proceeded with a small escort +to the capital. +</p> + +<p> +It was Dick who first learned what had happened, and soon all knew. +They discussed it fully as they rode back on their own tracks, and on +the whole they were glad they were to return. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think I'd like to be tearing up railroads and destroying +property," said Dick. "I prefer anyhow for the valley to be my home at +present, although I believe that dispatch means nothing. Why, the +Confederates can't possibly rally enough men to attack us!" +</p> + +<p> +"I think as you do," said Warner. "I suppose it's best for the cavalry +to go back, but I wish General Sheridan had taken me on to Washington +with him. I'd like to see the lights of the capital again. Besides, +I'd have given the President and the Secretary of War some excellent +advice." +</p> + +<p> +"He isn't jesting. He means it," said Pennington to Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Of course I do," said Warner calmly. "When General Sheridan failed to +take me with him, the government lost a great opportunity." +</p> + +<p> +But their hearts were light and they rode gaily back, unconscious of +the singular event that was preparing for them. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +The army of Early had not been destroyed entirely. Sheridan, with all +his energy, and with all the courage and zeal of his men could not +absolutely crush his foe. Some portions of the hostile force were +continually slipping away, and now Early, refusing to give up, was +gathering them together again, and was meditating a daring counter +stroke. The task might well have appalled any general and any troops, +but if Early had one quality in preeminence it was the resolution to +fight. And most of his officers and men were veterans. Many of them +had ridden with Jackson on his marvelous campaigns. They were familiar +with the taste of victory, and defeat had been very bitter to them. +They burned to strike back, and they were willing to dare anything for +the sake of it. +</p> + +<p> +Orders had already gone to all the scattered and ragged fragments, and +the men in gray were concentrating. Many of them were half starved. +The great valley had been stripped of all its live stock, all its grain +and of every other resource that would avail an army. Nothing could be +obtained, except at Staunton, ninety miles back of Fisher's Hill, and +wagons could not bring up food in time from such a distant place. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless the men gleaned. They searched the fields for any corn +that might be left, and ate it roasted or parched. Along the slopes of +the mountains they found nuts already ripening, and these were prizes +indeed. +</p> + +<p> +Among the gleaners were Harry Kenton, the staunch young Presbyterian, +Dalton, and the South Carolinians, St. Clair and Langdon. St. Clair +alone was impeccable of uniform, absolutely trim, and Langdon alone +deserved his nickname of Happy. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't be discouraged, boys," he said as he pulled from the stalk an +ear of corn that the hoofs of the Northern cavalry had failed to +trample under. "Now this is a fine ear, a splendid ear, and if you +boys search well you may be able to find others like it. All things +come to him who looks long enough. Remember how Nebuchadnezzar ate +grass, and he must have had to do some hunting too, because I +understand grass didn't grow very freely in that part of the world, and +then remember also that we are not down to grass yet. Corn, nuts and +maybe a stray pumpkin or two. 'Tis a repast fit for the gods, noble +sirs." +</p> + +<p> +"I can go without, part of the time," said Harry, "but it hurts me to +have to hunt through a big field for a nubbin of corn and then feel +happy when I've got the wretched, dirty, insignificant little thing. +My father often has a hundred acres of corn in a single field, +producing fifty bushels to the acre." +</p> + +<p> +"And my father," said Dalton, "has a single field of fifty acres that +produces fifteen hundred bushels of wheat, but it's been a long time +since I've seen a shock of wheat." +</p> + +<p> +"Console yourself with the knowledge," said Harry, "that it's too late +in the year for wheat to be in the stack." +</p> + +<p> +"Or anywhere else, either, so far as we're concerned." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't murmur," said Happy. "Mourners seldom find anything, but +optimists find, often. Didn't I tell you so? Here's another ear." +</p> + +<p> +Harry had approached the edge of the field and he saw something red +gleaming through a fringe of woods beyond. The experienced eye of +youth told him at once what it was, and he called to his comrades. +</p> + +<p> +"Come on, boys," he said. "There's a little orchard beyond the wood. I +know there is because I caught a glimpse of a red apple hanging from a +tree. I suppose the skirt of forest kept the Yankee raiders from +seeing it." +</p> + +<p> +They followed with a shout of joy. +</p> + +<p> +"Treasure trove!" exclaimed Happy. +</p> + +<p> +"Who's an optimist now?" asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +"All of us are," said St. Clair. +</p> + +<p> +They passed through the wood and entered a small orchard of not more +than half an acre. But it was filled with apple trees loaded with red +apples, big juicy fellows, just ripened by the October sun. A little +beyond the orchard in a clearing was a small log house, obviously that +of the owner of the orchard, and also obviously deserted. No smoke +rose from the chimneys, and windows and doors were nailed up. The +proprietor no doubt had gone with his family to some town and the +apples would have rotted on the ground had the young officers not found +them. +</p> + +<p> +"There must be bushels and bushels here," said St. Clair. "We'll fill +up our sacks first and then call the other men." +</p> + +<p> +They had brought sacks with them for the corn, but the few ears they +had found took up but little space. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll climb the trees, and shake 'em down," said Harry. He was up a +tree in an instant, all his boyhood coming back to him, and, as he +shook with his whole strength, the red apples, held now by twigs nearly +dead, rained down. They passed from tree to tree and soon their sacks +were filled. +</p> + +<p> +"Now for the colonels," said St. Clair, "and on our way we'll tell the +others." +</p> + +<p> +Bending under the weight of the sacks, they took their course toward a +snug cove in the first slope of the Massanuttons, hailing friends on +the way and sending them with swift steps toward the welcome orchard. +They passed within the shadow of a grove, and then entered a small open +space, where two men sat on neighboring stumps, with an empty box +between them. Upon the box reposed a board of chessmen and at +intervals the two intent players spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"If you expect to capture my remaining knight, Hector, you'll have to +hurry. We march tomorrow." +</p> + +<p> +"I can't be hurried, Leonidas. This is an intellectual game, and if +it's played properly it demands time. If I don't take your remaining +knight before tomorrow I'll take him a month from now, after this +campaign is over." +</p> + +<p> +"I have my doubts, Hector; I've heard you boast before." +</p> + +<p> +"I never boast, Leonidas. At times I make statements and prophecies, +but I trust that I'm too modest a man ever to boast." +</p> + +<p> +"Then advance your battle line, Hector, and see what you can do. It's +your move." +</p> + +<p> +The two gray heads bent so low over the narrow board that they almost +touched. For a little space the campaign, the war, and all their +hardships floated away from them, their minds absorbed thoroughly in +the difficult game which had come in the dim past out of the East. +They did not see anything around them nor did they hear Harry as he +approached them with the heavy sack of apples upon his back. +</p> + +<p> +Harry's affection for both of the colonels was strong and as he looked +at them he realized more than ever their utter unworldliness. He, +although a youth, saw that they belonged to a passing era, but in their +very unworldliness lay their attraction. He knew that whatever the +fortunes of the war, they would, if they lived, prove good citizens +after its close. All rancor—no, not rancor, because they felt +none—rather all hostility would be buried on the battlefield, and the +friend whom they would be most anxious to see and welcome was John +Carrington, the great Northern artilleryman, who had done their cause +so much damage. +</p> + +<p> +He opened his sack and let the red waterfall of apples pour down at +their feet. Startled by the noise, they looked up, despite a critical +situation on the board. Then they looked down again at the scarlet +heap upon the grass, and, powerful though the attractions of chess +were, they were very hungry men, and the shining little pyramid held +their gaze. +</p> + +<p> +"Apples! apples, Harry!" said Colonel Talbot. "Many apples, +magnificent, red and ripe! Is it real?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, Leonidas, it can't be real," said Lieutenant Colonel Hector St. +Hilaire. "It can't be possible in a country that Sheridan swept as +bare as the palm of my hand. It's only an idle dream, Leonidas. I was +deceived by it myself, for a moment, but we will not yield any longer +to such weakness. Come, we will return to our game, where every move +has now become vital." +</p> + +<p> +"But it isn't a dream, sir! It's real!" exclaimed Harry joyfully. "We +found an abandoned orchard, and it was just filled with 'em. Help +yourselves!" +</p> + +<p> +The colonels put away their chessmen, remembering well where every one +had stood, and fell on with the appetites of boys. Other officers, and +then soldiers who were made welcome, joined them. Harry and Dalton, +after having eaten their share, were walking along the slope of the +mountain, when they heard the sound of a shot. It seemed to come from +a dense thicket, and, as no Northern skirmishers could be near, their +curiosity caused them to rush forward. When they entered the thicket +they heard Langdon's voice raised in a shout of triumph. +</p> + +<p> +"I got him! I got him!" he cried. Then they heard a heavy sliding +sound, as of something being dragged, and the young South Carolinian +appeared, pulling after him by its hind legs a fine hog which he had +shot through the head. +</p> + +<p> +"It was fair game," he cried, as he saw his friends. "Piggy here was +masterless, roaming around the woods feeding on nuts until he was fat +and juicy! My, how good he will taste! At first I thought he was a +bear, but bear or hog he was bound to fall to my pistol!" +</p> + +<p> +Langdon had indeed found a prize, and he had robbed no farmer to obtain +it. Harry and Dalton stood by for a half minute and gloated with him. +Then they helped him drag the hog into the cove, where the colonels +sat. A half dozen experts quickly dressed the animal, and the +Invincibles had a feast such as they had not tasted in a long time. +</p> + +<p> +"Didn't I tell you," said Happy as he gazed contentedly into the coals +over which the hog had been roasted in sections, "that those who look +hard generally discover, that is, 'seek and ye shall find.' It's the +optimists who arrive. Your pessimist quits before he comes to the +apple trees, or before he reaches the thicket that conceals the fine +fat pig. As for me, I'm always an optimist, twenty-four carats fine, +and therefore I'm the superior of you fellows." +</p> + +<p> +"You're happier than we are because you don't feel any sense of +responsibility," said Dalton. "I'd rather be unhappy than have an +empty head." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, it's just jealous you are, George Dalton. Born with a sour +disposition you can't bear to see me shedding joy and light about me." +</p> + +<p> +Dalton laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"It's true, Happy," he said. "You do help, and for that reason we +tolerate you, not because of your prowess in battle." +</p> + +<p> +"Has anybody seen that fellow Slade again?" asked St. Clair. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm thankful to say no," replied Harry. "He came out of the Southwest +promising big things, and he certainly does have great skill in the +forest, but our officers don't like his looks. Nor did I. If there +was ever a thorough villain I'm sure he's one. I've heard that he's +drawn off and is operating with a band of guerrillas in the mountains, +robbing and murdering, I suppose." +</p> + +<p> +"And they say that a big ruffian from the Kentucky mountains with +another band has joined him," said Happy. +</p> + +<p> +"What's his name?" asked Harry with sudden interest. +</p> + +<p> +"Skelly, I think, Bill Skelly." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, I know that fellow! He comes from the hills back of our town of +Pendleton, and he claimed to be on the Union side. He and his band +fired upon me at the very opening of the war." +</p> + +<p> +"If you are not careful he'll be firing upon you again. He may have +started out as a Union man, but he's shifting around now, I fancy, to +suit his own plundering and robbing forces. We'll hear of their +operations later, and it won't be a pretty story." +</p> + +<p> +They talked of many things, and after a while Harry and St. Clair were +sent with a message to the crest of Three Top Mountain, where the +Confederate signal station was located, and from which the Union +officers had taken the dispatch about the coming of Longstreet with a +strong force. Both were fully aware of the great movement contemplated +by Early and their minds now went back to march and battle. +</p> + +<p> +The climb up the mountain was pleasant to such muscles and sinews as +theirs, and they stopped at intervals to look over the valley, now a +great desolation, until nature should come again with her healing +touch. Harry smothered a sigh as he recalled their early and wonderful +victories there, and the tremendous marches with the invincible +Stonewall. Old Jack, as he sat somewhere with Washington and Cromwell +and all the group of the mighty, must feel sad when he looked down upon +this, his beloved valley, now trodden into a ruin by the heel of the +invader. +</p> + +<p> +He resolutely put down the choking in his throat, and would not let St. +Clair see his emotion. They reached the signal station, which at that +hour was in charge of a young officer named Mortimer, but little older +than themselves. They delivered to him their message and stood by, +while he talked with flags to another station on the opposite mountain. +Harry watched curiously although he could read none of the signals. +</p> + +<p> +"This is our only newspaper and I can't read it," he said when Mortimer +had finished. "What's the news?" +</p> + +<p> +"There's a lot of it, and it's heavy with importance," replied Mortimer. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell us a bit of it, can't you?" +</p> + +<p> +"Sheridan has left his army and gone north. That's one bit." +</p> + +<p> +"What?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's so. We know absolutely, and we've signaled it to General Early. +But we don't know why he has gone." +</p> + +<p> +"That is important." +</p> + +<p> +"It surely is, and he's taken his cavalry with him. Our men have seen +the troops riding northward. Since Sheridan went away, the Union +commander, whoever he is, has been strengthening his right, fearing an +attack there, since he learned of our reappearance in the valley." +</p> + +<p> +"Therefore General Early will attack on the left?" +</p> + +<p> +"Correct. You can see now the value of signal stations like ours. We +can look down upon the enemy and see his movements. Then we know what +to do." +</p> + +<p> +"And what have they on their left?" asked Harry. "Do you know that, +too?" +</p> + +<p> +"Of course. General Crook with two divisions is there. He has Cedar +Creek in front of him, and on his own left the north fork of the +Shenandoah. He's considerably in front of the main Union force, and +they haven't posted much of a picket line." +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose they're relying upon the natural strength of the ground." +</p> + +<p> +"That's it, I take it, but we may give them a surprise." +</p> + +<p> +Harry and Dalton used their glasses and far to the north they saw dim +figures, not larger than toys. At first view they appeared to be +stationary, but, as the eyes became used to the distance, Harry knew +they were moving. Apparently they were infantry going toward the Union +right, where danger was feared, and he felt a grim satisfaction in +knowing that the real danger lay on their left. But could Early with +his small numbers, with the habit now of defeat, make any impression +upon the large Union armies flushed with victories? +</p> + +<p> +Harry wondered if Dick was among those moving troops, but his second +thought told him it was not likely. They had learned from spies that +the Winchester regiment was mounted, and in all probability it was part +of the cavalry that had gone north with Sheridan. But he thought again +how strange it was that the two should have been face to face at the +Second Manassas, and then after a wide separation, involving so many +great battles and marches, should come here into the Valley of +Virginia, face to face once more. +</p> + +<p> +Mortimer and his assistants presently began to manipulate the flags +again, and Confederate signalmen, on a far peak, replied. Harry and +St. Clair watched them with all the curiosity that a mystery inspires. +</p> + +<p> +"Can we ask again," said Harry, when they had finished, "what you +fellows were saying?" +</p> + +<p> +Mortimer laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"It was a quick dialogue," he replied, "but it was intended for the +Yankees down in the valley, who, we learn, have deciphered some of our +signals. I said to Strother on the other peak: 'Six thousand?' He +replied: 'No, eight thousand!' I said: 'In center or on their right +flank?' He replied: 'On their right flank.' I said: 'Two thousand +fresh horses?' He replied: 'Nearer twenty-five hundred.' I said: +'Five hundred fresh beeves from the other side of the Blue Ridge.' He +replied: 'Great news, we need 'em!' I wish it was true, but it will +set our Yankee friends to thinking." +</p> + +<p> +"I see. Your talk was meant to fool the Yankees." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and we need to fool 'em as much as we can. It's a daring venture +that we're entering upon, but it's great luck for us to have Sheridan +away. It looks like a good omen to me." +</p> + +<p> +"And to me, too. We used to say that Old Jack was an army corps, and +he was, two of them for that matter. Then Sheridan is worth at least +ten thousand men to the Yankees. Good-by, we'd like to see more of +your work with the flags, but down below they need Captain St. Clair, +who is a terrible fighter. We can't hope to beat the Yankees with St. +Clair away." +</p> + +<p> +Mortimer smiled, waved them farewell, and, a few minutes later, was at +work once more with the flags. Meanwhile, Harry and St. Clair were +descending the mountain, pausing now and then to survey the valley with +their glasses, where they could yet mark the movements of the Northern +troops. When they reached the cove they found that the board and the +chess men were put away, and the two colonels were inspecting the +Invincibles to see that the last detail was done, while Early made +ready for his desperate venture. +</p> + +<p> +Harry and his comrades were fully conscious that it was a forlorn hope. +They had been driven out of the valley once by superior numbers and +equipment, directed by a leader of great skill and energy, but now they +had come back to risk everything in a daring venture. The Union +forces, of course, knew of their presence in the old lines about +Fisher's Hill—Shepard alone was sufficient to warn them of it—but +they could scarcely expect an attack by a foe of small numbers, already +defeated several times. +</p> + +<p> +Harry's thought of Shepard set him to surmising. The spy no longer +presented himself to his mind as a foe to be hated. Rather, he was an +official enemy whom he liked. He even remembered with a smile their +long duel when Lee was retreating from Gettysburg, and particularly +their adventure in the river. Would that duel between them be renewed? +Intuition told him that Shepard was in the valley, and if Sheridan was +worth ten thousand men the spy was worth at least a thousand. +</p> + +<p> +The Invincibles were ready to the last man, and it did not require any +great counting to reach the last. Yet the two colonels, as they rode +before their scanty numbers, held themselves as proudly as ever, and +the hearts of their young officers, in spite of all the odds, began to +beat high with hope. The advance was to be made after dark, and their +pulses were leaping as the twilight came, and then the night. +</p> + +<p> +The march of the Southern army to deal its lightning stroke was +prepared well, and, fortunately for it, a heavy fog came up late in the +night from the rivers and creeks of the valley to cover its movements +and hide the advancing columns from its foe. When Harry felt the damp +touch of the vapor on his face his hopes rose yet higher. He knew that +weather, fog, rain, snow and flooding rivers played a great part in the +fortunes of war. Might not the kindly fog, encircling them with its +protection, be a good omen? +</p> + +<p> +"Chance favors us," he said to St. Clair and Langdon, as the fog grew +thicker and thicker, almost veiling their faces from one another. +</p> + +<p> +"I told you that the optimists usually had their way," said Happy. "We +persisted and found that orchard of apples. We persisted and found +that fat porker. Now, I have been wishing for this fog, and I kept on +wishing for it until it came." +</p> + +<p> +Harry laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"You do make the best of things, Happy," he said. +</p> + +<p> +The fog thickened yet more, but the Invincibles made their sure way +through it, the different portions of the army marching in perfect +coordination. Gordon led three divisions of infantry, supported by a +brigade of cavalry across the Shenandoah River and marched east of +Fisher's Hill. Then he went along the slope of the Massanuttons, +recrossed the river, and silently came in behind the left flank of the +Union force under Crook. +</p> + +<p> +Early himself, with two divisions of infantry and all the artillery, +marched straight toward Cedar Creek, where he would await the sound of +firing to tell him that Gordon had completed his great circling +movement. Then he would push forward with all his might, and he and +Gordon appearing suddenly out of the fog and dark would strike sledge +hammer blows from different sides at the surprised Union army. It was +a conception worthy of Old Jack himself, although there was less +strength with which to deal the blows. +</p> + +<p> +The Invincibles were with Early, and they arrived in position before +Cedar Creek long before Gordon could complete his wide flanking +movement. Both artillery and infantry were up, and there was nothing +for them to do but wait. The officers dismounted and naturally those +who led the Invincibles kept close together. The wait was long. +Midnight came, and then the hours after it passed one by one. +</p> + +<p> +It was late in the year, the eighteenth of October, and the night was +chill. The heavy fog which hung low made it chillier. Harry as he +stood by his horse felt it cold and damp on his face, but it was a true +friend for all that. Whether Happy wishing for the fog had made it +come or not they could have found no better aid. +</p> + +<p> +He could not see far, but out of the vapors came the sound of men +moving, because they were restless and could not help it. He heard too +the murmur of voices, and now and then the clank of a cannon, as it was +advanced a little. More time passed. It was the hour when it would be +nearly dawn on a clear day, and thousands of hearts leaped as the sound +of shots came from a distant point out of the fog. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XI +</h3> + +<h3> +CEDAR CREEK +</h3> + +<p> +The Winchester Regiment and the rest of the cavalry returned to the +Union army, and, on the memorable night of the eighteenth of October, +they were north of Cedar Creek with the Eighth Corps, most of the men +being then comfortably asleep in tents. A courier had brought word to +General Wright that all was quiet in front, and the same word was sent +to Sheridan, who, returning, had come as far as Winchester where he +slept that night, expecting to rejoin his command the next day. +</p> + +<p> +But there were men of lower rank than Wright and Sheridan who were +uneasy, and particularly so Sergeant Daniel Whitley, veteran of the +plains, and of Indian ambush and battle. None of the Winchester +officers had sought sleep either in the tents or elsewhere, and, in the +night, Dick stood beside the suspicious sergeant and peered into the +fog. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't like it," said the veteran. "Fogs ain't to be taken lightly. +I wish this one hadn't come at this time. I'm generally scared of most +of the things I can't see." +</p> + +<p> +"But what have we to be afraid of?" asked Dick. "We're here in strong +force, and the enemy is too weak to attack." +</p> + +<p> +"The Johnnies are never too weak to attack. Rec'lect, too, that this +is their country, and they know every inch of it. I wish Mr. Shepard +was here." +</p> + +<p> +"I think he was detailed for some scout duty off toward the Blue Ridge." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know who sent him, but I make bold to say, Mr. Mason, that he +could do a lot more good out there in the fog on the other side of +Cedar Creek, a-spyin' and a-spyin', a-lookin' and a-lookin', +a-listenin' and a-listenin'." +</p> + +<p> +"And perhaps he would neither see nor hear anything" +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe, sir, but if I may make bold again, I think you're wrong. Why, +I just fairly smell danger." +</p> + +<p> +"It's the fog and your fear of it, sergeant." +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir; it's not that. It's my five senses working all together and +telling me the truth." +</p> + +<p> +"But the pickets have brought in no word." +</p> + +<p> +"In this fog, pickets can't see more'n a few yards beyond their beats. +What time is it, Mr. Mason?" +</p> + +<p> +"A little past one in the morning, sergeant." +</p> + +<p> +"Enough of the night left yet for a lot of mischief. I'm glad, sir, if +I may make bold once more, that the Winchester men stay out of the +tents and keep awake." +</p> + +<p> +Warner joined them, and reported that fresh messengers from the front +had given renewed assurances of quiet. Absolutely nothing was stirring +along Cedar Creek, but Sergeant Daniel Whitley was still dissatisfied. +</p> + +<p> +"It's always where nothin' is stirrin' that most is doin', sir," he +said to Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"You're epigrammatic, sergeant." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm what, sir? I was never called that before." +</p> + +<p> +"It doesn't depreciate you. It's a flattering adjective, but you've +set my own nerves to tingling and I don't feel like sleeping." +</p> + +<p> +"It never hurts, sir, to watch in war, even when nothing happens. I +remember once when we were in a blizzard west of the Missouri, only a +hundred of us. It was in the country of the Northern Cheyennes, an' no +greater fighters ever lived than them red demons. We got into a kind +of dip, surrounded by trees, an' managed to build a fire. We was so +busy tryin' to keep from freezin' to death that we never gave a thought +to Indians, that is 'ceptin' one, the guide, Jim Palmer, who knowed +them Cheyennes, an' who kept dodgin' about in the blizzard, facin' the +icy blast an' the whirlin' snow, an' always lookin' an' listenin'. I +owe my life to him, an' so does every other one of the hundred. Shore +enough the Cheyennes come, ridin' right on the edge of the blizzard, +an' in all that terrible storm they tried to rush us. But we'd been +warned by Palmer an' we beat 'em off at last, though a lot of good men +bit the snow. I say again, sir, that you can't ever be too careful in +war. Do everything you can think of, and then think of some more. I +wish Mr. Shepard would come!" +</p> + +<p> +They continued to walk back and forth, in front of the lines, and, at +times, they were accompanied by Colonel Winchester or Warner or +Pennington. The colonel fully shared the sergeant's anxieties. The +fact that most of the Union army was asleep in the tents alarmed him, +and the great fog added to his uneasiness. It came now in heavy drifts +like clouds sweeping down the valley, and he did not know what was in +the heart of it. The pickets had been sent far forward, but the vast +moving column of heavy whitish vapor hid everything from their eyes, +too, save a circle of a few yards about them. +</p> + +<p> +Toward morning Dick, the colonel and the sergeant stood together, +trying to pierce the veil of vapor in front of them. The colonel did +not hesitate to speak his thought to the two. +</p> + +<p> +"I wish that General Sheridan was here," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"But he's at Winchester," said Dick. "He'll join us at noon." +</p> + +<p> +"I wish he was here now, and I wish, too, that this fog would lift, and +the day would come. Hark, what was that?" +</p> + +<p> +"It was a rifle shot, sir," said the sergeant. +</p> + +<p> +"And there are more," exclaimed Dick. "Listen!" +</p> + +<p> +There was a sudden crackle of firing, and in front of them pink dots +appeared through the fog. +</p> + +<p> +"Here comes the Southern army!" said Sergeant Whitley. +</p> + +<p> +Out of the fog rose a tremendous swelling cry from thousands of +throats, fierce, long-drawn, and full of menace. It was the rebel +yell, and from another point above the rising thunder of cannon and +rifles came the same yell in reply, like a signal. The surprise was +complete. Gordon had hurled himself upon the Union flank and at the +same moment Early, according to his plan, drove with all his might at +the center. +</p> + +<p> +Dick was horrified, and, for a moment or two, the blood was ice in his +veins. +</p> + +<p> +"Back!" cried Colonel Winchester to him and the sergeant, and then +after shouting, "Up men! Up!" he blew long and loud upon his whistle. +All of his men were on their feet in an instant, and they were first to +return the Southern fire, but it had little effect upon the torrent +that was now pouring down upon them. Other troops, so rudely aroused +from sleep, rushed from their tents, still dazed, and firing wildly in +the fog. +</p> + +<p> +Again that terrible yell arose, more distinct than ever with menace and +triumph, and so great was the rush of the men in gray that they swept +everything before them, their rifles and cannon raking the Union camp +with a withering fire. The Winchesters, despite their quickness to +form in proper order, were driven back with the others, and the whole +corps, assailed with frightful force on the flank also, was compelled +continually to give ground, and to leave long rows of dead and wounded. +</p> + +<p> +"Keep close to me!" shouted Colonel Winchester to his young officers, +and then he added to the sergeant, who stood beside him: "Whitley, you +were right!" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm sorry to say I was, sir," replied the sergeant. "It was a great +ambush, and it's succeeding so far." +</p> + +<p> +"But we must hold them! We must find some way to hold them!" cried the +colonel. +</p> + +<p> +He said more, but it was lost in the tremendous uproar of the firing +and the shouting. All the officers were dismounted—their horses +already had been taken by the enemy—and now, waving their swords, they +walked up and down in front of the lines, seeking to encourage their +own troops. Despite the surprise and the attack from two sides, the men +in blue sustained their courage and made a stubborn fight. +Nevertheless the attack in both front and flank was fatal. Again and +again they sought to hold a position, but always they were driven from +it, leaving behind more dead and wounded and more prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's heart sank. It was bitter to see a defeat, after so many +victories. Perhaps the fortunes of the South had not passed the zenith +after all! If Sheridan were defeated and driven from the valley, and +Lee's flank left protected, Grant might sit forever before him at +Petersburg and not be able to force his trenches. All these thoughts +and fears swept before him, vague, disconnected, and swift. +</p> + +<p> +But he saw that Warner, Pennington and the colonel were still unhurt, +and that the Winchesters, despite their exposed position, had not +suffered as much loss as some of the other regiments. General Wright +in the absence of Sheridan retained his head, and formed a strong core +of resistance which, although it could not yet hold the ground, might +give promise of doing so, if help arrived. +</p> + +<p> +Dawn came, driving the fog away, and casting a red glow over the field +of battle. The ground where the Union troops had slept the night +before was now left far behind, and the Southern army, full of fire and +the swell of victory, was pushing on with undiminished energy, its +whole front blazing with the rapid discharge of cannon and rifles. +</p> + +<p> +The terrible retreat lasted a long time, and the whole Union army was +driven back a full five miles before it could make a permanent stand. +Then, far in the morning, the regiments reformed, held their ground, +and Dick, for the first time, took a long free breath. +</p> + +<p> +"We've been defeated but not destroyed," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"No, we haven't," said a voice beside him, "but the fact that the +Johnnies were so hungry has saved us a lot." +</p> + +<p> +It was Shepard, who seemed to have risen from the ground. +</p> + +<p> +"I've got back from places farther north," he said. "Chance kept me +away from here last night." +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean about the Southern hunger helping us?" asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"I've been on the flank, and I saw that when they drove us out of our +camps the temptation was too great for many of their men. They +scattered, seizing our good food and devouring it. It was impossible +for their officers to restrain them. They've suffered losses too, and +they can drive us no farther." +</p> + +<p> +Then Shepard spoke briefly with Colonel Winchester, and disappeared +again. The fire had now died somewhat and the banks of smoke were +rising, enabling Dick to see the field with a degree of clearness. +Union batteries and regiments were in line, but behind them a mass of +fugitives, who had not yet recovered from the surprise and who thought +the defeat complete, were pouring along the turnpike toward Winchester. +When Dick saw their numbers his fears were renewed. He believed that +if the Southern army could gather up all its forces and attack once +more it would win another success. +</p> + +<p> +But while he looked at the long line of fire in front of them a sudden +roar of cheering rose from the Union ranks. It became a shout, +tremendous and thrilling. Dick turned in excitement and he was about +to ask what it meant, when he distinguished a name thundered again and +again: +</p> + +<p> +"Sheridan! Sheridan! Sheridan!" +</p> + +<p> +Then before them galloped their own Little Phil, seeming to bring +strength, courage and victory with him. His hat was thrown back, his +face flushed, and his eyes sparkling. Everywhere the men rallied to +his call and the shouts: "Sheridan! Sheridan!" rolled up and down. +The fugitives too came pouring back to swell the line of battle. Dick +caught the enthusiasm at once, and felt his own pulses leaping. He and +Pennington and Warner joined in the shouts: "Sheridan! Sheridan!" and +snatching off their caps waved them with all their vigor. +</p> + +<p> +It was an amazing transformation. A beaten and dispirited army, +holding on from a sense of duty, suddenly became alive with zeal, and +asked only to be led against the enemy by the general they trusted. +One man alone had worked the miracle and as his enemies had truly said +his presence was worth ten thousand men. +</p> + +<p> +His coming had been dramatic. He had spent the night quietly at +Winchester, but, early in the morning, he had heard the sounds of +firing which steadily grew louder. Apprehensive, he rode at once +toward the distant field, and, before he had gone two miles, he met the +first stragglers, bringing wild tales that the army had been routed, +and that the Southerners were hot on their heels. Sheridan rode +rapidly now. He met thicker streams of fugitives, but turned them back +toward the enemy, and when he finally came upon the field itself he +brought with him all the retreating regiments. +</p> + +<p> +Dick never beheld a more thrilling and inspiring sight than that which +occurred when Sheridan galloped among them, swinging his hat in his +hand. +</p> + +<p> +"What troops are these?" he had asked. +</p> + +<p> +"The Sixth Corps!" hundreds of voices shouted in reply. +</p> + +<p> +"We are all right! We'll win!" cried Sheridan. +</p> + +<p> +And then, as he galloped along the line he added: +</p> + +<p> +"Never mind, boys, we'll whip 'em yet! We'll whip 'em yet! We'll +sleep in their quarters tonight!" +</p> + +<p> +The roar of cheering swept up and down the line again, and Sheridan and +his officers began to prepare the restored army for a new battle. All +the time the Union numbers swelled, and, as the Southern army was +hesitating, Sheridan was able to post his divisions as he pleased. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchester regiment was drawn up towards the flank. All the +officers were still on foot, but they stood a little in front, ready to +lead their men into the new battle. It was now about noon, and there +was a pause in the combat, enabling the smoke to lift yet higher, and +disclosing the whole field. Sheridan was still riding up and down the +lines, cool, determined and resolved to turn defeat into victory. +Wherever he went he spoke words of encouragement to his troops, but all +the time his eye, which was the eye of a true general, swept the field. +He put the gallant young Custer with his cavalry on the right, Crook +and Merritt with their horse on the left, while the infantry were +massed in the center. The Winchester men were sent to the right. +</p> + +<p> +The doubts in the ranks of the South helped Sheridan. Early after his +victory in the morning was surprised to see the Union army gather +itself together again and show such a formidable front. Neither he nor +his lieutenants could understand the sudden reversal, and the pause, +which at first had been meant merely to give the troops opportunity for +fresh breath, grew into a long delay. Here and there, skirmishers were +firing, feeling out one another, but the masses of the army paid no +attention to those scattered shots. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchester men were elated. Colonel Winchester and the young +officers knew that delay worked steadily for them. All the defeated +troops of the morning were coming back into line, and now they were +anxious to retrieve their disaster. Dick, through his glasses, saw +that the Confederates so far from continuing the advance were now +fortifying behind stone fences and also were spreading across the +valley to keep from being flanked on either side by the cavalry. But +he saw too that their ranks were scanty. If they spread far enough to +protect their flanks they would become dangerously thin in the center. +He handed his glasses to the sergeant, and asked him to take a look. +</p> + +<p> +"Their surprise," said Whitley, "has spent its force. Their army is +not big enough. Our general has seen it, and it's why he delays so +long. Time works for us, because we can gather together much greater +numbers than they have." +</p> + +<p> +The delay lasted far into the afternoon. The smoke and dust settled, +and the October sun gleamed on cannon and bayonets. Dick's watch +showed that it was nearly four o'clock. +</p> + +<p> +"We attack today surely," said Pennington, who was growing nervous with +impatience. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't you worry, young man," said Warner. "The two armies are here in +line facing each other and as it would be too much trouble to arrange +it all again tomorrow the battle will be fought today. The whole +program will be carried out on time." +</p> + +<p> +"I think," said Dick, "that the attack is very near, and that it's we +who are going to make it. Here is General Sheridan himself." +</p> + +<p> +The general rode along the line just before the Winchesters and nodded +to them approvingly. He came so close that Dick saw the contraction of +his face, and his eager burning look, as if the great moment had +arrived. Suddenly, he raised his hand and the buglers blew the fierce +notes of the charge. +</p> + +<p> +"Now we go!" cried Pennington in uncontrollable excitement, and the +whole right wing seemed to lift itself up bodily and rush forward. The +men, eager to avenge the losses of the morning, began to shout, and +their cheers mingled with the mighty tread of the charge, the thunder +of the cannon and the rapid firing of thousands of rifles. They knew, +too, that Sheridan's own eye was upon them, and it encouraged them to a +supreme effort. +</p> + +<p> +Infantry and cavalry swept on together in an overwhelming mass. Cannon +and rifles sent a bitter hail upon them, but nothing could stop their +rush. Dick felt all his pulses beating heavily and he saw a sea of +fire before him, but his excitement was so intense that he forgot about +danger. +</p> + +<p> +The center also swung into the charge and then the left. All the +divisions of the army, as arranged by Sheridan, moved in perfect time. +The soldiers advanced like veterans going from one victory to another, +instead of rallying from a defeat. The war had not witnessed another +instance of such a quick and powerful recovery. +</p> + +<p> +Dick knew, as their charge gathered force at every step, that they were +going to certain triumph. The thinness of the Southern lines had +already told him that they could not withstand the impact of Sheridan. +A moment later the crash came and the whole Union force rushed to +victory. Early's army, exhausted by its efforts of the morning, was +overwhelmed. It was swept from the stone fences and driven back in +defeat, while the men in blue, growing more eager as they saw success +achieved, pressed harder and harder. +</p> + +<p> +No need for bugle and command to urge them on now. The Southern army +could not withstand anywhere such ardor and such weight. Position +after position was lost, then there was no time to take a new stand, +and the defeat became a rout. Early's army which had come forward so +gallantly in the morning was compelled to flee in disorder in the +afternoon. The brave Ramseur, fighting desperately, fell mortally +wounded, Kershaw could save but a few men, Evans held a ford a little +while, but he too was soon hurled from it. The Invincibles were driven +on with the rest, cannon and wagons were lost, and all but the core of +Early's force ceased to exist. +</p> + +<p> +The sun set upon the Union army in the camps that it had lost in the +fog of the morning. It had been driven five miles but had come back +again. It had recovered all its own guns, and had taken twenty-four +belonging to the South. It was the most complete victory that had yet +been won by either side in the war, and it had been snatched from the +very jaws of defeat and humiliation. Small wonder that there was great +rejoicing in the ranks of northern youth! Despite their immense +exertions and the commands of their officers they could not yet lie +down and sleep or rest. Now and then a tremendous cheer for Little Phil +who had saved them arose. Huge bonfires sprang up in the night, where +they were burning the captured Confederate ambulances and wagons, +because they did not have the horses with which to take them away. +</p> + +<p> +Long after the battle was over, Dick's heart beat hard with exertion +and excitement. But he shared too in the joy. He would not have been +human, and he would not have been young if he had not. Warner and +Pennington and he had collected four more small wounds among them, but +they were so slight that they had not noticed them in the storm and +fury of the battle. Colonel Winchester had not been touched. +</p> + +<p> +When Dick was at last able to sit still, he joined his comrades about +one of the fires, where they were serving supper to the victors. +Shepard had just galloped back from a long ride after the enemy to say +that they had been scattered to the winds, and that another surprise +was not possible, because there were no longer enough Southern soldiers +in the valley to make an army. +</p> + +<p> +"They made a great effort," said Colonel Winchester. "We must give +them credit for what they achieved against numbers and resources. They +organized and carried out their surprise in a wonderful manner, and +perhaps they would be the victors tonight if we didn't have such a +general as Sheridan." +</p> + +<p> +"It was a great sight," said Warner, "when he appeared, galloping +before our line, calling upon us to renew our courage and beat the +enemy." +</p> + +<p> +"One man can influence an army. I've found out that," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +They rose and saluted as General Sheridan walked past with some of the +higher officers. He returned the salutes, congratulated them on their +courage and went on. After a long while the exhausted victors fell +asleep. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + * * * *<br /> +</p> + +<p> +That night a band of men, a hundred perhaps, entered the woods along +the slopes of the Massanuttons. They were the remains of the +Invincibles. Throughout those fatal hours they had fought with all the +courage and tenacity for which they had been famous so long and so +justly. In the heat and confusion of the combat they had been +separated from the other portions of Early's army, and, the Northern +cavalry driving in between, they had been compelled to take refuge in +the forest, under cover of darkness. They might have surrendered with +honor, but not one among them thought of such a thing. They had been +forced to leave their dead behind them, and of those who had withdrawn +about a third were wounded. But, their hurts bandaged by their +comrades, they limped on with the rest. +</p> + +<p> +The two colonels were at the head of the sombre little column. It had +seemed to Harry Kenton as they left the field that each of them had +suddenly grown at least ten years older, but now as they passed within +the deep shadows they became erect again and their faces grew more +youthful. It was a marvelous transformation, but Harry read their +secret. All the rest of the Invincibles were lads, or but little more, +and they two middle-aged men felt that they were responsible for them. +In the face of defeat and irretrievable disaster they recovered their +courage, and refused to abandon hope. +</p> + +<p> +"A dark sunset, Hector," said Colonel Talbot, "but a bright dawn will +come, even yet." +</p> + +<p> +"Who can doubt it, Leonidas? We won a glorious victory over odds in +the morning, but when a million Yankees appeared on the field in the +afternoon it was too much." +</p> + +<p> +"That's always the trouble, Hector. We are never able to finish our +victories, because so many of the enemy always come up before the work +is done." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a great pity, Leonidas, that we didn't count the Yankees before +the war was started." +</p> + +<p> +"It's too late now. Don't call up a sore subject, Hector. We've got +to take care of these lads of ours, and try to get them across the +mountain somehow to Lee. It's useless to seek Early and we couldn't +reach him if we tried. He's done for." +</p> + +<p> +"Alas! It's true, Leonidas! We're through with the valley for this +autumn at least, and, since the organization of the army here is broken +up, there is nothing for us to do but go to Lee. Harry, is this a high +mountain?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not so very high, sir," replied Harry Kenton, who was just behind him, +"but I don't think we can cross it tonight." +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe we don't want to do so," said Colonel Talbot. "You boys have +food in your knapsacks, taken from the Union camps, which we held for a +few short and glorious hours. At least we have brought off those +valuable trophies, and, when we have climbed higher up the mountain +side, we will sup and rest." +</p> + +<p> +The colonel held himself very erect, and spoke in a firm proud tone. He +would inspire a high spirit into the hearts of these boys of his, and +in doing so he inspired a great deal of it into his own. He looked +back at his column, which still limped bravely after him. It was too +dark for him to see the faces of the lads, but he knew that none of +them expressed despair. +</p> + +<p> +"That's the way, my brave fellows," he said. "I know we'll find a warm +and comfortable cove higher up. We'll sleep there, and tomorrow we'll +start toward Lee. When we join him we'll whip Grant, come back here +and rout Sheridan and then go on and take Washington." +</p> + +<p> +"Where I mean yet, sir, to sleep in the White House with my boots on," +said the irrepressible Happy. +</p> + +<p> +"You are a youth frivolous of speech, Thomas Langdon," said Colonel +Leonidas Talbot gravely, "but I have always known that beneath this +superficiality of manner was a brave and honest heart. I'm glad to see +that your courage is so high." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, sir," said Happy sincerely. +</p> + +<p> +Half way up the mountain they found the dip they wished, sheltered by +cedars and pines. Here they rested and ate, and from their covert saw +many lights burning in the valley. But they knew they were the lights +of the victorious foe, and they would not look that way often. +</p> + +<p> +The October winds were cold, and they had lost their blankets, but the +dry leaves lay in heaps, and they raked them up for beds. The lads, +worn to the bone, fell asleep, and, after a while, only the two +colonels remained awake. +</p> + +<p> +"I do not feel sleepy at all, Hector," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot. +</p> + +<p> +"I could not possibly sleep, Leonidas," said Lieutenant Colonel St. +Hilaire. +</p> + +<p> +"Then shall we?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why not?" +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Talbot produced from under his coat a small board, and +Lieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire took from under his own coat a small box. +</p> + +<p> +They put the board upon a broad stone, arranged the chessmen, as they +were at the latest interruption, and, as the moonlight came through the +dwarfed pines and cedars, the two gray heads bent over the game. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XII +</h3> + +<h3> +IN THE COVE +</h3> + +<p> +General Sheridan permitted the Winchester men to rest a long time, or +rather he ordered them to do so. No regiment had distinguished itself +more at Cedar Creek or in the previous battles, and it was best for it +to lie by a while, and recover its physical strength—strength of the +spirit it had never lost. It also gave a needed chance to the sixteen +slight wounds accumulated by Dick, Pennington and Warner to heal +perfectly. +</p> + +<p> +"Unless something further happens," said Warner, regretfully, "I won't +have a single honorable scar to take back with me and show in Vermont." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll have one slight, though honorable, scar, but I won't be able to +show it," said Pennington, also with regret. +</p> + +<p> +"I trust that it's in front, Frank," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"It is, all right. Don't worry about that. But what about you, Dick?" +</p> + +<p> +"I had hopes of a place on my left arm just above the elbow. A bullet, +traveling at the rate of a million miles a minute, broke the skin there +and took a thin flake of flesh with it, but I'm so terribly healthy +it's healed up without leaving a trace." +</p> + +<p> +"There's no hope for us," said Warner, sighing. "We can never point to +the proof of our warlike deeds. You didn't find your cousin among the +prisoners?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, nor was he among their fallen whom we buried. Nor any of his +friends either. I'm quite sure that he escaped. My intuition tells me +so." +</p> + +<p> +"It's not your intuition at all," said Warner reprovingly. "It's a +reasonable opinion, formed in your mind by antecedent conditions. You +call it intuition, because you don't take the trouble to discover the +circumstances that led to its production. It's only lazy minds that +fall back upon second sight, mind-reading and such things." +</p> + +<p> +"Isn't he the big-word man?" said Pennington admiringly. "I tell you +what, George, General Early is still alive somewhere, and we're going +to send you to talk him to death. They say he's a splendid swearer, +one of the greatest that ever lived, but he won't be able to get out a +single cuss, with you standing before him, and spouting the whole +unabridged dictionary to him." +</p> + +<p> +"At least when I talk I say something," replied Warner sternly. "It +seems strange to me, Frank Pennington, that your life on the plains, +where conditions, for the present at least, are hard, has permitted you +to have so much frivolity in your nature." +</p> + +<p> +"It's not frivolity, George. It's a gay and bright spirit, in the rays +of which you may bask without price. It will do you good." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know what's to be our next duty?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, I don't, and I'm not going to bother about it. I'll leave that +directly to Colonel Winchester, and indirectly to General Sheridan. +When you rest, put your mind at rest. Concentration on whatever you +are doing is the secret of continued success." +</p> + +<p> +They were lying on blankets near the foot of the mountain, and the time +was late October. The days were growing cold and the nights colder, +but a fine big fire was blazing before them, and they rejoiced in the +warmth and brightness, shed from the flames and the heaps of glowing +coals. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll venture the prediction," said Pennington, "that our next march is +not against an army, but against guerrillas. They say that up there in +the Alleghanies Slade and Skelly are doing a lot of harm. They may +have to be hunted out and the Winchester men have the best reputation +in the army for that sort of work. We earned it by our work against +these very fellows in Tennessee." +</p> + +<p> +"For which most of the credit is due to Sergeant Whitley," said Dick. +"He's a grand trailer, and he can lead us with certainty, when other +regiments can't find the way." +</p> + +<p> +Dick gazed westward beyond the dim blue line of the Alleghanies, and he +knew that he would feel no surprise if Pennington's prediction should +come true. The nest of difficult mountains was a good shelter for +outlaws, and the Winchesters, with the sergeant picking up the trail, +were the very men to hunt them. +</p> + +<p> +He knew too that, unless the task was begun soon, it would prove a +supreme test of endurance, and there would be dangers in plenty. Snow +would be falling before long on the mountains, and they would become a +frozen wilderness, almost as wild and savage as they were before the +white man came. +</p> + +<p> +But it seemed for a while that the intuition of both Dick and +Pennington had failed. They spent many days in the valley trying to +catch the evasive Mosby and his men, although they had little success. +Mosby's rangers knowing the country thoroughly made many daring raids, +although they could not become a serious menace. +</p> + +<p> +When they returned through Winchester from the last of these +expeditions the Winchester men were wrapped in heavy army cloaks, for +the wind from the mountains could now cut through uniforms alone. +Dick, glancing toward the Alleghanies, saw a ribbon of white above +their blue line. +</p> + +<p> +"Look, fellows! The first snow!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"I see," said Warner. "It snows on the just and the unjust, the unjust +being Slade and Skelly, who are surely up there." +</p> + +<p> +"Just before we went out," sad Pennington, "the news of some fresh and +special atrocity of theirs came in. I'm thinking the time is near when +we'll be sent after them." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll need snow shoes," said Warner, shivering as he looked. "I can +see that the snow is increasing. Which way is the wind blowing, Dick?" +</p> + +<p> +"Toward us." +</p> + +<p> +"Then we're likely to get a little of that snow. The clouds will blow +off the mountains and sprinkle us with flakes in the valley." +</p> + +<p> +"I like winter in peace, but not in war," said Pennington. "It makes +campaigning hard. It's no fun marching at night in a driving storm of +snow or hail." +</p> + +<p> +"But what we can't help we must stand," said Warner with resignation. +</p> + +<p> +Both predictions, the one about the snow and the other concerning the +duty that would be assigned to them, quickly came to pass. Before +sunset the blue line of the Alleghanies was lost wholly in mist and +vapor. Then great flakes began to fall on the camp, and the young +officers were glad to find refuge in their tents. +</p> + +<p> +It was not a heavy snow fall where they were, but it blew down at +intervals all through the night, and the next morning it lay upon the +ground to the depth of an inch or so. Then the second part of the +prophecy was justified. Colonel Winchester himself aroused all his +staff and heads of companies. +</p> + +<p> +"A fine crisp winter morning for us to take a ride," he said +cheerfully. "General Sheridan has become vexed beyond endurance over +the doings of Slade and Skelly, and he has chosen his best band of +guerrilla-hunters to seek 'em out in their lairs and annihilate 'em." +</p> + +<p> +"I knew it," groaned Pennington in an undertone to Dick. "I was as +certain of it as if I had read the order already." But aloud he said +as he saluted: "We're glad we're chosen for the honor, sir. I speak +for Mr. Mason, Mr. Warner and myself." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad you're thankful," laughed the colonel. "A grateful and +resolute heart always prepares one for hardships, and we'll have plenty +of them over there in the high mountains, where the snow lies deep. But +we have new horses, furnished especially for this expedition, and +Sergeant Whitley and Mr. Shepard will guide us. The sergeant can hear +or see anything within a quarter of a mile of him, and Mr. Shepard, +being a native of the valley, knows also all the mountains that close +it in." +</p> + +<p> +The young lieutenants were sincerely glad the sergeant and Shepard were +to go along, as with them they felt comparatively safe from ambush, a +danger to be dreaded where Slade and Skelly were concerned. +</p> + +<p> +"We agreed that General Sheridan was worth ten thousand men," said +Warner, "and I believe that the battle of Cedar Creek proved it. Now +if Sheridan is worth ten thousand, the sergeant and Shepard are +certainly worth a thousand each. It's a simple algebraic problem which +I could demonstrate to you by the liberal use of x and y, but in your +case it's not necessary. You must accept my word for it." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll do it! We'll do it! say no more!" exclaimed Pennington hastily. +</p> + +<p> +It was a splendid column of men that rode out from the Union camp and +General Sheridan himself saw them off. Colonel Winchester at their +head was a man of fine face and figure, and he had never looked more +martial. The hardships of war had left no mark upon him. His face was +tanned a deep red by the winds of summer and winter, and although a +year or two over forty he seemed to be several years less. Behind him +came Dick, Pennington and Warner, hardy and well knit, who had passed +through the most terrible of all schools, three and a half years of +incessant war, and who although youths were nevertheless stronger and +more resourceful than most men. +</p> + +<p> +Near them rode the sergeant, happy in his capacity as scout and guide, +and welcoming the responsibility that he knew would be his, as soon as +they reached the mountains, looming so near and white. He felt as if +he were back upon the plains, leading a troop in a great blizzard, and +guarding it with eye and ear and all his five senses against Sioux or +Cheyenne ambush. He was not a mere trainer of a squad of men, he was, +in a real sense, a leader of an army. +</p> + +<p> +Shepard, the spy, also felt a great uplift of the spirits. He was a +man of high ideals, whose real nature the people about him were just +beginning to learn. He did not like his trade of a spy, but being +aware that he was peculiarly fitted for it intense patriotism had +caused him to accept its duties. Now he felt that most of his work in +such a capacity was over. He could freely ride with the other men and +fight openly as they did. But if emergency demanded that he renew his +secret service he would do so instantly and without hesitation. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester looked back with pride at his column. Like most of +the regiments at that period of the war it was small, three hundred +sinewy well-mounted young men, who had endured every kind of hardship +and who could endure the like again. All of them were wrapped in heavy +overcoats over their uniforms, and they rode the best of horses, +animals that Colonel Winchester had been allowed to choose. +</p> + +<p> +The colonel felt so good that he took out his little silver whistle, +and blew upon it a mellow hunting call. The column broke into a trot +and the snow flew behind the beating hoofs in a long white trail. +Spontaneously the men burst into a cheer, and the cold wind blowing +past them merely whipped their blood into high exaltation. +</p> + +<p> +But as they rode across the valley Dick could not help feeling some +depression over its ruined and desolate appearance, worse now in winter +than in summer. No friendly smoke rose from any chimney, there were no +horses nor cattle in the fields, the rails of the fences had gone long +since to make fires for the soldiers and the roads rutted deep by the +rains had been untouched. Silence and loneliness were supreme +everywhere. +</p> + +<p> +He was glad when they left it all behind, and entered the mountains +through a pass fairly broad and sufficient for horsemen. He did not +feel so much oppression here. It was natural for mountains to be +lonely and silent also, particularly in winter, and his spirits rose +again as they rode between the white ridges. +</p> + +<p> +At the entrance to the pass a mountaineer named Reed met them. It was +he who had brought the news of the latest exploit by Slade and Skelly, +but he had returned quickly to warn some friends of his in the +foothills and was back again in time to meet the soldiers. He was a +long thin man of middle age, riding a large black mule. An immense +gray shawl was pinned about his shoulders, and woollen leggings came +high over his trousers. As he talked much he chewed tobacco +vigorously. But Dick saw at once that like many of the mountaineers he +was a shrewd man, and, despite lack of education, was able to look, see +and judge. +</p> + +<p> +Reed glanced over the column, showed his teeth, yellowed by the +constant use of tobacco, and the glint of a smile appeared in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Look like good men. I couldn't hev picked 'em better myself, +colonel," he said, with the easy familiarity of the hills. +</p> + +<p> +"They've been in many battles, and they've never failed," said the +colonel with some pride. +</p> + +<p> +"You'll hev to do somethin' more than fight up thar on the high +ridges," said the mountaineer, showing his yellow teeth again. "You'll +hev to look out fur traps, snares an' ambushes. Slade an' Skelly ain't +soldiers that come out an' fight fa'r an' squar' in the open. No, +sirree, they're rattlesnakes, a pair uv 'em an' full uv p'ison. We've +got to find our rattlesnakes an' ketch 'em. Ef we don't, they'll be +stingin' jest the same after you've gone." +</p> + +<p> +"That's just the way I look at it, Mr. Reed. Sergeant Whitley here is +a specialist in rattlesnakes. He used to hunt down and kill the big +bloated ones on the plains, and even the snow won't keep him from +tracing 'em to their dens here in the mountains." +</p> + +<p> +Reed, after the custom of his kind, looked the sergeant up and down +with a frank stare. +</p> + +<p> +"'Pears to be a good man," he said, "hefty in build an' quick in the +eye. Glad to know you, Mr. Whitley. You an' me may take part in a +shootin' bee together an' this old long-barreled firearm uv mine kin +give a good account uv herself." +</p> + +<p> +He patted his rifle affectionately, a weapon of ancient type, with a +long slender barrel of blue steel, and a heavy carved stock. It was +just such a rifle as the frontiersmen used. Dick's mind, in an +instant, traveled back into the wilderness and he was once more with +the great hunters and scouts who fought for the fair land of +Kain-tuck-ee. His imagination was so vivid that it required only a +touch to stir it into life, and the aspect of the mountains, wild and +lonely and clothed in snow, heightened the illusion. +</p> + +<p> +"I s'pose from what you tell us that you'll have the chance to use it, +Mr. Reed," said the sergeant. +</p> + +<p> +"I reckon so," replied the mountaineer emphatically. "'Bout five miles +up this pass you'll come to a cove in which Jim Johnson's house stood. +Some uv them gorillers attacked it, three nights ago. Jim held 'em off +with his double-barreled shotgun, 'til his wife an' children could git +out the back way. Then he skedaddled hisself. They plundered the +house uv everythin' wuth carryin' off an' then they burned it plum' to +the groun'. Jim an' his people near froze to death on the mounting, +but they got at last to the cabin uv some uv their kin, whar they are +now. Then they've carried off all the hosses an' cattle they kin find +in the valleys an' besides robbin' everybody they've shot some good +men. Thar is shorely a good dose uv lead comin' to every feller in that +band." +</p> + +<p> +The mountaineer's face for a moment contracted violently. Dick saw +that he was fairly burning for revenge. Among his people the code of +an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth still prevailed, +unquestioned, and there would be no pity for the guerrilla who might +come under the muzzle of his rifle. But his feelings were shown only +for the moment. In another instant, he was a stoic like the Indians +whom he had displaced. After a little silence he added: +</p> + +<p> +"That man Slade, who is the brains uv the outfit, is plum' devil. So +fur ez his doin's in these mountings are concerned he ain't human at +all. He hez no mercy fur nuthin' at no time." +</p> + +<p> +His words found an echo in Dick's own mind. He remembered how +venomously Slade had hunted for his own life in the Southern marshes, +and chance, since then, had brought them into opposition more than +once. Just as Harry had felt that there was a long contest between +Shepard and himself, Dick felt that Slade and he were now to be pitted +in a long and mortal combat. But Shepard was a patriot, while Slade +was a demon, if ever a man was. If he were to have a particular enemy +he was willing that it should be Slade, as he could see in him no +redeeming quality that would cause him to stay his hand, if his own +chance came. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you any idea where the guerrillas are camped now?" asked Colonel +Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"When we last heard uv 'em they wuz in Burton's Cove," replied the +mountaineer, "though uv course they may hev moved sence then. Still, +the snow may hev held 'em. It's a-layin' right deep on the mountings, +an' even the gorillers ain't so anxious to plough thar way through it." +</p> + +<p> +"How long will it take us to reach Burton's Cove?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's jest ez the weather sez, colonel. Ef the snow holds off we might +make it tomorrow afore dark, but ef the snow makes up its mind to come +tumblin' down ag'in, it's the day after that, fur shore." +</p> + +<p> +"At any rate, another fall of snow is no harder for us than it is for +them," said the colonel, who showed the spirit of a true leader. "Now, +Mr. Reed, do you think we can find anybody on this road who will tell +us where the band has gone?" +</p> + +<p> +"It ain't much uv a road an' thar ain't many people to ride on it in +the best uv times, so I reckon our chance uv meetin' a traveler who +knows much is jest about ez good as our chance uv findin' a peck uv +gold in the next snowdrift." +</p> + +<p> +"Which means there's no chance at all." +</p> + +<p> +"I reckon that's 'bout the size uv it. But, colonel, we don't hev to +look to the road fur the word." +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean?" +</p> + +<p> +"We'll turn our eyes upward, to the mounting heights. Some uv us who +are jest bound to save the Union are settin' up on top uv high ridges, +whar that p'ison band can't go, waitin' to tell us whar _we_ ought to +go. They've got some home-made flags, an' they'll wave 'em to me." +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Reed, you're a man of foresight and perception." +</p> + +<p> +"Foresight? I know what that is. It's the opposite uv hindsight, but +I ain't made the acquaintance uv perception." +</p> + +<p> +"Perception is what you see after you think, and I know that you're a +man who thinks." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, colonel, but I reckon that in sech a war ez this a man hez +jest got to set right plum' down, an' think sometimes. It's naterally +forced upon him. Them that starts a war mebbe don't do much thinkin', +but them that fights it hev to do a power uv it." +</p> + +<p> +"Your logic is sound, Mr. Reed." +</p> + +<p> +"I hev a pow'ful good eye, colonel, an' I think I see a man on top uv +that high ridge to the right. But my eye ain't ez good ez your +glasses, an' would you min' takin' a look through 'em? Foller a line +from that little bunch of cedars to the crest." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, it's a man. I can see him quite plainly. He has a big, gray +shawl like your own, wrapped around his shoulders. Perhaps he's one of +your friends." +</p> + +<p> +"I reckon so, but sence he ain't makin' no signs he ain't got nuthin' +to tell. It wuz agreed that them that didn't know nuthin' wuz to keep +it to theirselves while we rode on until we come to them that did. It +saves time. Now he's gone, ain't he, colonel?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, something has come in between." +</p> + +<p> +"It's the first thin edge uv the mist. Them's clouds out thar in the +northwest, floatin' over the mountings. I'm sorry, colonel, but more +snow is comin'. The signs is too plain. Look through that gap an' see +what big brown clouds are sailin' up! They're just chock full uv +millions uv millions uv tons uv snow!" +</p> + +<p> +"You know your own country and its winter ways, Mr. Reed. How long +will it be before the snow comes?" +</p> + +<p> +"Lend me your glasses a minute, colonel." +</p> + +<p> +He examined the clouds a long time through the powerful lenses, and +when he handed them back he replied: +</p> + +<p> +"Them clouds are movin' up in a hurry, colonel. They hev saw us here +ridin' into the mountings, an' they want to pour their snow down on us +afore we git whar we want to go." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester looked anxious. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't like it," he said. "It doesn't suit cavalry to be plunging +around in snowdrifts." +</p> + +<p> +"You're right, colonel. Deep snow is shorely hard on hosses. It looks +ez ef we'd be holed up. B'ars an' catamounts, how them clouds are +a-trottin' 'cross the sky! Here come the fust flakes an' they look ez +big ez feathers!" +</p> + +<p> +The colonel's anxiety deepened, turning rapidly to alarm. +</p> + +<p> +"You spoke of our being holed up, Mr. Reed, what did you mean by it?" +he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Shet in by the snow. But I know a place, colonel, that we kin reach, +an' whar we kin stay ef the snow gits too deep fur us. These mountings +are full uv little valleys an' coves. They say the Alleghanies run +more than a thousand miles one way an' mebbe three hundred or so +another. I reckon that when the Lord made 'em, an' looked at His job, +he wondered how He wuz goin' to hev people live in sech a mass uv +mountings. Then He took His fingers an' pressed 'em down into the +ground lots an' lots uv times, an' He made all sorts of purty valleys +an' ravines through which the rivers an' creeks an' branches could run, +an' snug little coves in which men could build thar cabins an' be +sheltered by the big cliffs above an' the forest hangin' on 'em. I +reckon that He favored us up here, 'cause the mountings jest suit me. +Nuthin' on earth could drive me out uv 'em." +</p> + +<p> +He looked up at the lofty ridges hidden now and then by the whirling +snow, and his eyes glistened. It was a stern and wild scene, but he +knew that it made the snug cove and the log cabins all the snugger. +The flakes were increasing now, and an evil wind was driving them hard +in the men's faces. The wind, as it came through the gorges, had many +voices, too, howling and shrieking in wrath. The young troopers were +devoutly grateful for the heavy overcoats and gloves with which a +thoughtful general had provided them. +</p> + +<p> +But there was one man in the regiment to whom wind and snow brought a +certain pleasure. It took Sergeant Whitley back to earlier days. He +was riding once more with his command over the great plains, and the +foe they sought was a Cheyenne or Sioux band. Here, they needed him +and his wilderness lore, and he felt that a full use for them all would +come. +</p> + +<p> +The mountaineer now led them on rapidly, but the snow was increasing +with equal rapidity. Fortunately, the road through the pass was level +enough to provide good footing for the horses, and they proceeded +without fear of falls. Soon the entire column turned into a white +procession. Men and horses alike were covered with snow, but, after +their first chill, the hardy young riders began to like it. They sang +one of their marching songs, and the colonel made no effort to restrain +them, knowing that it was raising their spirits. +</p> + +<p> +"It's all rather picturesque," said Warner, when the song was over, +"but it'll be a good thing when Reed leads us into one of those +heavenly coves that he talks so much about. I think this snow is going +to be about forty feet deep, and it will be hard for a column of three +hundred men to proceed by means of tunnels." +</p> + +<p> +The mountaineer riding by the side of Colonel Winchester was looking +eagerly, whenever a break in the clouds occurred. At length, he asked +him for the glasses again and, after looking intently, said: +</p> + +<p> +"Jest between the edges uv two clouds I caught a glimpse uv a man, an' +he wuz wavin' a flag, which wuz a sheet from his own bed. It would be +Jake Hening, 'cause that wuz his place, an' he told me to go straight +on to the cove, ez they wuz now expectin' us thar!" +</p> + +<p> +"Who is expecting us?" +</p> + +<p> +"Friends uv ours. People 'roun' here in the mountings who want to see +you make hash uv them gorillers. I reckon they're fixin' things to +keep you warm. We oughter see another man an' his sheet afore long. +Thar would be no trouble 'bout it, ef this snow wuzn't so thick." +</p> + +<p> +As they advanced farther into the mountains the noise of the wind +increased. Confined in the gorges it roared in anger to get out, and +then whistled and shrieked as it blew along the slopes. The snow did +not cease to fall. The road had long since been covered up, but Reed +led them on with sure eye and instinct. +</p> + +<p> +An hour later he was able to detect another figure on the crest of a +ridge, this time to their left, and he observed the waving of the +signal with great satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +"It's all right," he said to Colonel Winchester. "They're waitin' for +us in the cove, not many uv 'em, uv course, but they'll help." +</p> + +<p> +"Have we much more riding?" asked the colonel. "I don't think the men +are suffering, but our horses can't stand it much longer." +</p> + +<p> +"Not more'n an hour." +</p> + +<p> +They passed soon between high cliffs, and faced a fierce wind which +almost blinded them for the time, but, when they emerged they found +better shelter and, presently, Reed led them off the main road, then +through another narrow gorge and into the cove. They had passed around +a curving wall of the mountain and, as it burst upon them suddenly, the +spectacle was all the more pleasant. +</p> + +<p> +Before them, like a sunken garden, lay a space of twenty or thirty +acres, hemmed in by the high mountains, which seemed fairly to overhang +its level spaces. A small creek flowed down from a ravine on one side, +and dashed out of a ravine on the other. Splendid oaks, elms and +maples grew in parts of the valley, and there was an orchard and a +garden, but the greater part of it was cleared, and so well protected +by the lofty mountains that most of the snow seemed to blow over it. +In the snuggest corner of the cove stood a stout double log cabin and, +in the open space around, great fires were roaring and sending up lofty +flames, a welcome sight to the stiff and cold horsemen. Fully twenty +mountaineers, long and lank like Reed, were gathered around them, and +were feeding them constantly. +</p> + +<p> +"What's this I see?" exclaimed Warner. "A little section of heaven?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not heaven, perhaps," said Dick, "but the next door to it." +</p> + +<p> +"This wuz Dick Snyder's home an' place, colonel," said Reed. "On +account uv the gorillers he found it convenient to light out with his +folks three or four days ago, but he's come back hisself, an' he's here +to he'p welcome you. Thar's room in the house, an' the stable, which +you can't see 'cause uv the trees, fur all the officers, an' they're +buildin' lean-tos here to protect the soldiers an' the hosses. A lot +uv the fellers hev brought forage down on thar own hosses fur yourn." +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Reed," said the colonel, gratefully, "you and your men are true +friends. But there's no danger of an ambush here?" +</p> + +<p> +"Nary a chance, colonel. We've got watchers on the mountings, men that +hev lived here all thar lives, an' them gorillers hev about ez much +chance to steal up on us ez the snowflakes hev to live in the fires +thar." +</p> + +<p> +"That being so, we'll all alight and prepare for the night." +</p> + +<p> +When Dick sprang from his horse he staggered at first, not realizing +how much the cold had affected him, but a little vigorous flexing of +the muscles restored the circulation, and, when an orderly had taken +their mounts, his comrades and he went to one of the fires, where they +spread out their hands and basked in the glow. +</p> + +<p> +They had brought food on extra horses, and expert cooks were at work at +once. Colonel Winchester knew that if his men had plenty to eat and +good shelter they would be better fitted for the fierce work before +them, and he spared nothing. Bacon and ham were soon frying on the +coals and the pots of coffee were bubbling. +</p> + +<p> +The horses were put behind the high trees which formed a kind of +windrow, and there they ate their forage, and raised their heads now +and then to neigh in content. Around the fires the hardy youths were +jesting with one another, and were dragging up logs, on which they +could sit before the fires, while they ate their food and drank their +coffee. Far over their heads the wind was screaming among the ridges, +but they did not heed it nor did they pay any attention to the flakes +falling around them. The sheltered cove caused such a rebound after the +long cold ride that they were boys again, although veterans of a +hundred battles large and small. +</p> + +<p> +Dick shared the exaltation of the rest, and had words of praise for the +mountaineer who had guided them to so sheltered a haven. He had no +doubt that his famous ancestor, Paul Cotter, and the great Henry Ware +had often found refuge in such cosy nooks as this, and it pleased him +to think that he was following in their steps. But he was surrounded +by comrades and the great fires shed warmth and light throughout the +whole basin. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a good log house," said Warner, who had been investigating, "and +as it's two stories, with two rooms on each floor, a lot of us can +sleep there. The stable and the corn crib will hold many more, but, as +for me, I think I'll sleep against one of these lean-tos the +mountaineers are throwing up. With that behind me, a big fire before +me, two heavy blankets around me, and dead leaves under me, I ought to +fare well. It will at least have better air than those sod houses in +which some of the best families of Nebraska live, Frank Pennington." +</p> + +<p> +"Never mind about the sod houses," rejoined Pennington, cheerfully. +"They're mighty good places in a blizzard. But I think I'll stay +outside too, if Colonel Winchester will let us." +</p> + +<p> +The colonel soon disposed his force. The younger officers were to +sleep before a fire as they wished, although about half way between +midnight and morning they were to join the watch, which he intended to +be strong and vigilant. Meanwhile they ate supper and their spirits +were so high that they almost made a festival of it. The aroma of the +ham and bacon, broiled in the winter open, would have made a jaded +epicure hungry. They had sardines and oysters, in tins, and plenty of +coffee, with army biscuits which were not hard to them. Some of them +wanted to sing, but the colonel would not allow it in the cove, +although they could chatter as much as they pleased around the fires. +</p> + +<p> +"We don't need to sing," said Dick. "The wind is doing it for us. Just +listen to it, will you?" +</p> + +<p> +All the mountain winds were blowing that night, coming from every +direction, and then circling swiftly in vast whirlwinds, while the +ridges and peaks and gorges made them sing their songs in many keys. +Now it was a shriek, then a whistle, and then a deep full tone like an +organ. Blended, it had a majestic effect which was not lost on the +young soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard it in the Green Mountains," said Warner, "but not under +such conditions as we have here. I'm glad I have so much company. I +think it would give me the creeps to be in the cove alone, with that +storm howling over my head." +</p> + +<p> +"Not to mention Slade and Skelly hunting through the snowdrifts for +you," said Pennington. "They'd take a good long look for you, George, +knowing what a tremendous fellow you are, and then Dick and I would be +compelled to take the trouble and danger of rescuing you." +</p> + +<p> +"I hold you to that," said Warner. "You do hereby promise and solemnly +pledge yourselves in case of my capture by Slade, Skelly or anybody +else, to come at once through any hardship and danger to my rescue." +</p> + +<p> +"We do," they said together, and they meant it. +</p> + +<p> +Their situation was uncommon, and their pleasure in it deepened. The +snow still fell, but the lean-tos, built with so much skill by soldiers +and mountaineers, protected them, and the fires before them sank to +great beds of gleaming coals that gave out a grateful warmth. Far +overhead the wind still shrieked and howled, as if in anger because it +could not get at them in the deep cleft. But for Dick all these +shrieks and howls were transformed into a soothing song by his feeling +of comfort, even of luxury. The cove was full of warmth and light and +he basked in it. +</p> + +<p> +Pennington and Warner fell asleep, but Dick lay a while in a happy, +dreaming state. He felt as he looked up at the cloudy sky and driving +snow that, after all, there was something wild in every man that no +amount of civilization could drive out. An ordinary bed and an +ordinary roof would be just as warm and better sheltered, but they +seldom gave him the same sense of physical pleasure that he felt as he +lay there with the storm driving by. +</p> + +<p> +His dreamy state deepened, and with it the wilderness effect which the +little valley, the high mountains around it and the raging winter made. +His mind traveled far back once more and he easily imagined himself his +great ancestor, Paul Cotter, sleeping in the woods with his comrades +and hidden from Indian attack. While the feeling was still strong upon +him he too fell asleep, and he did not awaken until it was time for him +to take the watch with Pennington and Warner. +</p> + +<p> +It was then about two o'clock in the morning, and the snow had ceased +to fall, but it lay deep in all places not sheltered, while the wind +had heaped it up many feet in all the gorges and ravines of the +mountains. Dick thought he had never beheld a more majestic world. All +the clouds were gone and hosts of stars glittered in a sky of brilliant +blue. On every side of them rose the lofty peaks and ridges, clothed in +gleaming white, the forests themselves a vast, white tracery. The air +was cold but pure and stimulating. The wind had ceased to blow, but +from far points came the faint swish of sliding snow. +</p> + +<p> +Dick folded his blankets, laid them away carefully, put on his heavy +overcoat and gloves, and was ready. Colonel Winchester maintained a +heavy watch, knowing its need, fully fifty men, rifle on shoulder and +pistol at belt, patrolling all the ways by which a foe could come. +</p> + +<p> +Dick and his comrades were with a picket at the farther end of the +valley, where the creek made its exit, rushing through a narrow and +winding gorge. There was a level space on either side of the creek, +but it was too narrow for horsemen, and, clogged as it was with snow, +it looked dangerous now for those on foot too. Nevertheless, the +picket kept a close watch. Dick and his friends were aware that +guerrillas knew much of the craft and lore of the wilderness, else they +could never have maintained themselves, and they did not cease for an +instant to watch the watery pass. +</p> + +<p> +They were joined very soon by Shepard, upon whose high boots snow was +clinging to the very tops, and he said when Dick looked at him +inquiringly: +</p> + +<p> +"I see that you're an observer, Mr. Mason. Yes, I've been out on the +mountainside. Colonel Winchester suggested it, and I was glad to do as +he wished. It was difficult work in the snow, but Mr. Reed, our guide, +was with me part of the time, and we climbed pretty high." +</p> + +<p> +"Did you see anything?" +</p> + +<p> +"No footsteps. That was impossible, because of the falling snow, but I +think our friends, the enemy, are abroad in the mountains. The heavy +snow may have kept them from coming much nearer to us than they are +now." +</p> + +<p> +"What makes you think so?" +</p> + +<p> +Shepard smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"We heard sounds, odd sounds," he replied. +</p> + +<p> +"Were they made by a whistle?" Dick asked eagerly. Shepard smiled +again. +</p> + +<p> +"It was natural for you to ask that question, Mr. Mason," he replied, +"but it was not a whistle. It was a deeper note, and it carried much +farther, many times farther. Mr. Reed explained it to me. Somebody +with powerful lungs was blowing on a cow's horn." +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard 'em. They use 'em in the hills back of us at home. The +sound will carry a tremendous distance on a still night like this. Do +you think it was intended as a signal?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's impossible to say, but I think so. I think, too, that the +bands—there were two of them, one replying to the other—belong to the +Slade and Skelly outfit. Skelly has lived all his life in the +mountains and Slade is learning 'em fast." +</p> + +<p> +"Then it behooves us to be watchful, and yet more watchful." +</p> + +<p> +"It does. Maybe they're attempting an ambush, with which they might +succeed against an ordinary troop, but not against such a troop as +this, led by such a man as Colonel Winchester. Hark, did you hear that +noise?" +</p> + +<p> +All of them listened. It sounded at first like the cow's horn, but +they concluded that it was the rumble, made by sliding snow, which +would be sending avalanches down the slopes all through the night. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you going out again, Mr. Shepard?" Dick asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I think not, sir. Colonel Winchester wants me to stay here, and, even +if the enemy should come, we'll be ready for him." +</p> + +<p> +They did not speak again for a while and they heard several times the +noise of the sliding snow. Then they heard a note, low and deep, which +they were sure was that of the cow's horn, or its echo. It was +multiplied and repeated, however, so much by the gorges that it was +impossible to tell from what point of the compass it came. +</p> + +<p> +But it struck upon Dick's ears like a signal of alarm, and he and all +the others of the picket stiffened to attention. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIII +</h3> + +<h3> +DICK'S GREAT EXPLOIT +</h3> + +<p> +It was a singular and weird sound, the blowing of the great cow's horn +on the mountain, and then the distant reply from another horn as great. +It was both significant and sinister, such an extraordinary note that, +despite Dick's experience and courage, his hair lifted a little. He +was compelled to look back at the camp and the coals of the fire yet +glowing to reassure himself that everything was normal and real. +</p> + +<p> +"I wish there wasn't so much snow," said Shepard, "then the sergeant, +Mr. Reed and myself could scout all over the country around here, +mountains or no mountains." +</p> + +<p> +They were joined at that moment by Reed, the long mountaineer, who had +also been listening to the big horns. +</p> + +<p> +"That means them gorillers, shore," he said. "We've got some p'ison +people uv our own, an' when the gorillers come in here they j'ined 'em, +and knowin' ev'ry inch uv the country, they kin guide the gorillers +wharever they please." +</p> + +<p> +"You agree then with Mr. Shepard that these signals are made by Slade +and Skelly's men?" asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Shorely," replied the mountaineer, "an' I think they're up to some +sort uv trick. It pesters me too, 'cause I can't guess it nohow. I +done told the colonel that we'd better look out." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester joined them as he was speaking, and listened to the +double signal which was repeated later. But it did not come again, +although they waited some time. Instead they heard, as they had heard +all through the night, the occasional swish of the soft snow sliding +down the slopes. But Dick saw that the colonel was uneasy, and that +his apprehensions were shared both by Shepard and the mountaineer. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know how many men these brigands have?" Colonel Winchester +asked of Reed. +</p> + +<p> +"I reckon thar are five hundred uv them gorillers," replied the +mountaineer. "Some uv our people spied on 'em in Burton's Cove an' +counted 'bout that number." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester glanced at his sleeping camp. +</p> + +<p> +"I have three hundred," he said, "but they're the very flower of our +youth. In the open they could take care of a thousand guerrillas and +have something to spare. Still in here—" +</p> + +<p> +He stopped short, but the shrewd mountaineer read his meaning. +</p> + +<p> +"In the mountings it ain't sech plain sailin'," he said, "an' you've +got to watch fur tricks. I reckon that when it comes to fightin' here, +it's somethin' like the old Injun days." +</p> + +<p> +"I can't see how they can get at us here," said Colonel Winchester, +more to himself than to the others. "A dozen men could hold the exit +by the creek, and fifty could hold the entrance." +</p> + +<p> +Despite his words, his uneasiness continued and he sent for the +sergeant, upon whose knowledge and instincts he relied greatly in such +a situation. The sergeant, who had been watching at the other end of +the valley, came quickly and, when the colonel looked at him with eyes +of inquiry, he said promptly: +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir; I think there's mischief a-foot. I can't rightly make out +where it's going to be started, but I can hear it, smell it an' feel +it. It's like waitin' in a dip on the prairies for a rush by the wild +Sioux or Cheyenne horsemen. The signs seem to come through the air." +</p> + +<p> +Dick's oppression increased. A mysterious danger was the worst of all, +and his nerves were on edge. Think as he might, he could not conceive +how or where the attack would be made. The only sound in the valley +was the occasional stamp of the horses in the woods and behind the +windrows. The soldiers themselves made no noise. The steps of the +sentinels were softened in the snow, and the fires, having sunk to beds +of coals, gave forth no crackling sounds. +</p> + +<p> +He stared down the gap, and then up at the white world of walls +circling them about. The sky seemed to have become a more dazzling +blue than ever, and the great stars with the hosts of their smaller +brethren around them gleamed and quivered. The stamp of a horse came +again, and then a loud shrill neigh, a piercing sound and full of +menace in the still night. +</p> + +<p> +"What was that?" exclaimed the sergeant in alarm. "A horse does not +neigh at such a time without good reason!" +</p> + +<p> +And then the storm broke loose in the valley. There was a series of +short, fierce shouts. Torches were suddenly waved in the air. Many +horses neighed in the wildest terror and, all of them breaking through +the forest and windrows, poured in a confused and frightened stream +toward the entrance of the valley. +</p> + +<p> +Then the experience of the sergeant in wild Indian warfare was worth +more than gold and diamonds. He knew at once what was occurring and he +shouted: +</p> + +<p> +"It's a stampede! There have been traitors here, and they've driven +the horses with fire!" +</p> + +<p> +"And maybe some of them have managed to slip down the mountain side!" +said Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +It was well for them all that they were men of decision and supreme +courage. The terrible tumult in the valley was increasing. The +horses, a stampeded mass, were driving directly for the entrance. Only +one thing could stop them and that the guards then did. They snatched +many burning brands from the nearest fire and waved them furiously in +the face of the frightened herd, which turned and ran back the other +way, only to be confronted by other waving brands that filled them with +terror. Then the horses, instinctively following some leader, turned +again and ran back to their old places among the trees and behind the +windrows, where they stood, quivering with terror. +</p> + +<p> +A crackling of rifles had begun before the horses were driven back, and +bullets pattered in the valley. Dark figures appeared crouched against +the slopes, and jets of fire ran like a red ribbon upon the white of +the snow. +</p> + +<p> +"The gorillers!" cried Reed. "They've crep' over the ridges, spite uv +all our watchin'." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester did not lose his head for an instant, nor did any of +his young soldiers, who had been trained to think as well as obey. +Without waiting for orders they had already won an important victory by +turning the horses back with fire, and the colonel, with the help of +his officers, formed them rapidly to meet the attack. The house, the +stable and the corn crib were filled with sharpshooters and others lay +down among the trees or behind any shelter they could find. A number +were detailed rapidly to tether the horses, and make them secure +against a second fright. Warner was sent to the men guarding the +entrance, Pennington to those at the exit, while Dick was kept with the +colonel, who crouched, after his arrangements were made, in a little +clump of trees near the center of the valley. +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester was willing enough to risk his life but knowing that +it was of the highest importance now to preserve it he did not take any +risks through false pride. Besides Dick he kept Reed, Shepard and the +sergeant with him. +</p> + +<p> +The ring of fire on the slopes had been increasing fast, and the +assailants found much shelter there among the dwarf pines and cedars. +Bullets were pattering all over the valley. Several of the Winchesters +had been slain in the early firing, and they lay where they had fallen. +Others were wounded, but they bound up their own hurts and used their +rifles, whenever they could pick out a figure on the slopes. +</p> + +<p> +"You spoke of traitors, Mr. Reed," said the colonel. "Did you know +well all the men who came to help in the preparations for us?" +</p> + +<p> +"All but two," replied the mountaineer. "One was named Leonard and the +other Bosley. They come from the other side uv the mounting with some +uv the boys an' we thought they wuz all right, but I reckon they must +be the traitors, an' I reckon too they must hev helped some uv the +gorillers into the camp. I ain't seed a sign uv either sence them +hosses wuz headed back. I guess we wuz took in, an' I'm pow'ful sorry, +colonel." +</p> + +<p> +"You're not to blame, Mr. Reed. It's not always possible to guard +against treachery, but since we've defeated their attempt to stampede +our horses we'll defeat all other efforts of theirs." +</p> + +<p> +"Colonel, would you mind lendin' me them glasses uv yourn fur a look? +The night's so bright I guess I kin use 'em nigh ez well ez in the day." +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly you can have them, Mr. Reed. Here they are." +</p> + +<p> +The mountaineer took a long look through them, and when he handed them +back he uttered a clucking sound, significant of satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +"I 'lowed it was him, when I saw him crawlin' behind that bush," he +said, "an' now I know." +</p> + +<p> +"Who is who?" said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"It's that feller Bosley what came with the rest uv the boys. I know +that gray comfort what's tied 'roun' his neck, an' the 'coonskin cap +what's on his head. He jest crawled behind that little twisted pine up +thar, an' took a pot shot at some uv us down here." +</p> + +<p> +"I wish I could reach him," said Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +"Ef you could I wouldn't let you," said the mountaineer grimly. +</p> + +<p> +"Why?" +</p> + +<p> +"'Cause he's my meat. He come here with my people, an' played a trick +on us, a trick that might hev wiped out all uv Colonel Winchester's +men. No man kin do that with me an git away. He's piled up a pow'ful +big score an' I'm goin' to settle it myself." +</p> + +<p> +"How?" +</p> + +<p> +"See this rifle uv mine? I reckon it ain't got all the fancy tricks +that some uv the new repeatin' breech-loadin' rifles hev. It's jest a +cap an' ball rifle, but it's got a long, straight barrel an' a delicate +trigger, an' it sends a bullet wherever you p'int it. It's killed +squirrels, an' rabbits, an' wil' turkeys an' catamounts, an' b'ars, an' +now I reckon it's goin' to hunt higher game." +</p> + +<p> +The man was talking very quietly, but when Dick caught the light in his +eye he knew that he meant every word. It was a cold, implacable look, +and the face of the mountaineer was like that of an avenging fate. +</p> + +<p> +"I loaded it with uncommon care," he continued, looking affectionately +at his rifle, and then looking up again, "an' now that the colonel's +glasses hev showed the way I kin see that feller peepin' from roun' his +bush, tryin' to git another shot, mebbe at me an' mebbe at you. It's a +long carry, but I'm shore to hit. I had a chance at him then, but I +'low to wait a little!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why do you wait?" asked Dick curiously. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm givin' him time to say his prayers." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, he doesn't know that you're going to shoot at him, and he +wouldn't pray, even if he did." +</p> + +<p> +"Mebbe not, but I was raised right, an' I know my duty. I ain't goin' +to send no man to kingdom without givin' him _time_ to pray. Ef he +won't use it the blame is his'n, but that ain't no reason why I +oughtn't to give him the _time_." +</p> + +<p> +"How long?" +</p> + +<p> +"Wa'al, I reckon 'bout three minutes is 'nough fur a right good prayer. +Thar, he's shot ag'in, but I don't know whar his bullet went. He's +usin' up his prayin' time fast." +</p> + +<p> +Reed never altered his quiet, assured tone. He reminded Dick of +Warner, talking about his algebra, and the lad was impressed so much by +his manner that he believed he was going to do as he said. He began +unconsciously to count the seconds. +</p> + +<p> +"Time's up," said Reed at length, "an' that traitor is pokin' his head +'roun' fur another shot." +</p> + +<p> +He raised suddenly his long-barreled rifle, took a quick aim, and +pulled the trigger. A stream of fire poured from the muzzle, the +figure of a man leaped from the bush and then rolled down the snowy +slope. +</p> + +<p> +"I give him plenty uv time," said Reed as he reloaded. "Now I reckon +I'll look fur that other feller, Leonard. I'll know him when I see +him, an' this old cap-an'-ball rifle uv mine knows too how to talk to +traitors." +</p> + +<p> +Dick left presently with a message to a captain who was in command of +the force detached to hold the entrance to the valley. He ran part of +the way in the shelter of the trees and crept the rest, reaching the +captain in safety. Warner was there also, and the fire upon them from +the slopes was hot. +</p> + +<p> +"There has been no attempt to force the gate-way here," said Warner. +"Since they failed with the horses they wouldn't dare try it. Besides, +our sharpshooters are doing execution. Those in the upper story of the +house have an especially good chance. Look at the black dots in the +snow high up on the slopes. Those are dead guerrillas. There, two men +fell! Perhaps if they had known the kind of regiment it was they were +coming after they wouldn't have been in such a hurry to attack us." +</p> + +<p> +He spoke with pride, but Dick felt some chagrin. +</p> + +<p> +"That's true," he said, "though I don't like our regiment to be +besieged here by a lot of guerrillas. It's an ignominy. It's not +enough for us to hold our own against 'em, because they're the people +we came to get, and we ought to get 'em." +</p> + +<p> +"I dare say the colonel thinks as you do and he's already planning how +to do it. This is a smart little battle, as it is. Those +sharpshooters of ours in the houses are certainly making it warm for +the enemy!" +</p> + +<p> +The firing was now very fast, and, as long as the brilliancy of the +night remained unobscured, much of it was deadly, but a great amount of +smoke gathered, and, as it rose, it formed a cloud. The showers of +bullets then decreased in volume and a comparative lull came. But the +men of Slade and Skelly could yet be seen on the crests and slopes, and +there was no indication that they would draw off. +</p> + +<p> +Dick made his way back to Colonel Winchester, who was still in the +clump of trees, a central point, from which he could direct the +defense. The colonel, as Dick clearly saw, felt chagrin. While they +had prevented the stampede of the horses, and were holding off Slade +and Skelly, the roles which he had intended for the forces to play were +reversed. They had come forth to destroy the guerrillas, and now they +had to fight hard to keep the guerrillas from destroying them. Despite +their shelter, about fifteen of the Winchester men had been slain, and +perhaps twenty-five wounded, a loss over which the colonel grieved. +Doubtless as many of the guerrillas had fallen or had been hurt, but +that was a poor consolation. +</p> + +<p> +It was obvious too that Slade and Skelly were handling their forces +with much skill, utilizing for shelter every bush and dwarfed tree on +the slopes, and never exposing themselves, except for a moment or two. +Had there not been so many sharpshooters among the Winchester men they +might have escaped almost without any damage, but for some of the +deadly riflemen in the valley a single glimpse was enough. +Nevertheless Colonel Winchester's dissatisfaction remained. He felt +that a force such as his, which had come forth to do so much, should do +it, and he ransacked his brain for a plan. +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Reed," he said to the mountaineer, who had remained with him, "do +you think we could send a detachment through the pass down the stream +and take them in the rear? That is, this force might climb the slopes +behind them, and attack from above?" +</p> + +<p> +The mountaineer chewed his tobacco thoughtfully, looked up at the +ridges, and then at the gorge down which they could hear the waters of +the little creek rushing. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a big risk," he replied, "but I 'low it kin be done, though +you'll hev to pick your men, colonel. You let me be guide and be shore +to send the sergeant, 'cause he's a full fo'-hoss team all by hisself. +An' Mr. Shepard ought to go along too. All the others ought to be +youngsters, an' spose you let Mr. Mason here lead 'em." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester did not resent at all these suggestions, which he +knew to be excellent, and, while at first, for personal reasons of his +own, he hesitated about sending Dick on so perilous an errand, he knew +that he was better fitted for it than any other young officer in his +command, and so he chose him. The plan, too, appealed to him strongly. +He had taken lessons from the grand tactics of Lee and Jackson. Lee +would keep up a great demonstration in front, while Jackson, circling +in silence, would strike a tremendous and deadly blow on the flank. +The longer he thought about it the more he was pleased with it. If the +flanking force could cut through the gorge the prospect of success was +good, and fortunately the night had turned darker, the snow clouds +reappearing. +</p> + +<p> +The colonel picked one hundred and fifty of his best men, with Shepard, +Reed and Whitley to guide, and Dick to lead them. Warner and +Pennington protested when they were not allowed to go, but the colonel +quieted them with the assurance that they would soon have plenty of +dangerous work to do in the valley. To Dick he said gravely: +</p> + +<p> +"Before now you've nearly always been a staff officer and messenger, +and this is the most important command you've ever held. I know you'll +acquit yourself well, but trust a lot to your guides." +</p> + +<p> +"I will, sir," said Dick earnestly. He felt the full weight of his +responsibility, but his courage rose to meet it. It was the largest +task yet confided to him, and he was resolved to make it a success. He +noticed also that fortune, as if determined to help the brave, was +already giving him aid. More stars were withdrawing into the void, and +the clouds were increasing. The night had grown much darker, and a few +flakes of snow wandered lazily down, messengers of the multitude that +might follow. +</p> + +<p> +The increasing dusk did not diminish the activity of the brigands on +the slopes. It was obvious that they had an unlimited supply of +ammunition, as they sent an unbroken stream of bullets into the valley, +and pink dots ran like ribbons around its entire snowy rim. But in the +valley itself all the fires had been put out, and it was fairly dark +there, enabling Dick's command to gather unseen by the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, Dick," said Colonel Winchester, "I trust you. Go, and may luck +go with you." +</p> + +<p> +He led his men away, the three guides by his side, and they used every +particle of cover they could find, in order that the movement might +remain invisible until the last possible moment. They hugged the +fringe of forest, and when they reached the gorge he felt sure they +were still unseen, although it was only the easy part of their task +that had yet been done. But the lazy flakes had increased in number, +and the canopy of cloud was still being drawn across the heavens. He +gave the word to his men to be as silent as possible, not to let any +weapon rattle or fall, and then they entered the gorge in two files +separated by the creek, the narrow ledges affording room for only one +man on either side. +</p> + +<p> +Dick kept his outward calm, but the great pulses in his throat and +temples were beating hard. Reed was just ahead of him, and on the +other side of the creek the sergeant led, with Shepard following. +Large flakes of snow fell on his face and melted there, but they were +welcome messengers, telling him that the cloak for the movement would +not only remain, but would increase in extent. +</p> + +<p> +After the first curve the stream took a sharp descent, but the land on +either side widened a little, permitting two to walk abreast. The +valley and the slopes encircling it were now entirely shut out from +their view, but they heard the crackling of the rifles in greater +volume than ever. Colonel Winchester, true to Lee and Jackson's plan of +grand tactics, had opened an extremely heavy fire on the enemy, as soon +as his flanking column had disappeared in the gorge. +</p> + +<p> +"I 'low the signs are good," whispered Reed. "Them that lay an ambush +sometimes git laid in an ambush theirselves. I felt pow'ful bad at +bein' held in a trap here in my own mountings by them gorillers, but +mebbe we'll do some trap-layin' uv our own." +</p> + +<p> +"I feel sure of it," said Dick. "Look! the stream ahead of us is lined +with bushes which will afford concealment for our march, and the slopes +beyond are covered with scrub forest." +</p> + +<p> +"Like ez not the gorillers come that way, an' when we circle about we +kin foller in thar tracks." +</p> + +<p> +Dick felt that fortune was showering her favors upon him. The last +star was now gone, and the entire sky was veiled. The big flakes of +snow were falling fast enough to help their concealment, but not fast +enough to impede their movements. A mile down the gorge and they +halted, still unseen by the enemy, due doubtless to the heavy firing in +the valley which was engrossing all the attention of the guerrillas. +They could hear it very distinctly where they were, and they were quite +sure that it would not permit Slade and Skelly to detach any part of +their force for purposes of observation. So Dick gave orders for his +men to turn and begin the ascent of the slope, under shelter of the +scrub forest of cedars. They were to go in a column four abreast, +carefully treading in the tracks of one another, in order that they +might not start a slide of snow. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's pulses beat hard, until they reached the shelter of the cedars, +but no lurking guerrilla or posted sentinel saw them and they drew into +the forest in silence and unobserved. Here they paused a few minutes +and listened to the heavy rifle fire in the valley. +</p> + +<p> +"It looks like a success, sir," said Shepard. "If we catch 'em between +two fires victory is surely ours." +</p> + +<p> +"Besides beatin' 'em, thar's one thing I hope fur," said Reed. "Ef +that traitor Leonard hasn't fell already I'm prayin' that I git a look +at him. My old cap-an'-ball rifle here is jest ez true ez ever." +</p> + +<p> +The mountaineer's eyes glittered again, and Dick did not feel that +Leonard's fate was in any doubt. But there was little time for talk, +as the column began the march again and pressed on under cover of the +cedars until they came without interruption and triumphantly to the +very crest of the slope. The firing was still distinctly audible here, +and the other half of the army was undoubtedly keeping the guerrillas +busy. +</p> + +<p> +On the summit Dick gave his men another brief breathing spell, and then +they began their advance toward the battle. He threw in advance the +best of the sharpshooters and scouts, including Whitley, Shepard and +Reed, and then followed swiftly with the others. Half the distance and +a man behind a tree saw them, shouted, fired and ran toward the +guerrillas. +</p> + +<p> +Dick, knowing that concealment was no longer possible, cried to his men +to rush forward at full speed. A light, scattering fire met them. Two +or three were wounded but none fell, and the entire column swept on at +as much speed as the deep snow would allow, sending in shot after shot +from their own rifles at the guerrillas clustered along the crests and +slopes. The light was sufficient for them to take aim, and as they +were sharpshooters the fire was accurate and deadly. +</p> + +<p> +Their shout of victory rose and swelled, and the mountain gave it back +in many echoes. Dick, feeling his responsibility, managed to keep +cool, but he continually shouted to his men to press on, knowing how +full advantage should be taken of a surprise. But they needed no +urging. Aflame with fire and zeal they charged upon the guerrillas, +pulling the trigger as fast as they could slip in the cartridges, and +Slade and Skelly, despite all their cunning and quickness, were unable +to make a stand against them. +</p> + +<p> +A great shout came up from the valley. The moment Colonel Winchester +heard the fire on the flank he knew that his plan, executed with skill +by one of his lieutenants, was a success, and, gathering up his own +force, he crept up the slopes, his men sending their fire into the +guerrillas, who were already breaking. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's troop was doing great damage. The guerrillas in their rovings +and robberies had never before faced such a fire and they fell fast, +the deep snow making flight difficult. Reed, who was at Dick's side, +suddenly uttered a cry. +</p> + +<p> +"I see him! I see him!" he shouted. +</p> + +<p> +The long-barreled cap-and-ball rifle leaped to his shoulder, and when +the stream of fire gushed from the muzzle, Leonard, the mountaineer, +fell in the snow and would never betray anybody else. Most of the +guerrillas were now fleeing in panic, and Dick heard the shrill, +piercing notes of Slade's whistle as he tried to draw his men off in +order. For a moment or two he forgot his duties as a leader as, pistol +in hand, he looked for the little man under the enormous slouch hat. +Once more the feeling seized him that it was a long duel between Slade +and himself that must end in the death of one or the other, and he +meant to end it now. Despite the fierce notes of the whistle, coming +from one point and then another, he did not see him. He caught a +glimpse of the gigantic form of Skelly, but he too was soon gone, and +then when he felt the restraining hand of Shepard upon his arm he came +out of his rage. +</p> + +<p> +"Look there!" cried Shepard. +</p> + +<p> +About a score of the guerrillas had been cut off from their comrades +and were driven toward the valley, where they remained on its edge, +crouched down, and firing. The deep snow in which they knelt was +quivering. Dick shouted to his men to draw back. Then the huge bank of +snow gave way and slid down the slope, carrying the guerrillas, and +gathering volume and force as it went. A terrified shouting came from +the thick of it, as the avalanche hurled itself into the valley, where +the bruised and broken guerrillas were taken prisoners without +resistance. +</p> + +<p> +Dick, after one glance at their fate, continued the pursuit of the main +band down the other slope. He knew that they were robbers and +murderers, and he felt little scruple. His sharpshooters fairly mowed +them down as they fled in terror, but all who threw up their hands or +signified otherwise that they wished to surrender were spared. +</p> + +<p> +Still bearing in mind that it was their duty not merely to scatter but +to destroy, he urged on the pursuit continually, and Shepard and the +sergeant aided him. They gave Slade and Skelly no time to reform their +men, driving them from every clump of trees, when they attempted it, +and continually reducing their numbers. +</p> + +<p> +The rout was complete, and Dick's heart beat high with triumph, because +he knew that his force had been the striking arm. They were nearly at +the foot of the far side of the mountain, when he saw Slade among the +bushes. He shouted to him to surrender, but the outlaw, suddenly +aiming a pistol, fired pointblank at the young lieutenant's face. Dick +felt the bullet grazing his head, and he raised his own pistol to fire, +but Slade was gone, and, although they trailed him a long distance in +the snow, they did not find him. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIV +</h3> + +<h3> +THE MOUNTAIN SHARPSHOOTER +</h3> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester's own mellow whistle finally recalled his men, as he +did not wish them to become scattered among the mountains in pursuit of +detached guerrillas. Although the escape of both Slade and Skelly was +a great disappointment the victory nevertheless was complete. The two +leaders could not rally the brigand force again, because it had ceased +to exist. Nearly half, caught between the jaws of the Union vise, had +fallen, and most of the others were taken. Perhaps not more than fifty +had got away, and they would be lucky if they were not captured by the +mountaineers. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's head was bound up hastily but skillfully by Sergeant Whitley and +Shepard. Slade's bullet had merely cut under the hair a little, and +the bandage stopped the flow of blood. The sting, too, left, or in his +triumph he did not notice it. His elation, in truth, was great, as he +had succeeded in carrying out the hardest part of a difficult and +delicate operation. +</p> + +<p> +As he led his men back toward the valley, their prisoners driven before +them, he felt no weariness from his great exertions, and both his head +and his feet were light. At the rim of the valley Colonel Winchester +met him, shook his hand with great heartiness, and congratulated him on +his success, and Warner and Pennington, who were wholly without envy, +added their own praise. +</p> + +<p> +"I think it will be Captain Mason before long," said Warner. "Lots of +boys under twenty are captains and some are colonels. Your right to +promotion is a mathematical certainty, and I can demonstrate it with +numerous formulae from the little algebra which even now is in the +inside pocket of my tunic." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't draw the algebra!" exclaimed Pennington. "We take your word for +it, of course." +</p> + +<p> +"I shouldn't want to be a captain," said Dick sincerely, "unless you +fellows became captains too." +</p> + +<p> +Further talk was interrupted by the necessity for care in making the +steep descent into the valley, where the fires were blazing anew from +the fresh wood which the young soldiers in their triumph had thrown +upon the coals. Nor did Colonel Winchester and his senior officers +make any effort to restrain them, knowing that a little exultation was +good for youth, after deeds well done. +</p> + +<p> +It was still snowing lazily, but the flames from a dozen big fires +filled the valley with light and warmth and illuminated the sullen +faces of the captives. They were a sinister lot, arrayed in faded +Union or Confederate uniforms, the refuse of highland and lowland, +gathered together for robbery and murder, under the protecting shadow +of war. Their hair was long and unkempt, their faces unshaven and +dirty, and they watched their captors with the restless, evasive eyes +of guilt. They were herded in the center of the valley, and Colonel +Winchester did not hesitate to bind the arms of the most evil looking. +</p> + +<p> +"What are you going to do with us?" asked one bold, black-browed +villain. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to take you to General Sheridan," replied the colonel. "I'm +glad I don't have the responsibility of deciding your fate, but I think +it very likely that he'll hang some of you, and that all of you richly +deserve it." +</p> + +<p> +The man muttered savage oaths under his breath and the colonel added: +</p> + +<p> +"Meanwhile you'll be surrounded by at least fifty guards with rifles of +the latest style, rifles that they can shoot very fast, and they are +instructed to use them if you make the slightest sign of an attempt to +escape. I warn you that they will obey with eagerness." +</p> + +<p> +The man ceased his mutterings and he and the other captives cowered by +the fire, as if their blood had suddenly grown so thin that they must +almost touch the coals to secure warmth. Then Colonel Winchester +ordered the cooks to prepare food and coffee again for his troopers, +who had done so well, while a surgeon, with amateur but competent +assistants, attended to the hurt. +</p> + +<p> +While they ate and drank and basked in the heat, the mountaineer, Reed, +came again to Colonel Winchester. Dick, who was standing by, observed +his air of deep satisfaction, and he wondered again at the curious +mixture of mountain character, its strong religious strain, mingled +with its merciless hatred of a foe. He knew that much of Reed's great +content came from his slaying of the two traitors, but he did not feel +that he had a right, at such a time, to question the man's motives and +actions. +</p> + +<p> +"Colonel," said Reed, "it's lucky that my men brought along plenty of +axes, an' that your men ez well ez mine know how to use 'em." +</p> + +<p> +"Why so, Mr. Reed?" +</p> + +<p> +"'Cause it's growin' warmer." +</p> + +<p> +"But that doesn't hurt us. We're certainly not asking for more cold." +</p> + +<p> +"It will hurt us, ef we don't take some shelter ag'in it. It's snowin' +now, colonel, an' ef it gits a little warmer it'll turn to rain, an' it +kin rain pow'ful hard in these mountings." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you for calling my attention to it, Mr. Reed. I can't afford to +have the troops soaked by winter rains. Not knowing what we had to +expect in the mountains I fortunately ordered about twenty of my own +men to bring axes at their saddlebows. We'll put 'em all at work." +</p> + +<p> +In a few minutes thirty good axmen were cutting down trees, saplings +and bushes, and more than a hundred others were strengthening the +lean-tos, thatching roofs, and making rude but serviceable floors. +Dick, owing to his slight wound, but much against his wish, was ordered +into the house, where he spread his blankets near a window, although he +could not yet sleep, all the heat of the battle and pursuit not yet +having left him. His nerves still tingling with excitement, he stood at +the window and looked out. +</p> + +<p> +He saw the great fire blazing and many persons passing and repassing +before the red glow. He saw the captives crouching together, and the +red gleam on the bayonets of the men who guarded them. He saw Warner +and Pendleton go into one of the lean-tos, and he saw Colonel +Winchester, accompanied by Shepard and the sergeant, go down the valley +toward the exit. +</p> + +<p> +After a while the prisoners moved to the lean-tos, and then everybody +took shelter. The crackle of the big fires changed to a hiss, and more +smoke arose from them. The reason was obvious. The big flakes of snow +had ceased to fall, and big drops of rain were falling in their place. +Reed had been a true prophet, and he had not given his warning too soon. +</p> + +<p> +The rain increased. Dick heard it driving on the window panes and +beating on the roof. All the fires in the valley were out now, and +rising mists and vapors hid nearly everything. The faint, sliding +sound of more snow-falls precipitated by the rain came to his ears. He +realized suddenly how fine a thing it was to be inside four walls, and +with it came a great feeling of comfort. It was the same feeling that +he had known often in childhood, when he lay in his bed and heard the +storm beat against the house. +</p> + +<p> +There were others in the room—the floor was almost covered with +them—but all of them were asleep already, and Dick, wrapping himself +in his blanket, joined them, the last thing that he remembered being +the swish of the rain against the glass. He slept heavily and was not +awakened until nearly noon, when he saw through the window a world +entirely changed. The rain had melted only a portion of the snow, and +when it ceased after sunrise the day had turned much colder, freezing +every thing hard and tight. The surface of valley, slopes and ridges +was covered with a thick armor of ice, smooth as glass, and giving back +the rays of a brilliant sun in colors as vivid and varied as those of a +rainbow. Every tree and bush, to the last little twig, was sheathed +also in silver, and along the slopes the forests of dwarfed cedar and +pines were a vast field of delicate and complex tracery. +</p> + +<p> +It was a glittering and beautiful world, but cold and merciless. Dick +saw at once that the whole force, captors and captured, was shut in for +the time. It was impossible for horses to advance over a field of ice, +and it was too difficult even for men to be considered seriously. There +was nothing to do but remain in the valley until circumstances allowed +them to move, and reflection told him they would not lose much by it. +They had done the errand on which they were sent, and there was little +work left in the great valley itself. +</p> + +<p> +The big fires had been lighted again, the cove furnishing wood enough +for many days, and within its limited area they brought back glow and +cheeriness. Dick went outside and found all the men in high spirits. +They expected to be held there until a thaw came, but there would be no +difficulty, except to obtain forage for the horses, which they must dig +from under the snow, or which some of the surest footed mountaineers +must bring over the ridge. He heard that Colonel Winchester was +already making arrangements with Reed, and he was too light-hearted to +bother himself any more about it. +</p> + +<p> +Warner and Pennington saluted him with bows as a coming captain, and +declared that he looked extremely interesting with a white bandage +around his head. +</p> + +<p> +"It's merely to prevent bleeding," said Dick. "The bullet didn't +really hurt me, and it won't leave a scar under the hair." +</p> + +<p> +"Then since you're not even an invalid," said Pennington, "come on and +take your bath. The boys have broken the ice for a long distance on +the creek and all of us early risers have gone there for a plunge, and +a short swim. It'll do you a world of good, Dick, but don't stay in +too long." +</p> + +<p> +"Not over a half hour," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"O, a quarter of an hour will be long enough," said Pennington, "but +I'd advise you to rub yourself down thoroughly, Dick." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll do just as you did," laughed Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"And what's that?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'll go to the edge of the creek, look at it, and shiver when I see +how cold its waters are. Then I'll kneel down on the bank, bathe my +face, and come away." +</p> + +<p> +"You've estimated him correctly, Dick," said Warner, "but you don't +have to shiver as much as Frank did." +</p> + +<p> +The cold bath, although it was confined to the face only, made his +blood leap and sparkle. He was not a coming captain but a boy again, +and he began to think about pleasant ways of passing the time while the +ice held them. After his breakfast he joined Colonel Winchester, who +debated the question further with a group of officers. But there was +only one conclusion to which they could come, and that had presented +itself already to Dick's mind, namely, to wait as patiently as they +could for a thaw, while Shepard, the sergeant and two or three others +made their way on foot into the Shenandoah valley to inform Sheridan of +what had transpired. +</p> + +<p> +The messengers departed as soon as the conference closed, and the +little army was left to pass the time as it chose in the cove. But +time did not weigh heavily upon the young troops. As it grew colder +and colder they added to the walls and roofs of their improvised +shelters. There was scarcely a man among them who had not been bred to +the ax, and the forest in the valley rang continually with their +skillful strokes. Then the logs were notched and in a day or two rude +but real cabins were raised, in which they slept, dry and warm. +</p> + +<p> +The fires outside were never permitted to die down, the flames always +leaped up from great beds of coals, and warmth and the comforts that +follow were diffused everywhere. The lads, when they were not working +on the houses, mended their saddles and bridles or their clothes, and +when they had nothing else to do they sang war songs or the sentimental +ballads of home. It was a fine place for singing—Warner described the +acoustics of the valley as perfect—and the ridges and gorges gave back +the greatest series of echoes any of them had ever heard. +</p> + +<p> +"If this place didn't have a name already," said Pennington, "I'd call +it Echo Cove, and the echoes are flattering, too. Whenever George +sings his voice always comes back in highly improved tones, something +that we can stand very well." +</p> + +<p> +"My voice may not be as mellow as Mario's," said Warner calmly, "but my +technique is perfect. Music is chiefly an affair of mathematics, as +everybody knows, or at least it is eighty per cent, the rest being +voice, a mere gift of birth. So, as I am unassailable in mathematics, +I'm a much better singer than the common and vulgar lot who merely have +voice." +</p> + +<p> +"That being the case," said Pennington, "you should sing for yourself +only and admire your own wonderful technique." +</p> + +<p> +"I never sing unless I'm asked to do so," said Warner, with his old +invincible calm, "and then the competent few who have made an +exhaustive study of this most complex science appreciate my +achievement. As I said, I should consider it a mark of cheapness if I +pleased the low, vulgar and common herd." +</p> + +<p> +"With that iron face and satisfied mind of yours you ought to go far, +George," said Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"Everything is arranged already. I will go far," said Warner in even +tones. +</p> + +<p> +"I wonder what's happening outside in the big valley," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Whatever it is it's happening without us," said Warner. "But I fancy +that General Sheridan will be more uneasy about us than we are about +him. We know what we have done, that our task is finished, but for all +he knows we may have been trapped and destroyed." +</p> + +<p> +"But Shepard or the sergeant will get through to him." +</p> + +<p> +"Not for three or four days anyhow. Not even men on foot can travel +fast on a glassy sheet of ice. Every time I look at it on the mountain +it seems to grow smoother. If I were standing on top of that ridge and +were to slip I'd come like a catapult clear into the camp." +</p> + +<p> +"Nothing could tempt me to go up there now," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe not, nor me either, but as I live somebody is on top of that +ridge now." +</p> + +<p> +Dick's eyes followed his pointing finger, saw a black dot on the utmost +summit, and then he snatched up his glasses. +</p> + +<p> +"It's Slade, his very self!" he exclaimed in excitement. "I'd know +that hat anywhere. Now, how under the sun did he come there!" +</p> + +<p> +"It's more important to know why he has come," said Warner, using his +own glasses. "I see him clearly and there is no doubt that it's the +same robber, traitor and assassin who, unfortunately, escaped when we +shot his horde to pieces." +</p> + +<p> +"He has a rifle with him, and as sure as we live he's sitting down on +the ice, and picking out a target here in the valley." +</p> + +<p> +"A risky business for Slade. Shooting upward we can take better aim at +him than he can at us." +</p> + +<p> +There was a great stir in the valley, as others saw the figure on the +mountain and read Slade's intentions. Fifty men sprang to their feet +and seized their rifles. But the guerrilla moved swiftly along the +knife-edge of the ridge, obviously sure of his footing, and before any +of them could fire, dropped down behind a little group of cedars. +Every stem and bough was cased in a sheath of silver mail, but they hid +him well. Dick, with his glasses, could not discern a single outline +of the man behind the glittering tracery. +</p> + +<p> +But as they looked, a head of red appeared suddenly in the silver, +smoke floated away, and a bullet knocked up the ice near them. They +scattered in lively fashion, and from shelter watched the silver bush. +A second bullet came from its foliage and wounded slightly a man who +was carrying wood to one of the fires. But the annoying sharpshooter +remained invisible. +</p> + +<p> +"He's lying down on the ice like a Sioux or Cheyenne in a gully," said +Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe he has a gully in the ice," said Dick, "and he can crouch here +and shoot at us all day, almost in perfect safety." +</p> + +<p> +But Colonel Winchester appeared and ordered a score of the men, with +the heaviest rifles, to shoot away the entire clump of cedars. They +did it with a method and a regard for mathematics that filled Warner's +soul with delight, firing in turn and planting their bullets in a line +along the front of the clump, cutting down everything like a mower with +a scythe. +</p> + +<p> +Dick with the glasses saw the ice fly into the air in a silver spray as +bush after bush fell. Presently they were all cut away by that stream +of heavy bullets, but no human being was disclosed. +</p> + +<p> +"He's just gone over the other side of the ridge," said Warner in +disgust, "and is waiting there until we finish. We couldn't shoot +through a mountain, even if we had one of our biggest cannon here. +He'll find another clump of bushes soon and be potting us from it." +</p> + +<p> +"But we can shoot that away too," said Dick hopefully. +</p> + +<p> +"We can't shoot down all the forests on the mountain. He must have +heavy hobnails, or, like the mountaineers, he has drawn thick yarn +socks over his boots, else he couldn't scoot about on the ice the way +he does." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, there goes his rifle, behind the clump of bushes to the right of +the one that we shot away!" +</p> + +<p> +A second man was wounded by the bullet, and then an extraordinary siege +ensued, a siege of three hundred men by a single sharpshooter on top of +a mountain as smooth as glass. Whenever they shot his refuge away he +moved to another, and, while they were shooting at it he had nothing to +do but drop down a few feet on the far side of the ridge and remain in +entire safety until he chose another ambush. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose this was visited upon us because we were puffed up with +pride over our exploits," said Pennington, "but it's an awful jolt to +us to have the whole Winchester regiment penned up here and driven to +hiding by a single brigand." +</p> + +<p> +"It's not a jolt," said Warner, "it's a tragedy. Unless we get him we +can never live it down. We may win another Gettysburg all by +ourselves, but history and also the voice of legend and ironic song +will tell first of the time when Slade, the outlaw, held us all in the +cove at the muzzle of his rifle." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Winchester, although he did not show it, raged the most of them +all. The great taunt would be for him rather than his young officers +and troopers, and the blood burned in his veins as he watched the +operations of the sharpshooter on the ridges. One of his men had been +killed, three had been wounded, and all of them were compelled to seek +shelter for their lives as none knew where Slade's bullet would strike +next. In his perplexity he called in Reed, the mountaineer, who +fortunately was in camp, and he suggested that they send out a group of +men through the entrance, who might stalk him from the far side in the +same way that they had crushed his band. +</p> + +<p> +"But how are they to climb on the smooth ice?" asked the colonel. +</p> + +<p> +"Wrap the feet uv the men in blankets, an' let 'em use their bayonets +for a grip in the ice," replied the mountaineer, "an' ef you don't +mind, colonel, I'd like to go along with the party. Mebbe I'd git a +shot at that big hat uv Slade's." +</p> + +<p> +The idea appealed to the colonel, especially as none other offered, and +Warner, to his great delight, received command of the party detailed +for the difficult and dangerous duty. Several of the coarsest and +heaviest blankets were cut up, and the feet of the men were wrapped in +them in such manner that they would not slip on the ice, although +retaining full freedom of movement. They tried their "snow shoes" +behind the house, where they were sheltered from Slade's bullets, and +found that they could make good speed over the ice. +</p> + +<p> +"Now be careful, Warner," said Colonel Winchester. "Remember that your +party also may present a fair target to him, and we don't wish to lose +another man." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll use every precaution possible, sir," replied Warner, "and I thank +you for giving me this responsibility." +</p> + +<p> +Then keeping to the shelter of trees he led his men out through the +pass, and the soul of Warner, despite his calm exterior, was aflame. +Dick had achieved his great task with success, and, in the lesser one, +he wished to do as well. It was not jealousy of his comrade, but +emulation, and also a desire to meet his own exacting standards. As he +disappeared with his picked sharpshooters and turned the shoulder of +the mountain his blood was still hot, but his Vermont head was as cool +as the ice upon which he trod. +</p> + +<p> +Warner heard the distant reports of Slade's rifle, and also the crackle +of the firing in reply. He knew the colonel would keep Slade so busy +that he was not likely to notice the flank movement, and he pressed +forward with all the energy of himself and his men. The heavy cloth +around their shoes gave them a secure foothold until they reached the +steeper slopes, and there, in accordance with Reed's suggestion, they +used their bayonets as alpenstocks. +</p> + +<p> +A third of the way up the slope, and they reached one of the clumps of +cedars, into which they crawled. Although a glittering network of +silver it was a cold covert, but they lay on the ice there and watched +for Slade's next shot. They heard it a minute later, and then saw him +behind a pine about five hundred yards away. After sending his bullet +into the valley he had withdrawn a little and was slipping another +cartridge into the fine breech-loading rifle that he carried, the most +modern and highly improved weapon then used, as Warner could clearly +see. +</p> + +<p> +"Would you let me take a look at him through your glasses?" asked Reed. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," replied Warner, handing them to him. +</p> + +<p> +"Jest as I thought," said Reed, as he took a long look. "He's done +gone plum' mad with the wish to kill. It strikes them evil-minded +critters that way sometimes, an' he's had so much luck shootin' down at +us, an' keepin' a whole little army besieged that it's mounted to his +head. Ef he had his way he'd jest wipe us all out." +</p> + +<p> +"A sanguinary and savage mind," said Warner. "It's the spirit of the +rattlesnake or the cobra, and we must exterminate him. He's moving +further along the ridge, and he's exactly between us and that clump of +cedars, higher up and about three hundred yards away. If we could make +those cedars we would bring him within range. It's a pretty steep +climb, but I want to try it." +</p> + +<p> +"We kin do it shore by stabbin' our bayonets into the ice and hangin' +on to 'em ez we edge up," said Reed optimistically. "The clump itself +will help hide us, an' Slade ain't likely to look this way. Ez I told +you he hez gone plum' mad with the blood fever, an' he ain't got eyes +for anythin' except the soldiers in the valley what he wants to shoot." +</p> + +<p> +"Poison, nothing but poison," said Warner. "We must remove him as +speedily as possible for the sake of the universe. Come on! I mean to +lead." +</p> + +<p> +He emerged from the clump and took his way toward the second cluster, +digging a heavy hunting knife into the ice whenever he felt that he was +about to slip. Reed was just behind him, breathing hard from the +climb, and then came the whole detachment. Warner felt a momentary +shiver lest the guerrilla see them. If he caught them on the steep ice +between the two cedar clumps he could decimate them with ease. +</p> + +<p> +But fortune was kind and they breathed mighty sighs of relief as they +drew into the second network of silver, where they lay close watching +for Slade, who had fired three times into the valley while they were on +the way. +</p> + +<p> +He had gone farther down the ridge, but they saw him partially as he +kneeled for another shot. If he moved again in the same direction +after firing they would not be able to reach him, and Warner, Reed +agreeing with him, decided that they must make the attempt to remove +him now or never. It was a hard target, not much of Slade's body +showing, but the entire party took aim and fired together at the +leader's word. +</p> + +<p> +Slade threw up his arms, fell back on their side of the mountain and +then slid down the slippery slope. Warner watched him with a kind of +horrified fascination as he shot over the clear ice. His body struck a +small pine presently and shattered it, the broken pieces of the icy +sheath flying in the air like crystals. After a momentary pause from +the resistance Slade went on, slid over a shelf, and disappeared in a +deep drift. +</p> + +<p> +"He's out o' business," said Reed. "I reckon we'd better go down thar, +an' see ef he's all broke to pieces." +</p> + +<p> +They climbed down slowly and painfully, reaching the drift, but to +their amazement Slade was not there. They found his rifle and spots of +blood, but the outlaw was gone, a thin red trail that led down a rift +showing the way he went. +</p> + +<p> +"We hit our b'ar an' took the bite out uv him," said Reed +philosophically, "but we ain't got his hide to show. Still he's all +broke up, jest the same, 'cause he didn't even think to take his gun, +an' this red trail shows that we won't be bothered by him ag'in fur a +long time." +</p> + +<p> +Warner would have preferred the annihilation or capture of Slade, whom +he truly called a rattlesnake or cobra, but he was satisfied, +nevertheless. He had destroyed the guerrilla's power to harm for a long +time, at least, and not a man of his had been hurt. He was sure to +receive Colonel Winchester's words of approval, and he felt the swell +of pride, but did not show it by word or manner. +</p> + +<p> +Carrying the rifle, as the visible proof of victory, they returned to +the cove, and received from Colonel Winchester the words for which they +were grateful. Further proof was the failure of Slade to return and +the lifting of the terrible weight which a single man had put upon +them. They could now go about in the open, as they pleased, the big +fires were built up again, and cheerfulness returned. +</p> + +<p> +The mountaineers brought in more food the next day, and the following +night Reed and another mountaineer crossed the ridge and were lucky +enough to shoot a fat bear in a ravine. They dressed it there, and, +between them, managed to bring the body back to the camp. A day later +they secured another, and there was a great feast of fresh meat. +</p> + +<p> +That night the weather rapidly turned warmer and all knew the big thaw +was at hand. A long heavy rain that lasted almost until daylight +hastened it and great floods roared down the slopes. Tons and tons of +melting snow also slid into the valley, and the creek became a booming +torrent. They were more thankful than ever for their huts and +lean-tos, and all except the sentinels clung closely to their shelter. +</p> + +<p> +Throughout the day the mountains were veiled in vapors from the rain +and the melting snow, and, after another night, the troop saddled and +departed, the horses treading ankle deep in mud, but their riders eager +to get away. +</p> + +<p> +"We overstayed our time," said Dick, looking back, "but it was a good +cove for us. Our presence there tempted the enemy to battle, and we +destroyed him. Then we had shelter and a home when the great storm +came." +</p> + +<p> +"A good cove, truly," said Pennington, "and we sha'n't forget it." +</p> + +<p> +When they reached the main pass they found it also deep in mud and +melting snow, and their progress was slow and painful. But before noon +they met Shepard and the sergeant returning with news that they had +carried an account of the victory to General Sheridan, but that nothing +had happened in the main valley save a few raids by Mosby. Shepard, +who acted as spokesman, was too tactful to say much, but he indicated +very clearly that the commander-in-chief was highly pleased with the +destruction of the Slade and Skelly band, the maraudings of which had +become a great annoyance and danger. Dick was eager to hear more, and, +when the opportunity presented itself, he questioned the sergeant +privately. +</p> + +<p> +"What do we hear from Petersburg?" he asked. "Is the deadlock there +broken?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not yet, sir," replied the sergeant. "The winter being so very severe +the troops are not able to do much. General Lee still holds his lines." +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose that General Grant doesn't care to risk another Cold Harbor, +but what has been done here in the Valley of Virginia should enable him +to turn Lee's flank in the spring." +</p> + +<p> +"I take it that you're right, sir. General Lee is a hard nut to crack, +as we all know, but his army is wearing away. In the spring the shell +of the nut will be so thin that we'll smash it." +</p> + +<p> +The column, after its exploit, reported to Sheridan at Winchester, the +little city around which and through which the war rolled for four long +years, and where two great commanders, one of the gray and the other of +the blue, had their headquarters at times. But Colonel Winchester and +his young staff officers rode through streets that were faced by closed +shutters and windows. Nowhere was the hostility to the Northern troops +more bitter and intense than in Winchester, the beloved city of the +great Stonewall which had seen with its own eyes so many of his +triumphs. +</p> + +<p> +Dick and his comrades had learned long since not to speak to the women +and girls for fear of their sharp tongues, and in his heart he could +not blame them. Youth did not keep him from having a philosophical and +discerning mind, and he knew that in the strongest of people the +emotions often triumph over logic and reason. Warner's little algebra +was all right, when the question was algebraic, but sentiment and +passion had a great deal to do with the affairs of the world, and, +where they were concerned, the book was of no value at all. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's new rank of captain was conferred upon him by General Sheridan +himself, and it was accompanied by a compliment which though true made +him blush in his modesty. A few days later Warner received the same +rank for his achievement in driving away Slade, and it was conferred +upon Pennington too for general excellence. The three were supremely +happy and longed for more enemies to conquer, but a long period of +comparative idleness ensued. The winter continued of unexampled +severity, and they spent most of the time in camp, although they did +not waste it. Several books of mathematics came from the North to +Warner and he spent many happy evenings in their study. Dick got hold +of a German grammar and exercise book, and, several others joining him, +they made a little class, which though it met irregularly, learned +much. Pennington was a wonder among the horses. When the +veterinarians were at a loss they sent for him and he rarely failed of +a cure. He modestly ascribed his merit to his father who taught him +everything about horses on the great plains, where a man's horse was so +often the sole barrier between him and death. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the winter went on, and they longed eagerly for spring, the +breaking up of the great cold, and the last campaign. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap15"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XV +</h3> + +<h3> +BACK WITH GRANT +</h3> + +<p> +Despite the inevitable hostility of the people their stay at Winchester +was pleasant and fruitful. All three of the new young captains +experienced a mental growth, and their outlook upon the enemy was +tempered greatly. They had been through so many battles and they had +measured their strength and courage against the foe so often that all +hatred and malice had departed. North and South, knowing too little of +each other before the war, had now learned mutual respect upon the +field of combat. And Dick, Warner and Pennington, feeling certain that +the end was at hand, could understand the loss and sorrow of the South, +and sympathize with the fallen. Their generous young hearts did not +exult over a foe whom they expected soon to conquer. +</p> + +<p> +Late in January of the fateful year 1865 Dick was walking through the +streets of Winchester one cold day. The wind from the mountains had a +fierce edge, and, as he bent his head to protect his face from it, he +did not see a stout, heavily built man of middle age coming toward him, +and did not stop until the stranger, standing squarely in his way, +hailed him. +</p> + +<p> +"Does the fact that you've become a captain keep you from seeing +anything in your path, Mr. Mason?" asked the man in a deep bass, but +wholly good-natured voice. +</p> + +<p> +Dick looked up in surprise, because the tones were familiar. He saw a +ruddy face, with keen, twinkling eyes and a massive chin, a face in +which shrewdness and a humorous view of the world were combined. He +hesitated a moment, then he remembered and held out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"It's Mr. Watson, the contractor," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"So it is, lad," said John Watson, grasping the outstretched hand and +shaking it heartily. "Don't mind my calling you lad, even if you are a +captain. All things are comparative, and to me, a much older man, +you're just a lad. I've heard of your deed in the mountains, in fact, +I keep track of all of you, even of General Sheridan himself. It's my +business to know men and what they do." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope you're still making money," said Dick, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +"I am. That's part of a merchant's duty. If he doesn't make money he +oughtn't to be a merchant. Oh, I know that a lot of you soldiers look +down upon us traders and contractors." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't and I never did, Mr. Watson." +</p> + +<p> +"I know it, Captain Mason, because you're a lad of intelligence. The +first time I saw you I noticed that the reasoning quality was strong in +you, and that was why I made you an offer to enter my employ after the +war. That offer is still open and will remain open at all times." +</p> + +<p> +"I thank you very much, Mr. Watson, but I can't accept it, as I have +other ambitions." +</p> + +<p> +"I was sure you wouldn't take it, but I like to feel it's always +waiting for you. It's well to look ahead. This war, vast and terrible +as it has been, will be over before the year is. Two or three million +men who have done nothing but fighting for four years will be out of +employment. Vast numbers of them will not know which way to turn. They +will be wholly unfit, until they have trained themselves anew, for the +pursuits of peace. Captains, majors, colonels and, yes, generals, will +be besieging me for jobs, as zealously as they're now besieging Lee's +army in the trenches before Petersburg, and with as much cause. When +the war is over the soldier will not be of so much value, and the man +of peace will regain his own. I hope you've thought of these things, +Captain Mason." +</p> + +<p> +"I've thought of them many times, Mr. Watson, and I've thought of them +oftener than ever this winter. My comrades and I have agreed that as +soon as the last battle is fought we'll plunge at once into the task of +rebuilding our country. We amount to little, of course, in such a +multitude, but one can do only what one can." +</p> + +<p> +"That's so, but if a million feel like you and push all together, they +can roll mountains away." +</p> + +<p> +"You're not a man to come to Winchester for nothing. You've been doing +business with the army?" +</p> + +<p> +"I've been shoeing, clothing and bedding you. I deliver within two +weeks thirty thousand pairs of shoes, thirty thousand uniforms, and +sixty thousand blankets. They are all honest goods and the price is +not too high, although I make the solid and substantial profit to which +I am entitled. You soldiers on the battle line don't win a war alone. +We who feed and clothe you achieve at least half. I regret again, +Captain Mason, that you can't join me later. Mine's a noble calling. +It's a great thing to be a merchant prince, and it's we, as much as any +other class of people, who spread civilization over the earth." +</p> + +<p> +"I know it," said Dick earnestly. "I'm not blind to the great arts of +peace. Now, here come my closest friends, Captain Warner and Captain +Pennington, who have understanding. I want you to meet them." +</p> + +<p> +Dick's hearty introduction was enough to recommend the contractor to +his comrades, but Warner already knew him well by reputation. +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard of you often from some of our officers, Mr. Watson," he +said. "You deliver good goods and you're a New Englander, like myself. +Ten years from now you'll be an extremely rich man, a millionaire, +twenty years from now you'll be several times a millionaire. About +that time I'll become president of Harvard, and we'll need money—a +great university always needs money—and I'll come to you for a +donation of one hundred thousand dollars to Harvard, and you'll give it +to me promptly." +</p> + +<p> +John Watson looked at him fixedly, and slowly a look of great +admiration spread over his face. +</p> + +<p> +"Of course you're a New Englander," he said. "It was not necessary for +you to say so. I could have told it by looking at you and hearing you +talk. But from what state do you come?" +</p> + +<p> +"Vermont." +</p> + +<p> +"I might have known that, too, and I'm glad and proud to meet you, +Captain Warner. I'm glad and proud to know a young man who looks ahead +twenty years. Nothing can keep you from being president of Harvard, +and that hundred thousand dollars is as good as given. Your hand +again!" +</p> + +<p> +The hands of the two New Englanders met a second time in the touch of +kinship and understanding. Theirs was the clan feeling, and they had +supreme confidence in each other. Neither doubted that the promise +would be fulfilled, and fulfilled it was and fourfold more. +</p> + +<p> +"You New Englanders certainly stand together," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"Not more than you Kentuckians," replied the contractor. "I was in +Kentucky several times before the war, and you seemed to be one big +family there." +</p> + +<p> +"But in the war we've not been one big family," said Dick, somewhat +sadly. "I suppose that no state has been more terribly divided than +Kentucky. Nowhere has kin fought more fiercely against kin." +</p> + +<p> +"But you'll come together again after the war," said Watson cheerfully. +"That great bond of kinship will prove more powerful than anything +else." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope so," said Dick earnestly. +</p> + +<p> +They had the contractor to dinner with them, and he opened new worlds +of interest and endeavor for all of them. He was a mighty captain of +industry, a term that came into much use later, and mentally they +followed him as he led the way into fields of immense industrial +achievement. They were fascinated as he talked with truthful eloquence +of what the country could become, the vast network of railroads to be +built, the limitless fields of wheat and corn to be grown, the mines of +the richest mineral continent to be opened, and a trade to be acquired, +that would spread all over the world. They forgot the war while he +talked, and their souls were filled and stirred with the romance of +peace. +</p> + +<p> +"I leave for Washington tonight," said the contractor, when the dinner +was finished. "My work here is done. Our next meeting will be in +Richmond." +</p> + +<p> +All three of the young men took it as prophetic and when John Watson +started north they waved him a friendly farewell. Another long wait +followed, while the iron winter, one of the fiercest in the memory of +man, still gripped both North and South. But late in February there +was a great bustle, portending movement. Supplies were gathered, +horses were examined critically, men looked to their arms and +ammunition, and the talk was all of high anticipation. An electric +thrill ran through the men. They had tasted deep of victory since the +previous summer, and they were eager to ride to new triumphs. +</p> + +<p> +"It's to be an affair of cavalry altogether," said Warner, who obtained +the first definite news. "We're to go toward Staunton, where Early and +his remnants have been hanging out, and clean 'em up. Although it's to +be done by cavalry alone, as I told you, it'll be the finest cavalry +you ever saw." +</p> + +<p> +And when Sheridan gathered his horsemen for the march Warner's words +came true. Ten thousand Union men, all hardy troopers now, were in the +saddle, and the great Sheridan led them. The eyes of Little Phil +glinted as he looked upon his matchless command, bold youths who had +learned in the long hard training of war itself, to be the equals of +Stuart's own famous riders. And the eyes of Sheridan glinted again +when they passed over the Winchesters, the peerless regiment, the +bravest of the brave, with the colonel and the three youthful captains +in their proper places. +</p> + +<p> +The weather was extremely cold, but they were prepared for it, and when +they swung up the valley, and forty thousand hoofs beat on the hard +road, giving back a sound like thunder, their pulses leaped, and they +took with delight deep draughts of the keen frosty air. +</p> + +<p> +While they carried food for the entire march, the rest of their +equipment was light, four cannon, ammunition wagons, some ambulances +and pontoon boats. Dick thought they would make fast time, but fortune +for awhile was against them. The very morning the great column started +the weather rapidly turned warmer, and then a heavy rain began to fall. +The hard road upon which the forty thousand hoofs had beat their +marching song turned to mud, and forty thousand hoofs made a new sound, +as they sank deep in it, and were then pulled out again. +</p> + +<p> +"If it keeps us from going fast," said the philosophical sergeant, +"it'll keep them that we're goin' after from gettin' away. We're as +good mud horses as they are." +</p> + +<p> +"Do you think we'll go through to Staunton?" asked Dick of Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard that we will, and that we'll go on and take Lynchburg too. +Then we're to curve about and in North Carolina join Sherman who has +smashed the Confederacy in the west." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't like the North Carolina part," said Dick. "I hope we'll go to +Grant and march with him on Richmond, because that's where the death +blow will be dealt, if it's dealt at all." +</p> + +<p> +"And that it will be dealt we don't doubt, neither you, nor I nor any +of us." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, that's so." +</p> + +<p> +While mud and rain could impede the progress of the great column they +could not stop it. Neither could they dampen the spirits of the young +troopers who rode knee to knee, and who looked forward to new +victories. Through the floods of rain the ten thousand, scouts and +skirmishers on their flanks, swept southward, and they encountered no +foe. A few Southern horsemen would watch them at a great distance and +then ride sadly away. There was nothing in the valley that could +oppose Sheridan. +</p> + +<p> +Dick's leggings, and his overcoat with an extremely high collar, kept +him dry and warm and he was too seasoned to mind the flying mud which +thousands of hoofs sent up, and which soon covered them. The swift +movement and the expectation of achieving something were exhilarating +in spite of every hardship and obstacle. +</p> + +<p> +That night they reached the village of Woodstock, and the next day they +crossed the north fork of the Shenandoah, already swollen by the heavy +rains. The engineers rapidly and dexterously made a bridge of the +pontoon boats, and the ten thousand thundered over in safety. +</p> + +<p> +The next night they were at a little place called Lacy's Springs, sixty +miles from Winchester, a wonderful march for two days, considering the +heavy rains and deep mud, and they had not yet encountered an enemy. +How different it would have been in Stonewall Jackson's time! Then, +not a mile of the road would have been safe for them. It was ample +proof of the extremities to which the Confederacy was reduced. Lee, at +Petersburg, could not reinforce Early, and Early, at Staunton, could +not reinforce Lee! +</p> + +<p> +They intended to move on the next day, and they heard that night that +Rosser, a brave Confederate general, had gathered a small Confederate +force and was hastening forward to burn all the bridges over the middle +fork of the Shenandoah, in order that he might impede Sheridan's +progress. Then it was the call of the trumpet and boots and saddles +early in the morning in order that they might beat Rosser to the +bridges. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope for their own sake that they won't try to fight us," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm with you on that," said Pennington. "They can't be more than a +few hundreds, and it would take thousands, even with a river to help, +to stop an army like ours." +</p> + +<p> +It was not raining now and the roads growing dryer thundered with the +hoofs of ten thousand horses. The Winchesters had an honored place in +the van, and, as they approached the middle fork of the Shenandoah, the +three young captains raised themselves in their saddles to see if the +bridge yet stood. It was there, but on the other side of the stream a +small body of cavalrymen in gray were galloping forward, and some had +already dismounted for the attempt to destroy it. The arrival of the +two forces was almost simultaneous, but the Union army, overwhelming in +numbers, exulting in victory, swept forward to the call of the trumpets. +</p> + +<p> +"They're not more than five or six hundred over there," said Warner, +"too few to put up a fight against us. I feel sorry for 'em, and wish +they'd go away." +</p> + +<p> +The Southerners nevertheless were sweeping the narrow bridge with a +heavy rifle fire, and Sheridan drew back his men for a few minutes. +Then followed a series of mighty splashes, as two West Virginia +regiments sent their horses into the river, swam it, and, as they +emerged dripping on the farther shore, charged the little Confederate +force in flank, compelling it to retreat so swiftly that it left behind +prisoners and its wagons. +</p> + +<p> +It was all over in a few minutes, and the whole army, crossing the +river, moved steadily on toward Staunton, where Early had been in camp, +and where Sheridan hoped to find him. The little victory did not bring +Dick any joy. He knew that the Confederacy could now make no stand in +the Valley of Virginia, and it was like beating down those who were +already beaten. He sincerely hoped that Early would not await them at +Staunton or anywhere else, but would take his futile forces out of the +valley and join Lee. +</p> + +<p> +The heavy rains began again. Winter was breaking up and its transition +into spring was accompanied by floods. The last snow on the mountains +melted and rushed down in torrents. The roads, already ruined by war, +became vast ruts of mud, but Sheridan was never daunted by physical +obstacles. The great army of cavalry, scarcely slacking speed, pressed +forward continually, and Dick knew that Early did not have the shadow +of a chance to withstand such an army. +</p> + +<p> +The next day they entered Staunton, another of the neat little Virginia +cities devoted solidly and passionately to the Southern cause. Here, +they were faced again by blind doors and windows, but Early and his +force were gone. Shepard brought news that he had prepared for a stand +at Waynesborough, although he had only two thousand men. +</p> + +<p> +"Our general will attack him at once," said Warner, when he heard of +it. "He sweeps like a hurricane." +</p> + +<p> +"He is surely the general for us at such a time," said Pennington, who +began to feel himself a military authority. +</p> + +<p> +"It's humane, at least," said Dick. "The quicker it's over the smaller +the toll of ruin and death." +</p> + +<p> +Nor had they judged Sheridan wrongly. His men advanced with speed, +hunting Early, and they found him fortified with his scanty forces on a +ridge near the little town of Waynesborough. The daring young leader, +Custer, and Colonel Winchester, riding forward, found his flank +exposed, and it was enough for Sheridan. He formed his plan with +rapidity and executed it with precision. The Custer and Winchester men +were dismounted and assailed the exposed flank at once, while the +remainder of the army made a direct and violent charge in front. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to Dick that Early was swept away in an instant, and the +attack was so swift and overwhelming that there was but little loss of +life on either side. Four fifths of the Southern men and their cannon +were captured, while Early, several of his generals and a few hundred +soldiers escaped to the woods. His army, however, had ceased to exist, +and Sheridan and his muddy victors rode on to the ancient town of +Charlottesville, which, having no forces to defend it, the mayor and +the leading citizens surrendered. +</p> + +<p> +Dick, Warner and Pennington walked through the silent halls of the +University of Virginia, the South's most famous institution of +learning, founded by Thomas Jefferson, one of the republic's greatest +men. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope they will re-open it next year," said Warner generously, "and +that it will grow and grow, until it becomes a rival of Harvard. We +want to defeat the South, but not to destroy it. Since it is to be a +part of the Union again, and loyal forever I hope and believe, we want +it strong and prosperous." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm with you in that," said Dick, "and I feel it with particular +strength while I am here. There have been many great Virginians and I +hope there'll be many more." +</p> + +<p> +They also visited Monticello, the famous colonial mansion which the +great Jefferson had built, and in which he had lived and planned for +the republic. They trod there with light steps, feeling that his +spirit was still present. Virginia was the greatest of the border +states, but it seemed to Dick that here he was in the very heart of the +South. Virginia was the greatest of the Southern fighting states too, +and it had furnished most of the great Southern leaders, at least two +of her sons ranking among the foremost military geniuses of modern +times. For nearly four years they had barred the way to every Northern +advance, and had won great victories over numbers, but Dick was sure as +he stood on a portico at Monticello, in the very heart of valiant +Virginia, that the fate of the South was sealed. +</p> + +<p> +They did not stay long at Charlottesville and Monticello, but a portion +of the army, including the Winchester men, went on, tearing up the +railroad, while another column demolished a canal used for military +purposes. Then the two forces united at a town called New Market, but +they could go no farther. The heavy rains and the melting snows had +swollen the rivers enormously, all the bridges before them were +destroyed, and their own pontoons proved inadequate in face of the +great rushing streams. Then they turned back. +</p> + +<p> +Dick and his comrades were secretly glad. The rising of the waters had +prevented them from going into North Carolina and joining Sherman. +Hence, they deduced that so active a man as Sheridan would march for a +junction with Grant, and that was where they wanted to go. They did +not believe that the Confederacy was to be finished in North Carolina, +but at Richmond. They knew that Lee's army yet stood between Grant and +the Southern capital, and, there, would be the heart of great affairs. +</p> + +<p> +Spring was now opening and Sheridan's army marched eastward. Men and +horses were covered with mud, but they still had the flush of victories +won, and the incentive of others expected. They were even yet worn by +hard marching and some fighting, but it was a healthy leanness, making +their muscles as tough as whipcord, while their eyes were keen like +those of hawks. +</p> + +<p> +Dick did not rejoice now in the work they were doing, although he saw +its need. Theirs was a task of destruction. For a distance of more +than fifty miles they ruined a canal important to the Confederacy. +Boats, locks, everything went, and they also made cuts by which the +swollen James poured into the canal, flooding it and thrusting it out +of its banks. They met no resistance save a few distant shots, and +Sheridan rejoiced over his plan to join the Army of the Potomac, +although he had not yet been able to send word of it to Grant. +</p> + +<p> +But the omens remained propitious. They saw now that there were no +walls in the rear of the Confederacy and they had little to do but +march. The heavy rains followed them, roads disappeared, and it seemed +to the young captains that they lived in eternal showers of mud. +Horses and riders alike were caked with it, and they ceased to make any +effort to clean themselves. +</p> + +<p> +"This is not a white army," said Warner, looking down a long column, +"it's brown, although it would be hard to name the shade of brown." +</p> + +<p> +"It's not always brown," said Pennington. "Lots of the Virginia mud is +a rich, ripe red. Bet you anything that before tomorrow night we will +have turned to some hue of scarlet." +</p> + +<p> +"We won't take the wager," said Dick, "because you bet on a certainty." +</p> + +<p> +That afternoon the scouts surprised a telegraph station on the +railroad, and found in it a dispatch from General Early. To the great +amazement of Sheridan, Early was not far away. He had only two hundred +men, but with them the grim old fighter prepared to attack the Union +army. Sheridan himself felt a certain pity for his desperate opponent, +but he promptly sent Custer in search of him. The young cavalryman +quickly found him and scattered or captured the entire band. +</p> + +<p> +Early escaped from the fight with a lone orderly as his comrade, and +the next day the general who had lost all through no fault of his own, +rode into Richmond with his single companion, and from him Jefferson +Davis, President of the Confederacy, heard the full tale of Southern +disaster in the Valley of Virginia. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Sheridan and his victorious army rode on to a place called +White House, where they found plenty of stores, and where they halted +for a long rest, and also to secure new mounts, if they could. Their +horses were worn out completely by the great campaign and were wholly +unfit for further service. But it was hard to obtain fresh ones and +the delay was longer than the general had intended. Nevertheless his +troops profited by it. They had not realized until they stopped how +near they too had come to utter exhaustion, and for several days they +were in a kind of physical torpor while their strength came back +gradually. +</p> + +<p> +"I think I've removed the last trace of the Virginia mud from my +clothes and myself," said Warner on the morning of the second day, "but +I've had to work hard to do it, as time seemed to have made it almost a +part of my being." +</p> + +<p> +"I've spent most of my time learning to walk again, and getting the +bows out of my legs," said Dick. "I've been a-horse so long that I +felt like a sailor coming ashore from a three years' cruise." +</p> + +<p> +"Agreed with me pretty well, all except the mud, since I was born on +horseback," said Pennington. "But I don't like to ride in a brown +plaster suit of armor. What do you think is ahead, boys?" +</p> + +<p> +"Junction with General Grant," said Dick. "They say, also, that +General Sherman, after completing his great work in Georgia and North +Carolina, is coming to join them too. It will be a great meeting, that +of the three successful generals who have destroyed the Confederacy, +because there's nothing of it left now but Lee's army, and that they +say is mighty small." +</p> + +<p> +It was in reality a triumphant march that they began after they left +White House, refreshed, remounted and ready for new conquests. They +soon came into touch with the Army of the Potomac, and the great +meeting between Grant, Sherman and Sheridan took place, Sherman having +come north especially for the purpose. Then Sheridan's force became +attached to the Army of the Potomac, and his cavalry columns advanced +into the marshes about Petersburg. All fear that they would be sent to +cooperate with Sherman passed, and Dick knew that the Winchester men +would be in the final struggle with Lee, a struggle the success of +which he felt assured. +</p> + +<p> +April was not far away. The fierce winter was broken up completely, +but the spring rains were uncommonly heavy and much of the low country +about Petersburg was flooded, making it difficult for cavalry and +impossible for infantry. Nevertheless the army of Grant, with Sheridan +now as a striking arm, began to close in on the beleaguered men in +gray. Lee had held the trenches before Petersburg many months, keeping +at bay a resolute and powerful army, led by an able and tenacious +general, but it was evident now that he could not continue to hold +them. Sheridan's victorious force on his flank made it impossible. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchester men were in a skirmish or two, but for a few days most +of their work was maneuvering, that is, they were continually riding in +search of better positions. At times, the rain still poured, but the +three young captains were so full of expectancy that they scarcely +noticed it. Dick often heard the trumpets singing across the marshes, +and now and then he saw the Confederate skirmishers and the roofs of +Petersburg. He beheld too with his own eyes the circle of steel +closing about the last hope of the Confederacy, and he felt every day, +with increasing strength, that the end was near. +</p> + +<p> +But the outside world did not realize that the great war was to close +so suddenly. It had raged with the utmost violence for four years and +it seemed the normal condition in America. Huge battles had been +fought, and they had ended in nothing. Three years before, McClellan +had been nearer to Richmond than Grant now was, and yet he had been +driven away. Lee and Jackson had won brilliant victories or had held +the Union numbers to a draw, and to those looking from far away the end +seemed as distant as ever. At that very moment, they were saying in +Europe that the Confederacy was invincible, and that it was stronger +than it had been a year or two years earlier. +</p> + +<p> +Dick, all unconscious of distant opinion, watched the tightening of the +steel belt, and helped in the task. He and his comrades never doubted. +They knew that Sherman had crushed the Southeast, and that Thomas, that +stern old Rock of Chickamauga, had annihilated the Southern army of +Hood at Nashville. Dick was glad that the triumph there had gone to +Thomas, whom he always held in the greatest respect and admiration. +</p> + +<p> +He often saw Grant in those days, a silent, resolute man, thinner than +of old and stooped a little with care and responsibility. Dick, like +the others, felt with all the power of conviction that Grant would +never go back, and Shepard, who had entered Petersburg twice at the +imminent risk of his life, assured him that Lee's force was wearing +away. There was left only a fraction of the great Army of Northern +Virginia that had fought so brilliantly at Chancellorsville, +Gettysburg, the Wilderness and on many another battlefield. +</p> + +<p> +"Only we who are here and who can see with our own eyes know what is +about to happen," said the spy. "Even our own Northern states, so long +deluded by false hopes, can't yet believe, but we know." +</p> + +<p> +"Did you hear anything of the Invincibles when you were in Petersburg?" +asked Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"I heard of them, and I also saw them, although they did not know I was +near. I suppose Harry Kenton could scarcely have contained himself had +he known it was my sister who filched that map from the Curtis house in +Richmond and that it was to me she gave it." +</p> + +<p> +"But he was all right? He escaped unhurt from the Valley?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, or if he took a hurt it was but a slight one, from which he soon +recovered. He and his comrades, Dalton, St. Clair and Langdon, and the +two Colonels, Talbot and St. Hilaire, are back with Lee, and they've +organized another regiment called the Invincibles, which Talbot and St. +Hilaire lead, although your cousin and Dalton are on Lee's staff again." +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose we'll come face to face again, and this time at the very +last," said Dick. "I hope they'll be reasonable about it, and won't +insist on fighting until they're all killed. Have you heard anything +of those two robbers and murderers, Slade and Skelly?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not a thing. But I didn't expect it. They'd never leave the +mountains. Instead they'll go farther into 'em." +</p> + +<p> +That night many messengers rode with dispatches, and the lines of the +Northern army were tightened. Dick saw all the signs that portended a +great movement, signs with which he had long since grown familiar. The +big batteries were pushed forward, and heavy masses of infantry were +moved closer to the Confederate trenches. He felt quite sure that the +final grapple was at hand. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap16"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVI +</h3> + +<h3> +THE CLOSING DAYS +</h3> + +<p> +Within the Southern lines and just beyond the range of the Northern +guns, two men sat playing chess. They were elderly, gray and thin, but +never had the faces of the two colonels been more defiant. With the +Confederacy crumbling about them it was characteristic of both that +they should show no despair, if in truth they felt it. Their +confidence in Lee was sublime. He could still move mountains, although +he had no tools with which to move them, and the younger officers, mere +boys many of them, would come back to them again and again for +encouragement. Spies had brought word that Grant, after nine months of +waiting, and with Sheridan and a huge cavalry force on his flank, was +about to make his great attack. But the dauntless souls of Colonel +Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant Colonel Hector St. Hilaire remained +unmoved. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad the rains are apparently about to cease, Hector," said +Colonel Talbot. "When the ground grows firmer it will give General Lee +a chance to make one of his great circling swoops, and rout the Yankee +army." +</p> + +<p> +"So it will, Leonidas. We've been waiting for it a long time, but the +chance is here at last. We've had enough of the trenches. It's a +monotonous life at best. Ah, I take your pawn, the one for which I've +been lying in ambush more than a month." +</p> + +<p> +"But that pawn dies in a good cause, Hector. When he fell, he +uncovered the path to your remaining knight, as a dozen more moves will +show you. What is it, Harry?" +</p> + +<p> +Harry Kenton, thin, but hardy and strong, saluted. +</p> + +<p> +"We have news, sir," he replied, "that the portion of the Union army +under General Sheridan is moving. I bring you a dispatch from General +Lee to march and meet them. Other regiments, of course, will go with +you." +</p> + +<p> +They put away the chessmen and with St. Clair and Langdon marshaled the +troops in line of battle. Harry felt a sinking of the heart when he +saw how thin their ranks were, but the valiant colonels made no +complaint. Then he went back to General Lee, whose manner was calm in +face of the storm that was so obviously impending. The information had +come that Grant and the bulk of his army were marching to the attack on +the White Oak road, and, if he broke through there, nothing could save +the Army of Northern Virginia. +</p> + +<p> +Harry, after taking the dispatch to the Invincibles, carried orders to +another regiment, while Dalton was engaged on similar errands. It was +obvious to him that Lee was gathering his men for a great effort, and +his heart sank. There was not much to gather. Throughout all that +long autumn and winter the Army of Northern Virginia had disintegrated +steadily. Nobody came to take the place of the slain, the wounded and +the sick. All the regiments were skeletons. Many of them could not +muster a hundred men apiece. +</p> + +<p> +But Harry saw no sign of discouragement on the face of the chief whom +he respected and admired so much. Lee was thinner and his hair was +whiter, but his figure was as erect and vigorous as ever, and his face +retained its ruddy color. Yet he knew the odds against him. Grant +outside his works mustered a hundred thousand trained fighters, not raw +levies, and the seasoned Army of the Potomac, that had persisted alike +through victory and defeat, and proof now against any adversity, saw +its prize almost in its hand. And the worn veterans whom the Southern +leader could marshal against Grant were not one third his numbers. +</p> + +<p> +The orderly who usually brought Lee's horse was missing on another +errand, and Harry himself was proud to bring Traveler. The general was +absorbed in deep thought, and he did not notice until he was in the +saddle who held the bridle. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, it is you, Lieutenant Kenton!" he said. "You are always where you +are needed. You have been a good soldier." +</p> + +<p> +Harry flushed deeply with pleasure at such a compliment from such a +source. +</p> + +<p> +"I've tried to do my best, sir," he replied modestly. +</p> + +<p> +"No one can do any more. You and Mr. Dalton keep close to me. We must +go and deal with those people, once more." +</p> + +<p> +His calm, steady tones brought Harry's courage back. To the young +hero-worshiper Lee himself was at least fifty thousand men, and even +with his scanty numbers he would pluck victory from the very heart of +defeat. +</p> + +<p> +There could no longer be any possible doubt that Grant was about to +attack, and Lee made his dispositions rapidly. While he led the bulk +of his army in person to battle, Longstreet was left to face the army +north of the James, while Gordon at the head of Ewell's old corps stood +in front of Petersburg. Then Lee turned away to the right with less +than twenty thousand men to meet Grant, and fortified himself along the +White Oak Road. Here he waited for the Union general, who had not yet +brought up his masses, but Harry and Dalton felt quite sure that +despite the disparity of numbers Lee was the one who would attack. It +had been so all through the war, and they knew that in the offensive +lay the best defensive. The event soon proved that they read their +general's mind aright. +</p> + +<p> +It was the last day of March when Lee suddenly gave the order for his +gaunt veterans to advance, and they obeyed without faltering. The +rains had ceased, a bright sun was shining, and the Southern trumpets +sang the charge as bravely as at the Second Manassas or +Chancellorsville. They had only two thousand cavalry on their flank, +under Fitz Lee, but the veteran infantry advanced with steadiness and +precision. Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant Colonel Hector St. +Hilaire were on foot now, having lost their horses long since, but, +waving their small swords, they walked dauntlessly at the head of their +little regiment, St. Clair and Langdon, a bit farther back, showing +equal courage. +</p> + +<p> +The speed of the Southern charge increased and they were met at first +by only a scattering fire. The Northern generals, not expecting Lee to +move out of his works, were surprised. Before they could take the +proper precautions Lee was upon them and once more the rebel yell that +had swelled in victory on so many fields rang out in triumph. The +front lines of the men in blue were driven in, then whole brigades were +thrown back, and Harry felt a wild thrill of delight when he beheld +success where success had not seemed possible. +</p> + +<p> +He saw near him the Invincibles charging home, and the two colonels +still waving their swords as they led them, and he saw also the worn +faces of the veterans about him suffused once more with the fire of +battle. He watched with glowing eyes as the fierce charge drove the +Northern masses back farther and farther. +</p> + +<p> +But the Union leaders, though taken by surprise, did not permit +themselves and their troops to fall into a panic. They had come too +far and had fought too many battles to lose the prize at the very last +moment. Their own trumpets sounded on a long line, calling back the +regiments and brigades. Although the South had gained much ground +Harry saw that the resistance was hardening rapidly. Grant and +Sheridan were pouring in their masses. Heavy columns of infantry +gathered in their front, and Sheridan's numerous and powerful cavalry +began to cut away their flanks. The Southern advance became slow and +then ceased entirely. +</p> + +<p> +Harry felt again that dreadful sinking of the heart. Leadership, valor +and sacrifice were of no avail, when they were faced by leadership, +valor and sacrifice also added to overwhelming numbers. +</p> + +<p> +The battle was long and fierce, the men in gray throwing away their +lives freely in charge after charge, but they were gradually borne +back. Lee showed all his old skill and generalship, marshaling his men +with coolness and precision, but Grant and Sheridan would not be +denied. They too were cool and skillful, and when night came the +Southern army was driven back at all points, although it had displayed +a valor never surpassed in any of the great battles of the war. But +Lee's face had not yet shown any signs of despair, when he gathered his +men again in his old works. +</p> + +<p> +It was to Harry, however, one of the gloomiest nights that he had ever +known. As a staff officer, he knew the desperate position of the +Southern force, and his heart was very heavy within him. He saw across +the swamps and fields the innumerable Northern campfires, and he heard +the Northern bugles calling to one another in the dusk. But as the +night advanced and he had duties to do his courage rose once more. +Since their great commander-in-chief was steady and calm he would try +to be so too. +</p> + +<p> +The opposing sentinels were very close to one another in the dark and +as usual they often talked. Harry, as he went on one errand or +another, heard them sometimes, but he never interfered, knowing that +nothing was to be gained by stopping them. Deep in the night, when he +was passing through a small wood very close to the Union lines, a +figure rose up before him. It was so dark that he did not know the man +at first, but at the second look he recognized him. +</p> + +<p> +"Shepard!" he exclaimed. "You here!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Mr. Kenton," replied the spy, "it's Shepard, and you will not try +to harm me. Why should you at such a moment? I am within the +Confederate lines for the last time." +</p> + +<p> +"So, you mean to give up your trade?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's going to give me up. Chance has made you and me antagonists, Mr. +Kenton, but our own little war, as well as the great war in which we +both fight, is about over. I will not come within the Southern lines +again because there is no need for me to do so. In a few days there +will be no Southern lines. Don't think that I'm trying to exult over +you, but remember what I told you four years ago in Montgomery. The +South has made a great and wonderful fight, but it was never possible +for her to win." +</p> + +<p> +"We are not beaten yet, Mr. Shepard." +</p> + +<p> +"No, but you will be. I suppose you'll fight to the last, but the end +is sure as the rising of tomorrow's sun. We have generals now who +can't be driven back." +</p> + +<p> +Harry was silent because he had no answer to make, and Shepard resumed: +</p> + +<p> +"I'm willing to tell you, Mr. Kenton, that your cousin, Mr. Mason, a +captain now, is here with General Sheridan, and that he went through +today's battle uninjured." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm glad at any rate that Dick is now a captain." +</p> + +<p> +"He has earned the rank. He is my good friend, as I hope you will be +after the war." +</p> + +<p> +"I see no reason why we shouldn't. You've served the North in your own +way and I've served the South in mine. I want to say to you, Mr. +Shepard, that if in our long personal struggle I held any malice +against you it's all gone now, and I hope that you hold none against +me." +</p> + +<p> +"I never felt any. Good-by!" +</p> + +<p> +"Good-by!" +</p> + +<p> +Shepard was gone so quickly and with so little noise that he seemed to +vanish in the air, and Harry turned back to his work, resolved not to +believe the man's assertion that the war was over. He slept a little, +and so did Dalton, but both were awake, when a red dawn came alive with +the crash of cannon and rifles. +</p> + +<p> +Shepard had spoken truly, when he said that the North now had generals +who would not be driven back. Nor would they cease to attack. As soon +as the light was sufficient, Grant and Sheridan began to press Lee with +all their might. Pickett, who had led the great charge at Gettysburg, +and Johnson, who held a place called Five Forks, were assailed fiercely +by overpowering numbers, and, despite a long and desperate resistance, +their command was cut in pieces and the fragments scattered, leaving +Lee's right flank uncovered. +</p> + +<p> +The day, like the one before it, ended in defeat and confusion, and, at +the next dawn, Grant, silent, tenacious, came anew to the attack, his +dense columns now assailing the front before Petersburg, and carrying +the trenches that had held them so long. The thin Confederate lines +there fought in vain to hold them, but the Union brigades, exultant and +cheering, burst through everything, flung aside those of their foes +whom they did not overthrow, and advanced toward the city. Here fell +the famous Lieutenant General A. P. Hill, a man of frail body and +valiant soul, beloved of Lee and the whole army. +</p> + +<p> +The next noon came, somber to Harry beyond all description. The +youngest officer knew that while General Lee was still in Petersburg he +could no longer hold it, and that they were nearly surrounded by the +victorious and powerful Union host. The break in the lines had been +made just after sunrise, and had been widened in the later hours of the +morning. Now there was a momentary lull in the firing, but the lifting +clouds of smoke enabled them to see vast masses of men in blue +advancing and already in the suburbs of the town. +</p> + +<p> +Lee's headquarters were about a mile and a half west of Petersburg, +where he stood on a lawn and watched the progress of the combat. +Nearly opposite him was a tall observatory that the Union men had +erected, and from its summit the Northern generals also were watching. +Harry and Dalton stood near Lee, awaiting with others his call, and +every detail he saw that day always remained impressed upon Harry +Kenton's mind. +</p> + +<p> +He intently watched his general. Feeling that the Southern army was so +near destruction he thought that the face of Lee would show agitation. +But it was not so. His calm and grave demeanor was unchanged. He was +in full uniform of fine gray, and had even buckled to his belt his +dress sword which he seldom carried. It was told of him that he said +that morning if he were compelled to surrender he would do so in his +best. But he had not yet given up hope. +</p> + +<p> +Harry turned his eyes away from Lee to the enemy. Without the aid of +glasses now, he saw the great columns in blue advancing, preceded by a +tremendous fire of artillery that filled the air with bursting shells. +The infantry themselves were advancing with the bayonet, the sunlight +gleaming on the polished metal. As far as he could see the ring of +fire and steel extended. One heavy column was advancing toward the +very lawn on which they stood. +</p> + +<p> +"Looks as if they were going to trample us under foot," said Dalton. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, but the general may still find a way out of it," said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +"They are still coming," said Dalton. +</p> + +<p> +The shells were bursting about them and bullets too soon began to +strike upon the lawn. A battery that sought to drive back the +advancing column was exposed to such a heavy fire that it was compelled +to limber up and retreat. The officers urged Lee to withdraw and at +length, mounting Traveler, he rode back slowly and deliberately to his +inner line. Harry often wondered what his feelings were on that day, +but whatever they were his face expressed nothing. When he stopped in +his new position he said to one of his staff, but without raising his +voice: +</p> + +<p> +"This is a bad business, colonel." +</p> + +<p> +Harry heard him say a little later to another officer: +</p> + +<p> +"Well, colonel, it has happened as I told them it would at Richmond. +The line has stretched until it has broken." +</p> + +<p> +But the general and his staff were not permitted to remain long at +their second stop. The Union columns never ceased to press the +shattered Southern army. Their great artillery, served with the +rapidity and accuracy that had marked it all through the war, poured +showers of shell and grape and canister upon the thin ranks in gray, +and the rifles were close enough to add their own stream of missiles to +the irresistible fire. +</p> + +<p> +Harry was in great fear for his general. It seemed as if the Northern +gunners had recognized him and his staff. Perhaps they knew his famous +war horse, Traveler, as he rode slowly away, but in any event, the +shells began to strike on all sides of the little group. One burst +just behind Lee. Another killed the horse of an officer close to him, +and the bursting fragments inflicted slight wounds upon members of the +staff. Lee, for the first time, showed emotion. Looking back over his +shoulder his eyes blazed, and his cheeks flushed. Harry knew that he +wished to turn and order a charge, but there was nothing with which to +charge, and, withdrawing his gaze from the threatening artillery, he +rode steadily on. +</p> + +<p> +The general's destination now was an earthwork in the suburbs of the +city, manned by a reserve force, small but ardent and defiant. It +welcomed Lee and his staff with resounding cheers, and Harry's heart +sprang up again. Here, at least, was confidence, and as they rode +behind them the guns replied fiercely to the advancing Northern +batteries, checking them for a little while, and giving the retreating +troops a chance to rest. +</p> + +<p> +Now came a lull in the fighting, but Harry knew well that it was only a +lull. Presently Grant and Sheridan would press harder than ever. They +were fully aware of the condition of the Southern army, its smallness +and exhaustion, and they would never cease to hurl upon it their +columns of cavalry and infantry, and to rake it with the numerous +batteries of great guns, served so well. Once more his heart sank low, +as he thought of what the next night might bring forth. He knew that +General Lee had sent in the morning a messenger to the capital with the +statement that Petersburg could be held no longer and that he would +retreat in the night. +</p> + +<p> +Every effort was made to gather the remaining portion of the Southern +army into one strong, cohesive body. Longstreet, at the order of Lee, +left his position north of the James River, while Gordon took charge of +the lines to the east of Petersburg. It was when they gathered for +this last stand that Harry realized fully how many of the great +Confederate officers were gone. It was here that he first heard of the +death of A. P. Hill, of whom he had seen so much at Gettysburg. And he +choked as he thought of Stonewall Jackson, Jeb Stuart, Turner Ashby and +all the long roll of the illustrious fallen, who were heroes to him. +</p> + +<p> +The Northern infantry and cavalry did not charge now, but the cannon +continued their work. Battery after battery poured its fire upon the +earthworks, although the men there, sheltered by the trenches, did not +suffer so much for the present. +</p> + +<p> +Harry found time to look up his friends, and discovered the Invincibles +in a single trench, about sixty of them left, but all showing a +cheerfulness, extraordinary in such a situation. It was characteristic +of both Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire that they +should present a bolder front, the more desperate their case. Nor were +the younger officers less assured. Captain Arthur St. Clair was +carefully dusting from his clothing dirt that had been thrown there by +bursting shells, and Lieutenant Thomas Langdon was contemplating with +satisfaction the track of a bullet that had gone through his left +sleeve without touching the arm. +</p> + +<p> +"The sight of you is welcome, Harry," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot in +even tones. "It is pleasant to know at such a time that one's friend +is alive, because the possibilities are always against it. Still, +Harry, I've always felt that you bear a charmed life, and so do St. +Clair and Langdon. Tell me, is it true that we evacuate Petersburg +tonight?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's no secret, sir. The orders have been issued and we do." +</p> + +<p> +"If we must go, we must, and it's no time for repining. Well, the town +has been defended long and valiantly against overwhelming numbers. If +we lose it, we lose with glory. It can never be said of the South that +we were not as brave and tenacious as any people that ever lived." +</p> + +<p> +"The Northern armies that fight us will be the first to give us that +credit, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"That is true. Soldiers who have tested the mettle of one another on +innumerable desperate fields do not bear malice and are always ready to +acknowledge the merits of the foe. Ah, see how closely that shell +burst to us! And another! And a third! And a fourth! Hector, you +read the message, do you not?" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly, Leonidas, it's as plain as print to you and me. John +Carrington—good old John! honest old John!—is now in command of that +group of batteries on the right. He has been in charge of guns +elsewhere, and has been suddenly shifted to this point. The great +increase in volume and accuracy of fire proves it." +</p> + +<p> +"Right, Hector! He's as surely there as we are here. The voice of +those cannon is the voice of John Carrington. Well, if we're to be +crushed I prefer for good old John to do it." +</p> + +<p> +"But we're not crushed, Leonidas. We'll go out of Petersburg tonight, +beating off every attack of the enemy, and then if we can't hold +Richmond we'll march into North Carolina, gather together all the +remaining forces of the Confederacy, and, directed by the incomparable +genius of our great commander, we'll yet win the victory." +</p> + +<p> +"Right, Hector! Right! Pardon me my moment of depression, but it was +only a moment, remember, and it will not occur again. The loss of a +capital—even if it should come to that—does not necessarily mean the +loss of a cause. Among the hills and mountains of North Carolina we +can hold out forever." +</p> + +<p> +Harry was cheered by them, but he did not fully share their hopes and +beliefs. +</p> + +<p> +"Aren't they two of the greatest men you've ever known?" whispered St. +Clair to him. +</p> + +<p> +"If honesty and grandeur of soul make greatness they surely are," +replied Harry feelingly. +</p> + +<p> +He returned now to his general's side, and watched the great +bombardment. Scores of guns in a vast half circle were raining shells +upon the slender Confederate lines. The blaze was continuous on a long +front, and huge clouds of smoke gathered above. Harry believed that +the entire Union army would move forward and attack their works, but +the charge did not come. Evidently Grant remembered Cold Harbor, and, +feeling that his enemy was in his grasp, he refrained from useless +sacrifices. +</p> + +<p> +Another terrible night, lighted up by the flash of cannon and +thundering with the crash of the batteries came, and Lee, collecting +his army of less than twenty thousand men, moved out of Petersburg. It +tore Harry's heart to leave the city, where they had held Grant at bay +so long, but he knew the necessity. They could not live another day +under that concentrated and awful fire. They might stay and surrender +or retreat and fight again, and valiant souls would surely choose the +latter. +</p> + +<p> +The march began just after twilight turned to night, and the darkness +and clouds of skirmishers hid it from the enemy. They crossed the +Appomattox, and then advanced on the Hickory road on the north side of +the river. General Lee stood on foot, but with the bridle of Traveler +in his hand and his staff about him, at the entrance to the road, and +watched the troops as they marched past. +</p> + +<p> +His composure and steadiness seemed to Harry as great as ever, and his +voice never broke, as he spoke now and then to the marching men. Nor +was the spirit of the men crushed. Again and again they cheered as +they saw the strong figure of the gray commander who had led them so +often to victory. Nor were they shaken by the booming of the cannon +behind them, nor by the tremendous crashes that marked the explosions +of the magazines in Petersburg. +</p> + +<p> +When the last soldier had passed, General Lee and his staff mounted +their horses and followed the army in the dusk and gloom. Behind them +lofty fires shed a glaring light over fallen Petersburg. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap17"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVII +</h3> + +<h3> +APPOMATTOX +</h3> + +<p> +The morning after Lee's retreat the Winchester regiment rode into +Petersburg and looked curiously at the smoldering fires and what was +left of the town. They had been before it so long it seemed almost +incredible to Dick Mason that they were in it now. But the Southern +leader and his army were not yet taken. They were gone, and they still +existed as a fighting power. +</p> + +<p> +"We have Petersburg at last," he said, "but it's only a scorched and +empty shell." +</p> + +<p> +"We've more than that," said Warner. +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean?" +</p> + +<p> +"We've Richmond, too. The capital of the Confederacy, inviolate for +four years, has fallen, and our troops have entered it. Jefferson +Davis, his government and its garrison have fled, burning the army +buildings and stores as they went. A part of the city was burned also, +but our troops helped to put out the fires and saved the rest. Dick, +do you realize it? Do you understand that we have captured the city +over which we have fought for four years, and which has cost more than +a half million lives?" +</p> + +<p> +Dick was silent, because he had no answer to make. Neither he nor +Warner nor Pennington could yet comprehend it fully. They had talked +often of the end of the war, they had looked forward to the great +event, they had hoped for the taking of Richmond, but now that it was +taken it scarcely seemed real. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell it over, George," he said, "was it Richmond you were speaking of, +and did you say that it was taken?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Dick, and it's the truth. Of course it doesn't look like it to +you or to me or to Frank, but it's a fact. Today or tomorrow we may go +there and see it with our own eyes, and then if we don't believe the +sight we can read an account of it in the newspapers." +</p> + +<p> +It was a process of saturation, but in the next hour or two they +believed it and understood it fully. On the following day they rode +into the desolate and partly burned capital, now garrisoned heavily by +the North, and looked with curiosity at the little city for which such +torrents of blood had been shed. But as at Winchester and Petersburg, +they gazed upon blind doors and windows. Nor did they expect anything +else. It was only natural, and they refrained carefully from any +outward show of exultation. +</p> + +<p> +Richmond was to hold them only a few hours, as Grant and Sheridan +continued hot on the trail of Lee. They knew that he was marching +along the Appomattox, intending to concentrate at Amelia Court House, +and they were resolved that he should not escape. Sheridan's cavalry, +with the Winchester regiment in the van, advanced swiftly and began to +press hard upon the retreating army. The firing was almost continuous. +Many prisoners and five guns were taken, but at the crossing of a creek +near nightfall the men in gray, still resolute, turned and beat off +their assailants for the time. +</p> + +<p> +The pursuit was resumed before the next daylight, and both Grant and +Sheridan pressed it with the utmost severity. In the next few days +Dick felt both pity and sympathy for the little army that was defending +itself so valiantly against extermination or capture. It was almost +like the chase of a fox now, and the hounds were always growing in +number and power. +</p> + +<p> +The Northern cavalry spread out and formed a great net. The Southern +communications were cut off, their scouts were taken, and all the +provision trains intended for Lee were captured. The prisoners +reported that the Southern army was starving, and the condition of +their own bodies proved the truth of their words. As Dick looked upon +these ragged and famished men his feeling of pity increased, and he +sincerely hoped that the hour of Lee's surrender would be hastened. +</p> + +<p> +During these days and most of the nights too Dick lived in the saddle. +Once more he and his comrades were clothed in the Virginia mud, and all +the time the Winchester regiment brought in prisoners or wagons. They +knew now that Lee was seeking to turn toward the South and effect a +junction with Johnston in North Carolina, but Dick, his thoughts being +his own, did not see how it was possible. When the Confederacy began +to fall it fell fast. It was only after they passed through Richmond +that he saw how frail the structure had become, and how its supporting +timbers had been shot away. It was great cause of wonder to him that +Lee should still be able to hold out, and to fight off cavalry raids, +as he was doing. +</p> + +<p> +And the Army of Northern Virginia, although but a fragment, was +dangerous. In these its last hours, reduced almost to starvation and +pitiful in numbers, it fought with a courage and tenacity worthy of its +greatest days. It gave to Lee a devotion that would have melted a +heart of stone. Whenever he commanded, it turned fiercely upon its +remorseless pursuers, and compelled them to give ground for a time. +But when it sought to march on again the cavalry of Sheridan and the +infantry of Grant followed closely once more, continually cutting off +the fringe of the dwindling army. +</p> + +<p> +Dick saw Lee himself on a hill near Sailor's Creek, as Sheridan pressed +forward against him. The gray leader had turned. The troops of Ewell +and Anderson were gathered at the edge of a forest, and other infantry +masses stood near. Lee on Traveler sat just in front of them, and was +surveying the enemy through his glasses. Dick used his own glasses, +and he looked long, and with the most intense curiosity, mingled with +admiration, at the Lion of the South, whom they were about to bring to +the ground. The sun was just setting, and Lee was defined sharply +against the red blaze. Dick saw his features, his gray hair, and he +could imagine the defiant blaze of his eyes. It was an unforgettable +picture, the one drawn there by circumstances at the closing of an era. +</p> + +<p> +Then he took notice of a figure, also on horseback, not far behind Lee, +a youthful figure, the face thin and worn, none other than his cousin, +Harry Kenton. Dick's heart took a glad leap. Harry still rode with +his chief, and Dick's belief that he would survive the war was almost +justified. +</p> + +<p> +Then followed a scattering fire to which sunset and following darkness +put an end, and once more the Southern leader retreated, with Sheridan +and his cavalry forever at his heels, giving him no rest, keeping food +from reaching him, and capturing more of his men. The wounded lion +turned again, and, in a fierce attack drove back Sheridan and his men, +but, when the battle closed, and Lee resumed his march, Sheridan was at +his heels as before, seeking to pull him down, and refusing to be +driven off. +</p> + +<p> +Grant also dispatched Custer in a cavalry raid far around Lee, and the +daring young leader not only seized the last wagon train that could +possibly reach the Confederate commander, but also captured twenty-five +of his guns that had been sent on ahead. Dick knew now that the end, +protracted as it had been by desperate courage, was almost at hand, and +that not even a miracle could prevent it. +</p> + +<p> +The column with which he rode was almost continually in sight of the +Army of Northern Virginia, and the field guns never ceased to pour shot +and shell upon it. The sight was tragic to the last degree, as the +worn men in gray retreated sullenly along the muddy roads, in rags, +blackened with mire, stained with wounds, their horses falling dead of +exhaustion, while the pursuing artillery cut down their ranks. Then +the news of Custer's exploit came to Grant and Sheridan, and the circle +of steel, now complete, closed in on the doomed army. +</p> + +<p> +It was the seventh of April when the Winchester men rested their weary +horses, not far from the headquarters of General Grant, and also gave +their own aching bones and muscles a chance to recover their strength. +Dick, after his food and coffee, watched the general, who was walking +back and forth before his tent. +</p> + +<p> +"He looks expectant," said Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"He has the right to look so," said Warner. "He may have news of +earth-shaking importance." +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean?" +</p> + +<p> +"I know that he sent a messenger to Lee this morning, asking him to +surrender in order to stop the further effusion of blood." +</p> + +<p> +"I wish Lee would accept. The end is inevitable." +</p> + +<p> +"Remember that they don't see with our eyes." +</p> + +<p> +"I know it, George, but the war ought to stop. The Confederacy is gone +forever." +</p> + +<p> +"We shall see what we shall see." +</p> + +<p> +They didn't see, but they heard, which was the same thing. To the +polite request of Grant, Lee sent the polite reply that his means of +resistance were not yet exhausted, and the Union leader took another +hitch in the steel girdle. The second morning afterward, Lee made a +desperate effort to break through at Appomattox Court House, but +crushing numbers drove him back, and when the short fierce combat +ceased, the Army of Northern Virginia had fired its last shot. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchester men had borne a gallant part in the struggle, and +presently when the smoke cleared away Dick uttered a shout. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" exclaimed Colonel Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"A white flag! A white flag!" cried Dick in excitement. "See it +waving over the Southern lines." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, I see it!" shouted the colonel, Warner and Pennington all +together. Then they stood breathless, and Dick uttered the words: +</p> + +<p> +"The end!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Colonel Winchester, more to himself than to the others. +"The end! The end at last!" +</p> + +<p> +Thousands now beheld the flag, and, after the first shouts and cheers, +a deep intense silence followed. The soldiers felt the immensity of +the event, but as at the taking of Richmond, they could not comprehend +it all at once. It yet seemed incredible that the enemy, who for four +terrible years had held them at bay, was about to lay down his arms. +But it was true. The messenger, bearing the flag, was now coming +toward the Union lines. +</p> + +<p> +The herald was received within the Northern ranks, bearing a request +that hostilities be suspended in order that the commanders might have +time to talk over terms of surrender, and, at the same time, General +Grant, who was seven or eight miles from Appomattox Court House in a +pine wood, received a note of a similar tenor, the nature of which he +disclosed to his staff amid much cheering. The Union chief at once +wrote to General Lee: +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="letter"> + Your note of this date is but at this moment (11:50 A. M.) received,<br /> + in consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchburg<br /> + road to the Farmville and Lynchburg road. I am at this writing<br /> + about four miles west of Walker's Church, and will push forward to<br /> + the front for the purpose of meeting you. Notice sent to me on<br /> + this road where you wish the interview to take place will meet me.<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p> +It was a characteristic and modest letter, and yet the heart under the +plain blue blouse must have beat with elation at the knowledge that he +had brought, what was then the greatest war of modern times, to a +successful conclusion. The dispatch was given to Colonel Babcock of +his staff, who was instructed to ride in haste to Lee and arrange the +interview. The general and his staff followed, but missing the way, +narrowly escaped capture by Confederate troops, who did not yet know of +the proposal to suspend hostilities. But they at last reached Sheridan +about a half mile west of Appomattox Court House. +</p> + +<p> +Dick and his comrades meanwhile spent a momentous morning. It would +have been impossible for him afterward to have described his own +feelings, they were such an extraordinary compound of relief, elation, +pity and sympathy. The two armies faced each other, and, for the first +time, in absolute peace. The men in blue were already slipping food +and tobacco to their brethren in gray whom they had fought so long and +so hard, and at many points along the lines they were talking freely +with one another. The officers made no effort to restrain them, all +alike feeling sure that the bayonets would now be rusting. +</p> + +<p> +The Winchester men were dismounted, their horses being tethered in a +grove, and Dick with the colonel, Warner and Pennington were at the +front, eagerly watching the ragged little army that faced them. He saw +soon a small band of soldiers, at the head of whom stood two elderly +men in patched but neat uniforms, their figures very erect, and their +faces bearing no trace of depression. Close by them were two tall +youths whom Dick recognized at once as St. Clair and Langdon. He waved +his hand to them repeatedly, and, at last, caught the eye of St. Clair, +who at once waved back and then called Langdon's attention. Langdon +not only waved also, but walked forward, as if to meet him, bringing +St. Clair with him, and Dick, responding at once, advanced with Warner +and Pennington. +</p> + +<p> +They shook hands under the boughs of an old oak, and were unaffectedly +glad to see one another, although the three youths in blue felt +awkwardness at first, being on the triumphant side, and fearing lest +some act or word of theirs might betray exultation over a conquered +foe. But St. Clair, precise, smiling, and trim in his attire, put them +at ease. +</p> + +<p> +"General Lee will be here presently," he said, "and you, as well as we, +know that the war is over. You are the victors and our cause is lost." +</p> + +<p> +"But you have lost with honor," said Dick, won by his manner. "The +odds were greatly against you. It's wonderful to me that you were able +to fight so long and with so much success." +</p> + +<p> +"It was a matter of mathematics, Captain St. Clair," said Warner. "The +numbers, the big guns and the resources were on our side, If we held on +we were bound to win, as anyone could demonstrate. It's certainly no +fault of yours to have been defeated by mathematics, a science that +governs the world." +</p> + +<p> +St. Clair and Langdon smiled, and Langdon said lightly: +</p> + +<p> +"It would perhaps be more just to say, Mr. Warner, that we have not +been beaten, but that we've worn ourselves out, fighting. Besides, the +spring is here, a lot of us are homesick, and it's time to put in the +crops." +</p> + +<p> +"I think that's a good way to leave it," said Dick. "Do you know where +my cousin, Harry Kenton, is?" +</p> + +<p> +"I saw him this morning," replied St. Clair, "and I can assure you that +he's taken no harm. He's riding ahead of the commander-in-chief, and +he should be here soon." +</p> + +<p> +A trumpet sounded and they separated, returning respectively to their +own lines. Standing on a low hill, Dick saw Harry Kenton and Dalton +dismount and then stand on one side, as if in expectancy. Dick knew +for whom they were waiting, and his own heart beat hard. A great hum +and murmur arose, when the gray figure of an elderly man riding the +famous war horse, Traveler, appeared. +</p> + +<p> +It was Lee, and in this moment, when his heart must have bled, his +bearing was proud and high. He was worn somewhat, and he had lost +strength from the great privations and anxieties of the retreat, but he +held himself erect. He was clothed in a fine new uniform, and he wore +buckled at his side a splendid new sword, recently sent to him as a +present. +</p> + +<p> +Near by stood a farm house belonging to Wilmer McLean, but, Grant not +yet having come, the Southern commander-in-chief dismounted, and, as +the air was close and hot, he remained a little while under the shade +of an apple tree, the famous apple tree of Appomattox, around which +truth and legend have played so much. +</p> + +<p> +Dick was fully conscious of everything now. He realized the greatness +of the moment, and he would not miss any detail of any movement on the +part of the principals. It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon +when Grant and his staff rode up, the Union leader still wearing his +plain blue blouse, no sword at his side, his shoulder straps alone +signifying his rank. +</p> + +<p> +The two generals who had faced each other with such resolution in that +terrible conflict shook hands, and Dick saw them talking pleasantly as +if they were chance acquaintances who had just met once more. +Presently they went into the McLean house, several of General Grant's +staff accompanying him, but Lee taking with him only Colonel Thomas +Marshall. +</p> + +<p> +Before the day was over Dick learned all that had occurred inside that +unpretentious but celebrated farm house. The two great commanders, at +first did not allude to the civil war, but spoke of the old war in +Mexico, where Lee, the elder, had been General Winfield Scott's chief +of staff, and the head of his engineer corps, with Grant, the younger, +as a lieutenant and quartermaster. It never entered the wildest dreams +of either then that they should lead the armies of a divided nation +engaged in mortal combat. Now they had only pleasant recollections of +each other, and they talked of the old days, of Contreras, Molino del +Rey, and other battles in the Valley of Mexico. +</p> + +<p> +They sat down at a plain table, and then came in the straightforward +manner characteristic of both to the great business in hand. Colonel +Marshall supplied the paper for the historic documents now about to be +written and signed. +</p> + +<p> +General Grant, humane, and never greater or more humane than in the +hour of victory, made the terms easy. All the officers of the Army of +Northern Virginia were to give their parole not to take up arms against +the United States, until properly exchanged, and the company or +regimental commanders were to sign a like parole for their men. The +artillery, other arms and public property were to be turned over to the +Union army, although the officers were permitted to retain their side +arms and their own horses and baggage. Then officers and men alike +could go to their homes. +</p> + +<p> +It was truly the supreme moment of Grant's greatness, of a humanity and +greatness of soul the value of which to his nation can never be +overestimated. Surrenders in Europe at the end of a civil war had +always been followed by confiscations, executions and a reign of terror +for the beaten. Here the man who had compelled the surrender merely +told the defeated to go to their homes. +</p> + +<p> +Lee looked at the terms and said: +</p> + +<p> +"Many of the artillerymen and cavalrymen in our army own their horses, +will the provisions allowing the officers to retain their horses apply +to them also?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, it will not as it is written," replied Grant, "but as I think this +will be the last battle of the war, and as I suppose most of the men in +the ranks are small farmers who without their horses would find it +difficult to put in their crops, the country having been swept of +everything movable, and as the United States does not want them, I will +instruct the officers who are to receive the paroles of your troops to +let every man who claims to own a horse or mule take the animal to his +home." +</p> + +<p> +"It will have a pleasant effect," said Lee, and then he wrote a formal +letter accepting the capitulations. The two generals, rising, bowed to +each other, but as Lee turned away he said that his men had eaten no +food for several days, except parched corn, and he would have to ask +that rations, and forage for their horses, be given to them. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly, general," replied Grant. "For how many men do you need +them?" +</p> + +<p> +"About twenty-five thousand," was Lee's reply. +</p> + +<p> +Then General Grant requested him to send his own officers to Appomattox +Station for the food and forage. Lee thanked him. They bowed to each +other again, and the Southern leader who no longer had an army, but who +retained always the love and veneration of the South, left the McLean +house. Thus and in this simple fashion—the small detached fighting +elsewhere did not count—did the great civil war in America, which had +cost six or seven hundred thousand lives, and the temporary ruin of one +section, come to an end. +</p> + +<p> +Dick saw Lee come out of the house, mount Traveler and, followed by +Colonel Marshall, ride back toward his own men who already had divined +the occurrences in the house. The army saluted him with undivided +affection, the troops crowding around him, cheering him, and, whenever +they had a chance, shaking his hand. The demonstration became so great +that Lee was moved deeply and showed it. The water rose in his eyes +and his voice trembled as he said, though with pride: +</p> + +<p> +"My lads, we have fought through the war together. I have done the +best I could for you. My heart is too full to say more." +</p> + +<p> +He could not be induced to speak further, although the great +demonstration continued, but rode in silence to his headquarters in a +wood, where he entered his tent and sat alone, no one ever knowing what +his thoughts were in that hour. +</p> + +<p> +Twenty-six thousand men who were left of the Army of Northern Virginia +surrendered the next day, and the blue and the gray fraternized. The +Union soldiers did not wait for the rations ordered by Grant, but gave +of their own to the starved men who were so lately their foes. Dick +and his friends hastened at once to find Harry Kenton and his comrades, +and presently they saw them all sitting together on a log, thin and +pale, but with no abatement of pride. Harry rose nevertheless, and +received his cousin joyfully. +</p> + +<p> +"Dick," he said as their hands met, "the war is over, and over forever. +But you and I were never enemies." +</p> + +<p> +"That's so, Harry," said Dick Mason, "and the thing for us to do now is +to go back to Kentucky, and begin life where we left it off." +</p> + +<p> +"But you don't start this minute," said Warner. "There is a small +matter of business to be transacted first. We know all of you, but +just the same we've brought our visiting cards with us." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't understand," said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll show you. Frank Pennington, remove that large protuberance from +beneath your blouse. Behold it! A small ham, my friends, and it's for +you. That's Frank's card. And here I take from my own blouse the half +of a cheese, which I beg you to accept with my compliments. Dick, you +rascal, what's that you have under your arm?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's a jar of prime bacon that I've brought along for the party, +George." +</p> + +<p> +"I thought so. We're going to have the pleasure of dining with our +friends here. We've heard, Captain Kenton, that you people haven't +eaten anything for a month." +</p> + +<p> +"It's not that bad," laughed Harry. "We had parched corn yesterday." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, parched corn is none too filling, and we're going to prepare the +banquet at once. A certain Sergeant Whitley will arrive presently with +a basket of food, such as you rebels haven't tasted since you raided +our wagon trains at the Second Manassas, and with him will come one +William Shepard, whom you have met often, Mr. Kenton." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Harry, "we've met often and under varying circumstances, +but we're going to be friends now." +</p> + +<p> +"Will you tell me, Captain St. Clair," said Dick, "what has become of +the two colonels of your regiment, which I believe you call the +Invincibles?" +</p> + +<p> +St. Clair led them silently to a little wood, and there, sitting on +logs, Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant Colonel Hector St. Hilaire +were bent intently over the chess board that lay between them. +</p> + +<p> +"Now that the war is over we'll have a chance to finish our game, eh, +Hector?" said Colonel Talbot. +</p> + +<p> +"A just observation, Leonidas. It's a difficult task to pursue a game +to a perfect conclusion amid the distractions of war, but soon I shall +checkmate you in the brilliant fashion in which General Lee always +snares and destroys his enemy." +</p> + +<p> +"But General Lee has yielded, Hector." +</p> + +<p> +"Pshaw, Leonidas! General Lee would never yield to anybody. He has +merely quit!" +</p> + +<p> +"Ahem!" said Harry loudly, and, as the colonels glanced up, they saw +the little group looking down at them. +</p> + +<p> +"Our friends, the enemy, have come to pay you their respects," said +Harry. +</p> + +<p> +The two colonels rose and bowed profoundly. +</p> + +<p> +"And to invite you to a banquet that is now being prepared not far from +here," continued Harry. "It's very tempting, ham, cheese, and other +solids, surrounded by many delicacies." +</p> + +<p> +The two colonels looked at each other, and then nodded approval. +</p> + +<p> +"You are to be the personal guests of our army," said Dick, "and we act +as the proxies of General Grant." +</p> + +<p> +"I shall always speak most highly of General Grant," said Colonel +Leonidas Talbot. "His conduct has been marked by the greatest +humanity, and is a credit to our common country, which has been +reunited so suddenly." +</p> + +<p> +"But reunited with our consent, Leonidas," said Lieutenant Colonel St. +Hilaire. "Don't forget that I, for one, am tired of this war, and so +is our whole army. It was a perfect waste of life to prolong it, and +with the North reannexed, the Union will soon be stronger and more +prosperous than ever." +</p> + +<p> +"Well spoken, Hector! Well spoken. It is perhaps better that North +and South should remain together. I thought otherwise for four years, +but now I seem to have another point of view. Come, lads, we shall +dine with these good Yankee boys and we'll make them drink toasts of +their own excellent coffee to the health and safety of our common +country." +</p> + +<p> +The group returned to a little hollow, in which Sergeant Whitley and +Shepard had built a fire, and where they were already frying strips of +bacon and slices of ham over the coals. Shepard and Harry shook hands. +</p> + +<p> +"I may as well tell you now, Mr. Kenton," said Shepard, "that Miss +Henrietta Carden, whom you met in Richmond, is my sister, and that it +was she who hid in the court at the Curtis house and took the map. +Then it was I who gave you the blow." +</p> + +<p> +"It was done in war," said Harry, "and I have no right to complain. It +was clever and I hope that I shall be able to give your sister my +compliments some day. Now, if you don't mind, I'll take a strip of +that wonderful bacon. It is bacon, isn't it? It's so long since I've +seen any that I'm not sure of its identity, but whatever it is its odor +is enticing." +</p> + +<p> +"Bacon it surely is, Mr. Kenton. Here are three pieces that I broiled +myself and a broad slice of bread for them. Go ahead, there's plenty +more. And see this dark brown liquid foaming in this stout tin pot! +Smell it! Isn't it wonderful! Well, that's coffee! You've heard of +coffee, and maybe you remember it." +</p> + +<p> +"I do remember tasting it some years ago and finding it good. I'd like +to try it again. Yes, thank you. It's fine." +</p> + +<p> +"Here's another cup, and try the ham also." +</p> + +<p> +Harry tried it, not once but several times. Langdon sat on the ground +before the fire, and his delight was unalloyed and unashamed. +</p> + +<p> +"We have raided a Yankee wagon train again," he said, "and the looting +is splendid. Arthur, I thought yesterday that I should never eat +again. Food and I were such strangers that I believed we should never +know each other, any more, or if knowing, we could never assimilate. +And yet we seem to get on good terms at once." +</p> + +<p> +While they talked a tall thin youth of clear dark complexion, carrying +a long bundle under his arm, approached the fire and Lieutenant Colonel +St. Hilaire welcomed him with joy. +</p> + +<p> +"Julien! Julien de Langeais, my young relative!" he cried. "And you +are indeed alive! I thought you lost!" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm very much alive, sir," said young De Langeais, "but I'm starved." +</p> + +<p> +"Then this is the place to come," said Dick, putting before him food, +which he strove to eat slowly, although the effort at restraint was +manifestly great. Lieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire introduced him to the +Union men, and then asked him what was the long black bag that he +carried under his arm. +</p> + +<p> +"That, sir," replied De Langeais, smiling pathetically, "is my violin. +I've no further use for my rifle and sword, but now that peace is +coming I may be able to earn my bread with the fiddle." +</p> + +<p> +"And so you will! You'll become one of the world's great musicians. +And as soon as we've finished with General Grant's hospitality, which +will be some time yet, you shall play for us." +</p> + +<p> +De Langeais looked affectionately at the black bag. +</p> + +<p> +"You're very good to me, sir," he said, "to encourage me at such a +time, and, if you and the others care for me to play, I'll do my best." +</p> + +<p> +"Paganini himself could do no more, but, for the present, we must pay +due attention to the hospitality of General Grant. He would not like +it, if it should come to his ears that we did not show due +appreciation, and since, in the course of events, and in order to +prevent the mutual destruction of the sections, it became necessary for +General Lee to arrange with someone to stop this suicidal war, I am +glad the man was General Grant, a leader whose heart does him infinite +credit." +</p> + +<p> +"General Grant is a very great man, and he has never proved it more +fully than today," said Dick, who sat near the colonels—his first +inclination had been to smile, but he restrained it. +</p> + +<p> +"Truly spoken, young sir," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot. "General Lee +and General Grant together could hold this continent against the world, +and, now that we have quit killing one another, America is safe in +their hands. Harry, do you think I've eaten too much? I wouldn't go +beyond the exploits of a gentleman, but this food has a wonderful +savor, and I can't say that I have dined before in months." +</p> + +<p> +"Not at all, sir, you have just fairly begun. As Lieutenant Colonel +St. Hilaire pointed out, General Grant would be displeased if we didn't +fully appreciate his hospitality and prove it by our deeds. Here are +some sardines, sir. You haven't tasted 'em yet, but you'll find 'em +wonderfully fine." +</p> + +<p> +Colonel Leonidas Talbot took the sardines, and then he and Lieutenant +Colonel St. Hilaire rose suddenly and simultaneously to their feet, a +look of wonder and joy spreading over their faces. +</p> + +<p> +"Is it really he?" exclaimed Colonel Talbot. +</p> + +<p> +"It's he and none other," said Lieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire. +</p> + +<p> +A tall, powerfully built, gray-haired man was coming toward them, his +hands extended. Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire +stepped forward, and each grasped a hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Good old John!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, John, it's worth a victory to shake your hand again!" +</p> + +<p> +"Leonidas, I've been inquiring, an hour or two, for you and Hector." +</p> + +<p> +"John Carrington, you've fulfilled your promise and more. We always +said at West Point that you'd become the greatest artilleryman in the +world, and in this war you've proved it on fifty battle fields. We've +often watched your work from the other side, and we've always admired +the accuracy with which you sent the shells flying about us. It was +wonderful, John, wonderful, and it did more than anything else to save +the North from complete defeat!" +</p> + +<p> +A smile passed over John Carrington's strong face, and he patted his +old comrade on the shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"It's good to know, Leonidas, that neither you nor Hector has been +killed," he said, "and that we can dine together again." +</p> + +<p> +"Truly, truly, John! Sit down! It's the hospitality of your own +general that you share when you join us. General Lee would never make +terms with men like McClellan, Burnside and Hooker. No, sir, he +preferred to defeat them, much as it cost our Union in blood and +treasure, but with a man of genius like General Grant he could agree. +Really great souls always recognize one another. Is it not so, John?" +</p> + +<p> +"Beyond a doubt, Leonidas. We fully admit the greatness and lofty +character of General Lee, as you admit the greatness and humanity of +General Grant. One nation is proud to have produced two such men." +</p> + +<p> +"I agree with you, John. All of us agree with you. The soldiers of +General Lee's army who are here today will never dispute what you say. +Now fall on, and join us at this board which, though rustic, is indeed +a most luxurious and festive one. As I remember at West Point, you +were a first-class trencherman." +</p> + +<p> +"And I am yet," said John Carrington, as he took his share. They were +joined a little later by a gallant young Southern colonel, Philip +Sherburne, who had led in many a cavalry attack, and then the equally +gallant Northern colonel, Alan Hertford, came also, and as everybody +was introduced to everybody else the good feeling grew. At last the +hunger that had been increasing so long was satisfied, and as they +leaned back, Lieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire turned to Julien de +Langeais: +</p> + +<p> +"Julien," he said, "take out your violin. There is no more fitting +time than this to play. Julien, John, is a young relative of mine from +Louisiana who has a gift. He is a great musician who is going to +become much greater. Perhaps it was wrong to let a lad of his genius +enter this war, but at any rate he has survived it, and now he will +show us what he can do." +</p> + +<p> +De Langeais, after modest deprecations, took out his violin and played. +Upon his sensitive soul the war had made such a deep impression that +his spirit spoke through his instrument. He had never before played so +well. His strings sang of the march, the camp, of victory and defeat, +and defeat and victory, and as he played he became absorbed in his +music. The people around him, although they were rapidly increasing in +numbers, were not visible to him. Yet he played upon their hearts. +There was not one among them who did not see visions and dream dreams +as he listened. At last his bow turned into the old and ever young, +"Home Sweet Home." +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + 'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,<br /> + Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.<br /> + An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain,<br /> + Oh! give me my lowly, thatched cottage again.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Into the song he poured all his skill and all his heart, and as he +played he saw the house in which he was born on the far Louisiana +plantation. And those who listened saw also, in spirit, the homes which +many of them had not seen in fact for four years. Stern souls were +softened, and water rose to eyes which had looked fearlessly and so +often upon the charging bayonets of the foe. +</p> + +<p> +He stopped suddenly and put away his violin. There was a hush, and +then a long roll of applause, not loud, but very deep. +</p> + +<p> +"I hear Pendleton calling," said Harry to Dick. +</p> + +<p> +"So do I," said Dick. "I wonder what they're doing there. Have you +heard from your father?" +</p> + +<p> +"Not for several months. I think he's in North Carolina with Johnston, +and I mean to go home that way. I've a good horse, and he'll carry me +through the mountains. I think I'll find father there. An hour or two +ago, Dick, I felt like a man and I was a man, but since De Langeais +played I've become a boy again, and I'm longing for Pendleton, and its +green hills, and the little river in which we used to swim." +</p> + +<p> +"So am I, Harry, and it's likely that I'll go with you. The war is +over and I can get leave at once. I want to see my mother." +</p> + +<p> +They stayed together until night came over Appomattox and its famous +apple tree, and a few days later Harry Kenton was ready to start on +horseback for Kentucky. But he was far from being alone. The two +colonels, St. Clair, Langdon, Dick, De Langeais, Colonel Winchester and +Sergeant Whitley were to ride with him. Warner was to go north and +Pennington west as soon as they were mustered out. Dick wrung their +hands. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-by, George! Good-by, Frank! Old comrades!" he said. "But +remember that we are to see a good deal of one another all through our +lives!" +</p> + +<p> +"Which I can reduce to a mathematical problem and demonstrate by means +of my little algebra here," said Warner, fumbling for his book to hide +his emotion. +</p> + +<p> +"I may come through Kentucky to see you and Harry," said Pennington, +"when I start back to Nebraska." +</p> + +<p> +"Be sure to come," said Dick with enthusiasm, "and remember that the +latch string is hanging out on both doors." +</p> + +<p> +Then, carrying their arms, and well equipped with ammunition, food and +blankets, the little party rode away. They knew that the mountains +were still extremely unsettled, much infested by guerrillas, but they +believed themselves strong enough to deal with any difficulty, and, as +the April country was fair and green, their hearts, despite everything, +were light. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap18"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XVIII +</h3> + +<h3> +THE FINAL RECKONING +</h3> + +<p> +They rode a long time through a war-torn country, and the days bound +the young men together so closely that, at times, it seemed to them +they had fought on the same side all through the war. Sergeant Whitley +was usually their guide and he was an expert to bargain for food and +forage. He exhibited then all the qualities that afterward raised him +so high in the commercial world. +</p> + +<p> +Although they were saddened often by the spectacle of the ruin the long +war had made, they kept their spirits, on the whole, wonderfully well. +The two colonels, excellent horsemen, were an unfailing source of +cheerfulness. When they alluded to the war they remembered only the +great victories the South had won, and invariably they spoke of its end +as a compromise. They also began to talk of Charleston, toward which +their hearts now turned, and a certain handsome Madame Delaunay whom +Harry Kenton remembered well. +</p> + +<p> +As they left Virginia and entered North Carolina they heard that the +Confederate troops everywhere were surrendering. The war, which had +been so terrible and sanguinary only two or three months before, ended +absolutely with the South's complete exhaustion. Already the troops +were going home by the scores of thousands. They saw men who had just +taken off their uniforms guiding the ploughs in the furrows. Smoke +rose once more from the chimneys of the abandoned homes, and the boys +who had faced the cannon's mouth were rebuilding rail fences. The odor +of grass and newly turned earth was poignant and pleasant. The two +colonels expanded. +</p> + +<p> +"Though my years have been devoted to military pursuits, Hector," said +Colonel Leonidas Talbot, "the agricultural life is noble, and many of +the hardy virtues of the South are due to the fact that we are chiefly +a rural population." +</p> + +<p> +"Truly spoken, Leonidas, but for four years agriculture has not had +much chance with us, and perhaps agriculture is not all. It was the +mechanical genius of the North that kept us from taking New York and +Boston." +</p> + +<p> +"Which reminds me, Happy," said St. Clair to Langdon, "that, after all, +you didn't sleep in the White House at Washington with your boots on." +</p> + +<p> +"I changed my mind," replied Happy easily. "I didn't want to hurt +anybody's feelings." +</p> + +<p> +Soon they entered the mountains, and they met many Confederate soldiers +returning to their homes. Harry always sought from them news of his +father, and he learned at last that he was somewhere in the western +part of the state. Then he heard, a day or two later, that a band of +guerrillas to the south of them were plundering and sometimes +murdering. They believed from what details they could gather that it +was Slade and Skelly with a new force, and they thought it advisable to +turn much farther toward the west. +</p> + +<p> +"The longest way 'round is sometimes the shortest way through," said +Sergeant Whitley, and the others agreed with him. They came into a +country settled then but little. The mountains were clothed in deep +forest, now in the full glory of early spring, and the log cabins were +few. Usually they slept, the nights through, in the forest, and they +helped out their food supply with game. The sergeant shot two deer, +and they secured wild turkeys and quantities of smaller game. +</p> + +<p> +Although they heard that the guerrillas were moving farther west, which +necessitated the continuation of their own course in that direction, +they seemed to have entered another world. Where they were, at least, +there was nothing but peace, the peace of the wilderness which made a +strong appeal to all of them. In the evenings by their campfire in the +forest De Langeais would often play for them on his violin, and the +great trees about them seemed to rustle with approval, as a haunting +melody came back in echoes from the valleys. +</p> + +<p> +They had been riding a week through a wilderness almost unbroken when, +just before sunset, they heard a distant singing sound, singularly like +that of De Langeais' violin. +</p> + +<p> +"It is a violin," said De Langeais, "but it's not mine. The sound +comes from a point at the head of the cove before us." +</p> + +<p> +They rode into the little valley and the song of the violin grew +louder. It was somebody vigorously playing "Old Dan Tucker," and as the +woods opened they saw a stout log cabin, a brook and some fields. The +musician, a stalwart young man, sat in the doorway of the house. A +handsome young woman was cooking outside, and a little child was +playing happily on the grass. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll ride forward and speak to them," said Harry Kenton. "That man +and I are old friends." +</p> + +<p> +The violin ceased, as the thud of hoofs drew near, but Harry, springing +from his horse, held out his hand to the man and said: +</p> + +<p> +"How are you, Dick Jones? I see that the prophecy has come true!" +</p> + +<p> +The man stared at him a moment or two in astonishment, and then grasped +his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"It's Mr. Kenton!" he cried, "an' them's your friends behind you. +'Light, strangers, 'light! Yes, Mr. Kenton, it's come true. I've been +back home a week, an' not a scratch on me, though I've fit into nigh +onto a thousand battles. I reckon my wife, that's Mandy there, wished +so hard fur me to come back that the Lord let her have her way. But +'light, strangers! 'Light an' hev supper!" +</p> + +<p> +"We will," said Harry, "but we're not going to crowd you out of your +house. We've plenty of food with us, and we're accustomed to sleeping +out of doors." +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless the hospitality of Dick Jones and his wife, Mandy, was +unbounded. It was arranged that the two colonels should sleep inside, +while the others took to the grass with their blankets. Liberal +contributions were made to the common larder by the travelers, and they +had an abundant supper, after which the men sat outside, the colonels +smoking good old North Carolina weed, and Mrs. Jones knitting in the +dusk. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't you and your family get lonesome here sometimes, Mr. Jones?" +asked Harry. +</p> + +<p> +"Never," replied the mountaineer. "You see I've had enough o' noise +an' multitudes. More than once I've seen two hundred thousand men +fightin', and I've heard the cannon roarin', days without stoppin'. I +still git to dreamin' at night 'bout all them battles, an' when I +awake, an' set up sudden like an' hear nothin' outside but the +tricklin' o' the branch an' the wind in the leaves, I'm thankful that +them four years are over, an' nobody is shootin' at nobody else. An' +it's hard now an' then to b'lieve that they're really an' truly over." +</p> + +<p> +"But how about Mrs. Jones?" +</p> + +<p> +"She an' the baby stayed here four whole years without me, but we've +got neighbors, though you can't see 'em fur the trees. Jest over the +ridge lives her mother, an' down Jones' Creek, into which the branch +runs, lives her married sister, an' my own father ain't more'n four +miles away. The settlements are right thick 'roun' here, an' we hev +good times." +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Jones nodded her emphatic assent. +</p> + +<p> +"Which way do you-all 'low to be goin' tomorrow?" asked Jones. +</p> + +<p> +"We think we'd better keep to the west," replied Colonel Talbot. +"We've heard of a guerrilla band under two men, Slade and Skelly, who +are making trouble to the southward." +</p> + +<p> +"I've heard of 'em too," said Jones, "an' I reckon they're 'bout the +meanest scum the war hez throwed up. The troops will be after 'em +afore long, an' will clean 'em out, but I guess they'll do a lot o' +damage afore then. You gen'lemen will be wise to stick to your plan, +an' keep on toward the west." +</p> + +<p> +They departed the next morning, taking with them the memory of a very +pleasant meeting, and once more pursued their way through the +wilderness. Harry, despite inquiries at every possible place, heard +nothing more of his father, and concluded that, after the surrender, he +must have gone at once to Kentucky, expecting his son to come there by +another way. +</p> + +<p> +But the reports of Slade and Skelly were so numerous and so sinister +that they made a complete change of plan. The colonels, St. Clair and +Langdon, would not try to go direct to South Carolina, but the whole +party would cling together, ride to Kentucky, and then those who lived +farther south could return home chiefly by rail. It seemed, on the +whole, much the wiser way, and, curving back a little to the north, +they entered by and by the high mountains on the line between Virginia +and Kentucky. Other returning soldiers had joined them and their party +now numbered thirty brave, well-armed men. +</p> + +<p> +They entered Kentucky at a point near the old Wilderness Road, and, +from a lofty crest, looked down upon a sea of ridges, heavy with green +forest, and narrow valleys between, in which sparkled brooks or little +rivers. The hearts of Harry and Dick beat high. They were going home. +What awaited them at Pendleton? Neither had heard from the town or +anybody in it for a long time. Anticipation was not unmingled with +anxiety. +</p> + +<p> +Two days later they entered a valley, and when they stopped at noon for +their usual rest Harry Kenton rode some distance up a creek, thinking +that he might rouse a deer out of the underbrush. Although the country +looked extremely wild and particularly suited to game, he found none, +but unwilling to give up he continued the hunt, riding much farther +than he was aware. +</p> + +<p> +He was just thinking of the return, when he heard a rustling in a +thicket to his right, and paused, thinking that it might be the deer he +wanted. Instead, a gigantic figure with thick black hair and beard rose +up in the bush. Harry uttered a startled exclamation. It was Skelly, +and beside him stood a little man with an evil face, hidden partly by +an enormous flap-brimmed hat. Both carried rifles, and before Harry +could take his own weapon from his shoulder Skelly fired. Harry's +horse threw up his head in alarm, and the bullet, instead of hitting +the rider, took the poor animal in the brain. +</p> + +<p> +As the horse fell, Harry sprang instinctively and alighted upon his +feet, although he staggered. Then Slade pulled trigger, and a searing, +burning pain shot through his left shoulder. Dizzy and weak he raised +his rifle, nevertheless, and fired at the hairy face of the big man. +He saw the huge figure topple and fall; he heard another shot, and +again felt the thrill of pain, this time in the head, heard a shrill +whistle repeated over and over, and did not remember anything definite +until some time afterward. +</p> + +<p> +When his head became clear once more Harry believed that he had +wandered a long distance from that brief but fierce combat, but he did +not know in what direction his steps had taken him. Nearly all his +strength was gone, and his head ached fearfully. He had dropped his +rifle, but where he did not know nor care. He sat down on the ground +with his back against a tree, and put his right hand to his head. The +wound there had quit bleeding, clogged up with its own blood. He was +experienced enough to know that it was merely a flesh wound, and that +any possible scar would be hidden by his hair. +</p> + +<p> +But the wound in his left shoulder was more serious. The bullet had +gone entirely through, for which he was glad, but the hurt was still +bleeding. He made shift to bandage it with strips torn from his +underclothing, and, after a long rest, he undertook to walk back to the +camp. He was not sure of the way, and after two or three hundred yards +he grew dizzy and sat down again. Then he shouted for help, but his +voice sounded so weak that he gave it up. +</p> + +<p> +He was never sure, but he thought another period of unconsciousness +followed, because when he aroused himself the sun seemed to be much +farther down in the west. His head was still aching, though not quite +so badly as before, and he made a new effort to walk. He did not know +where he was going, but he must go somewhere. If he remained there in +the wilderness, and his comrades could not find him, he would die of +weakness and starvation. He shuddered. It would be the very irony of +fate that one who had gone through Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and all +the great battles in the East should be slain on his way home by a +roving guerrilla. +</p> + +<p> +He rested again and summoned all his strength and courage, and he was +able to go several hundred yards farther. As he advanced the forest +seemed to thin and he was quite sure that he saw through it a valley +and open fields. The effect upon him was that of a great stimulant, +and he found increased strength. He tottered on, but stopped soon and +leaned against a tree. He dimly saw the valley, the fields, and a +distant roof, and then came something that gave him new strength. It +was a man's voice singing, a voice clear, powerful and wonderfully +mellow: +</p> + +<p class="letter"> + They bore him away when the day had fled,<br /> + And the storm was rolling high,<br /> + And they laid him down in his lonely bed<br /> + By the light of an angry sky.<br /> + The lightning flashed and the wild sea lashed<br /> + The shore with its foaming wave,<br /> + And the thunder passed on the rushing blast<br /> + As it howled o'er the rover's grave.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +He knew that voice. He had heard it years ago, a century it seemed. It +was the voice of a friend, the voice of Sam Jarvis, the singer of the +mountains. He rushed forward, but overtaxing his strength, fell. He +pulled himself up by a bush and stood, trembling with weakness and +anxiety. Still came the voice, but the song had changed: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + Soft o'er the fountain, lingering falls the Southern moon,<br /> + Far o'er the mountain breaks the day too soon,<br /> + In thy dark eyes' splendor, where the warm light loves to dwell,<br /> + Weary looks yet tender speak their fond farewell,<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Ask thy soul if we should part,<br /> + Nita! Juanita! Lean thou on my heart!<br /> +</p> + +<p> +It was an old song of pathos and longing, but Harry remembered well +that mellow, golden voice. If he could reach Sam Jarvis he would +secure help, and there was the happy valley in which he lived. As he +steadied himself anew fresh strength and courage poured into his veins, +and leaving the fringe of forest he entered a field, at the far end of +which Jarvis was ploughing. +</p> + +<p> +The singer was happy. He drove a stout bay horse, and as he walked +along in the furrow he watched the rich black earth turn up before the +ploughshare. He hated no man, and no man hated him. The war had never +invaded his valley, and he sang from the sheer pleasure of living. The +world about him was green and growing, and the season was good. His +nephew, Ike Simmons, was ploughing in another field, and whenever he +chose he could see the smoke rising from the chimney of the strong log +house in which he lived. +</p> + +<p> +Harry thought at first that he would go down the end of the long field +to Jarvis, but the ploughed land pulled at his feet, and made him very +weak again. So he walked straight across it, though he staggered, and +approached the house, the doors of which stood wide open. +</p> + +<p> +He was not thinking very clearly now, but he knew that rest and help +were at hand. He opened the gate that led to the little lawn, went up +the walk and, scarcely conscious of what he was doing, stood in the +doorway, and stared into the dim interior. As his eyes grew used to +the dusk the figure of an old, old woman, lean and wrinkled, past a +hundred, suddenly rose from a chair, stood erect, and regarded him with +startled, burning eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, it's the governor, the great governor, Henry Ware!" she exclaimed. +"Didn't I say to you long ago: '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 of mine!" +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke, the young man in the tattered Southern uniform, stained +with the blood of two wounds, reeled and fell unconscious in the +doorway. +</p> + +<p> +When Harry came back to the world he was lying in a very comfortable +bed, and all the pain had gone from his head. A comfortable, motherly +woman, whom he recognized as Mrs. Simmons, was sitting beside him, and +Colonel Leonidas Talbot, looking very tall, very spare and very +precise, was standing at a window. +</p> + +<p> +"Good morning, Mrs. Simmons," said Harry in a clear, full voice. +</p> + +<p> +She uttered an exclamation of joy, and Colonel Talbot turned from the +window. +</p> + +<p> +"So you've come back to us, Harry," he said. "We knew that it was only +a matter of time, although you did lose a lot of blood from that wound +in the shoulder." +</p> + +<p> +"I never intended to stay away, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"But you remained in the shadowy world three days." +</p> + +<p> +"That long, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Harry, three days, and a great deal of water has flowed under the +bridge in those three days." +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean, colonel?" +</p> + +<p> +"There was a military operation of a very sharp and decisive character. +When you fell in the doorway here, Mrs. Simmons, who happened to be in +the kitchen, ran at once for her brother, Mr. Jarvis, a most excellent +and intelligent man. You were past telling anybody anything just then, +but he followed your trail, and met some of us, led by Sergeant +Whitley, who were also trailing you." +</p> + +<p> +"And Slade and Skelly, what of them?" +</p> + +<p> +"They'll never plunder or murder more. We divined much that had +happened. You were ambushed, were you not?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Slade and Skelly fired upon me from the bushes. I shot back and +saw Skelly fall." +</p> + +<p> +"You shot straight and true. We found him there in the bushes, where +your bullet had cut short his murderous life. Then we organized, +pursued and surrounded the others. They were desperate criminals, who +knew the rope awaited them, and all of them died with their boots on. +Slade made a daring attempt to escape, but the sergeant shot him +through the head at long range, and a worse villain never fell." +</p> + +<p> +"And our people, colonel, where are all of them?" +</p> + +<p> +"Most of the soldiers have gone on, but the members of our own +immediate group are scattered about the valley, engaged chiefly in +agricultural or other homely pursuits, while they await your recovery, +and incidentally earn their bread. Sergeant Whitley, Captain St. Clair +and Captain Mason are putting a new roof on the barn, and, as I +inspected it myself, I can certify that they are performing the task in +a most workmanlike manner. Captain Thomas Langdon is ploughing in the +far field, by the side of that stalwart youth, Isaac Simmons, and each +is striving in a spirit of great friendliness to surpass the other. My +associate and second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, +has gone down the creek fishing, a pursuit in which he has had much +success, contributing greatly to the larder of our hostess, Mrs. +Simmons." +</p> + +<p> +"And where is Sam Jarvis?" +</p> + +<p> +The colonel raised the window. +</p> + +<p> +"Listen!" he said: +</p> + +<p> +Up from the valley floated the far mellow notes: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + I'm dreaming now of Hallie, sweet Hallie,<br /> + For the thought of her is one that never dies.<br /> + She's sleeping in the valley<br /> + And the mocking bird is singing where she lies.<br /> + Listen to the mocking bird singing o'er her grave,<br /> + Listen to the mocking bird, where the weeping willows wave.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +"The words of the song are sad," said Colonel Talbot, "but sad music +does not necessarily make one feel sad. On the contrary we are all +very cheerful here, and Mr. Jarvis is the happiest man I have ever +known. I think it's because his nature is so kindly. A heart of gold, +pure gold, Harry, and that extraordinary old woman, Aunt Suse, insists +that you are your own greatgrandfather, the famous governor of +Kentucky." +</p> + +<p> +"I was here before in the first year of the war, colonel, and she +foretold that I would return just as I did. How do you account for +that, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"I don't try to account for it. A great deal of energy is wasted in +trying to account for the unknowable. I shall take it as it is." +</p> + +<p> +"What has become of Colonel Winchester, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"He rode yesterday to a tiny hamlet about twenty miles away. We had +heard from a mountaineer that an officer returning from the war was +there, and since we old soldiers like to foregather, we decided to have +him come and join our party. They are due here, and unless my eyes +deceive me—and I know they don't—they're at the bead of the valley +now, riding toward this house." +</p> + +<p> +Harry detected a peculiar note in Colonel Talbot's voice, and his mind +leaped at once to a conclusion. +</p> + +<p> +"That officer is my father!" he exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +"According to all the descriptions, it is he, and now you can sit up +and welcome him." +</p> + +<p> +The meeting between father and son was not demonstrative, but both felt +deep emotion. +</p> + +<p> +"Fortune has been kind to us, Harry, to bring us both safely out of the +long war," said Colonel Kenton. +</p> + +<p> +"Kinder than we had a right to hope," said Harry. +</p> + +<p> +The entire group rode together to Pendleton, and Dick was welcomed like +one risen from the dead by his mother, who told him a few weeks later +that he was to have a step-father, the brave colonel, Arthur Winchester. +</p> + +<p> +"He's the very man I'd have picked for you, mother," said Dick +gallantly. +</p> + +<p> +The little town of Pendleton was unharmed by the war, and, since bitter +feeling had never been aroused in it, the reunion of North and South +began there at once. In an incredibly short period everything went on +as before. +</p> + +<p> +The two colonels and their younger comrades remained a while as the +guests of Colonel Kenton and his son, and then they started for the +farther south where St. Clair and Langdon were to begin the careers in +which they achieved importance. +</p> + +<p> +Harry and Dick in Pendleton entered upon their own life work, which +they were destined to do so well, but often, in their dreams and for +many years, they rode again with Stonewall in the Valley, charged with +Pickett at Gettysburg, stood with the Rock of Chickamauga, or advanced +with Grant to the thunder of the guns through the shades of the +Wilderness. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Appendix: Transcription notes: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +The following modifications were applied while transcribing the printed +book to etext: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Chapter 6<br /> + Page 103, para 11, change "Turner" to "Warner"<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Chapter 7<br /> + Page 112, para 6, insert missing period<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Chapter 11<br /> + Page 186, para 2, fix punctuation typos<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Chapter 17<br /> + Page 290, para 2, fix typo "unforgetable"<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +The following words were printed with accented vowels, but I chose not +to post an 8-bit version of this text: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Chapter 6<br /> + Page 94, para 1, "coordinate" with accented "o"<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + Chapter 15<br /> + Page 270, para 1, accented "o" in "cooperate"<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /></p> + +<p class="noindent"> +As is typical in this series, there are a number of instances where the +use of the comma in the printed book seems to me inappropriate. +However, I have adhered to the punctuation as printed (except for +obvious printing errors, which are noted above). +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +For example: +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + The horses given to them by special favor of Sheridan in place of<br /> + their worn-out mounts, were splendid animals, and Sergeant Whitley<br /> + himself had prepared them for their first appearance before their<br /> + new masters.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + The horsemen firing their own carbines and swinging aloft their<br /> + sabers, galloped forward in a mighty rush.<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tree of Appomattox, by Joseph A. 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