CHAPTER XI. THE NIGHT RIDE
Harry was back with the general in a few hours, but now he was allowed alittle time for himself. It seemed to occur suddenly to Jackson that themembers of his staff, especially the more youthful ones, could not marchand fight more than two or three days without food and rest.
"You've done well, Harry," he said--he was beginning to call the boy byhis first name.
The words of praise were brief, and they were spoken in a dry tone, butthey set Harry's blood aflame. He had been praised by Stonewall Jackson,the man who considered an ordinary human being's best not more thanthird rate. Harry, like all the others in the valley army, saw thatJackson was setting a new standard in warfare.
Tremendously elated he started in search of his friends. He found theInvincibles, that is, all who were left alive, stretched flat upontheir sides or backs in the orchard. It seemed to him that St. Clairand Langdon had not moved a hair's breadth since he had seen them therebefore. But their faces were not so white now. Color was coming back.
He put the toe of his boot against Langdon's side and shoved gently butfirmly. Langdon awoke and sat up indignantly.
"How dare you, Harry Kenton, disturb a gentleman who is occupied withhis much-needed slumbers?" he asked.
"General Jackson wants you."
"Old Jack wants me! Now, what under the sun can he want with me?"
"He wants you to take some cavalry, gallop to Washington, go all aroundthe city, inspect all its earthworks and report back here by nightfall."
"You're making that up, Harry; but for God's sake don't make thatsuggestion to Old Jack. He'd send me on that trip sure, and then have mehanged as an example in front of the whole army, when I failed."
"I won't say anything about it."
"You're a bright boy, Harry, and you're learning fast. But things couldbe a lot worse. We could have been licked instead of licking the enemy.I could be dead instead of lying here on the grass, tired but alive.But, Harry, I'm growing old fast."
"How old are you, Tom?"
"Last week I was nineteen, to-day I'm ninety-nine, and if this sort ofthing keeps up I'll be a hundred and ninety-nine next week."
St. Clair also awoke and sat up. In some miraculous manner he hadrestored his uniform to order and he was as neat and precise as usual.
"You two talk too much," he said. "I was in the middle of a beautifuldream, when I heard you chattering away."
"What was your dream, Arthur?" asked Harry.
"I was in St. Andrew's Hall in Charleston, dancing with the mostbeautiful girl you ever saw. I don't know who she was, I didn't identifyher in my dream. There were lots of other beautiful girls there dancingwith fellows like myself, and the roses were everywhere, and the musicrose and fell like the song of angels, and I was so happy and--Iawoke to find myself here on a hillside with a ragged army that's beenmarching and fighting for days and weeks, and which, for all I know,will keep it up for years and years longer."
"I've a piece of advice for you, Arthur," said Langdon.
"What is it?"
"Quit dreaming. It's a bad habit, especially when you're in war. Thedream is sure to be better than the real thing. You won't be dancingagain in Charleston for a long time, nor will I. All those beautifulgirls you were dreaming about but couldn't name will be without partnersuntil we're a lot older than we are now."
Langdon spoke with a seriousness very uncommon in him, and lay backagain on the ground, where he began to chew a grass stem meditatively.
"Go back to sleep, boys, you'll need it," said Harry lightly. "Our nextmarch is to be a thousand miles, and we're to have a battle at everymilestone."
"You mean that as a joke, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it cametrue," said Langdon, as he closed his eyes again.
Harry went on and found the two colonels sitting in the shadow of astone fence. One of them had his arm in a sling, but he assured Harrythe wound was slight. They gave him a glad and paternal welcome.
"In the kind of campaign we're waging," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot, "Iassume that anybody is dead until I see him alive. Am I not right, eh,Hector?"
"Assuredly you're right, Leonidas," replied Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire. "Our young men don't get frightened because they don't havetime to think about it. Before we can get excited over the battle inwhich we are engaged we've begun the next one. It is also a matterof personal pride to me that one of the best bodies of troops in theservice of General Jackson is of French descent like myself."
"The Acadians, colonel," said Harry. "Grand troops they are."
"It is the French fighting blood," said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St.Hilaire, with a little trace of the grandiloquent in his tone. "Slurshave been cast at the race from which I sprang since the rout and flightat Waterloo, but how undeserved they are! The French have burned moregunpowder and have won more great battles without the help of alliesthan any other nation in Europe. And their descendants in North Americahave shown their valor all the way from Quebec to New Orleans, althoughwe are widely separated now, and scarcely know the speech of oneanother."
"It's true, Hector," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot. "I think I've heardyou say as much before, but it will bear repeating. Do you think,Hector, that you happen to have about you a cigarette that has survivedthe campaign?"
"Several of them, Leonidas. Here, help yourself. Harry, I would offerone to you, but I do not recommend the cigarette to the young. You don'tsmoke! So much the better. It's a bad habit, permissible only to theold. Leonidas, do you happen to have a match?"
"Yes, Hector, I made sure about that before I asked you for thecigarettes. Be careful when you light it. There is only one match forthe cigarettes of both."
"I'll bring you a coal from one of the campfires," said Harry, springingup.
But Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire waved him down courteously,though rather reprovingly.
"You would never fire a cannon shot to kill a butterfly," he said, "andneither will I ever light a delicate cigarette with a huge, shapelesscoal from a campfire. It would be an insult to the cigarette, and aftersuch an outrage I could never draw a particle of flavor from it. No,Harry, we thank you, you mean well, but we can do it better."
Harry sat down again. The two colonels, who had been through days ofcontinuous marching and fighting, knelt in the lee of the fence, andLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire also shaded the operation withhis hat as an additional protection. Colonel Leonidas Talbot carefullystruck the match. The flame sputtered up and his friend brought his hatcloser to protect it. Then both lighted their cigarettes, settled backagainst the fence, and a deep peace appeared upon their two faces.
"Hector," said Colonel Talbot, "only we old soldiers know how little ittakes to make a man happy."
"You speak truly, Leonidas. In the last analysis it's a mere matter offood, clothes and shelter, with perhaps a cigarette or two. In Mexico,when we advanced from Vera Cruz to the capital, it was often very coldon the mountains. I can remember coming in from some battle, aching withweariness and cold, but after I had eaten good food and basked halfan hour before a fire I would feel as if I owned the earth. Physicalcomfort, carried to the very highest degree, produces mental comfortalso."
"Sound words, Hector. The starved, the cold and the shelterless cannever be happy. God knows that I am no advocate of war, although it ismy trade. It is a terrible thing for people to kill one another, but itdoes grind you down to the essentials. Because it is war you and I havean acute sense of luxury, lying here against a stone fence, smoking acouple of cigarettes."
"That is, Leonidas, we are happy when we have attained what we haveneeded a long time, and which we have been a long time without. It hasoccurred to me that the cave-man, in all his primitive nakedness, musthave had some thrilling moments, moments of pleasures of the body, themind and the imagination allied, which we modern beings cannot feel."
"To what moments do you allude, Hector?"
"Suppose that he has just eluded a monstrous saber-t
oothed tiger, andhas slipped into his cave by the opening, entirely too small for anygreat beast of prey. He is in his home. A warm fire is burning on aflat stone. His wife--beautiful to him--is cooking savory meats forhim. Around the walls are his arms and their supplies. They eat placidlywhile the huge tiger from which he has escaped by a foot or less roarsand glowers without. The contrast between the danger and that house,which is the equivalent to a modern palace, comes home to him with athrill more keen and penetrating than anything we can ever feel.
"The man and his wife eat their evening meal, and retire to their bedof dry leaves in the corner. They fall asleep while the frenzied andferocious tiger is still snarling and growling. They know he cannot getat them, and his gnashings and roarings are merely a lullaby, soothingthem to the sweetest of slumbers. You could not duplicate that in theage in which we live, Leonidas."
"No, Hector, we couldn't. But, as for me, I can spare such thrills. Itseems to me that we have plenty of danger of our own just now. I mustsay, however, that you put these matters in a fine, poetic way. Have youever written verses, Hector?"
"A few, but never for print, Leonidas. I am happy to think that afew sonnets and triolets of mine are cherished by middle-aged but yethandsome women of Charleston that we both know."
Harry left them still talking in rounded sentences and always in perfectagreement. He thought theirs a beautiful friendship, and he hoped thathe should have friendships like it, when he was as old as they.
But he and all the other prophets were right. The restless Jackson soontook up the northward march again. He was drawing farther and fartheraway from McClellan and the Southern army before Richmond, and the greatstorm that was gathering there. The army of Banks was not yet whollydestroyed, and there were other Northern and undestroyed armies in thevalley. His task there was not yet finished. Jackson pushed on towardHarper's Ferry on the Potomac. He was now, though to the westward,further north than Washington itself, and with other armies in hisrear he was taking daring risks. But as usual, he kept his counsels tohimself. All was hidden under that battered cap to become later an oldslouch hat, and the men who followed him were content to go wherever heled.
The old Stonewall Brigade was in the van and Jackson and his staff werewith it. The foot cavalry refreshed by a good rest were marching againat a great rate.
Harry was detached shortly after the start, and was sent to GeneralWinder with orders for him to hurry forward with the fine troops underhis command. Before he could leave Winder he ran into a strong Northernforce at Charleston, and the Southern division attacked at once with allthe dash and vigor that Jackson had imparted to his men. They had, too,the confidence bred by continuous victory, while the men in blue weredepressed by unbroken defeats.
The Northern force was routed in fifteen or twenty minutes and fledtoward the river, leaving behind it all its baggage and stores. Harrycarried the news to Jackson and saw the general press his thin lipstogether more closely than ever. He knew that the hope of destroyingBanks utterly was once more strong in the breast of their leader. Themembers of the staff were all sent flying again with messages to theregiments to hurry.
The whole army swung forward at increased pace. Jackson did not knowwhat new troops had come for Banks, but soon he saw the heights south ofHarper's Ferry, and the same glance told him that they were crowded withsoldiers. General Saxton with seven thousand men and eighteen guns hadundertaken to hold the place against his formidable opponent.
General Jackson held a brief council, and, when it was over, summonedHarry and Dalton to him.
"You are both well mounted and have had experience," he said. "Youunderstand that the army before us is not by any means the only onethat the Yankees have. Shields, Ord and Fremont are all leading armiesagainst us. We can defeat Saxton's force, but we must not be caught inany trap. Say not a word of this to anybody, but ride in the directionI'm pointing and see if you can find the army of Shields. Other scoutsare riding east and west, but you must do your best, nevertheless.Perhaps both of you will not come back, but one of you must. Take foodin your saddle bags and don't neglect your arms."
He turned instantly to give orders to others and Harry and Daltonmounted and rode, proud of their trust, and resolved to fulfill it.Evening was coming as they left the army, and disappeared among thewoods. They had only the vague direction given by Jackson, derivedprobably from reports, brought in by other scouts, but it was theirmission to secure definite and exact information.
"You know this country, George, don't you?" asked Harry.
"I've ridden over all of it. They say that Shields with a large part ofMcDowell's army is approaching the valley through Manassas Gap. It's along ride from here, Harry, but I think we'd better make for it. Thishorse of mine is one of the best ever bred in the valley. He could carryme a hundred miles by noon to-morrow."
"Mine's not exactly a plough horse," said Harry, as he stroked the maneof his own splendid bay, one especially detailed for him on this errand."If yours can go a hundred miles by noon to-morrow so can mine."
"Suppose, then, we go a little faster."
"Suits me."
The riders spoke a word or two. The two grand horses stretched out theirnecks, and they sped away southward. For a while they rode over theroad by which they had come. It was yet early twilight and they saw manymarks of their passage, a broken-down wagon, a dead horse, an explodedcaisson, and now and then something from which they quickly turned awaytheir eyes.
Dalton knew the roads well, and at nightfall they bore in toward theright. They had already come a long distance, and in the darkness theywent more slowly.
"I think there's a farmhouse not much further on," said Dalton, "andwe'll ask there for information. It's safe to do so because all thepeople through here are on our side. There, you can see the house now."
The moonlight disclosed a farmhouse, surrounded by a lawn that waswell sprinkled with big trees, but as they approached Harry and Daltonsimultaneously reined their horses back into the wood. They had seen adozen troopers on the lawn, and the light was good enough to show thattheir uniforms were or had been blue. A woman was standing in the opendoor of the house, and one of the men, who seemed to be the leader, wastalking to her.
"Yankee scouts," whispered Harry.
"Undoubtedly. The Yankee generals are waking up--Jackson has made 'em doit, but I didn't expect to find their scouts so far in the valley."
"Nor I. Suppose we wait here, George, until they leave."
"It's the thing to do."
They rode a little further into the woods where they were safe fromobservation, and yet could watch what was passing at the house. Butthey did not have to wait long. The troopers evidently got littlesatisfaction from the woman to whom they were talking and turned theirhorses. Harry saw her disappear inside, and he fairly heard the doorslam when it closed. The men galloped southward down the road.
Harry heard a chuckle beside him and he turned in astonishment.
"I'm laughing," said Dalton, "because I've got a right to laugh. Here inthe valley we are all kin to one another just as you people in Kentuckyare all related. The woman who stood in the doorway is Cousin ElizaPomeroy. She's about my seventh cousin, but she's my cousin just thesame, and if we could have heard it we would have enjoyed what she wassaying to those Yankees."
"Oughtn't we to stop also and get news, if we can?"
"Of course. We must have a talk with Cousin Eliza."
They emerged from the woods, opened the gate and rode upon the lawn. Nota ray of light came from the house anywhere. Every door and shutter wasfast.
"Knock on the door with the hilt of your sword, Harry," said Dalton. "Itwill bring Cousin Eliza. She can't have gone to sleep yet."
Harry dismounted and holding the reins of his horse over his arm,knocked loudly. There was no reply.
"Beat harder, Harry. She's sure to hear."
Harry beat upon that door until he bruised the hilt of his sword. Atlast it was thrown open violently, and a powerful wom
an of middle yearsappeared.
"I thought you Yankees had gone forever!" she exclaimed. "You'd betterhurry or Stonewall Jackson will get you before morning!"
"We're not Yankees, ma'am," said Harry, politely. "We're Southerners,Stonewall Jackson's own men, scouts from his army, here looking for newsof the enemy."
"A fine tale, young man. You're trying to fool me with your grayuniform. Stonewall Jackson's men are fifteen miles north of here,chasing the Yankees by thousands into the Potomac. They say he does itjust as well by night as by day, and that he never sleeps or rests."
"What my comrade tells you is true. Good evening, Cousin Eliza!" said agentle voice beyond Harry.
The woman started and then stepped out of the door. Dalton rode forwarda little where the full moonlight fell upon him.
"You remember that summer six years ago when you spanked me for stealingthe big yellow apples in the orchard."
"George! Little George Dalton!" she cried, and as Dalton got off hishorse she enclosed him in a powerful embrace, although he was little nolonger.
"And have you come from Stonewall Jackson?" she asked breathless witheagerness.
"Straight from him. I'm on his staff and so is my friend here. This isHarry Kenton of Kentucky, Mrs. Pomeroy, and he's been through allthe battles with us. We were watching from the woods and we saw thoseYankees at your door. They didn't get any information, I know that, butI'm thinking that we will."
Cousin Eliza Pomeroy laughed a low, deep laugh of pride andsatisfaction.
"Come into the house," she exclaimed. "I'm here with four children. Jim,my husband, is with Johnston's army before Richmond, but we've been ableto take care of ourselves thus far, and I reckon we'll keep on beingable. I can get hot coffee and good corn cakes ready for you inside offifteen minutes."
"It's not food we want, Cousin Eliza," said Dalton. "We want somethingfar better, what those Yankees came for--news. So I think we'd betterstay outside and run no risk of surprise. The Yankees might come back."
"That's so. You'll grow up into a man with a heap of sense, George.I've got real news, and I was waiting for a chance to send it through toStonewall Jackson. Billy! Billy!"
A small boy, not more than twelve, but clothed fully, darted from theinside of the house. He was well set up for his age, and his face waskeen and eager.
"This is Billy Pomeroy, my oldest son," said Cousin Eliza Pomeroy, witha swelling of maternal pride. "I made him get in bed and cover himselfup, boots and all, when the Yankees came. Billy has been riding to-day.He ain't very old, and he ain't very big, but put him on a horse andhe's mighty nigh a man."
The small, eager face was shining.
"What did you see, Billy, when you rode so far?" asked Dalton.
"Yankees! Yankees, Cousin George, and lots of 'em, toward Manassas Gap!I saw some of their cavalry this side of the Gap, and I heard at thestore that there was a big army on the other side, marching hard to comethrough it, and get in behind our Stonewall."
Harry looked at Dalton.
"That confirms the rumors we heard," he said.
"You can believe anything that Billy tells you," said Mrs. Pomeroy.
"I know it," said Dalton, "but we've got to go on and see these men forourselves. Stonewall Jackson is a terrible man, Cousin Eliza. If we tellhim that the Yankees are coming through Manassas Gap and closing in onhis rear, he'll ask us how we know it, and when we reply that a boy toldus he'll break us as unfit to be on his staff."
"And I reckon Stonewall Jackson will be about right!" said Cousin ElizaPomeroy, who was evidently a woman of strong mind. "Billy, you leadthese boys straight to Manassas Gap."
"Oh, no, Cousin Eliza!" exclaimed Dalton. "Billy's been riding hard allday, and we can find the way."
"What do you think Billy's made out of?" asked his mothercontemptuously. "Ain't he a valley boy? Ain't he Jim Pomeroy's son andmine? I want you to understand that Billy can ride anything, and he canride it all day long and all night long, too!"
"Make 'em let me go, ma!" exclaimed Billy, eagerly. "I can save time. Ican show 'em the shortest way!"
Harry and George glanced at each other. Young Billy Pomeroy might beof great value to them. Moreover, the choice was already made for them,because Billy was now running to the stable for his horse.
"He goes with us, or rather he leads us, Cousin Eliza," said Dalton.
Billy appeared the next instant, with his horse saddled and bridled, andhis own proud young self in the saddle.
"Billy, take 'em straight," said his Spartan mother, as she drew himdown in the saddle and kissed him, and Billy, more swollen with pridethan ever, promised that he would. But the mother's voice broke a littlewhen she said to Dalton:
"He's to guide you wherever you want to go, but you must bring him backto me unhurt."
"We will, Cousin Eliza," said Dalton earnestly.
Then they galloped away in the dark with Billy leading and riding like aComanche. He had taken a fresh horse from the stall and it was almost aspowerful as those ridden by Harry and Dalton.
"See the mountains," said Billy, pointing eastward to a long dark linedimly visible in the moonlight. "That's the Blue Ridge, and furthersouth is the Gap, but you can't see it at night until you come rightclose to it."
"Do you know any path through the woods, Billy?" asked Harry. "We don'twant to run the risk of capture."
"I was just about to lead you into it," replied the boy, still rejoicingin the importance of his role. "Here it is."
He turned off from the road into a path leading into thick forest,wide enough for only one horse at a time. Billy, of course, led, Harryfollowed, and Dalton brought up the rear. The path, evidently a shortcut used by farmers, was enclosed by great oaks, beeches and elms, nowin full leaf, and it was dark there. Only a slit of moonlight showedfrom above, and the figures of the three riders grew shadowy.
"They'll never find us here, will they, Billy?" said Harry.
"Not one chance in a thousand. Them Yankees don't know a thing aboutthe country. Anyway, if they should come into the path at the other end,we'd hear them long before they heard us."
"You're right, Billy, and as we ride on we'll all three listen with sixgood ears."
"Yes, sir," said Billy.
Harry, although only a boy himself, was so much older than Billy, whoaddressed him as "sir," that he felt himself quite a veteran.
"Billy," he said, "how did it happen that you were riding down this way,so far from home, to-day?"
"'Cause we heard there was Yanks in the Gap. Ma won't let me go an'fight with Stonewall Jackson. She says I ain't old enough an' bigenough, but she told me herself to get on the horse an' ride down thisway, an' see if what we heard was true. I saw 'em in little bunches, an'then that gang come to our house to-night, less 'n ten minutes after Icome back. We'll be at a creek, sir, in less than five minutes. It runsdown from the mountains, an' it's pretty deep with all them big springrains. I guess we'll have to swim, sir. We could go lower down, wherethere's always a ford, but that's where the Yankees would be crossing."
"We'll swim, if necessary, Billy."
"When even the women and little children fight for us, the South willbe hard to conquer," was Harry's thought, but he said no more until theyreached the creek, which was indeed swollen by the heavy rains, and wasrunning swiftly, a full ten feet in depth.
"Hold on, Billy, I'll lead the way," said Harry.
But Billy was already in the stream, his short legs drawn up, and hishorse swimming strongly. Harry and Dalton followed without a word, andthe three emerged safely on the eastern side.
"You're a brave swimmer, Billy," said Harry admiringly.
"'Tain't nothin, sir. I didn't swim. It was my horse. I guess he'd takeme across the Mississippi itself. I wouldn't have anything to do butstick on his back. Look up, sir, an' you can see the mountains closeby."
Harry and Dalton looked up through the rift in the trees, and saw almostover them the lofty outline of the Blue Ridge, the eastern rampart ofthe
valley, heavy with forest from base to top.
"We must be near the Gap," said Dalton.
"We are," said Billy. "We've been coming fast. It's nigh on to fifteenmiles from here to home."
"And must be a full thirty to Harper's Ferry," said Dalton.
"Does this path lead to some point overlooking the Gap," asked Harry,"where we can see the enemy if he's there, and he can't see us?"
"Yes, sir. We can ride on a slope not more than two miles from here andlook right down into the Gap."
"And if troops are there we'll be sure to see their fires," said Dalton."Lead on, Billy."
Billy led with boldness and certainty. It was the greatest night of hislife, and he meant to fulfill to the utmost what he deemed to be hisduty. The narrow path still wound among mighty trees, the branches ofwhich met now and then over their heads, shutting out the moonlightentirely. It led at this point toward the north and they were rapidlyascending a shoulder of the mountain, leaving the Gap on their right.
Harry, riding on such an errand, felt to the full the weird qualityof mountains and forest, over which darkness and silence brooded. Thefoliage was very heavy, and it rustled now and then as the stray windswandered along the slopes of the Blue Ridge. But for that and thehoofbeats of their own horses, there was no sound save once, when theyheard a scuttling on the bark of a tree. They saw nothing, but Billypronounced it a wildcat, alarmed by their passage.
The three at length came out on a level place or tiny plateau. Billy,who rode in advance, stopped and the others stopped with him.
"Look," said the boy, pointing to the bottom of the valley, about fivehundred feet below.
A fire burned there and they could discern men around it, with horses inthe background.
"Yankees," said Billy. "Look at 'em through the glasses."
Harry raised his glasses and took a long look. They had the fullmoonlight where they stood and the fire in the valley below was also ahelp. He saw that the camp was made by a strong cavalry force. Many ofthem were asleep in their blankets, but the others sat by the fire andseemed to be talking.
Then he passed the glasses to Dalton, who also, after looking long andwell, passed them to Billy, as a right belonging to one who had beentheir real leader, and who shared equally with them their hardships anddangers.
"How large would you say that force is, George?" asked Harry.
"Three or four hundred men at least. There's a great bunch of horses. Ishould judge, too, from the careless way they've camped, that they've nofear of being attacked. How many do you think they are, Billy?"
"Just about what you said, Cousin George. Are you going to attack them?"
Harry and Dalton laughed.
"No, Billy," replied Dalton. "You see we're only three, and there mustbe at least three hundred down there."
"But we've been hearin' that Stonewall Jackson's men never mind ahundred to one," said Billy, in an aggrieved tone. "We hear that's justabout what they like."
"No, Billy, my boy. We don't fight a hundred to one. Nobody does, unlessit's like Thermopylae and the Alamo."
"Then what are we going to do?" continued Billy in his disappointedtone.
"I think, Billy, that Harry and I are going to dismount, slip downthe mountainside, see what we can see, hear what we can hear, and thatyou'll stay here, holding and guarding the horses until we come back."
"I won't!" exclaimed Billy in violent indignation. "I won't, CousinGeorge. I'm going down the mountain with you an' Mr. Kenton."
"Now, Billy," said Dalton soothingly, "you've got a most important jobhere. You're the reserve, and you also hold the means of flight. Supposewe're pursued hotly, we couldn't get away without the horses that you'llhold for us. Suppose we should be taken. Then it's for you to gallopback with the news that Shields' whole army will be in the pass in themorning, and under such circumstances, your mother would send you on toGeneral Jackson with a message of such immense importance."
"That's so," said Billy with conviction, in the face of so mucheloquence and logic, "but I don't want you fellows to be captured."
Dalton and Harry dismounting, gave the reins of their horses into thehands of Billy, and the small fingers clutched them tightly.
"Stay exactly where you are, Billy," said Harry. "We want to find youwithout trouble when we come back."
"I'll be here," said Billy proudly.
Harry and Dalton began the descent through the bushes and trees. Theyhad not the slightest doubt that this was the vanguard of the Northernarmy which they heard was ten thousand strong, and that this force wasmerely a vanguard for McDowell, who had nearly forty thousand men. Butthey knew too well to go back to Stonewall Jackson with mere surmise,however plausible.
"We've got to find out some way or other whether their army is certainlyat hand," whispered Dalton.
Harry nodded, and said:
"We must manage to overhear some of their talk, though it's riskybusiness."
"But that's what we're here for. They don't seem to be very watchful,and as the woods and bushes are thick about 'em we may get a chance."
They continued their slow and careful descent. Harry glanced back oncethrough an opening in the bushes and saw little Billy, holding the reinsof the three horses and gazing intently after them. He knew that amongall the soldiers of Jackson's army, no matter how full of valor and zealthey might be, there was not one who surpassed Billy in eagerness toserve.
They reached the bottom of the slope, and lay for a few minutes hiddenamong dense bushes. Both had been familiar with country life, they hadhunted the 'possum and the coon many a dark night, and now their forestlore stood them in good stead. They made no sound as they passed amongthe bushes and trailing vines, and they knew that they were quite securein their covert, although they lay within a hundred yards of one of thefires.
Harry judged that most of the men whom they saw were city bred. It wasan advantage that the South had over the North in a mighty war, waged ina country covered then mostly with forest and cut by innumerable riversand creeks, that her sons were familiar with such conditions, while manyof those of the North, used to life in the cities, were at a loss, whenthe great campaigns took them into the wilderness.
Both he and Dalton, relying upon this knowledge, crept a little closer,but they stopped and lay very close, when they saw a man advancing to ahillock, carrying under his arm a bundle which they took to be rockets.
"Signals," whispered Dalton. "You just watch, Harry, and you'll see 'emanswered from the eastward."
The officer on the summit of the hillock sent up three rockets, whichcurved beautifully against the blue heavens, then sank and died. Far tothe eastward they saw three similar lights flame and die.
"How far away would you say those answering rockets were?" whisperedHarry.
"It's hard to say about distances in the moonlight, but they may bethree or four miles. I take it, Harry, that they are sent up by theNorthern main force."
"So do I, but we've got to get actual evidence in words, or we've gotto see this army. I'm afraid to go back to General Jackson with anythingless. Now, we won't have time to go through the Gap, see the army andget back to the general before things begin to happen, so we've got tostick it out here, until we get what we want."
"True words, Harry, and we must risk going a little nearer. See thatline of bushes running along there in the dark? It will cover us, andwe're bound to take the chance. We must agree, too, Harry, that if we'rediscovered, neither must stop in an attempt to save the other. If onereaches Jackson it will be all right."
"Of course, George. We'll run for it with all our might, and if it'sonly one it's to be the better runner."
They lay almost flat on their stomachs, and passing through thegrass, reached the line of bushes. Here they could rise from such anuncomfortable position, and stooping they came within fifty yards of thefirst fire, where they saw very clearly the men who were not asleep,and who yet moved about. Most of them were not yet sunburned, and Harryjudged at once that they
had come from the mills and workshops of NewYork or New England. As far as he could see they had no pickets, and heinferred their belief that no enemy was nearer than Jackson's army, atleast thirty miles away. Perhaps the little band of horsemen who hadknocked at Mrs. Pomeroy's door had brought them the information.
They lay there nearly an hour, not thinking of the danger, but consumedwith impatience. Officers passed near them talking, but they could catchonly scraps, not enough for their purpose. A set of signals was sent upagain and was answered duly from the same point to the east of the Gap.But after long waiting, they were rewarded. Few of the officers or menever went far from the fires. They seemed to be at a loss in the darkand silent wilderness which was absolute confirmation to Harry that theywere city dwellers.
Two officers, captains or majors, stopped within twenty feet of thecrouching scouts, and gazed for a long time through the Gap toward thewest into the valley, at the northern end of which Jackson and his armylay.
"I tell you, Curtis," one of them said at last, "that if we get throughthe Gap to-morrow and Fremont and the others also come up, Jackson can'tpossibly get away. We'll have him and his whole force in a trap and withthree or four to one in our favor, it will be all over."
"It's true, if it comes out as you say, Penfield," said the other, "butthere are several 'ifs,' and as we have reason to know, it's hard to putyour hand on Jackson. Why, when we thought he was lost in the mountainshe came out of them like an avalanche, and some of our best troops wereburied under that avalanche."
"You're too much of a pessimist, Curtis. We've learned a lot in the lastfew days. As sure as you and I stand here the fox will be trapped. Why,he's trapped already. We'll be through the Gap here with ten thousandmen in the morning, squarely in Jackson's rear. To-morrow we'll havefifty or sixty thousand good troops between him and Richmond andJohnston. His army will be taken or destroyed, and the Confederacy willbe split asunder. McClellan will be in Richmond with an overwhelmingforce, and within a month the war will be practically over."
"There's no doubt of that, if we catch Jackson, and it certainly looksas if the trap were closing down upon him. In defeating Banks and thenfollowing him to the Potomac he has ruined himself and his cause."
Harry felt a deadly fear gripping at his heart. What these men weresaying was probably true. Every fact supported their claim. The toughand enduring North, ready to sustain any number of defeats and yet win,was pouring forward her troops with a devotion that would have wrungtears from a stone. And she was destined to do it again and againthrough dark and weary years.
The two men walked further away, still talking, but Harry and Daltoncould no longer hear what they were saying. The rockets soared againin the pass, and were answered in the east, but now nearer, and the twoknew that it was not worth while to linger any longer. They knew thevital fact that ten thousand men were advancing through the pass, andthat all the rest was superfluity. And time had a value beyond price totheir cause.