We've lost Vicksburg, and an army with it, and we've
retreated from Gettysburg, with enough men fallen there to make another
army, but they'll never break through the iron front of Lee and his
veterans."
"Hope you're right," said Sherburne, "but I'm off now. I'm in the saddle
all night with my troop. We've got to watch the Yankee cavalry. Custer
and Pleasanton and the rest of them have learned to ride in a way that
won't let Jeb Stuart himself do any nodding."
He cantered off and the lads sat under the trees, ready for possible
orders. They saw the fire die. They heard the murmur of the camp sink.
Lee lay down on his bed of boughs, other generals withdrew to similar
beds or to tents, and the two boys still sat under the trees, waiting and
watching, and never knowing at what moment they would be needed.
CHAPTER II
THE NORTHERN SPY
But the night remained very quiet. Harry and Dalton, growing tired of
sitting, walked about the camp, and looked again to their horses, which,
saddled and bridled, were nevertheless allowed to nip the grass as best
they could at the end of their lariats. The last embers of the fire
went out, but the moon and stars remained bright, and they saw dimly the
sleeping forms of Lee and his generals.
Pages:
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43