"
General Lee and his whole staff had risen and were listening attentively.
The faint sound of many shots still came, and then a sharper, more
penetrating crash, as if light field guns were at work. The commander
beckoned to Harry.
"Ride toward it," he said briefly, "and return with a report as soon as
you can."
Harry touched his cap, sprang upon his horse and galloped away. He knew
that other messengers would be dispatched also, but, as he had been sent
first, he wished to arrive first. He found a path among the trees along
which he could make good speed, and, keeping his mind fixed on the firing,
he sped forward.
Thousands of soldiers lay asleep in the woods and fields on either side
of him, but the thud of the horse's hoofs awakened few of them. Nor did
the firing disturb them. They had fought a great battle three days long,
and then after a tense day of waiting under arms, they had marched hard.
What to them was the noise made by an affair of outposts, when they had
heard so long the firing of a hundred and fifty thousand rifles and three
or four hundred big guns? Not one in a hundred stood up to see.
The country grew rougher, and Harry was compelled to draw his horse down
to a walk.
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