CHAPTER III
THE FLOODED RIVER
Harry and Dalton were aroused before daylight by Colonel Peyton of Lee's
staff, with instructions to mount at once, and join a strong detachment,
ready to go ahead and clear a way. Sherburne's troop would lead.
The Invincibles, for whom mounts had been obtained, would follow.
There were fragments of other regiments, the whole force amounting to
about fifteen hundred men, under the command of Sherburne, who had been
raised the preceding afternoon to the rank of Colonel, and whose skill
and valor were so well known that such veterans as Colonel Talbot and
Lieutenant Colonel St. Hilaire were glad to serve under him. Harry and
Dalton would represent the commander-in-chief, and would return whenever
Colonel Sherburne thought fit to report to him.
Harry was glad to go. While he had his periods of intense thought,
and his character was serious, he was like his great ancestor,
essentially a creature of action. His blood flowed more swiftly with the
beat of his horse's hoofs, and his spirits rose as the free air of the
fields and forests rushed past him. Moreover he was extremely anxious to
see what lay ahead. If barriers were there he wanted to look upon them.
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