Altsheler, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander), 1862-1919 / 2008-06-09 00:00:00


The advantage was wholly with the South, standing on the defense in dark
undergrowth, and the Union troop, despite its desperate attempts at the
ford, was beaten back with great loss.
Harry waited until the result was sure, and then he walked slowly over
the hill toward the point, where the orderly was waiting with the horses.
The man, who knew him, handed him the reins of his mount, saying at the
same time:
"I've a note for you, sir."
"For me?"
"Yes, sir. It was handed to me about fifteen minutes ago by a large man
in our uniform, whom I didn't know."
"Probably a dispatch that I'm to carry to General Lee."
"No, sir. It's addressed to you."
The note was written in pencil on a piece of coarse gray paper, folded
several times, but with a face large enough to show Harry's name upon it.
He wondered, but said nothing to the sentinel, and did not look at the
note again, until he had ridden some distance.
He stopped in a little glade where the moonlight fell clearly. He still
heard scattered firing behind him, but he knew that the skirmish was
in reality over, and he concluded that no further attempt by Union
detachments to advance would be made in the face of such vigilance.
He could report to General Lee that the rear of his army was safe.
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