. The shades
of the great Virginians rose in a host before him.

He arrived about noon, and, as he carried no baggage except his saddle
bags and weapons, he was quickly within the city, his papers being in
perfect order. He ate dinner, as the noonday meal was then called,
and decided to seek General Beauregard at once, having learned from an
officer on the train that he was in the city. It was said that he was
at the residence of President Davis, called the White House, after that
other and more famous one at Washington, in which the lank, awkward man,
Abraham Lincoln, now lived.

But Harry paused frequently on the way, as there was nothing to hurry
him, and there was much to be seen. If Charleston had been crowded,
Richmond was more so. Like all capitals on the verge of a great war,
but as yet untouched by its destructive breath, it throbbed with life.
The streets swarmed with people, young officers and soldiers in their
uniforms, civilians of all kinds, and many pretty girls in white or
light dresses, often with flowers in their hair or on their breasts.
Light-heartedness and gaiety seemed predominant.

Harry stopped a while to look at the ancient and noble state house,
now the home also of the Confederate Congress, standing in Capitol
Square, and the spire of the Bell Tower, on Shockoe Hill. He saw
important looking men coming in or going out of the square, but he did
not linger long, intending to see the sights another time.

He was informed at the "White House" that General Beauregard was there,
and sending in his card he was admitted promptly. Beauregard was
sitting with President Davis and Secretary Benjamin in a room furnished
plainly, and the general in his quick, nervous manner rose and greeted
him warmly.

"You did good service with us at Charleston," he said, "and we welcome
you here. We have already heard from your father, who was a comrade in
war of both President Davis and myself."

"He wrote us that you were coming across the mountains from Frankfort,"
said Mr. Davis.

Harry thought that the President already looked worn and anxious.

"Yes, sir," replied the boy, "I came chiefly by the river and the
Wilderness Road."

"Your father writes that they worked hard at Frankfort, but that they
failed to take Kentucky out," continued the head of the Confederacy.

"The Southern leaders did their best, but they could not move the state."

"And you wish, then, to serve at the front?" continued