I thought her heart was breaking.
In hurried words her name I blessed,
I breathed the vows that bind me
And to my heart in anguish pressed
The girl I left behind me."

It was a favorite air of the Southern bands, and, much as it stirred
Harry now, he was destined to hear it again in moments far more
thrilling. He presented his order from General Beauregard to a sentinel,
who passed him to an officer, who in turn told him to go about a quarter
of a mile westward, where he would find the regiment of Colonel Talbot
quartered.

"It's a mixed regiment," he said, "made up of Virginians, South
Carolinians, North Carolinians, and a few Kentuckians and Tennesseeans,
but it's already one of the best in the service. Colonel Talbot and his
second in command, Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, have been thrashing
it into shape in great fashion. They're mostly boys and already they
call themselves 'The Invincibles.' You can see the tents of their
commanding officers over there by that little creek."

Harry's eyes followed the pointing finger, and again his heart leaped.
His friends were there, the two colonels for whom he had such a strong
affection, and the two lads of his own age. Theirs looked like a good
camp, too. It was arranged neatly, and by its side flowed the clear,
cool waters of Young's Branch, a tributary of the little Manassas River.
He walked briskly, crossed the brook, stepping from stone to stone,
and entered the grounds of the Invincibles. A tall youth rushed forward,
seized his hand and shook it violently, meanwhile uttering cries of
welcome in an unbroken stream.

"By all the powers, it's our own Harry!" he exclaimed, "the new Harry
of the West, whom we were afraid we should never see again. Everything
is for the best, but we hardly hoped for this! How did you get here,
Harry? And you didn't bring Kentucky rushing to our side, after all!
Well, I knew it wasn't your fault, old horse! Ho, St. Clair, come and
see who's here!"

St. Clair, who had been lying in the grass behind a tent, appeared and
greeted Harry joyfully. But while Langdon was just the same he had
changed in appearance. He was thinner and graver, and his intellectual
face bore the stamp of rapid maturity.

"It's like greeting one of our very own, Harry," he said. "You were
with us in Charleston at the great beginning. We were afraid you would
have to stay in the west."

"The big things will begin here,"