said Harry.

"There can be no doubt of it. Do you know, Harry, that we are less than
thirty miles from Washington! If there were any hill high enough around
here we could see the white dome of the Capitol which we hope to take
before the summer is over. But we'll take you to the Colonel and Major
Hector St. Hilaire, that was, but Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire
that is."

Colonel Talbot was sitting at a small table in a tent, the sides of
which had been raised all around, leaving only a canvas roof.
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire sat opposite him across the table,
and they were studying intently a small map of a region that was soon to
be sown deep with history. They looked up when Harry came with his two
friends, and gave him the welcome that he knew he would always receive
from them.

"I've had a letter from your father," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot,
"and I've been expecting you. You are to be a lieutenant on my staff,
and the quartermaster will sell you a new uniform as glossy and fine as
those of which St. Clair and Langdon are so proud."

He asked him a few more questions about Kentucky and his journey over
the mountains, and then, telling St. Clair and Langdon to take care of
him, he and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire went back to the study of
their map. Harry noted that both were tanned deeply and that their
faces were very serious.

"Come along, Harry," said Langdon. "Let the colonel and the major bear
all the troubles. For us everything is for the best. We've got you on
our hands and we're going to treat you right. See that deep pool in the
brook, where the big oak throws its shade over the water? It's partly
natural and it's partly dammed, but it's our swimming hole. You are
covered with dust and dirt. Pull off your clothes and jump in there.
We'll protect you from ribald attention. There are other swimming holes
along here, but this swimming hole belongs to the Invincibles, and we
always make good our rights."

Harry was more than willing. In three minutes he jumped into the deep,
cool water, swimming, diving, and shaking himself like a big dog.
He had enjoyed no such luxury in many days, and he felt as if he were
being re-created. Langdon and St. Clair sat on the bank and gave him
instructions.

"Now jump out," Langdon said at the end of five minutes. "You needn't
think because you've just come and are in a way a guest, that you can
keep this swimming hole all to yourself. A