lot more of the Invincibles
need bathing and here come some for their chance."

Harry came out reluctantly, and in a few minutes they were on the way
to the quartermaster, where the needed uniform, one that appealed
gloriously to his eye, was bought. St. Clair was quiet, but Langdon
talked enough for all three.

"The Yankee vanguard is only a few miles away," he said. "You don't
have to go far before you see their tents, though I ought to say that
each side has another army westward in the mountains. There's been a
lot of fighting already, though not much of it here. The first shots on
Virginia soil were fired on our front the day General Beauregard arrived
to take command of our forces."

"How about those troops in the hills?" asked Harry.

"They've been up and doing. A young Yankee general named McClellan has
shown a lot of activity. He has beat us in some skirmishes and he has
organized troops as far west as the Ohio. Then he and his generals met
our general, Garnett, at Rich Mountain. It was the biggest affair of
the war so far, and Garnett was killed. Then a curious fellow of ours
named Jackson, and Stuart, a cavalry officer, lost a little battle at a
place called Falling Waters."

"Has the luck been against us all along the line?"

"Not at all! A cock-eyed Massachusetts politician, one Ben Butler,
a fellow of energy though, broke into the Yorktown country, but Magruder
thrashed him at Big Bethel. All those things, though, Harry, are just
whiffs of rain before the big storm. We're threatening Washington
here with our main army, and here is where they will have to meet us.
Lincoln has put General Scott, a Virginian, too, in command of the
Northern armies, but as he's so old, somebody else will be the real
commander."

Harry felt himself a genuine soldier in his new uniform, and he soon
learned his new duties, which, for the present, would not be many.
The two armies, although practically face to face, refused to move.
On either side the officers of the old regular force were seeking to
beat the raw recruits into shape, and the rival commanders also waited,
each for the other to make the first movement.

Harry and St. Clair were sent that night far toward the front with a
small detachment to patrol some hill country. They marched in the
moonlight, keeping among the trees, and listening for any sounds that
might be hostile.

"It's not likely though that we'll be molested," said St. Clair.
"Th