resight. He ate,
drank from a tiny brook that he heard trickling among the trees, and
felt as if he had been made anew. He wisely protracted this stop to
half an hour and then he went forward at an increased gait.

His flight, save for short rests, continued without interruption until
morning. Always he looked about for a horse, intending in such an
emergency to take a horse by force and gallop to Beauregard. But the
country was populated very thinly and he saw none. He must continue
to rely upon his own good lungs, strong muscles, and dauntless spirit.

Dawn came, bathing the hills in gray light and unveiling the green of
the valleys below. Then the sun showed an edge of red fire in the east,
and the full day was at hand. Harry saw below him many horsemen in
smooth array. They seemed to have just started, as a huge campfire a
little further up the valley was still burning.

To the weary and anxious boy it seemed a most gallant command, fresh
as the dawn, splendid horses, splendid men, overflowing with life and
strength and spirits. His eyes traveled to one who was a little in
advance of all the others, and rested there. The figure that held his
gaze was scarcely modern, it was more like that of a knight of old
romance.

He saw a young man, tall, and built very powerfully, riding upon an
immense black horse. His hair and beard were long and thick, of a
golden brown that looked like pure flowing gold in the brilliant rays of
the young sun. His coat had two rows of shining brass buttons down the
front, and was sewn thickly with gold braid. Heavy gold braid covered
the seams of his trousers and a great sash of yellow silk was tied
around his waist. Spurs of gold gleamed in the sun. Long yellow gloves
covered his hands. His hat was of the finest felt, the brim pinned back
with a golden star, while a black ostrich plume waved over the crown.

Harry gazed at this singular and striking figure with wonder. He had
seen in the pictures knights of old France wearing such a garb as this,
and yet it did not seem so strange here. These were strange times.
Everything was out of the normal, and the brilliant colors which would
have seemed so dandyish to him at other times appealed to him now.

He suddenly recalled that these men were in gray uniforms, and he, too,
wore a gray uniform. They were his own people, cavalry of the Southern
army. Recovering his presence of mind, he ran forward, shouting and
waving hi