ealize the fire, courage and devotion of the
South."

"I understand it, but I'm afraid that not many of our people do so.
Suppose we call it quits once more. Let this be Montgomery over again.
You do not want to shoot me here any more than I wanted to shoot you
down there."

"I admit that also," said Harry.

"Then you are safe from me, if I'm safe from you."

"Agreed," said Harry, as he lowered the weapon.

"Good-bye," said Shepard.

"Good-bye."

But they did not offer to shake hands. Each turned his back on the
other, and, when Harry stopped in the bushes, he saw only the dim
outlines of Washington. At midnight he found a colored man who, for pay,
rowed him across the Potomac. At dawn he found his horse peacefully
grazing in the meadow, and at the next dawn he was once more within the
southern lines.

CHAPTER XV

BATTLE'S EVE

Harry found little change in the Southern army, except that more troops
had come up from Richmond. It still rested upon Bull Run. The country
here was old, having been cropped for many generations, the soil mostly
clay and cut in deep ruts. There were many ravines and water courses,
and hillocks were numerous. Colonel Talbot had told Harry a month
before that it was not a bad place for a battle ground, and he
remembered it now as he came back to it. He had not taken the time
to return to the charcoal burner's hut for his uniform, and, when he
approached his own lines he still wore the Sunday best of Perkins.

The sentinel who hailed him first doubted his claim that he was a member
of the Invincibles, but he insisted so urgently, and called all its
officers by name so readily that he was passed on. He dismounted,
gave his horse to an orderly, and walked toward a clump of trees where
he saw Colonel Talbot writing at a small table in the open. The colonel,
engrossed in his work, did not look up, as the boy's footsteps made
little sound on the turf. When Harry stood before him he saluted and
said:

"I have returned to make my report, Colonel Talbot."

The colonel looked up, uttered a cry of pleasure and seized Harry by
both hands.

"Thank God, you've come back, my boy!" he said. "I hesitated to send
your father's son on such an errand, but I thought that you would
succeed. You have seen the enemy's forces?"

"I've been in Washington, itself," said Harry, some pride showing in his
voice.

"Then we'll go at once to General Beauregard. He is in his tent now,