ral, that he could dare
and do so much. He might be awkward in appearance, he might wear his
clothes badly, but the boy at ten years had been a man, doing a man's
work and with a man's soul. He had come into the field, no parade
soldier, but with a body and mind as tough and enduring as steel, the
whole surcharged and heated with a spirit of fire.

Both Harry and Mrs. Howard had become silent and were watching the
general. For some reason Jackson was more moved than usual. His manner
did not depart from its habitual gravity. He made no gestures, but the
blue eyes under the heavy brows were irradiated by a peculiar flashing
light.

The long dinner went on. It was more of a festival than a banquet, and
Harry at last gave himself up entirely to its luxurious warmth. The
foreboding that their mellow days in the pleasant little city were over,
was gone, but it was destined to come again. Now, after the dinner was
finished, and the great table was cleared away, they sat and talked,
some in the dining room and some in the library.

It was still raining, that cold rain which at times turns for a moment
or two to snow, and it dashed in gusts against the window panes. Harry
was with some of the younger people in the library, where they were
playing at games. The sport lagged presently and he went to a window,
where he stood between the curtain and the glass.

He saw the outside dimly, the drenched lawn, and the trees beyond, under
which two or three sentinels, wrapped closely in heavy coats, walked to
and fro. He gazed at them idly, and then a shadow passed between him and
them. He thought at first that it was a blurring of the glass by some
stronger gust of rain, but the next moment his experience told him that
it could not be so. He had seen a shadow, and the shadow was that of a
man, sliding along against the wall of the house, in order that he might
not be seen by a sentinel.

Harry's suspicions were up and alive in an instant. In this border
country spies were numerous. It was easy to be a spy where people looked
alike and spoke the same language with the same accent. His suspicions,
too, centered at once upon Shepard, whom he knew to be so daring and
skillful.

The lad was prompt to act. He slipped unnoticed into the hall, put on
his greatcoat, felt of the pistol in his belt, opened the front door and
stepped out into the dark and the rain.

CHAPTER V. THE NORTHERN ADVANCE

Harry flattened himself against