ed his
features, making the distorted smile that crept over them unusually
hideous.

"Well, I'm glad to see _you_," he said to the Special Messenger; "come
in while I shave. West, is there anything to eat? All right; I'm ready
for it. Come in, Messenger, come in!"

She entered, closing the bedroom door; the general shook hands with her
slyly, saying, "I'm devilish glad you got through, ma'am. Have any
trouble down below?"

"Some, General."

He nodded and began to shave; she stripped off her tight outer jacket,
laid it on the table, and, ripping the lining stitches, extracted some
maps and shreds of soft paper covered with notes and figures.

Over these, half shaved, the general stooped, razor in hand, eyes
following her forefinger as she traced in silence the lines she had
drawn. There was no need for her to speak, no reason for him to inquire;
her maps were perfectly clear, every route named, every regiment, every
battery labeled, every total added up.

Without a word she called his attention to the railroad and the note
regarding the number of trains.

"We've got to get at it, somehow," he said. "What are those?"

"Siege batteries, General--on the march."

His mutilated mouth relaxed into a grin.

"They seem to be allfired sure of us. What are they saying down below?"

[Illustration: "'They seem to be allfired sure of us.'"]

"They talk of being in Washington by the fifteenth, sir."

"Oh.... What's that topographical symbol--here?" placing one finger on
the map.

"That is the Moray Mansion--or was."

"_Was?_"

"Our cavalry burned it two weeks ago Thursday."

"Find anything to help you there?"

She nodded.

The general returned to his shaving, completed it, came back and
examined the papers again.

"That infantry, there," he said, "are you sure it's Longstreet's?"

"Yes, sir."

"You didn't see Longstreet, did you?"

"Yes, sir; and talked with him."

The general's body servant knocked, announcing breakfast, and left the
general's boots and tunic, both carefully brushed. When he had gone out
again, the Special Messenger said very quietly:

"I expect to report on the Moray matter before night."

The general buckled in his belt and hooked up his sword.

"If you can nail that fellow," he said, speaking very slowly, "I guess
you can come pretty close to getting whatever you ask for from
Washington."

For a moment she stood very silent there, her ripped jacket hanging limp
over her arm;