ing under Thomas still may be
standing there, protecting all the rest of the Union army."

"Come now, old Sober Face! This isn't like you. We've won a grand
victory! We've more than paid them back for their Gettysburg."

Harry rejoiced then with the others, but at times the thought came to
him that Thomas with one wing might yet be standing between Bragg and
complete victory. When he and Dalton went back home--they were again
with the Lanhams--they found the whole population of Richmond ablaze with
triumph. The Yankee army in the West had been routed. Not only was
Chickamauga an offset for Gettysburg, but for Vicksburg as well, and once
more the fortunes of the South were rising toward the zenith.

Dalton had returned from the army a little later this time than Harry,
but he had joined him at the Lanhams', and he too showed gravity amid the
almost universal rejoicing.

"I see that you're afraid the next news won't be so complete, Harry,"
he said.

"That's it, George. We don't really know much, except that Thomas was
holding his ground. Oh, if only Stonewall Jackson were there! Remember
how he came down on them at the Second Manassas and at Chancellorsville!
Thomas would be swept off his feet and as Rosecrans retreated into
Chattanooga our army would pour right on his heels!"

They waited eagerly the next day and the next for news, and while
Richmond was still filled with rejoicings over Chickamauga, Harry saw
that his fears were justified. Thomas stood till the end. Bragg had not
followed Rosecrans into Chattanooga. The South had won a great battle,
but not a decisive victory. The commanding general had not reaped all
the rewards that were his for the taking. Bragg had justified in every
way Colonel Talbot's estimate of him.

And yet Richmond, like the rest of the South, felt the great uplift of
Chickamauga, the most gigantic battle of the West. It told South as
well as North that the war was far from over. The South could no longer
invade the North, nor could the North invade the South at will. Even on
the northernmost border of the rebelling section the Army of Northern
Virginia under its matchless leader, rested in its camp, challenging and
defiant.

Harry was glad to return with his friends to the army. His brief period
of festival was over, and his fears for his father had been relieved by
a letter, stating that he had received no serious harm in the great and
terrible battle of Chickamau