them. They had fought a great battle three days long,
and then after a tense day of waiting under arms, they had marched hard.
What to them was the noise made by an affair of outposts, when they had
heard so long the firing of a hundred and fifty thousand rifles and three
or four hundred big guns? Not one in a hundred stood up to see.

The country grew rougher, and Harry was compelled to draw his horse down
to a walk. But the firing, a half-mile or more ahead, maintained its
volume, and as he approached through thick underbrush, being able to find
no other way, he dismounted and led his horse. Presently he saw beads of
flame appearing among the bushes, seen a moment, then gone like a firefly,
and as he went further he heard voices. He had no doubt that it was the
Southern pickets in the undergrowth, and, calling softly, he received
confirmatory replies.

A rifleman, a tall, slender fellow in ragged butternut, appeared beside
him, and, recognizing Harry's near-gray uniform as that of an officer,
said:

"They're dismounted cavalry on the other side of a creek that runs along
over there among the bushes. I don't think they mean any real attack.
They expect to sting us a little an' find out what we're about."

"Seems likely to me too. They aren't strong enough, of course, for an
attempt at rushing us. What troops are in here in the woods on our side?"

"Captain Sherburne's cavalry, sir. They're a bit to our right, an'
they're dismounted too. You'll find the captain himself on a little
knoll about a hundred yards away."

"Thanks," said Harry, and leading his horse he reached the knoll, to find
the rifleman's statement correct. Sherburne was kneeling behind some
bushes, trying with the aid of glasses and moonlight to pick out the
enemy.

"That you, Harry?" he said, glancing back.

"Yes, Captain. The general has sent me to see what you and the rest of
you noisy fellows are doing."

"Shooting across a creek at an enemy who first shot at us. It's only
under provocation that we've roused the general and his staff from sleep.
Use your glasses and see what you can make out in those bushes on the
other side! Keep down, Harry! For Heaven's sake keep down! That bullet
didn't miss you more than three inches. You wouldn't be much loss to the
army, of course, but you're my personal friend."

"Thanks for your advice. I intend to stay so far down that I'll lie
almost flat."

He meant to keep his word, too.