Colonel Talbot. "Shall I take the Invincibles, sir,
and teach them a lesson?"

Sherburne smiled and shook his head.

"No, Colonel," he said, "although I thank you for the offer. They'd melt
away before you and we'd merely waste our energies. Let them look as
much as they please, and now that the boys have eaten their bread and
bacon and drunk their coffee, and are giants again, we'll ride on toward
the Potomac."

"Do we reach it to-day, sir?" asked Colonel Talbot.

"Not before to-morrow afternoon, even if we should not be interrupted.
This is the enemy's country and we may run at any time into a force as
large as our own if not larger."

"Thank you for the information, Colonel Sherburne. My ignorance of
geography may appear astonishing to you, although we had to study it very
hard at West Point. But I admit my weakness and I add, as perhaps some
excuse, that I have lately devoted very little attention to the Northern
states. It did not seem worth my time to spend much study on the rivers,
and creeks and mountains of what is to be a foreign country--although I
may never be able to think of John Carrington and many other of my old
friends in the army as the foreigners they're sure to become. Has the
thought ever occurred to you, Colonel, that by our victories we're making
a tremendous lot of foreigners in America?"

"It has, Colonel Talbot, but I can't say that the thought has ever been a
particularly happy one."

"It's the Yankees who are being made into foreigners," said Lieutenant-
Colonel St. Hilaire. "The gallant Southern people, of course, remain
what they are."

"They're going," said Harry. "They've seen enough of us."

The distant troop disappeared over the crest of the hill. Harry had
noticed that Shepard led the way as if he were the ruling spirit, but he
did not consider it necessary to say anything to the others about him.
The trumpet blew and Sherburne's force, mounting, rode away from the
cove. Harry cast one regretful glance back at the splendid fire which
still glowed there, and then resigned himself to the cold and rain.

They did not stop again until far in the night. The rain ceased, but the
whole earth was sodden and the trees on the low ridge, on which Sherburne
camped, dripped with water. Spies might be all around them, but for the
sake of physical comfort and the courage that he knew would come with it,
he ordered another big fire built. Vigilant riflemen took turns in
bea