art told her.
"I'm returning to Culpepper in the morning, as you know, but I mean to
leave Captain Mosby behind with a few men, to look after the loyal
Confederate people here until we can return in force and in victory."

Hearing his name, one of the men in gray turned, his hands raised to
hook the fastening at the throat of his cloak. Just four days short of
his thirtieth birthday, he looked even more youthful; he was
considerably below average height, and so slender as to give the
impression of frailness. His hair and the beard he was wearing at the
time were very light brown. He wore an officer's uniform without
insignia of rank, and instead of a saber he carried a pair of
1860-model Colt .44's on his belt, with the butts to the front so that
either revolver could be drawn with either hand, backhand or
crossbody.

There was more than a touch of the dandy about him. The cloak he was
fastening was lined with scarlet silk and the gray cock-brimmed hat
the slave was holding for him was plumed with a squirrel tail. At
first glance he seemed no more than one of the many young gentlemen of
the planter class serving in the Confederate cavalry. But then one
looked into his eyes and got the illusion of being covered by a pair
of blued pistol muzzles. He had an aura of combined ruthlessness, self
confidence, good humor and impudent audacity.

For an instant he stood looking inquiringly at the general. Then he
realized what Stuart had said, and the blue eyes sparkled. This was
the thing he had almost given up hoping for--an independent command
and a chance to operate in the enemy's rear.

* * * * *

In 1855, John Singleton Mosby, newly graduated from the University of
Virginia, had opened a law office at Bristol, Washington County,
Virginia, and a year later he had married.

The son of a well-to-do farmer and slave-owner, his boyhood had been
devoted to outdoor sports, especially hunting, and he was accounted an
expert horseman and a dead shot, even in a society in which skill with
guns and horses was taken for granted. Otherwise, the outbreak of the
war had found him without military qualifications and completely
uninterested in military matters. Moreover, he had been a rabid
anti-secessionist.

It must be remembered, however, that, like most Southerners, he
regarded secession as an entirely local issue, to be settled by the
people of each state for themselves. He took no exception to th