t?"

"I forgot that you are not using glasses. I caught a momentary glitter
in the woods. I think it was a sunbeam passing through the leaves and
striking upon the polished barrel of a rifle. Ah! there it is again! And
Colonel Winchester has seen it too."

The colonel and his senior officers were now gazing intently at the
point in the wood where Dick had twice seen the gleam, and, keener-eyed
than they, he continued to search the leafy screen through his own
glasses. Soon he saw bayonets, rifles, horses and men advancing swiftly,
and then came two of their own scouts galloping.

"The enemy is advancing!" they cried. "It's Forrest!"

A thrill shot through Dick. The name of Forrest was redoubtable, but
he knew that every man in the regiment was glad to meet him again. He
glanced at Colonel Winchester and saw that his face had flushed. He knew
that the colonel was more than gratified at this chance.

"We'll make our stand here," said Colonel Winchester. "The hill runs to
the right, and, as you see over there, it is covered with forest without
undergrowth. Thus we can secure protection, and at the same time be able
to maneuver, mounted."

The regiment was posted rapidly in two long lines, the second to fire
between the intervals of the first. They carried carbines and heavy
cavalry sabers, and they were the best mounted regiment in the Northern
service.

Yet these men, brave and skillful as they were, were bound to feel
trepidation, although they did not show it. They were far in the
Southern forest, cut off from their army, and Forrest, in addition
to his own cavalry, might have brought with him fresh reserves of the
enemy.

Dick, Warner, and Pennington, as usual, remained close to their colonel,
and Sergeant Daniel Whitley was not far away. But Colonel Winchester
presently rode along the double line of his veterans, and he spoke to
them quietly but with emphasis and conviction:

"My lads," he said, "you see Forrest's men coming through the woods to
attack us. Forrest is the greatest cavalry leader the South has, west of
the Alleghanies. Some of you were with me when we were surprised and cut
up by him in Tennessee. But you will not be surprised by him now, nor
will you be cut up by him. All of you have become great riders, a match
for Forrest's own, and as I look upon your faces here I know that there
is no fear in a single heart. You have served under Grant, and you have
served under Thomas. They are two gene