brother. The state, she said, was all in
confusion. Everybody suspected everybody else. The Southerners were full
of victory, the Northerners were hopeful of victory yet to come. Colonel
Kenton was with the Southern force under General Buckner, gathered at
Bowling Green in that state, but his son, her nephew Harry, was still in
the east with Beauregard. She had heard that the troops of the west and
northwest were coming down the Ohio and Mississippi in great numbers,
and people expected hard fighting to occur very soon in western and
southern Kentucky. It was all very dreadful, and a madness seemed to
have come over the land, but she hoped that Providence would continue to
watch over her dear son.

Warner and the sergeant knew that the letter was from Dick's mother,
but they had too much delicacy to ask him questions. The boy folded the
sheets carefully and returned them to their place in the inside pocket
of his coat. Then he looked for a while thoughtfully into the blaze and
the great bed of coals that had formed beneath. As far as one could see
to right and left like fires burned, but the night remained dark with
promise of rain, and the chill wind out of the northwest increased in
vigor. The words just read for the fifth time had sunk deep in his mind,
and he was feeling the call of the west.

"My mother writes," he said to his comrades, "that the Confederate
general, Buckner, whom I know, is gathering a large force around Bowling
Green in the southern part of our state, and that fighting is sure to
occur soon between that town and the Mississippi. An officer named Grant
has come down from Illinois, and he is said to be pushing the Union
troops forward with a lot of vigor. Sergeant, you are up on army
affairs. Do you know this man Grant?"

Sergeant Whitley shook his head.

"Never heard of him," he replied. "Like as not he's one of the officers
who resigned from the army after the Mexican War. There was so little to
do then, and so little chance of promotion, that a lot of them quit to
go into business. I suppose they'll all be coming back now."

"I want to go out there," said Dick. "It's my country, and the
westerners at least are acting. But look at our army here! Bull Run was
fought the middle of summer. Now it's nearly winter, and nothing has
been done. We don't get out of sight of Washington. If I can get myself
sent west I'm going."

"And I'm going with you," said Warner.

"Me, too," said the sergeant.