his was Lee's general orders
to his army, and that at such a time nothing could be more important.
Evidently copies of it had been sent to all his division commanders, and
this one by some singular chance either had not reached its destination,
or had been tossed carelessly aside after reading. Found by those who
needed it most wrapped around three cigars! It was a miracle! Nothing
short of it! How could the Union army be defeated after such an omen?

It was the copy intended for the Southern general, D. H. Hill--he denied
that he ever received it--but it did not matter to Dick then for whom it
was intended. He saw at once all the possibilities. Lee and Jackson had
divided their army again. Emboldened by the splendid success of their
daring maneuver at Manassas they were going to repeat it.

He looked again at the date on the order. September 9th! And this was
the 13th! Jackson was to march on the 10th. He had been gone three days
with the half, perhaps, of Lee's army, and Lee himself must be somewhere
near at hand. The Union scouts could quickly find him and the ninety
thousand veterans of the Army of the Potomac could crush him to powder
in a day. What a chance! No, it was not a chance. It was a miracle. The
key had been put in McClellan's hand and it would take but one turn of
his wrist to unlock the door upon dazzling success.

Dick saw the war finished in a month. Lee could not have more than
twenty or twenty-five thousand men with him, and Jackson was three or
four days' march away. He clutched the order in his hand and ran toward
Colonel Winchester.

"Here, take it, sir! Take it!" he exclaimed.

"Take what?"

"Look! Look! See what it is!"

Colonel Winchester took one glance at it, and then he, too, became
excited. He hurried with it to General McClellan, and that day the
commander-in-chief telegraphed to the anxious President at Washington:

"I have all the plans of the rebels, and will catch them in my own trap,
if my men are equal to the emergency."

The shrewd Lincoln took notice of the qualifying clause, "if my men are
equal to the emergency," and sighed a little. Already this general,
so bold in design and so great in preparation was making excuses for
possible failure in action--if he failed his men and not he would be to
blame.

CHAPTER VIII. THE DUEL IN THE PASS

Dick carried the news to Pennington who danced with delight.

"We've got 'em! we've got 'em!" he cried over and over again