"It's no good looking any more," Harry said to Dalton. "There's nothing
to do now but wait. That's what General Jackson is doing. I saw him
in his tent to-day, reading a book on theology that Dr. Graham has just
sent him."

"You're right, Harry. If the general can rest, so can we. Well,
not much of this day is left. See how the Yankee batteries are fading
away in the twilight."

"Yes, Harry, fading now, but they'll come back again, massive metal and
as sinister as ever, in the morning."

"Which won't keep me from sleeping soundly to-night. Funny how you get
used to anything. Neither the presence nor the absence of the Yankee
army will interfere with my sleep unless the general wants to send me on
an errand."

"And we also grow used to sights so tremendous in their nature that they
turn the whole current of our history. Look at that winter sun setting
there over the western hills. It may be my fancy, Harry, but it seems
to have the colors of bronze and steel in it, a sort of menace, one
might call it."

"I see the same colors, George, but I suppose it's fancy. The whole sky
is one of steel to me. I see the gleaming of steel everywhere, over the
hills, the river and the armies."

"Our imaginations are too vivid, Harry. But look how that darkness
closes in on everything! Now the Yankee cannon and the Yankee army
are gone! The river itself is fading, and there goes the town! Now,
see the lights spring up on the far shore!"

"It's supper and sleep for me," said Harry. "It doesn't do to let your
imagination run away with you. You know that Lee and Old Jack and Jim
Longstreet have arranged for everything."

They ate their suppers, and, the general giving them leave, they lay
down in the tent next to his, wrapped in their blankets. Harry slept
soundly, but while the pitchy darkness of a winter night still enclosed
the land he was awakened by a heavy rumbling noise. His nerves had been
attuned so highly by exciting days that he was awake in an instant and
sprang to his feet, Dalton also springing up with equal promptness.

They saw General Jackson standing in front of his tent and peering down
in the darkness toward the river. Other officers were already gathering
near him. Harry and Dalton stood at attention, where he could see them,
if he wished to send them on any errand. But Jackson was silent and
listening.

The heavy rumbling reports--cannon shots--came again, but they were
fired on thei