ot the least
doubt of its accuracy. He merely wondered why he had not looked for the
man before.

"Come with me a minute," he said to de Langeais, and they walked toward
the tree. But Shepard was gone, and Harry had expected that, too.
He did not intend to hunt for him any further, because he was sure not
to find him.

The brilliant spirit of the ball suddenly departed from him, and as he
and de Langeais went back toward the house it was the stern call of war
that came again. The deep boom of a cannon rolled from a point on the
Rappahannock, and Harry was not the only one who felt the chill of its
note. The dancing stopped for a few moments. Then the gloom passed
away, and it was resumed in all its vigor.

But Stuart came out on the porch and Harry and de Langeais halted,
because they heard the hoofs of a galloping horse. The man who came
was in the dress of a civilian, and he brought a message.

CHAPTER VIII

IN THE WILDERNESS

Stuart's brilliant figure was seen no more in the ballroom that night,
but he disappeared so quietly that his absence created no alarm at
first. There was a low call for Sherburne, and the great cavalry leader
and his most daring horsemen were soon up and away. Harry and Dalton,
standing under the boughs of an oak, near the edge of the grounds,
saw them depart, but the dancers, at least the women and girls, knew
nothing.

Another cannon shot came from some distant point along the stream,
and its somber echoes rolled and died away among the hills, but the
music of the band in the ballroom did not cease. It was the Acadians
who were playing now, some strange old dance tune that they had brought
from far Louisiana, taken thence by the way of Nova Scotia from its
origin in old France.

"They don't know yet," said Harry, "but I'm thinking it will be the last
dance for many a day."

"Looks like it," said Dalton. "What time is it, Harry?"

"Past two in the morning, and here comes Colonel Talbot and
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire."

The two colonels walked out on the lawn. Military cloaks were thrown
over their shoulders and all signs of merry-making were gone from their
faces. They stood side by side and with military glasses were sweeping
the horizon toward the river. Presently they saw Harry and Dalton
standing under the boughs of the oak, and beckoned to them.

"You know?" said Colonel Talbot.

"Yes, sir, we do," replied Harry. "We saw General Stuart and his s