n
the shadow of Chancellorsville was hovering near.

A dozen officers were in the mess tent, and they talked earnestly of
various things, but Harry, unheeding their voices, lay down in a corner
without taking off his clothes and went quietly to sleep. Many came
into the tent or went out of it in the course of the morning, but none
of them disturbed him. A man in the army slept when he could, and there
was none wicked enough to awaken him until the right time for it.

He slept heavily nearly all through the day, and shortly after he awoke
Sherburne and two other officers, their horses splashed with mud,
rode up to the hunting lodge. Jackson was standing in the door, and
with a rising inflection he uttered one word:

"Well?"

"It's true, General," said Sherburne. "The enemy is advancing in heavy
force toward Kelly's Ford. We saw them with our own eyes. General
Stuart asked me to tell you this. He did not come himself, because,
as well as we can ascertain, General Hooker has separated his army
into two or three great divisions and they are seeking the crossing at
different fords or ferries."

"As I thought," said Jackson. "It's the advantage given them by their
great numbers and powerful artillery. Ride back to General Stuart,
Captain, and tell him that I thank him, and you, too, for your
diligence."

Sherburne, flushing deep with gratification, took off his cap and bowed.
But he knew too well to waste any time in words.

That night the Union army laid its pontoon bridges again across the
Rappahannock near Fredericksburg and began to cross in great force.
Hooker, like Burnside four months before, was favored by thick fogs,
but he met with practically no resistance. At dawn a strong force under
Sedgwick was across at Deep Run, and another as strong had made the
passage at Kelly's Ford.

The advanced riflemen of Sedgwick were engaged in scattered firing with
those of Jackson before the fog had yet lifted, but the main force had
made no movement. Dalton had been sent at dawn with a message telling
Lee that Sedgwick was over the river. Dalton, some time after his
return, told Harry of his ride and reception.

"When I rode up," he said, "General Lee was in his tent. An aide took
me in and I gave him the message. He did not show any emotion. Several
others were present, some of them staff officers as young as myself.
He turned to them and said, smiling a little: 'Well, I heard firing not
long since, an