burst again and
again into thunderous applause.

The display lasted some time. When it was over and the smoke and dust
were settling, General Lee and his staff rode back to their quarters,
the young officers filled with pride at the spectacle and more confident
than ever that their coming invasion of the North would be the final
triumph.

Northern cavalry, on the other side of the river, had heard the heavy
firing and they could not understand it. Could their forces following
Lee on the right bank be engaged in battle with him? They had not heard
of any such advance by their own men, yet they plainly heard the sounds
of a heavy cannonade, and it was a matter into which they must look.
They had disregarded sharp firing too often before and they were growing
wary. But with that wariness also came a daring which the Union leaders
in the east had not usually shown hitherto. They had a strong cavalry
force in three divisions on the other side of the river, and the
commanders of the divisions, Buford, Gregg and Duffie, with Pleasanton
over all, were forming a bold design.

Events were to move fast for Harry, much faster than he was expecting.
He was sent that night with a note to Stuart, who went into camp with
his ten thousand cavalry and thirty guns on a bare eminence called
Fleetwood Hill. The base of the hill was surrounded by forest, and not
far away was a little place called Brandy Station. Harry was not to
return until morning, as he had been sent late with the message, and
after delivering it to Stuart he hunted up his friend Sherburne.

He found the captain sitting by a low campfire and he was made welcome.
Sherburne, after the parade and sham battle, had cleaned the dust from
his uniform and he was now as neat and trim as St. Clair himself.

"Sit down, Harry," he said with the greatest geniality. "Here, orderly,
take his horse, but leave him his blankets. You'll need the blankets
to-night, Harry, because you bunk with us in the Inn of the Greenwood
Tree. We've got a special tree, too. See it there, the oak with the
great branches."

"I'll never ask anything better in summer time, provided it doesn't
rain," said Harry.

"Wasn't that a fine parade?" Sherburne ran on. "And this is the
greatest cavalry force that we've had during the war. Why, Stuart can
go anywhere and do anything with it. A lot of Virginia scouts under
Jones are watching the fords, and we've got with us such leaders as
Fitz Lee,