isn't it, Harry?" said St. Clair.

"Yes, and good to hear, too."

"Come with me into this little dip, and I'll show you another sight
that's good to see."

There was a low ridge on their right, crested with tall trees and
dropping down abruptly on the other side. A little distance on rose
another low ridge, but between the two was a snug and grassy bowl,
and within the bowl, sitting on the dry grass, with a chessboard between
them, were Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector
St. Hilaire. They were absorbed so deeply in their game that they did
not notice the boys on the crest of the bank looking over at them.

Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire had
not changed a particle--to the eyes, at least--in a year and a half of
campaigning and tremendous battles. They may have been a little leaner
and a little thinner, but they were lean and thin men, anyhow. Their
uniforms, although faded and worn, were neat and clean, and as each sat
on a fragment of log, while the board rested on a stump between, they
were able to maintain their dignity.

It was Colonel Talbot's move. His hand rested on the red king and he
pondered long. Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire waited without a sign of
impatience. He would take just as long a time with his knight or bishop,
or whichever of the white men he chose to use.

"I confess, Hector," said Colonel Talbot at length, "that this move
puzzles me greatly."

"It would puzzle me too, Leonidas, were I in your place," said
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire; "but you must recall that just before
the Second Manassas you seemed to have me checkmated, and that I have
escaped from a most dangerous position."

"True, true, Hector! I thought I had you, but you slipped from my net.
Those were, beyond all dispute, most skillful and daring moves you made.
It pays to be bold in this world."

"Do you know," whispered St. Clair to Harry, "that this unfinished game
is the one they began last spring in the valley? We saw them playing
it in a fence corner before action. They've taken it up again at least
four or five times between battles, but neither has ever been able to
win. However, they'll fight it out to a finish, if a bullet doesn't get
one first. They always remember the exact position in which the figures
were when they quit."

Colonel Talbot happened to look up and saw the boys.

"Come down," he said, "and join us. It is pleasant to see you ag