them in the gentle breeze.

"They're there," said Turner Ashby, dryly. "If we want to attack they're
waiting."

Harry rode back to Jackson, and told him that the whole Union force was
in position in front, and then the boy knew at once that a battle was
coming. The bearded, silent man showed no excitement, but sent orders
thick and fast to the different parts of his army. The cavalry led by
Ashby began to press the enemy hard in front of a little village called
Kernstown. A regiment with two guns led the advance on the west of the
turnpike, and the heavier mass of infantry marched across the fields on
the left.

Harry, as his duty bade him, kept beside his general, who was riding
near the head of the infantry. The feet of men and horses alike sank
deep in the soft earth of the fields, but they went forward at a good
pace, nevertheless. Their blood was hot and leaping. There was an end to
retreats. They saw the enemy and they were eager to rush upon him.

The pulses in Harry's temples were beating hard. He already considered
himself a veteran of battle, but he could not see it near without
feeling excitement. A long line of fire had extended across the valley.
White puffs of smoke arose like innumerable jets of steam. The crackle
of the rifles was incessant and at the distance sounded like the ripping
of heavy cloth.

Then came a deep heavy crash that made the earth tremble. The two
batteries on the hill had opened at a range of a mile on Jackson's
infantry. Those men of the North were good gunners and Harry heard the
shells and solid shot screaming and hissing around. Despite his will
he could not keep from trembling for a while, but presently it ceased,
although the fire was growing heavier.

But the Southern infantry were so far away that the artillery fire did
not harm. Ever urged on by Jackson, they pressed through fields and
marshy ground, their destination a low ridge from which, as a place of
advantage, they could reply to the Union batteries. From the east and
from a point near a church called the Opequon came the thunder of their
own guns advancing up the other side of the turnpike.

Now the great marching qualities of Jackson's men were shown. Not in
vain had they learned to be foot cavalry. They pressed forward through
the deep mud and always the roar of the increasing fire called them on.
Before them stretched the ridge and Harry was in fear lest the enemy
spring forward and seize it first.

But n