son himself left the field
and went to his headquarters at a little farmhouse on the plateau.
His faithful colored servant was waiting for him with food. He had not
touched any the whole day, but he declined it saying that he needed
nothing but sleep. He flung himself booted and clothed upon a bed and
was sound asleep in five minutes.
There was a little porch on one side of the house, and here Harry, who
had received no instructions from his general, camped. He rolled himself
in his cavalry cloak, lay down on the hard floor which was not hard to
him, and slept like a little child.
He was awakened at dawn as one often is by a presence, even though that
presence be noiseless. He felt a great unwillingness to get up. That was
a good floor on which he slept, and the cavalry cloak wrapped around
him was the finest and warmest that he had ever felt. He did not wish
to abandon either. But will triumphed. He opened his eyes and sprang
quickly to his feet.
Stonewall Jackson was standing beside him looking intently toward the
valley. The edge of a blazing sun barely showed in the east, and in the
west all the peaks and ridges were yet in the dusk. Morning was coming
in silence. There was no sound of battle or of the voices of men.
"I beg your pardon. I fear that I have overslept myself!" exclaimed
Harry.
"Not at all," said Jackson with a slight smile. "The others of the staff
are yet asleep. You might have come inside. A little room was left on
the floor there."
"I never had a better bed and I never slept better." The general smiled
again and gave Harry an approving glance.
"Soldiers, especially boys, learn quickly to endure any kind of
hardship," he said. "Come, we'll see if the enemy is still there."
Harry fancied from his tone that he believed Milroy gone, but knowing
better than to offer any opinion of his own he followed him toward the
edge of the valley. The pickets saluted as the silent figures passed.
The sun in the east was rising higher over the valley, and in the west
the peaks and ridges were coming out of the dusk.
The general carried his glasses slung over his shoulder, but he did
not need them. One glance into the valley and they saw that the army of
Milroy was gone. It had disappeared, horse, foot and guns, and Harry now
knew that the long row of camp fires in the night had been a show, but
only a brave show, after all.
The whole Southern army awoke and poured down the slopes. Yes, Milroy,
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