st welcome, Mr. Shepard, and I was thinking, that is in a vague
sort of way."

"I saw your face and you were wondering what was to become of Virginia
and the Virginians."

"So I was, but how did you know it?"

"I didn't know it. It was just a guess, and the guess was due to the
fact that I was having the same thoughts myself."

"So you regard the war as won?" asked Dick, who had a great respect for
Shepard's opinion.

"If the President keeps General Grant in command, as he will, it's a
certainty, but it will take a long time yet. We can't force those
trenches down there. Remember what Cold Harbor cost us."

Dick shuddered.

"I remember it," he said.

"It would be worse if we tried to storm Lee's lines. After Cold Harbor
the general won't attempt it, and I see a long wait here. But we can
afford it. The South grows steadily weaker. Our blockade clamps like a
steel band, and presses tighter and tighter all the time. Food is scarce
in the Confederacy. So is ammunition. They receive no recruits, and
every day the army of Lee is smaller in numbers than it was the day
before."

"You go into Richmond, Mr. Shepard. I've heard from high officers that
you do. How do they feel there with our army only about twenty miles
away?"

"They're quiet and seem to be confident, but I believe they know their
danger."

"Have you by any chance seen or heard of my cousin, Harry Kenton, who is
a lieutenant on the staff of the Southern commander-in-chief?"

Shepard smiled, as if the question brought memories that pleased him.

"A fine youth," he said. "Yes, I've seen him more than once. I'm free
to tell you, Lieutenant Mason, that I know a lot about this rebel cousin
of yours. He and I have come into conflict on several occasions, and I
did not win every time."

"Nobody could beat Harry always," exclaimed Dick with youthful loyalty.
"He was always the strongest and most active among us, and the best in
forest and water. He could hunt and fish and trail like the scouts of
our border days."

"I found him in full possession of all these qualities and he used them
against me. I should grieve if that cousin of yours were to fall,
Mr. Mason. I want to know him still better after the war."

Dick would have asked further questions about the encounters between
Harry and the spy, but he judged that Shepard did not care to answer them,
and he forbore. Yet the man aroused the most intense curiosity in him.
There were