with its two opposing lines of camp fires that shot up redly and glowed
across the fields. Now and then they saw figures of men moving against a
crimson background, but no sound of the armies came to them. Peace and
silence were yet supreme on the mountain.

"It makes you feel that you're not only above it in the body, but that
you are not a part of it at all," said Shepard.

Dick was not surprised at his words. He had learned long since that
the spy was an uncommon man, much above most of those who followed his
calling.

"It gives me a similar feeling of detachment," he said, "but we know
just the same that they're going to fight again tomorrow, and that we'll
probably be in the thick of it. I hope, Mr. Shepard, that our victory
yesterday marks the beginning of the end."

"I think it does, Mr. Mason. If we clean up the valley, and we'll do it,
Lee's flank and Richmond will be exposed. He'll have to come out of his
trenches then, and that will give Grant a chance to attack him with an
overwhelming force. The Confederacy is as good as finished, but I've
never doubted the result for a moment."

"I've worried a little at times. It seemed to me now and then that all
those big defeats in Virginia might make our people too weary to go on.
Why is that light flaring so high on Fisher's Hill?"

"It may be a signal. Possibly the Southerners are replying to it with
another fiery signal on this mountain. We can't see the crest of
Massanutton from this slope."

"You seem to know every inch of the ground in this region. How did you
manage to learn it so thoroughly?"

"I was born in the valley not far from here. I've climbed over
Massanutton many a time. Not far above us is a grove of splendid nut
trees, and along the edge of it runs a ravine. I mean to lead the way up
the ravine, Mr. Mason. It will give us shelter from the scouts and spies
of the enemy."

"Shelter is what we want. I've no taste for being shot obscurely here on
the side of the mountain."

"Then keep close behind me, all of you," said Shepard. "We're above the
steepest part now, and I know a little path that leads to the ravine.
Don't stumble if you can help it."

The path was nothing more than a trace, but it sufficed to give them
a surer footing, and in eight or ten minutes they reached the ravine
which ran in a diagonal line across the face of the mountain, gradually
ascending to the summit. The ravine itself was not more than three o