. His glasses passed more than once
over the forests along Cedar Creek, but no prevision, no voice out of the
dark, told him that Dick was there, one of a formidable force that was
lying hidden, ready to strike the fatal blow. His last dim sight,
as he fell asleep, was a spectacle evoked from the past, a vision of Old
Jack riding at the head of his phantom legions to victory.

* * * *

At dawn all of Crook's forces marched out of the woods along Cedar Creek,
the Winchester men, Shepard at their head, leading, but they still kept
to the shelter of the forest and wide ravines along the lower slopes of
the mountain. The sun was not clear of the eastern hills before the
heavy thudding of the great guns and the angry buzz of the rifles came
from the direction of Fisher's Hill.

The demonstration had begun and it was a big one, big enough to make the
defenders think it was reality and not a sham. Before Early's earthworks
a great cloud of smoke was gathering. Dick looked over his shoulder at
it. It gave him a curious feeling to be marching past, while all that
crash of battle was going on in the valley. It almost looked as if they
were deserting their general.

"How far are we going?" he asked Warner.

"I don't know," replied the Vermonter, "but I fancy we'll go far enough.
My little algebra, although it remains unopened in my pocket, tells me
that we shall continue our progress unseen until we reach the desired
point. These woods have grown up and these gullies have been furrowed
at a very convenient time for us."

The light was yet dim in the forests along the slopes, but the valley
itself was flooded with the sun's rays. The echoes of the firing rolled
continuously through the gorges and multiplied it. Despite the clouds
about the earthworks and the hill, Dick saw continual flashes of light,
and he knew now that the battle below was a reality and not a sham.
Early and all his men would be kept too busy to see the march of Crook
and his force on his flank, and Dick, like Warner, became sure that the
great movement would be a success.

But their progress, owing to the nature of the ground and the need to
keep under cover, was slow. It seemed to Dick that they marched an
interminable time under the trees, while the battle flashed and roared
in the plain. He saw noon pass and the sun rise to the zenith. He saw
the brilliant light dim on the eastern mountains, and they we