ened as I told them it would at Richmond.
The line has stretched until it has broken."

But the general and his staff were not permitted to remain long at their
second stop. The Union columns never ceased to press the shattered
Southern army. Their great artillery, served with the rapidity and
accuracy that had marked it all through the war, poured showers of shell
and grape and canister upon the thin ranks in gray, and the rifles were
close enough to add their own stream of missiles to the irresistible fire.

Harry was in great fear for his general. It seemed as if the Northern
gunners had recognized him and his staff. Perhaps they knew his famous
war horse, Traveler, as he rode slowly away, but in any event, the shells
began to strike on all sides of the little group. One burst just behind
Lee. Another killed the horse of an officer close to him, and the
bursting fragments inflicted slight wounds upon members of the staff.
Lee, for the first time, showed emotion. Looking back over his shoulder
his eyes blazed, and his cheeks flushed. Harry knew that he wished to
turn and order a charge, but there was nothing with which to charge, and,
withdrawing his gaze from the threatening artillery, he rode steadily on.

The general's destination now was an earthwork in the suburbs of the city,
manned by a reserve force, small but ardent and defiant. It welcomed Lee
and his staff with resounding cheers, and Harry's heart sprang up again.
Here, at least, was confidence, and as they rode behind them the guns
replied fiercely to the advancing Northern batteries, checking them for a
little while, and giving the retreating troops a chance to rest.

Now came a lull in the fighting, but Harry knew well that it was only
a lull. Presently Grant and Sheridan would press harder than ever.
They were fully aware of the condition of the Southern army, its
smallness and exhaustion, and they would never cease to hurl upon it
their columns of cavalry and infantry, and to rake it with the numerous
batteries of great guns, served so well. Once more his heart sank low,
as he thought of what the next night might bring forth. He knew that
General Lee had sent in the morning a messenger to the capital with the
statement that Petersburg could be held no longer and that he would
retreat in the night.

Every effort was made to gather the remaining portion of the Southern
army into one strong, cohesive body. Longstreet, at the order of Lee,