around him. Refreshed by
abundant sleep and good food he was in the highest of spirits. They
were embarked upon a great adventure and he believed that it would be
successful. His confidence was shared by all those about him. Meanwhile
the army advanced in diverging columns upon the Mississippi capital.

Jackson, on Pearl River, had suddenly assumed a vast importance in
Dick's mind, and yet it was but a tiny place, not more than three or
four thousand inhabitants. The South was almost wholly agricultural,
and cities, great in a political and military sense, were in reality but
towns. Richmond, itself the capital of the Confederacy, around which so
much centered, had only forty thousand people.

The Winchester regiment was detached that afternoon and sent to join the
column under McPherson, which was expected to reach Jackson first. Dick
was mounted again, and he rode with Warner and Pennington on either
side of him. They speculated much on what they would find when they
approached Jackson.

"If Joe Johnston is there," said Warner, "I think we'll have a hard
fight. You'll remember that he did great work against us in Virginia,
until he was wounded."

"And they'll know, of course, just when to expect us and in what force,"
said Dick. "Slade will tell them that. He probably has a large body of
spies and scouts working under him. But I don't think he'll come inside
our camp again."

"Not likely since he's been recognized," said Warner, thoughtfully. "But
I don't think General Grant is afraid of anything ahead. That's why he
made the separation from our own world so complete, and our men are
out cutting down the telegraph lines, so the Johnnies in Jackson can't
communicate with their own government either. It's important to us that
we take Jackson before Pemberton with his army can come up."

Warner had estimated the plan correctly. Grant, besides cutting
himself off from his own superiors at Washington, was also destroying
communication between the garrison of Jackson and Pemberton's army of
Vicksburg, which was not far away. The two united might beat him, but
he meant to defeat them separately, and then besiege Vicksburg. It was
a complicated plan, depending upon quickness, courage and continued
success. Yet the mind of Grant, though operating afterward on fields of
greater numbers, was never clearer or more vigorous.

They went into camp again after dark, knowing that Jackson was but a
short distance away, and they