des. Five minutes
later the skirmish ceased by mutual consent, and each band fell back on
its own army, convinced that both were on the watch.

They were to advance at four o'clock in the morning, but Pennington's
prediction came true. After midnight, flashes of lightning cut the sky
and the thunder rolled heavily. Then the rain came, not any fugitive
shower, but hard, cold and steady, promising to last many hours.

It was still pouring when the advance began before dawn, but Grant's
plans were complete. He had drawn up his forces on the chessboard,
and they were converging closely upon Jackson. They must keep their
cartridges dry and advance at all costs.

The Winchesters were in the van in a muddy road. Dick, Warner and
Pennington were in the saddle, and they were wet through and through.
The rain and dusk were so heavy that they could not see fifty feet, and
they shivered with cold. But their souls were eager and high, and they
were glad when the army toiled slowly forward to battle.

CHAPTER VII. THE LITTLE CAPITAL

Dick was bent down in his saddle, trying to protect himself a little
from the driving rain which beat in his eyes and soaked through his
clothing. Warner and Pennington beside him were in the same condition,
and he saw just before him the bent back of Colonel Winchester, with his
left arm raised as a shield for his face. Hoofs and wheels made a heavy,
sticky sound as they sank in the mud, and were then pulled out again.

"Do you see any signs of daylight, Dick?" asked Pennington.

"Not a sign. I see only a part of our regiment, trees on either side of
us bending before the wind, and rain, and mud, mud everywhere. I'll be
glad when it's over."

"So will I," said Warner. "I wonder what kind of hotels they have in
Jackson. I'd like to have a bath, good room and a big breakfast."

"The Johnnies are holding breakfast for you," said Pennington. "Their
first course is gunpowder, their second bullets, their third shells and
shrapnel, and their fourth bayonets."

"They'll have to serve a lot at every course," said Dick, "because
General Grant is advancing with fifty thousand men, and so many need a
lot of satisfying."

The storm increased in violence. The rain, falling in a deluge, was
driven by a wind like a hurricane. The horses strove to turn their heads
from it, and confusion arose among the cavalry. The infantry mixed
in the mud swore heavily. Staff officers had the utmost difficulty in