r stood beside the bed,
speechless with anger at this intrusion. Dick lifted his hand, and the
look upon his face checked one of the mightiest oaths that had ever
welled up from the throat of Colonel Charles Woodville, king of
swearers.

"Stop!" said Dick in a voice not loud, but sharp with command.

"Can't we at least have privacy in the room of an old and wounded man?"
asked Miss Woodville.

"You can hereafter," replied Dick quietly. "I shall not come again, but
I tell you now to get him out of the house to-night, unless he's too
badly hurt to be moved."

"Why should my father be taken away?" demanded Miss Woodville.

"I'm not speaking of your father."

"Of whom, then?"

Dick did not answer, but he met her gaze steadily, and her face fell.
Then he turned, walked out of the room without a word, and again closed
the door behind him. When he went out on the piazza he saw excitement
among his comrades. The moment for great action was coming even sooner
than Colonel Winchester had expected.

"Johnston is communicating with Pemberton," said Warner, "and he has
ordered Pemberton to unite with him. Then they will attack us. He sent
the same order by three messengers, but one of them was in reality a
spy of ours, and he came straight to General Grant with it. We're
forewarned, and the trap can't shut down on us, because General Grant
means to go at once for Pemberton."

Dick understood the situation, which was both critical and thrilling.
Grant was still in the heart of the Confederacy, and its forces were
converging fast upon him. But the grim and silent man, instead of merely
trying to escape, intended to strike a blow that would make escape
unnecessary. All the young officers saw the plan and their hearts
leaped.

Dick, in the excitement of the day, forgot about the Woodville house
and its inmates. Troops were already marching out of Jackson to meet the
enemy, but the Winchester regiment would not leave until early the next
morning. They were to spend a second night, or at least a part of it, in
Colonel Woodville's house.

It was the same group that ate supper there and the same army cook
served them. They did not go to the bedrooms afterward, but strolled
about, belted, expecting to receive the marching call at any moment.

Dick went into the library, where a single candle burned, and while he
was there Miss Woodville appeared at the door and beckoned to him. She
had abated her severity of manner so much th