him--"Willis
Chapel."

General Powell knew that young Willis was not accused as a spy, but he
was carrying out an order, issued in August 1864 by General U. S. Grant,
which read: "When any of Mosby's men are caught hang them without
trial."

The Skyline Drive

This world famous drive is not very old in point of years, but its lure
has and is attracting thousands of visitors every week to see the
beauties along its borders. Beginning at the northern entrance at Front
Royal, one winds around curving grades of finely built roads which pass
through great forests of oak, walnut, maple and wonderful specimens of
evergreens.

West of the Drive one sees the eastern section of the Shenandoah Valley
and Massanutten Mountain which divides the Shenandoah River into two
forks for fifty miles or more. The river winds in and out and at one
place the guide will point out eleven bits of blue river spots as it
makes as many turns through the Valley. One thinks of old patchwork
quilts as he looks into the Valley below, for there are patches of
green fields, oblong bits of blue water, red roofs of barns and homes,
besides the various shades of greenwood lots.

[Illustration:--_Courtesy Virginia State Chamber of Commerce_

VIEW ALONG THE SKYLINE DRIVE IN THE SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK]

And no matter when or how often one goes, the views are never the same.
Sometimes the blue haze from the Blue Ridge Mountains makes the sunlight
turn to a golden mist. Clouds often cast huge moving shadows over the
fields and forests below--and sometimes they shut out the patchwork
entirely, leaving the visitor in a gray world, with only himself and the
clouds below and above. But this is unusual.

Tall stark gray chestnut trees make a striking contrast against the
greens and flowers, especially in the Fall when the leaves are so
brilliantly colored. These once-producing nut trees were killed by
blight years ago.

Occasionally one's attention is caught by a moving object high above on
some peak. This will prove, upon investigation, to be a hiker, or maybe
two or more. Every year more and more of these nature lovers are using
the Appalachian Trail, which, as you know, is the foot-trail from Maine
to Georgia. It was through the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club that this
link in the trail was included in the Skyline Drive and they maintain
locked shelters for hikers along the way within the park.

Other trails invite one to lofty peaks through