we were
approaching dense pine woods the lieutenant turned in his saddle,
slacked pace a little, and shouted, "Boys, bunch up near me!"

He screwed round in his saddle so far that we could all see and hear,
and said:--

"Boys, the order is to follow this road as fast as we can till our
horses drop, or else the Johnnies drop us, or else we drop upon three
brigades of our own infantry. I guess they've got astray somehow; but
I don't know myself what the trouble is. Our orders are plain. The
brigades are supposed to be somewhere on this road. I guess we shall
do a big thing if we reach those men to-night. All we've got to do is
to ride and deliver this despatch to the general in command. You all
understand?"

"Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Yes, sir!"

"It's necessary you all should. Hark, now! We are not likely to strike
the enemy in force, but we are likely to run up against small parties.
Now, Kennedy, if they down me, you are to stop just long enough to
grab the despatch from my breast; then away you go,--always on the
main road. If they down you after you've got the paper, the man who
can grab it first is to take it and hurry forward. So on right to the
last man. If they down him, and he's got his senses when he falls,
he's to tear the paper up, and scatter it as widely as he can. You all
understand?"

"Yes, sir! Yes, sir!"

"All right, then. String out again!"

He touched the big bay with the spur, and shot quickly ahead.

With the long rest of the winter our horses were in prime spirits,
though mostly a little too fleshy for perfect condition. I had cared
well for my horse; he was fast and sound in wind and limb. I was
certainly the lightest rider of the eleven.

I was still thinking of the probability that I should get further on
the way than any comrade except the lieutenant, or perhaps Crowfoot
and Bader, whose horses were in great shape; I was thinking myself
likely to win promotion before morning, when a cry came out of the
darkness ahead. The words of the challenge I was not able to catch,
but I heard Miller shout, "Forward, boys!"

We shook out more speed just as a rifle spat its long flash at us from
about a hundred yards ahead. For one moment I plainly saw the
Southerner's figure. Kennedy reeled beside me, flung up his hands with
a scream, and fell. His horse stopped at once. In a moment the
lieutenant had ridden the sentry down.

Then from the right side of the road a party, who must have been lying
r