ly to feel out or annoy the Northern army.

It was a strange sight to Dick, one that is not looked upon often, two
great armies gazing across a river at each other, and, sure to meet,
sooner or later, in mortal combat. It was thrilling, awe-inspiring, but
it made his heart miss a beat or two at the thought of the wounds and
death to come, all the more terrible because those who fought together
were of the same blood, and the same nation.

Warner and Pennington joined him on the height where he stood, and they
saw that in the early hours before dawn the Northern generals had not
been idle. The whole army of Pope was massed along the left bank of
the river and every high point was crowned with heavy batteries of
artillery. There had been a long drought, and at some points the
Rappahannock could be forded, but not in the face of such a defence as
the North here offered.

Colonel Winchester himself came a moment or two later and joined them as
they gazed at the two armies and the river between. Both he and the boys
used their glasses and they distinctly saw the Southern masses.

"Will they try to cross, sir?" asked Dick of the colonel.

"I don't think so, but if they do we ought to beat them back. Meanwhile,
Dick, my boy, every day's delay is a fresh card in our hand. McClellan
is landing his army at Aquia Creek, whence it can march in two days to
a junction with us, when we would become overwhelming and irresistible.
But I wish it didn't take so long to disembark an army!"

The note of anxiety in his voice did not escape Dick. "You wish then to
be sure of the junction between our two armies before Lee and Jackson
strike?"

"Yes, Dick. That is what is on my mind. The retreat of this army,
although it may have caused us chagrin, was most opportune. It gave
us two chances, when we had but one before. But, Dick, I'm afraid. I
wouldn't say this to anybody but you and you must not repeat me. I wish
I could divine what is in the mind of those two men, Lee and Jackson.
They surely have a plan of some kind, but what is it?"

"Have we any definite news from the other side, sir?"

"Shepard came in this morning. But little ever escapes him, and he says
that the whole Southern army is up. All their best leaders are there.
Lee and Jackson and Longstreet and the Hills and Early and Lawton and
the others. He says that they are all flushed with confidence in their
own courage and fighting powers and the ability of their leaders. O