water brought a great relief. Then he went back to Colonel Winchester
and his comrades, and waited patiently with them until evening.

He remembered Colonel Winchester's words earlier in the day, and, as the
darkness came, he began to wonder what Lee and Jackson were thinking. He
believed that two such redoubtable commanders must have formed a plan by
this time, and, perhaps in the end, it would be worth a hundred thousand
men to know it. But he could only stare into the darkness and guess and
guess. And one guess was as good as another.

The night seemed portentous to him. It was full of sinister omens. He
strove to pierce the darkness on the other shore with his eyes, and see
what was going on there, but he distinguished only a black background
and the dim light of fires.

Dick was not wrong. The Confederate commanders did have a plan and the
omens which seemed sinister to him were sinister in fact. Jackson with
his forces was marching up his side of the Rappahannock and the great
brain under the old slouch hat was working hard.

When Lee and Jackson found that the Union army on the Rapidan
had slipped away from them they felt that they had wasted a great
opportunity to strike the retreating force before it reached the
Rappahannock, and that, as they followed, the situation of the
Confederacy would become most critical. They would leave McClellan and
the Army of the Potomac nearer to Richmond, their own capital, than they
were. Nevertheless Lee, full of daring despite his years, followed, and
the dangers were growing thicker every hour around Pope.

Dick, with his regiment, moved the next morning up the river. The enemy
was in plain view beyond the stream, and Shepard and the other spies
reported that the Southern army showed no signs of retiring. But Shepard
had said also that he would not be able to cross the river again. The
hostile scouts and sharpshooters had become too vigilant. Yet he was
sure that Lee and Jackson would attempt to force a passage higher up,
where the drought had made good fords.

"It's well that we're showing vigilance," said Colonel Winchester to
Dick. He had fallen into the habit of talking much and confidentially to
the boy, because he liked and trusted him, and for another reason which
to Dick was yet in the background.

"Do you feel sure that the rebels will attempt the crossing?" asked
Dick.

"Beyond a doubt. They have every reason to strike before the Army of the
Potomac can c