onewall Jackson going to drop from the sky, which rumor says is his
favorite method of approach?"

"He's usin' the solid ground this time, anyway," said Sergeant Daniel
Whitley. "I've been eight miles farther south, an' if I didn't see
cavalry comin' along the skirt of a ridge, then my eyes ain't any
friends of mine. Then I came through a little place of not more'n five
houses. No men there, just women an' children, but when I looked back I
saw them women an' children, too, grinnin' at me. That means somethin',
as shore as we're livin' an' breathin'. I'm bettin' that we new fellows
from the west will get acquainted with Stonewall Jackson inside of
twenty-four hours."

"You don't mean that? It's not possible!" exclaimed Dick, startled.
"Why, when we last heard of Jackson he was so far south we can't expect
him in a week!"

"You've heard that they call his men the foot cavalry," said the
sergeant gravely, "an' I reckon from all I've learned since I come east
that they've won the name fair an' true. See them woods off to the south
there. See the black line they make ag'inst the sky. I know, the same
as if I had seen him, that Stonewall Jackson is down in them forests,
comin' an' comin' fast."

The sergeant's tone was ominous, and Dick felt a tingling at the roots
of his hair. The western troops were eager to meet this new Southern
phenomenon who had suddenly shot like a burning star across the sky, but
for the first time there was apprehension in his soul. He had seen but
little of the new general, Pope, but he had read his proclamations and
he had thought them bombastic. He talked lightly of the enemy and of the
grand deeds that he was going to do. Who was Pope to sweep away such men
as Lee and Jackson with mere words!

Dick longed for Grant, the stern, unyielding, unbeatable Grant whom he
had known at Shiloh. In the west the Union troops had felt the strong
hand over them, and confidence had flowed into them, but here they were
in doubt. They felt that the powerful and directing mind was absent.

Silence fell upon them all for a little space, while the four gazed
intently into the south, strange fears assailing everyone. Dick never
doubted that the Union would win. He never doubted it then and he never
doubted it afterward, through all the vast hecatomb when the flag of the
Union fell more than once in terrible defeat.

But their ignorance was mystifying and oppressive. They saw before them
the beautiful country,