ck. That's what you ought to
do. I hear that McClellan is at the head of things again."

"Yes, the Army of the Potomac is to the front once more, and it's
taken over the Army of Virginia. We hear that Pope is going out to the
northwest to fight Indians."

"McClellan is not likely to be trapped as Pope was, but he's so
tremendously cautious that he'll never trap anything himself. Now, which
kind of a general would you choose, Dick?"

"As between those two I'll take McClellan. The soldiers at least like
him and believe in him. And George, our man in the east hasn't come yet.
The generals we've had don't hammer. They don't concentrate, rush right
in and rain blows on the enemy."

"Do you think you know the right man, Dick?"

"I'm making a guess. It's Grant. We saw him at Donelson and Shiloh.
Surprised at both places, he won anyhow. He wouldn't be beat. That's the
kind of man we want here in the east."

"You may be right, Dick, but the politicians in this part of the country
all run him down. Halleck has been transferred to Washington as a sort
of general commander and adviser to the President, and they say he
doesn't like Grant."

Further talk was cut short by a young army surgeon, and Dick left
George, saying that he would come back the next day. The streets of
Washington were full of sunshine, but not of hope and cheerfulness.
The most terrible suspense reigned there. Never before or since was
Washington in such alarm. A hostile and victorious army was within a
day's march. Pope almost to the last had talked of victory. Then came a
telegram, asking if the capital could be defended in case his army was
destroyed. Next came the army preceded by thousands of stragglers and
heralds of disaster.

The people were dropped from the golden clouds of hope to the hard earth
of despair. They strained their eyes toward Manassas, where the flag of
the Union had twice gone down in disaster. It was said, and there
was ample cause for the saying of it, that Lee and Jackson with their
victorious veterans would appear any moment before the capital.
There were rumors that the government was packing up in order to flee
northward to Philadelphia or even New York.

But Dick believed none of these rumors. In fact, he was not greatly
alarmed by any of them. He was sure that McClellan, although without
genius, would restore the stamina of the troops, if indeed it were ever
lost, which he doubted very much. He had seen how splendidly th