he
news. "Many of Banks' veterans of the valley are there, and, our men
instead of being crushed by defeat, are always improved by it."

"Still, I wish we'd march," said Warner. "I didn't come here merely to
go into camp. I might as well have stayed in the hospital."

Nevertheless they moved at daylight. McClellan had made up his mind
at last, and the army advanced joyfully to shut down the trap on Lee.
Dick's spirits rose with the sun and the advance of the troops. They had
delayed, but they would get Lee yet. There was nothing to tell them that
Harper's Ferry had fallen, and Jackson's force must still be detained
there far away. They ought to strike Lee on the morrow and destroy
him, and then they would destroy Jackson. Oh, Lee and Jackson had been
reckless generals to venture beyond the seceding states!

They marched fast now, and the fiery Hooker soon to be called Fighting
Joe led the advance. He was eager to get at Lee, who some said did not
now have more than twenty thousand men with him, although McClellan
insisted on doubling or tripling his numbers and those of Jackson.
Scouts and skirmishers came in fast now. Yes, Lee was between the
Antietam and the Potomac and they ought to strike him on the morrow. The
spirits of the Army of the Potomac continually rose.

Dick remained in a joyous mood. He had been greatly uplifted by
the return of his comrade, Warner, for whom he had formed a strong
attachment, and he could not keep down the thought that they would now
be able to trap Lee and end the war. The terrible field of the Second
Manassas was behind him and forgotten for the time. They rode now to a
new battle and to victory.

Another great cloud of dust like that at Manassas rolled slowly on
toward the little river or creek of Antietam, but the heat was not so
great now. A pleasant breeze blew from the distant western mountains and
cooled the faces of the soldiers. The country through which they were
passing was old for America. They saw a carefully cultivated soil, good
roads and stone bridges.

None of the lads and young men around Colonel Winchester rejoiced more
than Warner. Released from the hospital and with his tried comrades once
more he felt as if he were the dead come back. He was in time, too, for
the great battle which was to end the war. The cool wind that blew upon
his face tingled with life and made his pulses leap. Beneath the granite
of his nature and a phlegmatic exterior, he concealed a wa