athematical power grows every day, Frank. Let x equal the whole
distance from the gap to the Antietam, which is eight miles, let y equal
the distance which we have come which is three miles, then x minus y
equals the distance left, which is five miles. Wonderful! wonderful!
You'll soon have a great head on you, Frank."

"If some rebel cannoneer doesn't shoot it off in the coming battle. By
George, we're driving their skirmishers before us! They don't seem to
make any stand at all!"

The vanguard certainly met with no very formidable resistance as it
advanced over the rolling country. The sound of firing was continuous,
but it came from small squads here and there, and after firing a few
volleys the men in gray invariably withdrew.

Yet the Northern advance was slow. Colonel Winchester became intensely
impatient again.

"Why don't we hurry!" he exclaimed. "Of all things in the world the one
that we need most is haste. With Jackson tied up before Harper's Ferry,
Lee's defeat is sure, unless he retreats across the Potomac, and that
would be equivalent to a defeat. Good Heavens, why don't we push on?"

He had not yet heard of the fall of Harper's Ferry, and that Jackson
with picked brigades was already on the way to join Lee. Had he known
these two vital facts his anger would have burned to a white heat.
Surely no day lost was ever lost at a greater cost than the one
McClellan lost after the finding of Orders No. 191.

"Do you know anything about the Antietam, colonel?" asked Dick.

"It's a narrow stream, but deep, and crossed by several stone bridges.
It will be hard to force a crossing here, but further up it can be done
with ease since we outnumber Lee so much that we can overlap him by far.
I have my information from Shepard, and he makes no mistakes. There is
a church, too, on the upper part of the peninsula, a little church
belonging to an order called the Dunkards."

"Ah," murmured Dick, "the little church of Shiloh!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"There was a little church at Shiloh, too. The battle raged all around
it more than once. We lost it at first, but in the end we won. It's
another good omen. We're bound to achieve a great victory, colonel."

"I hope and believe so. We've the materials with which to do it. But
we've got to push and push hard."

The colonel raised his glasses and took a long look in front. Dick also
had a pair and he, too, examined the country before them. It was a fine,
rollin