before them. The mid-September day had become
as hot as those of August had been. The late afternoon sun was brazen,
and immense clouds of dust drifted about. But they did not hide the view
of the armies, arrayed for battle, and with only a narrow river between.

Dick, through his own glasses saw Confederate officers watching them
also. He tried to imagine that this was Lee and that Longstreet, and
that one of the Hills, and the one who wore a gorgeous uniform must
surely be Stuart. Why should they be allowed to ride about so calmly?
His heart fairly ached for the attack. McClellan said that fifty
thousand men were there, and that Jackson was coming with fifty thousand
more, but Shepard, who always knew, said that they did not number more
than twenty thousand. What a chance! What a chance! He almost repeated
Colonel Winchester's words, but he was only a young staff officer and it
was not for him to complain. If he said anything at all he would have to
say it in a guarded manner and to his best friends.

The Winchester regiment went into camp in a pleasant grove at the
northern end of the Union line. Dick and his two young comrades had no
fault to find with their quarters. They had dry grass, warm air and the
open sky. A more comfortable summer home for a night could not be asked.
And there was plenty of food, too. The Army of the Potomac never lacked
it. The coffee was already boiling in the pots, and beef and pork were
frying in the skillets. Heavenly aromas arose.

Dick and his comrades ate and drank, and then lay down in the grove. If
they must rest they would rest well. Now and then they heard the booming
of guns, and just before dark there had been a short artillery duel
across the Antietam, but now the night was quiet, save for the murmur
and movement of a great army. Through the darkness came the sound of
many voices and the clank of moving wheels.

Dick asked permission for his two comrades and himself to go down near
the river and obtained it.

"But don't get shot," cautioned Colonel Winchester. "The Confederate
riflemen will certainly be on watch on the other side of the stream."

Dick promised and the three went forward very carefully among some
bushes. They were led on by curiosity and they did not believe that they
would be in any great danger. The singular friendliness which always
marked the pickets of the hostile armies in the Civil War would prevail.

It was several hundred yards down to the Anti