ept by great armies. Here the tide of battle in
the mightiest of all wars had rolled back and forth, and here it was
destined to surge again in a volume increasing always.

"I don't find anything," repeated Dick, "but three pairs of eyes are
better than none. George, you take the glasses and see what you can see
and Frank will follow."

He dismounted and stood holding the reins of his horse while the young
Vermonter looked. He noticed that the mathematical turn of Warner's
mind showed in every emergency. He swept the glasses back and forth in
a regular curve, not looking here and now there, but taking his time and
missing nothing. It occurred to Dick that he was a type of his region,
slow but thorough, and sure to win after defeat.

"What's the result of your examination?" asked Dick as Warner passed the
glasses in turn to Pennington.

"Let x equal what I saw, which is nothing. Let y equal the result I
draw, which is nothing. Hence we have x + y which still equals nothing."

Pennington was swifter in his examination. The blood in his veins flowed
a little faster than Warner's.

"I find nothing but land and water," he said without waiting to be
asked, "and I'm disappointed. I had a hope, Dick, that I'd see Stonewall
Jackson himself riding along a slope."

"Even if you saw him, how would you know it was Stonewall?"

"I hadn't thought of that. We've heard so much of him that it just
seemed to me I'd know him anywhere."

"Same here," said Warner. "Remember all the tales we've heard about his
whiskers, his old slouch hat and his sorrel horse."

"I'd like to see him myself," confessed Dick. "From all we hear he's
the man who kept McClellan from taking Richmond. He certainly played
hob with the plans of our generals. You know, I've got a cousin, Harry
Kenton, with him. I had a letter from him a week ago--passing through
the lines, and coming in a round-about way. Writes as if he thought
Stonewall Jackson was a demigod. Says we'd better quit and go home, as
we haven't any earthly chance to win this war."

"He fights best who wins last," said Warner. "I'm thinking I won't see
the green hills of Vermont for a long time yet, because I mean to pay
a visit to Richmond first. Have you got your cousin's letter with you,
Dick?"

"No, I destroyed it. I didn't want it bobbing up some time or other to
cause either of us trouble. A man I know at home says he's kept out of a
lot of trouble by 'never writin' nothin' to nobody.'