his glasses, and he saw at once
that it was Shepard. He saw, too, that he was urging his horse to its
utmost speed.

The boy's heart suddenly began to throb, and there was a cold, prickling
sensation at the roots of his hair. Shepard had made an extraordinary
impression upon him and he did not believe that the man would be coming
at such a pace unless he came with great news.

He saw Shepard stop, give the pass word to the pickets, then gallop on,
ford the river and come straight toward the heart of the army. Dick ran
forward and met him.

"What is it?" he cried.

"General Pope's tent! Where it is! I can't wait a minute."

Dick pointed toward a big marquee, standing in an open space, and
Shepard leaping from his horse and abandoning it entirely, ran toward
the marquee. A word or two to the sentinels, and he disappeared inside.

Dick, devoured with curiosity and anxiety, went to Colonel Winchester
with the story of what he had seen.

"I know of Shepard," said the colonel. "He is the best and most daring
spy in the whole service of the North. I think you're right in inferring
that he rides so fast for good cause."

Shepard remained with the commander-in-chief a quarter of an hour. When
he came forth from the tent he regained his horse and rode away without
a word, going in the direction of Clark's Mountain. But his news was
quickly known, because it was of a kind that could not be concealed.
Pennington came running with it to the regiment, his face flushed and
his eyes big.

"Look! Look at the mountain!" he exclaimed.

"I see it," said Warner. "I saw it there yesterday, too, in exactly the
same place."

"So did I, but there's something behind it. Lee and Jackson are there
with sixty or eighty thousand men! The whole Southern army is only six
or seven miles away."

Even Warner's face changed.

"How do you know this?" he asked.

"A spy has seen their army. They say he is a man whose reports are never
false. At any rate orders have already been issued for us to retreat
and I hear that we're going back until we reach the Rappahannock, behind
which we will camp."

Dick knew very well now that it was Shepard who brought the news, and
Pennington's report about the retreat was also soon verified. The
whole army was soon in motion and a feeling of depression replaced
the optimism of the night before. The advance had been turned into a
retreat. Were they to go back and forth in this manner forever? But
Colonel