pleasant.

But Dick found the night full of sinister omens. They had left the
Rapidan in such haste that there was still a certain confusion of
impressions. The gigantic scale of everything took hold of him. One
hundred and fifty thousand men, or near it, were marching northward in
two armies which could not be many miles apart. The darkness and the
feeling of tragedy soon to come oppressed him.

He listened eagerly for the sounds of pursuit, but the long hours passed
and he heard nothing. The rear guard did not talk. The men wasted no
strength that way, but marched stolidly on in the moonlight. Midnight
passed and after a while it grew darker. Colonel Winchester and his
young officers rode at the very rear, and Pennington suddenly held up
his hand.

"What is it?" asked Colonel Winchester.

"Somebody following us, sir. I was trained out on the plains to take
notice of such things. May I get down and put my ear to the ground? I
may look ridiculous, sir, but I can make sure."

"Certainly. Go ahead."

Pennington sprang down and put his ear to the road. He did not listen
long, but when he stood up again he said:

"Horsemen are coming. I can't tell how many, but several hundreds at
least."

"As we're the very last of our own army, they must be Southern cavalry,"
said Colonel Winchester. "If they want to attack, I dare say our boys
are willing."

Very soon they heard clearly the gallop of the cavalry, and the men
heard it also. They looked up and turned their faces toward those who
must be foes. Despite the dimness Dick saw their eyes brighten. Colonel
Winchester had judged rightly. The boys were willing.

The rear guard turned back and waited, and in a few minutes the Southern
horsemen came in sight, opening fire at once. Their infantry, too, soon
appeared in the woods and fields and the dark hours before the dawn were
filled with the crackle of small arms.

Dick kept close to Colonel Winchester who anxiously watched the pursuit,
throwing his own regiment across the road, and keeping up a heavy fire
on the enemy. The Union loss was not great as most of the firing in the
dusk, of necessity, was at random, and Dick heard bullets whistling all
about him. Some times the bark flew from trees and now and then there
was a rain of twigs, shorn from the branches by the showers of missiles.

It was arduous work. The men were worn by the darkness, the uncertainty
and the incessant pursuit. The Northern rear guard present