artillery. But all the men in
the great column knew that they were embarked upon some mighty movement.
Very few asked themselves what it was. Nor did they care. They put
their faith in the great leader who had always led them to victory.
He could lead them where he chose.

A light wind arose and the bushes and scrub forest of the Wilderness
moved gently like the surface of a lake. But that forest, as dense as
ever, extended on all sides of them and hid the tens of thousands who
marched in its shade.

Harry presently heard the rolling of artillery fire and the distant
crash of rifles behind them. But he knew that it was Lee with the
minor portion of his army making the demonstration in Hooker's front,
deceiving him into the belief that he was about to be attacked by the
whole Southern army, while Jackson with his main force was making the
wide circuit under cover of the Wilderness in order to fall like a
thunderbolt upon his flank.

Harry admired the daring of his two leaders, and at the same time he
trembled with apprehension. They had split their force, already far
smaller, in the face of the foe. Suppose that foe, with his army of
splendid fighters, should come suddenly from his intrenchments and
attack either division. Surely the Northern scouts and spies were
in the thickets. So great a movement as this could not escape their
attention. It would be impossible for a large army to pass on that
journey of many miles around Hooker and not one of the hundred thousand
men he had in the Wilderness bring him a word of it.

They might be discovered by one of the balloons, and Harry strained his
eyes toward the far Rappahannock. He saw a black speck floating in the
sky, which he thought to be one of the balloons, and he felt a little
dread, but in a moment he realized that Jackson's army was as completely
hidden by the Wilderness from any such possible observer as if a blanket
lay over it. Then he dismissed all thoughts of balloons and rode on in
silence beside Dalton.

Now he listened to the roar behind them. It had the violence of a great
battle, but he noticed that the sounds neither advanced nor retreated.
He smiled a little. Lee was still amusing Hooker, but it was a grim
amusement.

A long time passed. Although the army could not move fast in the
Wilderness, its march was steady. The roar of Lee's attack had become
subdued, but Harry knew that the effect was due only to distance.
His trained ear