d by a terrific storm. It burst over the
Wilderness in violence and fury.

The thunder was so loud and the lightning so vivid that it seemed for a
while as if another mighty combat were raging. Then the rain came in a
deluge, and the hoofs of horses and the wheels of cannon sank so deep in
the spongy soil of the Wilderness that it became practically impossible
to move the army.

After a night of storm, Harry and Dalton rode forward with Sherburne and
his troop of cavalry, sent by Stuart to beat up the enemy and see what
he was doing. They found that Hooker's whole army had crossed the river
in the night on his bridges.

Twice the Northern army had been driven back across the Rappahannock at
the same place--after Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville--but Harry
felt no elation as he returned slowly through the mud with Sherburne.

"If it were in my power," he said, "I'd gladly trade the victory of
Chancellorsville, and more like it, to have our General back."

By "our General" he of course meant Jackson, and both Sherburne and
Dalton nodded assent. The news had come to them that Jackson was not
doing well. His shattered arm had been amputated near the shoulder,
and the report spread through the army that he was sinking. Just after
the victory, Lee, with his wonted greatness of soul, had sent him a
note that it was chiefly due to him. Jackson, although in great pain,
had sent back word that General Lee was very kind, "but he should give
the praise to God."

The deep religious feeling was no affectation with him. It showed alike
in victory and suffering. It was a part of the man's being, bred into
every fiber of his bone and flesh.

As soon as the news of Hooker's escape across the Rappahannock had been
told, Harry and Dalton asked leave of Stuart to visit General Jackson.
It was given at once. Stuart added, moreover, that he had merely taken
them on his staff while the battle lasted. They were now to return to
their own chief. But his heart warmed to them both and he said to them
that if they happened to need a friend to come to him.

They thanked Stuart and rode away, two very sober youths indeed.
Both were appalled by the vast slaughter of Chancellorsville. Harry
began to have a feeling that their victories were useless. After every
triumph the enemy was more numerous and powerful than ever. And the
cloud of Jackson's condition hung heavy over both. When he was first
struck down in the Wilderness,