"
"Sh! sh!" said Warner, as he listened to the violent outbreak, so unusual
on the part of the reserved and self-contained lad. "Here come two
generals."
"Two too many," muttered Dick. A moment or two later he was ashamed of
himself, not because of what he had said, but because he had said it.
Then Warner seized him by the arm and pointed.
"A new general, bigger than all the rest, has come," he said, "and
although I've never seen him before I know with mathematical certainty
that it's General John Pope, commander-in-chief of the Army of Virginia."
Both Dick and Pennington knew instinctively that Warner was right.
General Pope, a strongly built man in early middle years, surrounded by
a brilliant staff, rode into a little glade in the midst of the troops,
and summoned to him the leading officers who had taken part in the battle.
Dick and his two comrades stood on one side, but they could not keep from
hearing what was said and done. In truth they did not seek to avoid
hearing, nor did many of the young privates who stood near and who
considered themselves quite as good as their officers.
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