Besides, he takes the risk of execution, and he can
win no glory, for he must always remain obscure, if not wholly unknown.
Which, then, makes the greater sacrifice for his country, the spy or the
general?"
"You give me a new point of view. I had not thought before how spies
risked so much for so little reward."
Shepard smiled. He saw that in spite of his logic Dick yet retained
that slight feeling of aversion. The boy left him, when they arrived at
headquarters, but the news that Shepard brought was soon known to the
whole army.
Jackson had left his camp. He was gone again, disappeared into the
ether. "Retreated" was the word that Pope at once seized upon, and he
sent forth happy bulletins. Shepard and other scouts and spies reported
a day or two later that Jackson's army was on the Rapidan, one of the
numerous Virginia rivers. Then Dick accompanied Colonel Winchester,
who was sent by rail to Washington with dispatches.
He did not find in the capital the optimism that reigned in the mind of
Pope. McClellan was withdrawing his army from Virginia, but the eyes of
the nation were turned toward Pope.
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