Look at that long line of fires, boys.
Aren't they cheering? A fine big army like ours ought to beat off
anything. We almost held our own with Jackson himself at Cedar Run,
and he had two to one."
"We will win! We're bound to win!" said Dick, with sudden access of
hope. "We'll crush Lee and Jackson, and next summer you and I, George,
will be out on the western plains with Frank, watching the buffalo
millions go thundering by!"
They forded the Rapidan and rejoined their regiment with nothing to tell.
But it was cheerful about the fires. Optimism reigned once more in the
Army of Virginia. McClellan had sent word to Pope that he would have
plenty of soldiers to face the attack that now seemed to be threatened by
the South. Brigades from the Army of the Potomac would make the Army of
Virginia invincible.
Dick having nothing particular to do, sat late with his comrades before
one of the finest of the fires, and he read only cheerful omens in the
flames. It was a beautiful night. The moon seemed large and near,
and the sky was full of dancing stars. In the clear night Dick saw the
black bulk of Clark's Mountain off there against the horizon, but he
could not see what was behind it.
Pages:
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83