No, you can't see him. Only one
visitor was allowed, and that's me. His fever is leaving him, and he
swallowed a little soup. Now, he's going to sleep."
Dick felt very grateful. Pennington had been up some time, and as they
sat down in the sun he gave Dick the news.
"It was a bad night," he said. "After you staggered in with George,
the rebels, in spite of the rain, harassed us. I was waked up after
midnight, and the colonel began to believe that we would have to fight
again before morning, though the need didn't come, so far as we were
concerned. But we were terribly worried on the flanks. They say it was
Stuart and his cavalry who were bothering us."
"What's the outlook for to-day?"
"I don't know. I hear that General Pope has sent a dispatch saying
that the enemy is badly whipped, and that we'll hold our own here. But
between you and me, Dick, I don't believe it. We've been driven out of
all our positions, so we can hardly call it a victory for our side."
"But we may hold on where we are and win a victory yet. McClellan and
the Army of the Potomac may come.
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