Why should he? We have there
twelve or thirteen thousand good men, most of whom have proven their
worth in the valley. Why, they ought to beat him off entirely."
"And while they're doing that we ought to be taking Mr. Lee and a lot of
well-known Confederate gentlemen. I've made a close calculation, Dick,
and I figure that the chances are at least eighty per cent in favor of
our taking or destroying Lee's army."
"I wish we had started sooner," said Pennington. "We've lost a whole day,
one of the most precious days the world has ever known."
"You're right, Frank, and I've allowed that fact to figure importantly in
my reckoning. If it were not for the lost day I'd figure our chance of
making the finishing stroke at ninety-five per cent. But boys, it's
glorious to be back with you. Once, I thought when we were marching back
and forth so much that if I could only lie down and rest for a week or
two I'd be the happiest fellow on earth. But it became awful as I lay
there, day after day. I had suddenly left the world. All the great
events were going on without me.
Pages:
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238