He made a half circle about
Frankfort, going to the river, and then back again. With the aid of
the glasses and the brilliancy of the night he was able to see that the
division of Kirby Smith was not strong enough to hold the town under
any circumstances, if the main Union army under Buell came up, and the
colonel was resolved that it should come.
It was a singular coincidence that the Southerners were making a military
occupation of Frankfort with a Union army only a day's march away.
The colonel found a certain grim irony in it as he took his last look and
turned away to join Buell.
A half mile into the forest and they heard the crashing of hoofs in the
brushwood. Colonel Winchester drew up his little troop abruptly as a
band of men in gray emerged into an open space.
"Confederate cavalry!" exclaimed Dick.
"Yes," said the colonel.
But the gray troopers were not much more numerous than the blue.
Evidently they were a scouting party, too, and for a few minutes they
stared at each other across a space of a couple of hundred yards or so.
Both parties fired a few random rifle shots, more from a sense of duty
than a desire to harm.
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