"So far as I"m concerned, it"s finished," said St. Clair.
But Bertrand turned upon his heel without a word and walked away.
"Hey, there, you Johnnies!" came a loud hail from the other side of the river. "What"s the matter with your friend who"s just gone away? I was watching with gla.s.ses, and he didn"t look happy."
"He had a nightmare and he hasn"t fully recovered from it yet."
There was a sudden tremendous burst of cheering behind them.
"On your feet, boys!" exclaimed Happy Tom, glancing back. "Here comes Old Jack on one of his tours of inspection."
Jackson was riding slowly along near the edge of the river. He could never appear without rolling cheers from the thirty thousand veteran troops who were eager to follow wherever he led. The mighty cheering swept back and forth in volumes, and when a lull came, one among their friends, the Yankee pickets on the other side of the river, called at the top of his voice:
"Hey, Johnnies, what"s the racket about?"
"It"s Stonewall Jackson!" Harry roared back, pointing to the figure on the horse.
Then, to the amazement of all, a sudden burst of cheering came from the far bank of the Rappahannock, followed by the words, shouted in chorus: "Hurrah for Stonewall Jackson! Hurrah for Jackson!" Thus did the gallant Northern troops show their admiration for their great enemy whose genius had defeated them so often. Some riflemen among them lying among the bushes at the water"s edge might have picked him off, but no such thought entered the mind of anyone.
Jackson flushed at the compliment from the foe, but rode quietly on, until he disappeared among some woods on the left.
"We"d better be going back to headquarters," said Harry to Dalton. "It"ll be wise for us to be there when the general arrives."
"That"s right, lazy little boys," said Happy Tom. "Wash your faces, run to school, and be all bright and clean when teacher comes."
"It"s what we mean to do," said Harry, "and if Arthur says anything more about this silly dueling business, send for us. We"ll come back, and we three together will pound his foolish head so hard that he won"t be able to think about anything at all for a year to come."
"I"ll behave," said St. Clair, "but you fellows look to Bertrand."
Dalton and Harry walked to the headquarters of their general, who now occupied what had been a hunting lodge standing in the grounds of a large mansion. The whole place, the property of an orderly in his service, had been offered to him, but he would only take the hunting lodge, saying that he would not clutter up so fine and large a house.
Now Harry and Dalton walked across the lawn, which was beginning to turn green, and paused for a little while under the budding boughs of the great trees. The general had not yet arrived, but the rolling cheers never ceasing, but coming nearer, indicated that he would soon be at hand.
"A man must feel tremendous pride when his very appearance draws such cheers from his men," said Harry.
The lawn was not cut up by the feet of horses-Jackson would not allow it. Everything about the house and grounds was in the neatest order. Beside the hunting lodge stood a great tent, in which his staff messed.
"Were you here the day General Jackson came to these quarters, Harry?" asked Dalton.
"No, I was in service at the bank of the river, carrying some message or other. I"ve forgotten what it was."
"Well, I was. We didn"t know where we were going to stay, and a lady came from the big house here down to the edge of the woods, where we were still sitting on our horses. "Is this General Jackson?" asked she. "It is, madame," he replied, lifting his hat politely. "My husband owns this house," she said, pointing toward it, "and we will feel honored and glad if you will occupy it as your headquarters while you are here." He thanked her and said he"d ride forward with a cavalry orderly and inspect the place. The rest of us waited while he and the orderly rode into the grounds, the lady going on ahead.
"The general wouldn"t take the house. He said he didn"t like to see so fine a place trodden up by young men in muddy military boots. Besides, he and his staff would disturb the inmates, and he didn"t want that to happen. At last he picked the hunting lodge, and as he and the orderly rode back through the gate to the grounds, the orderly said: "General, do you feel wholly pleased with what you have chosen?" "It suits me entirely," replied General Jackson. "I"m going to make my headquarters in that hunting lodge." "I"m very glad of that, sir, very glad indeed." "Why?" asked General Jackson. "Because it"s my house," replied the orderly, "and my wife and I would have felt greatly disappointed if you had gone elsewhere.""
"And so all this splendid place belongs to an orderly?" said Harry.
"Funny you didn"t hear that story," said Dalton. "Most of us have, but I suppose everybody took it for granted that you knew it. As you say, that grand place belongs to one of our orderlies. After all, we"re a citizen army, just as the great Roman armies when they were at their greatest were citizen armies, too."
"Ah, here comes the general now," said Harry, "and he looks embarra.s.sed, as he always does after so much cheering. A stranger would think from the way he acts that he"s the least conspicuous of our generals, and if you read the reports of his victories you"d think that he had less than anybody else to do with them."
General Jackson, followed by an orderly, cantered up. The orderly took the horse and the general went into the house, followed by the two young staff officers. They knew that he was likely to plunge at once into work, and were ready to do any service he needed.
"I don"t think I"ll want you boys," said the general in his usual kindly tone, "at least not for some time. So you can go out and enjoy the sunshine and warmth, of which we have had so little for a long time."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry, but he added hastily:
"Here come some officers, sir."
Jackson glanced through the window of the hunting lodge and caught sight of a waving plume, just as its wearer pa.s.sed through the gate.
"That"s Stuart," he said, with an attempt at severity in his tone, although his smiling eye belied it. "I suppose I might as well defer my work if Jeb Stuart is coming to see me. Stay with me, lads, and help me to entertain him. You know Stuart is nothing but a joyous boy-younger than either of you, although he is one of the greatest cavalry leaders of modern times."
Harry and Dalton were more than willing to remain. Everybody was always glad when Jeb Stuart came. Now he was in his finest mood, and he and the two staff officers with him rode at a canter. They leaped from their horses at Jackson"s door, throwing the reins over their necks and leaving them to the orderly. Then they entered boldly, Stuart leading. He was the only man in the whole Southern army who took liberties with Jackson, although his liberties were always of the inoffensive kind.
If St. Clair was gorgeous in his new clothes, he would have been pale beside Stuart, who also had new raiment. A most magnificent feather looped and draped about his gold-braided hat. His uniform, of the finest cloth, was heavy with gold braid and gold epaulets, and the great yellow silk sash about his waist supported his gold-hilted sword.
"What new and splendid species of bird is this?" asked General Jackson, as Stuart and his men saluted. "I have never before seen such grand plumage."
Stuart complacently stroked the gold braid on his left sleeve and looked about the hunting lodge, the walls of which had been decorated accordingly long since by its owner.
"Splendid picture this of a race horse, General," he said, "and the one of the trotter in action is almost as fine. Ah, sir, I knew there were good sporting instincts in you and that they would come out in time. I approve of it myself, but what will the members of your church say, sir, when they hear of your moral decline?"
Jackson actually blushed and remained silent under the chaff.
"And here is a picture of a greyhound, and here of a terrier," continued the bold Stuart. "Oh, General, you"re not only going in for racing, but for coursing dogs as well, and maybe fighting dogs, too! Throughout the South all the old ladies look up to you as our highest moral representative. What will they think when they hear of these things? It would be worse than a great battle lost."
"General Stuart," said Jackson, "I know more about race horses than you think I do."
He would add no more, but Harry had learned that, when quite a small boy, he had ridden horses in backwoods races for a sport-loving uncle. But Stuart continued his jests and Jackson secretly enjoyed them. The two men were so opposite in nature that they were complements and each liked the society of the other.
The two lads and the staff officers went outside presently, and the two generals were left together to talk business for a quarter of an hour. When Stuart emerged he glanced at Harry and Dalton and beckoned to them. When they came up he had mounted, but he leaned over, and pointing a long finger in a buckskin glove in turn at each, he said:
"Can you dance?"
"Yes, sir," replied Harry.
"And you, Sir Knight of the Sober Mien?"
"I can try, sir," said Dalton.
"But can you make it a good try?"
"I can, sir."
"That"s the right spirit. Well, there"s going to be a ball down at my headquarters to-night; not a little, two-penny, half-penny affair, but a real ball, a grand ball. The bands of the Fifth Virginia and of the Acadians will be there to play, alternating. You"re invited and you"re coming. I"ve already obtained leave from General Jackson for you both. I wish the general himself would come, but he"s just received a theological book that Dr. Graham at Winchester has sent him, and he"s bound to spend most of the night on that. Put on your best uniforms and be there just after dark."
Harry and Dalton accepted eagerly, and Stuart, a genuine knight of old alike in his courage and love of adornment, rode out of the grounds.