The country grew rougher, and Harry was compelled to draw his horse down to a walk.  But the firing, a half-mile or more ahead, maintained its volume, and as he approached through thick underbrush, being able to find no other way, he dismounted and led his horse.  Presently he saw beads of flame appearing among the bushes, seen a moment, then gone like a firefly, and as he went further he heard voices.  He had no doubt that it was the Southern pickets in the undergrowth, and, calling softly, he received confirmatory replies.

A rifleman, a tall, slender fellow in ragged butternut, appeared beside him, and, recognizing Harry’s near-gray uniform as that of an officer, said: 

“They’re dismounted cavalry on the other side of a creek that runs along over there among the bushes.  I don’t think they mean any real attack.  They expect to sting us a little an’ find out what we’re about.”

“Seems likely to me too.  They aren’t strong enough, of course, for an attempt at rushing us.  What troops are in here in the woods on our side?”

“Captain Sherburne’s cavalry, sir.  They’re a bit to our right, an’ they’re dismounted too.  You’ll find the captain himself on a little knoll about a hundred yards away.”

“Thanks,” said Harry, and leading his horse he reached the knoll, to find the rifleman’s statement correct.  Sherburne was kneeling behind some bushes, trying with the aid of glasses and moonlight to pick out the enemy.

“That you, Harry?” he said, glancing back.

“Yes, Captain.  The general has sent me to see what you and the rest of you noisy fellows are doing.”

“Shooting across a creek at an enemy who first shot at us.  It’s only under provocation that we’ve roused the general and his staff from sleep.  Use your glasses and see what you can make out in those bushes on the other side!  Keep down, Harry!  For Heaven’s sake keep down!  That bullet didn’t miss you more than three inches.  You wouldn’t be much loss to the army, of course, but you’re my personal friend.”

“Thanks for your advice.  I intend to stay so far down that I’ll lie almost flat.”

He meant to keep his word, too.  The warning had been a stern one.  Evidently the sharpshooters who lay in the thickets on the Union side of the creek were of the first quality.

“There’s considerable moonlight,” whispered Sherburne, “and you mustn’t expose an inch of your face.  I take it that we have Custer’s cavalry over there, mixed with a lot of scouts and skirmishers from the Northwest, Michigan and Wisconsin, most likely.  They’re the boys who can use the rifles in the woods.  Had to do it before they came here, and they’re a bad lot to go up against.”

“It’s a pretty heavy fire for a mere scouting party.  If they want to discover our location they can do it without wasting so much powder and lead.”

“I think it’s more than a scout.  They must have discovered long since just where we are.  I imagine they mean to shake our nerve by constant buzzing and stinging.  I fancy that Meade and his generals after deciding not to pursue us have changed their minds, perhaps under pressure from Washington, and mean to cut us off if they can.”