They did not stop again until far in the night.  The rain ceased, but the whole earth was sodden and the trees on the low ridge, on which Sherburne camped, dripped with water.  Spies might be all around them, but for the sake of physical comfort and the courage that he knew would come with it, he ordered another big fire built.  Vigilant riflemen took turns in beating up the forests and fields for possible enemies, but the young officers once more enjoyed the luxury of the fire.  Their clothing was dried thoroughly, and their tough and sinewy frames recovered all their strength and elasticity.

“To enjoy being dry it is well to have been wet,” said Dalton sententiously.

“That’s just like you, you old Presbyterian,” said Happy Tom.  “I suppose you’ll argue next that you can’t enjoy Heaven unless you’ve first burned in the other place for a thousand years.”

“There may be something in that,” said Dalton gravely, “although the test, of course, would be an extremely severe one.”

“I know which way you’re headed, George.”

“Then tell me, because I don’t know myself.”

“As soon as this war is over you’ll enter the ministry, and no sin will get by you, not even those nice little ones that all of us like to forgive.”

“Maybe you’re right, Happy, and if I do go into the ministry I shall at once begin long and earnest preparation for the task which would necessarily be the most difficult of my life.”

“And may I make so bold as to inquire what it is, George?”

“Your conversion, Happy.”

Langdon grinned.

“But why do you want to convert me, George?  I’m perfectly happy as I am.”

“For your own well being, Tom.  Your happiness is nothing to me, but I want to make you good.”

Both laughed the easy laugh of youth, but Harry looked long at Dalton.  He thought that he detected in him much of the spirit of Stonewall Jackson, and that here was one who had in him the makings of a great minister.  The thought lingered with him.

St. Clair was carefully smoothing out his uniform and brushing from it the least particle of mud.  His first preoccupation always asserted itself at the earliest opportunity, and in a very short time he was the neatest looking man in the entire force.  Harry, although he often jested with him about it, secretly admired this characteristic of St. Clair’s.

“You boys sleep while you can,” said Sherburne, “because we can’t afford to linger in this region.  Our safety lies in rapid marching, giving the enemy no chance to gather a large force and trap us.  Make the best of your time because we’re up and away an hour after midnight.”

The young officers were asleep within ten minutes, but the vigilant riflemen patrolled the country in a wide circuit about them.  Sherburne himself, although worn by hard riding, slept but little.  Anxiety kept his eyes open.  He knew that his task to find a passage for the army across the swollen Potomac was of the utmost importance and he meant to achieve it.  He understood to the full the dangerous position in which the chief army of the Confederacy stood.  His own force might be attacked at any moment by overwhelming numbers and be cut off and destroyed or captured, but he also knew the quality of the men he led, and he believed they were equal to any task.