“We’ll pass through a gap, sir, tomorrow morning,” said Sergeant Whitley, “and go into the main valley.”

“The gap would be the place for the Southern force to meet us.”

But Sergeant Whitley shook his head.

“There are too many gaps and too few Southern troops,” he said.  “I think we’ll find this one clear.  Besides, Colonel Hertford is sure to send a scouting party ahead tonight.  But if you don’t mind taking a little advice from an old trooper, sir, I’d lie on the grass and sleep while we’re here.  An hour even will do a lot of good.”

Dick followed his advice gladly and thanked him.  He was always willing to receive instruction from Sergeant Whitley, who had proved himself his true friend and who in reality was able to teach men of much higher rank.  He lay down upon the brown grass, and despite all the noise, despite all the excitement of past hours, fell fast asleep in a few minutes.  He slept an hour, but it seemed to him that he had scarcely closed his eyes, when the trumpets were calling boots and saddles again.  Yet he felt refreshed and stronger when he sprang up, and Sergeant Whitley’s advice, as always, had proved good.

The column resumed its march before mid-afternoon, continuing its progress through a silent and empty country.  The blue wall came closer and closer and Dick and his comrade saw the lighter line, looking in the distance like the slash of a sword, that marked the gap.  Shepard, who rode a very swift and powerful horse, came back from another scouting trip and reported that there was no sign of the enemy, at least at the entrance to the gap.

Later in the afternoon, as they were passing through a forest several shots were fired at them from the covert.  No damage was done beyond one man wounded slightly, and Dick, under orders, led a short pursuit.  He was glad that they found no one, as prisoners would have been an incumbrance, and it was not the custom in the United States to shoot men not in uniform who were defending the soil on which they lived.  He had no doubt that those who had fired the shots were farmers, but it had been easy for them to make good their escape in the thickets.

He thought he saw relief on Colonel Hertford’s face also, when he reported that the riflemen had escaped, and, after spreading out skirmishers a little farther on either flank, the column, which had never broken its march, went on at increased pace.  It was growing warm now, and the dust and heat of the long ride began to affect them.  The blue line of the mountains, as they came close, turned to green and Dick, Warner and Pennington looked enviously at the deep shade.

“Not so bad,” said Warner.  “Makes me think a little of the Green Mountains of Vermont, though not as high and perhaps not as green.”

“Of course,” said Dick.  “Nothing outside of Vermont is as good as anything inside of it.”

“I’m glad you acknowledge it so readily, Dick.  I have found some people who would not admit it at first, and I was compelled to talk and persuade them of the fact, a labor that ought to be unnecessary.  The truth should always speak for itself.  Vermont isn’t the most fertile state in the Union and it’s not the largest, but it’s the best producer of men, or I should say the producer of the best men.”