Dick was flourishing the cavalry saber that he now carried and was shouting with the rest.  Nearer and nearer came the belt of clear water, and the fire of the Southern skirmishers increased in volume and accuracy.  No great Southern force was there, but the men were full of courage and activity.  Their rifle fire emptied many of the Northern saddles.  A bullet went through the sleeve of Dick’s tunic and grazed the skin, but he only felt a slight burning touch and then soon forgot it.

Then the whole column started together, as they swept into the Opequan, driving before them through sheer weight of mass the skirmishers and sharpshooters, who were hidden among the trees and thickets.  The water itself proved but little obstacle.  It was churned to foam by hundreds of trampling hoofs, and Dick felt it falling upon him like rain, but the drops were cool and refreshing.

Still at a gallop, they emerged from the river, wet and dripping, so much water had been dashed up by the beating hoofs, and charged straight on, driving the scattered Southern riflemen before them.  Dick’s exultation swelled, and so did that of Warner and Pennington.  The young Nebraskan was compelled to give voice to his.

“Hurrah!” he shouted.  “We’ll gallop the whole length of the valley!  Nothing can stop us!”

But Warner, naturally cautious, despite his rejoicings, would not go so far.

“Not the whole length of the valley, Frank!” he exclaimed.  “Only half of it!”

“All or nothing!” shouted Pennington, carried away by his enthusiasm.  “Hurrah!  Hurrah!”

Before them now lay a small earthwork, from which field pieces began to send ugly gusts of fire, but so great was the sweep of the cavalry that they charged directly upon it.  The defenders, too few to hold it, withdrew and retreated in haste, and in a few minutes the Northern cavalry were in possession.

“Didn’t I tell you,” exclaimed Pennington, “that we were going to gallop the whole length of the valley!  We’ve taken a fort with horsemen!”

“Yes,” said Warner, “but we’ll stop here a while.  Listen to the trumpets sounding the halt, and yonder you can see the main lines of the Johnnies.”

It was obvious that it was unwise to go farther until the whole army came up, as they heard other trumpets calling now, and they were not their own but those of their enemies.  Early had not been caught napping.  The dark lines of his infantry were advancing to retake the little fort.  The cavalry was reduced in an instant from the offensive to the defensive, and dismounting and sending their horses to the rear, where they were held by every tenth man, they waited with carbines ready, the masses of men in gray bearing down upon them.  Dick wondered if the Invincibles were there before him.  Second thought told him that it was unlikely, as the advancing troops were infantry, and he knew that the Invincibles were now mounted.