He did not wait to see his order obeyed, but strode away on another hasty errand.  But it was obeyed and that, too, without delay.  The young warriors rolled themselves in their blankets and hunted a soft place for their heads.  But their nerves were not yet quiet, and sleep did not come for a little while.  The long lines of fires still glowed, and the sounds of an army came to them.  Dick looked up into the starshine.  He was still rejoicing in the victory, not because the other side had lost, but because, in his opinion, it brought peace much nearer.  He realized as he lay there gazing into the skies that the South could never win as long as the North held fast.  And the North was holding fast.  The stars as they winked at him seemed to say so.

He propped himself upon his elbow and said: 

“George, does your little algebra tell you anything about the meaning of this victory?”

Warner tapped his breast.

“That noble book is here in the inside pocket of my tunic,” he replied.  “It’s not necessary for me to take it out, but tucked away on the 118th page is a neat little problem which just fits this case.  Let x equal the Army of Northern Virginia, let y equal the army of Early here in the valley, and let x plus y equal a possibly successful defense by the South.  But when y is swept away it’s quite certain that x standing alone cannot do so.  My algebra tells you on the 118th page, tucked away neatly in a paragraph, that this is the beginning of the end.”

“It sounds more like a formula than a problem, George, but still I’m putting my faith in your little algebra book.”

“George’s algebra is all right,” said Pennington, “but it doesn’t always go before, it often comes after.  It doesn’t show us how to do a thing, but proves how we’ve done it.  As for me, I’m pinning my faith to Little Phil.  He won a great victory today, when all our other leaders for years have been beaten in the Valley of Virginia, and sometimes beaten disgracefully too.”

“Your argument is unanswerable, Frank,” said Dick.  “I didn’t expect such logic from you.”

“Oh, I think I’m real bright at times.”

“Despite popular belief,” said Warner.

“I don’t advertise my talents,” said Pennington.

“But you ought to.  They need it.”

Dick laughed.

“Frank,” he said, “I give you your own advice to me.  Don’t argue with him.  With him the best proof that he’s always right is because he thinks he is.”

“I think clearly and directly, which can be said of very few of my friends,” rejoined Warner.

Then all three of them laughed and lay down again, resting their heads on soft lumps of turf.

They were under the boughs of a fine oak, on which the leaves were yet thick.  Birds, hidden among the leaves, began to sing, and the three, astonished, raised themselves up again.  It was a chorus, beautiful and startling, and many other soldiers listened to the sound, so unlike that which they had been hearing all day.