He turned back to his papers and Dick, thinking his manner somewhat curt, left his tent.  But he was pleased to hear that the detail was commanded by Colonel Winchester.  Arthur Winchester was a man of forty-one or two who lived about thirty miles north of Pendleton.  He was a great landowner, of high character and pleasant manners.  Dick had met him frequently in his childhood, and the Colonel received him with much warmth.

“I’m glad to know, Dick,” he said familiarly, “that you’re going with us.  I’m fond of Pendleton, and I like to have one of the Pendleton boys in my command.  If all that we hear of this man Grant is true, we’ll see action, action hot and continuous.”

They rode to Elizabethtown, where Dick was compelled to leave his great horse for Buell’s men, and went by train to Louisville, going thence by steamer down the Ohio River to Cairo, at its junction with the Mississippi, where they stood at last in the presence of that general whose name was beginning to be known in the west.

CHAPTER IX

TAKING A FORT

Dick was with Colonel Winchester when he was admitted to the presence of the general who had already done much to strengthen the Union cause in the west, and he found him the plainest and simplest of men, under forty, short in stature, and careless in attire.  He thanked Colonel Winchester for the reinforcement that he had brought him, and then turned with some curiosity to Dick.

“So you were at the battle of Mill Spring,” he said.  “It was hot, was it not?”

“Hot enough for me,” replied Dick frankly.

Grant laughed.

“They caught a Tartar in George Thomas,” he said, “and I fancy that others who try to catch him will be glad enough to let him go.”

“He is a great man, sir,” said Dick with conviction.

Then Grant asked him more questions about the troops and the situation in Eastern Kentucky, and Dick noticed that all were sharp and penetrating.

“Your former immediate commander, Major Hertford, and some of his men are due here today,” said Grant.  “General Thomas, knowing that his own campaign was over, sent them north to Cincinnati and they have come down the river to Cairo.  When they reach here they will be attached to the regiment of Colonel Winchester.”

Dick was overjoyed.  He had formed a strong liking for Major Hertford and he was quite sure that Warner and Sergeant Whitley would be with him.  Once more they would be reunited, reunited for battle.  He could not doubt that they would go to speedy action as the little town at the junction of the mighty rivers resounded with preparation.

When Colonel Winchester and the boy had saluted and retired from General Grant’s tent they saw the smoke pouring from the funnels of numerous steamers in the Mississippi, and they saw thousands of troops encamped in tents along the shores of both the Ohio and Mississippi.  Heavy cannon were drawn up on the wharves, and ammunition and supplies were being transferred from hundreds of wagons to the steamers.  It was evident to any one that this expedition, whatever it might be, was to proceed by water.  It was a land of mighty rivers, close together, and a steamer might go anywhere.