“Well, it looks like it,” said Warner, “but from what we hear he’ll have quite an army at Donelson.  General Grant will have his work cut out for him.  The Johnnies, besides having their fort, can go into battle with just about as many men as we have, unless he waits for reinforcements, which I am quite certain he isn’t going to do.”

That evening several bags of mail were brought to the camp on a small steamer, which had come on three rivers, the Green, the Ohio, and the Tennessee, and Dick, to his great surprise and delight, received a letter from his mother.  He had written several letters himself, but he had no way of knowing until now that any of them had reached her.  Only one had succeeded in getting through, and that had been written from Cairo.

“My dearest son,” she wrote, “I am full of joy to know that you have reached Cairo in safety and in health, though I dread the great expedition upon which you say you are going.  I hear in Pendleton many reports about General Grant.  They say that he does not spare his men.  The Southern sympathizers here say that he is pitiless and cares not how many thousands of his own soldiers he may sacrifice, if he only gains his aim.  But of that I know not.  I know it is a characteristic of our poor human nature to absolve one’s own side and to accuse those on the other side.

“I was in Pendleton this morning, and the reports are thick; thick from both Northerners and Southerners, that the armies are moving forward to a great battle.  They have all marched south of us, and I do not know either whether these reports are true or false, though I fear that they are true.  Your uncle, Colonel Kenton, is with General Johnston, and I hear is one of his most trusted officers.  Colonel Kenton is a good man, and it would be one of the terrible tragedies of war if you and he were to meet on the field in this great battle, which so many hear is coming.

“I am very glad that you are now in the regiment of Colonel Winchester, and that you are an aide on his staff.  It is best to be with one’s own people.  I have known Colonel Winchester a long time, and he has all the qualities that make a man, brave and gentle.  I hope that you and he will become the best of friends.”

There was much more in the letter, but it was only the little details that concern mother and son.  Dick was sitting by the fire when he read it.  Then he read it a second time and a third time, folded it very carefully and put it in the pocket in which he had carried the dispatch from General Thomas.

Colonel Winchester was sitting near him, and Dick noticed again what a fine, trim man he was.  Although a little over forty, his figure was still slender, and he had an abundant head of thick, vital hair.  His whole effect was that of youth.  His glance met Dick’s and he smiled.

“A letter from home?” he said.

“Yes, sir, from mother.  She writes to me that she is glad I am in your command.  She speaks very highly of you, sir, and my mother is a woman of uncommon penetration.”