posted strongly. They are thick in the railroad cut and hundreds of
horses are held by men in the rear. It must be almost wholly a cavalry
force."

"Do you see any people in the town?"

"There is not a soul in the streets, and as far as I can make out all
the doors are closed and the windows shuttered."

"Then it's a heavy force waiting for us. The people know it, and
expecting a battle, they have gone away."

"Your reasoning is good, and there's the bugle to confirm it. Our lines
are already advancing!"

It was still early in the morning, and the strong Southern force which
had come for shoes, but which found rifles and bayonets awaiting them
instead, advanced boldly. They, the victors of Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville, had no thought of retreating before a foe who invited
them to combat.

Harry and Dalton found their hearts beating hard at this their first
battle on Northern soil, and Harry's eyes once more swept the great
panorama of the valley, the silent town, the lofty stone hills, and far
beyond the long blue wall of South Mountain, with the mists and vapors
still floating about its crest.

Heth was up now, and he took full command, sending two brigades in
advance, the brigades themselves preceded by a great swarm of
skirmishers. Harry and Dalton rode with one of the brigades, and they