beat.

He had caught the flash of steel, the sun's rays falling across a bayonet
or a polished rifle barrel. And then as he looked he saw the flash again
and again. He handed the glasses to Warner and said quietly:

"George, I see troops on the edge of that far hill to the south and the
east. Can't you see them, too?"

"Yes, I can make them out clearly now, as they pass across a bit of open
land. They're Confederate cavalry, two hundred at least, I should say."

Dick learned long afterward that it was the troop of Sherburne, but,
for the present, the name of Sherburne was unknown to him. He merely
felt that this was the vanguard of Jackson riding forward to set the
trap. The men were now so near that they could be seen with the naked
eye, and the sergeant said tersely:

"At last we've seen what we were afraid we would see."

"And look to the left also," said Warner, who still held the glasses.
"There's a troop of horse coming up another road, too. By George,
they're advancing at a trot! We'd better clear out or we may be enclosed
between the two horns of their cavalry."

"We'll go back to our force at Cedar Run," said Harry, "and report what
we've seen. As you say, George, there's no time to waste."

The four mounted and rode fast, the dust of the road flying in a cloud
behind their horses' heels. Dick felt that they had fulfilled their