The Tree of Appomattox | Page 7

that Harry's is the
best mathematical mind he has ever found in his long years of teaching.
Your room remains just as it was when you left. Juliana brushes and
airs it every day, and expects at any time to see her young Master Dick
come riding home. She keeps in her mind two pictures of you,
absolutely unlike. In one of these pictures you are a great officer,
carrying much of the war's weight on your shoulders, consulted
continually by General Grant, who goes wrong only when he fails to
take your advice. In the other you are a little boy whom she alternately
scolds and pets. And it may be that I am somewhat like Juliana in this
respect.
The garden is very fine this year. The vegetables were never more
plentiful, and never of a finer quality. I wish you were here for your
share. It must be a trial to have to eat hard crackers and tough beef and
pork day after day. I should think that you would grow to hate the sight
of them. Sam, the colored man who has been with us so long, has
proved as faithful and trustworthy as Juliana. He makes a most
excellent farmer, and the yield of corn in the bottom land is going to be

amazing.
They say that since the Federal successes in the West the operations of
Skelly's band of guerrillas have become bolder, but he has not
threatened Pendleton again. They say also that a little farther south a
band of like character, who call themselves Southern, under a man
named Slade, are ravaging, but I suppose that you, who see great
generals and great armies daily, are not much concerned about outlaws.
Always keep your feet dry and warm if you can, and never fail to
spread a blanket between you and the damp grass. Give my respects to
Colonel Winchester. Tell him that we hear of him now and then in
Kentucky and that we hear only good. Don't forget about the blanket.
* * * *
There was more, but it was these passages over which Dick lingered
longest.
He read the letter three times--letters were rare in those years, and men
prized them highly--and put it away in his strongest pocket. Colonel
Winchester was standing by the edge of the brook, and Dick, saluting
him, said:
"My mother wishes me to deliver to you her respects and best wishes."
A flush showed through the tan of the colonel's face, and Dick, noticing
it, was startled by a sudden thought. At first his feeling was jealousy,
but it passed in an instant, never to come again. There was no finer man
in the world than Colonel Winchester.
"She is well," he added, "and affairs could go no better at Pendleton."
"I am glad," said Colonel Winchester simply. Then he turned to a man
with very broad shoulders and asked:
"How are the new lads coming on?"
"Very well, sir," replied Sergeant Daniel Whitley. "Some of 'em are a

little awkward yet, and a few are suffering from change of water, but
they're good boys and we can depend on 'em, sir, when the time
comes."
"Especially since you have been thrashing 'em into shape for so many
days, sergeant."
"Thank you, sir."
An orderly came with a message for Colonel Winchester, who left at
once, but Dick and the sergeant, his faithful comrade and teacher, stood
beside the stream. They could easily see the bathers farther down,
splashing in the water, pulling one another under, and, now and then,
hurling a man bodily into the pool. They were all boys to the veteran.
Many of them had been trained by him, and his attitude toward them
was that of a school teacher toward his pupils.
"You have ears that hear everything, sergeant," said Dick. "What is this
new movement that I've heard two or three men speak of? Something
sudden they say."
"I've heard too," replied Sergeant Whitley, "but I can't guess it.
Whatever it is, though, it's coming soon. There's a lot of work going on
at a point farther down the line, but it's kept a secret from the rest of us
here."
The sergeant went away presently, and Dick, going down stream,
joined some other young officers in a pool. He lay on the bank
afterward, but, shortly after dark, Colonel Winchester returned, gave an
order, and the whole regiment marched away in the dusk. Dick felt sure
that the event Sergeant Whitley had predicted was about to happen, but
the colonel gave no hint of its nature, and he continued to wonder, as
they advanced steadily in the dusk.
CHAPTER II
THE WOMAN AT THE HOUSE

The men marched on for a long time, and, after a while, they heard