Colonel Kenton was with the Southern force under General Buckner,
gathered at Bowling Green in that state, but his son, her nephew Harry,
was still in the east with Beauregard. She had heard that the troops
of the west and northwest were coming down the Ohio and Mississippi in
great numbers, and people expected hard fighting to occur very soon in
western and southern Kentucky. It was all very dreadful, and a madness
seemed to have come over the land, but she hoped that Providence would
continue to watch over her dear son.

Warner and the sergeant knew that the letter was from Dick's mother,
but they had too much delicacy to ask him questions. The boy folded the
sheets carefully and returned them to their place in the inside pocket
of his coat. Then he looked for a while thoughtfully into the blaze and
the great bed of coals that had formed beneath. As far as one could see
to right and left like fires burned, but the night remained dark with
promise of rain, and the chill wind out of the northwest increased in
vigor. The words just read for the fifth time had sunk deep in his mind,
and he was feeling the call of the west.

"My mother writes," he said to his comrades, "that the Confederate
general, Buckner, whom I know, is gathering a large force around Bowling
Green in the southern part of our state, and that fighting is sure to
occur soon between that town and the Mississippi. An officer named
Grant has come down from Illinois, and he is said to be pushing the
Union troops forward with a lot of vigor. Sergeant, you are up on army
affairs. Do you know this man Grant?"

Sergeant Whitley shook his head.

"Never heard of him," he replied. "Like as not he's one of the officers