no warning, came back to him with uncommon vividness. He knew that
no such surprise could occur here, but they seemed to be lost in the
wilderness. The mountains and forests oppressed him.

"Well, Dick," said Warner, "we're posted strongly. We've rows of
sentinels as thick as hedges, and I've the colonel's permission to go to
sleep. I'll be slumbering in ten minutes, and I'd advise you to do the
same."

He lay on a blanket and soon slept. Pennington followed him to
slumberland, but Dick lingered. He saw lights still flashing on the
mountains, and he heard now and then reports from the rifles of the
skirmishers, who yet sought each other despite the darkness. But he
yielded at last and he, too, slept until the dawn, which should bring
nearly two hundred thousand men face to face in mortal combat.

Dick was awake early. The September morning came, crisp and clear,
the sun showing red gleams over the mountains. He heard already the
sound of distant rifle shots in front, and, through his glasses, he saw
far away faint puffs of smoke. But it was a familiar sound in this
mighty war, and he found himself singularly calm. He never knew how he
was going to feel on the eve of battle. Sometimes the constriction at
his heart was painful, and sometimes its beat was smooth and regular.

All the officers of the Winchester regiment were dismounted owing to the
rough nature of the country in which they were stationed. They held the
most uneven part of the center, where thickets and ravines were many.
Hot food and coffee were served to them, and new warmth and courage
flowed through their bodies.