"Lads," said the colonel briefly, "you've all felt that we're now led by
a great commander. But energy and daring on the part of a leader demand
energy and daring on the part of his men. General Grant is about to
undertake a great enterprise, one that demands the concentration of his
troops. I want you, Warner, to go to General Sherman with this dispatch,
and here is one for you, Pennington, to take to General Banks."

He paused a moment and Dick asked:

"Am I to be left out?"

Colonel Winchester smiled.

He liked this eagerness on the part of his boys, and yet there was
sadness in his smile, too. Young lieutenants who rode forth on errands
often failed to come back.

"You're included, Dick," he said, "and I think that yours is the most
perilous mission of them all. Pennington, you and Warner can be making
ready and I'll tell Dick what he's to do."

The Vermonter and the Nebraskan hurried away and Colonel Winchester,
taking Dick by the arm, walked with him beyond the circle of firelight.

"Dick," he said gently, "they asked me to choose the one in my command
whom I thought most fit for this duty to be done, and I've selected you,
although I'm sending you into a great peril."

Dick flushed with pride at the trust. Youth blinded him at present to
its perils.