Their hoofbeats rang in a steady beat on the road, as they went forward on that long easy gallop which made the miles drop swiftly behind them. The skies brightened, and the great stars danced in a solid sheet of blue. They were in the gently rolling country, and occasionally they passed a farmhouse. Now and then, a watchful dog barked at them, but they soon left him and his bark behind.
Harry noticed that Billy’s figure was beginning to waver slightly, and he knew that weariness and the lack of sleep were at last gaining the mastery over his daring young spirit. It gave him relief, as it solved a problem that had been worrying him. He rode up by the side of Billy, but he said nothing. The boy’s eyelids were heavy and the youthful figure was wavering, but it was in no danger of falling. Billy could have ridden his horse sound asleep.
Harry presently saw the roof of Mrs. Pomeroy’s house showing among the trees.
“It’s less than half a mile to your house, Billy,” he said.
“But I’m not going to stop there. I’m goin’ on with you to General Jackson, an’ I’m goin’ to help him fight the Yankees.”
Harry was silent, but when they galloped up to the Pomeroy house, Billy was nearly asleep.
The door sprang open as they approached, and the figure of the stalwart woman appeared. Harry knew that she had been watching there every minute since they left. He was touched by the dramatic spirit of the moment, and he said:
“Mrs. Pomeroy, we bring back to you the most gallant soldier in Stonewall Jackson’s army of the Valley of Virginia. He led us straight to the Gap where we were able to learn the enemy’s movements, a knowledge which may save the Confederacy from speedy destruction. We bring him back to you, safe and unharmed, and sleeping soundly in his saddle.”
He lifted Billy from the saddle and put him in his mother’s arms.
“Billy’s a hero, Cousin Eliza,” said Dalton. “Few full-grown men have done as important deeds in their whole lives as he has done to-night. When he awakens he’ll be angry because he didn’t go with us, but you tell him we’ll see that he’s a duly enrolled member of General Jackson’s army. Stonewall Jackson never forgets such deeds as his.”
“It’s a proud woman I am to-night,” said Mrs. Pomeroy. “Good-bye, Cousin George, and you, too, Mr. Kenton. I can see that you’re in a hurry to be off, and you ought to be. I want to see both of you in my house again in better days.”
She went inside, carrying the exhausted and sleeping boy in her arms, and Harry and Dalton galloped away side by side.
“How’s your horse, Harry?” asked Dalton.
“Fine. Smooth as silk! How’s yours?”
“The machinery moves without a jar. I may be stiff and sore myself, but I’m so anxious to get to General Jackson that I haven’t time to think about it.”
“Same here. Suppose we speed ’em up a little more.”
They came into the turnpike, and now the horses lengthened out their stride as they fled northward. It was yet some time until dawn, but the two young riders took the cold food from their knapsacks and ate as they galloped on. It was well that they had good horses, staunch and true, as they were pushing them hard now.
Harry looked toward the west, where the dark slope of Little North Mountain closed in the valley from that side, and he felt a shiver which he knew did not come from the night air. He knew that a powerful Northern force was off there somewhere, and he wondered what it was doing. But he and Dalton had done their duty. They had uncovered one hostile force, and doubtless other men who rode in the night for Jackson would attend to the rest.
Both Harry and Dalton had been continuously in the saddle for many hours now, but they did not notice their weariness. They were still upborne by a great anxiety and a great exaltation, too. Feeling to the full the imminence and immensity of the crisis, they were bending themselves heart and soul to prevent it, and no thought of weariness could enter their minds. Each was another Billy, only on a larger and older scale.