Throughout the camp burned large
fires for which they had an almost unbroken wilderness to furnish fuel.
The whole aspect of the place was pleasing to the men who had marched
far and hard.
Major Hertford and his aides, Richard Mason and George Warner, were
received in Colonel Garfield's tent. A slim young man, writing
dispatches at a rude little pine table, rose to receive them. He did
not seem to Dick to be more than thirty, and he had the thin, scholarly
face of a student. His manner was attractive, he shook hands warmly
with all three of them and said:
"Reinforcements are most welcome indeed. My own work here seems to be
largely done, but you will reach General Thomas in another day, and he
needs you. Take my chair, Major Hertford. To you two lads I can offer
only stumps."
The tent had been pitched over a spot where three stumps had been
smoothed off carefully until they made acceptable seats. One end of the
tent was entirely open, facing a glowing fire of oak logs. Dick and
Warner sat down on the stumps and spread out their hands to the blaze.
Beyond the flames they saw the wintry forest and mountains, seemingly
as wild as they were when the first white man came.
The usual coffee and food were brought, and while they ate and drank
Major Hertford answered the numerous and pertinent questions of Colonel
Garfield. He listened attentively to the account of the fight in the
mountains, and to all the news that they could tell him of Washington.
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