I suppose it's like the horse feeling through the bit the temper of his
rider. President Lincoln has stationed General Halleck at St. Louis
with general command here in the West. General Halleck thinks that
General Grant is a meek subordinate without ambition, and will always be
sending back to him for instructions, which is just what General Halleck
likes, but we in the ranks have learned to know our Grant better."
Dick's eyes glistened.
"So you think, then," he said, "that General Grant will push this
campaign home, and that he'll soon be where he can't get instructions
from General Halleck?"
"Looks that way to a man up a tree," said Pennington slowly, and
solemnly winking his left eye.
They were officer and private, but they were only lads together, and
they talked freely with each other. Dick, after a while, returned to
his commanding officer, Colonel Winchester, but there was little to do,
and he sat on the deck with him, looking out over the fleet, the
transports, the floating batteries, the mortar boats, and the iron-
clads. He saw that the North, besides being vastly superior in numbers
and resources, was the supreme master on the water through her equipment
and the mechanical skill of her people. The South had no advantage save
the defensive, and the mighty generals of genius who appeared chiefly
on her Virginia line.
Dick had inherited a thoughtful temperament from his famous ancestor,
Paul Cotter, whose learning had appeared almost superhuman to the people
of his time, and he was extremely sensitive to impressions.
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