"
In a half hour the day was fully gone, and, as he had foretold, the
night was sharp with chill, setting every man to shivering. They turned
aside into an oak grove and pitched their camp. It was never hard to
obtain fuel, as the whole area of the great civil war was largely in
forest, and the soldiers dragged up fallen brushwood in abundance.
Then the fires sprang up and created a wide circle of light and
cheerfulness.
Dick joined zealously in the task of finding firewood and his search
took him somewhat further than the others. He passed all the way
through the belt of forest, and noticed fields beyond. He was about to
turn back when he heard a faint, but regular sound. Experience told him
that it was the beat of a horse's hoofs and he knew that some distance
away a road must lead between the fields.
He walked a hundred yards further, and climbing upon a fence waited.
From his perch he could see the road about two hundred yards beyond him,
and the hoof beats were rapidly growing louder. Some one was riding
hard and fast.
In a minute the horseman or rather horsewoman, came into view. There
was enough light for Dick to see the slender figure of a young girl
mounted on a great bay horse. She was wrapped in a heavy cloak, but
her head was bare, and her long dark hair streamed almost straight out
behind her, so great was the speed at which she rode.
She struck the horse occasionally with a small riding whip, but he was
already going like a racer.
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