After midnight, flashes of lightning cut the sky
and the thunder rolled heavily. Then the rain came, not any fugitive
shower, but hard, cold and steady, promising to last many hours.
It was still pouring when the advance began before dawn, but Grant's
plans were complete. He had drawn up his forces on the chessboard,
and they were converging closely upon Jackson. They must keep their
cartridges dry and advance at all costs.
The Winchesters were in the van in a muddy road. Dick, Warner and
Pennington were in the saddle, and they were wet through and through.
The rain and dusk were so heavy that they could not see fifty feet,
and they shivered with cold. But their souls were eager and high,
and they were glad when the army toiled slowly forward to battle.
CHAPTER VII
THE LITTLE CAPITAL
Dick was bent down in his saddle, trying to protect himself a little from
the driving rain which beat in his eyes and soaked through his clothing.
Warner and Pennington beside him were in the same condition, and he saw
just before him the bent back of Colonel Winchester, with his left arm
raised as a shield for his face.
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