"Don't
you think we'll have some lively experiences trying to take it? And
wasn't there something real and vital about Bull Run and Shiloh and
Perryville and Stone River and all the rest? Don't you worry, George.
You're living in exciting times yourself."
"That's so," said Warner calmly. "I had forgotten it for the moment.
We've been readers of history and now we're makers of it. It's funny--
and maybe it isn't funny--but the makers of history often know little
about what they're making. The people who come along long afterward put
them in their places and size up what they have done."
"They can give all the reasons they please why I won this war," said
Pennington, "but even history-makers are entitled to a rest. Since
there's no order to the contrary I mean to stretch out and go to sleep.
Dick, you and George can discuss your problems all night."
But they went to sleep also.
CHAPTER IX
THE OPEN DOOR
"Dick," said Colonel Winchester the next morning, "I think you are the
best scout and trailer among my young officers. Mr. Pennington, you are
probably the best on the plains, and I've no doubt, Warner, that you
would do well in the mountains, but for the hills, forests and rivers
I'll have to choose Dick.
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