The talk was all of war and of invading the South, and he seemed to feel a tenacious spirit behind it.
He managed to secure entrance to the lobbies of both Senate and House, and he listened for a while to the debates.

He discovered the same spirit there.

He felt that he had a right to report not only on the forts of Washington and the movements of brigades, but also on the temper in the North.

Resolution and tenacity, he now saw, were worth as much as cannon balls.
Harry did not leave the Capitol until the middle of the afternoon, when he drifted back to the restaurant at which he had obtained his breakfast, where he spent the other half of the dollar for luncheon.
Then he resolved to escape from Washington that night.

He had picked up by casual talk and observation together a fair knowledge of Washington's defenses.