Voices came down to him, and once or twice he caught the partial silhouette of a horse against the dark sky.
He felt quite sure that it was a body of Union cavalry riding practically at random--if they were led by Shepard they would have come up the gorge itself.
Presently something splashed heavily in the water near him.

A stone had been rolled over the brink.

He drew his horse and himself more closely against the wall.

Another stone fell near and a laugh came from above.
Evidently the lads in blue had pushed the stones over merely to hear the splash, because Harry ceased to hear the voices and he was quite sure that they had ridden away.
He waited a little while for precaution, and then resumed his own careful journey through the gorge.

Just as the dawn was breaking he emerged from the stream and entered the forest.