So was Dick for that matter.

The men might have been robbers merely--they were at least that bad--but they might have deprived him also of his precious dispatch.

He was proud of the confidence put in him by General Thomas, and he meant to deserve it.

It was this sense of responsibility and pride that had attuned his faculties to so high a pitch and that had made his action so swift, sudden and decisive.
But he steadied himself presently.

The victory, for victory it certainly was, increased his strength and confidence.