Toward evening the flakes of snow came again, and the bitter wind blew once more from the Illinois prairies.
All the troops who were not under shelter were wrapped in blankets or overcoats.

Dick and the colonel, with the heavy coats over their uniforms, did not suffer.

Instead, they enjoyed the cold, crisp air, which filled their lungs and seemed to increase their power.
"When shall we reach the Tennessee ?" asked Dick.
"You will probably wake up in the morning to find yourself some distance up that stream." "I've never seen the Tennessee." "Though not the equal of the Ohio, it would be called a giant river in many countries.

The whole fleet, if it wanted to do it, could go up it hundreds of miles.

Why, Dick, these boats can go clear down into Alabama, into the very heart of the Confederacy, into the very state at the capital of which Jefferson Davis was inaugurated President of the seceding states." "I was thinking of that some time ago," said Dick.