Then the wind caught up the last shreds and tatters of mist, and whipped them away southward.
Every one of them drew a deep, sharp breath, as the great panorama of the valley to the northward and far below was unrolled before them.
The brilliant sunshine of early spring played over everything, but far down in the valley they seemed to see by contrast the true summer of the sunny south, which is often far from sunny.

But seen from the top of the mountain the valley was full of golden rays.

Now the roofs of the villages showed plainly and they saw with distinctness the long silver lines that marked the flowing of the rivers and creeks.

To the east and to the west further than the eye could reach rose the long line of dim blue mountains that enclosed the valley.
But it was the glitter of the bayonets in the valley that caused the hearts of the Virginians to beat most fiercely.

Banners and guidons, clusters of white tents, and dark swarms of men marked where the foot of the invading stranger trod their soil.