Dick saw a line of trees which he surmised marked the course of the Antietam, and he saw small detachments of cavalry which he knew were watching the advance of the Army of the Potomac.
Their purpose convinced him that Lee had not retreated across the Potomac, but that he would fight and surely lose.

Dick now believed that so many good omens could not fail.
A horseman galloped toward them.

It was Shepard again, dustier than ever, his face pale from weariness.
"What is it, Mr.Shepard ?" asked Colonel Winchester.
"I've just reported to General McClellan that our whole command at Harper's Ferry, thirteen thousand strong, surrendered early this morning and that Jackson with picked men has already started to join Lee!" "My God! My God!" cried the colonel.

"Oh, that lost day! We ought to have fought yesterday and destroyed Lee, while Harper's Ferry was still holding out! What a day! What a day! Nothing can ever pay us back for the losing of it!" Dick, too, felt a sinking of the heart, but despair was not written on his face as it was on that of his colonel.

Jackson might come, but it would only be with a part of his force, that which marched the swiftest, and the victory of the Army of the Potomac would be all the grander.