The Confederate government and leaders have made a mess of their affairs in the West and Southwest, and General Grant is taking full advantage of it." "Do we attack in the morning, sir ?" "We do, Dick, though not by land.

Porter, with his seven gunboats, is going to open on the fort, but it will be a hazardous undertaking." "Because of the nature of the river, sir ?" "That's it.

They can't anchor, and with full steam up, caught in all the violent eddies that the river makes rounding the point, they'll have to fire as best they can." "But the gunboats did great work at Fort Henry, sir." "So they did, Dick, and we've come a long way South since then, which means that we're making progress and a lot of it here in the West.

Well, we'll see to-morrow." They walked back to their own camp and sleep came to Dick at last.

But he awoke early and found that the thrill of expectation was running through the whole army.