The silvery veil that had been thrown over them vanished and the column became a ghostly train riding in the dusk.
But the road into which Shepard guided them led over a pleasant land of hills and clear streams.

Although the scouts on their flanks kept vigilant watch, many of the men slept soundly in their saddles.

Dick himself dozed awhile, and slept awhile, and, when he roused himself from his last nap, the dawn was breaking over the brown hills and the column was halting for food and a little rest.
It was August, the time of great heat in Virginia, but they were already building fires to cook the breakfast and make coffee, and most of the men had dismounted.

Dick sprang down also and turned his horse loose to graze with the others.

Then he joined Warner and Pennington and fell hungrily to work.