She wrote him, however, that if he were sent into this battle, she knew the honor of old Rockland would be safe, and not by a single word did she tell him how torturing was the anxiety, or how, all night long, she had knelt at her window and prayed God to protect and keep him safe. Not for ten days did she hear again, and then came such a battered and soiled old envelope that the address was almost unreadable. It was very short, and written in pencil on a scrap of paper torn from a note-book, and ran as follows: “DEAR DOROTHY—We are drawn up in line of battle, facing the enemy, and waiting the signal to charge. I am using my cap to write on. I don’t know how it is going to be. I only know we are going to fight like our women expect us; and now, before it begins, I am trying to send you a word to tell you that the thought of you makes me dare all things. I am going to put this in my pocket. Peter Black knows what I want done in case I don’t send it myself. Tell mother she shall not be ashamed of her son. My love to her, and for you, little sweetheart, God bless you, and make me worthy of you! “BOBBIE.” Peter Black found it in his pocket, where he had been directed to look; and though Bobbie declared it was only a scratch, it kept him close for a week, and Peter Black’s powers as a nurse were tested pretty well in that time. It was shortly after this that Bobbie was appointed General H.’s special scout. His well-known absence of fear, his reckless daring, together with his wonderful ability to ferret his way through any section of country, and his marvelous endurance, had already attracted the attention of his regiment, and soon it became a common matter to send for him when the situation demanded unusual haste and caution. CHAPTER VII.