To the weary and anxious boy it seemed a most gallant command, fresh
as the dawn, splendid horses, splendid men, overflowing with life and
strength and spirits. His eyes traveled to one who was a little in
advance of all the others, and rested there. The figure that held his
gaze was scarcely modern, it was more like that of a knight of old
romance.
He saw a young man, tall, and built very powerfully, riding upon an
immense black horse. His hair and beard were long and thick, of a
golden brown that looked like pure flowing gold in the brilliant rays of
the young sun. His coat had two rows of shining brass buttons down the
front, and was sewn thickly with gold braid. Heavy gold braid covered
the seams of his trousers and a great sash of yellow silk was tied
around his waist. Spurs of gold gleamed in the sun. Long yellow gloves
covered his hands. His hat was of the finest felt, the brim pinned back
with a golden star, while a black ostrich plume waved over the crown.
Harry gazed at this singular and striking figure with wonder. He had
seen in the pictures knights of old France wearing such a garb as this,
and yet it did not seem so strange here. These were strange times.
Everything was out of the normal, and the brilliant colors which would
have seemed so dandyish to him at other times appealed to him now.
He suddenly recalled that these men were in gray uniforms, and he, too,
wore a gray uniform. They were his own people, cavalry of the Southern
army. Recovering his presence of mind, he ran forward, shouting and
waving his hands. The leader was the first to notice him and gave the
order to halt. The whole command stopped with beautiful precision,
the ranks remaining even. Then the leader, looking more than ever like
a mediaeval knight, rode slowly forward on his great black horse to meet
the youth who was running to meet him.
When Harry came near he saw that the man was young, under thirty.
He gazed steadily at the boy out of deep blue eyes, and his hair and
beard rippled like molten gold under the light breeze.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name is Kenton, Henry Kenton, and I am a lieutenant in the regiment
of the Invincibles, commanded by Colonel Leonidas Talbot! We were sent
to take a fort on the other side of the mountain and took it, but the
regiment is besieged there by a much larger Northern force, and I came
through in the night for help."
The man stroked his golden beard and a light leaped up in his eye.
Any dandyish or foppish quality that he might have seemed to have
disappeared at once, and Harry saw only the soldier.
"Ah, I have heard of this expedition," he said, "and so the Invincibles
are in a trap. We had started on another errand, but we will go to the
relief of Colonel Talbot. My name is Stuart, lad, J. E. B. Stuart,
and this is my command."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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