Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire made a move, Colonel Leonidas Talbot made another, and then promptly uttered a little cry of triumph. "My king is free! He is free! You made no royal capture, Hector!" he exclaimed joyously. "It is so, Leonidas. I did not foresee your path of retreat. I must enter upon a new campaign against you." Harry, who was looking toward the heights on the other side of the river, saw a flash of flame and a puff of smoke. A rumbling noise came to him. "What is it, Harry?" asked Colonel Talbot. "A Yankee cannon. I suppose it was telling us Christmas is over. The ball struck somewhere in Fredericksburg." "A waste of good ammunition. Why, they've done all the damage to Fredericksburg that they can do. It's your move, Hector." Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire corded and knotted his brow again, and once more the two heads nearly met over the chessboard. A whistling sound suddenly came from the street without. Something struck with a terrible impact, and then followed a blinding flash and roar. The whole house shook and several of the men were thrown down, but in a half minute they sprang to their feet. Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire were standing erect, staring at each other. The chessmen were scattered on the floor and the board was split in half. A fragment of the exploding shell had entered the window and passing directly between them had done the damage. The same piece had gone entirely through the opposite wall. Harry's quick glance told him that nothing had suffered except the chessboard. He sprang forward, picked up the two halves, and said: "No real harm has been done. Two strips underneath, a few tacks, and it's as good again as ever." The other lads carefully gathered up the scattered chessmen and announced that not one of them was injured. "Thank you, boys," said Colonel Talbot. "It is a pleasing thing to see that, despite the war, the young still show courtesy to their elders. You will bear in mind, Hector, when this game is resumed at a proper time and place, that the position of one of your knights was very delicate." "Assuredly I will not forget it, Leonidas. It will be no trouble to either of us to replace them exactly as they were at a moment's notice." Harry and Dalton were compelled now to return to General Jackson, and they did so, after leaving many thanks with their generous hosts. Heavy winter rains began. The country on both sides of the Rappahannock became a vast sea of mud, and the soldiers had to struggle against all the elements, because the rains were icy and the mud formed a crust through which they broke in the morning. While they lingered here news came of the great battle in the West, fought on the last day of the old year and the first day of the new, along the banks of Stone River. Harry and his comrades looked for a triumph there like that which they had won, and they were deeply disappointed when they heard the result.