Between the lines Author:Charles King Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: III. Late that August afternoon Lieutenant Kearny, with an officer of McDowell's staff, was seated in the shade by the Warrenton pike, their horses being held... more » a little distance away by the aide-de-camp's orderly. A singular hush had fallen upon the scene. The broad thoroughfare was almost deserted; the clouds of dust had settled back to earth, powdering the beautiful foliage as they fell; the birds were twittering and piping among the leaves, and in the enclosure just to the west of them—the garden of a Virginia homestead —three or four hound puppies were chasing each other through the long grass and romping about the neglected flower beds, while their mother, lolling on the broad wooden piazza at the head of the flight of steps, watched them with an expression of benevolent interest that was barely proof against an overpowering sense of drowsiness. Some bees were droning about the rose bushes close at hand, and adding to the somnolent effect of the late afternoon sunshine; the air was still, and not a leaf rustled in the tree-tops. Far off to the west, towards Thoro'fare, a dull booming of distant guns could be heard from time to time. McDowell had sent a whole division of infantry to support the cavalry in barring Longstreet, while he, withhis other division, after marching through Gainesville and up the pike a mile or so, had turned off into the wood roads leading towards Manassas Junction, where, at last accounts, Jackson was supposed to be. It was just at the point where this road left the pike and meandered away through the trees that the staff- officer and Lieutenant Kearny had dismounted and were resting. The general had ordered the former to remain there to direct any stray bodies of troops that might be coming up from the southwest, and to receive reports or messag...« less