"Luck, Frank, is only a minor factor in life.

What we usually call luck is the result of foresight, skill and courage.
There are facts that I wouldn't have you to forget, even if it is a hot day far down in Mississippi." Warner and Pennington sprang from their horses and greeted Dick warmly.
They had returned a day or two before from their own less perilous errands, but they were in great anxiety about their comrade.

They were glad too, when they heard that the sergeant had joined him and that he had come back safe.
"I suppose it means a battle at Jackson," said Warner.

"We're surely on the move, and we're going to keep the Johnnies busy for quite a spell." "Looks like it," said Dick.
Colonel Winchester came soon, and his face showed great relief when he shook hands with Dick.
"It was a dangerous errand, Dick, my lad," he said, "but I felt that you would succeed and you have.

It was highly important that we gather all our forces for a great stroke." Dick resumed at once his old place in the Winchester regiment, with Warner, Pennington and his other comrades around him.