The bushes were dense there and he lay down among them, so completely hidden that he was invisible ten feet away.

Here he still heard the mutter of the guns, which came in a long, droning sound, and occasionally a rifle cracked at some point closer by.

The Union army was still busy and he felt a few moments of despondency.

His dispatch undoubtedly was of great importance, and yet he was not able to deliver it.

It was highly probable that for precaution's sake other messengers bore the same dispatch, but he was anxious to arrive with his nevertheless, and he wanted, too, to arrive first.