Berry was near enough to the newcomers to see them distinctly, and to hear every word they said. She heard them speak of the army in camp at Pittsburg Landing, and gave a little gasp of surprise, wondering if her father knew that Grant’s troops were so near.
“There ought to be outposts stationed all along here,” she heard one of the younger soldiers declare; and another laughingly responded, “Oh, Colonel Peabody, the Confederates won’t march over these roads and gullies. It’s the Union soldiers who will go after them at Corinth.”
“That may be, but it would do no harm to guard the roads,” responded the young officer gravely.
Berry waited to hear no more. It seemed to the little girl that there must be marching soldiers in every direction, and she crept noiselessly away into the shelter of the forest and ran toward home eager to tell her father of what she had seen and heard.
Half-way down the ravine she met her father, who was on his way home from a visit to the Braggs’ cabin.
“Father! Father! There are soldiers at Shiloh church! I saw them! And Grant’s army is at Pittsburg Landing!” Berry exclaimed, clasping her father’s hand as if she expected an army instantly to seize him.
“Yes, my dear. And you must now stay closely at home. The main roads to Corinth will be guarded by soldiers; but our cabin is too far from the highways for us to see them,” Mr. Arnold quietly replied.
“Do you suppose we will see General Grant?” asked Berry; and her father smiled down at the little girl’s eager face.
“He will probably march on to Corinth in a few days,” he responded, and then added, “The flare of his camp-fires can be seen from Shiloh; their outposts are not more than a mile from the main line. If the Confederates surprise them it will be a terrible struggle.”
“But they mustn’t surprise them!” the little girl exclaimed earnestly; and again resolved that she would watch more closely than ever for any sign of the approaching enemy.