“Oh, I see. I am surgeon in charge; may I ask the name?”

“Captain Smith.”

“Captain Smith?”

“Yes, of the Stonewall skirmishers.”

“Oh, yes. I was speaking of him, to-day, in Harrisonburg.”

“Is his wound dangerous?”

“He was shot through the right lung.”

“Are such wounds very dangerous? I mean, are they necessarily fatal?”

“No, not always.”

Then there was silence for a hundred yards. Suddenly she asked, in a low voice, “Do you think there is any hope?”