taff
had dismounted. The general, showing no emotion or anxiety, was watching
the doubtful combat.

Along the whole line the battle was deepening. The able West Pointers
on the Northern side were hurrying forward fresh troops. Shields himself
was coming with new battalions. The men from Ohio and the states further
west, expert like the Southerners in the use of the rifle, and confident
of victory, were pouring a heavy and unbroken fire upon the thinner
Southern lines. They, too, knew the value of cover and, cool enough to
think about it, they used every thicket, and grove and ridge that they
could reach.

The roar of the battle was heard plainly in Winchester, and the people
of the town, although it was now held by the North, wished openly for
the success of the South. The Northern troops, as it happened, nearly
all through the war, were surrounded by people who were against them.
The women at the windows and on the house tops looked eagerly for the
red flare in the South which should betoken the victorious advance of
Jackson, sweeping his enemies before him.

But Jackson was not advancing. All the valor and courage of the South so
far had been in vain. Harry, standing near his commander, and awaiting
any order that might be given him, saw new masses of the enemy advancing
along every road and through the fields. The Union colors, held aloft in
front of the regiments, snapped defiantly in the wind. And those western
riflemen, from their cover, never ceased to pour showers of bullets
upon the Southern lines. They had already cut a swath of dead, and many
wounded were dragging themselves to the rear.

It seemed to Harry, looking over the field, that the battle was lost.
The Northern troops were displaying more tenacity than the Southern
officers had expected. Moreover, they were two to one, in strong
positions, and with a much superior artillery. As he looked he saw one
of the Virginia regiments reel back before the attack of much greater
numbers and retreat in some disorder. The victors came on, shouting
in triumph, but in a few minutes their officers rallied them, another
Virginia regiment rushed to their relief, and the two, united, hurled
themselves upon the advancing enemy. The Union troops were driven back
with great loss, and Harry noticed that the fire from their two great
batteries was weakening. He could not keep from shouting in joy, but he
was glad that the sound of his voice was drowned in the thunder of