rward into the
mob and begged them to stand. He rode among them striking some with the
flat of his sword and encouraging others. His officers showed the same
energy and courage, but the columns, losing cohesion seemed on the point
of dissolving, in the face of an enemy who pressed them so hard. Harry
uttered a groan which nobody heard in all the crash and tumult. His
heart sank like lead. Hope was gone clean away.

But at the very moment that hope departed he heard a great cheer,
followed a moment later by a terrific crash of rifles and cannon. Then
he saw those blessed Acadians charging in the smoke along the slope.
They had come through the woods, and they rushed directly upon the great
Northern battery posted there. But so well were those guns handled
and so fierce was their fire that the Acadians were driven back. They
returned to the charge, were driven back again, but coming on a third
time took all the battery except one gun. Then with triumphant shouts
they turned them on their late owners.

The whole Southern line seemed to recover itself at once. The remainder
of Ewell's troops reached the field and enabled their comrades to turn
and attack. The Stonewall Brigade in the center, where Jackson was,
returned to the charge. In a few minutes fickle fortune had faced about
completely. The Union men saw victory once more snatched from their
hands. Their columns in the plain were being raked by powerful batteries
on the flank, many of the guns having recently been theirs. They must
retreat or be destroyed.

The brave and skillful Tyler reluctantly gave the order to retreat, and
when Harry saw the blue line go back he shouted with joy. Then the rebel
yell, thrilling, vast and triumphant, swelled along the whole line,
which lifted up itself and rushed at the enemy, the cavalry charging
fiercely on the flanks.

Shields got up fresh troops, but it was too late. The men in gray were
pouring forward, victorious at every point, and sweeping everything
before them, while the army of Fremont, arriving at the river at noon,
saw burned bridges, the terrible battlefield on the other side strewn
with the fallen, and the Southern legions thundering northward in
pursuit of the second army, superior in numbers to their own, that they
had defeated in two days.

Every pulse in Harry beat with excitement. His soul sprang up at once
from the depths to the stars. This, when hope seemed wholly gone, was
the crowning and culminating v