d--that, for the second time, we had driven
them; that we still held the house, now fairly encircled by dead bodies.
Then the truth dawned, and I gazed almost blindly about on the ruck, and
into the faces of the men nearest me. I hardly recognized them,
blackened by powder, with here and there a blood stain showing ghastly.
The door was crushed in, splintered by the heavy log, the end of which
still projected through, and beneath it three men lay motionless. I saw
others between where I stood and the stairs, one leaning against the
wall, his blood dyeing the carpet, another outstretched upon the steps.
All this came to me in a glance, my head reeling; I felt no power to
move, no ability to think. Then Miles' voice at my very ear aroused me.

"Are you hurt, Lieutenant? Here, let me see."

I stared at him, and seemed to come back to life again with a start.

"No, nothing serious, Sergeant. The door must have struck me as it
fell--my whole left side and arm are numb. We drove them, didn't we?"

"You can bet we did, sir, but my fellows got here just in time. They
didn't make much of a fight along my side, so when I heard that door
crash we come a-runnin'."

"Oh, it was you then. That's about the last I remember. Where is their
reserve? Didn't they come in?"

"I guess not," peering out through the opening. "There's no signs of
'em, so far as I can see, but there ain't no air, an' the smoke hangs
close to the ground."

As he said, it was useless endeavoring to perceive what was happening
without, the powder smoke clinging to the earth, and hiding everything
from view. Yet I realized what must have occurred; the dead bodies in
sight proved how severely the assaulting column had suffered, and no
doubt the entire force had been disorganized, and sent helter-skelter
for safety. Yet they would come back--either they or others. This muss
must be cleaned up; this opening closed. After that we could attend our
dead and wounded. I gave a dozen swift orders, and Miles instantly took
command. The imprisoned bodies were dragged out from underneath the
door, the heavy log taken into the hall, the door itself torn from its
remaining hinges and forced back into position, the log, one end resting
against the stairs, being utilized as a brace. If anything it was now
stronger than before for purposes of defence. We had barely completed
this work when Mahoney came out into the hall, his head bound up with a
blood-soaked rag.

"A foine,