amused; and, lastly, immensely disgusted. He
remembered the severe struggle it cost to bring him out of the swamp, the
rolled-up eyes, the lugubrious groans, and the faintly murmured dying
request to be forgiven. And in the revulsion of his feelings he could not
help saying, "Yes, Jack, I forgive ye! and if you die, you shan't be
buried on this miserable island."

He was excited when he uttered this taunt, and he was sorry for it
afterwards. Seeing the craven slink away, conscious of the scorn of every
body, he felt a touch of pity for him.

"Jack," said he, with friendly intent, "why don't you go back and wipe
out this disgrace? _I_ would."

"Because," snarled Jack, goaded by his own shame and the general
contempt, "I'm hurt, I tell ye! _internally_, I s'pose,"--for he had
heard Mr. Sinjin use the word, and thought it a good one to suit his
case. And he lay down wretchedly by the roadside, and counterfeited
anguish, while the fresh troops marched by to the battle.

A fiery impulse seized the drummer boy. He glanced at his torn sleeve,
from which the badge had been shot away, and thought there was something
besides accident in what appeared so much like an omen. If it meant any
thing, was it not that his place was elsewhere than in the ambulance
corps?

He turned to Mr. Sinjin, and asked to be excused from going with the
stretcher. And Mr. Sinjin, who prized the boy's safety too highly to wish
to see him go again under fire, was only too glad to excuse him, never
once suspecting what wild purpose was in his heart.

The battle was now fairly begun. The rebel battery had opened. The
continual rattle of musketry and the thunder of heavy cannon shook the
island. The regiments in line in front of the cleared space before the
battery, returned the fire with energy, and the marine howitzers also
responded. Soon a shell from the enemy's work came flying through the
woods with a hum, which increased to a howl, and burst with a startling
explosion within a few rods of the hospital. Nobody was hurt; but the
incident had a very marked effect on Jack Winch. He got better at once,
and moved to the rear with an alacrity surprisingly in contrast with his
recent helplessness.

XXIX.

HOW FRANK GOT NEWS OF HIS BROTHER.

Frank was already moving off quite as rapidly, but in the opposite
direction. He plunged once more into the swamp, and returned to the spot
where Jack h