It seemed, then, that there was bitter justice in the speeches of the
gaunt and bronzed veterans. He veiled a glance of disdain at his
fellows who strewed the ground, choking with dust, red from
perspiration, misty-eyed, disheveled.

They were gulping at their canteens, fierce to wring every mite of
water from them, and they polished at their swollen and watery features
with coat sleeves and bunches of grass.

However, to the youth there was a considerable joy in musing upon his
performances during the charge. He had had very little time previously
in which to appreciate himself, so that there was now much satisfaction
in quietly thinking of his actions. He recalled bits of color that in
the flurry had stamped themselves unawares upon his engaged senses.

As the regiment lay heaving from its hot exertions the officer who had
named them as mule drivers came galloping along the line. He had lost
his cap. His tousled hair streamed wildly, and his face was dark with
vexation and wrath. His temper was displayed with more clearness by the
way in which he managed his horse. He jerked and wrenched savagely at
his bridle, stopping the hard-breathing animal with a furious pull near
the colonel of the regiment. He immediately exploded in reproaches
which came unbidden to the ears of the men. They were suddenly alert,
being always curious about black words between officers.

"Oh, thunder, MacChesnay, what an awful bull you made of this thing!"
began the officer. He attempted low tones, but his indignation caused
certain of the men to learn the sense of his words. "What an awful
mess you made! Good Lord, man, you stopped about a hundred feet this
side of a very pretty success! If your men had gone a hundred feet
farther you would have made a great charge, but as it is--what a lot of
mud diggers you've got anyway!"

The men, listening with bated breath, now turned their curious eyes
upon the colonel. They had a ragamuffin interest in this affair.

The colonel was seen to straighten his form and put one hand forth in
oratorical fashion. He wore an injured air; it was as if a deacon had
been accused of stealing. The men were wiggling in an ecstasy of
excitement.

But of a sudden the colonel's manner changed from that of a deacon to
that of a Frenchman. He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well, general, we
went as far as we could," he said calmly.

"As far as you could? Did you, b'Gawd?" snorted the other. "Well,
tha