he fire became so hot that the vanguard
could not live in it without shelter, and the colonel, shouting to the
officers to dismount, ordered them all to take cover behind trees and
rocks.

Dick who had been carried a little ahead of the rest, sprang down, still
holding his horse, and made for a great rock which he saw on one side
just within the mouth of the pass. His frightened horse reared and
jerked so violently that he tore the bridle from the lad's hand and ran
away.

Dick stood for a moment, scarcely knowing what to do, and then, as a
half dozen bullets whistled by his head, urging him to do something, he
finished his dash for the rock, throwing himself down behind it just as
a half a dozen more bullets striking on the stone told him that he had
done the right thing in the very nick of time.

He carried with him a light rifle of a fine improved make, a number of
which had been captured at the Second Manassas, and which some of the
younger officers had been allowed to take. He did not drop it in his
rush for the rock, holding on to it mechanically.

He lay for at least a minute or two flat upon the ground behind the
great stone, while the perspiration rolled from his face and his hair
prickled at the roots. He could never learn to be unconcerned when a
dozen or fifteen riflemen were shooting at him.

When he raised his head a little he saw that the Winchester regiment had
fallen back, and that, in truth, the entire advance had stopped until it
could make an attack in full force upon the enemy.

Dick recognized with a certain grim humor that he was isolated. He was
just a little Federal island in a Confederate sea. Up the gap he saw
cannon and masses of gray infantry. Gathered on a comparatively level
spot was a troop of cavalry. He saw all the signs of a desperate
defense, and, while he watched, the great guns of the South began to
fire again, their missiles flying far over his head toward the Northern
army.

Dick was puzzled, but for the present he did not feel great alarm about
himself. He lay almost midway between the hostile forces, but it was
likely that they would take no notice of him.

With a judgment born of a clear mind, he lay quite still, while the
hostile forces massed themselves for attack and defense. Each was
feeling out the other with cannon, but every missile passed well over
his head, and he did not take the trouble to bow to them as they sailed
on their errands. Yet he lay close behind