n rush of a storm. He was conscious
only that the tips of the bayonets had reached them, and behind them he
saw the eyes in the brown faces gleaming.

Then he did not even see the brown faces, because there was such a storm
of fire and smoke pouring forth bullets like hail, and the tumult
of shouts and of the crash of cannon and rifles was so awful that it
blended into one general sound like the roaring of the infernal regions.

Dick felt himself borne back. It seemed to him that their line had
cracked like a bow bent too much. It was not anything that he saw but a
sense of the general result, and he was right. The Northern line which
had not found time to form properly, was hurled back. Neither cannon nor
rifles could stop the three Southern brigades which were charging them.

The South struck like a tornado, and despite a resistance made with all
the fury and rage of despair, the Northern division was driven from its
position, and its line broken in many places. A Northern general was
taken prisoner. The guns which could not be carried, because the horses
were gone, were taken by the triumphant Southerners, and over all the
roar and tumult of the frightful battle Dick heard that piercing and
triumphant rebel yell, poured forth by thousands of throats and swelling
over everything, in a fierce, dominant note.

Dick bumped against Warner as they were borne back in the smoke. He saw
the Vermonter's blackened lips move, and his own moved in the same way,
but neither heard what the other said. Nevertheless Dick read the words
in his comrade's eyes, and they said:

"Surprised again, Dick! Good God, surprised!"

Yet the young troops fought with a courage worthy of the toughest
veterans. They gave ground, because the rush against them was
overpowering, but they maintained a terrible fire which strewed the
earth in front of them with dead and wounded.

"Behind those trees! Behind those trees!" suddenly called Colonel
Winchester as they continued their sullen and fighting retreat, and he
and the remnants of his regiment darted into a little wood just in time.
There was a sudden rush of hoofbeats on their flank, and a cloud of
Southern cavalry swept down, shearing away the entire side of the
Northern division as if it had been cleft with the slash of a mighty
sword. Besides the fallen a thousand prisoners and seven cannon fell
into the hands of the cavalrymen, who rushed on in search of fresh
triumphs.

Dick shuddered wi