wards the woods; and as no
shot followed the first one at once, they might have inferred that the
fatality to the commander had been the work of an assassin.

This view was immediately confirmed by the captain's successor; for he
ordered four troopers to dismount, and go into the woods in search of
the murderer. But they did not reach the edge of the forest before fire
was opened upon them, and every one of them dropped dead or wounded.
The rifle was a terribly effective weapon in the hands of the
sharpshooters. The company had certainly fallen into an ambush. The
troopers could do nothing on their horses in the woods, and for the
moment they were practically helpless.

The fire continued all along the line of riflemen, one discharge at a
time, so that no two men should aim at the same soldier or officer; and
all along the detachment every one seemed to bring down his man. The
lieutenant saw the havoc made in his command; but Captain Gordon did
not give the order for his company to advance on the plan he had
arranged.

The battle appeared to be fighting itself without any assistance from
the summit of the hill, and it was evident that the enemy had no
knowledge of any force outside of the forest.

"That lieutenant has just given an order, but I could not make out what
he said," observed the colonel. "He is in a tight place, and you have
set a very ugly trap for that company to fall into, Captain Gordon."

"The assistance of your company, Colonel, has given me a very decided
advantage," replied the captain.

"And you have made excellent use of it. My men are safe in the woods,
and the lieutenant seems to be losing his time."

"You can see what his order meant now, for his men are dismounting.
They are going into the woods to clean out the enemy, and that is
really the only thing he can do," replied Captain Gordon. "It will be
time for me to put a finger in the pie very soon, for the protection of
your men, if for nothing else."

"You need not trouble your head about the riflemen, for they all have
legs; and even Ripley, the oldest man among them, can use his
walking-pins as well as any of them. They will retreat through the
woods, using their rifles as they retire."

Every alternate man of the company was dismounted, giving the
bridle-rein of his horse to one mounted. They double-quicked into the
forest; but they began to drop, to cling to the trees for support, or
to retire from the field before the observers