dvance; for presently
it resumed its march. But at that moment a new factor in the contest
was presented to the aide-de-camp. The roar of a heavy gun was heard in
the direction of the intrenchment, and both of the spectators on the
hill looked in that direction. A cloud of smoke rose in the air, and at
the same moment, almost, the explosion of a shell was seen on the
riflemen's hill. The branches of the trees were cut off and twisted,
and the sharpshooters rushed down the declivity as though their own
weapons had been turned against them.

"Those riflemen have probably never been in a battle before," said the
captain, apparently unmoved by the sight that greeted his eyes.

"I should hardly expect to see them stand up against that sort of
thing," added the major. "I never saw a shell explode before, and it
must be very trying to the nerves of an inexperienced soldier."

"He gets used to it after a time. But that shell must have killed or
wounded some of Captain Ripley's command, though neither shells nor
bullets are so destructive to human life as they appear to be at
first."

"I don't understand how that shell happened to be fired into the hill,
for they could not see into the meadow where so many have fallen," said
the major.

"The information was probably sent into the fort by some officer on
duty on the pike, near the earthworks, with an order to shell the
second hill. But I think you had better return to your command, for
your cavalry may be wanted at any time," suggested the captain.

"That colonel has rallied his men, and they are now marching very
steadily towards the higher land," said the major, as he rose from the
seat on a rock he had occupied.

"Ripley has done better than I expected, and he appears to have placed
his men again. No doubt the bursting of the shell so near them startled
his force, and the riflemen fled from impulse," continued the
staff-officer. "But he is a brave old man, at any rate; for he has
mounted to the highest point of the hill, and he is watching the fort
with all his eyes. It is a dangerous position, and I am afraid there
will be a military funeral soon at Millersville."

But he was shielded by a large tree on the summit of the hill in the
direction of the enemy, and was giving his whole attention to the
intrenchments. The captain was observing the regiment which was now
rapidly approaching high ground, though it had moved much farther from
the pike than the first.

The