to that d-d-ditch!"

I did not accept the brutal wager; I thought they would.

Let me do justice to a brave man's memory; in all these needless
exposures of life there was no visible bravado nor subsequent narration.
In the few instances when some of us had ventured to remonstrate, Brayle
had smiled pleasantly and made some light reply, which, however, had not
encouraged a further pursuit of the subject. Once he said:

"Captain, if ever I come to grief by forgetting your advice, I hope my
last moments will be cheered by the sound of your beloved voice
breathing into my ear the blessed words, 'I told you so.'"

We laughed at the captain--just why we could probably not have
explained--and that afternoon when he was shot to rags from an ambuscade
Brayle remained by the body for some time, adjusting the limbs with
needless care--there in the middle of a road swept by gusts of grape and
canister! It is easy to condemn this kind of thing, and not very
difficult to refrain from imitation, but it is impossible not to
respect, and Brayle was liked none the less for the weakness which had
so heroic an expression. We wished he were not a fool, but he went on
that way to the end, sometimes hard hit, but always returning to duty
about as good as new.

Of course, it came at last; he who ignores the law of probabilities
challenges an adversary that is seldom beaten. It was at Resaca, in
Georgia, during the movement that resulted in the taking of Atlanta. In
front of our brigade the enemy's line of earthworks ran through open
fields along a slight crest. At each end of this open ground we were
close up to him in the woods, but the clear ground we could not hope to
occupy until night, when darkness would enable us to burrow like moles
and throw up earth. At this point our line was a quarter-mile away in
the edge of a wood. Roughly, we formed a semicircle, the enemy's
fortified line being the chord of the arc.

"Lieutenant, go tell Colonel Ward to work up as close as he can get
cover, and not to waste much ammunition in unnecessary firing. You may
leave your horse."

When the general gave this direction we were in the fringe of the
forest, near the right extremity of the arc. Colonel Ward was at the
left. The suggestion to leave the horse obviously enough meant that
Brayle was to take the longer line, through the woods and among the men.
Indeed, the suggestion was needless; to go by the short route meant
absolutely certain failur