body! Duck!"

He fell forward on his face and those of his men who heard and
understood did likewise.

Ruth, Alice and Estelle, who were watching the scene from a distant
knoll, hardly understood what it was all about. They had thought no more
shots would be fired when Paul began his charge, but one had boomed out,
and surely that was a projectile winging its way toward the partly
demolished hill.

"That is carrying realism a little too far," said Ruth. "I hope----"

"Paul has fallen!" cried Alice. "Oh--something has happened!"

One must realize that all this took place at the same time. The firing
of the shot, the realization that it was a mistake, Paul's flash of the
oncoming projectile, his command to his men and the vision had by the
girls. All in an instant, for a shot from a big gun does not leave much
margin of time between starting and arriving even when fired with only a
small charge of powder for moving picture purposes.

And, so quickly had it happened that Russ had not stopped turning the
crank of his camera, nor had an assistant on the hillside, where he had
been stationed to film Paul and his soldiers.

And then the projectile struck. Into the soft dirt of the hillside it
buried its head, and then, as the explosion came, up went a shower of
earth and stones. And ever afterward the gunner who inserted that
charge blessed himself and an ever-watchful Providence that he had put
in but half a charge, the last of the powder.

For it was this half-charge that saved Paul and his men. The projectile
struck in the hill a hundred feet below where Paul was leading his force
up the slope, and though they were well-nigh buried beneath a rain of
sand and gravel, they were not otherwise hurt--scratches and bruises
being their portion.

"What are they trying to do, kill us?" cried a man, staggering to his
feet, blood streaming from a cut on his cheek.

"This is too much like real war for me!" yelled another throwing down
his gun. "I'm going to quit!"

"No you don't!" shouted Paul. "Come on. It was a mistake. They won't
fire any more. It will make a great scene on the film. Come on!"

He gave one look back toward the Union battery and saw Mr. Pertell
fluttering a white flag which meant safety. Waving his sword above his
head, Paul yelled again:

"Come on! Come on! It's all right! Up the hill with you! That shot was
only to put a little pep in you!"

"Pep! More like sand! I got a mouthful!" muttered a serge