of horse had no fool
for colonel. On the contrary, he had suddenly woke to the fact that a
regiment of Ironsides on his left, and another on his right, were trying
to get round him by short cuts, so as to head him back to the regiment
in pursuit; and, what was more, he saw that there could be no doubt of
the success of the manoeuvre.

With a gallantry that almost approached recklessness he faced round his
regiment, and in the full intent of attacking his enemies, corps by
corps, he gave the order to charge, and dashed right at the pursuing
regiment.

This movement resulted in bringing the engagement well within view of
the spectators in the loft, or rather, it should be said, of the
spectator; for, as soon as the landlord's daughter saw that a deadly
shock was inevitable, she covered her face with her hands, stepped down
from beside her father, and fell upon her knees in the straw close to
where Fred lay.

"God help them, poor men!" she murmured. "How horrible it is!"

Then there was a painful silence within that straw-spread loft, while
without there was a rushing sound, as of two great torrents hurrying to
meet, and above this came the jingling of sword and spur, the hoarse
shouting of words of command; then the brazen blare of trumpets,
followed by a distant cheer; then one more near; and then one horrible,
crashing, hurtling noise, as man and beast dashed at man and beast, and
came into collision. There was the clash of sword upon sword, of sword
upon helmet, and again of sword upon breastplate. Yells of pain, wild
shrieks, shouts of defiance, and then one confused din, broken by a loud
"Hah!" from the landlord.

"Polly," he cried, "it's awful! Ah, here comes another regiment, and--
yes, here comes the other!"

Almost as he spoke, came the sound of another shock, and then of
another, followed by desperate clashing of steel, which grew less and
less and less, and then gradually died out, to be followed by a dull,
low murmur, and then silence, which lasted only a few moments, to be
succeeded by a series of deafening cheers.

"Is it all over, father?" whispered Polly, with hands over her face.

"Yes, my girl," said the landlord, in a sad voice; "it is all over for
the poor fellows."

"Who have won, father?"

"What's the use of asking that? What could you expect, when it was
three to one? Plenty of killed and wounded, and not a man escaped.
Yes; there they are, two or three hundred of them, and all