carried to crests and
ridges, and for a moment groups of men would gather around them, only to
melt again into the mob of fugitives. From far behind came the yells of
the exultant rebels, and a storm of shot and shell into the disorganized
mass.

The boys' hearts sickened with the thought that the whole army was in
utter rout. For a minute or two they surveyed the appalling sight in
speech less despair. Then a gleam of hope shot into Si's mind.

"Listen," he said; "the firing is heavier than ever over there toward
the center and left, and you can see that men are goin' up instid o'
runnin' away. It's Stone River over again. McCook's bin knocked to
pieces, just as he always is, but old Pap Thomas is standing there like
a lion, just as he did at Stone River, and he's holding Crittenden with
him."

"You're right, Si," shouted the Lieutenant and Shorty. "Hip, hip, hooray
for the Army o' the Cumberland and old Pap Thomas!"

They deflected to the left, so as to avoid being tangled up in the mass
of fugitives, and pushed forward more determinedly, if possible, than
ever. They kept edging to the right, for they wanted to reach Thomas's
right as nearly as possible, as that was the natural position of their
regiment.

Presently, on mounting a roll of the ground, they saw sloping down from
them a few rods away, and running obliquely to their right, a small
"deadening," made by the shiftless farmer for his scanty corn crop. A
mob of fugitives flying through had trampled the stalks to the ground.
Si and Shorty had seen some of them and yelled at them to come up and
form on them, but the skedaddlers either would not or could not hear.

Beyond the "deadening" came a horde of pursuing rebels, firing and
yelling like demons. The sight and sound swelled the boys' hearts with
the rage of battle.

"Lieutenant," suggested Si, "there's no need o' goin' any further just
now for a fight. We can have just as nice a one right here as we can
find anywhere. I move that we line up back here and wait for them rebels
to come on, an' then git 'em on the flank with an enfilade that'll
salivate 'em in a holy minute."

"The same idea has occurred to me," said the Lieutenant; "though I've
felt all along that we should not be diverted by anything from making
our way as fast as possible up to the main line. What do you think,
Shorty?"

"My idee is to down a rebel whenever you git a good chance," said
Shorty. "'Do the work nearest thy hand,' I o