branches.

Soaked, stunned, blinded by the awful glare of the lightning, I crouched
under the great oak, which rocked and groaned, convulsed to its bedded
roots, so that the ground heaved under me as I lay.

I could not see ten feet ahead of me, so thick was the gloom with rain
and flying leaves and twigs. The thunder culminated in a series of
fearful crashes; bolt after bolt fell, illuminating the flying chaos of
the tempest; then came a stunning silence, slowly filled with the steady
roar of the rain.

A gray pallor grew in the woods. I looked down into the ravine and saw a
muddy lake there full of dead men and horses.

The wounded Tory near us was still choking and coughing, dying hard out
there in the rain. Mount and Elerson crept over to where we lay, and,
after a moment's conference, Murphy led us in a long circle, swinging
gradually northward until we stumbled into the drenched Palatine
regiment, which was still holding its ground. There was no firing on
either side; the guns were too wet.

On a wooded knoll to the left a group of dripping men had gathered.
Somebody said that the old General lay there, smoking and directing the
defence, his left leg shattered by a ball. I saw the blue smoke of his
pipe curling up under the tree, but I did not see him.

The wind had died out; the thunder rolled off to the northward,
muttering among the hills; rain fell less heavily; and I saw wounded men
tearing strips from their soaking shirts to bind their hurts. Details
from the Canajoharie regiment passed us searching the underbrush for
their dead.

I also noticed with a shudder that Elerson and Murphy carried two fresh
scalps apiece, tied to the belts of their hunting-shirts; but I said
nothing, having been warned by Jack Mount that they considered it their
prerogative to take the scalps of those who had failed to take theirs.

How they could do it I cannot understand, for I had once seen the body
of a scalped man, with the skin, released from the muscles of the
forehead, hanging all loose and wrinkled over the face.

With the ceasing of the rain came the renewed crack of the rifles and
the whiz of bullets. We took post on the extreme left, firing
deliberately at McCraw's renegades; and I do not know whether I hit any
or not, but five men did I see fall under the murderous aim of Murphy;
and I know that Elerson shot two savages, for he went down into the
ravine after them and returned with the wet, red trophies.