veral hours, was relieved; and not too early in the day, for the men
were completely exhausted by the furious onslaughts they had made.

"Who were those men in the bushes on the flank of the rebel regiment?"
demanded the colonel, as he reined up his jaded horse in front of Company
K.

"Sergeant Somers and others," replied Captain Benson.

"Somers again!" exclaimed the colonel.

"Yes, sir. They pursued the regiment into the woods--the one that showed
the flag of truce--till they were separated from the rest of us."
"Forward, Sergeant Somers," added the colonel.

Tom modestly stepped forward, and he would have blushed if his face had
not been so reddened by his previous exertions as to leave no room for a
deepening of its tint.

"You did a big thing, Sergeant Somers. You broke that rebel line by your
steady fire. Sergeant Somers, I thank you and the men you commanded for
your good service."

Tom bowed, and the regiment cheered. It was the proudest moment of his
life to be thanked on the field, while the guns were roaring and the
musketry rattling, for the good service he had rendered. It would form an
excellent paragraph for his letter to Lilian Ashford, especially as he had
more than once, in the perils of that exciting hour, thought of the socks
he wore, and of the letter and the photograph which nestled in his breast
pocket, and upon which his quick throbbing heart was beating the notes of
glory and victory.

"We gave you up for lost," said Captain Benson, as Tom returned to the
line.

"We are safe, thank God!" replied Tom, "though three of our number fell in
the woods, or on the field where we were chased by the rebels."

"Sergeant Somers saved us," added uncle Hapgood. "If he hadn't been as
cool as cowcumber, and as stiff as the mainmast of a frigate, we should
have been taken, every one of us."

"Bravo, Tom!" said the captain.

"The men stood by me like heroes, or it would have been all up with the
whole of us. They are good fellows, and they deserve as much credit as I
do."

The battle continued to rage with increasing fury, till the roar, and the
crash, and the sweep of armed legions beggared description. Regiments and
brigades advanced and fell back with the varying fortunes of the day, but
as yet there was nothing to indicate the final result.

When the men of our regiment had recovered their breath, an order came for
them to proceed to the left. On their arrival at the position assigned to
the