THE youth awakened slowly. He came grad-ually back to a position from which he could re-gard himself. For moments he had been scruti-nizing his person in a dazed way as if he hadnever before seen himself. Then he picked uphis cap from the ground. He wriggled in hisjacket to make a more comfortable fit, and kneel-ing relaced his shoe. He thoughtfully moppedhis reeking features.

So it was all over at last! The supreme trialhad been passed. The red, formidable difficultiesof war had been vanquished.

He went into an ecstasy of self-satisfaction.He had the most delightful sensations of his life.Standing as if apart from himself, he viewed thatlast scene. He perceived that the man who hadfought thus was magnificent.

He felt that he was a fine fellow. He sawhimself even with those ideals which he had con-sidered as far beyond him. He smiled in deepgratification.

64

Upon his fellows he beamed tenderness andgood will. "Gee! ain't it hot, hey?" he saidaffably to a man who was polishing his stream-ing face with his coat sleeves.

"You bet!" said the other, grinning sociably."I never seen sech dumb hotness." He sprawledout luxuriously on the ground. "Gee, yes! An'I hope we don't have no more fightin' till a weekfrom Monday."

There were some handshakings and deepspeeches with men whose features were familiar,but with whom the youth now felt the bonds oftied hearts. He helped a cursing comrade tobind up a wound of the shin.

But, of a sudden, cries of amazement brokeout along the ranks of the new regiment. "Herethey come ag'in! Here they come ag'in!" Theman who had sprawled upon the ground startedup and said, "Gosh!"

The youth turned quick eyes upon the field.He discerned forms begin to swell in masses outof a distant wood. He again saw the tilted flagspeeding forward.

The shells, which had ceased to trouble theregiment for a time, came swirling again, and ex-ploded in the grass or among the leaves of thetrees. They looked to be strange war flowersbursting into fierce bloom.

The men groaned. The luster faded fromtheir eyes. Their smudged countenances nowexpressed a profound dejection. They movedtheir stiffened bodies slowly, and watched in sul-len mood the frantic approach of the enemy. Theslaves toiling in the temple of this god began tofeel rebellion at his harsh tasks.

They fretted and complained each to each."Oh, say, this is too much of a good thing! Whycan't somebody send us supports?"

"We ain't never goin' to stand this secondbanging. I didn't come here to fight the hulldamn' rebel army."

There was one who raised a doleful cry. "Iwish Bill Smithers had trod on my hand, in-steader me treddin' on his'n." The sore joints ofthe regiment creaked as it painfully flounderedinto position to repulse.

The youth stared. Surely, he thought, thisimpossible thing was not about to happen. Hewaited as if he expected the enemy to suddenlystop, apologize, and retire bowing. It was all amistake.

But the firing began somewhere on the regi-mental line and ripped along in both directions.The level sheets of flame developed great cloudsof smoke that tumbled and tossed in the mildwind near the ground for a moment, and thenrolled through the ranks as through a gate. Theclouds were tinged an earthlike yellow in thesunrays and in the shadow were a sorry blue.The flag was sometimes eaten and lost in thismass of vapor, but more often it projected, sun-touched, resplendent.

Into the youth's eyes there came a look thatone can see in the orbs of a jaded horse. Hisneck was quivering with nervous weakness andthe muscles of his arms felt numb and bloodless.His hands, too, seemed large and awkward as ifhe was wearing invisible mittens. And there wasa great uncertainty about his knee joints.

The words that comrades had uttered previousto the firing began to recur to him. "Oh, say,this is too much of a good thing! What do theytake us for--why don't they send supports? Ididn't come here to fight the hull damned rebelarmy."

He began to exaggerate the endurance, theskill, and the valor of those who were coming.Himself reeling from exhaustion, he was aston-ished beyond measure at such persistency. Theymust be machines of steel. It was very gloomystruggling against such affairs, wound up perhapsto fight until sundown.

He slowly lifted his rifle and catching aglimpse of the thickspread field he blazed at acantering cluster. He stopped then and beganto peer as best he could through the smoke. Hecaught changing views of the ground coveredwith men who were all running like pursuedimps, and yelling.

To the youth it was an onslaught of redoubt-able dragons. He became like the man who losthis legs at the approach of the red and greenmonster. He waited in a sort of a horrified,listening attitude. He seemed to shut his eyesand wait to be gobbled.

A man near him who up to this time had beenworking feverishly at his rifle suddenly stoppedand ran with howls. A lad whose face had bornean expression of exalted courage, the majesty ofhe who dares give his life, was, at an instant,smitten abject. He blanched like one who hascome to the edge of a cliff at midnight and is sud-denly made aware. There was a revelation. He,too, threw down his gun and fled. There was noshame in his face. He ran like a rabbit.

Others began to scamper away through thesmoke. The youth turned his head, shaken fromhis trance by this movement as if the regimentwas leaving him behind. He saw the few fleetingforms.

He yelled then with fright and swung about.For a moment, in the great clamor, he was like aproverbial chicken. He lost the direction ofsafety. Destruction threatened him from allpoints.

Directly he began to speed toward the rear ingreat leaps. His rifle and cap were gone. Hisunbuttoned coat bulged in the wind. The flap ofhis cartridge box bobbed wildly, and his canteen,by its slender cord, swung out behind. On hisface was all the horror of those things which heimagined.

The lieutenant sprang forward bawling. Theyouth saw his features wrathfully red, and sawhim make a dab with his sword. His one thoughtof the incident was that the lieutenant was a pecul-iar creature to feel interested in such mattersupon this occasion.

He ran like a blind man. Two or three timeshe fell down. Once he knocked his shoulder soheavily against a tree that he went headlong.

Since he had turned his back upon the fighthis fears had been wondrously magnified. Deathabout to thrust him between the shoulder bladeswas far more dreadful than death about to smitehim between the eyes. When he thought of itlater, he conceived the impression that it is betterto view the appalling than to be merely withinhearing. The noises of the battle were likestones; he believed himself liable to be crushed.

As he ran he mingled with others. Hedimly saw men on his right and on his left, andhe heard footsteps behind him. He thought thatall the regiment was fleeing, pursued by theseominous crashes.

In his flight the sound of these following foot-steps gave him his one meager relief. He feltvaguely that death must make a first choice ofthe men who were nearest; the initial morsels forthe dragons would be then those who were fol-lowing him. So he displayed the zeal of an insanesprinter in his purpose to keep them in the rear.There was a race.

As he, leading, went across a little field, hefound himself in a region of shells. They hurtledover his head with long wild screams. As helistened he imagined them to have rows of cruelteeth that grinned at him. Once one lit beforehim and the livid lightning of the explosioneffectually barred the way in his chosen direc-tion. He groveled on the ground and thenspringing up went careering off through somebushes.

He experienced a thrill of amazement whenhe came within view of a battery in action. Themen there seemed to be in conventional moods,altogether unaware of the impending annihila-tion. The battery was disputing with a distantantagonist and the gunners were wrapped inadmiration of their shooting. They were con-tinually bending in coaxing postures over theguns. They seemed to be patting them on theback and encouraging them with words. Theguns, stolid and undaunted, spoke with doggedvalor.

The precise gunners were coolly enthusiastic.They lifted their eyes every chance to the smoke-wreathed hillock from whence the hostile batteryaddressed them. The youth pitied them as heran. Methodical idiots! Machine-like fools! Therefined joy of planting shells in the midst of theother battery's formation would appear a littlething when the infantry came swooping out ofthe woods.

The face of a youthful rider, who was jerkinghis frantic horse with an abandon of temperhe might display in a placid barnyard, was im-pressed deeply upon his mind. He knew thathe looked upon a man who would presently bedead.

Too, he felt a pity for the guns, standing, sixgood comrades, in a bold row.

He saw a brigade going to the relief of its pes-tered fellows. He scrambled upon a wee hill andwatched it sweeping finely, keeping formation indifficult places. The blue of the line was crustedwith steel color, and the brilliant flags projected.Officers were shouting.

This sight also filled him with wonder. Thebrigade was hurrying briskly to be gulped intothe infernal mouths of the war god. What man-ner of men were they, anyhow? Ah, it was somewondrous breed! Or else they didn't compre-hend--the fools.

A furious order caused commotion in the artil-lery. An officer on a bounding horse made mani-acal motions with his arms. The teams wentswinging up from the rear, the guns were whirledabout, and the battery scampered away. Thecannon with their noses poked slantingly at theground grunted and grumbled like stout men,brave but with objections to hurry.

The youth went on, moderating his pace sincehe had left the place of noises.

Later he came upon a general of divisionseated upon a horse that pricked its ears inan interested way at the battle. There was agreat gleaming of yellow and patent leatherabout the saddle and bridle. The quiet manastride looked mouse-colored upon such a splen-did charger.

A jingling staff was galloping hither andthither. Sometimes the general was surroundedby horsemen and at other times he was quitealone. He looked to be much harassed. He hadthe appearance of a business man whose marketis swinging up and down.

The youth went slinking around this spot.He went as near as he dared trying to overhearwords. Perhaps the general, unable to compre-hend chaos, might call upon him for information.And he could tell him. He knew all concerningit. Of a surety the force was in a fix, and anyfool could see that if they did not retreat whilethey had opportunity--why--

He felt that he would like to thrash the gen-eral, or at least approach and tell him in plainwords exactly what he thought him to be. Itwas criminal to stay calmly in one spot and makeno effort to stay destruction. He loitered in afever of eagerness for the division commander toapply to him.

As he warily moved about, he heard the gen-eral call out irritably: "Tompkins, go over an'see Taylor, an' tell him not t' be in such an all-fired hurry; tell him t' halt his brigade in th'edge of th' woods; tell him t' detach a reg'ment--say I think th' center 'll break if we don't helpit out some; tell him t' hurry up."

A slim youth on a fine chestnut horse caughtthese swift words from the mouth of his superior.He made his horse bound into a gallop almostfrom a walk in his haste to go upon his mission.There was a cloud of dust.

A moment later the youth saw the generalbounce excitedly in his saddle.

"Yes, by heavens, they have!" The officerleaned forward. His face was aflame with excite-ment. "Yes, by heavens, they 've held 'im!They 've held 'im!"

He began to blithely roar at his staff: "We 'llwallop 'im now. We 'll wallop 'im now. We 'vegot 'em sure." He turned suddenly upon an aid:"Here--you--Jones--quick--ride after Tompkins--see Taylor--tell him t' go in--everlastingly--like blazes--anything."

As another officer sped his horse after the firstmessenger, the general beamed upon the earthlike a sun. In his eyes was a desire to chant apaean. He kept repeating, "They 've held 'em,by heavens!"

His excitement made his horse plunge, and hemerrily kicked and swore at it. He held a littlecarnival of joy on horseback.