PRESENTLY they knew that no firing threat-ened them. All ways seemed once more openedto them. The dusty blue lines of their friendswere disclosed a short distance away. In thedistance there were many colossal noises, but inall this part of the field there was a suddenstillness.

They perceived that they were free. Thedepleted band drew a long breath of reliefand gathered itself into a bunch to completeits trip.

In this last length of journey the men beganto show strange emotions. They hurried withnervous fear. Some who had been dark and un-faltering in the grimmest moments now could notconceal an anxiety that made them frantic. Itwas perhaps that they dreaded to be killed ininsignificant ways after the times for propermilitary deaths had passed. Or, perhaps, theythought it would be too ironical to get killed at

199the portals of safety. With backward looks ofperturbation, they hastened.

As they approached their own lines there wassome sarcasm exhibited on the part of a gauntand bronzed regiment that lay resting in theshade of trees. Questions were wafted to them.

"Where th' hell yeh been?"

"What yeh comin' back fer?"

"Why didn't yeh stay there?"

"Was it warm out there, sonny?"

"Goin' home now, boys?"

One shouted in taunting mimicry: "Oh,mother, come quick an' look at th' sojers!"

There was no reply from the bruised and bat-tered regiment, save that one man made broad-cast challenges to fist fights and the red-beardedofficer walked rather near and glared in greatswashbuckler style at a tall captain in the otherregiment. But the lieutenant suppressed theman who wished to fist fight, and the tall cap-tain, flushing at the little fanfare of the red-bearded one, was obliged to look intently at sometrees.

The youth's tender flesh was deeply stung bythese remarks. From under his creased browshe glowered with hate at the mockers. Hemeditated upon a few revenges. Still, many inthe regiment hung their heads in criminal fashion,so that it came to pass that the men trudged withsudden heaviness, as if they bore upon theirbended shoulders the coffin of their honor. Andthe youthful lieutenant, recollecting himself, be-gan to mutter softly in black curses.

They turned when they arrived at their oldposition to regard the ground over which theyhad charged.

The youth in this contemplation was smittenwith a large astonishment. He discovered thatthe distances, as compared with the brilliantmeasurings of his mind, were trivial and ridicu-lous. The stolid trees, where much had takenplace, seemed incredibly near. The time, too,now that he reflected, he saw to have been short.He wondered at the number of emotions andevents that had been crowded into such littlespaces. Elfin thoughts must have exaggeratedand enlarged everything, he said.

It seemed, then, that there was bitter justicein the speeches of the gaunt and bronzed vet-erans. He veiled a glance of disdain at his fel-lows who strewed the ground, choking with dust,red from perspiration, misty-eyed, disheveled.

They were gulping at their canteens, fierce towring every mite of water from them, and theypolished at their swollen and watery featureswith coat sleeves and bunches of grass.

However, to the youth there was a consider-able joy in musing upon his performances duringthe charge. He had had very little time pre-viously in which to appreciate himself, so thatthere was now much satisfaction in quietly think-ing of his actions. He recalled bits of color thatin the flurry had stamped themselves unawaresupon his engaged senses.

As the regiment lay heaving from its hot exer-tions the officer who had named them as muledrivers came galloping along the line. He hadlost his cap. His tousled hair streamed wildly,and his face was dark with vexation and wrath.His temper was displayed with more clearnessby the way in which he managed his horse. Hejerked and wrenched savagely at his bridle, stop-ping the hard-breathing animal with a furiouspull near the colonel of the regiment. He im-mediately exploded in reproaches which cameunbidden to the ears of the men. They weresuddenly alert, being always curious about blackwords between officers.

"Oh, thunder, MacChesnay, what an awfulbull you made of this thing!" began the officer.He attempted low tones, but his indignationcaused certain of the men to learn the sense ofhis words. "What an awful mess you made!Good Lord, man, you stopped about a hun-dred feet this side of a very pretty success! Ifyour men had gone a hundred feet farther youwould have made a great charge, but as it is--what a lot of mud diggers you've got any-way!"

The men, listening with bated breath, nowturned their curious eyes upon the colonel.They had a ragamuffin interest in this affair.

The colonel was seen to straighten his formand put one hand forth in oratorical fashion.He wore an injured air; it was as if a deaconhad been accused of stealing. The men werewiggling in an ecstasy of excitement.

But of a sudden the colonel's manner changedfrom that of a deacon to that of a Frenchman.He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well, general,we went as far as we could," he said calmly.

"As far as you could? Did you, b'Gawd?"snorted the other. "Well, that wasn't very far,was it?" he added, with a glance of cold con-tempt into the other's eyes. "Not very far, Ithink. You were intended to make a diversionin favor of Whiterside. How well you succeededyour own ears can now tell you." He wheeledhis horse and rode stiffly away.

The colonel, bidden to hear the jarring noisesof an engagement in the woods to the left, brokeout in vague damnations.

The lieutenant, who had listened with an airof impotent rage to the interview, spoke suddenlyin firm and undaunted tones. "I don't care whata man is--whether he is a general or what--ifhe says th' boys didn't put up a good fight outthere he's a damned fool."

"Lieutenant," began the colonel, severely,"this is my own affair, and I'll trouble you--"

The lieutenant made an obedient gesture."All right, colonel, all right," he said. He satdown with an air of being content with him-self.

The news that the regiment had been re-proached went along the line. For a time themen were bewildered by it. "Good thunder!"they ejaculated, staring at the vanishing form ofthe general. They conceived it to be a hugemistake.

Presently, however, they began to believe thatin truth their efforts had been called light. Theyouth could see this conviction weigh upon theentire regiment until the men were like cuffedand cursed animals, but withal rebellious.

The friend, with a grievance in his eye,went to the youth. "I wonder what he doeswant," he said. "He must think we went outthere an' played marbles! I never see sech aman!"

The youth developed a tranquil philosophyfor these moments of irritation. "Oh, well," herejoined, "he probably didn't see nothing of it atall and got mad as blazes, and concluded we werea lot of sheep, just because we didn't do what hewanted done. It's a pity old Grandpa Hender-son got killed yestirday--he'd have known thatwe did our best and fought good. It's just ourawful luck, that's what."

"I should say so," replied the friend. Heseemed to be deeply wounded at an injustice."I should say we did have awful luck! There'sno fun in fightin' fer people when everythingyeh do--no matter what--ain't done right. Ihave a notion t' stay behind next time an' let'em take their ol' charge an' go t' th' devilwith it."

The youth spoke soothingly to his comrade."Well, we both did good. I'd like to see thefool what'd say we both didn't do as good as wecould!"

"Of course we did," declared the friendstoutly. "An' I'd break th' feller's neck if he wasas big as a church. But we're all right, anyhow,for I heard one feller say that we two fit th' bestin th' reg'ment, an' they had a great argument'bout it. Another feller, 'a course, he had t' upan' say it was a lie--he seen all what was goin'on an' he never seen us from th' beginnin' t' th'end. An' a lot more struck in an' ses it wasn'ta lie--we did fight like thunder, an' they giveus quite a send-off. But this is what I can'tstand--these everlastin' ol' soldiers, titterin' an'laughin', an' then that general, he's crazy."

The youth exclaimed with sudden exaspera-tion: "He's a lunkhead! He makes me mad.I wish he'd come along next time. We'd show'im what--"

He ceased because several men had comehurrying up. Their faces expressed a bringingof great news.

"O Flem, yeh jest oughta heard!" cried one,eagerly.

"Heard what?" said the youth.

"Yeh jest oughta heard!" repeated the other,and he arranged himself to tell his tidings. Theothers made an excited circle. "Well, sir, th'colonel met your lieutenant right by us--it wasdamnedest thing I ever heard--an' he ses: 'Ahem!ahem!' he ses. 'Mr. Hasbrouck!' he ses, 'byth' way, who was that lad what carried th' flag?'he ses. There, Flemin', what d' yeh think 'athat? 'Who was th' lad what carried th' flag?'he ses, an' th' lieutenant, he speaks up rightaway: 'That's Flemin', an' he's a jimhickey,' heses, right away. What? I say he did. 'A jim-hickey,' he ses--those 'r his words. He did, too.I say he did. If you kin tell this story betterthan I kin, go ahead an' tell it. Well, then, keepyer mouth shet. Th' lieutenant, he ses: 'He's ajimhickey,' an' th' colonel, he ses: 'Ahem! ahem!he is, indeed, a very good man t' have, ahem! Hekep' th' flag 'way t' th' front. I saw 'im. He's agood un,' ses th' colonel. 'You bet,' ses th' lieu-tenant, 'he an' a feller named Wilson was at th'head 'a th' charge, an' howlin' like Indians all th'time,' he ses. 'Head 'a th' charge all th' time,'he ses. 'A feller named Wilson,' he ses. There,Wilson, m'boy, put that in a letter an' send ithum t' yer mother, hay? 'A feller named Wil-son,' he ses. An' th' colonel, he ses: 'Were they,indeed? Ahem! ahem! My sakes!' he ses. 'Atth' head 'a th' reg'ment?' he ses. 'They were,'ses th' lieutenant. 'My sakes!' ses th' colonel.He ses: 'Well, well, well,' he ses, 'those twobabies?' 'They were,' ses th' lieutenant.'Well, well,' ses th' colonel, 'they deserve t' bemajor generals,' he ses. 'They deserve t' bemajor-generals.'

The youth and his friend had said: "Huh!""Yer lyin', Thompson." "Oh, go t' blazes!""He never sed it." "Oh, what a lie!" "Huh!"But despite these youthful scoffings and embar-rassments, they knew that their faces were deeplyflushing from thrills of pleasure. They ex-changed a secret glance of joy and congratula-tion.

They speedily forgot many things. The pastheld no pictures of error and disappointment.They were very happy, and their hearts swelledwith grateful affection for the colonel and theyouthful lieutenant.