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 had never
before seen himself. Then he
picked up his cap from the ground.
He wriggled in his jacket to
make a more comfortable fit,
and kneel- ing relaced his shoe.
He thoughtfully mopped his reeking
features.
So it was all over at last!
The supreme trial had been passed.
The red, formidable difficulties
of 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 that
last scene. He perceived that
the man who had fought thus was
magnificent.
He felt that he was a fine
fellow. He saw himself even with
those ideals which he had con-
sidered as far beyond him. He
smiled in deep gratification.
64
Upon his fellows
he beamed tenderness and good
will. "Gee!
ain't it hot, hey?" he said affably
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 sprawled
out luxuriously on the ground. "Gee,
yes! An' I hope we don't have
no more fightin' till a week
from Monday."
There were some handshakings
and deep speeches with men whose
features were familiar, but with
whom the youth now felt the bonds
of tied hearts. He helped a cursing
comrade to bind up a wound of
the shin.
But, of a sudden,
cries of amazement broke out
along the
ranks of the new regiment. "Here
they come ag'in! Here they come
ag'in!" The man who had sprawled
upon the ground started up and
said, "Gosh!"
The youth turned quick eyes
upon the field. He discerned
forms begin to swell in masses
out of a distant wood. He again
saw the tilted flag speeding
forward.
The shells, which had ceased
to trouble the regiment for a
time, came swirling again, and
ex- ploded in the grass or among
the leaves of the trees. They
looked to be strange war flowers
bursting into fierce bloom.
The men groaned. The luster
faded from their eyes. Their
smudged countenances now expressed
a profound dejection. They moved
their stiffened bodies slowly,
and watched in sul- len mood
the frantic approach of the enemy.
The slaves toiling in the temple
of this god began to feel rebellion
at his harsh tasks.
They fretted
and complained each to each. "Oh,
say, this is too much of a
good thing!
Why can't somebody send us supports?"
"We ain't never
goin' to stand this second
banging. I didn't
come here to fight the hull damn'
rebel army."
There was one
who raised a doleful cry. "I wish Bill Smithers
had trod on my hand, in- steader
me treddin' on his'n." The sore
joints of the regiment creaked
as it painfully floundered into
position to repulse.
The youth stared. Surely, he
thought, this impossible thing
was not about to happen. He waited
as if he expected the enemy to
suddenly stop, apologize, and
retire bowing. It was all a mistake.
But the firing began somewhere
on the regi- mental line and
ripped along in both directions.
The level sheets of flame developed
great clouds of smoke that tumbled
and tossed in the mild wind near
the ground for a moment, and
then rolled through the ranks
as through a gate. The clouds
were tinged an earthlike yellow
in the sunrays and in the shadow
were a sorry blue. The flag was
sometimes eaten and lost in this
mass of vapor, but more often
it projected, sun- touched, resplendent.
Into the youth's eyes there
came a look that one can see
in the orbs of a jaded horse.
His neck was quivering with nervous
weakness and the muscles of his
arms felt numb and bloodless.
His hands, too, seemed large
and awkward as if he was wearing
invisible mittens. And there
was a great uncertainty about
his knee joints.
The words that
comrades had uttered previous
to the firing
began to recur to him. "Oh, say,
this is too much of a good thing!
What do they take us for--why
don't they send supports? I didn't
come here to fight the hull damned
rebel army."
He began to exaggerate the
endurance, the skill, and the
valor of those who were coming.
Himself reeling from exhaustion,
he was aston- ished beyond measure
at such persistency. They must
be machines of steel. It was
very gloomy struggling against
such affairs, wound up perhaps
to fight until sundown.
He slowly lifted his rifle
and catching a glimpse of the
thickspread field he blazed at
a cantering cluster. He stopped
then and began to peer as best
he could through the smoke. He
caught changing views of the
ground covered with men who were
all running like pursued imps,
and yelling.
To the youth it was an onslaught
of redoubt- able dragons. He
became like the man who lost
his legs at the approach of the
red and green monster. He waited
in a sort of a horrified, listening
attitude. He seemed to shut his
eyes and wait to be gobbled.
A man near him who up to this
time had been working feverishly
at his rifle suddenly stopped
and ran with howls. A lad whose
face had borne an expression
of exalted courage, the majesty
of he who dares give his life,
was, at an instant, smitten abject.
He blanched like one who has
come 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 no shame in his
face. He ran like a rabbit.
Others began to scamper away
through the smoke. The youth
turned his head, shaken from
his trance by this movement as
if the regiment was leaving him
behind. He saw the few fleeting
forms.
He yelled then with fright
and swung about. For a moment,
in the great clamor, he was like
a proverbial chicken. He lost
the direction of safety. Destruction
threatened him from all points.
Directly he began to speed
toward the rear in great leaps.
His rifle and cap were gone.
His unbuttoned coat bulged in
the wind. The flap of his cartridge
box bobbed wildly, and his canteen,
by its slender cord, swung out
behind. On his face was all the
horror of those things which
he imagined.
The lieutenant sprang forward
bawling. The youth saw his features
wrathfully red, and saw him make
a dab with his sword. His one
thought of the incident was that
the lieutenant was a pecul- iar
creature to feel interested in
such matters upon this occasion.
He ran like a blind man. Two
or three times he fell down.
Once he knocked his shoulder
so heavily against a tree that
he went headlong.
Since he had turned his back
upon the fight his fears had
been wondrously magnified. Death
about to thrust him between the
shoulder blades was far more
dreadful than death about to
smite him between the eyes. When
he thought of it later, he conceived
the impression that it is better
to view the appalling than to
be merely within hearing. The
noises of the battle were like
stones; he believed himself liable
to be crushed.
As he ran he mingled with others.
He dimly saw men on his right
and on his left, and he heard
footsteps behind him. He thought
that all the regiment was fleeing,
pursued by these ominous crashes.
In his flight the sound of
these following foot- steps gave
him his one meager relief. He
felt vaguely that death must
make a first choice of the men
who were nearest; the initial
morsels for the dragons would
be then those who were fol- lowing
him. So he displayed the zeal
of an insane sprinter in his
purpose to keep them in the rear.
There was a race.
As he, leading, went across
a little field, he found himself
in a region of shells. They hurtled
over his head with long wild
screams. As he listened he imagined
them to have rows of cruel teeth
that grinned at him. Once one
lit before him and the livid
lightning of the explosion effectually
barred the way in his chosen
direc- tion. He groveled on the
ground and then springing up
went careering off through some
bushes.
He experienced a thrill of
amazement when he came within
view of a battery in action.
The men there seemed to be in
conventional moods, altogether
unaware of the impending annihila-
tion. The battery was disputing
with a distant antagonist and
the gunners were wrapped in admiration
of their shooting. They were
con- tinually bending in coaxing
postures over the guns. They
seemed to be patting them on
the back and encouraging them
with words. The guns, stolid
and undaunted, spoke with dogged
valor.
The precise gunners were coolly
enthusiastic. They lifted their
eyes every chance to the smoke-
wreathed hillock from whence
the hostile battery addressed
them. The youth pitied them as
he ran. Methodical idiots! Machine-like
fools! The refined joy of planting
shells in the midst of the other
battery's formation would appear
a little thing when the infantry
came swooping out of the woods.
The face of a youthful rider,
who was jerking his frantic horse
with an abandon of temper he
might display in a placid barnyard,
was im- pressed deeply upon his
mind. He knew that he looked
upon a man who would presently
be dead.
Too, he felt a pity for the
guns, standing, six good comrades,
in a bold row.
He saw a brigade going to the
relief of its pes- tered fellows.
He scrambled upon a wee hill
and watched it sweeping finely,
keeping formation in difficult
places. The blue of the line
was crusted with steel color,
and the brilliant flags projected.
Officers were shouting.
This sight also filled him
with wonder. The brigade was
hurrying briskly to be gulped
into the infernal mouths of the
war god. What man- ner of men
were they, anyhow? Ah, it was
some wondrous 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 went swinging up from the
rear, the guns were whirled about,
and the battery scampered away.
The cannon with their noses poked
slantingly at the ground grunted
and grumbled like stout men,
brave but with objections to
hurry.
The youth went on, moderating
his pace since he had left the
place of noises.
Later he came upon a general
of division seated upon a horse
that pricked its ears in an interested
way at the battle. There was
a great gleaming of yellow and
patent leather about the saddle
and bridle. The quiet man astride
looked mouse-colored upon such
a splen- did charger.
A jingling staff was galloping
hither and thither. Sometimes
the general was surrounded by
horsemen and at other times he
was quite alone. He looked to
be much harassed. He had the
appearance of a business man
whose market is swinging up and
down.
The youth went slinking around
this spot. He went as near as
he dared trying to overhear words.
Perhaps the general, unable to
compre- hend chaos, might call
upon him for information. And
he could tell him. He knew all
concerning it. Of a surety the
force was in a fix, and any fool
could see that if they did not
retreat while they had opportunity--why--
He felt that he would like
to thrash the gen- eral, or at
least approach and tell him in
plain words exactly what he thought
him to be. It was criminal to
stay calmly in one spot and make
no effort to stay destruction.
He loitered in a fever of eagerness
for the division commander to
apply 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 help it out some;
tell him t' hurry up."
A slim youth on a fine chestnut
horse caught these swift words
from the mouth of his superior.
He made his horse bound into
a gallop almost from a walk in
his haste to go upon his mission.
There was a cloud of dust.
A moment later the youth saw
the general bounce excitedly
in his saddle.
"Yes, by heavens, they have!" The
officer leaned 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 'll wallop 'im
now. We 'll wallop 'im now. We
've got '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 first messenger,
the general beamed upon the earth
like a sun. In his eyes was a
desire to chant a paean. He kept
repeating, "They 've held 'em,
by heavens!"
His excitement made his horse
plunge, and he merrily kicked
and swore at it. He held a little
carnival of joy on horseback.
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