WHEN the woods again began to
pour forth the dark-hued masses
of the enemy the youth felt serene
self-confidence. He smiled briefly
when he saw men dodge and duck
at the long screech- ings of
shells that were thrown in giant
handfuls over them. He stood,
erect and tranquil, watch- ing
the attack begin against a part
of the line that made a blue
curve along the side of an adja-
cent hill. His vision being unmolested
by smoke from the rifles of his
companions, he had oppor- tunities
to see parts of the hard fight.
It was a relief to perceive at
last from whence came some of
these noises which had been roared
into his
ears.
Off a short way he saw two
regiments fight- ing a little
separate battle with two other
regi- ments. It was in a cleared
space, wearing a set- apart look.
They were blazing as if upon
a wager, giving and taking tremendous
blows. The firings were incredibly
fierce and rapid.
209 These intent regiments
apparently were oblivious of
all larger purposes of war, and
were slugging each other as if
at a matched game.
In another direction he saw
a magnificent brigade going with
the evident intention of driv-
ing the enemy from a wood. They
passed in out of sight and presently
there was a most awe-in- spiring
racket in the wood. The noise
was un- speakable. Having stirred
this prodigious up- roar, and,
apparently, finding it too prodigious,
the brigade, after a little time,
came marching airily out again
with its fine formation in nowise
disturbed. There were no traces
of speed in its movements. The
brigade was jaunty and seemed
to point a proud thumb at the
yelling wood.
On a slope to the left there
was a long row of guns, gruff
and maddened, denouncing the
enemy, who, down through the
woods, were forming for another
attack in the pitiless mo- notony
of conflicts. The round red discharges
from the guns made a crimson
flare and a high, thick smoke.
Occasional glimpses could be
caught of groups of the toiling
artillerymen. In the rear of
this row of guns stood a house,
calm and white, amid bursting
shells. A congregation of horses,
tied to a long railing, were
tugging frenziedly at their bridles.
Men were running hither and thither.
The detached battle between
the four regi- ments lasted for
some time. There chanced to be
no interference, and they settled
their dispute by themselves.
They struck savagely and pow-
erfully at each other for a period
of minutes, and then the lighter-hued
regiments faltered and drew back,
leaving the dark-blue lines shouting.
The youth could see the two flags
shaking with laughter amid the
smoke remnants.
Presently there was a stillness,
pregnant with meaning. The blue
lines shifted and changed a trifle
and stared expectantly at the
silent woods and fields before
them. The hush was solemn and
churchlike, save for a distant
battery that, evidently unable
to remain quiet, sent a faint
rolling thunder over the ground.
It irritated, like the noises
of unimpressed boys. The men
imagined that it would prevent
their perched ears from hearing
the first words of the new battle.
Of a sudden the guns on the
slope roared out a message of
warning. A spluttering sound
had begun in the woods. It swelled
with amazing speed to a profound
clamor that involved the earth
in noises. The splitting crashes
swept along the lines until an
interminable roar was developed.
To those in the midst of it it
became a din fitted to the universe.
It was the whirring and thumping
of gigantic machinery, complica-
tions among the smaller stars.
The youth's ears were filled
up. They were incapable of hearing
more.
On an incline over which a
road wound he saw wild and desperate
rushes of men perpet- ually backward
and forward in riotous surges.
These parts of the opposing armies
were two long waves that pitched
upon each other madly at dictated
points. To and fro they swelled.
Sometimes, one side by its yells
and cheers would proclaim decisive
blows, but a moment later the
other side would be all yells
and cheers. Once the youth saw
a spray of light forms go in
houndlike leaps toward the waving
blue lines. There was much howling,
and presently it went away with
a vast mouthful of prisoners.
Again, he saw a blue wave dash
with such thunderous force against
a gray obstruction that it seemed
to clear the earth of it and
leave nothing but trampled sod.
And always in their swift and
deadly rushes to and fro the
men screamed and yelled like
maniacs.
Particular pieces of fence
or secure positions behind collections
of trees were wrangled over,
as gold thrones or pearl bedsteads.
There were desperate lunges at
these chosen spots seemingly
every instant, and most of them
were bandied like light toys
between the contending forces.
The youth could not tell from
the battle flags flying like
crimson foam in many directions
which color of cloth was winning.
His emaciated regiment bustled
forth with undiminished fierceness
when its time came. When assaulted
again by bullets, the men burst
out in a barbaric cry of rage
and pain. They bent their heads
in aims of intent hatred behind
the projected hammers of their
guns. Their ramrods clanged loud
with fury as their eager arms
pounded the cartridges into the
rifle barrels. The front of the
regiment was a smoke- wall penetrated
by the flashing points of yellow
and red.
Wallowing in the fight, they
were in an astonishingly short
time resmudged. They surpassed
in stain and dirt all their previous
ap- pearances. Moving to and
fro with strained exertion, jabbering
the while, they were, with their
swaying bodies, black faces,
and glowing eyes, like strange
and ugly friends jigging heavily
in the smoke.
The lieutenant, returning from
a tour after a bandage, produced
from a hidden receptacle of his
mind new and portentous oaths
suited to the emergency. Strings
of expletives he swung lashlike
over the backs of his men, and
it was evident that his previous
efforts had in nowise impaired
his resources.
The youth, still the bearer
of the colors, did not feel his
idleness. He was deeply absorbed
as a spectator. The crash and
swing of the great drama made
him lean forward, intent-eyed,
his face working in small contortions.
Sometimes he prattled, words
coming unconsciously from him
in grotesque exclamations. He
did not know that he breathed;
that the flag hung silently over
him, so absorbed was he.
A formidable line of the enemy
came within dangerous range.
They could be seen plainly--
tall, gaunt men with excited
faces running with long strides
toward a wandering fence.
At sight of this danger the
men suddenly ceased their cursing
monotone. There was an instant
of strained silence before they
threw up their rifles and fired
a plumping volley at the foes.
There had been no order given;
the men, upon recognizing the
menace, had immedi- ately let
drive their flock of bullets
without wait- ing for word of
command.
But the enemy were quick to
gain the protec- tion of the
wandering line of fence. They
slid down behind it with remarkable
celerity, and from this position
they began briskly to slice up
the blue men.
These latter braced their energies
for a great struggle. Often,
white clinched teeth shone from
the dusky faces. Many heads surged
to and fro, floating upon a pale
sea of smoke. Those behind the
fence frequently shouted and
yelped in taunts and gibelike
cries, but the regi- ment maintained
a stressed silence. Perhaps,
at this new assault the men recalled
the fact that they had been named
mud diggers, and it made their
situation thrice bitter. They
were breath- lessly intent upon
keeping the ground and thrust-
ing away the rejoicing body of
the enemy. They fought swiftly
and with a despairing savageness
denoted in their expressions.
The youth had
resolved not to budge what-
ever should happen.
Some arrows of scorn that had
buried themselves in his heart
had generated strange and unspeakable
hatred. It was clear to him that
his final and absolute revenge
was to be achieved by his dead
body lying, torn and gluttering,
upon the field. This was to be
a poignant retaliation upon the
officer who had said "mule drivers," and
later "mud diggers," for in all
the wild graspings of his mind
for a unit responsible for his
sufferings and commo- tions he
always seized upon the man who
had dubbed him wrongly. And it
was his idea, vaguely formulated,
that his corpse would be for
those eyes a great and salt reproach.
The regiment bled extravagantly.
Grunting bundles of blue began
to drop. The orderly sergeant
of the youth's company was shot
through the cheeks. Its supports
being injured, his jaw hung afar
down, disclosing in the wide
cavern of his mouth a pulsing
mass of blood and teeth. And
with it all he made attempts
to cry out. In his endeavor there
was a dreadful earnestness, as
if he conceived that one great
shriek would make him well.
The youth saw him presently
go rearward. His strength seemed
in nowise impaired. He ran swiftly,
casting wild glances for succor.
Others fell down about the
feet of their com- panions. Some
of the wounded crawled out and
away, but many lay still, their
bodies twisted into impossible
shapes.
The youth looked once for his
friend. He saw a vehement young
man, powder-smeared and frowzled,
whom he knew to be him. The lieu-
tenant, also, was unscathed in
his position at the rear. He
had continued to curse, but it
was now with the air of a man
who was using his last box of
oaths.
For the fire of the regiment
had begun to wane and drip. The
robust voice, that had come strangely
from the thin ranks, was growing
rapidly weak.
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