Chapter XII. The Fight for the Fort

The Guns of Bull Run

by Joseph A. Altsheler

Before they reached the brook they hailed Sergeant Carrick lest
they should be fired upon as enemies, and when his answer came they
dropped into a walk, still panting and wiping the perspiration from
damp foreheads. They bathed their faces freely in the brook, and sat
down on the bank to rest. The sergeant, a regular and a veteran of
many border campaigns against the Indians, regarded them
benevolently.

"I heard firing in front," he said, "and I thought you might be
concerned in it. If it hadn't been for my orders I'd have come
forward with some of the men."

"Sergeant," said St. Clair, "if you were in the west again, and
you were all alone in the hills or on the plains and a band of
yelling Sioux or Blackfeet were to set after you with fell designs
upon your scalp, what would you do?"

"I'd run, sir, with all my might. I'd run faster than I ever
ran before. I'd run so fast, sir, that my feet wouldn't touch the
ground more than once every forty yards. It would be the wisest
thing one could do under the circumstances, the only thing, in
fact."

"I'm glad to hear you say so, Sergeant Carrick, because you are
a man of experience and magnificent sense. What you say proves that
Harry and I are full of wisdom. They weren't Sioux or Blackfeet back
there and I don't suppose they'd have scalped us, but they were
Yankees and their intentions weren't exactly peaceful. So we took
your advice before you gave it. If you'll examine the earth out
there tomorrow you'll find our footprints only five times to the
mile."

Far to the right and left other scattering shots had been fired,
where skirmishers in the night came in touch with one another. Hence
the adventure of Harry and St. Clair attracted but little attention.
Shots at long range were fired nearly every night, and sometimes it
was difficult to keep the raw recruits from pulling trigger merely
for the pleasure of hearing the report.

But when Harry and St. Clair related the incident the next
morning to Colonel Talbot, he spoke with gravity.

"There are many young men of birth and family in our army," he
said, "and they must learn that war is a serious business. It is
more than that; it is a deadly business, the most deadly business of
all. If the Yankees had caught you two, it would have served you
right."

"They scared us badly enough as it was, sir," said St. Clair.

Colonel Leonidas Talbot smiled slightly.

"That part of it at least will do you good," he said. "You
young men don't know what war is, and you are growing fat and saucy
in a pleasant country in June. But there is something ahead that
will take a little of the starch out of you and teach you sense. No,
you needn't look inquiringly at me, because I'm not going to tell you
what it is, but go get some sleep, which you will need badly, and be
ready at four o'clock this afternoon, because the Invincibles march
then and you march with them."

Harry and St. Clair saluted and retired. They knew that it was
not worth while to ask Colonel Talbot any questions. Since he had
met him again in Virginia, Harry had recognized a difference in this
South Carolina colonel. The kindliness was still there, but there
was a new sternness also. The friend was being merged into the
commander.

They chose a tent in order to shut out the noise and make sleep
possible, but on their way to it they were waylaid by Langdon, who
had heard something of their adventure the night before, and who felt
chagrin because he had lacked a part in it.

"Although everything generally happens for the best, there is a
slip sometimes," he said, "and I want to be in on the next move,
whatever it is. There is a rumor that the Invincibles are to march.
You have been before the colonel, and you ought to know. Is it
true?"

"It is," replied Harry, "but that's all we do know. He was
pretty sharp with us, Tom, and among our three selves, we are not
going to get any favors from Colonel Leonidas Talbot and
Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire because we're friends of theirs
and would be likely to meet in the same drawing-rooms, if there were
no war."

Harry and St. Clair slept well, despite the noises of a camp,
but they were ready at the appointed time, very precise in their new
uniforms. Langdon was with them and the three were eager for the
movement, the nature of which officers alone seemed to know.

The Invincibles were an infantry regiment and the three youths,
like the men, were on foot. They filed off to the left behind the
front line of the Southern army, and marched steadily westward,
inclining slightly to the north. Many of the men, or rather boys,
not yet fast in the bonds of discipline, began to talk, and guess
together about their errand. But Colonel Talbot and
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire rode along the line and sternly
commanded silence, once or twice making the menace of the sword. The
lads scarcely understood it, but they were awed into silence. Then
there was no noise but the rattle of their weapons and the steady
tread of eight hundred men.

The young troops had been kept in splendid condition, drilling
steadily, and they marched well. They passed to the extreme western
end of the Confederate camp, and continued into the hills. The sun
had passed its zenith when they started and a pleasant, cool breeze
blew from the slopes of the western mountains. The sun set late, but
the twilight began to fall at last, and they saw about them many
places suitable for a camp and supper. But Colonel Talbot, who was
now at the head of the line, rode on and gave no sign.

"If I were riding a bay horse fifteen hands high I could go on,
too, forever," whispered Langdon to Harry.

"Remember your belief that everything happens for the best and
just keep on marching."

The twilight retreated before the dark, but the regiment
continued. Harry saw a dusky colonel on a dusky horse at the head of
the line, and nearer by was Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, also
riding, silent and stern. The Invincibles were weary. It was now
nine o'clock, and they had marched many hours without a rest, but
they did not dare to murmur, at least not loud enough to be heard by
Colonel Leonidas Talbot and his lieutenant-colonel, Hector St.
Hilaire.

"I wonder if this is going on all night," whispered Langdon.

"Very likely," returned Harry, "but remember that everything is
for the best."

Langdon gave him a reproachful look, but trudged sturdily on.
They halted about an hour later, but only for fifteen or twenty
minutes. They had now come into much rougher country, steep, with
high hills and populated thinly. Westward, the mountains seemed very
near in the clear moonlight. No explanation was given to the
Invincibles, but the officers rode among the groups and made a
careful inspection of arms and equipment. Then the word to march
once more was given.

They did not stop, except for short rests, until about three
o'clock in the morning, when they came to the crest of a high ridge,
covered with dense forest, but without undergrowth. Then the
officers dismounted, and the word was passed to the men that they
would remain there until dawn, but before they lay down on the ground
Colonel Talbot told them what was expected of them, which was
much.

"A strong Northern force is encamped on the slope beyond," he
said. "It is in a position from which the left flank of our main army
can be threatened. Our enemies there are fortified with earthworks
and they have cannon. If they hold the place they are likely to
increase heavily in numbers. It is our business to drive them
out."

The colonel told some of the officers within Harry's hearing
that they could attack before dawn, but night assaults, unless with
veteran troops, generally defeated themselves through confusion and
uncertainty. Nevertheless, he hoped to surprise the Northern soldiers
over their coffee. For that reason the men were compelled to lie
down in their blankets in the dark. Not a single light was
permitted, but they were allowed to eat some cold food, which they
brought in their knapsacks.

Although it was June, the night was chill on the high hills, and
Harry and his two friends, after their duties were done, wrapped
their blankets closely around themselves as they sat on the ground,
with their backs against a big tree. The physical relaxation after
such hard marching and the sharp wind of the night made Harry shiver,
despite his blanket. St. Clair and Langdon shivered, too. They did
not know that part of it was that three-o'clock-in-the-morning
feeling.

Harry, sensitive, keenly alive to impressions, was oppressed by
a certain heavy and uncanny feeling. They were going into battle in
the morning--and with men whom he did not hate. The attacks on the
Star of the West and Sumter had been bombardments, distant affairs,
where he did not see the face of his enemy, but here it would be
another matter. The real shock of battle would come, and the eyes of
men seeking to kill would look into the eyes of others who also
sought to kill.

He and St. Clair were not sleepy, as they had slept through most
of the day, but Langdon was already nodding. Most of the soldiers
also had fallen asleep through exhaustion, and Harry saw them in the
dusk lying in long rows. The faint moon throwing a ghostly light
over so many motionless forms made the whole scene weird and unreal
to Harry. He shook himself to cast off the spell, and, closing his
eyes, sought sleep.

But sleep would not come and the obstinate lids lifted again.
It had turned a little darker and the motionless forms at the far end
of the line were hidden. But those nearer were so still that they
seemed to have been put there to stay forever. St. Clair had yielded
at last to weariness and with his back against the tree slept by
Harry's side.

He saw four figures moving up and down like ghosts through the
shadows. They were Colonel Talbot, Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire,
and two captains watching their men, seeing that silence and caution
were preserved. Harry knew that sentinels were posted further down
the ridge, but he could not see them from where he lay. Although it
was a long time, the forest and human figures wavered at last, and he
dozed for a while. But he soon awoke and saw a faint tint of gray
low down in the east, the first timid herald of dawn.

The young soldiers were awakened. They started to rise with a
cheerful exchange of chatter, but were sternly commanded to silence.
Nevertheless, they talked in whispers and told one another how they
would wipe the Yankees off the face of the earth. Workers from the
shops in the big cities of the North could not stand before them, the
open air sons of the South. They stretched their long limbs, felt
their big muscles, and wondered why they were not led forward at
once.

But before they marched they were ordered to take food from
their knapsacks and eat. Five minutes at most were allowed, and
there was to be no nonsense, no loud talking. Some who had come
north with negro servants stared at these officers who dared to talk
to them as if they were slaves. But the words of anger stopped at
their lips. They would take their revenge instead on the Yankees.

Harry and his two friends had fitted themselves already into
military discipline and military ways. They ate, not because they
were hungry, but because they knew it was a necessity. Meanwhile,
the faint gray band in the east was broadening. The note of a bugle,
distant, mellow, and musical, came from a point down the slope.

"The Yankee fort," said Langdon. "They're waking up, too. But
I'm looking for the best, boys, and inside of two hours that Yankee
fort will be a Confederate fort."

The note of the bugle seemed to decide the Southern officers.
The men were ordered to see to their arms and march. The officers
dismounted as the way would be rough and left their horses behind.
The troops formed into several columns and four light guns went down
the slope with them. Scouts who had been out in the night came back
and reported that the fort, consisting wholly of earthworks, had a
garrison of a thousand men with eight guns. They were New York and
New England troops and they did not suspect the presence of an enemy.
They were just lighting their breakfast fires.

The Southern columns moved forward in quiet, still hidden by the
forest, which also yet hid the Northern fort. Harry's heart began to
beat heavily, but he forced himself to preserve the appearance of
calmness. Pride stiffened his will and backbone. He was a veteran.
He had been at Sumter. He had seen the great bombardment, and he had
taken a part in it. He must show these raw men how a soldier bore
himself in battle, and, moreover, he was an officer whose business it
was to lead.

The deep forest endured as they advanced in a diagonal line down
the slope. The great civil war of North America was fought mostly in
the forest, and often the men were not aware of the presence of one
another until they came face to face.

They were almost at the bottom where the valley opened out in
grass land, and were turning northward when Harry saw two figures
ahead of them among the trees. They were men in blue uniforms with
rifles in their hands, and they were staring in surprise at the
advancing columns in gray. But their surprise lasted only a moment.
Then they lifted their rifles, fired straight at the Invincibles, and
with warning shouts darted among the trees toward their own
troops.

"Forward, lads!" shouted Colonel Talbot. "We're within four
hundred yards of the fort, and we must rush it! Officers, to your
places!"

Their own bugle sang stirring music, and the men gathered
themselves for the forward rush. Up shot the sun, casting a sharp,
vivid light over the slopes and valley. The soldiers, feeling that
victory was just ahead, advanced with so much speed that the officers
began to check them a little, fearing that the Invincibles would be
thrown into confusion.

The forest ended. Before them lay a slope, from which the
bushes had been cut away and beyond were trenches, and walls of fresh
earth, from which the mouths of cannon protruded. Soldiers in blue,
sentinels and seekers of wood for the fires, were hurrying into the
earthworks, on the crests of which stood men, dressed in the uniforms
of officers.

"Forward, my lads!" shouted Colonel Leonidas Talbot, who was
near the front rank, brandishing his sword until the light glittered
along its sharp blade. "Into the fort! Into the fort!"

The sun, rising higher, flooded the slopes, the valley, and the
fort with brilliant beams. Everything seemed to Harry's excited mind
to stand out gigantic and magnified. Black specks began to dance in
myriads before his eyes. He heard beside him the sharp, panting
breath of his comrades, and the beat of many feet as they rushed
on.

He saw the Northern officers on the earthwork disappear,
dropping down behind, and the young Southern soldiers raised a great
shout of triumph which, as it sank on its dying note, was merged into
a tremendous crash. The whole fort seemed to Harry to blaze with red
fire, as the heavy guns were fired straight into the faces of the
Invincibles. The roar of the cannon was so near that Harry, for an
instant, was deafened by the crash. Then he heard groans and cries
and saw men falling around him.

In another moment came the swish of rifle bullets, and the ranks
of the Invincibles were cut and torn with lead. The young recruits
were receiving their baptism of fire and it was accompanied by many
wounds and death.

The earthworks in front were hidden for a little while by
drifting smoke, but the Invincibles, mad with pain and rage, rushed
through it. They were anxious to get at those who were stinging them
so terribly, and fortunately for them the defenders did not have time
to pour in another volley. Harry saw Colonel Talbot still in front,
waving his sword, and near him Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire, also
with an uplifted sword, which he pointed straight toward the
earthwork.

"On, lads, on!" shouted the colonel. "It is nothing! Another
moment and the fort is ours!"

Harry heard the hissing of heavy missiles above him. The light
guns of the Invincibles had unlimbered on the slope, and fired once
over their heads into the fort. But they did not dare to fire again,
as the next instant the recruits, dripping red, but still wild with
rage, were at the earthworks, and driven on with rage climbed them
and fired at the huddled mass they saw below.

Harry stumbled as he went down into the fort, but quickly
recovered himself and leaped to his feet again. He saw through the
flame and smoke faces much like his own, the faces of youth, startled
and aghast, scarcely yet comprehending that this was war and that war
meant pain and death. The Invincibles, despite the single close
volley that had been poured into them, had the advantage of surprise
and their officers were men of skill and experience. They had left a
long red trail of the fallen as they entered the fort, but after
their own single volley they pressed hard with the bayonet. Little
as was their military knowledge, those against them had less, and
they also had less experience of the woods and hills.

As the Invincibles hurled themselves upon them the defenders
slowly gave way and were driven out of the fort. But they carried
two of their cannon with them, and when they reached the wood opened
a heavy fire upon the pursuing Southern troops, which made the
youngsters shiver and reel back.

"They, too, have some regular officers," said Colonel Talbot to
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. "It's a safe wager that several of
our old comrades of Mexico are there."

Thus did West Pointers speak with respect of their fellow West
Pointers.

Exulting in their capture of the fort and still driven by rage,
the Invincibles attempted to rush the enemy, but they were met by
such a deadly fire that many fell, and their officers drew them back
to the shelter of the captured earthworks, where they were joined by
their own light guns that had been hurried down the slope. Another
volley was fired at them, when they went over the earthen walls, and
Harry, as he threw himself upon the ground, heard the ferocious whine
of the bullets over his head, a sound to which he would grow used
through years terribly long.

Harry rose to his feet and began to feel of himself to see if he
were wounded. So great had been the tension and so rapid their
movements that he had not been conscious of any physical feeling.

"All right, Harry?" asked a voice by his side.

He saw Langdon with a broad red stripe down his cheek. The
stripe was of such even width that it seemed to have been painted
there, and Harry stared at it in a sort of fascination.

"I know I'm not beautiful, Harry," said Langdon, "neither am I
killed or mortally wounded. But my feelings are hurt. That bullet,
fired by some mill hand who probably never pulled a trigger before,
just grazed the top of my head, but it has pumped enough out of my
veins to irrigate my face with a beautiful scarlet flow."

"The mill hands may never have pulled trigger before," said
Harry, "but it looks as if they were learning how fast enough. Down,
Tom!"

Again the smoke and fire burst from the forest, and the bullets
whined in hundreds over their heads. Two heavier crashes showed that
the cannon were also coming into play, and one shell striking within
the fort, exploded, wounding a half dozen men.

"I suppose that everything happens for the best," said Langdon,
"but having got into the fort, it looks as if we couldn't get out
again. With the help of the earthwork I can hide from the bullets,
but how are you to dodge a shell which can come in a curve over the
highest kind of a wall, drop right in the middle of the crowd, burst,
and send pieces in a hundred directions?"

"You can't," said St. Clair, who appeared suddenly.

He was covered with dirt and his fine new uniform was torn.

"What has happened to you?" asked Harry.

"I've just had practical proof that it's hard to dodge a
bursting shell," replied St. Clair calmly. "I'm in luck that no part
of the shell itself hit me, but it sent the dirt flying against me so
hard that it stung, and I think that some pieces of gravel have
played havoc with my coat and trousers."

"Hark! there go our cannon!" exclaimed Harry. "We'll drive them
out of those woods."

"None too soon for me," said St. Clair, looking ruefully at his
torn uniform. "I'd take it as a politeness on their part if they
used bullets only and not shells."

They had not yet come down to the stern discipline of war, but
their talk was stopped speedily by the senior officers, who put them
to work arranging the young recruits along the earthworks, whence
they could reply with comparative safety to the fire from the wood.
But Harry noted that the raking fire of their own cannon had been
effective. The Northern troops had retreated to a more distant point
in the forest, where they were beyond the range of rifles, but it
seemed that they had no intention of going any further, as from time
to time a shell from their cannon still curved and fell in the fort
or near it. The Southern guns, including those that had been
captured, replied, but, of necessity, shot and shell were sent at
random into the forest which now hid the whole Northern force.

"It seems to me," said St. Clair to Harry, "that while we have
taken the fort we have merely made an exchange. Instead of being
besiegers we have turned ourselves into the besieged."

"And while I'm expecting everything to turn out for the best,"
said Langdon, "I don't know that we've made anything at all by the
exchange. We're in the fort, but the mechanics and mill hands are on
the slope in a good position to pepper us."

"Or to wait for reinforcements," said Harry.

"I hadn't thought of that," said St. Clair. "They may send up
into the mountains and bring four or five times our numbers.
Patterson's army must be somewhere near."

"But we'll hope that they won't," said Langdon.

The Northern troops ceased their fire presently, but the
officers, examining the woods with their glasses, said they were
still there. Then came the grim task of burying the dead, which was
done inside the earthworks. Nearly two score of the Invincibles had
fallen to rise no more, and about a hundred were wounded. It was no
small loss even for a veteran force, and Colonel Talbot and
Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire looked grave. Many of the recruits
had turned white, and they had strange, sinking sensations.

There was little laughter or display of triumph inside the
earthworks, nor was there any increase of cheer when the recruits saw
the senior officers draw aside and engage in anxious talk.

"I'm thinking that idea of yours, Harry, about Yankee
reinforcements, must have occurred to Colonel Talbot also," said
Langdon. "It seems that we have nothing else to fear. The Yankees
that we drove out are not strong enough to come back and drive us
out. So they must be looking for a heavy force from Patterson's
army."

The conference of the officers was quickly over, and then the
men were put to work building higher the walls of earth and deepening
the ditches. Many picks and spades had been captured in the fort,
and others used bayonets. All, besides the guard, toiled hard two or
three hours without interruption.

It was now noon, and food was served. An abundance of water in
barrels had been found in the fort and the men drank it eagerly as
the sun was warm and the work with spade and shovel made them very
thirsty. The three boys, despite their rank, had been taking turns
with the men and they leaned wearily against the earthwork.

The clatter of tools had ceased. The men ate and drank in
silence. No sound came from the Northern troops in the wood. A
heavy, ominous silence brooded over the little valley which had seen
so much battle and passion. Harry felt relaxed and for the moment
nerveless. His eyes wandered to the new earth, beneath which the
dead lay, and he shivered. The wounded were lying patiently on their
blankets and those of their comrades and they did not complain. The
surgeons had done their best for them and the more skillful among the
soldiers had helped.

The silence was very heavy upon Harry's nerves. Overhead great
birds hovered on black wings, and when he saw them he shuddered. St.
Clair saw them, too.

"No pleasant sight," he said. "I feel stronger since I've had
food and water, Harry, but I'm thinking that we're going to be
besieged in this fort, and we're not overburdened with supplies. I
wonder what the colonel will do."

"He'll try to hold it," said Langdon. "He was sent here for
that purpose, and we all know what the colonel is."

"He will certainly stay," said Harry.

After a good rest they resumed work with pick, shovel, and
bayonet, throwing the earthworks higher and ever higher. It was
clear to the three lads that Colonel Talbot expected a heavy
attack.

"Perhaps we have underrated our mill hands and mechanics," said
St. Clair, in his precise, dandyish way. "They may not ride as well
or shoot as well as we do, but they seem to be in no hurry about
going back to their factories."

Harry glanced at him. St. Clair was always extremely particular
about his dress. It was a matter to which he gave time and thought
freely. Now, despite all his digging, he was again trim, immaculate,
and showed no signs of perspiration. He would have died rather than
betray nervousness or excitement.

"I've no doubt that we've underrated them," said Harry. "Just
as the people up North have underrated us. Colonel Talbot told me
long ago that this was going to be a terribly big war, and now I know
he was right."

A long time passed without any demonstration on the part of the
enemy. The sun reached the zenith and blazed redly upon the men in
the fort. Harry looked longingly at the dark green woods. He
remembered cool brooks, swelling into deep pools here and there in
just such woods as these, in which he used to bathe when he was a
little boy. An intense wish to swim again in the cool waters seized
him. He believed it was so intense because those beautiful woods
there on the slope, where the running water must be, were filled with
the Northern riflemen.

Three scouts, sent out by Colonel Talbot, returned with reports
that justified his suspicions. A heavy force, evidently from
Patterson's army operating in the hills and mountains, was marching
down the valley to join those who had been driven from the fort. The
junction would be formed within an hour. Harry was present when the
report was made and he understood its significance. He rejoiced that
the walls of earth had been thrown so much higher and that the
trenches had been dug so much deeper.

In the middle of the afternoon, when the cool shade was
beginning to fall on the eastern forest, they noticed a movement in
the woods. They saw the swaying of bushes and the officers, who had
glasses, caught glimpses of the men moving in the undergrowth. Then
came a mighty crash and the shells from a battery of great guns sang
in the air and burst about them. It was well for the Invincibles
that they had dug their trenches deep, as two of the shells burst
inside the fort. Harry was with Colonel Talbot, now acting as an
aide, and he heard the leader's quiet comment:

"The reinforcements have brought more big guns. They will
deliver a heavy cannonade and then under cover of the smoke they will
charge. Lieutenant Kenton, tell our gunners that it is my positive
orders that they are not to fire a single shot until I give the word.
The Yankees can see us, but we cannot see them, and we'll save our
ammunition for their charge. Keep well down in the trench,
Lieutenant Kenton!"

The Invincibles hugged their shelter gladly enough while the
fire from the great guns continued. A second battery opened from a
point further down the slope, and the fort was swept by a cross-fire
of ball and shell. Yet the loss of life was small. The trenches
were so deep and so well constructed that only chance pieces of shell
struck human targets.

Harry remained with Colonel Talbot, ready to carry any order
that he might give. The colonel peered over the earthwork at
intervals and searched the woods closely with a powerful pair of
glasses. His face was very grave, but Harry presently saw him smile
a little. He wondered, but he had learned enough of discipline now
not to ask questions of his commanding officer. At length he heard
the colonel mutter:

"It is Carrington! It surely must be Carrington!" A third
battery now opened at a point almost midway between the other two,
and the smile of the colonel came again, but now it lingered
longer.

"It is bound to be Carrington!" he said. "It cannot possibly be
any other! That way of opening with a battery on one flank, then on
the other, and then with a third midway between was always his, and
the accuracy of aim is his, too! Heavens, what an artillery officer!
I doubt whether there is such another in either army, or in the
world! And he is better, too, than ever!"

He caught Harry looking at him in wonder, and he smiled once
more.

"A friend of mine commands the Northern artillery," he said. "I
have not seen him, of course, but he is making all the signs and
using all the passwords. We are exactly the same age, and we were
chums at West Point. We were together in the Indian wars, and
together in all the battles from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico.
It's John Carrington, and he's from New York! He's perfectly
wonderful with the guns! Lord, lad, look how he lives up to his
reputation! Not a shot misses! He must have been training those
gunners for months! Thunder, but that was magnificent!"

A huge shell struck squarely in the center of the earthwork,
burst with a terrible crash, and sent steel splinters and fragments
flying in every direction. A rain of dirt followed the rain of
steel, and, when the colonel wiped the last mote from his eye, he
said triumphantly and joyously:

"It's Carrington! Not a shadow of doubt can be left! Only such
gunners as those he trains can plump shells squarely among us at that
range! Oh, I tell you, Harry, he's a marvel. Has the wonderful
mathematical and engineering eye!"

The eyes of Colonel Leonidas Talbot beamed with admiration of
his old comrade, mingled with a strong affection. Nevertheless, he
did not relax his vigilance and caution for an instant. He made the
circuit of the fort and saw that everything was ready. The Southern
riflemen lined every earthwork, and the guns had been wheeled into
the best positions, with the gunners ready. Then he returned to his
old place.

"The charge will come soon, Lieutenant Kenton," he said to
Harry. "Their cannonade serves a double purpose. It keeps us busy
dodging ball and shell, and it creates a bank of smoke through which
their infantry can advance almost to the fort and yet remain hidden.
See how the smoke covers the whole side of the mountain. Oh,
Carrington is doing splendidly! I have never known him to do
better!"

Harry wished that Carrington would not do quite so well. He was
tired of crouching in a ditch. He was growing somewhat used to the
hideous howling of the shells, but it was still unsafe anywhere
except in the trenches. It seemed to him, too, that the cannon fire
was increasing in volume. The slopes and the valley gave back a
continuous crash of rolling thunder. Heavier and heavier grew the
bank of smoke over and against the forest. It was impossible to see
what was going on there, but Harry had no doubt that the Northern
regiments were massing themselves for the attack.

The youth remained with Colonel Talbot, being held by the latter
to carry orders when needed to other points in the fort. St. Clair
and Langdon were kept near for a similar use and they were crouching
in the same trench.

"If everything happens for the best it's time it was happening,"
said Langdon in an impatient whisper. "These shells and cannon balls
flying over me make my head ache and scare me to death besides. If
the Yankees don't hurry up and charge, they'll find me dead, killed
by the collapse of worn-out nerves."

"I intend to be ready when they come," said St. Clair. "I've
made every preparation that I can call to mind."

"Which means that your coat must be setting just right and that
your collar isn't ruffled," rejoined Langdon. "Yes, Arthur, you are
ready now. You are certainly the neatest and best dressed man in the
regiment. If the Yankees take us they can't say that they captured a
slovenly prisoner."

"Then," said St. Clair, smiling, "let them come on."

"Their cannon fire is sinking!" exclaimed Colonel Talbot. "In a
minute it will cease and then will come the charge! 'Tis
Carrington's way, and a good way! Hark! Listen to it! The signal!
Ready, men! Ready! Here they come!"

The great cannonade ceased so abruptly that for a few moments
the stillness was more awful than the thunder of the guns had been.
The recruits could hear the great pulses in their temples throbbing.
Then the silence was pierced by the shrill notes of a brazen bugle,
steadily rising higher and always calling insistently to the men to
come. Then they heard the heavy thud of many men advancing with
swiftness and regularity.

The Southern troops were at the earthworks in double rows, and
the gunners were at the guns, all eager, all watching intently for
what might come out of the smoke. But the rising breeze suddenly
caught the great bank of mists and vapors and whirled the whole
aside. Then Harry saw. He saw a long line of men, their front
bristling with the blue steel of bayonets, and behind them other
lines and yet other lines.

It seemed to Harry that the points of the bayonets were almost
in his face, and then, at the shouted command, the whole earthwork
burst into a blaze. The cannon and hundreds of rifles sent their
deadly volleys into the blue masses at short range. The fort had
turned into a volcano, pouring forth a rain of fire and deadly
missiles. The front line of the Northern force was shot away, but
the next line took its place and rushed at the fort with those behind
pressing close after them. The defenders loaded and fired as fast as
they could and the high walls of earth helped them. The loose dirt
gave away as the Northern men attempted to climb them, and dirt and
men fell together back to the bottom. The Northern gunners in the
rear of the attack could not fire for fear of hitting their own
troops, but the Southern cannon at the embrasures had a clear target.
Shot and shell crashed into the Northern ranks, and the deadly hail
of bullets beat upon them without ceasing. But still they came.

"The mechanics and mill hands are as good as anybody, it
appears!" shouted St. Clair in Harry's ear, and Harry nodded.

But the defenses of the fort were too strong. The charge,
driven home with reckless courage, beat in vain upon those high
earthen walls, behind which the defenders, standing upon narrow
platforms, sent showers of bullets into ranks so close that few could
miss. The assailants broke at last and once more the shrill notes of
the brazen bugle pierced the air. But instead of saying come, it
said: "Fall back! Fall back!" and the great clouds of smoke that had
protected the Northern advance now covered the Northern retreat.

The firing had been so rapid and so heavy that the whole field
in front of the fort was covered with smoke, through which they
caught only the gleam of bayonets and glimpses of battle flags. But
they knew that the Northern troops were retiring, carrying with them
their wounded, but leaving the dead behind. Harry, excited and
eager, was about to leap upon the crest of the earthwork, but Colonel
Talbot sharply ordered him down.

"You'd be killed inside of a minute!" he cried. "Carrington is
out there with the guns! As soon as their troops are far enough back
he'll open on us with the cannon, and he'll rake this fort like a
hurricane beating upon a forest. Only the earthworks will protect us
from certain destruction."

He sent the order, fierce and sharp, along the line, for every
one to keep under cover, and there was ample proof soon that he knew
his man. The Northern infantry had retired and the smoke in front was
beginning to lift, when the figure of a tall man in blue appeared on
a hillock at the edge of the forest. Harry, who had snatched up a
rifle, levelled it instantly and took aim. But before his finger
could pull the trigger Colonel Talbot knocked it down again.

"My God!" he exclaimed. "I was barely in time to save him! It
was Carrington himself!"

"But he is our enemy! Our powerful enemy!"

"Our enemy! Our official enemy, yes! But my friend! My
life-long friend! We were boys together at West Point! We slept
under the same blanket on the icy plateaux of Mexico. No, Harry, I
could not let you or any other slay him!"

The figure disappeared from the hillock and the next moment the
great guns opened again from the forest. The orders of Colonel
Talbot had not been given a moment too soon. Huge shells and balls
raked the fort once more and the defenders crouched lower than ever
in the trenches. Harry surmised that the new cannonade was intended
mainly to prevent a possible return attack by the Southern troops,
but they were too cautious to venture from their earthworks. The
Invincibles had grown many years older in a few hours.

When it became evident that no sally would be made from the
fort, the fire of the cannon in front ceased, and the smoke lifted,
disclosing a field black with the slain. Harry looked, shuddered and
refused to look again. But Colonel Talbot examined field and forest
long and anxiously through his glasses.

"They are there yet, and they will remain," he announced at
last. "We have beaten back the assault. They may hold us here until
a great army comes, and with heavy loss to them, but we are yet
besieged. Carrington will not let us rest. He will send a shell to
some part of this fort every three or four minutes. You will
see."

They heard a roar and hiss a minute later, and a shell burst
inside the walls. Through all the afternoon Carrington played upon
the shaken nerves of the Invincibles. It seemed that he could make
his shells hit wherever he wished. If a recruit left a trench it was
only to make a rush for another. If their nerves settled down for a
moment, that solemn boom from the forest and the shriek of the shell
made them jump again.

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" murmured Colonel Talbot, "but terribly
trying to new men! Carrington certainly grows better with the
years."

Harry tried to compose himself and rest, as he lay in the trench
with St. Clair and Langdon. They had had their battle face to face
and all three of them were terribly shaken, but they recovered
themselves at last, despite the shells which burst at short but
irregular intervals inside the fort. Thus the last hours of the
afternoon waned, and as the twilight came, they went more freely
about the fort.

Colonel Talbot called a conference of the senior officers in a
corner of the enclosure well under the shelter of the earthen walls,
and after some minutes of anxious talking they sent for the three
youths. Harry, St. Clair and Langdon responded with alacrity, sure
that something of the utmost importance was afoot.