THE FIGHT FOR THE FORT
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.