"Stand firm, lads; steady for God's sake, steady!" shouted Colonel
Winchester, and then Dick heard no single voice, because the roar of the
battle broke over them like the sudden rush of a storm. He was conscious
only that the tips of the bayonets had reached them, and behind them he
saw the eyes in the brown faces gleaming.

Then he did not even see the brown faces, because there was such a storm
of fire and smoke pouring forth bullets like hail, and the tumult of
shouts and of the crash of cannon and rifles was so awful that it blended
into one general sound like the roaring of the infernal regions.

Dick felt himself borne back. It seemed to him that their line had
cracked like a bow bent too much. It was not anything that he saw but a
sense of the general result, and he was right. The Northern line which
had not found time to form properly, was hurled back. Neither cannon nor
rifles could stop the three Southern brigades which were charging them.

The South struck like a tornado, and despite a resistance made with all
the fury and rage of despair, the Northern division was driven from its
position, and its line broken in many places. A Northern general was
taken prisoner. The guns which could not be carried, because the horses
were gone, were taken by the triumphant Southerners, and over all the
roar and tumult of the frightful battle Dick heard that piercing and
triumphant rebel yell, poured forth by thousands of throats and swelling
over everything, in a fierce, dominant note.

Dick bumped against Warner as they were borne back in the smoke. He saw
the Vermonter's blackened lips move, and his own moved in the same way,
but neither heard what the other said. Nevertheless Dick read the words