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raises its eyes and fixes upon a distant toy. He was
engrossed in this contemplation, and the soft under lip
quivered from self-whispered words.
Some lazy and ignorant smoke curled slowly. The men,
hiding from the bullets, waited anxiously for it to lift and
disclose the plight of the regiment.
The silent ranks were suddenly thrilled by the eager
voice of the youthful lieutenant bawling out: "Here they
come! Right onto us, b'Gawd!" His further words were lost in
a roar of wicked thunder from the men's rifles.
The youth's eyes had instantly turned in the direction
indicated by the awakened and agitated lieutenant, and he
had seen the haze of treachery disclosing a body of soldiers
of the enemy. They were so near that he could see their
features. There was a recognition as he looked at the types of
faces. Also he perceived with dim amazement that their
uniforms were rather gay in effect, being light gray, accented
with a brilliant-hued facing. Too, the clothes seemed new.
These troops had apparently been going forward with
caution, their rifles held in readiness, when the youthful
lieutenant had discovered them and their movement had
been interrupted by the volley from the blue regiment. From
the moment's glimpse, it was derived that they had been
unaware of the proximity of their dark-suited foes or had
mistaken the direction. Almost instantly they were shut
utterly from the youth's sight by the smoke from the
energetic rifles of his companions. He strained his vision to
learn the accomplishment of the volley, but the smoke hung
before him.
The two bodies of troops exchanged blows in the manner
of a pair of boxers. The fast angry firings went back and
forth. The men in blue were intent with the despair of their
circumstances and they seized upon the revenge to be had at
close range. Their thunder swelled loud and valiant. Their
curving front bristled with flashes and the place resounded
with the clangor of their ramrods. The youth ducked and
dodged for a time and achieved a few unsatisfactory views of
the enemy. There appeared to be many of them and they
were replying swiftly. They seemed moving toward the blue
regiment, step by step. He seated himself gloomily on the
ground with his flag between his knees.
As he noted the vicious, wolflike temper of his comrades
he had a sweet thought that if the enemy was about to
swallow the regimental broom as a large prisoner, it could at
least have the consolation of going down with bristles
forward.
But the blows of the antagonist began to grow more
weak. Fewer bullets ripped the air, and finally, when the
men slackened to learn of the fight, they could see only dark,
floating smoke. The regiment lay still and gazed. Presently
some chance whim came to the pestering blur, and it began
to coil heavily away. The men saw a ground vacant of
fighters. It would have been an empty stage if it were not for
a few corpses that lay thrown and twisted into fantastic
shapes upon the sward.
At sight of this tableau, many of the men in blue sprang
from behind their covers and made an ungainly dance of joy.
Their eyes burned and a hoarse cheer of elation broke from
their dry lips.
It had begun to seem to them that events were trying to
prove that they were impotent. These little battles had
evidently endeavored to demonstrate that the men could not
fight well. When on the verge of submission to these
opinions, the small duel had showed them that the
proportions were not impossible, and by it they had
revenged themselves upon their misgivings and upon the foe.
The impetus of enthusiasm was theirs again. They gazed
about them with looks of uplifted pride, feeling new trust in
the grim, always confident weapons in their hands. And they
were men.
Ebd
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Chapter 21
Presently they knew that no firing threatened them. All
ways seemed once more opened to them. The dusty blue
lines of their friends were disclosed a short distance away. In
the distance there were many colossal noises, but in all this
part of the field there was a sudden stillness.
They perceived that they were free. The depleted band
drew a long breath of relief and gathered itself into a bunch
to complete its trip.
In this last length of journey the men began to show
strange emotions. They hurried with nervous fear. Some who
had been dark and unfaltering in the grimmest moments now
could not conceal an anxiety that made them frantic. It was
perhaps that they dreaded to be killed in insignificant ways
after the times for proper military deaths had passed. Or,
perhaps, they thought it would be too ironical to get killed at
the portals of safety. With backward looks of perturbation,
they hastened.
As they approached their own lines there was some
sarcasm exhibited on the part of a gaunt and bronzed
regiment that lay resting in the shade of the trees. Questions
were wafted to them.
"Where th' hell yeh been?"
"What yeh comin' back fer?"
"Why didn't yeh stay there?"
"Was it warm out there, sonny?"
"Goin' home now, boys?"
One shouted in taunting mimicry: "Oh, mother, come
quick an' look at th' sojers!"
There was no reply from the bruised and battered
regiment, save that one man made broadcast challenges to
fist fights and the red-bearded officer walked rather near and
glared in great swashbuckler style at a tall captain in the
other regiment. But the lieutenant suppressed the man who
wished to fist fight, and the tall captain, flushing at the little
fanfare of the red-bearded one, was obliged to look intently
at some trees.
The youth's tender flesh was deeply stung by these
remarks. From under his creased brows he glowered with [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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