the grove of maples. In the road one of every four of the troopers was
standing with braced legs, and pulling and hauling at the bridles of
four frenzied horses.

The captain was running awkwardly in his boots. He held his sabre low so
that the point often threatened to catch in the turf. His yellow hair
ruffled out from under his faded cap. "Go in hard now!" he roared, in a
voice of hoarse fury. His face was violently red.

The troopers threw themselves upon the grove like wolves upon a great
animal. Along the whole front of woods there was the dry, crackling of
musketry, with bitter, swift flashes and smoke that writhed like stung
phantoms. The troopers yelled shrilly and spanged bullets low into the
foliage.

For a moment, when near the woods, the line almost halted. The men
struggled and fought for a time like swimmers encountering a powerful
current. Then with a supreme effort they went on again. They dashed
madly at the grove, whose foliage from the high light of the field was
as inscrutable as a wall.

Then suddenly each detail of the calm trees became apparent, and with a
few more frantic leaps the men were in the cool gloom of the woods.
There was a heavy odour as from burned paper. Wisps of gray smoke wound
upward. The men halted and, grimy, perspiring, and puffing, they
searched the recesses of the woods with eager, fierce glances. Figures
could be seen flitting afar off. A dozen carbines rattled at them in an
angry volley.

During this pause the captain strode along the line, his face lit with a
broad smile of contentment. "When he sends this crowd to do anything, I
guess he'll find we do it pretty sharp," he said to the grinning
lieutenant.

"Say, they didn't stand that rush a minute, did they?" said the
subaltern. Both officers were profoundly dusty in their uniforms, and
their faces were soiled like those of two urchins.

Out in the grass behind them were three tumbled and silent forms.

Presently the line moved forward again. The men went from tree to tree
like hunters stalking game. Some at the left of the line fired
occasionally, and those at the right gazed curiously in that direction.
The men still breathed heavily from their scramble across the field.

Of a sudden a trooper halted and said: "Hello! there's a house!" Every
one paused. The men turned to look at their leader.

The captain stretched his neck and swung his head from side to side. "By
George, it is a house!" he said.

Throu