shell the vicinity of the house.

It was an intensely hot day. Captain de Banyan sat asleep on the fence
near the house. He was very much exhausted by the labors of the two
preceding nights on picket, and at the destruction of the stores; and
while Somers was watching the progress of the battle on the right, where
a sharp fight was in progress, a shell screamed between them, and struck
the house about a foot from the ground.

"That reminds me of the night before Magenta," said the veteran, opening
his eyes, without even a start. "A hundred-pounder shell knocked my hat
off, and then passed through the two open windows at each gable of a
house, without even breaking a pane of glass."

"A narrow escape for you and for the house," replied Somers with a
languid smile.

CHAPTER XVII

GLENDALE AND MALVERN HILLS

Captain de Banyan was as cool and indifferent to danger as though he had
been shot-proof. Cannon-balls and shell flew through the air; but the
veteran paid no attention to them--except that once in a while they
reminded him of Magenta, or some other of the numerous battle-fields
where he had displayed his valor. There was little fighting for our
regiment at this point, though there was a sharp action on the right of
the position.

The rebels attacked our forces with tremendous vigor at Savage's Station.
It was believed by their generals that the Union army was utterly
demoralized; that it was retreating in disorder towards the James River;
and that a vigorous onslaught would result in its capture. The first
intimation of the blunder was received at Savage's Station, where the
Confederates were decisively repulsed; yet the hope was not abandoned of
ending the war by the destruction of the Army of the Potomac. The hosts
of the rebellion were poured down the roads, where they could intercept
the loyal forces; and the full extent of their blunder was realized only
at Malvern Hills.

At noon our regiment marched through White Oak Swamp, and late in the
evening bivouacked in a field near the road. During all this time the
road was filled with troops, and with trains of army wagons on their way
to the new "base." Very early the next morning, the march was resumed. It
was an exceedingly hot day, and the troops suffered severely from the
heat. Somers was nearly exhausted when the regiment halted at noon near a
church, which the surgeons had already occupied as a hospital. But
nothing could disturb the equanim