-quarters having been
torn off by the discharge of a shell, or the passage of some conical
projectile. The animal was moaning heavily with pain, and looked so
appealingly at Fritz out of its large deep eyes, that he raised a
revolver which he had picked up on the field and put the poor brute out
of its agony. It was a different matter with the dog, however; although
he could not persuade the faithful retriever to leave his master's side;
and, as it was getting late, and Fritz thought he might be missed and
reported as a straggler from his corps, he hurried on to the camping
ground of his regiment, promising himself to return later on in the day,
if spared from duty, when he would bury the dead body of the officer and
take possession of the dog--that is, should no one else have
appropriated him in the meantime, as might possibly be the case.

He was so worn-out with fatigue, on arrival at the bivouac of the
regiment in the Bois du Vaux, that, on finding that his absence was not
taken any notice of, he laid himself down by the side of a fire which
the men had kindled for cooking their camp kettles; and, although it was
a warm summer day, he immediately fell asleep, not waking until late in
the afternoon. Then, partaking of some Erbwurst, or "peasoup sausage,"
which one of his comrades had kindly kept for him, albeit the rations
were rather scanty, he felt a new man, and fit for anything; for, the
worn-out feeling of exhaustion and nervous horror which had possessed
his mind throughout the many hours that elapsed since the close of the
fighting on the evening before, being only the effects of over-
excitement, had now completely disappeared on his getting rest and
refreshment. Indeed, he no longer felt sickened with war. On the
contrary, he was quite ready to start into a fresh battle, and that,
too, with as eager an impetus as he had plunged into his first
engagement.

This was not all, either.

On the regiment being paraded shortly afterwards in front of its
bivouac, the field officer of the day called out "Fritz Dort" a second
time, after the names of the men had been run over on the muster roll--
many failing to answer, and having the brief military comment "Dead," or
"Missing," placed after their numbers.

"Here!" answered Fritz, stepping forwards and saluting the officer in
the ordinary routine fashion, wondering what was to come next.

"Fritz Dort and men of the 16th Hanoverians," proceeded the major,
rea