d. But a few
minutes of daylight were left and the swarthy Louisianian looked at the
great losses in his own ranks. He believed that the army of Buell was so
far away that it could not arrive that night and he withheld the charge.

The Southern army withdrew a little into the woods, the night rushed
down, and Shiloh's terrible first day was over.

CHAPTER XVI. THE FIERCE FINISH OF SHILOH

Dick, who had been lying under cover just behind the crest of one of
the low ridges, suddenly heard the loud beating of his heart. He did not
know, for a moment or two, that the sound came so distinctly because the
mighty tumult which had been raging around him all day had ceased, as
if by a concerted signal. Those blinding flashes of flame no longer
came from the forest before him, the shot and shell quit their horrible
screaming, and the air was free from the unpleasant hiss of countless
bullets.

He stretched himself a little and stood up. The lads all around him
were standing up, and were beginning to talk to each other in the
high-pitched, shouting voices that they had been compelled to use all
day long, not yet realizing to the full that the tumult of the battle
had ceased. The boy felt stiff and sore in every bone and muscle, and,
although the cannon and rifles were silent, there was still a hollow
roaring in his ears. His eyes were yet dim from the smoke, and his head
felt heavy and dull. He gazed vacantly at the forest in front of him,
and wondered dimly why the Southern army was not still there, attacking,
as it had attacked for so many hours.

But the deep woods were silent and empty. Coils and streamers of smoke
floated about among the trees, and suddenly a gray squirrel hopped out
on a bough and began to chatter wildly. Dick, despite himself, laughed,
but the laugh was hysterical. He could appreciate the feelings of the
squirrel, which probably had been imprisoned in a hollow of the tree all
day long, listening to this tremendous battle, and squirrels were
not used to such battles. It was a trifle that made him laugh, but
everything was out of proportion now. Life did not go on in the usual
way at all. The ordinary occupations were gone, and people spent most of
their time trying to kill one another.

He rubbed his hands across his eyes and cleared them of the smoke. The
battle was certainly over for the day at least, and neither he nor
his comrades had sufficient vitality yet to think of the morrow. The
twi