ruel foes, who oft-times
revenged themselves on the dead for defeats they had suffered from the
living.

The sentry in question walked to and fro upon his prescribed rounds,
alternately turning face and back upon the mangled corpses. On each
occasion, as he faced round half mechanically he counted them, by way of
killing the time, at the same time preserving between them and himself a
respectable distance.

After a short while spent in this melancholy pastime, the sounds
accompanying the ceremony of the mass attracted his attention; and, as a
change, he commenced endeavouring to make out the words that were being
spoken or chaunted.

A distant voice exclaimed--

"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right-hand;
but it shall not come nigh thee."

"What the devil can it mean?" soliloquised the soldier. "Latin it must
be! Some prayer for these dead rebels, I suppose!"

While thus alluding to the corpses that lay near, he once more glanced
towards them. All at once it appeared to him that their number had
increased!

"I must have made a mistake," muttered he to himself; "I surely counted
only nine of them a moment ago; and yet now there was surely ten--one,
two, three--yes, ten!"

He again lent his ears to listen to the chaunting of the psalm--

"Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the
dragon shalt thou trample under foot."

"Ah!" exclaimed the sentry, "they are talking of dragoons--the Queen's
dragoons, I suppose?"

On making this remark, he paused suddenly in his steps. He had been
timing his paces with that regular tread habitual to sentries, and in
such a fashion as to maintain the same distance between himself and the
corpses--which he had no inclination to approach. This time, on turning
his face, it appeared to him that he had got much nearer to one of them;
and at the next turn nearer still! This induced him to count the steps
he was taking; and though on each round he made exactly the same number,
he could not resist the conviction that he was constantly approximating
to the corpse. Either he must be mistaken, or the dead body must have
moved from its place! The latter was, of course, the more probable
supposition; but, to assure himself, he approached the corpse to examine
it.

The dead man was lying upon his side; and a blotch of crimson colour
conspicuous behind his cheek, marked the place where his ear had been
cropped off.

A brief