t plenty 'a that t' do in about ten minutes. Less
talkin' an' more fightin' is what's best for you boys. I never saw
sech gabbling jackasses."

He paused, ready to pounce upon any man who might have the temerity to
reply. No words being said, he resumed his dignified pacing.

"There's too much chin music an' too little fightin' in this war,
anyhow," he said to them, turning his head for a final remark.

The day had grown more white, until the sun shed his full radiance upon
the thronged forest. A sort of a gust of battle came sweeping toward
that part of the line where lay the youth's regiment. The front
shifted a trifle to meet it squarely. There was a wait. In this part
of the field there passed slowly the intense moments that precede the
tempest.

A single rifle flashed in a thicket before the regiment. In an instant
it was joined by many others. There was a mighty song of clashes and
crashes that went sweeping through the woods. The guns in the rear,
aroused and enraged by shells that had been thrown burr-like at them,
suddenly involved themselves in a hideous altercation with another band
of guns. The battle roar settled to a rolling thunder, which was a
single, long explosion.

In the regiment there was a peculiar kind of hesitation denoted in the
attitudes of the men. They were worn, exhausted, having slept but
little and labored much. They rolled their eyes toward the advancing
battle as they stood awaiting the shock. Some shrank and flinched.
They stood as men tied to stakes.

Chapter 17

This advance of the enemy had seemed to the youth like a ruthless
hunting. He began to fume with rage and exasperation. He beat his foot
upon the ground, and scowled with hate at the swirling smoke that was
approaching like a phantom flood. There was a maddening quality in
this seeming resolution of the foe to give him no rest, to give him no
time to sit down and think. Yesterday he had fought and had fled
rapidly. There had been many adventures. For to-day he felt that he
had earned opportunities for contemplative repose. He could have
enjoyed portraying to uninitiated listeners various scenes at which he
had been a witness or ably discussing the processes of war with other
proved men. Too it was important that he should have time for physical
recuperation. He was sore and stiff from his experiences. He had
received his fill of all exertions, and he wished to rest.

But those other men