Rebs. Some say he was the fust
man of us that enlisted; I know he fretted till we were off, an' when
we pitched into old Wagner, he fought like the Devil."

"Were you with him when he was wounded? How was it?"

"Yes, Ma'am. There was somethin' queer about it; for he 'peared to
know the chap that killed him, an' the chap knew him. I don't dare to
ask, but I rather guess one owned the other some time,--for, when they
clinched, the chap sung out, 'Bob!' an' Dane, 'Marster Ned! then they
went at it."

I sat down suddenly, for the old anger and compassion struggled in my
heart, and I both longed and feared to hear what was to follow.

"You see, when the Colonel--Lord keep an' send him back to us!--it
a'n't certain yet, you know, Ma'am, though it's two days ago we lost
him--well, when the Colonel shouted, 'Rush on, boys, rush on!' Dane
tore away as if he was goin' to take the fort alone; I was next him,
an' kept close as we went through the ditch an' up the wall. Hi! warn't
that a rusher!" and the boy flung up his well arm with a whoop, as if
the mere memory of that stirring moment came over him in a gust of
irrepressible excitement.

"Were you afraid?" I said,--asking the question women often put, and
receiving the answer they seldom fail to get.

"No, Ma'am!"--emphasis on the "Ma'am,"--"I never thought of anything
but the damn Rebs, that scalp, slash, an' cut our ears off, when they
git us. I was bound to let daylight into one of 'em at least, an' I
did. Hope he liked it!"

"It is evident that you did, and I don't blame you in the least. Now
go on about Robert, for I should be at work."

"He was one of the fust up; I was just behind, an' though the whole
thing happened in a minute. I remember how it was, for all I was
yellin' an' knockin' round like mad. Just where we were, some sort of
an officer was wavin' his sword an' cheerin' on his men; Dane saw him
by a big flash that come by; he flung away his gun, give a leap, an'
went at that feller as if he was Jeff, Beauregard, an' Lee, all in one.
I scrabbled after as quick as I could, but was only up in time to see
him git the sword straight through him an' drop into the ditch. You
needn't ask what I did next, Ma'am, for I don't quite know myself; all
I 'm clear about is, that I managed somehow to pitch that Reb into the
fort as dead as Moses, git hold of Dane, an' bring him off. Poor old
feller! we said we went in to live or die; he said he went in to die,