devoted themselves to the cultivation of the
huckleberry. These they could have sold, and then have bought much
better apples grown in the plains. I also notice that the flour of which
this pastry is made was ground from the wheat of this region, which is
always largely mixed with cockle. If the people would give up growing
wheat for three or four years, cockle would probably disappear, and they
would then have flour of a much higher grade.' Almia and the two
soldiers could not help smiling when they perceived that while the
Exceptional Pedestrian was making these criticisms he ate three quarters
of a pie, which was more than his share.

"When the pies had been consumed the little party pressed forward, but
not to the northeast, for the two soldiers insisted that the battle
raged in the northwest, and they would not go in any other direction,
although the Exceptional Pedestrian endeavored to overwhelm them with
arguments to prove that he was right. The din of the battle, however,
soon proved that he was wrong. Penetrating an extensive thicket, they
reached its outer edge, and there gazed upon a far-stretching
battle-field.

"Now this would be the place," said the Daughter of the House, "for a
fine description, not only of the battle-field, but of the battle which
was raging upon it; and, if I ever write this story, I shall tell how
one army was posted on one side of a wide valley, while the other army
was posted on the other, and how regiments and battalions and
detachments from each side came down into the beautiful plain and fought
and fired and struggled until the grass was stained with blood; and how
the cannon roared from the hills and mowed down whole battalions of
infantry below; how brave soldiers fell on every side, wounded and dead,
while men with stretchers hurried to carry them away from beneath the
hoofs of the charging cavalry. I would tell how the carnage increased
every moment; how the yells of fury grew louder; and how the roar of
the cannon became more and more terrible.

"But all I can say now is that it was a spectacle to freeze the blood.
Poor Almia could scarcely retain consciousness as she gazed upon the
awful scenes of woe and suffering which spread out beneath her. And she
could do nothing! Her labors would be useful only in cases of isolated
woundings. If she were to mingle in the fray she would perish in the
general slaughter; and if she were to go and offer assistance in the
hospitals she