would find herself but as a drop in the bucket, her
efforts unrecognized, even if she were not driven away as an interloper.
Besides, she did not know where the hospitals were.

"As she gazed upon this scene of horror she perceived an officer,
mounted upon a noble charger and followed by several horsemen, take
a position upon a hillock not far from the spot where she and her
companions were concealed. From this point of vantage the officer, who
was evidently a general, could perceive the whole battle-field."

"And get himself picked off by a sharp-shooter," thought John Gayther,
but he did not interrupt.

"The brown-haired soldier trembled with emotion, and whispered to Almia,
'That is my Commander-in-Chief.' Even without this information Almia
would have known that the stalwart figure upon the pawing steed was an
officer in high command; for, after speaking a few words to one of his
companions, the latter galloped away into the valley toward the right,
and very soon the battle raged more fiercely in that direction, and
the booming of the cannon and the cracking of the rifles was more
continuous. Then another officer was sent galloping to the left, and in
this direction, too, the battle grew fiercer and the carnage increased.
Courier after courier was sent away, here and there, until, at last, the
commander remained with but one faithful adherent. Since his arrival
upon the hillock the horrors of the bloody contest had doubled, and
Almia could scarcely endure to look into the valley.

"'Is there no way,' she said in a gasping whisper, 'of stopping this?
These two armies are like hordes of demons! Humanity should not permit
it!'

"'Humanity has nothing to do with it,' said the Exceptional Pedestrian.
'A declaration of war eliminates humanity as a social factor. Such is
the usage of nations.'

"'I don't care for the usage of nations,' said Almia. 'It is vile!'

"Now something very important happened in the battle-field. The
Commander-in-Chief rose in his stirrups and peered afar. Then, suddenly
turning, he sent his only remaining follower with clattering hoofs to
carry a message. 'He is making it worse!' declared Almia. 'Now more
brave men will fall; more blood will flow.'

"'Of course,' said the Exceptional Pedestrian. 'He gives no thought to
the falling of brave men or the flowing of blood. Upon his commands
depends the fate of the battle!'

"'And without his commands?' asked Almia, trembling in every fibre.