owed brows
he waited, while Almia fed his horse. The brown-haired soldier came
quickly back. 'Tell me,' cried the general, without waiting for the
other to speak, 'has my cavalry made its grand charge, and cut off the
approach of the left wing of the enemy?'

"'No, sir,' replied the soldier, touching his cap; 'it did not charge in
time, and it is now all mixed up with the artillery, which is rapidly
retiring.'

"'What!' cried the general, 'retiring?'

"'Yes, sir,' said the soldier; 'I am sorry to say that our whole army is
retreating, pell-mell, as fast as it can go. The enemy is in active
pursuit, and its left wing is now advancing up this side of the valley.
In less than twenty minutes the retreat of our cavalry and artillery
will be cut off by the hills, and the infantry is already scattering
itself far and wide.'

"'I must go!' shouted the general, drawing his sword from its scabbard.
'I must rally my forces! I must--'

"'No, general,' said the brown-haired soldier; 'that is impossible. If
you were now to attempt to approach our army you would throw yourself
into the ranks of the enemy.'

"The Commander-in-Chief dropped the bridle from his listless hands, and
bowed his head. 'Lost!' he murmured. 'Lost! And this was the decisive
battle of the war! If I had been able to order my cavalry to charge,
the enemy's left wing would have been cut from their main body. But
for you,' he continued, fixing his eyes upon Almia with a look of
unutterable sadness, 'I should have done it. You have caused me to lose
this battle.'

"Almia drew herself up, her heart swelling with emotion. This was the
proudest moment of her life--prouder by far than she had ever expected
any moment of her existence to be. 'Yes,' she said; 'that is what I did.
And if this was the decisive battle of the war, then will follow peace;
blood will cease to flow, widows and orphans will cease to suffer, and
men who have been fighting one another like tigers without really
understanding why they sought one another's lives will again meet as
friends.'

"'There is a great deal of sense in what you say,' exclaimed the
Exceptional Pedestrian. 'I admit I am a soldier, but I do not approve of
war. The statistics of social aspects prove--'

"He was interrupted by the brown-haired soldier, who remarked: 'It would
be well for us to retire, for doubtless the enemy will soon occupy the
ridge.'

"The general took no notice; apparently he was lost in thought.