oken note.

When night fell a messenger came with terrible news. Grant had broken
through at last! The thin lines of the Confederates could not stand this
steady, heavy hammering day after day. They must retreat through the
Wilderness and draw fresh breath to fight again. Sadly the convoy took
its way to the south, and in three hours it was enveloped by the
remnants of a broken brigade, retreating in the fear of hot pursuit by
both cavalry and infantry. The commander of the brigade, by virtue of
his rank, became commander of the whole, and Talbot, longing for action,
fell back to the rear, resolved to watch for the enemy.

Talbot hated to exercise authority, preferring to act alone; and now he
became a picket, keen-eyed, alert, while his friends went into camp
ahead on the bank of a narrow but deep river. Presently he heard shots
and knew that the skirmishers of the enemy were advancing, though he
wondered why they should show such pernicious activity on so black a
night. They were in battle with some other retreating Southern
force--probably a regiment, he thought--and if they wanted to fight he
could not help it.

CHAPTER XXII

THE LONE SENTINEL

The desultory firing troubled the ears of Talbot as he trod to and fro
on his self-imposed task, as he could not see the use of it. The day for
fighting and the night for sleep and rest was the perfect division of a
soldier's life.

The tail of the battle writhed on without regard for his feelings or
theories, though its efforts became gradually feebler, and he hoped that
by and by the decent part of both armies would settle into lethargy,
leaving the night to the skirmishers, who never sleep and are without
conscience.

He went back a little to an open spot where a detail of about twenty men
were posted. But he did not remain with them long. Securing a rifle, he
returned toward the enemy, resolved to watch on his own account--a
voluntary picket.

Talbot was not troubled for his friends alone. The brigade had been
beaten and driven back upon the river, and with the press of numbers
against it he feared that the next day would bring its destruction. The
coming of the night, covering friend and foe alike and making activity
hazardous, was opportune, since it would give his comrades time to rest
and gather their strength for the stand in the morning. He could hear
behind him even now the heavy tread of the beaten companies as they
sought their places in the da