robably
done at the instant when he turned to rally the men of Company K, and the
ball glanced under the visor of his cap, close enough to scrape upon his
skull, but far enough off to save his brains. Half an inch closer, and the
bullet would have wound up Tom's earthly career.

The shock had stunned him, and he had dropped like a dead man, while the
profusion of blood that came from the wound covered his face, and his
friends could not tell whether he was killed or not. He was a pitiable
object as he lay on the ground by the surgeon's quarters; but the veteran
soon assured himself that his young charge was not dead.

Hapgood washed the gore from his face, and did what he could in his
unscientific manner; and probably the cold water had a salutary effect
upon the patient, for when Hancock and Kearney had completed their work,
and the cry of victory rang over the bloody field, he was sufficiently
revived to hear the inspiring tones of triumph. Leaping to his feet, faint
and sick as he was, he took up the cry, and shouted in unison with the
victors upon the field.

But he had scarcely uttered the notes of glory and victory before his
strength deserted him, and he would have dropped upon the ground if he had
not been caught by Hapgood. He groaned heavily as he sank into the arms of
his friend, and yielded to the faintness and exhaustion of the moment.

The surgeon said the wound was not a very bad one, but that the patient
was completely worn out by the excessive fatigues of march and battle. In
due time he was conveyed to the college building in Williamsburg, where
hundreds of his companions in arms were suffering and dying of their
wounds. He received every attention which the circumstances would permit.
Hapgood, by sundry vigorous applications at headquarters, was, in
consideration of his own and his _protege's_ good conduct on the battle
field, permitted to remain with the patient over night.

The sergeant's skull, as we have before intimated, was not very badly
damaged, as physical injuries were measured after the bloody battle of
that day. But his wound was not the only detriment he had experienced in
the trying ordeal of that terrible day. His constitution had not yet been
fully developed; his muscles were not hardened, and the fatigues of battle
and march had a more serious effect upon him than the ounce of lead which
had struck him on the forehead.

The surgeon understood his case perfectly, and after dressin