The National tribune., 1899-10-12

| ton you are to attack, and the other regI-
ments will support you. The General
will come up later and give you further
| instructions. Good night"
The men nearest the Colonel heard
| plainly all that was said, and it was soon
| known throughout the regiment. The
men seemed to forget their fatigue as they
moved ;llcrtly but warily into line to the
left, and studied intently the skyline of
the rising ground in front.
The whip-poor- wills were still calling,
| but at the fianks and rear of the regiment.
/ None of them called in front.
''It's full o rebels over there; that's the
reason" said 81 to himself, as he noted this.
"Yes, they're all at home, and goin' to
/ shoot" he added in a loud whisper. LAY
down, everybody"
He was none too soon. The tramping
through the bushes and the various noises
| that bodies of men will make when in mo-
| ton, had reached the ears of the alert
rebels. A dazzling series of flashes ran
| along the sky line, and a fight of bullets
sang wickedly over the heads of the 2OOth
Ind, striking in the bushes and trees far
| behind them.
| Don't anybody yell! Don't anybody
shootw called the Colonel in a loud whisper,
at will reveal our position. Lie down and
keep perfectly quiet. They're overshoot-
| ing u.s."
The rebel battery in the fort walked up,
and, more to show its good will than any
thing else, began shelIing the surrounding
landscape.
| One of our batteries, mile or so to the
rear, which had not had an opportunity
| to fire during the day, could not resist this
challenge, and began throwing shells at
the fort with so fair an aim as to draw the
| attention of tho rebel battery to it.
! The lurid flashes Of the mtIskets, can
non, and shells revealed belt of Jagged
abatis several rods wide covering the entire
front of the fort and breastworks.
| Great Scott" muttered ST to himself,
| for he was not on speaking terms with
Shorty, and would not alarm the bows:
there's porcuplne nest to git through
How in the Nation are we ever goin' to do
t?"
| "Unroll your blankets and lie down on
them" came down the line from the Col
onel. Lay your guns beside you. Don't
attempt to stack them. You may attract
the attention of the rebels. Everybody
keep his place, and be ready to form and
| move at once"
stop firing. What are you shooting
at! said voice OF authority in the rebel
works. "Who gave the order to fire."
| The men began it themselves" said
second voice. They heard Yankees
moving over there. and commenced shoot
ing at them"
"How do you know there are any Yam
KEGS out there? | don't believe they have
advanced beyond the crest of the hill. /
think they are all going down toward
Resaca. Haven't you any pickets out
therc?"
"No. We only moved i'm here this after
noon, and did not know how long we were
going to stay. was ordered to stay here
till further orders, to protect the road be-
yond."
well, we haven't any ammunition to
waste firing at uncertainties. There's s
enough Yankees in sight all the time for
all the bullets we have, without wasting
any on imaginary ones. It'll be time
enough for you to begin shooting when
you see them coming to the edge of the
abatis there. Before they get through
| that you'll have time enough to shoot awav
all the ammunition you have"
| The rebel battery seemed to have come
to the conclusion that it had done enough
ing, and was getting more than it gave.
and stopped firing. The Union battery,
believing it had silenccd its opponent.
gave cheer, which was echoed by the
troops around it, and ceased firing
I'm going to see whether there are any
Yankees there, said the second voice in
the rebel works. Jim, you and Joe go
down to the edge of the abats and see
what you can sec"
The wearied boys had nearly all fallen
asleep on their blankets. Even the noisy
artillery duel had not kept Jim Humphreys
ttMtihC, anu sipilly iIlu
sell followed his example soon after the
firing ceased. Then Harry Joslyn and
Gid Mack;tll, spreading their blankets
apart for the first time since they had been
i'll the service, sought sest from their fatigue
and forgetfulues5 of their mutual anger.
ST and Shorty kept stcri,ly apart. Shorty
occupied himself i'll fixing the blankets
comfortably for a nest for little Pete Skid
more, while ST, brooding over the way that
Shorty had fared up about nothin' at
all" and the Ordcrly-Scrgeant's aud Capt.
McGillicuddy's unjust heat 10 him, had
kept his eyes fixed on the sly-!j"c beyond,
and had listened to the conycrs t;u.' %! f'lG
rebel officers. 1t occurred to llin ihtt by
Watching the two rebels come down he
might get an idea of Il passage through
the abatis, which would be useful in the
morning. He strained his eyes to catch
sight OF their movements.
He saw two projections against the sky
line, which he knew were the men crossing
the works. They separated, and he could
make out two black blotches above the
level of darkness and moving down the