Mr. Vosburgh’s eyes rested anxiously on his daughter, and he asked, gravely, “Marian, is it best for you to hear more of this to-night?”

“Yes, papa.  I must hear it all, and not a detail must be softened or omitted.  Moreover,” she added, proudly, dashing her tears right and left, “I am not afraid to listen.”

Merwyn had shifted his seat, and was in deep shadow.  He was pale and outwardly impassive, but there was torture in his mind.  She thought, pityingly, “In spite of my tears I have a stouter heart than he.”

CHAPTER XXXIV.

A glimpse of war, continued.

“Miss Marian,” resumed Blauvelt, “the scenes I am now about to describe are terrible in the extreme, even in their baldest statement.  I cannot portray what actually took place; I doubt whether any one could; I can only give impressions of what I saw and heard when nearly all of us were almost insane from excitement.  There are men who are cool in battle,—­our colonel was, outwardly,—­but the great majority of men must be not only veterans, but also gifted with unusual temperaments, to be able to remain calm and well balanced in the uproar of a bloody battle.

“In a sense, our men were veterans, and were steady enough to aim carefully as the enemy advanced up the steep hill.  Our shots told on them more fatally than theirs on us.  The greater number of us shared Strahan’s impatience, and we longed for the wild, forward dash, which is a relief to the tremendous nervous strain at such a time.  After a moment or two, that seemed ages, the colonel quietly nodded to Strahan, who waved his sword, pointed towards the enemy, and shouted, ‘Charge!’

“You know him well enough to be sure that this was not an order for the men to fulfil while he looked on.  In a second his powerful bay sprung through the centre of our line, and to keep up with him we had to follow on a run.  There was no hesitation or flagging.  Faces that had been pale were flushed now.  As I turned my eyes from moment to moment back to my company, the terrible expression of the men’s eyes impressed me even then.  The colonel watched our impetuous rush with proud satisfaction, and then spurred his horse to the very midst of our advance.  The lieutenant-colonel, undaunted by a former wound, never flinched a second, but wisely fought on foot.

“The first battle-line of the enemy seemed utterly unable to stand before our fierce onset.  Those who were not shot fled.

“Again I saw Strahan waving his sword and shouting; ’Victory!  Forward, men! forward!’

“He was in the very van, leading us all.  At this moment the second rebel line fired a volley, and the bullets swept by like an autumn gust through a tree from which the leaves, thinned by former gales, are almost stripped.  It seemed at the moment as if every other man went down.  Wonder of wonders, as the smoke lifted a little, I saw to the right the tall form of our colonel still on his gray horse, pointing with his sword to the second rebel line, and shouting, ‘Forward, my men! forward!’