His face was worn and drawn, and he was black under the eyes. His
clothes were covered with dust. His body was weary almost unto death,
but his eyes burned with the fire of an undying spirit.
"I've been all the night and all this morning in the mountains and hills,"
he said. "Harper's Ferry is not yet taken, but I think it will fall.
But Hill, McLaws and Longstreet are all in this pass or the other which
leads through the mountain. They mean to hold us as long as they can,
and then hang on to the flank of our army."
He passed on and the little regiment advanced more rapidly. Dick saw
Colonel Winchester's eyes sparkling and he knew he was anxious to be in
the thick of it. Other and heavier forces were deploying upon the same
point, but Winchester's regiment led.
As they approached a deadly fire swept the plain and the hills. Rifle
bullets crashed among them and shell and shrapnel came whining and
shrieking. Once more the Winchester regiment, as it had come to be
called, was smitten with a bitter and deadly hail. Men fell all around
Dick but the survivors pressed on, still leading the way for the heavy
brigades which they heard thundering behind them.
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