But it never came. For before a trigger of the six rifles could be drawn, a line of flame spurted from the opposite woods, and a frightful roar of musketry swallowed up all other sounds. Lucius felt a sharp agony of pain in his right ankle, and then, with a dead, heavy weight bearing him irresistibly backwards, fell fainting to the ground with the wild rebel yell ringing in his ears.
The battle of Port Republic had begun. For the second time Lucius and Ephraim had stood up to the fire of their own men, and this time they had gone down.
When we found him, he was lying completely covered by the body of the elder boy, and if we had not come up when we did, he must have been suffocated. The sergeant of the firing party, a rough brute, who was captured, and who explained the matter to us and pointed out the boys, said, with tears in his eyes, that he had never seen such a piece of heroism. Ephraim had evidently caught sight of some of our men in the wood, and knew that in a moment or two the fight must begin. At the same time he believed that the movement would be too late to stop the fire of the platoon, and even as the word was upon the sergeant’s lips, flung himself in front of Lucius, deliberately offering his own life to save that of his friend. As a matter of fact, all his wounds are from our men and in the back; but for all that, they are as glorious as any received in front by our brave fellows to-day.’
‘“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.” It was splendid!’
The full, earnest voice stirred a faint memory in Luce’s dull brain. He looked wearily up into the kind face bent anxiously over him. ‘My General!’ he murmured, and closed his eyes again.
Stonewall Jackson laid his hand caressingly upon the fair, curly head.
‘Poor fellow!’ he said. ‘Will he pull through, doctor, do you think?’
‘Oh yes; I trust so,’ replied the surgeon. ‘His ankle is badly shattered, and he will limp for the rest of his days; but I think we shall be able to save the foot.’
The mournful sigh smote heavily on Luce’s ear. He was still drowsy and stupid from the combined effect of shock and the chloroform which had been administered to him before the ball had been extracted from his leg; but at the sound of that dreary monosyllable his senses quickened, he opened his eyes again, and looked vacantly round.