Part 23 (2/2)

The brave soldier had indeed ed to raise hith hurl the bomb he carried over to where the battery lay concealed

CHAPTER XXV

THE WINNING OF THE RIVER FORD

Immediately there came a loud crash as the bomb exploded The exhausted French soldier had no further strength to sustain hih he may have died in the cli note of a bugle, like a clarion call It was undoubtedly the signal for another attee of the river, so essential to the success of the French pursuit of the retiring Gerures leap into sight fro the success or failure of the first action These were no doubt the reserves intended to be thrown into the breach after soed the ene across the ford

As the others had done these reat collective daht when the foe started to fire They were speedily at the water's edge, and it was then that they anticipatedwith that sudden avalanche of flauns

Somehow it did not come in the voluuns started to take their toll the one offensive battery reularly silent

Rod and Josh did not need to be told that the bold French all the units of that battery when he hurled his bomb over the redoubt Perhaps that terrific crashthe guns right and left

No matter what the cause the battery was as still as death, a fact that must have filled the anxious heart of the French commander-in-chief with a fierce joy; for its presence there intact promised to make all his work of no avail, despite the unrivaled valor of his men

This time the story was to be quite different, it seemed Some of the leaders in that mad rush were already al to shoot back as they found a chance to glimpse an enemy hidden amidst the bushes on the bank of the river

Josh could hardly contain himself He jumped up and down ”like a flea,”

as Hanky Panky afterwards explained it in his peculiar fashi+on Indeed, to hear Josh letting out shrieks and cries one would have ied for his particular benefit, and that he was enjoying the lively scene with all his heart

Now so up the bank They found shelter, such as it was, and i so as to cut down those ere rattling the quick-firing weapons not far away

More and more came up out of the depths, some of the on With the cliht at close quarters with the hated ene as a bullet in the shoulder, or it ed as they walked?

The fire and enthusias out of the line Some in fact would not know they had been injured until it was all over but the cheering, and a weakness began to overco having passed away

Josh aving his hat wildly now Despite the noise and confusion he shouted out his views In so doing he gave the ”escape valve” soh worked no har to the work of that one brave felloas the burden of his outcries

”I' or dead! His fa he really did Talk to ht to be eneral--if he lives!”

The Geriven up, even when they realized that after all the French had won the passage of the ford They had been given the task of defending the crossing with their lives, and showed the custo after all was lost

Butover now They caet in the fight over there The guns too were being brought closer to the river, so that the retreating Gerht be shelled warmly as they left the scene of their stubborn combat

How they splashed across that shallow place in the strea off the h; others actually had to swiuns above their heads so that they ood work of chasing off the Gerht--of course only to those who favored the French, for to the ene one--to see those ht to a finish Each one, as soon as he could set foot on solid ground, lost no ti his quota to the force of the assailants

And not one single shot had come from that i cause, had brought about the first disaster to the French There could be no question but what that one unknown private soldier, perhaps now dead, had saved the day for his side