"This way, men," said Andrews, starting up the road on the left. Brown and Tom fell in beside him. "The rest of you straggle out so that you can get off the road quickly if anyone comes." Then, to Brown and Tom: "Perhaps he's lost, or perhaps he's changed his mind. Three others weren't where I told them to be, but we'll get along just as well without them. I arranged it this way so that if any of you did decide at the last minute that you didn't want to go…." He did not finish the sentence. Presently he said: "I want no men who aren't anxious to be with me."
Tom could not see Andrews' face, but he liked his calm, pleasant voice. Conversation stopped, except for Brown's remark, "It looks like rain," and Andrews' answering, "Hm-m-m." For several minutes they plodded along the road, hidden even from the intermittent light of the moon by the trees that grew beside the road.
"Here we are," said Andrews presently. They stopped and waited for the others; then turned off the road into a small opening in the woods. Andrews went ahead of them, and called back, "Come over here."
They found him with two men. There came a rumble of thunder, so remote that it seemed like an echo, but to the ears of Andrews' men it was a sharp reminder of the troubles that might lay ahead of them.
"Hm-m-m! Perhaps you were right, Brown," said Andrews.
Thunder sounded again, this time nearer.
"Let's count heads," said Andrews. "Get in a semi-circle, just as close together as possible."
The men groped about, arranging themselves. Tom found himself shoulder to shoulder between two of them. Presently they were quiet. Andrews' calm, authoritative voice came again: "Starting at this end, give your names and your organizations."
Then: "Bensinger, Company G, Twenty-first Ohio"—"Dorsey, Company H,
Thirty-third"—"Brown, Company G, Twenty-first"—"Pittenger, Company G,
Second"…. There were twenty of them, not including Andrews. Tom found
himself between Wilson, Company C, of the Twenty-first Ohio, and Shadrack,
Company K, of the Second Ohio.
The thunder sounded again and a few drops of rain pattered down. A murmer arose from the men. More thunder, and a flash of lightning. Another crash, and more rain splashed about them.