"Ha!" said Lowe, "they have got us foul! Haul in the cables—quick!" he shouted, in a fierce tone.
At the same instant, the puff, the report, and the shriek were repeated; but this time the shell burst to our right in mid-air, and scattered fragments around and below us.
"Another shot will do our business," said Lowe, between his teeth; "it isn't a mile, and they have got the range."
Again the puff and the whizzing shock. I closed my eyes, and held my breath hard. The explosion was so close, that the pieces of shell seemed driven across my face, and my ears quivered with the sound. I looked at Lowe, to see if he was struck. He had sprung to his feet, and clutched the cordage frantically.
"Are you pulling in there, you men?" he bellowed, with a loud imprecation.
"Puff! bang! whiz-z-z-z! splutter!" broke a third shell, and my heart was wedged in my throat.
I saw at a glimpse the whole bright landscape again. I hoard the voices of soldiers below, and saw them running across fields, fences, and ditches, to reach our anchorage. I saw some drummer-boys digging in the field beneath for one of the buried shells. I saw the waving of signal flags, the commotion through the camps,—officers galloping their horses, teamsters whipping their mules, regiments turning out, drums beaten, and batteries limbered up. I remarked, last of all, the site of the battery that alarmed us, and, by a strange sharpness of sight and sense, believed that I saw the gunners swabbing, ramming, and aiming the pieces.
"Puff! bang! whiz-z-z-z! splutter! crash!"
"Puff! bang! whiz-z-z-z! splutter! crash!"
"My God!" said Lowe, hissing the words slowly and terribly, "they have opened upon us from another battery!"