"Here comes a fellow who's got his dose, I guess, Rob," said Merritt, as one of the rebels staggered toward their little enclosure, holding his left arm rigidly with the clenched fingers of his right hand and trying to suppress a look of pain on his swarthy face.
The Federals attempted to add to his troubles by shooting at him, so that the dust arose in several little spurts around his feet as he came on; but luckily he was not struck again, and soon sank down with a groan at the feet of the "gringo" boys, who had let it be known that they were ready to treat any and all wounds.
Rob immediately took the man in hand. He had several pails of water handy, and was thus enabled to wash the fellow's arm first of all. It turned out that he had received a pretty serious hurt. It made Tubby shudder, but the fat scout showed plenty of grit, for he volunteered to assist Rob in any way possible.
Between them the wound was so well taken care of that when the bandage had been fastened the man declared in broken English that he was grateful, and would now dodge back to where he had dropped his gun, hoping to repay some venturesome Regular for his injury.
"There, I reckoned they had plenty of pluck once they got started!" Rob declared, on seeing the man run across the open space, jumping in a zig-zag fashion when the lead began to patter around him.
Another came crawling into the hospital, having also been touched; and before he could be discharged a third bounded toward them, now stopping to limp, as though he hardly knew where he was hurt.
"This is going some, let me tell you!" said Merritt.
"Good practice for us scouts, all the same," Tubby declared, puffing out his big chest with a suspicion of pride, and then as quickly subsiding when he heard a bullet spatter on the rock not three feet away, so that particles of stone even tingled his cheek.
For some time the battle at the stalled train continued, until hundreds of shots had been fired on either side and some seven or more rebels had been ministered to by the young field surgeons. But so far as the boys knew, there had thus far been no fatalities, at least on their side. Though no one could say whether or not any of the Federals up there among the rocks on the slope had been struck by the bullets the rebels continued to send aloft so industriously.