Just then Hen Withers, in the squad some 50 feet away broke into song again—
"Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light"
It welled up from his throat like the pipe from a church organ, and as mellow as the strains from a French horn. When the refrain rolled out fully 3,000 men were singing, yelling and shouting in frenzied fervor—
"And the Star Spangled banner.
In triumph shall wave,
O'er the land of the free,
And the home of the brave."
While Hen Withers rested on his well-earned laurels, a strong, clear voice, whose owner was probably thinking of home and the shady gloom of the walk through the grove to singing school with his sweetheart, trilled an apostrophe to the queen of light.
"Roll on, silvery moon,
Guide the traveler on his way,"
but he had it pretty much to himself, for not many knew the words, and he trailed off into
"I loved a little beauty, Bell Brandon,"
then his music died out in the night.
It was now the "tenore robusto" who chimed in bells, on a new battle song that held a mile square of camp spellbound: