"Yes," was the answer. "This battle has been impending for days, and orders were issued to the people to escape to the back districts without delay."
"They may as well stay away now," said Drummond. "There are hundreds of wounded, and our first care must be for them. We may have beaten the enemy, but it has been at terrible cost."
"Your arrival, General, was a God-send. If your men had not come I don't know where we would have been."
"Your own vanguard helped to save us though. But the horror of it all—a thousand men have bit the dust."
"If we have fights like this, thousands more may do it yet before we are through."
"True, but it is a fight to the finish. We must hold our own. Never relinquish an inch."
For more than an hour Captain Morris remained unconscious. His continued insensibility caused much concern, and Sergeant Dennis, his faithful subaltern, was placed beside him to watch.
After a while, he opened his eyes and looked vacantly around him through the dim light. Gradually he took in the situation.
"Ah!" he exclaimed at last, fixing his eyes on Dennis and looking at his bandages. "I got hurt—did I?"
"Yes, Captain, a trifle," was the answer.