"Get every inch of that. It's the best scene we've had yet, though it was a close call!" telephoned Mr. Pertell to the operator on the side of the hill. "Film every inch of it!"
"All right! I'm getting it," answered the camera man and he went on grinding away at his crank.
The explosion of the shell had, for the moment, stopped the advance of Paul and his men up the hill, but this momentary halt only made it look more realistic—as though they really feared they were in danger, as indeed they had been. Now the director called:
"It's all right, Paul! Go ahead! Keep on just as if that was part of the show."
"It was a lively part all right!" and Paul laughed grimly. "Come on, boys!"
And the charge was resumed.
Back of the dismantled battery, whence they had presumably been driven by the fire from the big gun, the Confederates were massed. They were waiting for Paul's charge, and they, too, had been a little surprised by the unexpected firing of the shell.
But now, in response to a signal on the field telephone, they prepared to resist the assault.
"Come on, boys! Beat the Yankees back!" was the battle cry that would be flashed on the screen.
Then came the fierce struggle, and it was nearly as fierce as it was indicated in the pictures. Real blows were given, and more than one man went down harder than he had expected to. There were duels with clubbed rifles, and fencing combats with swords, though, of course, the participants took care not to cut one another.