Deck had received no additional wound; and the bullet injury did not trouble him much, for he could handle his reins with the left hand nearly as well as ever. Artie had received three cuts upon his sword arm, but they happened to be all slight. In fact, the soldier who had not been damaged to some extent was hardly to be found. Only five men had been killed, nine wounded seriously enough to disable them.
"You seem to be all right, Deck," said Captain Truman, when they met at the camp.
"I am, Captain, and ready for another fight when you bring it along," replied the young soldier, laughing, and putting a bold face on the situation.
"Don't be too ambitious, my boy," replied the officer, shaking his head. "You have been reckless to-day."
"But I have come out all right; and I don't think I was any more reckless than the rest of the fellows," added Deck.
"You have fought like a veteran; and I think we owe more to you for the result of the action than to any other single individual, though all the boys behaved like heroes, and proved that they were the equals of even the Texan desperadoes."
"I don't think I did anything more than the rest of our fellows," suggested Deck; and he was not in this matter indulging in mere bravado: he really believed he had done nothing except what came naturally to his hands, as others had done.
"Then I must differ in opinion from you; but while I commend your skill and bravery, I cannot wholly approve of the gymnastics in which you indulged at the beginning of the charge, for it was simply recklessness," said the captain very seriously. "It is your duty to fight courageously, my boy; but it is also a duty you owe to your country, as well as to your father and all the members of your family, to save your life and limbs with honor if you can."
"Haven't I done so, Captain Truman?" asked Deck, with a very cheerful smile on his face. "I came out with hardly a wound after the bullet hit me in the arm at the beginning. I have nothing but half-a-dozen scratches to show for it."
"You were excited to the highest pitch in the affair, and you have not got over it yet. When you do, you will feel your scratches more. But I hope you will not be so reckless another time, my boy."