He heard already the
ring of the axes.
But the Winchester men rested for the present. Nature had made their own
position strong with a low hill, and a thicket in front. They lay upon
the ground, sheltering themselves from the cold wind, which cut through
bodies relaxed and almost bloodless after such vast physical exertions
and excitement so tremendous.
CHAPTER XIV
THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA
Dick, after eating the cold food which was served to him, sank into a
state which was neither sleep nor stupor. It was a mystic region between
the conscious and the unconscious, in which all things were out of
proportion, and some abnormal.
He saw before him a vast stretch of dead blackness which he knew
nevertheless was peopled by armed hosts ready to spring upon them at
dawn. The darkness and silence were more oppressive than sound and light,
even made by foes, would have been. It numbed him to think there was so
little of stirring life, where nearly two hundred thousand men had fought.
Then a voice arose that made him shiver. But it was only the cold wind
from the mountains whistling a dirge.
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