If their nerves settled down for a moment, that solemn boom from the forest and the shriek of the shell made them jump again.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" murmured Colonel Talbot, "but terribly trying to new men! Carrington certainly grows better with the years." Harry tried to compose himself and rest, as he lay in the trench with St.Clair and Langdon.

They had had their battle face to face and all three of them were terribly shaken, but they recovered themselves at last, despite the shells which burst at short but irregular intervals inside the fort.

Thus the last hours of the afternoon waned, and as the twilight came, they went more freely about the fort.
Colonel Talbot called a conference of the senior officers in a corner of the enclosure well under the shelter of the earthen walls, and after some minutes of anxious talking they sent for the three youths.

Harry, St.Clair and Langdon responded with alacrity, sure that something of the utmost importance was afoot..