All these she treated with the silent contempt they merited from so invulnerable a monster.

At length, as she reached a good easy range of the fort, her bow struck something, and she swung around as if to open fire.

That was enough for the Rebels.

With Schofield's army reaching out to cut off their retreat, and this dreadful thing about to tear the insides out of their fort with four-hundred-pound shot at quarter-mile range, there was nothing for them to do but consult their own safety, which they did with such haste that they did not spike a gun, or destroy a pound of stores..