"Hark to it! The sergeant was right.

We're going to have a battle to-day and a big one.

The popping of your corn, Dick, has become an unbroken sound." Dick, from the crest of the hillock on which they lay, gazed over the heads of the men in blue.

The skirmishers were showing a hideous activity.

A continuous line of light ran along the front of both armies, and behind the flash of the Southern firing he saw heavy masses of infantry emerging from the woods.