Are they within rifle shot, Dick ?" "Not yet, but they soon will be." He slung the glasses back over his shoulder.

The eye alone was sufficient now to watch the charging columns.

All the artillery on both sides was coming into action, and the ripping crash of so many cannon became so great that the officers could no longer hear one another unless they shouted.

The gorges and hills caught up the sound and gave it back in increased volume.
Dick heard a new note in the thunder.

It was made by the swift beat of hoofs, thousands of them, and the hair on his neck prickled at the roots.