Only the very old and the very young were left to care for the homes of Louisburg, and the number of these grew steadily less as the need increased for more material at the front.

Then came the Southern infantry, lean, soft-stepping men from Georgia and the Carolinas, their long black hair low on their necks, their shoes but tattered bits of leather bound upon their feet, their blankets made of cotton, but their rifles shining and their drill perfection.

The wheat lay green upon the fields and the odours of the blossoms of the peach trees hung heavy on the air; but there was none who thought of fruitage or of harvest.

Out there in front, where the guns were pulsing, there went on that grimmer harvest with which the souls of all were intimately concerned.

The boys who threw up their hats to greet the infantry were fewer than they had been before the blossoming of the peach.