The air was soft and sweet, just cold enough to stir the leaves upon the trees and set them whispering intimately.

The sky, new washed by the rain which had fallen in the night, was clean and bright and sweet to look upon, and the sun shone temperately warm.
All about was the suggestion of calm and rest and happiness.

Surely it had been a dream! There could have been no battle here.
This that had been a dream was changed into a horrid nightmare as the young officer advanced into the wood.

About him lay the awful evidences.

Coats, caps, weapons, bits of gear, all marked and emphasized with many, many shapeless, ghastly things.