Others straggled in, singly, or by small groups, as darkness closed about, until we formed quite a respectable company.

It was rather a silent, weird procession, scarcely a word being spoken, and no sound heard, other than the dull reverberation of unshod hoofs on the soft turf.

To me, glancing back from where I held position beside Farrell, they seemed like spectral figures, with no rattle of accoutrements, no glimmer of steel, no semblance of uniform.

Yet my heart warmed to the knowledge that these were no holiday warriors, but grim fighting men.

I had seen the faces, some boyish, others graybeards, and had read in them all sternness of purpose.