Daisy In The Field

The voice went through my heart; but my horse's nerves were

immediately as much disturbed as mine. The order was followed

by a discharge of the whole battery at once, sounding as the

burst of one gun. My horse, exceedingly surprised, lifted his

fore feet in the air on the instant; and otherwise testified

to his discomposure; and I had some little difficulty to keep

him to the spot and bring him back to quietness. It was

vexatious to lose such precious minutes; however, we were

composed again by the time the smoke of the guns was clearing

away. I could hardly believe my eyes. There lay the cannon, on

the ground, taken from their carriages; the very carriages

themselves were all in pieces; here lay one wheel, there lay

another; the men were sitting around contentedly.

"What is the matter?" I exclaimed.

"The officer in charge of the drill, seeing what mischief his

guns have unwittingly done, you see, Miss Randolph, has taken

his battery to pieces. He will not fire any more while you are

here. By George!" said the major, "I believe here he comes to

tell us so."

I wished myself away, as I saw the gray horse leap over some

of the obstacles before him and bear down straight towards me.

I bowed low, to hide various things. Mr. Thorold touched his

cap gravely, to the major as well as to me, and then brought

his gray horse alongside.

"Your horse does not like my battery," he remarked.

I looked up at him. His face was safely grave; it meant

business; but his eyes sparkled a little for me; and as I

looked he smiled, and added, "He wants a spur."

"To make him run? I had difficulty enough to prevent his doing

that just now, Mr. Thorold."

"No; to make him stand still. He wants punishing."

"Miss Randolph deserves a great deal of credit," said the

major. "But all Southern women know how to ride; and the men

to fight."

"We are going to have a hard time then," said Thorold; with a

wilful presuming on his privileges.

"But what have you done with your battery?" I asked.

"Taken it to pieces - as you see."

"Pray, what for? I thought something was the matter."

"Nothing was the matter, I am glad to know," Thorold said

looking at me. "It is sometimes necessary to do this sort of

thing in a hurry; and the only way to do it then in a hurry,

is to practise now when there is no hurry. You shall see how

little time it will take to get ready for another order to

fire. But Miss Randolph had better be out of the way first.

Are you going farther?"

The major said he hoped so, and I answered certainly.