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.