Page:Randall Parrish - The Red Mist.djvu/372

 352 firing again blindly into the smoke cloud. For an instant I could see nothing but that white vapor tinged with red and yellow flame; then some breath of air swept it aside, and the attackers were drifting back, running and stumbling. There were motionless bodies on the ground—a half dozen in a heap before the door; with here and there a figure crawling in painful effort at escape.

"Stop firing!" I cried, "they've had enough. Pass the word to those men at the door."

The fight at the front held longer, yet it was scarcely five minutes when the last gun cracked, and a strange silence took the place of that hideous uproar. For an instant not even a cry from the wounded broke the stillness, the men leaning out of the windows watching the disorganized retreat. Then someone gave an exultant yell, and voice after voice caught it up, the old church echoing to the wild battle-cry of the South.

"Steady men, steady!" shouted Harwood from the door of the vestibule, his voice cleaving the din like the blade of a knife. "This is only the first act. Load!"