CHAPTER XXI.
THE BOYS GO INTO BATTLE.
Sitting their horses quietly, their lives endangered every moment by shotand shell that dropped around them and whistled by their heads, Hal andChester watched keenly the hand-to-hand struggle that ensued.
The two bodies of horsemen met with a crash less than a quarter of amile from where the two lads had taken their places. With swords andsabers flashing aloft, the Austrians had charged with a wild yell. TheItalian cavalry, stationary and braced for the shock, received theirfoes silently.
Hal and Chester could see that the opposing bodies of horse were aboutevenly matched; and they realized that skill, horsemanship and fightingprowess would play important parts in the encounter.
The very fierceness of the Austrian charge swept away the front rank ofthe Italian cavalry; and, over the fallen bodies of men and horses thefoe pressed on, taking no count of their own dead and injured that reeledand fell from the saddles. The horses themselves became imbued with thespirit of battle, and bit and struck at each other as their riders foughtwith sword, saber and pistol.
It was a terrible sight, and the lads shuddered unconsciously. It wasmore frightful to the spectator than it was to the struggling menthemselves, who, in the heat of battle, took no thought of the dead andthe dying and pressed forward bent only upon protecting themselves whilethey sought the lives of their foes.
For an hour the fierce hand-to-hand struggle raged, with advantageapparently first to one side and then to the other. In other sections ofthe field, at least where Hal and Chester could see, operations hadceased for the moment, each commander evidently loath to hurl forwardadditional troops until the cavalry action had been decided. However, thetroops were engaged in other quarters of the field. Upon the right theItalians had made no impression on the Austrian, but the Italian leftwing had had better success. The first line of trenches of the enemy hadfallen to the attacking forces after a fierce bayonet charge by theinfantry, and the left wing had now taken shelter in the trenches and waspreparing to beat off a counter attack which the Austrian commander evennow was about to make.
And in the center the cavalry still fought sullenly and fiercely.
Suddenly Hal uttered an exclamation of dismay.
From a quarter of a mile to the left of the struggling cavalry, a secondbody of Austrian horsemen appeared. These men had been ordered to make adetour and fall upon the Italian horse from the left. They now chargedwith a shout.
Apparently this had taken the Italian commander by surprise, for noadditional Italian troops were for the moment hurled forward to thesupport of the cavalry. Beset by this new foe, the Italians were forcedback slowly, fighting every minute, however, and contesting every foot ofground as they retreated.
Hal and Chester now realized for the first time that they were directlyin the line of retreat.
"We'd better move, Hal," said Chester, "or we shall have to fight whetherwe want to or not."
Hal signified his assent with a nod of his head, and they turned theirhorses' heads to ride out of harm's way.
But they had delayed too long.
From behind them came a loud, terrible, blood-curdling shout, and gazingquickly about, the lads saw that they were directly in the road of largecavalry reinforcements that were being rushed forward to the support ofthe hard-pressed men in front.
"Quick, Chester!" cried Hal, and put spurs to his horse.
But it was too late.
The Italian cavalry was upon them, and rather than be thrown down andtrampled, the lads were forced to turn their horses in with the troop;and thus they were carried along like a whirlwind in the very front rankof the charge, and Hal, glancing to his left, felt a sudden sense ofsatisfaction as he saw that the man who led this desperate charge wasnone other than Colonel Harry Anderson, his old companion in arms, theman by whose side both he and Chester had faced death more than once.
Hal's hand dropped to his belt, and his revolver came forth in his lefthand. The reins he allowed to fall loose upon his horse's neck, whilewith his right hand he drew his sword. Chester, with the light of battlein his eyes, was already prepared.
The horses of the two boys darted forward with the rest of the troop,their ears standing straight up, their manes bristling, theirnostrils extended.
Now the troop came close upon the cavalry already engaged; and these men,despite their seeming confusion, parted as though by a prearranged plan,and the reinforcements passed through, and fell upon the enemy with animpact that was not to be denied. Behind, the first troop reformed andnow came forward in support.
And once more Hal and Chester found themselves in the midst of battle.
Just before the impact, and as Colonel Anderson brandished his swordaloft and urged his men on with a shouted command, Hal discharged hisrevolver at a tall Austrian who had taken deliberate aim at ColonelAnderson. The man threw up his hands and with a wild yell toppled beneaththe feet of the plunging horses, there to be trampled to death if Hal'sbullet had not been enough.
One volley was poured into the Austrians at a command from ColonelAnderson, and then the Italians were upon the foe with drawn sabers. Asingle volley from the Austrians proved ineffective; Hal and Chester andthe commander of the troop were unscathed and the Austrians had no timefor another.
Chester parried a blow aimed at him by an Austrian cavalryman, andraising his pistol quickly, toppled him from his horse with a bullet. Asecond ploughed its way through the chest of another trooper and with hissword the lad caught a blow that at that moment would have descended uponHal's head.
And so the fighting went, cut, thrust, parry and strike, with anoccasional revolver shot in between; and Hal, Chester, and ColonelAnderson, in some miraculous manner, escaping injury.
The Austrians fought bravely, giving blow for blow, and in the centersucceeded in breaking through. It was but a mere handful of men whosucceeded in this venture, however, and they were immediately cut offfrom their friends. A demand to surrender went unheeded; and a momentlater they had gone down.
A bugle sounded in the Austrian rear. The enemy drew off. It was firstblood to the Italians and the troops raised a loud cheer as they dashedforward in pursuit of the foe, who now turned their horses aboutsharply and fled.
For a hundred yards the Italians pursued, doing great execution withtheir heavy cavalry swords; and then Colonel Anderson called a halt, forhe feared he might be rushing into a trap.
When two hundred yards separated the opposing forces, the Austrianartillery suddenly broke loose again. A shell struck squarely in thecenter of the Italian horsemen, doing frightful execution. ColonelAnderson hurriedly gave the order to fall back.
The colonel turned to Hal and Chester.
"What are you two doing here?" he demanded. "I thought you told me yourfighting days were over?"
"We thought so, too," replied Hal, with a smile, "but you fellowsswooped down on us so suddenly that we didn't have a chance to get outof the way."
"And it seemed pretty good," said Chester, "just like old times."
"You both gave good accounts of yourselves," declared the colonel. "I'llhave a word to say about you in my report."
"No use of--" began Chester and broke off with an ejaculation: "Hello!"
"What's up?" demanded Anderson.
For answer, Chester pointed to the left and slightly ahead. There,overlooked in some way, a small body of Italian troops was engagedsilently with a larger number of Austrians and the Italians were gettingthe worst of the encounter.
Colonel Anderson made his decision in a moment, and in spite of theAustrian artillery shells that were flying overhead and dropping on allsides, the cavalry rushed to the aid of their countrymen.
But the Austrians didn't wait to receive this new attack. They turned andtook to their heels; and as they hastened away, Hal caught the sound of avoice coming from their midst:
"Hal! Chester!" it came. "Help!"
"By George! it's Uncle John!" exclaimed Chester, and urged his h
orseforward faster than before.
"Uncle John--and a prisoner," ejaculated Hal, and also spurred forward.
But a heavy hand was laid on the bridle of each.
"Here! what's the matter with you fellows?" demanded Colonel Anderson'sgruff voice. "Want to get yourselves killed?"
"But we've got to get Uncle John out of this mess," declared Chester.
"You won't get him out by getting yourselves killed," was the reply."He's safe enough now. He's a prisoner and they won't hurt him."
"But they'll keep him prisoner," was Chester's exclamation.
"Well, what of it?" demanded the colonel.
"Well, I don't know," said Chester slowly.
"I'll speak to the general," said Colonel Anderson. "Perhaps he will seehis way clear to making representations for his release."
"Do you think he will?" asked Hal eagerly.
"To tell you the truth, I don't, but I'll speak to him, anyhow."
With this the lads were forced to be content, for they realized thatColonel Anderson would not permit them to go forward by themselves;besides, they recognized the folly of such an act.
The battle was over for the moment. The Italian left wing retained theground won despite several counter assaults and the right wing had alsobeen pushed forward after vigorous fighting. The Italians held theirdearly gained victory in the center.
"Come with me," said Colonel Anderson to Hal and Chester. "We'll have atalk with the general."
The two lads followed him.