actor Hooker personating the character of "Red Dick" in "Rosalie, the
Prairie Flower," as he had seen him in a California theatre five years
before.
It wanted still an hour of the darkness that would probably close the
fight of that day. Could he hold out, keeping his offensive position so
long? A hasty council with his officers showed him that the weakness
of their position had already infected them. They reminded him that
his line of retreat was still open--that in the course of the night the
enemy, although still pressing towards the division centre, might yet
turn and outflank him--or that their strangely delayed supports might
come up before morning. Brant's glass, however, remained fixed on the
main column, still pursuing its way along the ridge. It struck him
suddenly, however, that the steady current had stopped, spread out along
the crest on both sides, and was now at right angles with its previous
course. There had been a check! The next moment the thunder of guns
along the whole horizon, and the rising cloud of smoke, revealed a
line of battle. The division centre was engaged. The opportunity he had
longed for had come--the desperate chance to throw himself on their rear
and cut his way through to the division--but it had come too late! He
looked at his shattered ranks--scarce a regiment remained. Even as
a demonstration, the attack would fail against the enemy's superior
numbers. Nothing clearly was left to him now but to remain where he
was--within supporting distance, and await the issue of the fight
beyond. He was putting up his glass, when the dull boom of cannon in
the extreme western limit of the horizon attracted his attention. By the
still gleaming sky he could see a long gray line stealing up from
the valley from the distant rear of the headquarters to join the main
column. They were the missing supports! His heart leaped. He held the
key of the mystery now. The one imperfect detail of the enemy's plan was
before him. The supports, coming later from the west, had only seen
the second signal from the window--when Miss Faulkner had replaced
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