I suppose that for safety in the night
they've had to go further out to sea. I'm glad I'm not on one of them,
rolling and tumbling in those high waves. Well, everything is for the
best, and if Sumter doesn't fall into our laps tonight she'll fall
tomorrow, and if she doesn't fall tomorrow she'll fall the next day.
What do you say to that, old Wait-and-See?"
"Wait and see," replied Harry so naturally that the others laughed.
The bombardment went on all through the night. Harry continually
breathed smoke and the odor of burned gunpowder, which seemed to keep
his nerves keyed to a great pitch, and to maintain the heat of his
blood. Yet, after a while, he lay down, when his turn at the guns
ceased, and slept through sheer exhaustion. His eyes closed to the
thunder of cannon and they awoke at dawn to the same heavy thudding.
The fire had not ceased at any time in the course of the night, and
Sumter looked like a ruin, but the flag still floated over it.
St. Clair and Langdon were awakened a few minutes later, and they
also stood up, rubbed their eyes, stared at the fort and listened
to the firing. Harry laughed at their appearance.
"You fellows are certainly grimy," he said.
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