Read Rally Cry for Free Online Page B

darling," Pat said,looking over to Andrew, "for as sure as I'm damned to hell, I think those beggars will charge once the blessing gets done."
    "All right, then," Andrew said softly. "Load solid shot and set to maximum elevation."
    "Why, that will put it clear over the hill."
    "Just do as I say, but have that canister ready in case I'm wrong."
    Without waiting for a response, Andrew turned and strode back to the center of the encampment.
    "35th Maine , fix bayonets!"
    The old sound that was the prelude to battle rattled out as five hundred bayonets were snapped out of their scabbards and locked into place.
    "Companies C through K, prime and load!"
    Hundreds of rammers were now pulled. Charges were bitten open, and powder and shot slammed in.
    "Companies A and B, load blank charges only and deploy behind the artillery!"
    Nervously the men looked to their commander, wondering what he was planning.
    "C through K, you will fire only on my command! I want all weapons at shoulder arms. I'll personally shoot any man that levels a rifle before my command!"
    The regiment was silent, almost numbed by the bizarre spectacle before them.
    Andrew faced the double rank of the two companies that moved up behind the field pieces.
    "I don't think they understand who we are," he said evenly. "If we can give them a good scare without bloodshed, we might be able to talk later. It'll be up to them, so when I give the command, aim high, and fire off a damned good volley. Then we'll see what happens."
    "One of them coming up, sir," Hans said, now standing beside Andrew, which he always did when there was the scent of battle in the air.
    A lone horseman carrying the crossed-sword standard started to gallop toward their line.
    " Hans, just cock that carbine of yours and keep an eye on him."
    Andrew climbed atop the gun emplacement and slid down the other side. The horseman drew closer. This was like something straight out of a Sir Walter Scott novel, he thought,complete to the armored knight coming to demand submission. But the man approaching him looked more like a ragged beggar than a knight. His armor was nothing more than a dozen heavy plates stitched onto a leather tunic. A sword was belted about his waist, and the heavy lance he carried glinted wickedly in the reddish light of the sun.
    Andrew spared a quick glance again to the sun. What was wrong with that thing? It looked much too big. He focused his attention back to the rider, who reined in a dozen paces away.
    The rider stood in his stirrups and scanned the encampment. Then he called to Andrew:
    "K kakomu boyaru vy podchinyaetes?" (What boyar do you serve?)
    Confused, Andrew could only shake his head.
    "Nemedlenno mne otvechayte! Boyary Ivor-i-Boros trebuyut bashey nemedlennoy sdachi." (Answer me at once! Boyars Ivor and Boros demand your immediate surrender!)
    Andrew extended his right hand outward.
    "I am Colonel Keane of the 35th Maine Volunteers, of the United States Army."
    The rider reined his horse back several paces.
    "Vy yazychnik, vy ne govorite po hashemv yazyku. Zavaytes!" (You are heathen—you do not speak our tongue. Surrender now!)
    In the man's tone Andrew heard a note of fear. There was something strangely familiar about the language and the uniform. Everything was like an object barely discernible in a deep and shifting pool.
    Suddenly he recognized a word from the man's speech. Somehow he had to reach this man.
    "O'Donald, get out here!"
    The men saw the towering redheaded Irishman clambering out of the gun emplacement, and reined his horse back several more paces.
    "You said you saw them making the sign of the cross?"
    "That I did, colonel."
    "Then do likewise."
    A look of solemn concentration came over O'Donald, and raising his right hand he made the sign of the Catholic faith.
    "Vy nad nami nasheetivayes!" (You mock us!) the horseman roared. Leaning forward, he spat on the ground, andswinging his horse about, he galloped back toward the waiting host.
    "I think we'd