20 A Real Hero

CHAPTER 20 A Real Hero Seeing the enemy come at them, Henry felt a sudden sense of rage. He stamped his feet and glared with hatred at the swirling smoke that was approaching. It made him mad that the enemy wouldn't let him rest, wouldn't give him any time to sit down and think. Yesterday he had fought and fled quickly. There had been many adventures. He felt that he had earned the right to have a rest. He was exhausted. But those other men seemed never to get tired, and he had a wild hatred for them.

Henry didn't want to be chased anymore. He bent down behind a little tree and clenched his teeth. The bandage was still wrapped around his head. Over his wound there was a small spot of blood. His hair was messedand hung over thecloth bandage, covering his forehead. His jacket and shirt were open at the throat. His fingers were wrapped nervously around his rifle. He felt that the enemy was insulting him and his friends. They were being treated as if they were poor and puny, and he wanted revenge. He wanted to beat them. One rifle flashed in front of them, followed instantly by others. A moment later his troop started firing back. A thick wall of smoke settled over everything. Henry was fighting hard. He didn't even know if he was standing. When he lost his balance and fell, he jumped back up right away. His rifle barrel became so hot that he wouldn't have

been able to hold it on any other day. But today he kept shooting. He fought and fought. He kept firing his gun even when everyone around him had stopped. He was so focused on fighting that he didn't notice how quiet it had become. Finally he heard a loud laugh and a voice that sounded amazed. "You fool!" someone yelled. "Don't you know enough to stop when there's nothing left to shoot at?" Henry turned and looked at his friends. They were all staring at him in surprise. When he looked to the front again, he saw a deserted field under the smoke. He looked confused for a moment, then realized what he was seeing. "Oh," he said. Henry returned to his friends and lay heavily on the ground. The lieutenant was yelling excitedly, and called out to him, "If I

had ten thousand wildcats like you I could win this war in a week!" Some of the men muttered and looked at Henry in amazement. Wilson came walking over to him and asked, "Are you all right, Fleming? Do you feel all right? There's nothing wrong with you, Henry, is there?" "No," Henry said with some difficulty. He realized he had fought like an animal, and that it hadn't been hard. He had struggled to overcome his fear, and now he was what he would call a hero. He hadn't even noticed it happening. He lay on the ground and enjoyed the other men staring at him from time to time. Their faces were dirty with gunpowder. They were all sweating and breathing hard. "Hot work!" the lieutenant said loudly. He was very happy with the troop's performance, and walked up and down among the men. He was restless and eager.

Sometimes he would even laugh. "By thunder," one of the men said. "I bet this army will never see another troop like us!" "You bet!" said another. "The more you press us, the tougher we get," said someone. "They lost a pile of men," said a soldier. "Yes, and if they come back they'll lose a lot more," said someone else. There was still noise in the forest. From far off in the trees came the rolling clatter of gunfire. A dark cloud of smoke went up toward the sun, now bright in the blue sky.