GERTRUDE. "I have kept your secret, my darling, but I was sorely
tempted to betray the confidence you reposed in me at Charleston.
If Kerchival West--[_She retires backward from him as she
proceeds._]--had heard you say, as I did, when your face was hidden in
my bosom, that night, that you loved him with your whole heart--"

KERCHIVAL. Ah! [_Starting to his feet. He sinks back. She springs to
support him._

GERTRUDE. I will go for help.

KERCHIVAL. Do not leave me at such a moment as this. You have brought
me a new life. [_Bringing her to her knees before him and looking down
at her._] Heaven is just opening before me. [_His hands drops suddenly
and his head falls back. Battle._

GERTRUDE. Ah! Kerchival! You are dying! [_Musketry. A sudden sharp
burst of musketry, mingled with the roar of artillery near by._
KERCHIVAL _starts, seizing_ GERTRUDE'S _arm and holding her away,
still on her knees. He looks eagerly._

KERCHIVAL. The enemy is close upon us!

BARKET _runs in, up the slope._

BARKET. Colonel Wist! The devils have sprung out of the ground.
They're pouring over our lift flank like Noah's own flood. The Union
Army has started back for Winchester, on its way to the North Pole;
our own regiment, Colonel, is coming over the hill in full retrate.