The strength she has sought is vouchsafed in her need:
--"I think I can bear it now, Beverly ... read."

The boy, with the resolute nerve of a man,
And a voice which he holds as serene as he can,
Takes quietly from her the letter, and reads:--

"Dear Madam,--My heart in its sympathy bleeds
For the pain that my tidings must bear you: may God
Most tenderly comfort you, under His rod!

"This morning, at daybreak, a terrible charge
Was made on the enemy's centre: such large
And fresh reinforcements were held at his back,
He stoutly and stubbornly met the attack.

"Our cavalry bore themselves splendidly:--far
In front of his line galloped Colonel Dunbar;
Erect in his stirrups,--his sword flashing high,
And the look of a conqueror kindling his eye,
His silvery voice rang aloft through the roar
Of the musketry poured from the opposite shore:
--'Remember the Valley!--remember your wives!
And on to your duty, boys!--on--with your lives!'

"He turned, and he paused, as he uttered the call--
Then reeled in his seat, and fell,--pierced by a ball.

"He lives and he breathes yet:--the surgeons declare,
That the balance is trembling 'twixt hope and despair.