" Then turning
to his men, he spoke a few words before dismissal.
"Men, you have passed through a long and hard time of testing. You have
not failed. I am not going to praise you, but I want you to know that
I am proud of you. Proud to be your commanding officer. I know that
whatever is before us, you will show the same spirit of endurance and
courage.
"We have lost this time twenty-nine men, eleven of them killed, and with
these three very brave and very gallant officers, among them our medical
officer, a very great loss to this battalion. These men did their duty
to the last. We loved them. We shall miss them, but to-day we are proud
of them. Let us give three cheers for our gallant dead."
With no joyous outburst, but with a note of fierce, strained
determination, came the cheers. In spite of all he could do, Barry could
not prevent a shudder as he heard the men about him cheering for those
whom he had so recently seen lying, some of them sorely mutilated, in
their grey blankets.
"Now, men," concluded the O.
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