The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-02-24
IContinued.) }

stopped everybody, but they let me pass o
account of my iron, which they were gsing
FIRE.
You can never imagine that mass Of people
the noise around the bastion, the smoke whic
covered il, the orders Of the infantry officer
whom We heard going mp the glacs, the gun
piles of bullets behind! No, in all thes
thirty years have not forgotten those mel
with their levers, rnnning back the cannon u
load them to their mouths those hiring II
6le, ut the bottom of the ramparts those
volleys OF balls kissing in the air the order'
ofthe gun captains. Load Ram Prime"
What crowds upon those gun carriages
seven feet high, where the gunneIs were
Obliged to stand and stretch their arms tt
fire the cannon And what q frightfo
smoke
Men invent snch machines to destroy each
other, and they would think that they did q
great deal if they sacrificed n quarter as much
to assist their fellow men, to instruct them in
infancy, aud to give them little bread in
their old age
Ah those who make an outcry against
war, and demand o different state of thugs,
Ape not in the wrong.
Il was in the corner, at the left Of the bas.
ton, where the stairs go down to the postern
beeand the college, among three or four will.
lowbaskets as high as ohimneys, and filed
with clsy. ! ought to have stayed there
quietly, and made use of the right moment to
get away, but the thought seized me that
would go and see what was going on below
the ramparts, and while they we're loading the
cannon, 1 climbed to the level of the glacis,
and lay down fat between two enormous
baskets, whore there was scarcely q chance
that balls could reach me.
If hundreds of others who were killed in
the bastiops had done rs did, how many of
&hem might be still living, respectable fathers
Of families in their villages
could see over the whole plain. ! saw the
Gordon of the rampant below, and the line of
our skirmishers behind the pstankas, on the
other side of the moat they did nothing but
m nd
fire. There one oould appreciate the beauty
of drilling; there were only two companies of
them, and their firing by file kept up an in
cessant roll
Further on, directly on the right, stretched
the road TO QuAtre Vents. The Ozillo farm,
the cemetery, the horse-post station, and
George Mouton's farm at the right the inn
OF La Roulette and the great poplar walk at
the left, all were full of Cossacks, and such
like rascals, who were Gallopping into the
very gardens. to reconnoitre the environs of
the place. This is what suppose, for il s
against nature to run Without an object and to
risk being struck by q ball.
These people, mounted on small horses, with
large gray cloaks, soft boots, fox-skin caps,
like those of the Baden peas ants, long boards,
lances in rest, great pistols IN their belts came
Wbirlipg on like birds.
They had not been fired npon AS yet, because
they kept themselves scattered, that bull
lets would have no fleet; bat their trunpets
sounded the rally from La Roulette, and they
began to collect behind the buildings of the
ina
About thirty of our veterans, who had been
kept back in the cemetery lane, were making
slow retreat they made few paoes at the
same time hastily reloading, then turned,
ehouldered, fired, and began marching again
among the hedges and bushes, which there
had not been time to cut down in tEs To-
cAlity.
Our sergeant was one Of these Irecogniz sd
him at once, and trembled for him.
Every time these veterans gave fire. ii We or
six Cossacks came on like the wind. with their
lances lowered {; but it did not frighten them
they leaned against q tree and levelled their
bayonets. Other veterans came up, and then
some loaded, while Others parted the blows
Scarcely had they torn open their cartridges
lAnces in the air. Some of them turned for
moment and fred their large pistols behind
like regular bandits. At length our men be.
gan to march toward the oity.
Those Old BolderS, with their great shRkos
set square on their heads, their large canes
hanging to the back of their calves, their
sabres and cartridge boxes on their backs,
calm in the midst of these savages, relonding,
trimming, and parrying as quietly as If they
were smoking their pipes in the guard
house, were something to be admired. At
last, after seeing them come out of the
Ehirlwind two or three times, it seemed al.
m6t On easy thing to do.
Our sergeant commanded them, l under.
stood then why he was such a favorite with
part against the citizens; there were not many
such. wanted to CALI out Make haste,
sergeant; let us make haste /" but neither he
nor his men hurried in the least.
AS they reached the foot of the glacis sud-
denly large mass of Cossacks seeing that
they were escaping, Galloped mp in two flcs
to cut of their retreat. 1t Was the dangerous
moment, and they formed in square in
stantly.
felt my back torn cold. as if l had been
one of them.
y Our sharpshoote,s behind the ammu milton
wagons did not fire, doubtless for fear of
hitting their comrades; our gunuers on the
bastion leaned down to see, and the lille of
Cossacks stretched to the corucr near the draw
bridge.
There were sevea or eight hundred of
them. We beard them cry, 'Hurra! hurra
hIrra" like crows. Several officers in green
cloaks and small caps galloped at the sides OF
their lines, with raised sabres. thought our
poor sergeant and his thirty men were lost
thought already, "How sorry little Safel and
Sorle will bel"
But then, as the Cossacks formed in
half circle at the left of the outworks, heard
Our gun captain call out, Fire"
turned my head; old Goulden struck the
match, the fuse glittered, and at the same in.
slant the bastion with its great baskets of
clay shook to the very rocks of the rampant,
looked toward the road nothing was 70