Mrs. Grundy. (Tracy City, Tenn.) 1903-1930, 1920-12-30
CHAPTER xIll--continued.

CHAPTER xiii--continued
49,
His cannon could do us no great
harm now, for we were on our faces,
and In an instant we could turn into a
huddle Of bayonets II his horse came
down again. But behind the thunder
Of the guns there arose sharper,
shriiler noise, whirring and rafting.
the widest, jauntiest. most stirring
kind Of sound.
IT'S the pas-de-charge! cried an
officer. %They mean business this
time"
And as he spoke we saw a strange
thing. A Frenchman, dressed as an
officer Of hussars. came galioping to-
ward us on little bay horse. He
was screeching .svive le Roi! vive lie
Roll" at the pitch OF his lungs, which
was as much as to say that he was
deserter. since we were for the king
and they for the emperor. As he
passed us he reared out In English:
1.-THE Guard Is comingi The Guard
Is c0ningr' and so vanished away to
the rear like q leaf blown before a
storm. At the same Instant up there
rode an aide-de-camp with the reddest
face that ever saw upon mortal man.
"You must stop 'em. or we arc
DONE" he cried to General Adams, 50
that oil our company could hear him.
slow is 1t going2" asked the gen
eral.
1.-TWO weak squadrons left out Of six
regiments OF heavies," said he, and be-
gan to laugh like man whose nerves
are Overstrung.
aPprhaps you would care TO join
In our advance. Pray consider your
self quite one OF us" said the general.
bowling and smiling as If he were ask
Ing him to dish OF tea.
II shall have much pleasure, said
the other, taking Off his hat. and q
moment afterward our three regiments
closed up and the brigade advanced ~
four lines over the hollow where We
had lain In square, and out beyond
the point whence we had seen the
French army.
There was little OF It to he seen
now. only the red belching Of the guns
flashing quickly out Of the cloud-bank,
and the black figures, STOPPING, strain
Ing. hopping. sponging, working like
devils and at devilish work But
through tho cloud that rattle and whir
rose louder and louder, with deep
mouthed shouting and the stamping of
thousands OF feet. Then there came o
broad black blur through the haze,
which darkened and darkened, until
we could see that 1t was a hundred
men abreast. marching swiftly toward
us, with high fur hats upon their heads
and CLEAN Of brasswork over their
brows. And behind that hundred came
another hundred, and behind that an
other, and SO on, coiling and writhing
out OF the cannon-smoke. like mon
strous snake, until there seemed to be
no end to the mighty column. In front
ran spray Of skirmishers and be-
hind them the drummers, and up they
all came together at kind of trip
ping step, with the officers clustering
sfhickly at the sides and waving their
swords and cheering. There were a
dozen mounted men. too. at their front.
all shouting together, and one with his
hat held alOft upon his sword-polnt.
say again that no men upon this earth
could have fought more manfuliy than
the French did upon that day.
It was wonderful to see them, for,
as they came onward, they got ahead
Of their own guns, 80 that they had
no longer any help from them. while
they got in front of the two batteries
which had been on either side OF us
ali day. Every gun had their range
to foot, and we saw long red lines
scored right down the dark column as
It advanced. So near were they. and
so closely did they march, that every
shot plowed through ten files of them,
and yet they closed up, and came on
with swing and dash that was fine
to see. Their head was turned straight
for ourselves. while the Ninety-dfth
overlapped them on one side and the
fifty-second on the other.
/ shall always think that. IL we had
waited so, the Guard would have
broken us, for how could four-deep
iine stand against such column But
at that moment CoIburne, the colonel
OF the Fifty-second. swung his right
flank around so as to bring It on the
side Of the column. which brought the
rrenchmen to halt Their front line
was forty PAGES from us at the mo
ment. and we had good look at them.
II was funny to me to remember that