Middletown transcript., 1920-09-25
CHAPTER xlI-continued.

CHAPTER XlI-continued.
-11-
From where we stood it was sigh
now that was worth coming over the
seas to see. On our own ridge was
the checker Of red and blue, stretching
right away to village over two miles
from us. It was whispered from mar
to man in the ranks, however, that
there was too much Of the blue and
too little Of the red, for the Belgians
had shown on the day before that theil
hearts were too soft for the work, and
we had twenty thousand Of them fol
comrades. Then even our British
troops were half made up of militia.
men and recruits, for the pick Of the
old Peninsula regiments were on the
ocean in transports, coming back from
some fools errand with our kinSfOlk
Of America. But for all that we could
see the bearskins of the Guards, two
strong brigades Of them, and the bon
nets Of the Highlanders, and the blue
of the old German legion, and the red
lines Of Packs brigade, and Kempt's
brigade, and the green-dotted rifle
men in front; and we knew that, come
what might, these were men who would
bide where they were placed, and that
they had man to lead them who
would place them where they should
bide.
OF the French we had seen little,
save the twinkle Of their fires and q
few horsemen here and there on the
curves of the ridge; but as we stood
and waited there came suddenly a
grand blare from their bands, and
their whole army came flooding over
the low hill which had hid them-bri-
gade after brigade, and division after
division-until the broad slope in its
whole length and depth was blue with
their uniforms and bright with the
CLINT Of their weapons. It seemed that
they would never have done, still pour
ing over and pouring over, while our
men leaned on their muskets and
smoked their pipes, looking down at
this grand gathering and listening to
what the old soldiers, who had fought
the French before, had to say about
them. Then, when the infantry had
formed in long, deep masses, their
guns came whirling and bounding
down the slope, and it was pretty to
see how smartly they unlimbered and
were ready for action. And then, at
q stately trot, down came the cav
alry-thirty regiments at the least.
with plume and breastplate, twinkling
sword and fluttering lance-forming
up at the flanks and rear in long, shift
ing, glimmering lines.
'Them's the chaps" cried our old
sergeant. "They're gluttons to fight,
they are. And you see them regj-
ments with the great high hats in the
middle, bit behind the farm? That's
the Guard-twenty thousand of them,
my sons, and all picked men-gray-
headed devils that have done nothing
but fight since they were as high as
my CATERS. They've three men to our
two, and two guns to one, and, by CAD !!
they'll make you recruities wish you
were back in Argyle street before they
have finished with you" He was not
cheering man. our sergeant, but then
he had been in every fight since Co.
runna, and had medal with seven
clasps upon his breast, so that he had
a right to talk in his own fashion.
When the Frenchmen had arranged
co1unc i,Vcf ont nf ann0n chnt UC
saw small group Of horsemen, all In
a blaze with silver and scarlet and
gold, ride swiftly between the divi-
sions; and as they went roar Of
cheering burst out from either side of
them, and we could see arms out
stretched to them and hands waving.
An instant later the noise had died
away and the two armies stood facing
each other in absolute deadly silence
q sight which often comes back to me
In my dreams. Then of a sudden
there was lurch among the men just
In front of us. a thin column wheeled
OF from the dense blue clump, and
came swinging up toward the farm
house which lay below us. It had not
taken fifty PAGES before a gun banged
out from an English battery on our
left and the battle Of Waterloo had
begun.
It Is not for me to tell you the story
Of that battle, and indeed l should
have kept far enough away from such
a thing had 1t not happened that our
own fates-those Of the three simple
folk who came from the border coun-
try-were all just as much mixed up
in 1t as those Of any king or emperor
Of them all. To tell the honest truth,
I have learned more about that battle
from what have read than from what
saw, for how much could l see with
a comrade on either side, and great
white cloud bank at the very end Of
my firelock? It was from books and
the talk Of others that I learned how
the heavy cavalry charged, how they
rode over the famous cuirassiers, and
how they were cut to pieces before
they could get back. From them, too,
l learned all about the successive as
saults, and how the Belgians fled, and
how Pack and Kempt stood firm. But
Of my own knowledge can only speak
Of what we saw during that long day
in the riffs Of the smoke and the lulls
Of the firing, and it's just Of that that
will tell you.
We were on the right of the line and
In reserve, for the Duke was afraid
that Boney might work round on that
side and get at him from behind, so
our three regiments, with another Brit
ish brigade and the Hanoverians, were
placed there to be ready for anything.
There were two brigades Of light cav
airy, too, but the French attack was
all from the front, so it was late in
Ahn Ans hnHnso N,o xuoro lsoallu y,anfod